Sigonella Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving seemed anti-climactic this year.  We spend the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving in Palermo with the Catania and Palermo Mission Tour.  Even though we had Panini and green salad with pumpkin pie it seemed like Thanksgiving.  I bought the pumpkin pies from the commissary and baked them one at a time in my tiny oven for a total of nine straight hours of baking to surprise the missionaries with a taste of home for Thanksgiving.  I am not sure if it was the spray whipped cream or the pumpkin pie they like best but it was an amazing favorite!

We had planned to take our Catania missionaries to Sigonella for the Thanksgiving feast at the Ristorante Bella Etna on Thanksgiving Day but it turned out that our Zone Leaders traveled with President Pickerd to Rome on Thursday for a Mission Leader Conference.  That left us with no one to share Thanksgiving with;we made the best of our circumstances! Military families enjoyed a four day weekend and in Sigonella that means a trip will be planned.  One family went to Jerusalem, one family to Paris and one family to Rome. We spent Thanksgiving dinner with our military families and their Italian national guests dinning hall style. The Base Commander, Captian Trickle and the base Chaplin Hervy were serving the troops Thanksgiving dinner. I am not allowed to take pictures of military personnel in uniform so that leaves only the food, of course it was jam packed with military!

The weather was perfect 72 degrees outside. Several tables outside were full of military in uniform!

Those trays reminded me of school lunch!

There is pumpkin pie right in the center, unfortunately the pecan pie was gone when I took this picture!

Salad bar

 

Crab legs and lobster tails were on the buffet! Not ever to be found in school lunch!

Scallops

Rome Italy Mission Tour 2018

November is Mission tour month for the Rome Italy Mission.   Our mission is a gigantic geographic area so it is broken into two sections.  Phase one of the Tour being the island of Sicily which was held on Wednesday, November 21, the second all the rest of the mission in Rome on November 22.  The Palermo and Catania Zones consisting of 45 missionaries met at the Palermo 2 building to spend the day together with Elder Massimo De Feo and President and Sister Pickerd.

Catania and Palermo Mission Tour 2018

What is better than a small group session with a General Authority?

Teaching moments!

President and Sister Pickerd

Elder De Feo 

Elder Massimo De Feo was sustained as a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 2, 2016. At the time of his call, he had been serving as a member of the Third Quorum of the Seventy in the Europe Area.

After serving as a full-time missionary, he began his career in International Relations at the American Embassy in Rome. Elder De Feo was a member of several committees of the U.S. government for bilateral agreements on Social Security and worked as the Federal Benefits Operations Supervisor at the American Embassies in Rome and Paris for more than 30 years, and as the Deputy Regional Officer of the Social Security Administration for the Europe South, North Africa, and Middle East Regions.

Elder De Feo has served in numerous Church callings, including full-time missionary from 1981 to 1983 in the Italy Rome Mission, branch president, district president, counselor in a bishopric, high councilor, stake president, and Area Seventy.

Massimo De Feo was born in Taranto, Italy on December 14, 1960. He married Loredana Galeandro in August 1984. They are the parents of three children.

Two panini for each missionary, Cesar salad and Italian dolce before the lunch rush!

I love being with our missionaries; they energize me! I believe that is why I spent 30 years in public education.  I love absorbing the ideas and enthusiasm of both students and missionaries.  Our mission tour was exhilarating!   A few poignant reminders Elder DeFeo left with us:

“You might be the only thing that can stop you!”

“Don’t wait to be called!”

Reminders quoted from President Thomas S. Monson:

“Whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies.”

“The Lord will shape the back to bear the burden placed upon it.”

“When you are on the Lord’s errand you are entitled to the Lord’s help.”

My phone notes are full of gems and ideas; it was treasured experience.  I want to implement and become a better servant!


Anziano and Sorella Smith have been serving in Palermo; they leave Saturday to return to Idaho! We will miss our island partners!

Sorella Shelly Smith

Anziano Stan Smith

Missionary Tools

I have started a Crochet group that meets at our apartment on Wednesday nights at 7:00.  Lindsey Wingate is our very capable teacher.  On a Thursday while we volunteering for the Red Cross at the Optometry Clinic our lunch conversation became crocheted items.  Lindsey stopped by and stepped up to volunteer to teach us how to make baskets.  Mikayla, the optometrist was immediately in so I opened it up to our Relief Society group and an Italian neighbor on the first floor of our building.  I had a nice group of veteran crocheters ready to learn a new skill.  We have available to us T-shirt yarn that is a residue of the clothing industry in Italy.  So off the local store to pick up some T-shirt yarn and a #12 hook.  A batch of caramel corn later we had all finished our baskets. Nice Work girls! The crochet hook is my new missionary tool!

Sorella Cataini

Sorella Moshier and Lindsey Wingate

Kim Petersen

Dr. Mikayla Uphoff

Hannah Uphoff

Abbey Hawkes

Jeni Hawkes

Vivian Hawkes-AKA Abagail Adams straight from her history fair!

