Windows closed

Monday morning we had to close the windows in our apartment, because there was a notice posted downstairs that they would be spraying insecticide outside during the day. With windows closed, it got warm quickly even with fans, so I moved my computer setup to the back bedroom again and turned on the AC. The weather has now hit the mid 80s, and we are so glad to have AC available most places we go.

In the afternoon, Dee made a carrot cake for the FHE and worked on her lesson. I printed out materials for two Institute lessons and one Sunday School lesson this coming weekend. I also installed a 64GB micro-SD card into my new Huawei tablet and copied over a bunch of data to it. The tablet is now ready to go. In the late afternoon there was a big thunderstorm with a whole lot of rain. It cooled things off a bit, and it also washed our car nicely 😀. I made up a tentative itinerary for Wes and Alyssa next month; after Dee reviewed it, I sent it off for their input.

Carrot cake, pre-frosting

We were hoping to have a Philippine food night on Wednesday, but our three kids from the Philippines -- Jayno, Jomar, and Joyce (I call them the J's) -- can't make it work this week, so we will try again next week. Thus we will switch weeks and try to take food to the Baobab refugee camp this week instead.

My wife gave a wonderful FHE lesson. It was supposed to be on reverence, but it quickly got off track in a nice way, and she just ran with it. All the kids lit up, smiling, and ended up sharing stories of how being members of the church has blessed them, and how friends have come to understand and even support them in their beliefs. It was quite powerful. I pointed out that we had 4.5 converts out of six people there at the time, smilingly calling Junior half a convert. He seemd to be touched by all the positive stories of the blessings of living the gospel and asked the elders to teach him after the lesson. 

 After class we had carrot cake, and then a rousing game of Cover Your Assets with eight players, while Dee sat with us and knitted.

When we got home, we learned that Sorella Summerhays, who has lived below us for many months, got an unexpected transfer back to Palermo 2. The sorelle had been in a threesome here for five weeks, and a sorella in Palermo encountered a health issue which required some time to recover, so the President moved Sorella Summerhays back there. She was excited about it, since she had really loved serving there. We will miss her. She has been very kind and helpful, particularly with my wife's recent foot challenges.

There was also another printed notice downstairs, letting us know that the elevator would be closed for maintenance on Tuesday from 9am to 4pm. That would not be easy for Dee, going down six flights of stairs in her air cast, so we will see how that goes. She is getting around so much better, but 127 steps might be a bit much.

I walked around the Institute without crutches all day. I was aware of my break, but mostly it hurt in other places due to the increased usage. Progress!

I want to eat more veggies, and today I cooked up a wonderful combo of red bell pepper, eggplant, chicken, garlic sprouted tops and lemon thyme. I asked the elders if they wanted some and they lit up. I made it into a frittata for them. They ate every bit. Then I decided to cook some more of it, but I lost control of the knife and cut my fingers pretty badly. One wouldn't stop bleeding for more than half an hour. Not good.