Somewhere over the rainbow..

Like I said, the more south you go, the crazier it gets. We taught a crazy woman the other night. She is less active because she is still angry with her sisters and her daughters,.... thus she hates the church (or at least the members). She went off on a rant and said some scary words that (thank goodness) I did not understand... There was one tension filled moment where she turned to me and sang *Somewhere over the rainbow*  IT was so uncomfortable and weird.

Okay I want to talk more about the culture! Everything is so new and different here. Okay the people, for one thing, are so open! They tell it like it is. They tell us their feelings, they show emotions like no other! They look at our nametags while on the bus or walking through the city streets and ask what they mean. They ask if we are mormon and what we believe.

Italians are also so helpful!! There have been several times where we will approach a vendor or a bus passenger for help with directions and suddenly, 10 other italians pop out of nowhere with more advice. It is the funniest thing. They just completely stop what they are doing in order to help you.

We live in a big city. We live in one of the biggest areas!...so that means a lot of walking! Thank goodness we we take the bus as well. The walking is definitely nice after youve eaten a wonderfully fried pranzo (lunch) with several courses:) yay

The buildings are beautiful and so antique looking, they have wonderful balconies with plants and flowers draped on them. It is definitely a euro tap look (mom) I love it. The buildings are so colorful!

Okay the food is amazing. Apparently Sicily has amazing food! I tried my first cannollo (cannoli- pluralized). It was a dream in a roll with ricotta cheese. It was so amazing. There is so much fried food here, it makes me so nervous. Sicily missionaries are known for gaining the pounds. Grrrreat.

Italians use their hands to communicate! It is the funniest thing. I have found myself putting my hands together and shaking them one or twice. It is so interesting! Dad, we have had a couple drivers shake their hands at us. I couldnt help but think of the time you experienced the same. It felt so great.

The weather is HOT! Its humid. Nothing like provo.

Scenery is beautiful. We live on the coast with the beautiful ocean view and palms outisde our balcony.

PEOPLE BOTCH HERE. Bacciare means to kiss. They kiss european style on the cheeks. It is the sweetest thing. I have probably botched like 100 times already (with women of course) However, if a man tries to botch you and they are not aware of the rules, you are just supposed to let it happen and then tell them the rule. I BOTCHED AN OLD MAN. SO WEIRD.

Okay I met some wonderful investigators last week, Rosario and Valeria. They are the cutest young couple who have been investigating for about a year. They are so sharp and their testimonies of the gospel are so strong! It was so nice to meet some normal young people interested in our message. They love the scriptures, they are just struggling with some word of wisdom problems. They are so close! Apparently they had set a date, but still struggled with smoking so it never happened.

Finding: We dont do a whole lot of finding here- mostly because there are so many less actives! Apparently there are 700 people in our ward, but only 100 people come! So sad! We have done finding a couple of times. We hand out flyers for the church about our free english course. It is an awesome and effective way to strike peoples interest and then they ask who we are. We teach a free english course twice a week and share a spirtual thought at the end.

Antonio, the funny italian man who always speak english to us was at english course last week. AFter corso di inglese we began putting the chairs away. He refused to let Sorella Bair and me do so. He took the chairs from us and then said forcefully *No no no. I am a MAN* HAha it was great.

I recently came across Elder Hollands *Lord I believe* talk from last spring. Many times we have doubts. In fact, we all have doubts. I have doubts with my ability to communicate or  comrephend the people. Rosario and Valeria struggle with the Word of Wisdom, Tina has doubts about receiving revelation; however, we must lean on the belief that we do have and pray for help! *Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief* We ALL have doubts so we need to pray to overcome them and lean on the fait hwe do have! *Hold fast to what you already know and stand strong until additional knowledge comes* I love that. All we need is a little faith, so when we face opposition and trials in life, we need to hold strong to our faith. That is SO important. I am definitely struggling with the language and being able to connect with the people, but it is so important that I hold on to my faith and trust that I can overcome. We should not let our doubts stand in the faith of our faith. *Be not afraid, only believe*.

Service is so wonderful! I truly know that through service to Gods children, we can find the greatest joy! We taught english to an italian girl the other day and shared a spiritual thought and she was so grateful and receptive to it! It is so great to make people so happy! I know that this will be the most joyous time thus far in my life. I am so excited to embark on these experiences.

Love you all! Grazie veramente!!

Sorella Clyde

My home address is-

I will probably be here through January- most likely

Sorella Samantha Clyde
Via Nizzeti 54
Tremestieri Etneo CT 95030
ITALIA