Busier than Normal

Every day we've had stuff to do! Meno male! Admittedly, Thursday was
especially nice. We did a lot of passes of inactive members, Italian
Class for the Americans, and then we were at Marta's house until 9:30.
We snacked, talked with her friends, and of course HAD A BONFIRE. It
was for a holiday called Befana, or 'witch'. Only celebrated largely
here in Veneto and Friuli, Befana is a pagan tradition where a massive
fire is lit (usually a cross is burned, yikes) and if the smoke goes
towards the mountains it will be a good year of harvest.
Our bonfire had smoke blowing towards the sea, which denotes a bad
coming year of harvest. This doesn't surprise me much because Italians
keep telling me that this is the driest winter the area has had since
1862 or something.

Yesterday, we met a faithful Christian named Felix (feh-lis) from
Ghana. He called us because he was having a hard time and one of his
friends (someone I've never met) told him the missionaries would
surely help. He accepted the restoration lesson and said he'd come to
church and think about baptism.
Yay!

Anyway, we've been busy. Appointments every day, contacts everywhere,
and a package that I sent got lost in the mail. We're always doing
something. Right now we're on our way to Vittorio Veneto, for some
hiking and sightseeing. That's all for this week!

--Anziano Benge
1- I finally beat Brother Giurintano in chess. (Scaccomatto!)
2- We passed the Noncello River one day...
3- Befana bonfire