Argentina: The Sequel: December in Argentina

We had our last open chapel for 2013 in a ward called Hudson. It was a learning experience for us. We only had one week from the training to the event. (Not a good idea). But it was because of scheduling changes from the ward. It had been scheduled later. Anyway, the bishop couldn't come because of work but his wife and young son came. There were maybe 15 members and only 2 investigators. These two were actually brought by a member and were interested because they were having trouble with some of their children. It was very hot so not much foot traffic to invite in. We had 4 sister missionaries and about a dozen elders with no one to teach. That was very disappointing, but we say that even if only one is touched by the spirit, it is all worth it. We closed up at 7pm and sent the missionaries home early.

Two investigators on the left

Brother and Sister Manfredi-Bishop's parents

The Area Office Christmas Party was held at a very nice campground out in a place called Pilar.

We had a big barbecue and a devotional with a speech from Elder Gonzalez, our area president.

Carlos Davila, one of our co-workers sang a beautiful song with this group. At this ranch, there was a huge swimming pool which was not in use, and a beautiful old home where the gaucho who once owned it used to live. There was plenty of space to set up a tent. It was a hot day, but since then it has been even hotter! This campground is used for a lot of the EFY groups and they said it is used most of all by the young single adults for their activities. It was a beautiful place.

Ranch home where gaucho owner lived

The Quincho-(Pavillion)

Carlos Davila in the red--an awesome singer

December 19 was a special day for us. We were invited by the Fords (senior missionaries over the humanitarian department) to go with them to a wheelchair distribution. Sister Burrup came with us to see how they are done. A group called CILSA, sponsors with the church to help people who need them. We met an awesome lady named Maria who has been in one for a few years and was there to get a replacement. She said she lives close to a Mormon church and has seen the missionaries. Doug also met a young man named Niko who was awesome. He is a member of the Argentine wheelchair basketball team, which is the reigning champion of South America. There were supposed to be 57 wheelchairs given away that day, but only 41 were given. Some of the people couldn't come for various reasons and CILSA representatives said they would take them to the homes of those who hadn't been able to get out because of illness or the heat. Some had to come on a bus for four hours to pick up their chairs. There was a magician, whose red noses we had to wear in the picture, who made balloon swords and flowers for the kids. They loved it. There were refreshments for all. We got there a little early and had to help clean the church. It was pretty bad--especially the men's bathroom which Doug helped to clean. We had a 40 minute wait for our remis--a special taxi, to take us back to the office. That was better than a collectivo (bus).

Clowning around before anyone comes

Maria

Personalized graffiti-Doug

Niko

We went on a Yellow Bus Tour with some of the other missionaries. It was a double decker bus with headphones to listen in your own language. It took us around Buenos Aires and showed us some of the places that are important. It took more than 3 hours and in the end it was getting quite hot, but we enjoyed learning about some places that we might want to see some other time. Following are a few pictures from the tour.

Evita's Tomb

Famous Soccer Stadium

Congress Building

Normal intersection

Inside a Catholic Cathedral

Christmas eve was spent with the other senior missionaries at Carlson's apartment. Arvid and Kelly are here for just a couple more months. He is the doctor at the US Embassy. They invited us all to their home for a supper of soups, homemade bread, salads and desserts. We tasted homemade cream of mushroom, coconut shrimp tai soup, butternut squash soup and Italian wedding soup made with little tiny meatballs of beef and pork. We watched some Christmas video clips of the Piano Guys, shared some special Christmas stories, and just enjoyed being together with the "family" that we have while we are here. Christmas day for us all was spent Skyping our families back home.

We also had a special trip to the temple all together to do some names for the Spalino family. On the way out we came to a roadblock on the freeway. Some people were demonstrating about the power outages. It took forever to get through the one lane of traffic, but we still made the session we planned on. On the way home there were more demonstrations so we were detoured around the freeway and thank goodness for a GPS! None of us in the car had any idea where we really were. We get all kinds of experiences here for sure.

Today, December 28 we went with the Flinders. We took the subway downtown and took a tour of the famous Teatro Colon...where they have operas and ballets. It was really something to see. You see that kind of a thing on TV but never in person. All the box seats in 7 levels of seating were amazing. The guide even showed us the place where widows went to hear the opera but were not supposed to be seen by the public. We got to go in the special box for President Kristina Kirchner.
It was a beautiful old building...Kind of hard to take pictures because they did not allow flash, but here are a few so you can see....