Smoke Gets in My Eyes

Alan on top of Mt Etna!

Why does smoke get in my eyes? Cause Etna erupted Saturday morning (good thing we went last Sunday and not this Sunday).  Okay, so smoke didn’t literally get in our eyes.  In fact, I wasn’t even aware that she erupted until my dad emailed me about it.  She smokes frequently, so when we see a lot of smoke coming out of her, we don’t think anything about it.  Anyways, Alan saw the red smoke stack coming from her, early that morning but he thought it was the sunrise and a cloud in Etna’s direction (from our street with tall buildings around us, we can’t see the mouth of the volcano).  And, we didn’t really get any ash here either because the wind was blowing in a different direction (thank goodness!) I have to dust enough black ash already from that volcano. Some people from church, who live further up in the villages on Mt Etna, said that they could hear her erupting.  Pretty crazy! If you want to come visit us, don’t let her stop you.  The lava flows really slowly, and there’s not any danger since she’s always active (that means she doesn’t have any massive eruptions like Pompeii).  ;)

Mt Etna! And one of her many "mouths"

Local products at a farmer's market type festival.

Looking back on this month, I’m surprised by all that’s happened while we’ve settled into a routine here.  Most mornings, Alan and I are at the church, and three or four evenings we are there for lessons and Bible studies as well.  The kid’s English class is going well.  We have a bunch of little kids coming and a couple older ones.  Speaking of kids, I feel like we’ve been to a birthday party here almost every week.  It’s a lot of fun, and we’ve enjoyed getting to know the families better.  

The cable cars going above the clouds.

We have a total of 17 students (three are from the church).  Each week it seems like we add more.  For example, we know of 4-5 others who have called or who we are meeting with later this week to set up appointments to start English lessons in the coming weeks.  Wednesday is our busy day.  It seems like everyone wants class that day.  We’re at the church from 7:45am till 7:30pm that day with back to back lessons almost all day.  

We’ve made friends with an older lady here who speaks English well.  We visit her once or twice a week.  She seems lonely right now, and we enjoy getting to spend time with her, and I think she enjoys it too.  She used to believe in God, but after a series of unfortunate events, she’s become angry with God.  She’s very open and talks with us about her beliefs/struggles, and we share scriptures with her in return to help encourage her to find her peace and faith in God again.   

People hiking up Mt Etna

  We really love it here and we just love the church.  Everyone has been so helpful and hospitable.  Every week we have someone’s house to go to.  We really love getting to spend time with everyone.  We just wish our Italian was better so we could communicate better and not be so tired all the time (speaking in another language really drains your mental powers and makes you super tired). 

Francesco, Alan, and me on top of Mt Etna! Such a fun day!

Our friend Francesco took us up Mt Etna last Sunday.  It was beautiful.  It was a cloudy day, but clear at the very top.  We got to take a cable car and then an off-road Pullman! What was amazing was, if you pushed away the top layer of dirt, the next handful of ground was warm – really warm! Just a cool reminder that there’s lava bubbling down below.  We were the last group, so we got to take the Pullman all the way down and it was so incredibly foggy.  Someone told me later that the driver said that the way he could tell where the road was, was that the really thick looking parts were where there was no road, and the part that didn’t look as white, is where the road must be. Must be?! That’s reassuring.  

Alan holding the warm rocks...

Foggy ride?!

  The weather here continues to be nice, somewhat hot during the day, but cool in the evenings. We still ride our bikes everywhere.

Today we handed out 600 fliers each, announcing the upcoming gospel meeting/lecture being given at the church by Earl Edwards.  He arrives Thursday, and he’ll be speaking this weekend.  A few people stopped and talked with us, some laughed, some handed them back, and some threw them on the ground. We hope to have reached some people through this method. It just hurts to see so many people who look sad and dissatisfied.  You can even see this while people walk by.  They seemed shocked sometimes to see someone smile and say “buongiorno” to them. It hurts me to see people hurting – physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I want to tell people about the amazing things God can do in their lives, how he’s the only way to true peace, satisfaction, and happiness. Well, I guess that’s the main reason Alan and I are here.

Pistachio cannolis!

So, today was a good reminder for me, don’t forget to smile and be kind.  You never know who is watching.  You can touch so many lives in just this simple way. We don't have to do anything grand to make a difference in people's lives.

It’s like that teacher who was recently killed in Massachusetts, told her students on twitter, "No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind."

I can't look at this and not believe in a creator! How beautiful it is!

Alan on top of Mt Etna.