a sweet savor

wonderful thing for Saturday and Sunday, 10-11 Jan: little things, like, "When are you coming to visit us?"; or a conversation with someone who needs a listening ear and felt she could trust in mine; the light in Sorella Pascuzzo's eyes after her son Matteo's baptism when she confided in me: "An angel has been baptized!"; a warm handshake from one of the other speakers in Sacrament meeting, a special connection over a scripture that we both used; a text message explaining an absence; a presence we weren't counting on but were delighted to see; the earnest light in Homer's face as he shared his mission experiences with us yesterday during our regular GANS home evening - in Spanish. He is newly returned from his mission, but he departed for his mission from his native Honduras, served in Mexico Guadalajara, and now has joined his family who moved here in his absence. Ivan, our Institute president, also a native Honduran and close friend to Homer's sister Diana, translated. This was also a sweet "little thing". More: Xiomara gladly accepting our request to direct the home evening, and doing a smooth job; a compliment (something people here are not wont to give, from my observation); Blaine's habit of opening the car door for me; always, the kind regard of our young missionaries; and - this is not a little thing (though neither are any of the other things I've listed) - daily contact with someone in our family, sometimes only through prayer - but it is no less real for that. fun thing: Sicilian oranges are in season!!!!! You have never tasted an orange until you have tasted one. Others have tried to copy, but there's something about the geography and the climate that render them unique.