Rome East Zone Conference

Thursday morning we had our Zone Conference, another early morning. Our Rome 3 district got transferred to the Rome East zone to balance out the numbers between the two Rome zones, so we are now with a new group of missionaries. Of course, the names change all the time with transfers, so we still knew a number of them. The main conference was from 9am to noon, but there was also a training meeting at 8am for the sister missionaries, all of whom will be helping out at the temple visitors center during the open house starting next month. Dee hadn't noticed that meeting on the calendar, but she went right in when we arrived about 8:30am so she could learn how they are being trained. Usually our conferences last most of the day, but with holidays and other activities, the Pickerds kept this one short, which made life easier for us. We were able to hang around for the group photos at the end and still make it to the Institute by 1pm, skipping the lunch provided. The Pickerds took various group photos for their blog, some of which I include here:

The entire zone

Just the Elders

Just the Sisters

The Whitings

There were four senior couples present: us plus the Balzottis, Millets, and Feils. A number of new young missionaries gave their "birth" testimonies in halting Italian, and Anziano Dunn, who goes home to San Diego early next year, gave his "death" testimony. We have known him for over a year and really like him.

Anziano Dunn

We found a great parking spot right outside the chapel, and there was an old Fiat 500 car parked nearby, a very tiny and inexpensive (and thus popular) model from the 1970s.

The conference was very instructive and enjoyable, as always. The Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders gave some training on better modes and attitudes for "finding." In addition to reviewing the state of the mission and recent baptisms, President Pickerd gave a great lesson, comparing life before and after the Fall, as well as after the Atonement. He made a list of things: our relationship with God, our daily life, our progression, and our family relationships. He then pointed out that some things got better and some got worse after the Fall, but that with the Atonement all our prospects improved. He used scriptures and hymn lyrics to back up his explanations. It was a very meaningful lesson for us all. 

Soon after we got to the Institute, Anziano Benincosa showed up to help Billy prepare for an upcoming job interview. The Benincosas' son Devon was also in town and hung with us while his dad worked. We enjoyed getting to know him. He lives in Puerto Rico and is doing his medical residency there. Sammy was here and we all had a lively visit. I also hit Sammy up to edit my translation of the "Story of the Other Wise Man" which I hope to use in my Sunday School lesson on the 30th. Google Translate and my skills can only take it so far -- it is always good to have a native speaker look it over, and he was enjoying the story. I then did a bunch of lesson prep for Friday during the afternoon.

I changed the hard water filter in the bathroom. Then I notice that the sink there is almost completely clogged, and Dee pointed out that the kitchen sink is not far behind. I sent a message to Ugo and to FM, and Ugo said he thinks he knows what is going on and will help us Friday.

Nobody else came for the rest of the afternoon until about 6pm, which was nice for us. Then all of a sudden a big group of kids came over from the Friendship Center, having just re-performed their gospel choir concert. The place went from empty to hopping in just a few minutes. The Ganziani, still including Anziano Wijesundera who will fly back to Palermo Friday, brought a guy from Albania they had just met to attend the English class. Several of the kids left before English class, but there were still enough left for a good game of Cover Your Assets afterwards.

During the afternoon and evening, Dee made two big carrot cakes for Friday's activities, as well cooking some chicken to use while Chiara is here. Having two fridges makes her life much easier now, since before we would often have to carry home things to store in our fridge overnight and then bring them back the next day. Now we seem to have all the room we need for the dinner preparations.

 

On the drive home, Dee had a nice long chat with our daughter Wendy, including a report on last weekend's Christmas gathering. It is sad for all of us to see my in-laws struggling so much both physically and mentally, but our kids really love them for all the years they were a constant part of their lives. We are looking forward to sleeping without an alarm for the first time this week.

It was good to have the day to do some premeditated cooking. I also started to prep the receipts for reimbursement. I have several months to catch up on.

Twenty-five missionaries went home. We're down to about 133 missionaries. Wow, that is the definition of spread thin.

I was exhausted all day.