April  6- 22, 2022

Becky, near our apartment in Alzano Lombardo, Italy

Dear Family and Friends,

These last two weeks we have spent much of our time visiting organizations and working on projects to help refugees and the poor.  One organization was the Mamma Rita residential school, just north of Milan, which houses and teaches children from many countries, including refugees. Latter Day Saint Charities helped them with school supplies, shoes, and other needs last summer and fall.  When we visited them and told them that there were still some funds remaining in the project, they asked if they could purchase 8 cabinets and a washing machine, for new refugees from Ukraine that had just arrived. They wanted each mother and their children to have a cabinet to put their food and plates in. The washing machine is to help clean their clothes. They were thrilled to receive these, and were full of incredible gratitude.   

   

Left: Refugee children, sitting on the new washing machine at Mamma Rita school. Also, uassembled cabinets. Right: Becky, with nuns and a refugee woman and her child, at the Mamma Rita residential school.  

Another organization we are working with is called Terre des Hommes.  This organization works mainly with refugee children, as well as their parents.  In particular, Latter Day Saint Charities will start a new project to help refugee children and their mothers from Ukraine, as they enter NE Italy near the Slovenia or Austrian borders, and cross the mountains and northern portions of Italy, towards the NW border, to France.  LDS Charities will help them with 300 hygiene kits a week for 4 months.  In addition, Latter  Day Saint Charities will assist in publishing 2,800 small "Phrase Books" for the refugees from Ukraine. These have basic phrases written in Ukrainian, English and Italian, to assist them in communication.  It is divided into different categories for various situations, and has small illustrations. We will visit another organization next week, Diaconia Valdese, in Ventimiglia, to take them the hygiene kits shown below.  Latter Day Saint Charities already delivered shoes, sleeping bags, and phone chargers for the refugees there.  Ventimiglia is only a few kilometers from the French Border, including Nice and Morocco.  We will stay in Torino (Turin), and go through the Piedmont area of NW Italy.  

Materials for hygiene kits, which we will take to refugees in Ventimiglia, near the French border.

On Conference Sunday we attended Church in Lecco, so that the Nigerians would be able to watch a re-broadcast of one session of Conference.  At the end of Conference, we noticed a new person, a Caucasian, sitting in the back with a small child on her lap.  As we visited with her, she explained that she is a refugee, and had just arrived from Ukraine.  She has been a member of the Church for 19 years, since she was 11 years old.  Her husband is from Ghana, and had returned to Ghana before the war broke out, to renew his papers, as he finished medical school in Ukraine and is desiring an internship.  He is now trying to get to Italy to be with his young family.  The young woman, Natalia, bore her testimony in Church and told about when she was a 13 years old and was asked in a school class if she believed in God and attended Church.  The teacher put all of the children on one side of the room if they did not believe in God, and the ones who did, on the other side.  She was the only child in her class that said she believed in God and attended Church.  She could have lied to avoid the bullying that came, but the Spirit gave her the courage to defend her faith.  She said that she still remembers the Spirit saying to her, "Wow, you did it."  She knew she had done the right thing and she never looked back.  She knows that the Church is true.  The Spirit has supported her and given her courage to defend the Church. Bryan asked her to pray in Church last week, which she did in Ukrainian.

Saturday evening after we had finished our work for the day, we took a short drive up the mountain from us to a place called Monte di Nese.  The drive is on a very narrow road, and has 8-10 incredibly tight hairpin turns on it.  The drive was well worth it as we looked over the beautiful valley of Alzano Lombardo where we live.  We took a minute to peak in an old Catholic Cathedral which was beautiful.  It is amazing to see these churches built up on the tops of mountains with wonderful views in every community, with a beautiful bell tower beside it.  The bells chime throughout the day and evening.  We love this beautiful country.

Bryan, at Mt. Nese, overlooking Alzano Lombardo, 4.16.22

Easter Sunday was a special day.  We spent the first half of the day in Lecco, next to Como Lake.  We attended two sacrament meetings, one for the Italian speaking members of the ward, and one for the Nigerians, who are English speaking.  It isn't easy for many Nigerians to give talks. We devised a way for six participants to read some materials from the "Come Follow Me" manual, with each reading a few short paragraphs. This gave these new members of the Church an opportunity to stand in front of the congregation and give their part.  It went very well.  Following church we were invited to Easter dinner with a couple about our age.  They have five children, but only one son could be with them, and they were feeling sad that they had such a small group.  They decided to invite the two sister missionaries and us to come and share Easter dinner with them.  It filled a void in our hearts as we thought of our own children and grandchildren, and it helped fill their void.  Sister Raffaella Perego prepared an amazing 5 course meal, and then shared their conversion stories with us.  It was truly a testimony to us that our Heavenly Father and our Savior knows each one of their children.  They are aware of each of us if we will but go to Them in prayer, and pray in faith.  It was a wonderful Easter for us even though we missed our own children and grandchildren.

               Becky & Bryan, with the Sister Missionaries, and Alberto & Raffaella Perego, for Easter dinner

The next two weeks we'll be visiting humanitarian projects in different cities and making sure things are going as planned.  We are so grateful to serve and to help those who are in need.

We send you each our love.

Bryan and Becky