Merry Christmas!

So I mean this week was pretty cool, many different things happened.

It wasn't the most effective week missionary work wise but that

happens around Christmas. We did do some way fun stuff and made

some good memories. So that's pretty cool. So let's start off with

last week Monday night. Our landlord came over and showed us a dish

that is only made in Catanzaro (for a reason) and it's called

"Morzello." I don't have a picture of it because I forgot to take one.

It’s basically pig meat in this red sauce stuff. The cut of meat

ends up being stomach, intestines, and liver. Or basically the mixed

innards of a pig. Yum. You eat in as a sandwich. It wasn't that bad

though to be honest but the cool part was I got to talk to our land lord for

like 2 hours. We had a really deep conversation and I was able to

talk to him about a lot of stuff but focused on the "Plan of

Salvation" (if y'all don't know what that is go to www.mormon.org). It

was swag and he said I was "stupendous." Added that word to my Italian

vocabulary.

Let's move on to Wednesday when then Elders from our "neighboring"

city of Crotone came over. We had a pre-Christmas lunch with them. We

had a nice fish fry with some cod and it was actually really good. We

had them try some leftover Morzello but it kinda went bad after 2 days

sooooo..... It was way gross. But we also ate some spicy sausage that

we cooked over our fireplace. It smelled like campfire in our house

but it was totally worth it. But basically I learned how to fry fish

and it was swag.

Moving on to Christmas Eve. I watched Big Hero 6 and ate Tostitos

salsa. Basically all that happened that day and it was beautiful. I

recommend that movie also, it's a classic. Great plot, great

characters, and it pulls on your heartstrings. Amazing.

Christmas was dope. We had lunch and basically got to watch a family

dinner. It reminded me of the chaotic drama and weird things that

happened back home only now it was in Italian and none of it involved

me. I just sat back and watched. Good times. Also got to skype the fam

back home. Love you guys.

Let's finish with our Sunday miracle. We went over to a member’s house

for lunch and he picked us up from the train station cuz we have to

take a train to get to his house. While there we were talking to this

lady from the Dominican Republic. He invited her to dinner.

#goodsamaritan We ended up having a great lunch with her and talked to

her a little bit about our church. And now we are going to go meet

with her Tuesday which is pretty swag. She needs some help but it's a

good thing we help people as missionaries :) Also she can help me with

my Spanish. All important things.

So this email is becoming a short story but I just wanted to say that

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas. I've been studying a lot in

the Bible this week and learning a ton about Christ (obviously) but

something I've learned is that Christ always gives us second chances.

He is full of a never ending supply of them. During Christmas I'm sure

you all feel something different in the air, something that makes you

want to be a better person and do the right thing. During the

Christmas season we feel this when we remember Jesus Christ, what he

did for us, and his great atoning sacrifice but most importantly that

feeling that everyone of us feels is an invite. It's an invite from

God to remember Jesus Christ, his son, to follow Him, and to do all we

can to become like Him. So even though Christmas has passed, don't

forget that the second chance is always there if you're humble enough

to take it.

Love you all so much and hope you have a great week Ciao Ciao

Anziano Yskes

Cod Fish Fry

"Big Hero 6" was swag

The Calabro brought to you  by Fiat

Zone Conference and Starring as a Shepherd in the Christmas Nativity

Dear Family, Friends, and other people,

Another week has passed here in Catanzaro and it's been a weird one.

On Wednesday I realized that the Flu shot I gave myself did nothing

because I got sick and I'm like bruh. But anyways Wednesday wasn't

very fun. I got a lot of sleep though so I really like that but then

Thursday #midrecovery we had to take the 6 hour trip up to Taranto.

We rode this super ghetto train up and then had a lame bus ride there

but we made it. It's a really nice city, it has a really nice downtown

area too. We also got to eat a puglia (the region in which Taranto is

located) special. Panzarotti! Basically it's like a small pizza folded

in half and then you can eat in baked or fried. It was pretty good.

On Friday we had our "Specialized Training" or in my words "a two hour

meeting to talk about Christmas but we only go because we get to see

other missionaries and receive mail from home". I had fun though. We

did a little nativity and I was a Shepard so I mean I was basically

the star of the show. Besides Jesus, and his mom, and dad and the wise

men. But I was in there. Anyways. After the conference we had a 4 hour

bus ride back to Crotone. Which is not our city. Our city was a 1 hour

train ride past Crotone but we couldn't leave until the morning

because there weren't any trains by the time we arrived in Crotone. So,

we stayed with the missionaries and then came home Satuday morning. 

