Missionary Slim: Get's a visit from Santa? (Week 25 in Pennsylvania, Week 7 in Pittsburgh, PA)

This week was pretty lame. We had a lot of appointments drop. We walked from one end of Pittsburgh to the other, trying to teach our investigators. Alas - few were up for it. Regardless, there were still a lot of cool things that happened. I suppose you could say my life is never dull.

One thing that was apparent this week was the sheer number of unique people we met, ranging from peculiar, to downright strange, to awesome. Take, for example Ed.

We just started randomly talking to Ed as we walked by his house. He immigrated to the United States from Italy about 10 years ago, and hates it. He's so incredibly un-patriotic, and that includes for his own country as well. He speaks in a great accent, and has a lot of crazy wisdom and words to ponder. For example:

"I don't gamble. I think gambling is for idiots. These casino men, all they are is fishers. Yes, fishers. They cast in the line *makes the action*  and say 'oh, look here! Here's a huge sucker. Just reel him in, OH look at that one! He's a big bass!'" He told us his last name, but then said he changed it from Luciano. Why? Because he was running from his mob-boss father, Lucci Luciano. Yes, the one and only. Apparently, he's a big name in the Sicilian mafia, and we found his son!

This guy really needs the Gospel, though. When he told us about moving from LA, he said it was because he was getting away from anything that had to do with his late wife, because any time he thought of her, he cried. He cried right there on the porch in front of us. So, if all goes well, we should be visiting him later this evening.

We were walking through Homewood, after having several missed appointments. We weren't sure what to do or where to go, we were just walking wherever we felt prompted. Suddenly, somebody called out to us "Hey, Elders!" We walked over to a woman standing on her porch. She recognized us from when she was taught by the Elders 7 years before, and she missed their visits. Why did she stop talking to them? "Because I moved." It's as simple as that. So, we got her info, and should be back to visit her fairly soon.

The same thing happened the next day. We were walking, and somebody called out to us "The next time you walk by, will you remember my face?" This time, it was an Chinese woman, who's been in the US for a few years, but has yet to learn much about Christ, God, or religion of any kind. We talked to her for a bit too, but weren't able to get too far in the conversation or set up a return appointment.

There was another guy who we just talked to named Tony. He wasn't exactly a Christian, but I wouldn't say he was. He did believe strongly in God, however. We shared with him what we knew about God and Christ, and especially focused on prayer. We found out that he never said prayers of any kind - he never needed to ask for anything. We taught him the novel idea of praying in thanks. He got going on all of the things that God had given him and the things he was grateful for - his girlfriend, his home, his three cats... We left him in tears as well, thanking us for talking with him. Again, unfortunately, no return appointment.

Here's a cool thing: We did service for a woman in the ward who has a lot of black pride, and it certainly shows. Here's a sample:


One more cool thing. We've been trying to get in contact with a russian gentleman we met a few weeks ago named Bart, and finally got to chat with him! He came to pick us up and took us over to the church, while we talked on the way. He told us of his great respect for the Mormons, his love of family values, his growing up in Siberia, his life of fighting in the Soviet military, and his current work as husband and father. ("To shoot gun, it easy. Follow order, easy. To raise family - hard!" or "If you ask me what I am, I would say first husband, then father. Nothing else.") He's super sweet! Unfortunately, he's super busy too, especially with his wife in the hospital, and his strenuous work schedule. But, hopefully we hear more about him.

That's about it. Take care everybody!

Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim