August 25, 2017

This past week we said farewell to our dear friends the Guercio’s.  In a very short period of time we developed a great love for one another.  That happens when you are jointly involved in the service of our Lord.  The Spirit binds you together for always.  Recently we received an email from my precious sister Sharon.  In it she stated that each morning when she wakes up, she lays in bed counting her many blessings, we, her family being one of them.  I responded to her email with the following: 

P.S.  One of the precious principles we embrace as a church is that families can be eternal.  I know of no other church that teaches that.  Anyway, that means you and I will be together as brother and sister forever!  I am very excited about that and it gives me great comfort.

For all of us that is great news!  We CAN be together forever.  As Sorella Knies and I labor together in Italy, that simple but most precious truth becomes ever more clear and sure.  We are children of a loving Heavenly Father which makes us all family.  That family did not just start in this life and it surely does not end when this mortal life ends.  Thank you Jesus for that promise. 

Sorella Knies and I celebrated our 43^rd anniversary of saying “I do”.  We really splurged for this one.  We bought a pony-tail palm for our apartment and a deep fryer.  They don’t have much fried food here in Rome and we miss it.  So, what do you do?  You buy a fryer and make your own.  We turned the lights down low (that is a must because, if you use too many electric appliances at the same time it will blow the electric circuit for the entire apartment which has happened 3 times) turned on the electric fryer and deep fried homemade French-fries and chicken strips.  The only thing missing was onion powder, as they must not use that in their cooking here because you can’t find it.  Other than that, they tasted just like home! 

Speaking of home, this past week Sorella Knies was having “a sinking spell” thinking of home.  As she was lamenting a bit, she experienced an ah-ha moment.  That “ah-ha” was that missions are not meant to be easy, but hard and as our daughter Sarah has taught us, “we can do hard things with the Lord.”  That was a spiritual boost for both of us and we are  back on track loving life and loving the work we are engaged in.

Sorella Knies and I are primarily engaged in supporting the 190 +/- young missionaries located in the Italy Rome Mission.  Wow they are amazing!  They have a very structured schedule.  They get up early every morning and work late into the evening.  Then go to bed and start all over again the next day.  All of that with the most positive attitude you can imagine.  They do have a P-day (preparation day) which is sort of like a day off.  On that day, Monday, they prepare for the coming week and some, much to the chagrin of Sorella Knies, play football or soccer.  I say chagrin because she invariably receives calls the night of P-day with twisted ankles, abrasions and even broken bones.  She survives and so do they.  We stay extremely busy, hopefully “making a difference”. 

We continue to make our weekly excursions out in the countryside, visiting castles and old villages captured in the pictures below.  The past week we visited Campo Imperatore Hotel which is on top of a mountain that you get there by using a sky-tram.  The significance of that hotel is that it the location where Benito Mussolini was held captive at in 1943 and was rescued by the Nazi’s.  It was called the Gran Sasso Raid where Hitler, himself ordered the raid which sent in several glidders containing 200 men that overwhelmed the forces holding Mussolini and they were given a choice.  Release him to the Germans or die.  They chose the former and he was freed and taken to Germany, continuing to lead in Northern Italy until the end of the war when he was again captured and ultimately killed.  In his history it reveals that he contemplated, at the beginning of the war, aligning himself with the Allies, France and England.  He chose to align himself with the Germans because he saw the Allies as “dying” countries.  He chose poorly. 

Well that’s it for now.  Till next time, ciao, ciao!

One of the many castles...amazing!

Continued, different castle

Our shadow as we traveled on the sky-tram up to Campo Imperatore Hotel

Sister Thacker was petrified at the height! 

Standing in front of the hotel

In the lobby of the hotel where Mussolini was being held

The plateau where the gliders landed

Our Tom-Tom took us down this road which was barricaded for some time.  Only 20 miles out of the way.  Happens frequently, but you can't live without a navigation system.  Amazing technology.

While Katy/Houston got hammered with rain, this area is in a drought.  This is basically a drain for the lake it supports.  You can see that the water is no where even close.  

They don't suffer from hurricanes, but this is from recent earthquakes.

A colleseum 2000 years old located 50 miles from Rome.  You have to have population concentration to support the need of one of these.  Walking around these structures imagining what they were thinking and doing so long ago!  

Grape orchards everywhere.

Another castle.  You may tire of seeing them, but I DON"T!