Buon Natale

Buon Natale from the Mumfords in Rome!
What a wonderful time to be a Missionary as we try to fill the World with love and understanding of Jesus Christ, who He is and the very importance of His Gospel. As Temples truly are “dotting the Earth” at this time, we feel so blessed to be Temple Missionaries here in Roma, Italia. The quote from Joseph Smith (as found in the Wentworth letter) seems so very applicable to this time, this season and more importantly the Gathering that has begun of which we are all a part as we prepare for our Lord, Jesus Christ, to come to His people a Second time.

“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear; till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.“

From the former Ogden Utah mission, this quote (which has actually been put to music) became our family mantra. It has blessed our family, us, Max and Fielding, 

“And we shall see that Today the work is done” were added as part of that emphasis.

We are so happy to be serving at the same time as 2 of our Grandsons—Elder Max Mumford in Eugene Oregon Mission and Hermano Fielding Mumford who just got his Visa and has arrived in Iquitos Peru Mission (after serving in Tacoma Washington for 3 months—Spanish-speaking).
The Lord needs valiant servants to serve Him in these latter days. How blessed we feel to share our love for this wonderful work and send this message that Jesus Christ was born, a babe in Bethlehem. He lived and died for us and on the 3rd day He rose again from the grave. He is alive and working with us as we try to prepare for this Second Coming when He will come in glory, majestic and triumphant, to establish His Kingdom and begin His Millennial Reign. We are so thankful that the Gospel is on the earth, for priesthood power and blessings, 

and for “Today, (His) work is DONE”.

Buon Natale to all our Family and Friends!!
 from Roma!!
Hurrah for Israel!! Hurrah!!
Anziano e Sorella Mumford

There is so much to Rome!

Hello Family and Friends,

     We continue in our exposure to our Roma service and great learning. We have had the opportunity to serve with wonderful people and one couple, Matt and Christine Geddes, have just left to return to their home in Rexburg, Idaho. But they left us with so much "greater knowledge about the symbolism that is here in Rome and in the Temple." Matt is an artist and sees such symbolism  with an artistic eye much quicker than many of us ever will!

The symbolism found in and around Rome has been so beautifully incorporated into the glass, the walls, the floors and furnishings in the Temple--when you have it pointed out to you--wow is it ever exciting.  I'll share just a few of these symbols as they were "taught" to me. 

The rug at the entrance to the Temple with the campidoglio on it.

 

CAMPIDOGLIO (CAMP-E-DO-LEE-O):

This represents the Center of the universe--done by Michelangelo. It means umbilicus and can be found in the center of Rome on Capitoline Hill

There are several campidoglio throughout the Temple, in marble on the floor in the Entrata (entrance beyond the Recommend Desk). in the Baptistry and in rugs at the entrance and in the Baptistry waiting area.

OLIVE BRANCH: Rama d'Olivio

It means Pace (peace) and Vittoria (victory)

 This can be found around the edges of the rugs, and in the stained glass throughout the Temple. 

ACANTHUS: Acanto Leaves

Represents Vita Eterna (Eternal Life)

The plant can be seen all over Rome and all over Roman and Greek columns. 

In the Temple, you find these "leaves" everywhere--on the rugs, on the Baptismal Font, around the doors, hinges, handles, everywhere.

So , with our better understanding of what the campidoglio represents, Ron and I ventured out (on our own) to find the Piazza del Campidoglio that Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Paul III in1536 to complete the overall arrangement of the square on the occasion of the visit to Rome of the Spanish Emperor Charles V

The best picture of the campidoglio is this sketch. For today you have to get really high to get the whole picture of its beauty.

The Piazza has these huge begonia planters around several of the edges--they are real!!

But one of the first things we set out to find was Gianicolo Hill Fountain-

• Colle de Gianicolo: This hill is located next to the neighbourhood of Trastevere and if you have the time and energy, the tough hike up the hill is worth the effort for the great view of Rome you will have.

We then made our way down the hill on a winding cobblestone street that leads to the neighborhood of Trastevere .It is located on the opposite bank of the river Tiber, south of the Vatican, and is very picturesque.  The name Trastevere is from Latin, trans Tiberium; ‘beyond the Tiber’. This old working-class neighbourhood with its narrow alleyways and medieval houses is a particularly lively affair at night – thanks to the many tourists – with lots of restaurants, trattorias and pizzerias.

As far back as the days of emperor Augustus, Trastevere has been one of the city's 14 districts, and it was also walled. Several important Romans built villas in this neighbourhood, including Julius Caesar. The charming ambience of the neighbourhood with its maze of many narrow and winding streets comes from medieval times.

We had one of our best "Pinse" here for lunch.(A Pinse is a modern interpretation of an ancient flatbread recipe--Romans who bake pinse claim it's the ORIGINAL pizza.They are an oblong flatbread pizza with the toppings arranged in sections.)  The flavor combinations are unimaginable--but always (well except for those with anchovies) turn out delicious. 

It has been raining a lot these past few weeks and we were quite dismayed at how muddy the Tiber River is as it winds its way through Rome.  It is quite swift in some places, and so the churning of the waves of the river can best be described as "milk chocolate rolling down a candy fountain." (Yeah--tell that one to those early inhabitants of the Jewish Ghetto who endured this muddiness each winter as the Tiber almost always overflowed its banks.) There are several bridges that cross the Tiber at several points throughout the city.Some of those bridges have great character. I think it is so very interesting that this great city actually has a river flowing right through its "heart".

