30 Jul 14

I promised a good email this week, but this week was pretty uneventful.

Last Friday we went to Reggio Emilia for interviews with President Dibb. I dont know if I told you, but a few weeks ago he had to go home for a little bit to get some health stuff figured out, but he's back and ready to go. It was good to see him, I hadnt seen him since April. He was proud of me in our interview because he said "Win one for the Gipper" and I know where that came from. It was cool to be in Reggio, because they're famous for their parmegian cheese. 

We had a kind of exciting week in our district. They had to close down a companionship of sisters in another city because one of them had to go home. So her companion is here, so there are three sisters in the companionship here in Piacenza. Her name is sister Montagnioli. I dont know if ive written about her, but she was in my MTC group. So she's going to be here in Piacenza for two weeks before she goes home. I feel kind of bad for her because the absolute worst part about the mission is moving luggage to a new city. Were glad she's here though because she's really needed.

We fixed my bike again yesterday, so pray that everything will be ok. Im trying to think of interesting things we do here in Piacenza that arent like every day missionary things. We have an english class every wednesday night. We teach the basic class, which is was harder to teach than the conversations class. Its helping me improve my english alot, because when we taught the basic class in Verona, people would ask questions why we say something like this or that, and I would just say "Thats just the way it is" or the famous trainer answer "Youll learn by listening." But now I can say "Well its because of this rule, and youll learn by listening." Then my companion bares testimony about how he knows what I said is true and it works out well. So the point is, now I speak english good. (Grandpa Fife, that was a joke!)

Tomorrow night the zone leaders are coming here to do "Monster Finding" so itll be good to see Anziano Miller again. It could be the last time I see him in the mission, because he's going into transfer 15 (us state side guys only do 16) so he'll have two transfers left. 

I dont want to brag or anything, but im getting pretty good at foosball and ping pong. 

Another thing ive started doing is practice my cursive handwriting. Its getting better, but its still pretty awful. 

Ive just had a recent breakthrough with learning cool Italian words. This week I learned the words for samurai, "sketchy," and toast (like a champagne toast). The hardest part about the language now is learning vocabulary, just because the news words I learn I dont use often enough to remember them very well. Soooo yeah.

Im really at a loss of exciting things to say. I dont know if you remember last year when I got to Muggio, how everyone left on vacation. In Italy, everyone just takes work off and goes to the sea during the whole month of August. Thats starting again, so its been difficult to see investigators regularly and things like that. We found out about transfers on Saturday (President changed when we find out what will happen, he moved it up a few days) and im nervous that I might be training again. Not that I dont want to, but training in August could be more challenging. But we'll see what happens!

Thats all ive got for now. I just passed my 6 month left mark and im really glad its passed. Its just one of those dates that creaps up on you and freaks you out, then it passes and everything is normal again. I was looking at the family pictures we took right before James left, and it was kind of funny. I was looking at the whole family and it just kind of hit me "Oh yeah, all these people like really exist still." Just to clarify, not that I forgot anyone but you just get into the grind of the mission and its like "My first name is now Anziano, and all I do is missionary work." The other day though it was like "Oh yeah, ill see all of them again." 

But yeah, im just excited to go out and do these last few months the right way. Its crazy that James is getting home so soon, and then the rest of the cousins get home one transfer after another. So time is flyin!

Im glad you went to the demolition derby, I was telling Anziano Jacob about it the other day. I think Trevor said it best "Fairview taught me to love my cousins, but not to much." Annnd on that note ill finish! I hope you all have a great week and CTR! I love you!

Anziano Christian Fife McKinnon 

23 Jul 14

Ok so I have to write a fast email this week. Were in Modena right now with Anziano Miller and Richardson and we had some bike problems. So we have not a lot of time this week.

The biggest thing that happened is that our cool new investigators who said every church in the city is false and want to know more about us, are moving south. Its kind of a miracle because the live an hour from Piacenza so its super hard for them to get to church anyways, so hopefully wherever they go ti will be close to them.

