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Anziano Puzey--Returned with Honor

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After returning on August 13th from Italy, Jackson reported to the high council of the West Richland Stake on Thursday August 15th and spoke in church on August 25th. He shared sweet experiences of how his mission helped him become a disciple of Christ and how those on his mission were examples to him of being disciples of Christ. He was very humble about his experiences and did not share much of the stories of those whom he helped to bring unto Christ. He said those were their stories to share. Carson spoke with him and also did a wonderful job of sharing his testimony. It was a joyful day for the Puzey family.  A beautiful part of the day was that Anziano and Sorella Lybbert came to listen to Jackson speak and then came to the house after to visit with the family, but especially Jackson. They are a couple that live here in the TriCities and served in the Milan Italy mission home while Jackson was serving there. It was wonderful to have them in our home and hear about their missio...
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Sunday August 11 -- Piacenza

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And this is what this trip was all about. The people. As soon as this sweet little boy saw that Jackson was at church he came and threw his head on Jackson’s lap. It’s been 7 weeks since he has seen Anziano Puzey and he was overcome with emotion to see him again. Jackson taught him, his mother and 2 brothers about Jesus Christ and the beautiful plan of salvation. After a few minutes Jackson lifted Micheal onto his lap where he sat without moving for the entire hour long meeting. Tears flowed for both Doug and I as we saw first hand the impact our son has had on the people of Piacenza. This was the area Jackson was sent to Italy to serve. This was the part of the Lord’s vineyard he was meant to tend. This is why we sacrificed not seeing him for the last 2 years. After church the members held a luncheon and we were able to meet and mingle with them. What an unforgettable experience.  Our tour of the areas in Italy Jackson served during his mission could not have ended any sweeter ♥️ ...
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Saturday August 10 -- Genova

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Greetings from Piacenza! This is our last stop before heading back to the States. This was Jackson’s second to last area and he spent 3 transfers here. This is where he was able to bring several souls to the waters of baptism! We’re excited to go to church tomorrow and meet some of them!  Today was a travel day. We made our way down out of the mountains to Genova and then backtracked to Piacenza. Jackson did not serve in Genova but we thought it would be fun to see the port city where Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 and get a look at the Mediterranean Sea.  Unfortunately, our sightseeing was cut short by 103° temps with high humidity so we made our way to Piacenza and got here as the sun was setting. We ate dinner in the town square next to the Duomo.
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Friday August 9 -- Bolzano

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Each day gets better than the last here in the Alps!! Today we visited Bolzano, a Germanic city that was a part of Austria until WWI. It has beautiful streets and flower markets. We visited the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology that houses   Ötzi, a fully preserved man found by married mountain hikers in 1991 in the Alps. He was encased in the ice for 5300 years! His fully intact body (skin and all) is displayed in the museum, but no photos are allowed. After lunch we rode a gondola up into the mountains to the little village of Ritten, a fully Bavarian town where it was 15 degrees cooler and had so much charm! We caught spectacular views of the of Loacker Mountain, which their famous chocolate wafers are named after. Next we took a 30 minute drive and short walk to the most breathtaking views we have seen since landing in Italy. Lake Carezza with the Dolomites in the background was like a painting. The pictures look photoshopped but they’re not 😊 Finally, we ate dinner with the P...
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Thursday August 8 -- Brixen

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  I’m officially on overload!  So much history, so much beauty, so much goodness!! We toured the local village of Auer and then took the train up to Brixen. Fun to have Emilee join us for the day! Hiked to ancient ruins above Auer, Italy. The view through the ‘window’ was remarkable! Goats on the rocks and ruins View of Egna, Italy Walking through the neighborhoods seeing residents tending their vineyards Jackson in front of his missionary apartment in Brixen Streets of Brixen Random waterfalls in the middle of the city park Dinner at last after another long but memorable day ♥️
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Wednesday August 7 -- Auer

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Quick post tonight since most of it was roundtripping to the area that Jackson spent the second longest amount of time on his mission…in the Bressanone/Brixen area. It was such a beautiful drive and every huge castle on the mountain was larger than the last. This area is in Northern Italy near the Austrian border in the foothills of the Alps. I’ll be honest this is the part of the trip I’ve been most looking forward to and it did not disappoint. It is stunning! 🏔️ I was also so looking forward to seeing Emilee again and meeting her husband Jared and baby Raylee. We met Emilee when she came to visit us in Washington about half way through Jackson’s mission. She is originally from Spokane and I think felt like a little piece of home when Jackson came to serve here. She fed us all a scrumptious dinner tonight and then we played Jackbox Games (picture is from the TV’s point of view :)  Second picture is the view from our Airbnb  😍
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Tuesday August 6 -- Florence -- Pisa -- Lucca

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Today we spent more time in Florence where we all got to do some of our favorite things. Gelato for Doug, Vintage books for me, retail therapy for Madi (specifically an Italian leather coat), Jackson walking the streets of Italy, the country that has stolen his heart and a museum trip for Carson. We all loved the unique bookstore that housed a theater and was airconditioned (grazia!!!) seating area in the balcony above. You could watch the movie or the shoppers browsing books!  Then we headed to Pisa to see its leaning tower!! This was one thing Jackson wanted to see that he hadn't been able to. We were surprised how much it really is LEANING. The pictures don't really show how much--it looks like its about to fall over. Also didn't realize it had so many beautiful buildings around it including a baptistery and cathedral. We were sad that we didn't get to tour them. Then on to Lucca!! This is such a cool city, still surrounded by a medieval wall and moat (although it no...
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