When I first found out we were coming to Italy, I contacted the mission home and asked for people that could help us find a place in Naples and anyone I could just ask questions to. I was blessed with an email address of a very sweet, amazing person named Becky Trimble. She has been a lifesaver in my anxiety of Naples and Italy. She gave us the coordinates to help us find the church, which is a very good thing as it is in an alley that I'm not sure we ever would have found, but we did and what an experience we had. Amazing how the church can feel like home so quickly. We were immediately greeted by the elders and a few of the ward people who work with the Navy. Quite a few of them are contractors and are stationed here, so we already had lots in common! I took the kids down to primary and they were happy to hear English being spoken. The primary president is from America so that was super helpful. They sang the opening song in both English and Italian and the kids did great. I then took Owen over to nursery and he started playing. I asked him if I could go to my class and he said yes. So, off I went. He did so good. He played with the Sister and Brother who were in there even though they didn't speak any English. What good kids I have!
I didn't get too much out of Relief Society as it was all in Italian, but I enjoy listening and trying to pick out what they are saying. After that we decided to attend the Gospel Principles class as it was taught in English. There are lots of Africans in this branch. They have all been recently baptized and that made the class amazing. Two of them had been baptized the previous night and were going to recieve the Gift of the HOly Ghost that day in sacrament meeting. The lesson just happened to be on that very topic so it was very special. Probably the best Gospel Principles class I have ever been to. The spirit was so strong and I loved it. Sacrament meeting was a treat too. A couple of talks in Italian, a couple in African English :) and translation too. It was a great Sunday service. The view from the back of the church is quite amazing!
The drive home wasn't quite as amazing. It seems like everyone from Naples was out that day as the sun was finally shining and the rain had gone away for the day. What should have been a 20 minute drive turned out to be about 45 minutes of terror...lol. Glad Jake is driving and not me.
The Trimbles invited us over for dinner that evening and it was amazing too. They feed us hamburgers and I cannot decide who was more excited, the kids or me! It is nice to have something besides pasta every once in a while. They were so welcoming and the kids all hit it off. Their kids correspond with our kids almost perfectly, even to the month of their birthdays. Their oldest is one year older than Anthony but other than that, they are the same age. It was so nice to be welcomed into a home and I felt like I've known them forever! The kids are begging to go back!
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