I spoke with Sorella Millet about how I was still feeling weak, so much so that, if I had to fly that day, I would say no. She just said that I need to rest; having been so low for so long, it will take time to get back to normal. She suggested that, when I fly, I get a wheelchair and all the help I can at airports, and that I should consider upgrading my ticket to business class to allow me to spread out and rest well. So I called Delta and asked. There were no first class seats left on the Rome to Atlanta leg, and she checked for a while and said that the Atlanta to San Diego leg would cost over $3000 to upgrade! I gasped. She laughed and asked, "not happening, huh?" Nope.
I walked down and renewed my antibiotic in case I am not better a few days after getting home. The pharmacies here often do not check, so you can refill a prescription multiple times, but this time they marked it, so I couldn't do it again even if I wanted to. Sorella Millet said that she has seen some of these sinus-related illnesses take three courses of antibiotics to cure. Hopefully I won't need it.
I got to speak with Dee for a while. Her dad is in really bad shape, having a hard time breathing when he lies down, but unable to sleep propped up. And he can't remember, so every ten minutes he tries to lie down, gets up, tries to sleep sitting up, gets tired and says he needs to lie down. Rinse and repeat. It is exhausting for her and for him, poor man. She has hospice and a home care place coming to meet with her during the day, so hopefully she can get some offload soon. Her cousin Jim, who lives there, is being a wonderful help whenever he can, but he has a life and a job.
I made a 10-minute video tour of our apartment, detailing some useful facts for the Motts to know. I also put post-it notes around the apartment explaining a few things. I put the video file onto a USB flash drive that I am leaving here for them, along with a bunch of useful docs. The video will also be uploaded to Google photos, so they could view it while still in the MTC, if they have time. I took a one hour nap, much needed, and then organized the linen closet and hung up the lace curtains in our bedroom. We had just kept the blinds down for a long time, but it is nice to get light and still have privacy.
Later in the afternoon, I walked down to Conad and stocked up on Gatorade. It is less than five minutes by foot, but I return feeling really spent. At 5pm there was a fireside by President Nelson for all the young men and women in Italy (teenagers, basically). A link was available to watch it online in English or Italian, and I chose the latter. Nathan Pacheco, an incredible LDS singer, performed a couple of musical numbers, including a very moving one where he had the congregation sing a refrain while he sang the descant. The DeFeos spoke, as well as President Ballard and the Nelsons. It was a very moving devotional. President Ballard's grandson, Anziano Huntsman (currently one of the assistants to President Pickerd), translated into Italian for his grandfather and did a fine job. The other translators were incredible. Joshua Perego sang in the youth choir, and he got to shake President Nelson's hand.