Alison Martinsen

Carmen Greider

The last of the group to finish!

And just like that I have three new baskets to fill!

Italian Day of the Dead

Italian Day of the Dead

No, it’s not a horror movie and it’s not even the Sicilian version of Halloween.  November 2^nd is the celebration honoring departed ancestors and relatives.  Sicilians call it Jornu Di Li Morti.  Until 1943 Sicilian children used to place a wicker basket under their beds or their shoes on the windowsills in the hope that their deceased loved ones would bring them toys and sweets. The children would reciprocate the gifts that they’d found in the morning by visiting the graves of their relatives.

In Sicily like many other holidays special cakes are made in symbolic shapes to the Day of the Dead. Almond paste shapes made into shapes, almond cookies, and coca based cookies or sugar mold puppets of boiled sugar can be found in local panificio or pasticceria.

Fancy sugar boiled sugar molded desserts

Plain , Pastachi, and Nutella flavored cookies only made during Day of the Dead.

Teaching English in Italian Schools

I have been working with Public Affairs on Sigonella to provide service projects for the Catania missionaries as well as our Sigonella Branch.  Tuesday, November  13, was our designated day for  missionaries to teach English in an Elementary School. I checked out some library books from the Sigonella Base Library and we were off on a great adventure.  Following is the invitation and directions:

Just spoke with Ms Consoli, the Chairwoman for Education of the City of Pedara, who confirmed the school's availability to host a language interaction event in class with the elementary school children on Tuesday, November 13th. The project will last from 0930 to approximately 1300. The school will have refreshments for the volunteers. The name of the school is  "PLESSO GIUSEPPINA FARO" and is located in VIA SAN GIOVANNI BOSCO in PEDARA (the city's main square next to the Town Hall of Municipio) google map's address:
https://www.google.it/maps/place/Piazza+Don+Giovanni+Bosco,+95030+Pedara+CT/@37.6169472,15.0608489,3a,75y,248.08h,96.9t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sUCSs2YTSh8v2ufA6IusDbw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x1313fe6a0e759e37:0x7443d6f750245e11!8m2!3d37.6171335!4d15.0602637
When you arrive to the school both Ms Consoli and the English Teacher Gemi Spaziano will be waiting for you.

For any issues, please do not hesitate to call me at 335.7790451. I will be facilitating another school COMREL in a Riposto school  but I will be available via phone to assist you.  

Thank you,
V/r
Alberto

Dr. Alberto Lunetta
NAS Sigonella PAO  Community Relations Director Duty cell : 335.7790451

Italian Teachers at the school with Sorelle Moshier and Catani  and Anzaini Huntsman and DiLiberto.

Fifth Grade class

Fifth Grade classroom

Fourth grade classroom

The parents made Italian desserts for refreshments and brought each dish with ingredients included.

Students are line up with their notebooks to get autographs of the English speaking teachers.

Quite an Italian spread of delicacies!  Needless to say we loved the homemade Italian delights!

We had a great experience, students asked for autographs, they were so excited to have native English speakers.  I just received a call requesting a return visit to the school.  What a great way to serve Italy!

Sigonella Baptism

Meet the newest member of the Sigonella Branch, Italy. Miss Caylee Levine was baptized on Saturday, November 3, 2018 in the Catania Chapel font. She lives in Maraini with her mom Diana, stepdad Brandon, sister Ellory and brother Jacob.  Her oldest brother Daniel is currently serving  a mission in the Phillipines. Caylee currently attends Embry-Riddle Aeronauticial University on base and is studying to be an engineer.  She carrys a full load at school and yet can be found at the Marine Corp Relief Society volunteering in the office or the Thrift Shop.  She is a treasure and we are so excited to have her join us at church on Sundays.

Murder Mystrey Dinner Relief Society

Who doesn’t like a good Murder Mystery with dinner? Our October Relief Society activity was exactly that and a smashing good time was had by all.  The script was set in the southern US, with a cast of plantation millionaires and a few swamp rats to add to the mix. The menu included authentic southern dishes because all of us had spent at least one station in the south. Jambalaya, cornbread, crab dip, bread pudding and flan to finish it off. The southern menu primed the dinner conversation with a perfect “who done it” script to keep the laughter and spicy accusations flying across the table. Our Sigonella Branch turned out in great form and the southern drawls kept the competition standard high.  

Connika Gothika- Dupre neighbor and famous author Chrissy Finucane

Matthew "Gator" Crovitz boyfriend of Alexis- Caylee Levine

Alexis Du Preh heiress to the Dupre estate- Chelsea George

Melissa F. DuPree wife #2- Alison Martinsen

Elise St. Gresch the DuPre maid-Carmen Grieder

Cayenne Pepper The DuPre Chef-Diana Southcombe

J. Stephen Peek the DuPre family attorney- Abbey Hawkes

 

The Southern Belles of Sigonella

The culprit was fettered out by the clues and questions and all is well that ends well right? Hard to get anything by this Relief Society group.