Funny moment of the week, we have a new book called "La Mia Famiglia" that we use for geneology. I did all of mine, and put some pictures in it. While one of the sisters were looking at it, she said that Grandpa McKinnon looks like Arnold Schwarzanager (spellcheck). So Grandpa is havin a good week.

Sorry this is so short, I owe you a longer email next week. Have a great week everyone! Im glad things are going well at home, and that Kate did such a good job in her concert. Im excited tow atch the DVD! Anyways, I love you all and have a great week!

Anziano Christian Fife McKinnon

After the Rainstorm/Practicing for the Hunger Games

16 Jul 14

This was a super super great week!

So first things first. Remember our investigator in Muggio who went through all the anti material/every other obstacle in the history of earth? President gave us permission to go to Muggio and help with her baptism on Friday. And she got BAPTIZED! She did so good and was so brave! She had so many obstacles but she got through them all! It was a miracle that everything went well, and now she's a member of the Church. Her testimony has grown so much, and she seriously did such a good job! 

Dad, you talked about that episode of Top Gear where they went to Monza. Monza is the city next to Muggio and I did tons of work there. So of the two cities that were on the show, ive served in both of them.

So were still having bike troubles. After the baptism, we got back to Piacenza super late (at like 11pm) and we get to our bikes, and my bike tire is flat. I didnt want to walk the 45 minutes it would take to get home on foot because I was exhausted, and two we'd have to go through the "red light district." So I decided to just go for it anyways and it was a really dumb bad idea. The tube came out from under the tire and got tangled in the chain and gears so now I have another broken bike. We called our ward mission leader to pick us up so at least we didnt have to walk home.

Last night we had dinner with a part member family, and the husband was really cool. He let us shoot his bow and arrow while he took a shower, so we did that. Im no Will from Ranger's Apprentice, but it went ok.

We got a referall this week from a guy in Bologna. He's a member, and after a YSA activity, he and his friend decided to do finding work. (awesome members, right?) They found this guy and his wife who live down here by us, and we went and saw them. They are so cool! The husband said "I want to find a good church, but ive been to every one in the city and all of them have problems with their doctrine." So theyre really excited to read the Book of Mormon and were seeing them next week!

This past Saturday we helped one of our investigators cut wood on his farm. It was really cool. He's got cows, chickens, and a goat. He's also got a little beagle and were best friends. 

So I guess you'd say this week was a little different than others with a baptism, wood cutting, and archery. Then tomorrow were doing another exchange with the zone leaders and im going to Modena again. There are other things that are kind of exciting that ill have to tell you when I get home. 

Thats all ive got this week! Im just pluggin along and everything is going well. I hope you all have a great week to! Mom, I understand the no AC thing, im sorry you had to go through that. When does school start for Amanda? And Sophie is going to be a Junior in high school, right? Thats insane. Anyways, I hope you have a great week, and Kate good luck with you voice camp! I love you all!

Anziano Christian Fife McKinnon

16 Jul 14

This was a super super great week!

So first things first. Remember our investigator in Muggio who went through all the anti material/every other obstacle in the history of earth? President gave us permission to go to Muggio and help with her baptism on Friday. And she got BAPTIZED! She did so good and was so brave! She had so many obstacles but she got through them all! It was a miracle that everything went well, and now she's a member of the Church. Her testimony has grown so much, and she seriously did such a good job! 

Dad, you talked about that episode of Top Gear where they went to Monza. Monza is the city next to Muggio and I did tons of work there. So of the two cities that were on the show, ive served in both of them.

So were still having bike troubles. After the baptism, we got back to Piacenza super late (at like 11pm) and we get to our bikes, and my bike tire is flat. I didnt want to walk the 45 minutes it would take to get home on foot because I was exhausted, and two we'd have to go through the "red light district." So I decided to just go for it anyways and it was a really dumb bad idea. The tube came out from under the tire and got tangled in the chain and gears so now I have another broken bike. We called our ward mission leader to pick us up so at least we didnt have to walk home.

