Full class

Friday was a great day at the Institute. After a nice morning at home, we got to the Institute on time. On the way out, Dee stopped at the underground parking garage beneath our apartment complex to see how that would work. It has been difficult to find open parking spaces nearby this week. Even our doorman Paolo said it has been hard for him. The cost for paid parking below is 90€ per month, but it is a valet service, where they take your car and park it possibly several levels deep. If we pay for six months ahead of time, we get one month free, so that is reasonable, but we are concerned about not having direct access to our car. The guy also told her that they were really full, but that he would let us park there as a favor, which seems a bit concerning. He also said we didn't have to sign anything, which sounds shady. So we will mull it over and see what happens.

I spent much of the afternoon doing prep for my lesson; the week has been busy and I wasn't as far along as usual. Dee first cooked a bunch of sausage in the oven (much less messy), and then started making her wonderful pancakes, keeping them warm and covered in the oven.

 

Riccardo was there all afternoon, and this time he even stayed for the Institute lesson and dinner. By the end of the evening, 27 kids had signed in, which is possibly an all-time high for a "regular" (non-holiday) Institute night. Our classroom was completely full, with four rows of chairs. We need the new, larger facility! There were several non-members there, including Christian, and some kids who hadn't been out for a while (Ludo, Jayno), as well as a few new faces. For example, Noemi just returned from her mission (Rome), and Valentina just moved here from Colombia. Two kids from Ostia joined us via Zoom video, including Daniele who just returned from his mission in Athens. The new Ganziani introduced themselves, as did several of the new kids. When Noemi walked in, she was greeted with applause and some posters the kids had made. It was really wonderful to have so many kids.

Anziano Mansell

Anziano (Hyrum) Smith -- yes, he is a direct descendant!

Joined via video conference

Posters for Noemi

Our lesson was on D&C 3,5,10, and 17, talking about Martin Harris, the lost 116 pages, and the witnesses to the Book of Mormon. We spent most of the time on the latter, with me reading some great quotes from interviews of the witnesses. We talked about how the story of the lost pages and the repentance and redemption of both Joseph and Martin can serve as a parable for when we mess up. A number of the kids had good comments. Noemi translated into Spanish for Valentina, though I suspect that my material did not make it easy for her. Anyway, there was a great spirit there. I ended with a story about my miraculous "healing" from a lifetime of headaches last year, tying that into the lesson. Afterwards, a bunch of the kids told me how much they enjoyed the lesson, and Francesco told me that he was nearly in tears at the end. So I guess it went well, which is always gratifying.

Afterwards, the 96 sausage links went fast (three per person), but Dee had made a ton of pancakes (15 batches) so that everyone had their fill. Their favorite thing to put on pancakes is Nutella, but many also enjoy maple syrup (from Mapeleine extract) and whipped cream. The food was a great hit, and Dee did it almost all by herself. She was tired when we got home, for some reason.