Temple Ruins

Dear friends and family,

This week has definitely gone by a lot faster than I expected. It

seems like the weeks just keep picking up speed and it's a very bitter

sweet feeling. But like they say "time flies when you're having fun”.

This week we had a lot of fun.

I started out the week doing an exchange with the missionaries in this

city called Caltanisetta. It's this pretty big city right in the

middle of Sicily, up in the mountains. The church is small there and

they do their Sunday services in the missionary’s apartment. There I

was able to do something pretty cool. I was able to interview a 16

year old girl for baptism. She's going to be baptized soon. It was

a really cool experience for me. I also got to see my long lost red

headed friend Anziano Whited. It was a good time.

The next day I had to do another exchange but this time in the city of

Agrigento. We taught some people. Met some crazy people. Ate some

food. All in all, it was a good time but after 3 days of not being in

Sciacca I was ready to return.

Today, Monday, we went back to Agrigento because, there, they have

these old temples. They were built in the 3rd century BC by the Greeks

so they are temples built to different Greek gods. It's all ruins but

one of the temples is in really good shape. Most temples weren't

finished because wars came and went and because all the people were

fighting they didn't have time to build. But, there was definitely a

lot of history seen today so that was way cool. You don't get old

stuff like that in America ha-ha.

We had a good week here in Sciacca and honestly we are seeing miracles

every day. Even if the miracle is the fact that I have enough energy

to make the long walk home every night. In the end nothing super crazy

or extraordinary happened. No stories of eating unbelievable amounts

of food or crazy people yelling at us on the streets. None of that so

sorry for the disappointment but like I've learned from Italian

cooking, (best in the world) it's the simplest things that bring

the best taste. At the end of this week I’ve definitely been left with

a good taste in my mouth.

I've also been thinking a lot about the idea of "Carpe Diem" the

thought that we need to seize the day. I've thought about how many of

us, in whatever stage of life we’re in, think about the next stage

longing to live in a nonexistent future when at that very same moment

we forget to live in the present that we've been given. I've come to

learn that instead of looking forward to tomorrow or next week or

November, I need to live in the present. “You pile up enough

tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty

yesterdays.” - Professor Harold Hill from the play "The Music Man". So

I'm going to appreciate every day given to me because in the end, it's

a gift, that's why they call it the present.

Love you all, have a good week!!

Anziano Yskes

Sciacca

Temple Ruins