Fond farewell

Monday morning we got a call from Paolo, our doorman, saying that there was a package arriving for Sorella Neuberger, who lives beneath us, with an 11€ fee due for customs. He was unable to reach her, so he asked us what to do. I called the office to see, and they said it was ok and that they would pay it if it came to the office, and then Sorella Neuberger would reimburse them. So I told Paolo that I would come down with the money so he could accept the package, and then I would deliver it and collect the money. Paolo said not to worry, that he would pay it and we could reimburse him. Wow, what service! So it ended up being 10.08€, and she got her package. It cost $14 to mail, plus about $12 in customs, for a $30 birthday present from her mom. She was happy to get it, but this is why the mission begs parents not to mail anything here, because the customs values are rather capricious and can be quite high.

We also received our own package, from Amazon.it, with a new iron. Yes, we had bought one a few months ago, but Dee inadvertently dropped the new one onto the unforgiving marble floor, so it leaked water when we filled it up to get steam. Fortunately, no customs involved, and now we have a nice new iron. Some of the missionaries exercise with weights in their apartments. The bad news is that sometimes they drop the weights and break the marble floor tiles. Since they can't be matched, the mission then has to pay to replace the entire floor. 

I messaged with Dexter abut his family history. He was able to get his dad's permission to do temple work for Dexter's paternal grandparents, who were born just over 100 years ago. It will be neat for him to have the opportunity next week at the temple.

At 11am we went to Lidl to buy food, mostly for our apartment, but a little bit for the Institute too. We dropped off our stuff, then headed down to the Institute for a full day, arriving there just before our usual 1pm opening time. The event was to be an FHE as a farewell to Noelle and Ashley, who were back in town for one final night before flying out Tuesday morning. Ashley has had a very positive experience with the church and the Institute here, which she says was a good shot in the arm for her. It was good to be there for the afternoon and see some of the kids. We have a tradition of having one of the youth pick a quote to share. This week, it was:

“If you are depressed you are living in the past. 

If you are anxious you are living in the future. 

If you are at peace you are living in the present.”

--Lao Tzu

I got a call from the local facilities management person for the church, about the fact that Salt Lake has now issued the work order to proceed looking at the new apartment downstairs as a larger Institute location. This is great news, and hopefully we can get a deal done within the next few weeks. Ugo and I spoke about this, and we sent him our "wish list" of features to include in the buildout, if we get the place. Included are two ovens and two refrigerators, plus a number of other things.

About 3pm I went out for some errands, mailing Dee's shoes back to Amazon to get reimbursed, then to the ATM to get some cash. After that I went to the train station to buy a new SIM card for my dual-SIM phone. A cell phone carrier, Iliad, which is new to Italy but has apparently been in France for a while, has an amazing offer. For only 7€ per month, you get 40GB of data and unlimited calls and texts, including calling to the US! I forgot to bring my passport, but I was able to register and buy the SIM card for only 10€, which wouldn't be activated until I uploaded a photo of my passport. I can do that on Wednesday. This will be my data SIM, with the mission SIM being used for local phone calls and texts, but I can use the Iliad SIM for calls to the USA. It is good to have a dual-SIM phone! The Vodafone SIM card I have will be moved to my old US Moto phone, which seems to work well. It is only 5GB, but it is included for free with our fiber internet plan at home, so we will keep it for visitors. When I got back, I just sat in front of an air conditioner for a while to cool off.  Meanwhile, Dee was making marshmallow brownies. Mmm!

 

For the FHE, we had probably the largest turnout ever for a Monday night. Part of that is due to Ashley and Noelle, and part is probably due to the fact that a lot of them are on vacation for the month. Jomar, who works as a delivery guy for a health food restaurant, is off all month, with full pay! In retrospect, we kinda regret closing the Institute for most of the month, but at this point we have commitments that make it difficult to go there often. However, we will recommend to the couple that replaces us next year that they go in at least 2-3 times per week during August and we'll go as much as we can. 

There was a big group there by 7pm, but Ashley and Noelle messaged us to say that they were running late, Italian style (i.e., not just a few minutes, but about 45 minutes). So we all decided to just hang out and wait for them, not starting until they arrived. This is Italy, so everyone was cool with that! Finally they showed up, and we got started. We barely fit into the library, where we hold our FHE events. We considered moving to the big classroom, but decided we could all squeeze in. Here are photos of almost everyone, later on in the big classroom:

 

My lesson was on the grace of Christ, using a talk given by Brad Wilcox at the FairMormon conference at the beginning of August. I showed only a two-minute clip, just talking about some of the other points he brought up. He is such an enthusiastic speaker, and he makes you think. The video clip spoke about the supports for the Kirtland temple, which were installed incorrectly: the beams were put in turned horizontally instead of vertically (which made them weaker), and they were also not put close enough together, particularly in the center where the pulpit was. The first problem was due to the fact that the builders weren't professional and probably didn't know what they were doing, and the second was due to the fact that they didn't have adequate funds to put in enough beams. Nonetheless, despite these defects, the temple didn't collapse during the dedication (better supports have since been added, btw), and Christ accepted it anyway. In like manner, despite all of our shortcomings, Christ accepts us and helps us grow.

He also made an insightful point using the words from one of our favorite hymns, which says "I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me. Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me." Brother Wilcox observed that "proffer" is a very proactive word, a combination of "pro" and "offer", in which the offerer comes toward the recipient, basically placing it in their hands in such a way that they almost can't refuse the gift. Then he noted that, in  most Christian denominations, the communion is "offered" at the front of the chapel, and people come forward to get it. By contrast, in the LDS church the communion ("sacrament", in our parlance) is "proffered", carried by members of the priesthood to each person in their seat. So the symbolism is that Christ is proffering his grace to  us right where we are, without us having to do anything other than reach out our hand. It was a very thought-provoking image. 

After the lesson, everyone enjoyed the brownies and some cookies, then games ensued. The brownies were hard to cut due to the marshmallows, but they were a hit. We had a wonderful evening with all these kids.

 

 

 

We have a large wooden open cabinet in the bathroom, needed for all the cleaning supplies and paper goods. But it doesn't fit well. We tried running it along a different wall, but that didn't work, either. We're going to look for something smaller to put in there. We don't want to spend too much because we hope we're moving to the new place.

Speaking of space, Ugo cooked for some young people on Saturday. We knew he was going to use the Institute kitchen, but didn't know he was bringing ice cream. Our freezer is verrry full, but he magically got his ice cream in.

I spent a couple of hours working on my own family history, which I really enjoyed. I think it helps for the kids to see me in action, too. Maybe they'll be more prone to dive in themselves.

The mission office has a pictorial Italian-English dictionary. It's really useful for things like engine parts. I found one on Amazon.com and sent it to our house in California for the future. It's too heavy to bring it home from here, and this particular book was much cheaper in America. I am also interested in some books on the changes to peasant lives in Italy in the early twentieth century. It would be easier to read something in English, but there's some cool stuff in Italian. Some have few copies, so I haven't bought anything yet. There was a photographer named Paul Scheuermeier who took pictures of everyday life around 1930. Here are some of his photos. 

I took a walk in the morning and did some stretches. It's not enough, but it's a start. I'm so glad to be able to take a walk again.

We aren't needed in the office tomorrow, and we're looking forward to some catch up time at home.

Benedetta, with some of her sugar cube sculptures from Sunday in Primary