January 21 - English Classes

Tuesday and Thursday evenings are English classes open to the public.  They have a good number showing up.. Last night they had 15, up from last week by 5. The Sisters work with beginners and the Elders advanced. One guy has been coming for almost 5 years. He works with prisoners and teaches them. Our first meeting with him he said Carl was Italian and I was for sure Americana. We were told that at one of the conferences the Mission President was told that English is the language of the restoration. That is why it is important to teach it.

My language is coming, (SLOWLY SLOWLY) they do speak differently here, not just an accent, but as Elder B puts it “they clip off the end of the words”. There are very few who speak English here, outside of the missionaries, so it will help the learning process.

We have a great landlord and he has been helping us to navigate the area with supplies and where best to go. He has two stores, all run by his family so you know where he would like us to go. He gets things done, he is Dad and Uncle Dan’s dream come true. He knows everyone and requires their best, but is also there to help each step of the way. Example, when the gas man came to the apartment to put the meter in and there was not the right box, we called the Landlord, he talked to the Gas man, and in 10 minutes he was there with the right box. 

That afternoon was another step to install heat and this time he was here before they were. Connections were not right and they said the box was wrong, The landlord talked them through what the other gasman said and the three of them came to an agreement. The Landlord got the supplies they wanted and helped to do the installation. We got heat. That is unusual for Italy. Now you can see some of the reasons why the Temple is behind, each set of workmen seem to have their own idea of how to do the job, with no code to follow. Anyway that was what we witnessed.