Are you better?

Sunday morning as we walked into church, Christiano asked my wife "Are you better?" (sei guarita?) If you recall, she stayed home with the stomach flu the prior Sunday. However, she had a funny moment where she kinda froze before answering that she was ok. Later she told me that she was wondering whether he was asking about her knee, her stomach, her foot, her hand (with a small burn from cooking), etc. Don't ever get old! 😉😀

There were some wonderful testimonies during our fast and testimony meeting. Christian said that the last two years of his life have been really tough, very forgettable, having gone through a divorce, a job that stopped paying him as the company struggled, kids asking for money, and a move to save money on rent. We only knew a part of that story, but he was very upbeat about having a much better 2019. George, a convert from Nigeria, spoke for the first time I recall ever, explaining in English some of the challenges he has been going through. Everyone bore a firm testimony of how the gospel helps them in their struggles. We love our ward, which is small and full of people with big challenges. It was Sorella Palmer's penultimate Sunday, and she is sad to be leaving. She got a big group of friends together for a photo:

It was odd to go two weeks in a row without teaching at church, but next week it is my turn in Sunday School again. We came home right after the meetings, which is somewhat unusual, and then we had the whole afternoon at home. The Benincosas dropped by to pick up the wooden footstool from the campus; we didn't want it because it takes up too much room (it doesn't fold), but they were delighted to have it for their apartment. Win-win! I did some paperwork and finished backing up all three computers. 

David Perego was excited that I had bought him a 10€ SATA case to hold the 128GB m.2 SSD that I inherited when I upgraded the Pickerds' laptop. He has cobbled together a desktop from various parts and is having a lot of fun learning. We messaged a bunch about cables and connectors. Friday he will bring in his computer tower so we can install the drive, which will speed up his machine quite a bit.

Dee spoke with Jim and Wendy, as is her Sunday afternoon habit. My in-laws are having more problems, getting weaker and less sharp mentally. We can't get home soon enough for them, and it will probably not be fun when we get there. Jim and Lynn have to put up with these challenges in the meantime and thus have our thanks and sympathy.

At 7pm there was a fireside with the Pacinis talking about the temple. It was held at the Rome 2 chapel, which was overflowing, with video broadcast to distant wards. The Pagnanis, a local couple newly called as the second counselor in the new temple presidency, gave brief testimonies. Then Sorella Pacini did her talk in Italian, which was very impressive. It is unusual for senior missionary wives to pick up the language, given our age and how little time they spend interacting with Italians. No one would mistake her for a native speaker, but she did a great job. Then President Pacini spoke at length, talking about the why of temples in general and some details about what their job will be. His Italian is very fluent and natural, perhaps not surprisingly after two prior missions here. They will all be great. 

It is always fun to see so many friends and meet new ones. Sorella Ricks, who lived beneath us her for months, is finishing her mission and leaving for home early Monday morning.  I forgot to mention that there are photos of each senior couple on the Pickerds' fridge, kept in order of when they are going home. We are now first on the list, because the Balzottis and the Heymans extended a bit to be here for the temple dedication. Time is going too fast!