My Sunday School lesson in Isaiah 22-30 went really well. A whole bunch of people shared good comments and insights, which meant that we didn't even begin to cover all the material I had prepared -- a very good sign! There was a wonderful spirit there, which several others commented on. My third hour Priesthood lesson, on the talk "Lift up your head and rejoice" by Elder Brough at this month's conference, also went quite well. I read the story by Corrie Ten Boom (who wrote The Hiding Place) on forgiveness when meeting her former guard from the concentration camp, which is always very touching. At first I downloaded it in English and started to translate it using Google Translate, then searched instead for it in Italian and saved myself a bunch of effort! Again, a lot of the men shared good comments, so I felt very happy about my efforts. Dee's Primary lesson apparently was not quite as successful in keeping the attention of the kids as she had hoped, but she is always really good with kids that age. The other teacher didn't show up, so I taught the combined group, which was too big for my room. When we moved, it caused more chaos. IMO, the kids don't expect the lesson to be interesting, so they don't even try. I had a hard time getting their attention and even had a personal talk after class with one young boy about his behavior. The upside is that the lesson was on talents. They all loved hearing what their mothers had told me ahead of time about them. One boy was excited to be the class president of the day and it kept him engaged. The best part was that I brought a big roll of aluminum foil and gave them each pieces to create something, as a way to develop a new talent. They had never played with foil before and they really loved it. I try to bring in something unique each week. I was sad that Levi mysteriously never came to class.
After church, I gave USB-to-go cables and drives to the four young missionaries in our ward so that they can back up their photos and videos from their tablets or phones. I wanted to help walk them through the process, but transfers are coming up this week so I felt it better to get them what they need now. The bishop said that Vodafone was coming Monday afternoon to finish installing fiber internet at the chapel, and he asked if I had time to come back and wait for the technician. I said yes, and he gave me the modem for them to install, which had arrived in the mail.
We got home fairly quickly after church, and Dee went right to bed, napping for an hour and a half, without even pausing for lunch. I stayed awake even though I was tired, catching up on a bunch of paperwork. Anziano Balzotti was having problems with his hotspot device and new SIM card, so I went over there to try to help. Apparently the SIM card still needs to be activated, so he will have to go to the store.
After she got up, Dee made 16 chicken enchiladas for the senior missionary dinner. They were a big hit, with everyone asking for the recipe. I'm the go-to cooking specialist here, to my neverending surprise. It is getting chilly, and there was a big thunderstorm with hail during our dinner. The Pickerds got locked in at the Temple and arrived late. President Pickerd was soaked to the bone and had to change. The Thackers and Millets introduced themselves, even though they have both served before in this mission, and Knieses gave a nice farewell. We really enjoyed visiting with everyone, such a nice group. We only had Americans this time because the Calabreses, Simoncinis and Vardeus couldn't make it for various reasons. In fact we all fit at one table. Sister Knies had a great story about some of their American visitors who tried to say where they were. They said there was a pharmacy on the corner, and it was called Aperto. In truth, just about every corner has a pharmacy, and aperto means Open.
