Six weeks seem to go by so quickly, some transfers go
smoothly with just a ripple of change in our Catania Zone, and others are quite
jolting. The September transfer was a
regular earthquake.
The missionary faucet is slowing down and we are sending
many more missionaries home than we are receiving. Europe is experiencing a
drop across the continent of 25%. When
we arrived in Italy last January there were 198 missionaries in the Great Rome
Italy Mission, we have dropped to 164 and a low of 138 by Christmas time. There
are many reasons for the drop in missionaries, fewer applicants, fewer baptisms
in Europe and a religious discontent across Europe are reasons mentioned most
often.
Last week we were 20 missionaries in the Catania Zone, today
we are 18; seven of the 18 are new transfers. In our Catania District four of
the six left Sicily! What that really
means is two Anziani and two Sorelle packed up all of the Italian belongings
and moved off the island. That means a
crazy couple of day dropping off at the train station, the bus terminal and the
airport. On Thursday we set a record, we
managed to get nine very large overstuffed suitcases in a little Toyota Yaris,
that is a record. A second trip
transported the Sorelle to the train station while the Anziani took the metro
to the train station for a 12-hour train ride to Rome! The bus station took
missionaries from Siracusa to Palermo and airport duty consisted of four Zone
leaders and Sister Trainers drop off on Friday for a training meeting in Rome,
returning on Saturday night for a pickup back to their apartments. Sunday looks normal again as we attend our
Sunday meeting in Catania Ward and Sigonella Branch no one suspects it has been
total chaos for three days straight!
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| Sorelle Sullivan, Kaesler and Maxfield with small bags and a penny board on their laps in our back seat on the way to the train station. |
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| Luggage overload with all their Italian possessions at the train station! |
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| There they are ready to board the train! |
I had to chuckle as I read this post! We experience so many of the same things! Most of the time we feel like ducks paddling for all we're worth while trying to remain serene on the surface. Our transfer week begins tomorrow; then we have zone conferences the two weeks after that. So it is going to be a busy time for us. So enjoy reading of your adventures.
ReplyDeleteOur mission has experiences a downsizing as well. The exiting and entering missionaries are beginning to be more balanced, but for about three transfers we lost way more than we gained. We've had to close multiple apartments. The housing coordinators have had their hands full!
Something about goodbye is always unsettling. In 1964 I said goodbye to a couple of our Elders in Uruguay. I ememreme one of them put a little sign in the window of the 707 that was bearing him to the States. It read "bien, bien, bien", which he was always fond of saying. He just died today and I hope that still applies. Gone home too soon for the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteSomething about goodbye is always unsettling. In 1964 I said goodbye to a couple of our Elders in Uruguay. I remember one of them put a little sign in the window of the 707 that was bearing him to the States. It read "bien, bien, bien", which he was always fond of saying. He just died today and I hope that still applies. Gone home too soon for the rest of us.
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