Christmas Sunshine

December 2014 in Argentina began with very hot weather.  The locals could not believe how quickly the summer weather hit.  Walking to work and to the subway station left us wondering why we had bothered with the morning shower.  The humidity has kept us warm, moist and uncomfortable.  There is not central air conditioning in most of the buildings and chapels.  It may be a long summer.

In the Open Chapel work we had a record 30 open chapels in the Area in November.  There are some really dedicated Elders and Sisters in all of the missions in the other countries where the program is going-Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay.  There are 10 couples working in 10 missions all in all and the work is going forward very well.  It is a challenge to keep them stocked in materials and to consolidate the reports for Salt Lake City each month, but it is also fun to know that on the weekend we are all out there striving to do our best to “invite others to Christ.”

We were excited to have a mission president call and thank us for our efforts with the Open Chapel program which had resulted in some baptisms and teaching opportunities for his missionaries.  We also had a fun Open Chapel in the rain in a place called Escobar and learned from missionaries working there that there were two other baptisms as a result of an Open Chapel that we held earlier in November.

We were invited to the End of the Year party for the Palermo Ward, where we would attend if we were not on assignment each Sunday.  It was great.  It started at 8:00 and we got there a little bit late, so we missed out on setting up the tables and chairs, but we did get to help decorate and set tables and greet members as they came.  Finally at 9:30 the Bishop, our adopted son, Pablo, started the party with a prayer and we were eating by 10:00.  We went with the Hunters, who are also assigned to that ward and work in the legal department as missionaries.  We had to gobble down the grilled chicken and the salads that we had brought in order to catch the subway home by 11:00 PM.

We went to the airport early on Tuesday, Dec. 16 to pick up Elder and Sister Roth.  They are from Massachusetts and will be serving as the Assistant Executive Secretaries to the Area Presidency.  They are such great people.  We really clicked right from the start.  When Sister Roth mentioned that she is not a shopper she really made points with Sister Knapp!  We spent the next few days trying to get them oriented and trained in their new assignment which will be much of what we have done. 

We had hoped to be able to remember some of our favorite people at Christmas this year, and so we gave out personalized copies of the Book of Mormon to our favorite little man in the bakery who gave Janet a kiss and now hugs her every time we shop there.  We gave another to the young man who is the cashier at the convenience store next door.  We wrapped another one and put it in a bag with crocheted Christmas stockings and homemade fudge and gave it all to Horacio-the man who is the guard here at the apartment complex where we live.  We also gave one to the little man who has a magazine stand next to McDonalds.  We hope that it will be read by at least some of them.

Janet made a Christmas tree out of small cinnamon rolls that we took to the Bishop and his family with a children’s scripture story book of the New Testament for his boys.  We also took fudge and crocheted stockings filled with life saver rolls to the other missionary couples.  The funniest thing was hearing the song “Sleigh Bells”- in English, playing in the stores.    Seriously….a song about snow when it’s 90 degrees and so humid you can’t stand it!

We enjoyed a fun Christmas Eve party with the other senior missionary couples where we had soups and salads.  We sang Christmas carols and read the Christmas story, exchanged goodies and then had a white elephant gift swap.  It was fun, and we gave away our green knitted hats, which everyone wanted.

On Christmas Janet roasted a turkey in our tiny oven.  It was not much bigger than a chicken, but it was very expensive down here and it tasted really good.  She spoiled me with a pumpkin chiffon pie and stuffing!  Later in the day we spoke with my dad and JoLyn and they said it was snowing in Idaho Falls.  We had made a Skype Schedule and visited with each of our children and their families after that.  Darin, Ashlee, and Max are in Connecticut with her family enjoying the rainy weather.  Katie and her family were excited to get the snow to play on their new snow machines.  Janie and the Harts recovered from the breakdown of their vehicle with a new van for Christmas.  Monsons were headed to a cabin to play in the snow.  Doug and the Knapps in Utah, were lounging around recovering from their final show in the playhouse.  Krista was trying to figure out how to use her new “tablet” and all of them were decked out in BYU gear and playing new games.  The Meservys were almost unrecognizable in their new “super heroes” outfits.  They seemed so excited to show us their super hero figures, while Annie and Grant looked on.  We have such a great family and are so blessed to be part of such a great group!

We made a final trip to the Buenos Aires Temple this year as missionary couples.  We saw a different presentation than we had seen before that enlightened and taught us all.  So much for 2014, we have met so many wonderful new friends, shared our testimonies of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ often and spent many hours involved in the behind-the-scenes daily work that keeps the Area Office running.  It has been great to participate in building the kingdom of God here in Argentina!

Christmas fun...Newest missionaries with "our" green hats! Good food, Open Chapel, Temple trip with Couples. Turkey with watermelon for Christmas dinner!

Yes, they do have Christmas trees in Argentina.  We like ours the best! With Roths in Belgrano, at the Pink House and in the Galerias Pacifico mall.