Ugo winging it, twice

Sunday was a long and lovely day in church. It had gotten down to just below freezing overnight and was chilly outside. Silvia was sustained as the new Primary president, and Dee was sustained as her counselor. Ugo gave a great concluding talk in Sacrament meeting, discussing about the new church history book, Saints, and the huge project behind it. He noted that we are all making history. There were a ton of visitors for Samuel Bosco's baptism (age 8), and Ugo mentioned one of the visitors, Daniela, who was born in Monza where he was raised; they have know each other since they were kids. She is married to the brother of Samuel's father Stefano, who is in our ward bishopric. I realized that she was the daughter of a woman whom I interviewed for baptism in Monza in September 1976. I was the district leader, and Sorella Lynette Stringham (now Funk) was the sister who taught the family. Small world. I sent the photo to Lynette, who was delighted. Maybe we can arrange a conference call with the father, now that I have his phone number.

Me with Daniela Fossati

When it came time for Sunday School, Ugo came up to me and asked if it was his week to teach. Yes, it was; he had forgotten that we had set it all up weeks ago and discussed it last Sunday. So he winged the lesson on Malachi, doing a great job and getting a lot of participation. I joked later that he should stop preparing lessons ahead of time! He then admitted to me that he had forgotten about the talk too, so that was also off the cuff! Ugo is a very talented teacher and gave no indication to anyone in either case.

During the announcements, they said that there would be a potluck lunch at church on Christmas day for whoever wanted to come, especially those without families around. It is a tradition Ugo started a few years ago when he was bishop, and we enjoyed it last year. Maybe we will drop by this year too. Someone from the congregation asked what time it would start, and the look on the bishop's face was priceless. It was puzzled, not knowing what time, but also indicating that it didn't matter, just kinda lunch time. Everyone got a chuckle out of it. Welcome to Italy! 😀

We were able to pay the Hubers for all the loot they got for us this past week from the commissary in Naples. He also handed us a few other goodies that they threw in. David Perego had bought me an extra case of Diet Dr. Pepper to say thanks for all the help I have given him with computers, which was nice of him. Ugo also surprised us with eggnog. We'll introduce our GANS to it at FHE.

After the three hours of meetings, there was Samuel's baptism by his dad. The chapel was completely full, with friends and family from all over. We even had to bring in extra chairs to accommodate everyone. It was a nice ceremony, with the two granddads giving the talks and the two grandmothers giving the prayers. 

Samuel dressed for baptism

Chapel filling for the baptism

Then we got down to the business of the day: food! Rome 3 is known for its parties and lunches, and this didn't disappoint. Dee brought her tortellini dish, this time cooked in the crock pot, which worked better. There was porchetta with some wonderful bread provided by the family, and a bunch of pot luck dishes from everyone else. We got to meet Saul, Donatella's older brother and Samuel's uncle, who has rarely been to the Institute since we got here; we each got to chat with him and invite him to come sometime.

Cutting porchetta and bread

Plenty of food for all

 

 

It was happy bedlam. At the end, Alessio brought out some warm pasta carbonara, which was wonderful. The Boscos told us that they will be moving to Frankfurt, where he will work in the church European offices there. He has been employed here during the temple construction, and his amazing language skills (he speaks English natively, truly like an American, as well as Italian and Spanish) will be a help. It will be tough for his young family to make that culture and language transition, and it will also be a blow to our small and struggling ward. But it is nice for them to have a good employment option, so difficult to find here. In addition, the Primary president and her husband, who is ward clerk, are also moving away. Our poor little ward.

We got home by 4pm, having left before 9am. In the evening I gathered up and printed docs to get a codice fiscale Monday morning for the Willeys and Sorella Millet. I also messaged and spoke with Anziano Willey quite a bit about some phone issues he was having, unable to unlock his phone and get the SIM card working.

I didn't talk with Wendy this week since she was travelling home after their Christmas gathering. Jim and I had a good long talk.

In Primary, the kids were really loud and restless. I stood up and did a quick activity game with them, with standing, clapping, marching in place etc. They were totally silent afterward and able to concentrate on the singing with Marcella. 

Since I'm a missionary, I don't get set apart in ward callings. But the Bishop offered to give me a blessing, which was beautiful. I felt the spirit as he blessed me with health and inspiration and time for my calling. I am grateful for him. He is an amazing man.