In which Anziano Balzotti drives to and from the campus

Wednesday morning my cold was getting worse again 😞, which was a bummer after needing no meds on Tuesday. I walked to Conad for a few things in the morning. One of the tapparelle (wonderful metal rolling shutters) in our bedroom has been broken for some time. The strap can no longer be moved, and it is stuck in the down position. I looked online for tapparelle repair places and found a bunch of them, calling one and setting up an appointment for Thursday morning. We hope to leave more things working for the Motts, and our time is getting short.

Anziano Balzotti drove us into campus this time. Having served here as a young missionary, he knows downtown Rome somewhat, so he was pretty comfortable with me giving directions. Once there, the three of us reviewed the schedule for the next few weeks, beyond when we go home. They are already way along the learning curve and should be able to transfer lots of knowledge to the Motts. They are great with the kids and are really excited to have this opportunity to do something different.

It was a very light afternoon at the campus, typical for Wednesdays. The evening activity was giving out cards for the English classes at Palazzo del Popolo. Three kids -- Jomar, Joyce, and Nelson -- went along with the two Ganziani, breaking up into two groups.  Meanwhile, the three of us stayed and watched Benventi al Sud, a hilarious Italian comedy (shown with English subtitles), which plays off the regional prejudices here in Italy. The subtitles are necessary even for me, because so much of it is in dialect. The Balzottis loved it and want a copy. About 8pm the kids came back, and we set out some cookies and cake for them to eat. They finished that off and then set themselves to playing games. Nelson, from Milano, enters the MTC in England next month to serve here in Rome.

L-R: Balzotti, Rouse, Jomar, Joyce, Faletti, Nelson

 

I spoke with Dee twice during the day, once in her morning, when she was heading up to see her dad in the hospital. The second time was as she was heading to airport to fly back here. Donna arrives in LA on Friday to take over. It's not like things are great there without Dee, but we think and pray that they can get by. Her nonstop flight from LAX to Rome would leave at midnight Rome time and arrive at noon Thursday.

I sent in a request to church travel for different flights home: Dee to LA on March 4, and me to San Diego on March 12 (after the temple dedication). That should all get set in the next day or two, and then the question will be whether I can somehow recover or reuse the extra funds we had paid to upgrade my seat to have more legroom on our prior flights. If not, I will pay for it again (it is cheaper than knee surgery after a long flight in regular coach 😉), but Dee insists that she doesn't need it.

With Jomar there with his keys, we were able to leave a little early, arriving home by 9pm. Anziano Balzotti drove home too, so now he knows the way, more or less. I picked up Anziano Willey's MiFi device, sent home via the Thackers, and configured it again (properly this time, I hope!) to enter the SIM PIN automatically. It will get sent back to him via the Thackers in the morning.

By then I was exhausted, took my cold meds, and hit the sack, hoping for a full night of sleep.