Prato

Ciao tutti! It's me again! I miss you guys, but life here is swell.=) God has helped us to really get involved and feel a little more at home. We have been a part of alot of different activities this past week and a half and that has been great because it's created alot of opportunities for us to reach out to the church members as well as the AIMers. Right after we got in town we dived right into puppet practice to prepare for a big puppet show in the park later on in the summer. The church here in Prato really likes this form of outreach because is non-intrusive and kids from all over can come out and be entertained, all the while creating contacts with parents. So yea, we did that and then we got to do my favorite thing of all so far. We went and sang at a nursing home one morning for a couple of hours. It was amazing. I love going in to visit and hug people that spend most of their days in solitude. They yearn for touch and smiles,and it felt so good to be able to make their day. We got to hear awesome stories too. We have had several church get togethers also, birthday parties and fellowship meals. Those have been great for our Italian because we are forced to speak it just to communicate with the church. It's been great though, not as hard as I thought. We've even be able to make plans with several members of the church to have lunch, or garden together, or just hang out--- so I say we must be doing really good=) Seriously though, its been awesome how they have just accepted us as one of them. We've only been here a week and already have plans to spend time with almost all of the families at church. That has been good for more reasons than just Italian learning, it helps us to feel like we have purpose here and like we might be able to make a difference while we are learning.

On a personal note, I have been attempting to cook like the Italians do. Kinda tough, but I think I'm getting it. It can't be that bad, cuz I have been watching Aaron's belly grow =) Aaron and I have also been trying to create a schedule for ourselves so that we don't get into the bad habit of sitting around. We are creatures of routine and setting up a daily schedule has been great for us. We get up and have bible time, stop by our favorite bar for a pastry, and then head out. We either go to the Mahan's for Italian lessons or to whatever "appointment" we made for the day. That has helped alot. Also, because we live with 3 other girls and are almost constantly around people, we decided to take one day a week just for us. Kinda like a date day. On those days we are going to head out to one of the small towns that surround Prato- in Tuscany and enjoy time alone sightseeing. Train tickets here are like 1 Euro, so its a pretty inexpensive way for us to keep our priorites straight and having fun while we're doing it=)

Thanks you guys for keeping in touch and letting us know that you love and miss us. That means soo much to us. Italy has been great, but I'll be honest, the one thing missing is all of you. Being away from home is really hard when you are away from your friends and family. God bless you all this week.

Love always,
Josie