Email from 4/20/16
Before I explain my title, I would like to talk about some other things. So we have made a habit of going to the house of our investigator, Michele, for lunch every Sunday after church. He is my favorite person on my mission so far for so many reasons. I talked about him a few weeks ago but y'all probably don't remember that. We visit with him and his family and eat the best food ever. This last week he made a lasagna for us that can only be described as celestial. He makes fun of us and his kids the entire time but we are all rolling in laughter the entire time even if he is picking on us. Usually he picks on our clothes but this last time I wore my grey suit and he was super impressed. I don't know if that is a good thing though because he has a very strange fashion sense. He loves super overly fat ties and suits with insane amounts of buttons. He had my companion try on a suit of his that has 6 buttons so that we could only see a little bit of his tie and his collar. He seems to be a very happy person but I can tell he gets pretty lonely because he has had a rough life. He used to have a good job as a dentist and a beautiful family of a wife and 2 kids and good health but then all that was taken away from him. He got very sick and could no longer work so he lost his business and his wife left him soon afterward. She took all his money and their house in the ensuing divorce. So now he lives in this little, one room basement apartment where he used to run his practice and he only sees his kids on the weekend. I saw pictures of him even just 10 years ago and he was a healthy, happy individual but now he is bent over with scoliosis and has lost everything. He seems to be a "forever investigator" but when I visit with him I don't feel like I am wasting my time. He is a child of God who needs our emotional and spiritual support as much as anyone. He has made great strides to try to obey the word of wisdom but he still needs time before he will recognize why he needs to baptized and I have no doubt that it will happen some day. He showed us how to make an Italian apple cake last time we were over and it was super good. Ok now I will explain the title. On Friday we had a lunch appointment with an investigator named Vito. He is an interesting guy with a very interesting house. He has a bunch of classic rock albums hanging on the walls and a bunch more in stacks all over the apartment (which I could have looked at for hours) and he showed us how to make home made pasta with mushrooms. While we were cooking he asked if he could put on some music and while we explained what type of music we are supposed to listen to, he went ahead and put on the album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience called "Are You Experienced?" which happens to be one of my favorite albums ever. When I heard the first chords of Purple Haze play I had mixed feelings but found myself doing a silent fist pump. I'll attach some pictures of us making the pasta. Last week I talked about the talk by Elder Holland in the last general conference and I would like to talk about another one this week. While being here I have had a lot of first hand experiences with refugees from Africa and the Middle East and I found that the words given by Elder Kearon were absolutely inspired. His talk was entitled "Refuge from the Storm" and in it he addressed the issue of refugees and how it is our duty as humans, supporters of freedom, and as Christians to help them in this their time of need. I have talked to these people who are trying their hardest not to be a burden to others but still are in need of food and shelter. They do not want to hurt anyone and, in fact, the ones I have met so far have been some of my favorite people I have ever met. If you haven't read or listened to this talk, I urge you to because it honestly changed my whole outlook on the refugee situation in Europe and the United States. Anyways, my time is almost up so I should probably close out. Vi voglio bene! Anziano Younce
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