April has been a busy month for us. We loved General Conference, especially when Elder Ballard told the story of Ioshua, a boy who invited the family of his best friend to one of our Open Chapels and they came. That was really great for Ioshua and his family to hear and it brought lots of attention to what we are doing!
The April Issue of the Liahona also featured an article about the "Open Chapel" program in the South America South Area. It was prepared by the missionaries in the Neuquén Mission and it has generated phone calls and lots of emails from places all around about how the program works and how to get a program going in different areas. We have heard from lots of places in Argentina that are far away, Tucuman and Comodoro Rivadavia and then today I opened my email to find a request from a Brother Cabrera who is a counselor in a stake presidency in Chicago who works with Spanish speaking people there.
April 15 we spoke in the weekly devotional for the area. The brother in charge asked us the day before because his original speakers had canceled on him. We could speak on whatever we wanted so we chose Jesus and the atonement. We used our large Christus and played the words of Christ. The words of Christ is the recording used in all visitor centers when the people gather around the Christus. It really brought the spirit to the meeting and many mentioned that they felt it. We bore our testimonies of Christ and were glad as missionaries to share this with the people that we work with.
Easter in Argentina was preceded by two national holidays on April 17 and 18. The 9 missionary couples that work in the office decided to visit a theme park called La Tierra Santa (The Holy Land) for Easter. We were surprised at how authentic this little bit of Jerusalem seemed right here in the middle of Buenos Aires. The park was centered around different points in the Bible starting with a 10 minute portrayal of the creation with moving animals that growled and moaned, and mannequins for Adam and Eve.
We went to the stable for the presentation of Christ's birth with lots of cherubim in the sky with wings and a light show for stars. We watched a celebration in the "Temple Court" where young ladies danced and one in particular really got into it shaking her head around and around so much that we all got dizzy, poor girl must have a terrible headache and be in a neck brace today. We then went to see the Last Supper and to taste unleavened bread which was kind of like a saltine cracker without the salt. We walked up to Calvary for the portrayal of the crucifixion of Christ and then watched as a huge statute of Christ rose out of the ground depicting the resurrection.
There were lots of little shops and displays that were supposedly typical from Jerusalem. We saw Christ cleansing the Temple from the money changers. We saw the wailing wall. They had a special portrayal of Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and another of him teaching in the Temple as a boy.
All in all it was very well done. It was strange to all of us who have been more familiar with the way we have always learned about Christ from our religion because it all ended with Christ's resurrection. There was nothing about our lives before mortality or what awaits us after this life, which is what really gives Christ's Atonement meaning. We thought it ended darkly.
There was much to see and much to do and we could have spent much more time there, but it got cold and a couple of the sisters had been sick, so we left before we really wanted to.
On Sunday, April 20, we will celebrate 41 years together and it just keeps getting better!