Last night we had dinner with a part member family, and the husband was really cool. He let us shoot his bow and arrow while he took a shower, so we did that. Im no Will from Ranger's Apprentice, but it went ok.

We got a referall this week from a guy in Bologna. He's a member, and after a YSA activity, he and his friend decided to do finding work. (awesome members, right?) They found this guy and his wife who live down here by us, and we went and saw them. They are so cool! The husband said "I want to find a good church, but ive been to every one in the city and all of them have problems with their doctrine." So theyre really excited to read the Book of Mormon and were seeing them next week!

This past Saturday we helped one of our investigators cut wood on his farm. It was really cool. He's got cows, chickens, and a goat. He's also got a little beagle and were best friends. 

So I guess you'd say this week was a little different than others with a baptism, wood cutting, and archery. Then tomorrow were doing another exchange with the zone leaders and im going to Modena again. There are other things that are kind of exciting that ill have to tell you when I get home. 

Thats all ive got this week! Im just pluggin along and everything is going well. I hope you all have a great week to! Mom, I understand the no AC thing, im sorry you had to go through that. When does school start for Amanda? And Sophie is going to be a Junior in high school, right? Thats insane. Anyways, I hope you have a great week, and Kate good luck with you voice camp! I love you all!

Anziano Christian Fife McKinnon

09 Jul 14

Hey again! Well I really like Piacenza a lot.

 

I talked about our bikes last week, right? Well someone stole Anziano Jacob's wheel so now we have to walk everywhere again. It was kind of my fault, because I guess at Verona people are way nicer because we never locked our wheels up and everything was fine. We didnt lock the wheels up one time here on a Sunday afternoon for three hours and it was gonzo. All I know is that there is a special somethin waiting for people who steal missionary bike tires on the sabbath.

 

Not a lot happened this week, it was pretty boring. We have some really really cool people were working with. I cant tell you how nice it is to work with people who will like do what we ask them to do. A lot of people we worked with in Verona were like "Yeah, I know the Book of Mormon is true. No, ive never read a word of it in my life, but I know its true. Yes, I believe Joseph Smith was a prophet. I dont agree with some of the doctrine he taught, but of course he's a prophet of God. Yes, I believe this is the true church. But I also believe that other churches are true to." I really just love teaching people who are willing to act. You have problems with living commandments, I dont care, we can work on it. Youre having a hard time recognizing an answer, thats fine. Just read, pray, and come to church and everything else will work out. That's probably the biggest thing im excited for when I come home. My success in school/work/etc is up to me and my decision making, and not someone elses. Sorry about the rant, but thats one of the biggest things ive learned out here on the mission, that the word "gospel" is a verb. Thats probably one of the biggest things people dont understand.

 

Anyways, on Friday we had a 4th of July party at a members house. Us four missionaries had to sing the Star Spangled banner for everyone there. That song gets pretty high. We had burgers and hot dogs, and a tug of war, three legged race, and then everyone else did a square dance while we watched. It was a lot of fun, and there was a really good turn out.Then on Sunday (just because the whole "comfort zone" thing gets kind of destroyed) I had to sing in church for like the 5th time. I dread it every time and it goes pretty not that good every time but people just keep askin us. Mom, you should be pretty proud of me though, im fighting back my musical inadequecy. A few months ago I bought the "Simplified Hymn Book" and can now play the right hand only of 95% of the songs in there. Its about as simple as you can get, but hey. We'll see if I can get that left hand goin a little bit, but chances arent high.

 

I dont know if I talked about it last time, but were going to do a lot of less active work here. We have a huge list of less actives that live here in Piacenza. Usually when doing less active hunting, all of the less actives live in the middle of knowhere so we pretty much cant go see them. Its going to be great to have them in the city. If only we had bikes.

 

Hair cut part two. I tried to cut my own hair. I really liked the length of Anziano Jacob's so I was going to do the same. Good thing when I did it on me, it looked like 8 inches shorter. So I guess for now the long hair is gone until it grows back. Its a learning process.