As we came back over from Trastevere--we found ourselves near the Roman Forum and excavated ruins of the city that help you see how the Romans lived.

We saw this in an "Information center" that we paid 1 Euro each to use the bathroom. Any guesses as to what this is? 

A Cell Phone charging station!!

We were quite pleased with how well we navigated the public transportation--from Bus by our apt building, to the Metro Station to Central Rome, to another bus to get us close to the "hike up to the top of Rome--and then to be able to make our way back to the Metro (on foot) and get on a train to take us all the way back to our first Metro stop and then to find the Bus that would take us "home". We checked our "steps app" and found we were close to 13,000 steps on this trip. Not bad for a couple of 70+ Seniors!!  Fun Day!! More to come.

With our Love and Gratitude for blessings unmeasured. We love this Gospel! 

Anziano and Sorella Mumford. Hurrah for Israel!  Hurrah!!

More OUT n ABOUT our Neighborhood

 We have friends, Frank and Beth Sano, Temple Missionaries, who have only been here since the end of August--but my oh my are they a wealth of information about some of the places around our neighborhoods. They don't live by us--they are closer to the Temple, but they have been assigned to be our "chauffeurs" since they have a car and, at present, we do not. So they have introduced us to CarreFour (a huge grocery store) the Dima Shopping Mall and the Porta Di Roma Mall, which is the huge mall across a very busy street from the Roma Temple. That is also the same shopping area where IKEA, and a HomeDepot-type store called LeroyMerlins is located. 

Well, last Saturday in November (Nov 26, 2022) WE RAN A FEW ERRANDS AFTER THE MORNING SHIFT AT THE TEMPLE and they wanted to show us the cheese shop. This is where we were introduced to Smoked Buffalota Mozarella cheese—a cheese made from the milk of water buffalo. I loved it!! Ron was not so much taken by it because they make it without salt. Well I can remedy that by just a sprinkle of salt before it gets melted in the microwave! It is so delicious, though I cannot really describe what it tastes like😩—it is just Good!! They also have a small pasticceria where they make these cookies called mostaciolis—little “pillows of a nougat-like dough drenched in dark chocolate. Good thing I didn’t buy more than a few of them!! There were just so many things to choose from in that little shop—all made fresh every day. 

One of the clerks spoke English, which was so nice to have our questions answered before purchasing.

It’s a little shop called MozzaRe found at the end of a little “tree-lined lane “ off the main highway.

And out in front of the shop is this old gnarly olive tree. Oh— I forgot to say that one thing they do also sell are olives—several kinds—which Ron is quite enjoying all the “tastes” of olives he has found. The olive trees in so many parts of where we live are harvested to make olive oil. Some families who live in the Ward we go to—Roma 2nd—harvest their olives and give the oil as gifts. There are olive trees on the Temple grounds and that oil is used as the consecrated oil in the Temple

My friend, Sorella Beth Sano— she has helped me so much in my first weeks here!

Then Ron and I decided to go for a walk and went out more in the “ country” than we thought. And happened upon this horse-training stable/farm where we saw horses grazing in little pens and the horses looked like they had been “worked out” and were now resting and cooling down with blankets or coverings you’d find in a medevial  horse/rider jousting contest. Kinda fun. It was a beautiful day to walk in the beautiful green countryside.

It was clearly “rundown” but there were still horses and people living there.

                 Ron was kind of taken by all the old farm equipment there—and it looked to be in good working order as the hay had been harvested and put in round bales in the shed.

You can’t see the horses very well (back in the left-hand corner). I am no photographer!  But near as we could tell, this was a place for people to come and learn how to ride horses and then have a Pizza Party--sounds like a good time?!??

Christmas lends itself to lots of events at the Visitors Center here in Roma

This program above is from an Interfaith Concert performed at our Chapel on the Temple "Square" here on Via Setta Bagni (the name of the road that runs in front of the Temple)

It involved 4 choirs aanad represented 4 different congregations or Churches. Our Church was represented by a Youth Choir who were just excellent!! (it was a small Choir--may 3 people on each part--but so good!)Their Conductor (who comes to the Temple quite often) is very talented and could really get a rich sound with even those few numbers. And the pianist was also an older gentleman who was just excellent. Sounds like we may hear more from them in Church on Christmas Day, too.

Anyway--it was a good evening of music.

One really special thing that is going on at the Visitors Center is a display of Nativities from all around the World. It just started on Friday, Dec 3 and will be on display until the first week of January, 2023. So we are excited to go over and see those. WE ACTUALLY SIGNED UP TO HELP AT THE VISITORS CENTER A FEW DAYS THIS MONTH BECAUSE THEY ARE VERY SHORT-HANDED. One of the Missionary Couples who were serving there had to leave suddenly and will not be returning and a new Visitor Center Director will not arrive until January 5, 2023. So we hope we can help in some way.

This is another upcoming Christmas Concert that really sounds like a big deal! So we are looking forward to that too!

And if it's Christmastime--you really have to do like the song says "Well we need a little CHRISTMAS right this very minute--Candles in the window and Carols at the spinet. . . " 

So this Carol had to have The Sanos take me to the Zero Gradis store (Chinese store run by Pakistans)

and find this cute little tree and some lights and ornaments. Ron was serving a double shift at the Temple--so that is how I spent my evening alone--putting up my tree and listening to Christmas music. Still searching for an ornament that says BUON NATALE. But I did find--if you can see it, a 

SLICE OF PIZZA (on the top picture--look close--you'll see it) So that's representative of Italy--

Everything I have seen says Merry Christmas. I'll keep looking.

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