Villa d'Este, Tivoli

Villa d'Este, Tivoli is famous for it's gardens and palace. Built in 1560, it was the vision of Cardinal Ippolito 11 d'Este. The grounds are full of garden grottoes, fountains, nymphs and water sculptures. Through the years it has been left to ruin, remolded and bombed during the great wars. After WW1 the government took it over and opened it up to the public. We are going back in the evening in the near future. They say it is spectacular at night with all the lights around. One of my favorite places so far. 

After touring the gardens, we had a lovely dinner in Tivoli. Here with Sister Day and Shinney. Elder Shinney is taking the picture.

San Giovanni in Laterno

 On Wednesday, August 13, the Waddoups, the Hansens and myself went to San Giovanni in Laterno. It is the cathedral church of the Diocese in Rome. It ranks above all other churches in the Catholic church including St. Peter's Basilica. Who knew? I'm standing in front of giant doors that lead to the Basilica, though to get in people are directed to a much smaller door for entry. Inside there are no shortages of beautiful frescoes, mosaics, papal tombs and statues of the the ancient apostles, popes and Saints. Some of the statues are depicted holding something that shows how they were martyred. For instance Simone was cut in half so he's holding a saw. Interesting.

Peter, the Apostle

Mathew, the Apostle

The other side of that giant door

A tiny piece of the ornate ceiling

Largest obelisk in Rome. Constantine brought (stole) it over from Egypt. There are four of these in Rome

I think this says, "And it came to pass that I Nephi..."

A Surprise Visit

Daniela, Alissa and Michael came for a last minute trip to the Amalfi Coast and stopped in Rome to see me first. So good to see them. Because they were here for one day, we did a "Hope on Hope of" bus tour of Rome.

Daniela in front of the under construction Trevi Fountain

Alissa

Couldn't resist taking this photo in front of the Canadian Embassy. Miss the ol' red and white.

Swiss Guard by St. Peter's Basilica 

Alissa, Daniela and Michael - Where can you find good pizza in Italy? Anywhere!

Daniela and family came to Italy for a week on August 9th to the 16. They stayed in the Amalfi Coast for four days. I got to see them for a day and a half on their return.On Saturday I spent the whole day with them showing them the main sites. We went to Piazza Nuovana, where Daniela bought this beautiful piece of art; Piazza del Popolo; lots of churches; Trevi Fountain and St. Peter's Basilica where we climbed 152 steps to the top of the cupola.The picture above is a close up of the mosaics that surround the cupola.  Daniela bought 5 purses and I bought a cool pair of orange booties. It was great to see them, especially Daniela.

A Little Bit of Culture

Went to see Romeo and Juliet at an outdoor theater at Villa Borghese. The performance was outstanding. 

Went with the Millets, Kimballs, Shinneys and Stevens.

Elder and Sister Millet (left) Sister Day, Elder and Sister Stevens and President and Sister Waddoups in front of Orazio Restaurant. We ate outside under a canopy. Beautiful surroundings. Later everyone but the Waddoups went to see The Barber of Sevile at the Baths of Caracalla. Once again it was performed outside.

In front of ruins of Caracalla

Departing and Arriving Missionaries

Every six weeks we get new missionaries coming to our mission and missionaries who have finished their missions going home. It's a real busy time for the office. My assignment is to make sure all those who are going home come to Rome from where ever they are serving for their last dinner at the Villa and depart from the Rome airport. I also help with the dinners and lunches that need to happen. It's an emotional time as these young people and the senior missionaries have been here for 18 - 24 months. August 4th, 25 missionaries departed and on August 6th 15 arrived. And on the 7th 40 missionaries were transferred all over the Rome mission.

Made these signs for the Steurers going home to St. George, Utah

Elder Smit, - sure helped me a lot

This is just some of the over 60 pieces of luggage

Miriam and Dan Steurer going home to St. George - have a feeling we'll see each other again.

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Added Assignment

I have been given an additional assignment to help facilitate the Pathway BYU-Idaho Program. Bringham Young University Idaho offers an educational program for students who can't afford the high costs of university or college. They offer an online courses at a low-cost. Students can earn college credits that are eligible for transfer to BYU-Idaho or other universities of their choice.

 The program takes three semesters to complete and can lead to professional certificates and degrees.The students do their course work online, but meet once a week for a group lesson. I facilitate that one lesson each week. I also will teach the first and last lesson of the semester. The lesson takes 11/2 hours and then there is an Institute class they must attend as well right after. Everything is done in English.

I came in at the end of the first semester. The second semester starts September 15th. These Italian students are divided into two groups according to their knowledge of the English language. There is a beginning and advanced English group. We are waiting to see if there is a need to have an intermediate class in the fall.

In the short few weeks with my involvement in Pathway, I have witnessed wonderful things during these meetings. The students are so dedicated and sacrifice so much of their time to attend these once a week meetings. For example, one man fly's in from Sicily every week. Most are mature students who have jobs and come straight from work to attend. It's a long night for everyone, but they all can testify of this great opportunity for advancement in the English language and taking the steps to getting a higher education.

I'm really happy to have a part of Pathway. For one, it gives me something to do at night as I also read the homework and study the lessons to keep up with the students and two, I can associate with wonderful and ambitious people.