Mission Conference and Letters from Home

Okay, so Tuesday! We had it all planned out and it was supposed to be
an awesome day but as it went on we had 2 lessons fall through with
investigators because of various things and then we had another lesson
with Marco, he’s 10. He is Lorenzo’s cousin. So we had this lesson with
them at 6 which is an hour before English course (we do an English
course twice a week as a service for the community and Lorenzo and
Marco come.) Anyways, so the lesson was supposed to be at 6 but they
didn’t show up until 6:45. I was soo upset and frustrated. Now since
Marco is only 10, he needs permission by his mom to be baptized and he
has been ready for baptism for like 8 months and has been taught all
the lessons and everything but we have never gotten permission from
his mom. So, yeah, he came up to me while I was sitting on the couch in
our apartment waiting for English course to start and he says "sarò
battezzato" which means "I will be baptized" and I was like no....?
And he said it again and I was confused. He though I wasn’t
understanding me so we both looked to my companion Anziano Ferrin and he
was like "Marco talked to his mom yesterday, he got permission to be
baptized" and I was like "......YYYEESSSS" so pumped! It was such a
blessing and a miracle! So he has a bap date for April 11th the week
after General Conference. Wow. That night we just listened to happy
Disney music and danced like idiots cuz we were so happy!

Then Wednesday we had mission conference with Anziano Texiera and his
wife. Wow. That was awesome. I learned so many new and different
things and I learned how I can be a better missionary and all that
stuff. Also we had all the missionaries from Sicily and Malta there. I
love conferences like this cuz you get to see so many different people
and it’s fun to see those who you haven’t seen in a while. Oh, also on
Wednesday I got a bunch of letters! No packages just a bunch of
letters and I’d like to thank all those who sent them because they were
all super amazing! Especially Oma and Papa Karl! With all the letters
they sent me and also Aunt Liz with the awesome "one in a minion"
letter! I have that hanging on my wall! Also Elder Deyarmond sent me
some pictures of us when we were in Florida so now I have those
hanging on my wall too. We are so cute

That’s way cool you ran into that guy from Rome! Must have been a good
conversation! And don’t worry I have had many arancini here in Italy.
Yeah basically they are softball sized rice balls with a meat sauce or
butter sauce in the middle and they are deep fried. You can get
them everywhere and of course they are a Sicilian specialty so they are
super cheap, good, and big here in Sicily. I’m a little scared to leave
because I’ve heard in other parts of Italy they aren’t as good, they’re
smaller and more expensive... ugh.

Well for now that all I got on the weekly Italian update! Thanks for
all of your prayers because I can see them working and I see blessings
coming because of them! Love you all!

Ciao ciao

Anziano Yskes

Me and my Companion Anziano Ferrin at the Mission Conference

 

So, we found these masks at a store called Lidl



 

A picture of all the Letters I got!  Thank You Everyone!!!!!

 

 

Mission Conference

 





The Culture in Bagheria

Thanks for downloading all those pics and posting them! Sorry I sent so
many at once. It sounds like things are going good back in the mitten
though! It’s nice to hear that things are warming up and the weather is
getting nicer! It’s off and on every day here. One day it will be super
sunny and nice and then 4 hours later it will be cloudy and winds
blowing like 50 mph. I don’t get it but I just take it for what it is.
So yeah that old guy just lives in that lighthouse has been for 15
years. He does some crazy artwork though. We will probably go back
sometime in the next couple weeks so I’ll send some more pictures when
we do go back. Yeah, that view was crazy. Italy has a lot of good
views like that because the beach leads right into the mountains and
the city is just in between or the cities are in the mountains. Hiking
here usually ends up being a pretty good p-day activity because when
you get done the view is worth it. Thanks for that little thought
about faith. The point you bring up is so true too. It’s tough
being out here because everyone says they have faith here. "sono un
credente" I’m a believer. They have "faith" in Christ but idk if it’s
true faith. It’s more just cultural tradition to believe in Christ. Here
it’s not religion it’s culture and so it’s hard for people to accept
something different because they aren’t just changing religions, they
are changing their whole culture. Also a lot of people here are scared
of change. Things have literally been the same for 2 thousand years
and they’re scared to do something different. Here becoming Mormon or
LDS isn’t just a religious change it’s truly one of the biggest life
changes that these people will ever make. But we are working hard :)
Thanks for all the updates back home! It’s nice to hear what’s going on
and don’t worry dad keeps me updated on the sports world. I’ve decided
to ignorantly fill out a bracket and I’ll send it home to y’all so let
me know how I do. But for now that’s pretty much it. Not a lot of new
stuff happened this week. Today we don’t really have anything planned
so I think we are just going to be doing some shopping and stuff. Oh
Wednesday we have a mission conference here in Palermo and all the
missionaries in Sicily and Malta are coming here. Also Anziano Texiera
of the 70 is coming to talk to us so that should be exciting. Oh and
April 28 we have a BIG conference in Rome. Everyone is going up cuz
Elder Bednar is coming to talk about how to use iPads :) I’ll probably
still be here in Bagheria so I get to take the 14 hour train ride up.
FUN...... That’s pretty much it though! Love you all and thanks for all
the prayers! I see miracles because of them every day!

Ciao Ciao

Anziano Yskes

This is the view from the top of the hill in Bagheria. So Bagheria sits at

the base of a mountain so you can see the sea at the bottom of the hill.

I’m sitting at the base of the mountain basically. We do a lot of proselyting

here so I love this hill......

