Chamber Concert

March 27, 2015

The orthopedic doctor who treats many of our missionaries plays in a Chamber Orchestra.  She and the mission nurse have become good friends (because they see each other so often).  We attended one of her concerts in a church near the Pantheon and presented her with a CD of the Tabernacle Choir.  She had heard of the choir and was thrilled with the gift.

Missionary Poem

A mission is a strange experience, it's a trial and a test.
A mission throws at you the worst, yet teaches you the best
They told me this would be the best period of my life,
but I guess they didn't explain it all to clear.
I came out looking for a bed of roses, I just wasn't expecting all the thorns I've found out here.
Since I've been out I've never been so happy, I've never been so depressed.
I've never felt so forsaken, I've never felt so blessed.
I've never been so confused, my mind has never been so clear.
I've never felt my heavenly Father so distant, I've never felt him so near.
I've never been so discouraged, I've never been so full of hope.
I feel I can go forever, I think I've come to the end of my rope.
I've never had it so easy, I've never had it so tough.
Things have never gone so smoothly, Things have never been so rough.
I've never traveled through more valleys, I've never ascended so many peaks.
I've never met so many nice people, I've never met so many freaks.
I've never had so many ups, I've never had so many downs.
I've never felt so lonely, I've never had so many friends.
Boy, I hope this is over soon,
Gosh, I hope this never ends.

Author Unknown

President as Assistant

November 30, 2014

Usually the President has assistants to help him.  This time the President was assisting an injured missionary.

Miscellaneous Pictures

August 12, 2014

Ponte Vecchio - one of the original bridges that led to Rome.

Try following this street sign.

Salsa Surprise

March 8, 2014

Sometimes timing is everything.  We were having a meeting at the villa with the assistants when somebody rang the doorbell.  We weren't expecting anybody so didn't answer it until the second ring.  Turns out it was a couple from Thatcher, Arizona who were in Rome and they had two packages of award winning salsa mix for two of the sisters in our mission with ties to Thatcher, Arizona.  After having been gone for nearly a week, we had just gotten back into Rome the night before at 10:30 pm.  If they had come at any other time, we wouldn't have been here.  We will have two happy sisters when they get the special treat.

Scarves

January 2014


Nearly everyone in Italy wears scarves.  The missionaries are no exception.

 

January Flowers

I have a single rose in bloom and it's the middle of January.  There are so many bushes surrounding it, I didn't even know there was a rose bush there.  Surely it must be an omen of good things to come.  As I looked around, I found some little yellow flowers, too.  It's much nicer than the freezing temperatures at home in Utah.  I love flowers and not many people in Italy grow flowers.  Most of them live in high rise apartments and don't have gardens.  Most people fill their patios with small potted shrubs instead of flowers.  However, there is a flower shop on every corner where you can buy potted plants.

Sis. Kelly left a Christmas cactus here when she left, and it bloomed right on schedule this year.

Water Damage

We have had some major water damage at the villa.  As a result, Michael's office and our bathroom both had major water damage.  The leakage came from a leaky pipe in the floor of the bathroom above.  It's taken a very long time to figure it out and get it fixed, but we hope we are finally at the end.  It's taken months.  We have 5 bathrooms in the villa.  At one time 4 of them were out of service and the good one in the basement had a burned out light bulb.  We were told the repairs should be done by the time we got back from one of our trips to a zone conference.  When we got back, not only was it not finished, but the workers had completely removed the floor, the walls and the ceiling from the upstairs bathroom and they had broken a hole into the wall of the adjoining bathroom on the other side.  Walls here are basically concrete with plaster over it--unlike the wood frame with sheetrock we are used to.  The room looked like a cave.  The villa was built in 1924 so it's a very old home and some repairs are to be expected.  It's been an interesting process.  One we hope never to repeat.

Master bath

Office

There are two bathrooms side by side.  This is/was the good bathroom.

How many people does it take to repair a bathroom.

Bro Arena's Palermo Cathedral

The man who is in charge of physical facilities for Southern Italy and helps us with maintenance problems at the villa is also a closet artist.  I had previously seen some of his work and was amazed.  I was thrilled when he showed up at the villa one day with a gift for me.  It was a picture he had drawn of the Cathedral in Palermo on the island of Sicily.  He takes a detailed picture and then recreates it in black ink.  He does it completely to scale just by looking at the picture.  It's an amazing talent he has.  The cool thing was that we had just been to the cathedral a couple of weeks prior to his giving us the picture.

Bro. Arena's drawing of Cathedral of Palermo

Dummy Attendant

July 24, 2013


We went to the airport to greet the new incoming missionaries and on the way home stopped at a stop light next to a gas station.  I had to do a double take at the attendant because it was a dummy not a person.  I guess this way you can always say the station was attended.

Fishy

July 22, 2013


We needed supplies for the incoming missionaries and went to a supermarket.  It's the first time we have been to this store.  (We just don't have time to do anything that isn't absolutely essential.  Feeding missionaries is essential.

I really like watching fish in a pond.  I find it very peaceful and soothing.  The thought of eating fish literally turns my stomach.  I just can't do it.  Taking pictures of fish in a grocery store is another story . . . !