In some ways this week reminded me (Russell) of when we served here before, in that while our apartment and office are in Germany, most of our work is elsewhere.This week my time was spent on setting up a project to provide funding for an emergency relief project for victims of the floods in Southern Spain, arranging payment for purchasing a refrigerated truck in Vienna, seeking approval to build a fence in Sicily, and a trip to Rome to look for future projects.
Elder and Sister Vardeu, a local church service missionary couple, set up appointments for the four of us to meet with leaders of the Rome Municipality and with an NGO associated with the Catholic Church known as the Scalabrinians. This NGO has as its mission to care for the needs of migrants, refugees, and displaced people. They take seriously, as do we, Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats wherein he said, “I was a stranger, and ye took me in” and “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matt. 25: 31-46). Our church has worked with this NGO on projects before and I am sure we will continue to do so in the future.
As we were waiting in the hallway prior to our meeting with two city officials who deal with social welfare matters, a half dozen other people joined us. While most did not know each other previously, I was surprised at how quickly they were engaged in multiple simultaneous conversations, which were joyful, fast paced, and loud. I came away from our meetings in Rome and our time with the Elder and Sister Vardeu, impressed by the pleasure they find in associating with one another and from life in general. I need to learn from them to do more of that.
While we did not have time in Rome to do much other than make our visits and work remotely on projects from our hotel, we did find time to attend the temple. This was our first time in the Rome temple. Ten years ago we saw it while under construction. It felt good to be in the temple again, away from the cares of the world outside.
The sunset as we flew to Rome was spectacular. The clouds were a shade of purple. We were flying on Lufthansa which of course made me think of Elder Uchdorft flying and his pilot stories.
"Breaking bread" together seems to be an integral part of relationships in Italy. The Vardeus introduced us to new kinds of pasta dishes. In the photo below Elder Vardeu is eating a fried artichoke for dessert.
Our hotel had 3 olive trees out front and a lemon tree in the back
This scooter was in the foyer of our hotel. I told Russell that I wanted one for Mother's Day
There were huge trees in Rome with beautiful, yellow blossoms called Mimosa trees. When I (Eileen) commented on how beautiful the trees were, Elder Vardeu stopped the car and cut some blossoms off for both Sister Vardeu and me.
We stopped by the Rome Temple to pick up our translator. Elder Vardeu served in the Rome Temple Presidency and also found the land for the temple. He seems to know everyone and everything about Italy. Here he is explaining to us about some of the New Testament stories depicted in this beautiful stained glass mural at the Rome Visitor Center. Apparently there are a great number of stories in this single mural.
Salvo serves as security for the Temple, our translator and also played the piano for the Giving Machines closing event. During our visit to the Rome Municipality there were 13 Italians and then Russell and I. It seemed that there were multiple conversations going on at a time. The more excited individuals got, the louder and faster they spoke. Salvo said it was pretty difficult to translate because he didn't know which conversation to follow. However, when Russell asked a question of Elder Vardeu every single person in that room became quiet and listened to him.
We had a wonderful visit with these representatives of the NGO Scalabrini. Marianna and Father Gabriela told us about many of the services their volunteers perform. I (Eileen) enjoyed hearing about their efforts with refugees. I was surprised when Father Gabriela kissed my hand as we were leaving and told me what a pleasure it was to have met me. He seemed particularly impressed that we had adopted three children. That is definitely something you don't see being done in American culture.
The Scalabrini NGO feeds 100-120 needy people every day, utilizing the services of 60 volunteers.
Parking is at a premium in Rome. If you can't fit in the spot I guess the solution is to park sideways.
This painting of the Rome temple is in the Visitor Center.
We attended a closing ceremony of the Giving Machines on Wednesday evening at the Visitor Center. The temple can be seen through the big glass windows facing the temple.
Russell and Eileen with Elder and Sister Vardeu in front of the Christus in the Visitor Center
There are statues representing the apostles situated behind the Christus
When we returned home we were badly in need of some groceries. We went to a Costco-like store called Metro. It was a little tricky figuring out what kind of meat was there. The cheese wheel pictured below was 40 pounds
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