something is wrong with you

ciao ciao amore miei!

guys, i have had a week for the books. crazy stuff is happening here in my lovely boot shaped home. i hear that it is cooling down there in utah .. .i wish i could say the same for taranto ... instead it is just getting more humid. seriously. this is gross but i will tell you anyway. i come home every night soaking wet. obviously it is mostly sweat but sometimes, even when i am not hot and sweaty, i just have water on me from the humidity. it cray. 

so as a missionary, sometimes i worry too much about my opening line. like i lose sleep over what i can say to a person at the bus stop or on the train to make my way in. in the mtc we heard a talk about just this anxiety. they said don't worry about it too much because alma's opening line with ammon was "hey i'm hungry" and look how well that turned out. well this is not the case. we were at the bus stop the other day. sorella taylor was talking to the sweetest old lady and there was an older man next to me. he had this giant piece of luggage with him and i have a giant piece of the spirit saying "talk to him." i didn't know which opening line to use so instead i asked him if that luggage was his.

it went a little like this ...

me: wow that is some big luggage. is that yours?
him: (looks at me like i am crazy) no it is yours. of course it is mine!
me: ... haha(?)
him: do you speak english?
me: yeah.
him: (in english) stop taking to me! something's wrong with you!
me: (confused. i am nice! why is he yelling at me in english!) wow you speak english really well!
him: seriously crazy lady stop talking to me. you are crazy! never talk to me again!
me: okay. sorry. um have a good day!

YIKE! right. don't worry though because literally 10 minutes later we had a man that was a little too friendly. he couldn't believe that we wanted to come visit HIM! that WE wanted HIS number. i learned this phrase that sorella taylor says is really important to remember and use for men that are confused about why we're here. 

we had a lunch appointment with one of the newest families in the ward. i've probably talked about them before. la famiglia kovacs. the mom, lydia and the son, robert, were baptized about a year ago and the oldest son stefano is being taught by the anziani right now. they are a fabulous family! they have a friend named luigi who lives in our building and isn't a member. he is golden though and we are just waiting for the best moment to teach him. he told sorella taylor before i got here that he had a dream that was apparently exactly like lehi's dream. crazy! so we are planning to teach him but his wife is super catholic and he is basically a walking smokestack. anyway we ate a big 5 course traditional italian pranzo with them this week and the "theme" was (family you are going to love this) "il frutto del mar" or "the fruit of the sea". WOO! haha i had some calamari, oysters, shrimp, and all kinds of other mystery fish. it looked beautiful...but seafood is still not my favorite. however antipasta dishes are and we had a delish antipasta too so i was happy! oh and luigi convinced sorella taylor to try some "non alcoholic cider" and we quickly learned that he lied and sorella taylor felt guilty all day. haha!

il fruito del mar....

one last little story. we went to visit a new family that we are teaching that live about 20 minutes outside of taranto. we traveled all the way out there to find out that the testimoni di jehovah were there teaching. great. but the trip, of course, was worth it because we met a man at the bus stop that is so fabulous. on the bus we taught him about prayer and had a lovely little prayer in the bus as monsters and men played in the background. that song will never be the same again! 

well my loves, i need to run. we are headed to a little celebration for san cosimo (the saint of taranto) today and maybe to tour a castle. pdays are too good to me!

before i go i want you all to know that the grace of god is sufficient. i am weak. oh so weak. even when i give my all, i still don't deserve his mercy and love. but jesus christ thought that we are worth all that he went through. he died for us, knowing full well that we would sin and make mistakes and not live worthy of his sacrifice. but still, he gave us the greatest gift that will ever be given. that gift is the atonement and it is given to all of the children of god. for me and for you and for these crazy italians that yell at you in english when you just want to be friends, or trick you into drinking wine, or confuse your motives. i love this gospel. i know it has been restored to the earth again and because of that we can live forever, in the presence of god and with our families! and i am relieved that my family gets to be mine forever because they really are the best! you are they best. i love you and pray for your happiness!!

tanti bacci,
sorella wightman

p.s. next week is transfers! it is highly unlikely that i will be leaving but just in case ... if i leave i won't have time to email on pday because that is the travelling day. so if you don't hear from me on wednesday you will definitely hear from me later in the week!

me and my first gelato!

me and sorella taylor in the BEAUTIFUL alberobello. seriously look it up guys.

alberobello.

francesca's baptism!!! beautiful. can't wait to see another someday! soon!