 

Well, thats all I have for this week. It wasnt a big eventful week. This next week should be pretty exciting, but I wont explain why until next week. Hows that for a cliff hanger? Have a good week everyone! I love you!

 

Anziano Christian Fife McKinnon

02 Jul 14

This week new things happened!

So first off, like I said, im in Piacenza. Its a smaller city with a branch. The branch has like 60 people come every week, but summer is starting so a lot less people come. Everyone goes on vacation for literally a month. Our branch has lots of older people, so were trying to find families. 

One of the biggest changes is that there are only two companionships of missionaries here. There's us, and then a companionship of sisters. Its been a big change because in Milano there were 3 companionships (plus another 6 in other parts of the city), Muggio there were 3 companionships, and Verona there were 3 (with another 2 in the other half of the city, not counting the 3 senior couples) (I accidently stole the map we had from Verona so ill show you our area and stuff when I get home). Now its just us four with the closest other missionaries an hour away. I like it alot, being able to go anywhere in the city to do missionary work, instead of having to stay in assigned areas. 

My companion is Anziano Jacob, from Pennsylvania. He's been in Italy just about 10 months, so its been good to have someone who's still newer but actually knows what he's doing. He likes video games and computers alot, so ill be learning some new stuff. I like him alot, and were speaking in Italian 24/7 so hopefully our language will get better. I didnt speak aton aton of Italian with Anziano Lopez because he really wanted to learn english, but ive seen my Italian has gotten a lot better from being with him. 

Its been different living in 2. Its a lot easier to keep the house and kitchen clean, and ive kind of had to adjust how much I cook. Mom, dont worry im not just eating pasta and red sauce. Ive managed to learn how make some things pretty well, even well enough to the point where I dont have to say the line said most often by missionaries "Just add salt and itll taste good (aka, like salt)." 

So Piacenza is still in the Verona stake, and im really excited about that because we have one of the best Stake Presidents in the church, President Botta. Im not a zone leader anymore so I dont work with him as much, but its still great to be in the stake. My zone leaders are now Anziano Richardson and Anziano Miller! Like the Anziano Miller that I served with in Milano. Im a district leader so I went to Modena and did an exchange with him on Monday and it was a blast. One of my favorite parts of the mission has been the friends ive made. 

One of the saddest parts of leaving Verona is that I had to leave my bike there. So now im stuck on a scrub bike again. 

Im trying to think about other things that have happened...Oh, I gave a talk on Sunday. Our ward mission leader is really awesome, he's a younger guy and is part of the branch presidency as well. So a new sister missionary and I gave talks. I talked about the parable of the lost sheep.

I think those are all the interesting things that have happened this week. Dad, you asked about the apartment. There are some things ive gained that I didnt in Verona, and some things that ive lost. For example, I dont have AC anymore, but I do have my own fridge (where in Verona 4 of us shared one). We dont have an elevator here, but I have like 4 desks to put all my stuff on (there used to be more missionaries here). Ill just sum it up like this, I went from one of the nicest apartments in the mission to one of the not as nice apartments. But itll all be good!

The last thing, I cut Anziano Jacob's hair last night. I kind of stretched the truth a little bit when he asked me how many times ive cut hair before. I just kind of laughed and acted like his questioni was a joke and said "A few." Really this was like my third time, but it went really well. I did blending and stuff, and it looks really good. Ill get a picture for you. I paid attention really well when Anziano Windley cut my hair in Verona, because his mom is a barber and does it really well. But anyways, Anziano Jacob is probably the most fly lookin missionary in the mission now.

Thats all ive got for this week! If you have any other questions let me know and ill try and remember to answer them! Im glad the girls are home safe and everythings goin back to normal. Have a great week everyone! I love you!

Anziano Christian Fife McKinnon

18 Jun 14

Another week gone.

This week was pretty uneventful. On Sunday it was a little different because there was Seminary/Institute graduation, so they put that in the morning and changed regular church to 3-6. A lot of people went to the seminary graduation but then didnt go to regular church. We had probably half of our normal members in sacrament.

