Two medical visits, one tech support call

Monday morning Dee was up early because she had an appointment with Dr. Giorgini (who helped with her broken foot) about her knee, which has been giving her pain. She took her first shower in three days. She was hoping to get a cortisone shot, which helped a lot when she got one last year soon before leaving on our mission. The doctor however wanted to get an MRI before doing anything, so that got set up for Tuesday morning. The doctor also told her to get a knee brace to help control the swelling by holding it better in place. Dee went from the doctor directly to the Institute, walking to the subway, which seems to help her knee. She still wasn't feeling very well and told me that she would go home once I arrived there.

Meanwhile, after a morning at home, I went up to the Millets' apartment to be there when the technician arrived to install their new fiber internet modem. We had about six big bags of stuff to carry into town, mostly from our Friday night trip to Ostia; it took me two loads to get it all down, completely filling the trunk. The technician time slot was from 1-3pm, and he showed up around 2pm. While waiting, I had a nice visit with the Millets and did a bunch of technical support and teaching. Both of them had had the stomach flu similar to Dee, so I kept my distance. I was able to explain to them why WhatsApp is so crucial here, as well as helping them learn to use the features. They were really excited as they grasped how nice it is. The technician was in and out quickly, saying that the internet would be activated within a couple of hours, so I headed downtown, arriving around 3pm. Later in the afternoon Anziano Millet was delighted to confirm that the internet was working: 130 Mbits/sec download and 20 Mbits/sec upload -- I am jealous!

By the time I arrived, Dee was feeling a lot better, not needing to go home to rest anymore. In fact, she headed out on the bus to a store to buy her knee brace. There was a long line, but she finally got it and arrived back just in time for FHE. Since she hadn't had much free time, I offered to teach the lesson, and she seemed glad for that. The group of kids was different from Friday's, so I re-used part of my lesson from Friday night, talking about accepting callings. Dee chimed in with some great personal examples of when a church calling that she didn't really want initially turned out to be a great blessing. The group was rather small, but we had a nice time. Given Dee's health and lack of time, we just had store-bought cookies, but everyone was happy. Afterwards we played a good game of Cover Your Assets.

 

I also shared the "Old Church Choir" song on YouTube, and everyone enjoyed it, especially Jomar. I expect to hear him singing it karaoke style soon. Our new Ganziano, Anziano Pedroza from Alpine, Utah, was there for the first time. He seems like a nice kid, though unfortunately he doesn't speak Spanish. It was a good day, and very nice that Dee is feeling so much better.

I took a taxi in the morning, and the driver, Stefano pulled out a Thomas guide-type map. I was a little worried he would take longer, and he certainly didn't follow any route I was checking on my phone, but we got there just fine and in about the same amount of time. I found out how difficult and expensive it is to get into being a taxi driver in Rome. Learning the roads and the historic sites is a life's work in itself. He has been to the west coast, including Utah. It would be fun to take a tour of the USA with an Italian group. I gave him a card to arrange for a tour of the Rome Temple.

I went to M.A.S. for the knee brace, where I was number 9 in line. When it was my turn, a woman took me all the way into the back of the huge store and measured me. Then she brought out about eight leg braces for me to try, with no sign of impatience. A man also joined her, and everyone was super nice. Good customer service is not a given here, so this was a pleasant surprise. The bus went right past Piazzale Porta Pia, where the Church was located in the seventies when I was here before.