Safe, Sound and Jet-lag Stupid

I have lost track of the hours, but I woke up at 4 am in Arizona, August 21 and am still awake 8 pm in Rome, August 22. Whatever that means!

Their whole goal for today is to keep us entertained long enough that we don't fall asleep until night time. The mission president, President Kelly, and the assistants picked us up at the airport. On the way to the Mission Office, we drove by the half-built Rome temple. Lookin' good! They won't give a finish time, but it sounds like it will definitely be after I'm gone. And the rumors are true: the Cristus--the iconic Christ statue in Salt Lake City--is being replicated in the Rome Visitor's Center, but they now have permission to also replicate the statues of the 12 apostles along with it.

Then we got some basic orientations on how to stay legal while staying in Italy (in short, don't carry any valuable documents with you and paperwork paperwork paperwork). Then we came to the mission home, where I'm now staying the night. The mission home is a short distance from the mission office and is a villa built in 1924 by Mussolini for one of his daughter's. There's nothing like a fascist nepotism legacy for an LDS Mission Home! But it's a beautiful villa. They fed us -- forgot about the food, I forgot how good Italian ingredients smell. Maybe I was suffering from jet lag, but I could have smelled all the food in the fridge for several minutes.

Aaaand the real carrot to keep us up was our new assignments! I will be serving in Mistretta, Sicily! It's up in the hills and has a car (luckily, I won't be driving... yet...). I was hoping for walking! But it is the "coolest" part of the mission (temperature wise). Which is a shame, because I was totally prepared for this summer weather after Mesa! Even with humidity, Italy at 95 degrees with 70% humidity is nothing compared to Mesa at 115 degrees.

I'll travel down to Sicily tomorrow (yay, more traveling) and figure all that good stuff out.

Italy Rome Mission

Piazza Carnaro, 20
00141 Roma, Italia

Okay, I need to fall asleep now! Give a letter shoutout to Jesse, Bekah (they forwarded your letters from forever ago to Italy!!!), Kayci, and Sister Puttapong. 

Thanks! 

Love!

sis fuller