Its been fun being in Italy with the world cup. Italy's first game was played at midnight our time, so it wasnt very exciting for us. They play next Friday at 6pm so we'll see what happens then. The younger members were really excited, but the older ones dont watch soccer very much because they dont have time to watch. With the members who are interested, weve been able to brake down some member/missionary barriers by joking about the games, so its turned out to be really good.

We had a lesson with an investigator from Nigeria this Monday. Our lesson was at 6pm, the same time Nigeria was playing. I called him earlier in the day to confirm. Here's how our conversation went:

Me: Hey John, its the missionaries. Can we still come see you tonight at 6?

Him: At 6? No no no I have...um...um (for 10 seconds) no I have things to do.

Me: Ok, well can we come maybe at 730 or 8?

Him: Umm.... I might still have things to do. (aka the game could still be on) Lets try another day.

So were seeing him another day.

We had a good zone conference on Monday where the Venezia and Bergamo zones came to Verona. After we did an exchange with the assistents, and yeah. It wasnt a huge eventful week.

Investigator wise, we have a few solid people were excited about. They all just have different frustrating problems. There's one kid who comes to church pretty much every week, he just works insane hours so we cant teach him regularly. There's another guy who says that were his congregation, he just never comes to church ever. He just says "Ill see what I can do" and then doesnt come. Hes got a baptismal date in a few weeks buuuut hes not gonna make it.

We find out about transfers next Monday, so we'll see what happens. Im like 95% sure ill be transferred, but we'll see. Ill keep you posted!

I hope everyone has a good week! Dad, that'd be great to get me that information. Im still leaning towards starting in the summer, just so I can get my shoulder good to go. I dont want to deal with it at college again, because last year was the worst. Make sure to keep me updated on the NBA draft, hopefully Jabari goes to the Jazz! Anyways, I love you all! Girls, stay safe in England and Dad have fun and take care of Scottie. Have a great week!

Anziano Christian Fife McKinnon

11 Jun 14

Ill just jump right into it this week.

We had a really good week last week. At the end, we were super super packed, to the point where we didnt know when to go see people (best problem ever) because we lost a day Friday when we had to go to Milano. All three sisters from my MTC district were there, and it was weird to see them because if I get transferred and am not a zone leader I probably wont see them again. I guess that means im old.

Saturday was kind of a bummer, because we had five lessons set up and had to cancel all of them because our ward mission leader is also in the stake young men's presidency (along with another 3 callings, poor guy) so he asked if we could go to a stake missionary work meeting. Then we had (got) to go to the saturday evening adult session so we were in meetings from 330 until 830. It will be no problem staying focused in school because school class periods are only 90 minutes with air conditioning, and I (hopefully) wont be wearing suit.

So last Friday Anziano Windley got hit by a car on his bike. He's fine so dont worry. But he was going to cross a four lane road on a cross walk, the first car stopped but the car in the second lane didnt. So he rolled up over the hood and his head/helmet smashed the windshield. He was fine after, with only a cut on his knee from the bumper, but they called an ambulance and stuff. They did all these tests on him and wanted to go to the hospital. The medic told him that it was a miracle that nothing was wrong, and after much debate they didnt make him go to the hospital.

So Sunday Windley got a headache, and the medics told him that if he got a headache he had to come to the hospital. So he took Anziano Lopez with him, and I took Anziano Anderson. Lopez and I hadnt finished weekly planning, so at 8pm I decided to come in and do it myself so at least we had our goals for the week to report. As I was sitting there I felt "You need to go find people right now." So we went outside to a park. There was a lady there and we went and talked to her. She didnt understand Italian. So we were bummed and sat on a bench to pray. Then a little kid came up to us and said "Shes from Ukraine, and only speaks Russian. But I speak Russian and Italian." Can you translate for us, for two minutes? Yes! So he went and asked his grandma, and she said no and they left. So we were more bummed. After that, we looked over and there was a new guy on a bench, so we went and talked to him. His name was Paul and we taught him the sweetest lesson. The Spirit was super strong. He ended up not wanting a Book of Mormon because he had read the Bible. We made him see (very nicely and in harmony with the teachings of Jesus) how silly he was for not even trying the read teh Book of Mormon, but he still didnt want it. Its a bummer he didnt want to know more, but it was a flippin sweet lesson, and we were supposed to talk to him that day.

