Chiara's baptism and four guests

Saturday morning we deservedly slept in. Anziano Thacker came over to get the last pairs of new sheets for apartments, and I gave him my now-cancelled credit card. He laughed at the story of what had happened to it. I walked down to Conad for a full load of stuff, mostly produce, for us and our guests. Dee spent all morning and much of the afternoon cleaning. Cleaning doesn't last here. In one day, the floors will be dusty again. So, I did it at the last minute. I helped some here and there, but she likes working alone for the most part. I listen to talks or a book while I work, and also needed to do some organizing. The place looks great after all her efforts.

There was a baptism at 5pm at the Roma 1 chapel for Chiara, who has been coming to the Institute for some months now. She is a good friend of Franz, who performed the baptism. There were a lot of GANS in attendance, as well as three "emeritus" Ganziani now back serving in other parts of Rome.

Franz and Chiara

The GANS group

Ganziani emeriti: Waddell, Lewis, Wijesundera

After the baptism, we stopped at Lidl to buy some bacon for bacon apple grilled cheese sandwiches with honey mustard--yummy! Then we drove across town to the Institute, where four Anziani from Calabria had just arrived on the train -- two from Cosenza and two from Crotone. Dee went home on the subway with Clark and Odom, while I took Stout and McInnis and all the luggage in the car. The beds for four of them barely fit in our back room, but the front room doesn't have a heater, and it has been cold of late. Dee fed them chicken enchiladas, prepared Friday and baked on Saturday, which they happily devoured. Only two people can sit in our kitchen at any time, but it worked out fine to stand around.

On the way home from the metro, Elder Clark noticed some pastries in a bakery window. They're called Bugie, which means lies. They have other names, too, like Chiachiere, or gossips or just Frappe. They are a typical part of the Carnevale time, just before Lent. They're basically deep-fried pie crust, coated in powdered sugar. So we got some for them to try. You can see the plate in the picture below. 

L-R: Stout, Clark, McInnis, Odom

It was really fun to have them around, with lots of laughter. Anziano Clark is an incredible pianist and violinist; he just left Roma 3 for Cosenza on Thursday, so he is spending a lot of time on trains this week. Anziano Odom is from San Marcos, right next to our hometown of La Costa. Anziano McInnis is an opera singer, and Anziano Stout has already graduated from BYU with a degree in theater. They sang together in four-part harmony while they were getting ready for bed. A very talented group! We organized the shower and church schedule for the morning, and then they were out at the 10:30pm bedtime for young missionaries.

Friday:
On Friday, I got in touch with an American named Josephine who is going to the Rome campus of St. Johns Catholic University. She really wants to meet people and also wants to join us for our upcoming Temple Open House tour. She is from an LDS family, but not participating recently. We look forward to meeting her!

Also on Friday, we saw Carolina Guidara and her younger brother. They live really far away, so they don't usually come. 

I spent some time on late night phone calls to get Dad's prescription eye drops authorized for the skilled nursing facility .It's worth it.