It's all a blessing.

wonderful thing:  Being supported in every thing.  This morning I was flat out tired.  I knew I needed to get up, get ready, study, maybe finish that roster I've been intending to finish for a couple of weeks now, the one with everyone's email, phone, address, notations, etc.; I knew we had a trip to Florence planned, to track down more GANS addresses and see whom we could find to visit...but I just kept turning over and drifting back to sleep.  Blaine got up, showered, ate, and was studying by the time I showed my face.  I told him I think I've been running faster than I'm able.  This is hard to say, because he just keeps going and going, even more than the what's-its-bunny.
I made a few shortcuts, cut my study short, we threw together a lunch, and off we went, after dropping off the remains of last night's pasta salads and Jared's amazing ladyfinger crust/crema Inglese filling/lemon custard dessert in the fridge at the church so that the elders could come finish them off.  Our GPS actually did a pretty good job today.  We found a lot of addresses.  Florence is a gorgeous city, for the most part - but we found either nobody home, or it wasn't their address anymore.  You know what?  It was a wonderful day.  We were ready to reinforce our brothers and sisters, whether we found them or not.  We enjoyed each other's company immensely.  Blaine is a whiz at parallel parking in the tiniest of spots. It was the pleasantest and prettiest of Autumn days.  We came home in time to meet the sisters at the church, to help teach a lesson to a Chinese lady named Lily.  I know - how do you teach the Gospel in Italy to a Chinese lady who speaks very little Italian and no English?  You rely on the Spirit and Google translate - when she shows up, which she didn't.  The sisters stayed for our Institute lesson, to be with their latest convert Angela.  Jonathan, Xiomara and Nertil were there as well.  We had a good discussion on D&C 20, comparing the organization of the church to the foundational principles of any good organization - made perfect.  Lastly, we met with Ivan and Andrea, who are part of the presidency of the Institute program, to discuss and plan.  Right now, Blaine is cutting up a banana so we can eat it with some yogurt before hitting the sack.
I am just plain glad to be here, doing what we're doing.  Praise be to God, who supports us in every way and makes us feel glad.

fun thing:  One of the addresses-that-wasn't, was near the mercato antiquario.  I wanted to find a skirt or a pair of boots, but came home instead with fresh, huge porcini mushrooms and an herb I'd never heard of to cook them with.