The day finished great, because Anziano Windley is still ok, but has to wear a neck brace for ten days. Ill get you a picture next week.

These past two days ive been on a train for 8 hours with no air conditioning. I miss AC so much. Hardly any italians have it because AC causes "Colpa di aria" which is some incredibly deadly disease that doesnt really exist. Verona is way more humid than Milano.

Other than that, all is well. Were busy again this week with a zone conference coming up, and yeah. Things are going well! Thanks for the emails and the support, I hope you all have a great time in Europe! I love you!

Anziano Christian Fife McKinnon

Musical Poster

Wheelie

04 Jun 14

This week has been a good week.

I talked last week about how we have all the time in the world on Monday and Tuesday, and then were super packed the rest of the week. We did lots of phone calls and got things set up on Monday and are having a real good week so far. We have a meeting in Milano this Friday, and have literally zero time the rest of the week. Its been the best problem ever, not knowing when to see people. So were excited about that!

We played basketball last P-day and it was super fun. My right shoulder is feeling great, and the left one im being really careful with. I was pretty sore on Thurdsay, but im all better now. Weve started going and playing basketball every morning at a near by park, so im starting to kind of get things back. Anziano Windley played basketball in high school so its been fun playing against him. Im getting back into shape slowly but surely.

Like I said, we have the misison council on Friday in Milano, and its weird because if I get transferred and am not a zone leader next transfer, itll be the last time I see the sisters in my group. Whats crazier is that my next city could be my last. Ill have five transfers left, and ive done four in my last two cities. I hope that I dont do four and then one in a new city, but we'll see what happens.

Today we ate lunch in a park, and I finished early so I was practicing my wheelie on my sweet new bike. Anziano Windley was taking pictures of me, but he didnt do a very good job, because he took the picture as I was coming down so I look pretty stupid in all of the pictures. Ill send one of them either this week or next week if I remember. Just know that in the picture my wheel may be 6 inches off the ground, I was at least two feet. My incredibily concentrated face is a testimony of that.

Im glad that Amanda graduated from Seminary! And thats crazy school is over also. There were some tourists in church with us on Sunday, so I was translating for them. Two of them looked kind of younger, so after I asked if high school had finished yet. One of them looked at me and said "Yeah, im 25." So that was kind of embaressing, but life goes on I guess.

Ask Grandpa Fife and Grandpa McKinnon if they know a Tom Mackay. Im pretty sure Elder Mackay served his mission in France and he said he knows a Jim Fife. He was a professor at BYU and knows Mitt Smith well. His son also played basketball at Provo in 91 Dad, so maybe he's in your yearbook when you were a senior? Anyways, ive loved being here with both Elder and Sister Mackay. Theyre both really smart, great people and theyve helped me out a lot. Ive been able to pick their brains about school and life and stuff and theyve taught me some really good things.

I think thats all I have for this week. If Anz Lopez finishes with his SD card reader ill send the picture, and if not, ill remember mine next week. I hope you have a great summer! Im excited all the girls are going to England, we'll be neighbors! Dad, make sure you remember to keep me updated on the NBA draft, and let me know if any other BYU guys got drafted in the NFL. Have a great week everyone! I love you all!

Anziano Christian Fife McKinnon

28 May 14

Alright so pretty much here's how my life goes for the week.

Monday: Finding work all day long and phone calls.

Tuesday: Finding work all day long

Wednesday: PDay, a lesson with our new convert, and then meetings with the ward.

