Sunday morning Dee woke up and tried to get ready for church. It didn't last long before she was back in bed. Having the stomach flu is apparently a good diet, though not sustainable. Anyway, I went to church alone, with everyone asking where she was and giving best wishes for a quick recovery. Somehow I seem to have missed this illness, knock on wood! Dee would be at home all day again, feeling somewhat better as the day progressed, but she still hasn't showered since Friday morning.
Sunday mornings while I am getting dressed in the bedroom, I have started asking Alexa to play gospel music. She always seems to come up with something new that I like, though usually I have to skip through several songs before finding one that works for me. I already mentioned Casting Crowns, of which I am now a big fan, having now downloaded a bunch of songs using the free and legal service www.freegalmusic.com via our LA Public Library accounts. This time it was a fun song entitled "Old Church Choir" by Zach Williams, which has some real boogie and good lyrics; here is a version from YouTube for you to enjoy. Later in the day I was able to configure our Google Home devices to listen and respond in Italian. Unfortunately we haven't figured out how to do that yet for our Alexa devices, which would be nice for the kids at the Institute where one of our Echo Dots resides. Often during the week I use Alexa to play tech podcasts, keeping up somewhat on the outside world. We do love (and use) our tech. I do my listening on my phone with a headset instead, mostly while cooking. There are so many great things to listen to, both on the gospel library and on podcasts!
At church, it was nice for once to just sit and listen in class, but next week I am looking forward to teaching again, this time on the book of Daniel. After church, I went into the clerk's office to check the status of the VoIP phone land line, which comes as part of the internet package. Finally the old phone service via DSL stopped, so I sat on the cold tile floor in my suit for a while to switch the phone line over to the new fiber modem. After a couple of tries I got it right, so then I was able to remove the old modem, freeing up some space in the tech cabinet under the desk. On the way home it was raining pretty hard, but the weather has not been very cold, especially compared to last year, with light jackets still sufficing.
In the afternoon, I did some lesson prep for next weekend. I also finished a letter for incoming senior missionaries, with suggestions for things to do and bring (and not bring) in preparation for serving here. The document is nine pages, single spaced. Dee edited it, with us iterating together over the contents for a while (six versions) before emailing it off to the Motts, who were very appreciative. I will also send a copy to the mission secretary, Sorella Thacker, to share with other new couples. We then wrote an email to the Skoubyes, the directors of Institute senior missionary couples in Europe, with a description of what we do at our campus. Our setup is different enough from most other such couples, so they had expressed interest in understanding our weekly routine. They would like to increase the usefulness and usage of institutes in other countries.
By dinner time Dee had been out of bed for over six hours, which is a good sign, but she still couldn't eat much. She spoke on the phone with her cousin Jim (living at her parents' home in LA) and our daughter Wendy. We also watched some Andy Woodhull clean comedy, which is good for the soul. By about 9pm she was done. Hopefully Monday she will feel even better.