Sunday in Siena

Waiting: Oh my. What a day! Well, I woke up early, around 6:30, and I got ready for the day. Church didn't start until 11:00 so I had a lot of time to kill. I listened to the few church songs I have on my iPod and wished I had put more on before I came. (Sorry Mom and Sis) I also read the scriptures while I waited. Grandma and Grandpa went to mass at 9:00 and I stayed at the hotel. I took some time to lean out our window and soak in Siena. Lots of big building wherever I looked, and some runners in a race of sorts. Grandma and Grandpa got back at 10:00, we waited some more, then finally they walked me to the little church where the little LDS branch of Siena meets. (P.S. Hey Sis, the dress looks really good. Thanks for fixing it for me! I love you!)




















I got there early, while everyone else was still in Sunday School, so I talked to the elder who is also the branch president.

No Way!: Ready for this surprise? He told me the chapel would be full today (their chapel is about as big as the young woman's room in my stake building in Utah) which normally doesn't happen. The reason for so many people: a group of BYU students were staying in Siena!! Fello Utahns!! WOOT!!! Right before Sacrament, a girl named Kari sat by me and introduced herself as one of the BYU students. Then the meeting started so our conversation was put on hold.
During branch business, they had the confirmation of three adults who were baptized yesterday. The blessing for the third adult was in English which surprised me. Anyhoo, since it was Fast Sunday it was also testimony meeting. That was an incredible experience. I didn't understand anything but I could feel the Spirit soooo strong! Near the end, I got up and said, "Ciao. Mi chiamo Sammi. That's about all the Italian I know." All the BYU students laughed, and I bore my testimony. After that, another girl bore hers in English, and someone else did half English, half Italian. When the meeting was over Kari introduced me to her fellow students and everyone asked where I was from, so I told them I'm from Utah and I was visiting my Grandparents who live in Italy, and I'm starting my freshmen year at BYU in August. They were all soooo excited!!!! Kari gave me her email address so I could keep in touch with her, and I got a picture with some of the girls I met.

















One of the elders there is from Utah and goes to the University of Utah. So when he heard I was going to BYU he was somewhat put out. Oh well. I thought it was so cool that I was surrounded by people from Provo Utah right there in Siena the one Sunday I was there. God works in mysterious ways.

Headed Home: After I got out of church, we started heading back to little Belforte. Again, I slept a lot, but Grandpa woke me up to inform me that there were several prostitutes that camp out on the side of the road we were on. I asked him how he knew they were prostitutes. Um....You can pretty much tell. The only one I really saw was dressed in a sleeveless shirt and a skirt so short I could see her buttocks hanging out. EEEWWWW!!!!!!!! So disturbing.

We drove up through the mountains on a road that had so many turns I was wondering how we could actually get out of it going in the same direction we started. It was crazy!!! Grandma said it was called....um....something that meant "Hairpin Turn"...or something like that. Yeah. Near the top of the mountain we could look down and see the most beautiful lake. Breath taking. We didn't stop to take pics, so I apologize. Anyhoo, we got home and unloaded our stuff. For dinner, Larry made the most delicious Thanksgiving sort of dinner with chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy. MMMMM!!!!!! It was sooooooo good!!!

Another First!: Later on during the night, Larry went outside for some reason or other, then yelled into the house, "Fireflies!" Oh boy, oh boy!!!! I rushed out cuz I really wanted to see that. Sure enough, in the bushes across the road there were a bunch of little blinky lights!! I didn't know they blinked their lights! I thought they just stayed lit. Oh, it was soooo beautiful. We went closer and it was cool to see them fly right in front of you. You would see a light blink, and then a second later you would see it blink a foot away, and you could just follow the blinks! I tried to get a picture or a video or something to show you, but it was too dark and my camera wouldn't pick anything up. (Grandma gave me one of her extra memory sticks, so pray that it won't crash on me.) Anyhoo, what a perfect day. Except the prostitute. That was weird.