 

The Library in Bagheria

The church in Bagheria. So in Italy every city has their own Saint that
protects the city and they celebrate their Saint every year. In
bag-swag its San Giuseppe so they set up a bunch of lights and banners
and stuff. They had a band come and play and stuff. It’s pretty cool but
I don’t understand it.

 

So I found some Frosted Flakes in ITALY!! They were expensive but
totally worth it. So pumped to eat them!

Cannolo, Gelato and Pizza, Oh My!!!

So keep up the pictures because I love them! And investigators and the
work ha-ha it’s good. It’s not like the work people have in other parts
of the world but its moving along. I see miracles all the time and I
know it’s thanks to all your prayers! I really appreciate them! And the
language is coming along real well. I’ve been having some good study
sessions of late so I have been learning a lot! And I love the
language but mom I gotta tell ya somthing cuz I promise the cannolo
you had wasn’t as good as the ones I have. It’s a Sicilian specialty. In
Sicily is better. Promise. It’s like comparing a regular Italian pizza
to a Napoli pizza it just doesn’t compare. From what I’ve been told if
you aren’t visited by heavenly angels when you eat a nap-town pizza,
it’s not right. The same goes for Sicilian cannoli. hahaha
#italianfoodupdate

Anyways, so Italy. It’s going pretty good! I started eating more gelato
because its getting warmer and gelato is the greatest thing ever in my
life ever. So good. So so good. So I’ve been eating a lot of that. Also
today we went to the catacombs in Palermo! So sick. So the catacombs
are like these underground tunnels with a bunch of preserved dead
bodies all over the walls and stuff. When you first go in it’s like the
most scary thing ever and you think that the bodies are going to like
jump out at you, but they didn’t so that was nice. But it was so cool
walking through and just seeing these well preserved bodies that were
super old. There was this one body though that was so well preserved
that apparently it’s like super famous. It’s the body of this two year
old girl and she died and her dad was so distraught that he made up
this chemical that preserved her body so well that even though she
died in 1920 she looks like she died last week. It was probably the
freakiest but coolest thing I’ve ever seen. I think I grow to love
Italy more and more each week. I’ve especially come to appreciate and
love how lucky I am to be in such a sweet city as Palermo (well just
outside of it). People all over the mission want to come here because
it’s like the "promised land" the people are so nice. Its Sicily so
all the food is super good and super cheap, there are tons of cool
things to see, and the landscape is blessed by God. It’s so amazing!
Other than that there really isn’t anything new. Finished my
first transfer this past week. Time flies when you’re out here, it
really does! But I’ll see y’all in 1 year 7 months and 24 days giver or
take. LOVE YOU. vi amo. ciao ciao

Anziano Yskes

Anziano Ferrin and I

 

My district from transfer one in Bagheria

 

 

All of the Anziani in the Palermo area. We are in front of a huge Cathedral in Centro

 

 

Lil' pic of my city, Bagheria

 

 

Blood Oranges...SO GOOD!

 

 

 

Briosce with strawberry and chocolate gelato...so good...mmmhhhmmm



 

 

Pizza, cuz....Italy!

 

Bagheria - Another Amazing Adventure

Wow, is all I can say. And thanks for the fasting and the prayers! They are always much appreciated! I love you all! Tell the twins they looked AWESOME for their wax museum! Ha-ha! So cute! And keep the running up! Don’t quit! When the going gets tough the tough get running! There is no bad weather only wimpy people! So an update! Today was sooooo sick!!! We went to this like hidden cave in the side of this mountain and we explored in there and then we went to this old WWII bunker on the ocean and we explored that and then! We hiked up a mountain and at the top was this lighthouse and there is this dude up there who has been living up there for like 15 years (it’s like a 1 hour long hike up too) and he decorates it and like that’s all he does. Bro it is the most decorative and beautiful thing I’ve ever seen ever! I don’t have pics so I’ll send them tomorrow or something real quick but it was literally the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. And the view from the top of this mountain was so ridiculous! I couldn’t believe it.
Best P-DAY ever. Without a doubt! So yeah, that was today. An experience
no tourist gets because we got taken around by one of the members so
the locals know their stuff and it was so much fun! We are going to do
a ton more next week! And I’ll send you a bunch of pictures tomorrow!
Oh and we got transfer calls this week! Me and Anziano Ferrin are
staying in Bagheria for the next 6 weeks and the transfer ends this
Sunday. So yeah! We eat at members homes like 2 times a week-ish. So, I've gotten real good at cooking and shopping for cheap food hahahah
but yeah, that’s the Italian update! Love y’all tons! Keep it real in the
mitten!

Love, Anziano Yskes

 

Zach sporting the Italian style

 

My new Italian shoes I got for 18 Euro, yeah that's a deal!

 

 

The train station in Bagheria

 

My planner for this first transfer

 

 

My planner because I was feeling creative

 

 

Me on some rocks near the cave

 

 

View from near the entrance of the cave

 

 

Me in the cave with Anziano Teichert and a member, Salvo. He's cool, well, they both are. Ha-Ha



 

 

It's me and Anziano Teichert in the cave

 

 

View from the beach by the military bunker

 

 

What you see when you look out of the bunker...I'm cute!!

 

 

Exterior views of the Lighthouse

 

 

Us with the old guy from the Lighthouse. He has been living there up in the mountains for 15 years and has created all the mosaic tile art inside the lighthouse.

 

 Mosaics inside the lighthouse

 

 

More mosaics from inside the lighthouse. These things are way bigger than you think. It is seriously one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

 

 

A pic of us inside the lighthouse

 

View from near the top of our hike to the Lighthouse overlooking Palermo and Mondello

 

View from the top...sick

 

 

That's a LONG way down!