Institute in Naples

Saturday was a long day. In the morning I walked down to Conad to get some produce for us for the weekend. Just before 11am I drove down to the Institute to leave the car there while I took the train down to Naples. There was method to my madness, since I could then drive the girls home when they got back from Florence at 8pm on the train. That would give me a couple of hours after Naples at the Institute to work on my Sunday School lesson (Ruth 1, Samuel 1). 

While I was gone, my wife was very busy. She cleaned the apartment, ironed my shirts, washed dishes, went to the farmer's market outside our door a couple of times, and cooked some chicken for Sunday. She is moving around really well now, not even using her crutches some of the time, and apparently there is no pain. It is so much easier and faster!

My train to Naples left just after noon, a few minutes late, but I got there in plenty of time. Anziani Vance and Hernandez met me at the train and walked me the seven blocks to the branch chapel where Institute is held. I could have done it with Google Maps, but it was nice to have them show me the way, and in particular they showed me how to use the keys to open the place up, which was not obvious. It is a very nice chapel, right on a main street. Everything is on the second floor, with a single long corridor and a bunch of classrooms. Fortunately, the classroom where we meet has a nice air conditioner, which was needed because it was a pretty hot day. There is also a closet right next to the room, with a TV for showing videos and some tables to put out.

Of course it didn't start until about 20 minutes after the scheduled time of 2pm. Only two of the kids were there initially, then a third joined us. They were very impressive, knowing the New Testament quite well. We are covering the book of Luke and will catch up with my Rome class in a couple of weeks, so that I have only one lesson to prepare. All of them are from Nigeria, here a year or less. Peter, who served a mission in Nigeria, said he came here because the government there is actively trying to kill Christians.  We covered Luke 1-5, and every time I asked them some detail about the story line, they seemed to know it well. Every one of them said they had read the entire New Testament, which, sadly, would be rare in the US.

Sonde, Peter, and Christian

Afterwards, they enjoyed some of Dee's cookies. A fourth guy, Maxwell, showed up after the lesson and got to have some cookies too. I took the train back to Rome, arriving about 6pm at the Institute. I was really tired and slept a bit on the train, then prepared my Sunday School lesson and headed for the station about 8pm to pick up the girls. We then walked back to the Institute and drove home. They had a wonderful time in Florence and shared some of their experiences with us, as well as a few small gifts that they bought for us. Although I am not with them on their touring, I really enjoy the visiting time. I don't spend my energy wailing about what I'm missing. I call that paying twice--first missing the thing and then mourning it afterward. They are great people and we have a lot of fun talking together.


Marilyn brought me some new knitting needles and I finally got to try them out. I've always used the short circulars, so these longer ones are a new experience. I like them a lot!