Eight Ganziani with ties

Thursday we were up early to leave just after 8am to go across town to the Rome 1 chapel for a conference. My phone had a strange day. The time was off by 50 minutes for some reason, which meant my Pebble watch was also off. Not sure if it was the phone or the cell network, but finally it got back in synch. Dee's phone had no such problem. We drove Anziani Castro and Kane, who live across our piazza, and the traffic was horrible. It took us almost half an hour just to go a mile or two to get to the freeway, which was then also backed up. We still arrived in time, just barely, but not early as we had hoped.

Anziano Castro is from Milano and we enjoy talking with him because we can ask lots of Italian language questions. His companion is a greenie and was thus probably left out of most of the conversation, but that's how you learn! The favorite phrase we learned was "fifty fifty", which actually is understood by Italians -- there are so many American phrases adopted here now, which seems very strange to us (and probably to many Italians). We almost hit a pedestrian who darted out between cars to run across the street to catch a bus. That happens a lot here, with pedestrians rarely looking before going out into traffic. They have the right of way, but I like to say that it doesn't help to be "dead right." Fortunately traffic in town doesn't go fast, or there would be many more casualties.

The event for the day was a mission "tour", with Anziano De Feo visiting. He was the first stake president in Rome and is now in the Seventy, serving in the Europe West Area presidency. The conference ran from 9:15am until 4pm, with some more activities afterward. It was a great day, very uplifting. Most of it is aimed at the young missionaries, but we enjoy listening in. Anziano De Feo was wonderful, speaking, teaching and interacting with the crowd of over 100 missionaries for hours without using a single note. His opening comment was a very emotional "questa è casa nostra" ["this is our home"] . At one point he said that the Italy Rome Mission was the greatest in the world, which he assured us he doesn't say to every mission he visits -- both he and his brother served here 😉. The Pickerds also had short messages to share. Missionaries came from all over the mainland, plus Sardegna and Malta, with the Sicily conference held in Palermo the day before. There were two awesome and touching musical numbers by different groups of young missionaries, double quartets in each case, with a violin added to the second one. These kids are so talented.

Almost everything was done in English. Anziano De Feo's English is wonderful. He worked for the US State Department here in Rome for his entire career. Anziano Castro did translation using the wireless headset system for those handful of missionaries who don't speak English. At one point, Sorella Simoncini, sitting next to Dee, leaned over and said "sometime I want to serve a mission where nobody speaks English!", which gave us a  good laugh. This is their third mission together, and they always are the ones having to use headsets. It might have been nicer to go fifty-fifty during the day. 😀

At lunch time we got eight current and former Ganziani together from around the mission, each wearing their Ganziano tie. Yes, that took some planning: it wasn't spontaneous, but it was incredible! We love seeing so many friends at these events, with lots of hugs, handshakes, and smiles.

L-R: Papritz, Thacker, Lewis, Fuller, Waddell, Mansell, Smith, Whiting

After the conference ended at 4pm, they started giving flu shots to all the missionaries. We senior couples got to go first, followed by the young missionaries who had to leave for the airport or the train station. Meanwhile, they held a testimony meeting for the missionaries who are departing at the next transfer in early December. A huge group is leaving this time, 28 missionaries in total, of which 19 were present with us in Rome. We would have loved to hear their "death testimonies", but it was getting late and we needed to get over to the Institute. Jomar, Noemi, and Marlene had opened the campus for the afternoon without us, which was great. It ended up being a good move to head out right away, because the traffic was heavy and getting worse, with dusk making it tough to see. We made it in just under half an hour, while the Balzottis and Thackers had to wait for everything to end, at which point it took them two hours to get home in traffic!

We then spent the evening at the the Institute. Often Thursdays are very light, but a fairly large group showed up during the evening. At one point early on, the three who opened the Institute were singing karaoke in the big classroom. Jomar has an awesome tenor voice and does this often, which we thoroughly enjoy from the other room. When they starting singing a song we know, "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You", I went in and joined the group, surprising them. In a minute Dee came in too, wearing her apron, and we really hammed it up, kissing each other at one point, which they loved. Dee also held court in the kitchen, talking with some of the kids, teaching a cooking trick or two. She made pie crust in the food processor for Sorella Balzotti, who is bringing a pumpkin pie to a Thanksgiving meal Saturday with some members. Linda De Martino showed up for a while; she likes to visit with us, and we always feed her. It just feels good to be there with these great kids. 

We learned that Anziano Smith will be leaving Friday on an "emergency" transfer to Lecce, and a greenie (here in Italy only a few weeks) will be taking his place at the Institute. We will miss Anziano Smith. He has really connected with a few kids who could use some spiritual support. Krista, Riccardo's non-member girlfriend, made a special trip to the campus on little notice just to say goodbye to him.

Sara (Krista's friend), Krista, Riccardo, Smith, Mansell, Jomar, Noemi, Marilene, Junior, Tobia

A few Peruvian friends of Almendra showed up a bit late. It was the first time there for two of them, and Dee gave them a tour. They ended up staying to play a game with the group, including Tobia, a nonmember who came to English class again after a while. It has been great that Jomar has keys, since he often keeps the place open late for the kids. Our Institute group is very welcoming of new folks, which speaks highly of them.