Thursday: Five lessons and runnin around

Friday: Five lessons and runnin around

Saturday: Five lessons and runnin around

Sunday: Church and seeing members

Were really trying to find balance because monday and tuesday are the longest days in the entire world and then were at Sunday night all of a sudden. 

So we talked to this guy from Africa a few weeks ago in a city called Bussolengo. We needed to catch the bus, so he said "If were going to talk about Jesus, we need to sit down and pray, in a calm environement." So we finally got to see him last Saturday. Turns out he lives in the same apartment building as the second councilor in the stake presidency/ex mission president, his wife (who is my mom here in verona), and their daughter who speaks english fluently. So we taught this guy and his wife the first lesson, and they are so so so so cool. Shes a preacher in her church, and has probably read the bible more times than ive read Harry Potter. Im really praying that they remain solid because alot of contacts like this kind of turn out less legit. Ask Dylan if you want to know why.

I got a new bike! Its sweeeeeeet. It is a good feeling to have a good bike under me that doesnt feel like its going to explode. 

Our ward had a musical this sunday. Im pretty glad its over because wed call people to see members and theyd say after the musical. So itll be good to see a lot of members again. 

I dont have a lot to say this week. The only interesting other thing from this week, is we had a lesson last night with a kid who weve seen like three times before? He works everyday from 6am until 7pm, then he gets home, eats, showers, and goes to bed. He has the weekends off, but he goes to Milano to find more work. So weve been "teaching him" for like 3ish months. Were really excited because whenever he doesnt go to MIlano he comes to church. We saw him last night, and he said that hes looking for something to bring more peace in his life, something to help him quit smoking, and wants to give a talk in church (a true miracle). He said that he could meet with us once a week, so we'll see what happens! 

Thats all I have for this week.... I cant believe that school is over almost again. Whenver I think of "a few months ago" I think of January 2013 when I was home. And were already in June pretty much!  I hope you all have a great week and everything goes great! I love you all!

Anziano Christian Fife McKinnon

21 May 14

Well this week was a pretty good week!

Its fun to have a new missionary with us. We asked him what he liked to do and he said "I like to play the piano and make cheese cake." If thats not a killer combo I dont know what is.

So I just have bike problems all the time. For some reason missionaries are pretty awful and buying bikes that dont... well to be quite frank, that dont suck. I switched the new guy bikes before he came because the one I was riding didnt have working gears or shocks. I figured itd be better that he started with a bad bike and went up from there. Jokes on me. 

So this is probably my fault, but I will say that right from when I started riding the bike, it was making pretty ugly sounds. But anyways we had to wait outside for a guy for awhile with nobody around, so I decided to do something productive and learn how to do a wheelie. Uncle Dave should be proud of me because I got pretty good. But I got a little to confident in my bike's shocks because I started catching major air off of curbs and speed bumps whenever I rode it. So one day we were going to our area and my pedals just got jammed. I pulled over, and the back wheel was flat and had broke off of the frame of the bike. Not unhooked, but broken out. So I dont have a bike again. But on the bright side, greeny's bike works fine.

We had a cool contact with a guy Monday night. But I need to back up. So we had an appointment with a guy from somewhere that speaks French. So we brought a restoration pamphlet in french for him. He didnt show up, so it was just in my bag. Then we stopped this guy who speaks italian pretty well, who's mother language is french. So we started talking about the restoration pamphlet that we had on us. We asked him to read the first vision, and he said that he wanted us to read it. Anz. Lopez looks at me and says "Do you speak french?"  A little... (aka my 8th and 9th grade french class where I learned as much french as I learned chinese. Ms. Springmeyer is laughing somewhere right now) and I read the first vision in french. The whole time I was just thinking "I sound like a flippin fool right now Heavenly Father, please make this at least a little ok."  At the end he said he understood so thats ten points for the good guys. Were seeing him again Friday.

We found a guy last night named Gollum. Im trying to think of a funny Lord of the Rings joke to make here, but I cant think of anything.

So this transfer im the "apartment coordinator" (as first act as the apartment coordinator I renamed the position apartment lord) so now we do chores and stuff every night so our apartment doesnt look destroyed every day. Its working like a charm. Yes Mom, that is a real thing. 