But the Saturday we got home was a swag day too. We met up with a man

we call "Papa La Croce" who is a very influential man here in

Catanzaro. He pretty much owns half the city and everyone who lives in

it. He loves us missionaries though. So he took us to this market to

help us get some traditional Calabrese food to eat for Christmas. We

bought some "Baccalà" which is salted Cod because you eat a lot of

fish here in Italy for Christmas. Also we bought some "Nduja" which is

basically pork and red pepper mix and it's like a paste and you put it

on bread and it's so good. I love it. Also we got some "smoked

sausage" but it's not cooked. But it's like spicy and it smells so

good and we are going to cook it in the fire place in our house so

it's pretty exciting.

Anyway, after we bought all this stuff at this outdoor market we were

waiting by this dude’s car. While we were waiting these gypsies started

getting in a fight. This 25 y/o girl was like yelling at her BF and

he was like confused and then she spits on him so he spits on her and

then she started screaming at the top of her lungs. So an Italian lady

came over and told them to stop. Then this gypsy girl tells her to call

the police. All of the sudden this girl’s mom comes out of the market

flaming mad and yelling at the BF and so he was taking some mad heat

from these crazy gypsies. Then he took the bag of cookies he was

holding in his hand and threw it at his GF but she dodged it so the

bag hit a car and exploded so the cookies went everywhere. Poor cookies.

Then people broke up the fight and the dude dipped and I was like

dang. That was fun.

Life is going good out here in Catanzaro though. My companion is cool

and he does the dishes so I like that. This next week is Christmas and

I'm really quite excited for that. The church came out with a new

video for Christmas called "Why we need a Savior" and I recommend you

watch it. It really helped me understand the grand importance of this

Christmas season. Christ was born in a manger and lived a life full of

Miracles. In the end he died and suffered for every single person that

has lived, is living, and will ever live. Because of him we can feel a

fullness of peace, joy, and happiness. He was the first gift of

Christmas. He is the reason for this beautiful time. Merry Christmas

everyone :) 🎉🎁🏂🎄

Love, 

Anziano Yskes

Taranto

New Soccer Jersey

Taranto Zone

Zone Conference

Me, starring as a Shepherd

The Weather Forecast

Cod Fish Fry

Catanzaro

Alright, so some good things happened this week including a nice move to

a new city but I guess we will talk about my last couple of days in

Pescara. Well, last PDAY we went to Rome and played soccer which was

swag. I wasn't on my "A-Game" (I don't really have one for soccer) but

it was still way fun. It was kinda funny seeing all the Army guys at

all the metro stops. Well, maybe not funny but it shows that Rome is

prepping for the potential terrorist attacks and stuff. It's a good time.

Anyways, on Tuesday we had our district meeting and everything. It was

fun because we made pancakes and I love pancakes and we put chocolate

in the pancakes so I like that. Then Wednesday we went to Rome and

then Thursday morning I caught a train to my new city. Catanzaro.

So my new city is in the foot part of southern Italy. It's warmer here

than it was in Pescara. It's not as big though. So after a nice long

train ride down I finally made it to my new city. My new comp is

Anziano Covalt and he is from San Diego. He doesn't know how to surf

which I guess isn't a requirement to living down here. The church here

is small though. We are in a small branch of about 15 members in the

only District in Italy. It is definitely different than what I am used

to because I've always been in big high functioning Wards since I've

been on the mission so this is definitely something different but I'm

excited. I'm sure I will become really close to all the members here

which is definitely something I missed in Pescara. But it's cool.

Catanzaro is in the Calabria region of Italy. They eat a lot of

"spicy" food here. I love spicy food so I mean in the end I think I'll

be fine.

In other news I bought a Catanzaro soccer kit. They are like

comparable to a minor league team in America so it's not that cool but

idk I gotta "put on for my city." Also, there is a pizza place

literally below our house that gives us half off pizza. €2.50 for any

pizza we want is what I call a "dope deal." Also I love pizza so it's

swag. Anyways. Hope y'all have a good week. God is good. Love ya! Ciao

ciao

Anziano Yskes

Catanzaro

My New Companion

Zone Soccer

Sights in Catanzaro

The Churches of Catanzaro

The Train from  Pescara to Catanzaro