churches and temples

Written February 24th

Okay so today was basically awesome. Check out facebook for pictures ;) I was going to put them on here but it takes so long to load them. I spent the entire day exploring Palermo. I put a ton of pictures up but, my camera died halfway through the day so, then i started using the Fici's and i still haven't gotten those pictures off.

I \saw the most beautiful Cathedral. it was huge and the architecture was amazing. It was built by Nomads then they got taken over by Greeks, who added more so, it was really just incredible. Like 5x bigger than a palace. the best way to describe it is Majestic.

We are allowed to go inside and it's just so cool. (We saw lots of churches) All the artwork is so intricate and really cool. I had an urge to start singing "God Help the Outcasts" from Hunchback of Notre Dame but, i refrained.

I couldn't help but walk through the cathedrals and churches and compare them to our temples. Add to that, my D&C assignment this week is on temples. The week is kind of themed temples i guess :) maybe the Lord is trying to teach me something.

Okay, I'm not studying Catholicism or anything so if anyone is, and is reading this feel free to correct my understandings. But, in the churches they have... i guess i'd call them sort of shrines to saints. Dead saints. They have their bones in a cool tomb and gold and silver and usually a picture or a statue. Then there are rows of candles. I asked about them and Piera said that you pay money and then you get to light a candle. Then you pray to the saint. To my understanding, saints are kind of go-betweens with the pray-er and God. You ask them, since they are more righteous, to take your requests to God. Maybe the thought is God likes them a lot, as they're saints, so, if they ask Him, he'll be more willing to grant your request. Kind of like asking your aunt to ask your mom to do something. I don't really know though. Maybe it's something else.

The churches are always dark. I notice this because It's always hard to take pictures. :) yeah they let me take picture of the churches. The artwork is really cool and all very similar. I mean at least of people. In all of these churches and paintings i've seen, they all portray Jesus and saints in the same way. Actually some of them kind of scare me. There was one statue of Mary with a knife. I guess it was supposed to show the pain she felt at seeing Christ on the cross but, it seemed a littled dark to me. To each his own.

And that's the biggest difference to me. In our church it's all about the happily ever after. We don't focus on the cross as much as other churches. As President Hinckley said "For us the cross is a symbol of a dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the Living Christ"

 There was a spirit of reverence in all the churches but, it just wasn't the same as our temples. Despite all the beauty and cool architecture, i can't find a replacement for the temple. Even though I'm so far away from any temple, I think about them a lot.

For my D&C assignment i made an Italian slideshow explaining the differences between our churches and our temples. They are synominous in the catholic church and that always causes so much confusion. Then i showed the Fici family. this was actually the coolest D&C assignment i've had. It actually worked. Cosimo asked if there were any pictures inside the temple. I began to explain that we can't take pictures inside but, then i remembered that the Salt Lake Temple has a mini thing in one of the visitors centers that shows all the rooms. I found a website that has the same thing. It was so cool. They loved it. I explained how amazing it feels in the celestial room of an undedicated temple and i almost cried which is unusual for me. They really liked it.

 Written Mar 5

Another things i'm working on for the good ol' D&C class is listening and obeying the spirit better. So, this was a priceless Jana arguing with herself moment. On Tuesday, the day i flew back to Bergamo, i was sitting in the living room wondering what to do with myself. It was only a few hours before my flight and i was all packed and everyone was doing their own thing and Lucrezia my shadow was doing homework. So, I sat down and began watching TV with Piera. Kind of pointless in Italian but, as i was sitting there i kept thinking about the Italian book of mormon in my bag. I kept thinking i should pull it out and explain it. This is how the conversation went.

"You should pull it out and show her."
"No way, i'm about to leave, i cant do that now."
"You should pull it out and read it"
"It's way in my bag."

After several minutes of this i groaned outwardly.

"Oh, great, this is the spirit isn't it."
"Yep."
"And i'm supposed to listen..."
"That's the plan."

I just really didn't think that this was going to go well. However, because it was something that i agreed to focus on (obeying promptings)  I went over to my bag and took out the scriptures. I started reading and Piera actually asked me about it. I didn't have to say anything. So, i handed her the book and she looked at it. Then i pulled out my computer so that I could use google translator to explain everything. She asked me (I think, she only speaks italian remember) why i was reading it. I was kind of taken aback by the question. I explained i was learning italian with it. But, she motioned to the english one. Why was i reading it at all. Why do i read this book was her question. So, i explained that it's like the bible. i explained how it makes me feel when i read it. Then i went on to explain that the book has a promise. If you read it, pray about it, really reading to know truth, reading to learn, then you will get an answer. She told me that she has the bible by her bed. Then we had to go but, i told her that i'd leave it with her. It honestly wasn't my plan to leave it with her before that conversation. She asked me where i got it and how much i had to pay for it. I told her she could have that one, there are lots more where it comes from and they were easy for me to get. I dunno how thrilled she was about it but, i guess all these people are going to have to learn that if they let me in a little bit i'm going to try and go farther. The Ficis are like golden investigators, if they were investigating. I really liked the feeling in their home. I hope she reads it and i guess that even if she doesn't and even if they were upset that i wanted to leave that with them, nothing bad can really come from having it around.