I think thats all I have to report this week. Im glad everything worked out with Amanda's apartment and school and stuff. When does she start? And hopefully everything goes well with everyone else in the family. Greg, Rachel and Co. are in my prayers also!

Last story that I forgot to tell from Easter. The saturday night before easter, we were on our way home from church. We were on a scambio, so I was with Anz. Windley. The road we take was closed, but bikes dont have to follow the rules in Italy so we just went on it anyways. Were flyin down this hill, and I see Windley cross the street, and this giant group of people holding candles following an old priest carrying a giant cross walk down the road. Windley barely gets by them, but I have to stop my bike. I would have given anything to have a Go Pro. Im just walking my bike through this group of people who are singing weird hymn chant things going "Sorry....sorry...sorry" trying hard to keep a strait face (i failed) and not laugh. Sorry for ruining easter. I love you all! Have a good week!

Anziano Christian Fife McKinnon

Me, Yamilka, and ET.

04 Apr 14

Ill just jump right into it this week.

We had a really good week last week. At the end, we were super super packed, to the point where we didnt know when to go see people (best problem ever) because we lost a day Friday when we had to go to Milano. All three sisters from my MTC district were there, and it was weird to see them because if I get transferred and am not a zone leader I probably wont see them again. I guess that means im old.

Saturday was kind of a bummer, because we had five lessons set up and had to cancel all of them because our ward mission leader is also in the stake young men's presidency (along with another 3 callings, poor guy) so he asked if we could go to a stake missionary work meeting. Then we had (got) to go to the saturday evening adult session so we were in meetings from 330 until 830. It will be no problem staying focused in school because school class periods are only 90 minutes with air conditioning, and I (hopefully) wont be wearing suit.

So last Friday Anziano Windley got hit by a car on his bike. He's fine so dont worry. But he was going to cross a four lane road on a cross walk, the first car stopped but the car in the second lane didnt. So he rolled up over the hood and his head/helmet smashed the windshield. He was fine after, with only a cut on his knee from the bumper, but they called an ambulance and stuff. They did all these tests on him and wanted to go to the hospital. The medic told him that it was a miracle that nothing was wrong, and after much debate they didnt make him go to the hospital.

So Sunday Windley got a headache, and the medics told him that if he got a headache he had to come to the hospital. So he took Anziano Lopez with him, and I took Anziano Anderson. Lopez and I hadnt finished weekly planning, so at 8pm I decided to come in and do it myself so at least we had our goals for the week to report. As I was sitting there I felt "You need to go find people right now." So we went outside to a park. There was a lady there and we went and talked to her. She didnt understand Italian. So we were bummed and sat on a bench to pray. Then a little kid came up to us and said "Shes from Ukraine, and only speaks Russian. But I speak Russian and Italian." Can you translate for us, for two minutes? Yes! So he went and asked his grandma, and she said no and they left. So we were more bummed. After that, we looked over and there was a new guy on a bench, so we went and talked to him. His name was Paul and we taught him the sweetest lesson. The Spirit was super strong. He ended up not wanting a Book of Mormon because he had read the Bible. We made him see (very nicely and in harmony with the teachings of Jesus) how silly he was for not even trying the read teh Book of Mormon, but he still didnt want it. Its a bummer he didnt want to know more, but it was a flippin sweet lesson, and we were supposed to talk to him that day.

The day finished great, because Anziano Windley is still ok, but has to wear a neck brace for ten days. Ill get you a picture next week.

These past two days ive been on a train for 8 hours with no air conditioning. I miss AC so much. Hardly any italians have it because AC causes "Colpa di aria" which is some incredibly deadly disease that doesnt really exist. Verona is way more humid than Milano.

Other than that, all is well. Were busy again this week with a zone conference coming up, and yeah. Things are going well! Thanks for the emails and the support, I hope you all have a great time in Europe! I love you!

Anziano Christian Fife McKinnon