In the morning we went to church together. Ugo was called as the new Sunday School president, so he and I will now probably be team teaching Gospel Doctrine. President Celestini went ten minutes late as the last speaker in Sacrament meeting, cutting into my lesson time. However, that was actually nice, because (a) his talk was awesome, and (b) I wasn't feeling all that great, so less time was just fine with me. He told a story from years ago when he was serving as bishop. On Christmas Eve, as the stores were closing, he was running through the mall to pick up his wife's Christmas present. He was obviously in trouble! He ran past a kiosk selling cell phone plans and the salesman tried to pitch him, but he kept running. Then the spirit said, "turn around and go talk with that young man!" So he did. He said to the salesman, "I don't have time. Just give me the contract and I will sign it, sight unseen, but you have to promise to come to my church next Sunday." Deal! They exchanged phone numbers, and off he ran, getting the present just in time. For several Sundays, the salesman did not show up, but finally he did attend and ended up getting baptized. President Celestini is an awesome man! Four of his sons attend (or have attended) the Institute.
My Sunday School lesson, on Numbers 11-14 and 21, went well, with lots of really good participation. I love the story of the brass serpent, plus the time when Moses said "Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets" (read the brief episode in Num 11:27-29). During third hour Dee taught her Relief Society lesson, which she said went very well. I have no idea when she found time to prepare, given all of her recent extracurricular activities, but it is nice to see her enjoying teaching so much.
On Saturday, the Hubers again went to the commissary in Naples and brought us a bag of stuff that we requested, for which we are very grateful. The loot includes peanut butter, ranch dressing powder, black beans (for me), etc. -- things that are difficult and/or extremely expensive to get here.
In the morning, I had already decided to skip the big afternoon barbecue at Ugo's house, which was a farewell for Adrian and Matteo leaving on their missions. It would really have been great to be there with all the GANS, but I needed some rest. So Dee packed a change of shoes, some aprons and the two carrot cakes, planning to hitch a ride down to Ugo's home, which is about an hour's drive from our apartment and is much closer to church. She went south in the Perego car, and I came north to our apartment to take a nap and generally take it easy all afternoon and evening.
 |
| Barbecue at the Peregos |
By night time, I was feeling quite a bit better, which will hopefully continue as a trend on Monday when I actually try to do something. After my nap, I caught up on a few things, including a bit of lesson prep. I also wrote up a rather long email to the Benincosas, giving more details on the things we discussed via Skype on Thursday night to help them prepare to serve here. Dee took the train and subway back home with a number of the kids after a long and wonderful day, arriving here around 9pm.