Saturday morning we both slept in until about 8am. I was up for a while in the night as sometimes happens, but ended up getting a fair amount of sleep. We stayed at home all morning, receiving three packages, including a Samsung A6 cell phone that I ordered on Friday for one of the newly arrived Sorelle in Ostia. For some reason she hadn't been able to order it ahead of time, and we have Amazon Prime to get it fast. She will pay us when we give it to her on Monday.
Our date to return home in March is now set. The plan is for the new couple to move into our apartment, and we will overlap with them for several days to show them the ropes. To make their life easier, we will move out of the apartment the day before they arrive. I found an apartment right around the corner on Airbnb that I was able to reserve for the six nights we need for only about 500€. It looks very nice and got great reviews. The reservation is cancellable if need be, but we were glad to lock it in since that week will be the temple dedication, so there is some chance that rooms might get scarce. We still need to make flight reservations, but that can wait. Our "homecoming" talks in church are tentatively planned for Sunday, March 24th.
I also reserved a guided tour of Florence for us with our daughter Chiara the day after Christmas. This is the same tour that we have used for all of our family visitors this summer, and everyone has enjoyed it very much.
In the afternoon we went with some other missionary couples to see the temple, which is getting very close to being finished. It is gorgeous.We parked in an adjacent lot where we could see it, right next to some soccer fields. When we left, some games had just finished, and traffic was an absolute mess, with cars trying to enter and exit through a single lane. It took us quite a while to get out.
Back at home, we each ran out to the market. I went to Conad for some produce, and Dee went up to Todis to get some things for dinner Sunday with our friends, Anna and Roberto.
In the evening we had stake conference. We were all dressed up to go out the door when I suddenly felt really exhausted, to the point where I just needed to go to sleep. It was very strange, but I think that all the short nights recently must have caught up with me. Anyway, Dee drove over there with the Thackers and Balzottis, while I went to bed for a short nap. After getting up and eating a bit, I was in bed by 8:30pm and out within a few minutes. After the conference session, Dee decided to to out for dinner nearby with the other senior missionaries. It was a real bummer to miss the conference and the dinner, but my body simply needed the rest.
It was the last stake conference in the Roma 2 building at Piazza Carnaro. The stake president said it was the last time we would be crammed in like sardines, but he hoped we would be so numerous that we would also be crammed into the new stake center.
I got to see Dario Vardeu, Brother Mallara (who hugged and kissed me) and Margarita Garcia and her new baby. Sammy translated for four hours, which is totally exhausting. It's particularly tricky to translate direct scriptural quotes, since the Americans are used to hearing certain wording. He also sang in the choir, and his voice was totally worn out by the end.
I decided to go to dinner with the other senior missionaries even though it was late, because we have so little time to get to know the Thackers, Millets and Feils, and it's always great to be with the Balzottis. We went to Villa Verde, the same restaurant that President Pickerd took us to when we were new. The Thackers were there that time, too. The restaurant is made up of three separate buildings plus a lot of outdoor seating. It's too cold now for the outdoor part, so they put us in one of the buildings all by ourselves, which was pretty nice. They lit the heater, which let out a gas smell. No one died. The menu was entirely in Italian, so I helped the Millets select their choice. I had a vegetarian calzone that Sister Thacker likes. It was great! Cheese, zucchini blossoms, mushrooms, eggplant, and sauce. I took half home to have for lunch on Sunday. It was so nice of them to take me along, since it made a very tight fit in Elder Thacker's back seat.
The Feils were down from Perugia. They have initiated family home evening, a young adult institute class and an adult institute class. They're doing great stuff.
The Millets were blown away by my powerbank and gave me money on the spot to get one for them. I ordered it as soon as I got home, and Amazon will deliver it on Monday.
Meanwhile, a young elder in Ladispoli got cactus juice in his eye while helping someone in their yard. He ended up in urgent care or an emergency room, which wouldn't let him leave on foot. Finally, the Thackers picked up the two elders and took them to sleep in the Thackers' apartment. With the dark and some good painkillers, the elder was able to sleep. They were told he would have three painful days, and after ten days should be good as new. Whew.
Friday was too busy for me to write, so feel free to go back to see my priceless scribblings, a day late.