This is our post for Sunday afternoon, 20 Mar 2016.  Apostle Christofferson came to our mission this week and we had a conference with all members, about 750 showed up at the Milano stake center on Wed evening, and then just with the missionaries on Thurs, (about half the mission, the other half live too far south and weren't invited, they will go to one in Florence.  On Saturday he met with about 350 stake presidents, bishoprics and high counselors in Rome. Today for priesthood meeting the high councilor in our ward presented a lesson to the young men, and invited the 3 high priests, to attend, and discussed his attendance at the meeting with the apostle yesterday.  Here are some of the pix we took this week.


These are the 4 mission office elders, with whom we work closely, who prepared pass-along cards for the districts in the mission, to give out at the meeting with the apostle.  They are to be given out to inform people they can view a website with a new video of Jesus for Easter.  This pix was taken in the conference room across from our office.


We prepared lunch, chicken salad in croissants, for the 140 missionaries who attended the conference.  It was a lot of work, but fun.



One of the other senior missionaries at the pulpit asking the young missionaries to take their places and listen to the prelude music (I was playing at the piano at the bottom) about 45 minutes before the meeting with the apostle started, he hadn't come yet--the mission president took him and the 70 and their wives to Como (famous lake up north) and to the Last Supper in Milano that morning for their cultural experience.



After the two hour meeting we fed the missionaries lunch.




Senior missionaries helping to prepare veggie trays. We cut up the veggies in our apt, we and another couple bought and prepared the chicken salad and bought the croissants at our local bakery that morning. For dessert Myrna, the president's wife and another senior sister, also made apple crisps. All 9 senior couples in our mission came to the conference, and I was asked by the president to be the host, because he was picking up Elder Christofferson. They stayed at the nearby Golf Hotel (name of the hotel, it does not have a golf course) and we took them to lunch at a nice near by restaurant, where we asked a couple who are going home to bear their testimonies (they said they didn't ask to come to Italy but have felt they were in paradise for the pat 16 months), they copied old records that will be indexed in the future. I also took the couples to the old abbey where we sat in the old choir seats and sang "Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee," with words by St. Bernard, who actually spent time in that abbey (about 1200 AD), where we also sang St. Francis of Assisi's words to "All Creatures of our God and King" (in Italian) and then ended with "We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet," one of whom we listened to that evening.  It was a lot of work but a wonderful experience.


There wasn't enough room for all 140 of missionaries to eat in the same room at the church, so we set up several rooms.


Outside of the stake center in Milano.


Stake center chapel looking toward back (toward stage), before people started coming to the meeting with the apostle.

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On Saturday, near where we go shopping and went to Ikea (there are 2 nearby--they are just like those in the US), we stopped in an old church so I could see the pipe organ in the back.  Sadly, this one does not work either, and you can see from a closeup of the pipes (next pix) that they are pretty bad off.  Pipe metal is quite soft, but I don't have any idea what happened to these pipes, they still use centuries old pipes, but these look pretty sad. (In France there aren't any old pipe organs like these left because during the French Revolution they melted down all of the pipes, which contain lead, to make bullets.)



These pipes are from the 1700s, but, sadly, don't sound any more and the church does not have enough money to replace them or rebuild the organ, so they use a small electronic for accompanying the congregation.



This is near where we park our car in the apartment building that the APs live in, our building is to the left.  As you can see, spring is here, and it is indeed beautiful.



On Sunday afternoon we drove out to an old sanctuary (church) of Mary at the Spring, which is near an old dairy and palace, although I don't know who lived or lives there.  The sign says that the affreschi (paintings on plaster) are from Leonardo (da Vinci) school, although I didn't see them.  Before Easter, Catholic churches hide all of their most beautiful art work and then display it with all of their splendor on Easter and leave it up until next Lenten season.


Nice old home (palace-like) adjacent the old church, I didn't see any way to get in, there was an iron fence in front, through which I took this pix.



Young Italian sitting to the side of the old palace, although I don't know how he got in or what he was doing other than sitting on the grass, which Italians don't mow very much.



Guilty cat (feather still on whisker) on the wall in front of the old palace



Freshly killed pigeon below cat, yes that's the bird's blood.


Outside on the porch of the old church are some affrescchi, although I don't think these are the ones the sign says were painted by the school of Leonardo--those are inside the church.  However, this one is interesting because they generally painted what was nearby, and apparently there was or still is an old castle type place nearby.  We will  have to find out where it is or was.



The door to the church, in the middle under the porch.


Inside this old church it was very dark (I didn't use flash, but the software lightened it up), you can see the stairway leading down to another chapel right under this one.  There were about a dozen old ladies saying the rosary out loud in the chapel under this church--maybe there is a spring down there. It was even darker down below and smelled very old.  There are no flowers or statues on the altars, because they are being hidden until they come out next Sunday, Easter.


To the left of the palace like house, which is adjacent to the church,  there is a large old barn, with cows in it, and it certainly smells like a dairy barn.  I should have taken a pix of the road leading to the sanctuary, it went through fields with trees along the side of the road and people taking their Sunday afternoon strolls, many with dogs (Italians like dogs). It was a very beautiful afternoon and it has been a pleasant day.  Myrna is up baking cookies for tomorrow.  At church today a young man, actually 37 years old, is taking the lessons from the APs, and today came up to Myrna with a cookie she baked about 3 weeks old wrapped up and in his coat pocket.  He said he loved them and wanted the recipe, although I doubt he will bake any, he couldn't find the ingredients--it took Myrna a long time to find them, but she will send cookies with the APs and the recipe.  Well, folks, that is our post for this week.  If you are reading these posts, please let me know.

Post for 13 March 2016.  Last week we took the 14 departing missionaries to a restaurant near the mission office that we had never been to.  I could see a church tower not far, and decided I would check out the church on Saturday our P day  It is in a small town called Pieve Emanuele, which was founded in the second century.  This is the church, St Alessandro, a very typical looking old church. (our car is the silver one to the left.)



Entering the front door, going into the church, turning around to look back at the door and then up you can see the balcony in the back of the church on which the ancient pipe organ sits.  There are many thousands of these organs in Italy that look just like this. (We are finding that most of them are not being used.)  I entered the church and immediately found a small electronic organ on the floor that looked like it was being used on a regular basis, and assumed the old one did not work.  I tried to open the little one, which caused the priest to appear, but he was very friendly.  I explained to him that I am an amateur organist and am interested in finding an organ to practice on.  He explained that the old organ is going to be restored within the next year or two.  He said the regular organist is an Irish woman who would be here at the organ tomorrow, Sunday, at 10:30, getting ready for the 11 am mass and that I could come to meet her.  Usually we go to church on Sunday morning and could not come, but this Sunday we could come because we had stake conference starting at 3 pm, and were available in the morning.  So we were at the church at 10:30 and she was there to meet us.  She was a kindly old lady who said she really wasn't an organist, just someone who could play the piano and she is all they have and was happy to know me.  She said I could come any time to play the organ, and then she got her husband, who is Italian, but speaks English, to get the key to take me up to the old organ, that the priest said does not work.  We climbed the old dusty staircase, and used a skeleton key about a foot long, to get into the balcony and there was the organ, covered in dust.



He turned on the electric switch and the bellows groaned as they filled with air and I sat down, took the cloth cover off the keys of the manual and pulled (they pull from right to left on the far side) some stops and sounded some pipes, beginning with the principal, the ones you can see, which are usually the most unaffected by problems (the reeds are the worst).  They sounded beautiful and I played a few sounds with both hands and pedals.  It was amazingly beautiful, although I could tell it needed restoration, but I was amazed that it played so well un-restored.  Anyway, by then the mass was to start in about 5 minutes (the organist said she did not play any prelude, she just accompanied the hymns), so I stopped playing and we descended.  He gave me his name and phone number and said to call and he would meet me and let me play when the church is not being used.  I am very excited about this.  This is the first old organ I have been able to play so far.  This one is within walking distance of where we live, and it is exciting to think there are thousands of these to discover.




The electronic organ in that church, which they use on a regular basis. It is exactly the same kind in the old church closer to our home, which also has an old pipe organ that does not work.




Then Myrna and I took a walk, it took a half hour, to the old abbey where we are taking the senior missionaries on Wed, when they come in for a conference with Elder Christofferson.



Sign at the gate of the old abbey.  I may have already posted this.




Our walk back into town.




Past the old church with the other old pipe organ that does not work.



Spring is coming.



So on Sunday afternoon we took the metro (underground train) into Milano, got off at the duomo to switch trains--it took an hour from the closest to Opera train station in San Donato--to the station at Lampaguno and a short walk through a skate park and there we could see the stake center.  We actually went there on Saturday evening to the adult session and went back on Sunday afternoon for Stake Conference.   I sang in the choir, and we had a practice after the evening session and two hours before the Sunday session.  It was interesting singing in an Italian choir.  There were about 26 women and 9 men.  I sang bass because they needed another bass, normally I sing tenor.  We sang an arrangement of "Lead Kindly Light", which Myrna used my cell phone to record during the practice.  I will figure out how to put it somewhere that you could listen to it if you are interested.  I thought they choir sounded so good because the accoustics in the church are wonderful (the floors are hard marble and the walls are hard and there aren't any drapes or carpet). The conference was also good, and I was amazed at how many people there were.  I didn't take any pix during the conference, but as we were leaving took a shot to show you how many chairs there are in the stake center.




They were filled and people were standing.  When I was here 50 years ago our biggest branch had about 10 people max. The program today said this was the 32nd stake conference for the Milano West stake, so with two a year, it is about 16 years old.  The Milano East Stake also had conference this morning and had two general authorities (area 70s) because they got a new stake presidency.  Since that is not our stake, we didn't attend, but now wish we would.  We will have a meeting with Elder Christofferson from the Council of the 12 in this building on Wednesday for all members at 7 pm, and the next day in another church in Milano for just the missionaries.  Myrna is in charge of feeding them, there will be a little more than half of the missionaries (some live too far to come) at this conference, so this will be a busy week.  I am in charge of entertaining the senior couples, so I am taking them to the old abbey and to dinner at the restaurant on the way to the church we went to this morning, then one we took the department missionaries to.

Because my camera was stolen from my coat pocket at the metro (underground train) at the duomo of Milano on Saturday night, I bought a new one on 9 March 2016 at a large Wal-Mart like store next to a large grocery store near our home. It was on sale for 100 euro, which is about 112 US dollars. It is a very small Canon point and shoot, which will nicely fit in my pants pockets, which I think would be harder to pick pocket. This first pix is one taken when we returned from the store where we bought the camera and the grocery store with a pizza, we were also boiling spaghetti, shown is part of loaf of bread and our new jar of generic Nutella, which costs about 1.5 euros. A large jar of real Nutella, which is Italy's "equivalent" (they had it when I was on my first mission here 50 years ago) to peanut butter, which they do not have in Italy, at least we haven't found it, even though they sell whole peanuts. This and the next few pix were taken to try out my camera.



 
My breakfast on 10 Mar, an ommlett, with two eggs, slices of fresh tomato, piece of boiled (they also eat raw) ham, and a piece of cheese, which tastes somewhat like Swiss.  I was almost ready to fold it over and consume it.



 Our fresh fruit and veggie department.




Myrna's breakfast, she hadn't poured on the milk yet. It is a combo of cereals with some dehydrated fruit, and is fairly inexpensive, although the most frequently sold cold cereal seems to be corn flakes.  I actually believe the food tastes better in Italy, and missionaries agree with me (although Myrna doesn't), except the milk is not as good, probably because they expose it to some form of radiation or something, which changes the flavor.  Even though you can buy it cold in the grocery store refrigerated section, which we do, most milk is sold shelf stable, warm with no need for refrigeration until it is opened.  We have bought both and brought them to the same temperature and there is no noticeable difference in flavor nor cost, but certainly not good US cow milk.


 Said liter of milk.  All things are sold in liters or milliliters, the largest milk you can buy is one liter and the largest sodas are 1.5 liters, at least that I have found.  You can see a radiator in the background, which is behind Myrna's back when she eats at our kitchen table, although sometimes she is still cold and wears a coat.  (We also have a dining table in the living room.)  The hot water in the radiator is controlled by the landlord for the entire building and is designed to keep the temperature at about 65 degrees, but we have wall mounted units which both heat and air condition.



Living room couch, the pictures are antiques, the place was furnished by the landlord.



Landlord's mother's (she has passed on) collection of little elephants, etc.




Early morning from the balcony of our bedroom overlooking the street on which we live. Ring necked doves come to our balcony and coo me awake.



Another view from the balcony.



Myrna making pancakes for the 14 missionaries going home on 10 March, this was done in the mission office in the kitchen adjacent to our office.



Sorella Dibb, President's wife, making waffles for the missionaries.



Missionaries in the conference room.  They came from all over the mission and arrived at different times, so some had eaten and were playing Uno while others were eating pancakes and waffles.  They were here across from our office and around all day, we took them to a restaurant for dinner and a hotel for the night.  Most fly out about 6 am tomorrow, although the third from the left elder is an Italian from the island of Sardinia.

During the week of March 1, 2016, we had our first Italian haircuts, this is Myrna's.  Ivana cut off all of Myrna's dyed hair, so this is her natural color, which I think looks nice.



On Sunday afternoon we drove out to the Abhey Chiaravalle, which is on the outskirts of Milano, maybe 15 minutes from our house. It started in the 1100s, and still has active monks.  The church is very large and the abbey, where the monks live, is in front of it.



In front is the entrance, right off a little country road, the place where the monks live is to the left.  There was originally a moat outside because apparently the monks couldn't get out.




Turn around from where the last pix was taken and this is what you see, with the church at the end of the lane, within the walled "town" where the monks live.  We saw a few of them out and about.



Inside the church, the choir stalls on the left side, it was cold and dark in the church.  I didn't see a pipe organ, but did see a large fairly new electronic organ on the floor in the back of the church (a pipe organ would have been up above), but there was an old pump organ between the two sides of the choir seats, near the place where the put the music.  (When I got back to the office, I Googled the abbey and saw that it does have an old pipe organ, probably in the left nave, where they usually are if they aren't in the rear of the building), but I suspect it isn't playable, and is why they have the electronic organ.


Other side of the ornate wooden choir stalls.  These pix were taken with my cell phone and I didn't take others, but it was such a cool old church I am sure we will go back some time.  Maybe we will eat with the monks, as they have a restaurant, and store, which were not open today.

This is our post for Saturday, 27 Feb 2016, when we went to Milano for P day.

Altarpiece from Abbazia Mirasole, which is within walking distance of where we live.  It was built before 1,000 AD and was used by the Umiliati (sort of like Waldesians, a protestant group) for about 400 years before the pope did away with them and gave their land to another group.


The road to Mirasole, there used to be a moat around it and people entered under the tower.  It is out in fields where today people park their cars and go run or walk.  

The church at Mirasole, the abbey, where the monks lived, are in the buildings on either side of the old church.  People can now stay in the abbey, and we are going to have the senior missionaries, when they come to the mission office, go to this old church and we will sing hymns, because the church is so reverbrant, it sounds like you are singing in a tunnel or something.


 Another old church close enough we can walk from our home, actually closer than the abbey.  We wouldn't sing in this church, because it is not as reverbrant as the old abbey.




Altarpiece from the closer church, it was painted by a student of Leonardo da Vinci in the 1500s.  It is called the Madonna del aiuto (Madonna of hope), because the guy prayed to be able to have children, and she helped him so he had a painting painted in honor of this miracle.



Organ at the back of the above church.  Unfortunately, the organ has not worked for 30 years, they don't have the money to fix it.


Some old bells that came out of the bell tower, I guess it isn't strong enough any more to support them.  You can see that it is beginning to turn spring, at least the grass is green and we have seen some daffodills coming out.




I think this is cute how they grow the bushes in front of a statue of Mary, saying Ave, or Hail!  they take Hail Mary quite seriously in Italy.




We took the subway into Milano and went to a museum started by a rich man in the 1800s who bought a lot of cool old stuff.  Now is house, in the middle of town, is a museum. This is from his collection of helmets worn by the ancient Greeks, before the time of Christ.



 More of the large collection of ancient suits of armor, etc.

Back before they could print hymnbooks for everyone, they used music holders like this to put the one book on for Gregorian chant, and hung a lamp or candle on the end.

 Picture of Christ, notice the detail in the next pix.  This was painted in the 1500s.

Notice the tear.

Famous painting by Michangelo of Jesus and his mother and a lamb, there is another one like this with his aunt Elizabeth behind Mary.  The town in the background is an actual city, but I don't remember where it is.

An original of Martin Luther, left.  I  have seen this picture many times on LDS.org, etc.  This is the original, along another famous lady, whose name I can't remember.

I liked this sculpture of marble, the guy was black, made in black marble, but his clothes weren't black.

The fine detail in this marble inlay on a table top was unbelievable.

Small altarpiece made for someone's home altar, I shook the camera, unfortunately, but the next picture shows the back of this same painting.  I guess you weren't supposed to look at the back, it is sort of interesting.