Rhenald's job offer

Friday morning was spent at home. Dee walked down to Conad to get a few things, right before we left. There was a request from the temple folks to ask our GANS kids to help out with some last minute cleanup items, but without any details at first. We will do the best we can to organize the forces, but our numbers are small, particularly during daytime hours when they want help. 

Soon after we got to the Institute, Matteo arrived from school and wanted help with a physics problem on waves (the question from the teacher was not well formed, imo), and also on some math problems. I can help, but figuring out the right terms in Italian is always hard at first. For example, Matteo said that he had this "disequazione", which I finally figured out meant "inequality". Half of my effort went to translating and understanding technical terms, which were not in our missionary discussions years ago, so we never learned them! <g>

Next we heard from Rhenald, who got a full-time job offer as a gardener at the temple. They were hiring five of them, and he got one of the slots. He was soooo excited! Getting a job here is tough for all young people, especially immigrants, and having a full-time job with a stable employer is a godsend. He dropped by later to print out, sign, scan, and send back his acceptance of the offer letter.

We had only six kids for Seminary. Several others said that they would be there, but didn't show. Pamela missed her train and the next one ran late, so she missed class, but she wanted to come be with the others enough that she came anyway. Our lesson was on the atonement of Christ, linking it to several of the scriptures we are studying. We then played some games, including bingo of course. Dee made Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Cheesecake Brownies for the class, which are just as decadent as they sound and were a big hit! The kids hung out together for almost two hours after class.

 

 

 

 

 

I also helped Sam a bit with his Pathway stuff, but he often shows up on Friday afternoon just as my classes start, when I unfortunately can't do too much for him. We asked him to come again next week on any day other than Friday. He did stay for Institute class and enjoyed Dee's dinner, which was enchiladas, with salad, lemon bars, and the aforementioned cookies. 

We really enjoy talking with Sammy (not the same as Sam). After serving his mission in the UK, his English is quite good, and he works very hard to keep adding vocabulary words and phrases. We also get to ask him about Italian idioms and words, so it is mutually beneficial exchange. He loves it when we correct his English. At one point he mentioned doing "tens" of something, which makes sense in Italian (diecine), but we said that it should be "dozens", at least in American English. He looked puzzled but pulled out his little notebook and wrote it down. Fun stuff.

The other day, David Perego was talking with Dee. He is short for his age, and she was telling him about her short ancestors, one of whom was only 4' 5" tall. He asked how much that was in centimeters, since he isn't used to feet and inches after living here for about half of his life. Very interesting. We have a hard time intuiting what a height in centimeters means, always having to convert to feet and inches to relate to the number. We are pretty good at kilometers, kilograms, and Celsius temperatures now, but it still isn't completely natural.

My Institute lesson was on D&C 66-75, with good discussions on a number of different topics in those sections. We had a couple of non-members present in class for the first time, as well as Stefano, Marilene's brother, who hasn't been here much for a quite a while. During the class, after enough kids showed up (we always start out with small numbers), I took a pause and presented a Ganziano tie to Anziano Pedroza, along with a charge to be especially welcoming to everyone there. The kids and Ganziani now know about the ties, and everyone enjoyed the "tie ceremony" very much. Anziano Mansell and I were each wearing ours as well. There were a couple of missionary lessons going on in the other rooms during our class, taught by two pairs of sisters.

By dinner time, the place was full, really hopping with energy. With our two big Ikea pans that can both fit into the oven at once, Dee was able to make enough enchiladas for everyone to be full, but there was nothing left. A couple of people copied the recipe. I get a kick out of Spanish speakers asking me what the dish is called. Enchiladas are not South American, so they're exotic to the group. Several other non-members and less active members showed up during the evening and fit in well with the group. Games were still going strong in two different rooms when we left for home. For us, the noise and energy are lovely; fortunately our neighbors never seem to be bothered by it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way, home Dee talked to Bishop Magnanti on the phone and he called her to be a counselor in the new Primary Presidency that will be sustained on Sunday. Even though we only have three months, she will be able to do a lot of good and help train them on how to be more effective. She is very pleased at the opportunity. I love Sister Cadena, the new president, who was formerly the counselor. We usually have only two people in a presidency in our small ward. Sister Frulla is a terrific lady and worked very hard as Primary President. It's hard to believe she will be gone. We need to pray for more people for our ward.