We had a treat as Senior Missionary Couples and went to see an opera at the Teatro Colon, which is a famous theater here in Buenos Aires that was built in the 1800s. The opera was, "The Barber of Seville". We felt a bit out of place because we didn't have tuxes and formal wear, but where our seats were located, (3rd tier), Sunday dress was acceptable. There were some very unhappy people who were not allowed to sit on the main floor because of their dress. The show was fantastic. The orchestra was imported from Italy and the leads were all Italians and of course the show was in Italian with Spanish sub-titles, but it was very easily understood and so beautifully performed. It was amazing! As a farm kid from Idaho, I will admit that I felt a bit our of place.
We have seen a real boost to our work in the past few weeks. Elder M. Russell Ballard came here the 20th of February and dedicated Argentina for missionary work. South America had been dedicated back in the early 1900s by Melvin J. Ballard, but the Area Presidency requested that each country be specifically dedicated, so it was done. We have changed our approach to the Open Chapel a bit, placing more responsibility on the local leaders and members and they have responded very positively by working with the missionaries and taking the responsibility to invite others.
On April 24 we were contacted by a member of a Stake Presidency here in Buenos Aires to see if we could help them celebrate the dedication of a new chapel in their stake by having an Open Chapel. We were very excited to help but panicked when he told us that the date for the event was May 2, just 8 days away! We usually have about 4-6 weeks lead time, but we accepted the challenge and the invitation and met with the Branch leaders in a part of Buenos Aires called Virreyes. They were all so very young. The Branch President was just 27, recently married with a brand new baby only 3 months old. The rest of the ward leaders were just like him. There were many returned missionaries and seminary and institute graduates and they were really excited to have the new chapel for their Branch and to have the Open Chapel to celebrate the dedication.
We prayed a lot and gave them assignments and they amazed us with their faith and dedication. We have not seen better displays, more member participation, or move love and concern for visitors in any of our Open Chapels. There were at least 339 visitors and over 100 non-members that accepted the invitation to come and see the new church. It was truly a WOW experience for us and for all of the members of the little Branch. They had community leaders and church leaders in attendance as well as neighbors of the church who wanted to see what it was like on the inside. We started at 3:00 in the afternoon and were busy until the Branch President finally called it quits at 8:00 and sent out for pizza and empanadas. Needless to say we were beat, but in such an incredible, wonderful way.
It is great being a missionary! We have had some great Open Chapel experiences this month with big turnouts and lots of people accepting challenges to read the Book of Mormon and to be baptized. We have had a young man who is our buddy at the fruit store into our home to be taught the lessons by two Sister Missionaries that we know through the Open Chapel program and we hope that works out well for him.
An article was published in the April issue of the Liahona magazine which explained the Open Chapel program and gave our names and addresses as contact people. We have been contacted from lots of places here in Argentina where we have not yet visited, from northern Chile, from Arizona, and even from Chicago by a member of the Stake Presidency who wants to have the Open Chapel in Spanish for members clear up there. Our SLC representative asked us to send him all of our materials and the designs for the banners that we use so that the Missionary Department could translate them into Portuguese for possible use in Brazil and into English for use in Africa. We are so blessed to be involved in this great missionary work and appreciate all of your faith and prayers on our behalf. As you can tell be are busy and happy, but we miss you and love you. It makes our day to get an email and Skyping with the family is the BEST!
A look at the stage from the center of the theatre
The brand new chapel at Virreyes
