Mud storm

Sunday was a long and rather unusual -- but quite enjoyable -- day. We each gave a talk in Sacrament meeting, and it seemed to go well enough. In any case, it is over and we are happy to move on. You can read my talk here (in English and Italian) and you can listen to Dee's talk here and my talk here (Italian only).

My wife got recruited to help out in Primary for both hours, as the music leader wasn't there. It is known to be pretty chaotic in our ward Primary, with the President being the sole leader/teacher with more than half a dozen young kids who don't know how to behave. Dee was able to help out a bit, but more importantly she gave some suggestions to the President on how to try to improve things, which were very appreciated. 

After the three hours, we stayed around a bit to help out Sorella Elia Magnanti with her family history. I did a few updates (e.g., BIOS) on her computer while we ate lunch, as well as installing the Legacy Family Tree software, which Dee configured for her. Dee brought some bread and cheese, and Elia brought quite a spread to eat. Dee was able to do a few things to help with her family history, but the internet is so slow there that it wasn't as productive as we had hoped. We hope to meet with a couple of ward members after church once a month to help with their family history. It is a service we can offer, very willingly.

Several of our GANS stayed around and fixed some pasta to eat, along with the Anziani who barbecued hot dogs to share. The kids tend to hang around for food after our ward meetings, which is a really nice thing.

 

It had rained a bit while we were in church. When we left, our car was absolutely filthy: it had rained mud! Apparently there are sandstorms in northern Africa which blow over the Mediterranean via sirocco winds and end up getting deposited here. Fortunately, the wiper fluid and wipers were able to clean the windshield well enough for us to see and drive home, but I predict another car wash in our immediate future.

 

 

We were not at home very long before leaving for stake choir practice, which was to start at 4:30pm. Next month is stake conference, so they are preparing, and we like to sing. Everyone forgot to bring keys to the nearby Roma 2 chapel, so about a dozen of us waited outside for over half an hour while the director ran home to get keys. None of the locals seemed to be fazed by it, so we decided to follow suit, even though practice started 45 minutes late. We are singing some very nice songs from American arrangements, with the Italian lyrics written in by hand. Unfortunately for us, (a) we don't know the hymn lyrics well and (b) the handwriting is quite difficult for us to read. So we struggled, not knowing the words or the music yet. Fortunately, we now have copies to study for next week's practice!

Waiting outside for the keys

Choir practice -- just three men

We got home about 7pm, later than we had expected, and the Balzottis then came over for Dee to help him with his family history. As is usual with them, we had a delightful and laughter-filled visit along the way. They left after 10pm, so it was a late night for us, but lots of fun.