"Bari holds the key to her heart" aka WELCOME to BARI (MANILOW)!

Hello!

Well, I finally got voted off the island... I have left Sicily behind and it's just KILLIN' me. I loved that little island and hope I get to go back while still in the mission. (Read more below...)

But HAPPY CHRISTMAS RON! A little belated, but A HAPPY NEW YEAR RON as well!

We had a great Christmas. We ate pranzo with the Purparis (which sounds like the title to a Magic Tree House book, but isn't). Pranzo meaning our large lunch of homemade pumpkin ravioli, potatoes, pork, spicy beans (!!!), fruit salad and raspberry cake. And our fake cheesecake made from Philadelphia cream cheese. And a YouTube channel of 40s Christmas music. NICE.

Then we spent the rest of Christmas packing because... yep, we BOTH got transferred! I got whitewashed for Elders AGAIN (meaning instead of one of us staying in the area to train a new missionary, we both get blown out and instead two male missionaries who have never been to the area have to try and figure it out based on all of the hopefully helpful notes we left). It was very unexpected -- I assumed I was staying for at least another six weeks and we just had three days to pack everything and drive to Catania and catch buses and trains to our respective cities. I'm afraid Sorella Cee will no longer be a protagonist in these emails, as she has gone to Rome and I have been sent to the Puglia region. I am in a city called Bari (and the accent is on BAri) that is right on the coast. I am right on the heel of the boot of Italy.

But transfers went well and I didn't forget anything in Mistretta (at least not that I remember). And now I live in a city that has a large ward (meaning congregation). Do you know what this means? Church doesn't get cancelled if three people catch the flu! It's a fantastic opportunity and I'm excited.

My new companion is Sorella P. from St. Louis, Missouri. She's been in the mission for about three months, so we're just two youngins takin on a city. Actually, we're taking on 1/4 of the city, because there are 8, COUNT THEM, 8 missionaries in this city! Two other sisters (we live with them) and four other elders. The other sisters are Sorella Wagoner (from St. George/Las Vegas) and Sorella Rosato (from Como, Italy). Sorella Wagoner went to Dixie though so we don't know each other. UNTIL NOW. NICE. We have two wards in the city. Two elders and two sisters for each ward.

We celebated New Year's eating traditional Italian Capo D'Anno food: lentils and pig's foot! YAY! We also added mashed potatoes, homemade bread and honey butter, pasta and homemade tiramisu to the mix. 

 Right now there we have three serious investigators... Giovanni (not the villian in Pokemon), Mike (an African man), and Gao (a Chinese boy). Definitely a different mix from before. I'll have to learn how to teach in simple English and very simple Italian.

Ok VERY IMPORTANT: My new address....

Viale Luigi Einaudi, 25

70125 Bari

Italia

When you pronounce "Einaudi" fast it almost sounds like "And now... di" for something completely different!

We have a car here and for all of my doubts about driving in Italy, I LOVE THIS CAR! AND DRIVING IN IT! It's a small, blue Opel Corsa (I think Opel is European) and it glides like a dream (whatever that phrase means). I like paralleling parking it. The elders who had it before us named it "Blue Bear." Not even joking. I think it's a sign. There's also a small bear on the dashboard. NICE.

So, I love y'all. You're a great group of kids!

Oh, I also forgot to announce that my brother Matt is getting married to an awesome girl named Chloe this February! And my little brother is going on a mission to Ukraine in March! Most of you probably already know all this, since it's old hat, but I just want to pretend this is a real blog and I can brag about my family. BRAG BRAG BRAG!

Peace,

Sorella Fuller