We are sitting here watching out of our patio at the "sheets" of rain. This past couple of weeks we have had lots of rain and it has been cold. The rain doesn't just come in drips and drops, it POURS down here for hours at a time. The thunder and lightning can be really frightening and it makes us glad that our apartment is only 3 floors up and not 30!! We have noticed that the weather gets worse when it is time for us to have one of our presentations and that the foul weather discourages people from coming to our meetings.
Last weekend we were in a little area called Chacarita and following an all-day rain, we only had 32 visitors and 31 of them were branch leaders who were there on assignment. The Bishop was very positive and continued to reassure us that this evening was a great blessing to his ward. One of the members said that he had learned how hard missionaries work to get people interested in the Gospel because he worked all night and no one that he invited from off the street came in. The picture below was inside the foyer at Chacarita and the Bishop is standing next to me. He works in the Area Office with us. His name is Marcelo Miliotto.
Last night we were in a beautiful little area called Pacheco and it was so cold that all were wearing coats and gloves. We were so impressed with the members. They were all there early in the afternoon scrubbing their chapel and all of the tables and floors. There was no carpet it was all tile and it really shined. Here are all of those young people who were cleaning-
Laurie, the tallest boy was on a mission in Chile Santiago West with President Jones and recognized our last name. He thought he knew you. His name is Coria and he is married to the girl next to him.
In spite of the cold weather we had almost 200 visitors and it was awesome! One of the little Elders challenged a boy from off of the street to be baptized Sept. 29 and he accepted! Lots of the visitors were young people from the plaza across the street and members greeted and accepted them with warmth and caring. Bishop Callero was out in the cold for 3 and a half hours inviting people into the presentation and the ward missionaries were doing the same, especially a lady that is Argentine's version of Sug. The sisters knew that Janet and I were cold and brought us MATE to drink. I really enjoyed it, mom wasn't quite as enthusiastic. Here all of the members drink it and I may be hooked!
The primary children made this replica of the Bs. As. Temple and we loved it. The visitors all have the opportunity to tour the church and see what the different auxiliary organizations teach and do.
The pictures above are a close up of the Temple, the members around the Christus, the young men and women in their display, and us with Bishop Callero. It was great!
We loaded up and hit the GPS button for "Home" at about 8:30. After about half an hour of driving we realized we were in unfamiliar territory and began to question Adelina (she is our GPS). We kept driving and saw signs for places we have never even heard of so got off of the freeway and regrouped. As we were searching for directions we saw on the map a little place called HOME and knew we were in trouble. So we put in the address of the Area Office where our materials are all kept and after an hour and 15 minutes were there. The trip should have taken 25 minutes total. We had to walk home from the office late at night which was not fun, but collapsed safely in bed at 10:30 way past curfew hours.
This morning Janet woke up with a terrible headache and we are sure it was all of the tension with being out lost in the dark. But we had to present training (Power Point) in a ward here in Belgrano which is just 15 minutes from our office. Elder Francisco Vinas from the 1st Quorum of Seventy and a counselor in our Area Presidency was attending that ward with his family today. We enjoyed Sacrament Mtg. They sang "Count Your Blessings" in a new way that only Doug could duplicate and we loved it. We made our presentation later and it went really well. We had lots of participation from the members. The Stake has arranged for us to present a program in that Ward on November 10 and we were there today for training. It was intimidating to have to do it all in front of a General Authority!
While Janet slept off the headache I made Spanish Rice for lunch and then she got up and made a real treat! Hear it from her...
This week I have had fun trying out the oven. I really have missed not having one, except that for a couple of days it was too hot to use one. Anyway, I made French bread--a version without salt--not on purpose. It looked really nice and we ate it anyway with dulce de leche, and a salt shaker. The second loaf I made into a really delicious bread pudding which we had for lunch dessert today. It will also be breakfast in the morning!
This past week dad and I made it a point to go meet a little (about 4 foot tall) lady named Susie. The Garvins who we replaced told us about her. She has a little stand on the street where she sells crocheted and knitted items to support herself and a granddaughter. They are beautiful. She makes some of the prettiest scarves I have ever seen...we may have to buy one from her next winter or even now if the cold weather keeps up. Anyway, I asked her where to find yarn and hooks and she just gave me one of her hooks-a gift she said. I found a place to buy yarn not too far from our apartment and have started on some hot pads (which you don't find here). Susie is not a member of the church, but we have made a good friend and will try to visit her when we can. We took her a copy of the Liahona magazine and she said she would read it.
The first Tuesday of each month the Area Presidency wives put on a luncheon for all the missionary sisters that work in our office. This month it was a birthday party for all the sisters with birthdays through July. They had special cupcakes and gifts for each of us and we played games and enjoyed great food. It is awesome to meet with such great women. I feel so blessed to know them.
We really enjoy getting copies of the family newsletter. We love reading about what each family is up to. Thank you Laurie for all your time and effort!!!
We understand BYU plays the Utes this week....GO COUGARS!!!
Sounds like quite the adventure! I don't really recognize the Elder you said served in my mission...but that's still cool! Love you guys!
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