I Admire "that little ol' lady from Pasadena"

Saturday, August 9 2014

I was able to facetime with Lamar this afternoon, just before his baptism.  So proud of him for choosing to be baptized and wanting to follow Jesus Christ.

Back out to Melo today for a capilla abierta.

Our ward was Centenario.The weather was good! The members of the ward made their ward building very clean. Their stands were outstanding as were the refreshments. Their enthusiasm in greeting people and teaching them was the best part of the night.  We had less actives come as well as investigators.
It was a memorable evening for all.  Testimonies of Christ were strengthened.

YouTube: Capilla Abierta de la Barrio Centenario

Someone in this ward had a green thumb.
There were live plants all around.

Centenario Ward, Melo

Prayer Meeting with Ward and Missionaries

Cross Stich Work

Relief Society Presidency

Hard working Elders and Hermanas, 

inviting, inviting.

Teaching with his iPad

I will capture one of these precious babies whenever I can!

Bishop and His Wife

Sunday, August 10 2014

Nice rainbow in Melo. On our way to church.

We went to the Centenario Ward for church today and were asked to give talks.  We always share our pioneer faith promoting stories.  Our ancestors always bring a strong spirit into the meetings.  We love it and the members do too.  But picture is also all about the pioneer spirit and the sacrifices made by church members today.  This is the Bishop's cute, little wife. (See photo above). She dresses nice for all her meetings but comes and goes to church on her moto, rain or shine!  I watched a tender scene as the Bishop helped her on her moto, give her a little kiss and then off she drove!  I love these pioneers of Uruguay!

 We had some more gas heaters to deliver before we headed back to Montevideo so we went to Noblia which is the town farthest from the mission office.  It was crowded for a small town due to the Festival del arroz!  Well, why not?  Fillmore has their May Festival and this really reminded me of the fun hometown festivals held in Fillmore. Who could resist the scones made by the members of the Fillmore Ward?

 These missionaries live in Noblia on the very edge of town.  I wouldn't mind being a missionary out in the country!

Even though their housing seems humble, they still have their satellites!

This is very much the way the country folk dress.

Nice full moon on our drive home.

Happy Birthday Fun

Thursday August 7, 2014

 There are no soda pop vending machines here.  The only vending machines I have ever seen are ones like this one.  And I have only seen them in the gasoline service stations.  They only dispense hot water for their Mate drink.  It is a "FREE" service provided.  I don't know how free that really is considering it costs over $100 to fill up the small mini van.


If you don't know what Mate is then here is a link: What is Mate?


Starting with Mike and going left:
Hermana Ots, Hermana Schaelling,

Elder Gallagher, Elder Taylor, Elder Quezada, Elder Galeano, Elder Plautz, Elder Eraso



We had a birthday dinner for Elder Taylor who is the head financer in the mission office.  We have a lot more room in our new apartment upstaris.

He requested pork chops and mashed potatoes.  I also served brocolli  and salad.

He wanted a white cake with not alot of frosting so I just did the simple lemon, powdered sugar glaze.            

Chuy or Chui

Monday August 4, 2014

The city of Chuy is quite unique.  It is a border city to Brazil.

You drive down one side of the street and you are in Chuy, Uruguay.  You drive down the other side and you are in Chui, Brazil!  No passports needed. They call it a "Free Zone".  You can buy things from the U.S. or anywhere else and not pay an import tax.

But, they can charge plenty of money if they want.  Check out these crazy prices!

$4.20 for a small bag

 

                  $25.50!  Not even Costco size!!

The play yard for the hotel

The church was easy to find from our hotel window

Our efforts today in finding the elders an apartment was another testament that God is watching over us here in the small country of Uruguay.  We had 3 apartments we found on the internet and wanted to go see. Of the three, one was an iffy, maybe.  The realtor had 1 that was really, really nice but it was a little pricey.  We were willing to go see it, so we set an appointment for 2 pm.  When we arrive at the realtor's office, he said that the price had gone up.  We repectfully declined.  Some people think that just because we are "the church", we will pay anything.  So as we were about to walk away, the realtor said he had one more house that wasn't on the market yet because it had a few more repairs and painting to be done.  He said he could show it to us.  PERFECT!   Location was good for all four elders.  Big and clean.  On a paved street! Close to shopping.  It is big enough for six elders, if need be.  What a nice blessing.

We left for Montevideo about 3 pm.  This drive was down the coast and once again different landscape that I had never seen.

We saw this structure way off in the distance as
we were driving and decided to check it out

Fort Santa Teresa

That little white dot by the flag is the moon.

Beautiful vistas.  Good place for a fort because
you can see for miles all around

The fort was closed today, so a picture through the
keyhole was all I could get of the inside

 

The back of the fort (in the background)

Our next point of interest was this lake: Laguna Negra
Very large lake.

This is a rural school just off the side of the road down
to the lake. It is in the middle of nowhere.
Very quaint.

Their playyard is made from barrels.

Our next stop was Punta del Diablo.
Here in Uruguay you have to turn right first, to go left.

Not sure I would want to rent this.

Selfie picture!

House boats for rent

Our drive to Montevideo was nice!
(at least until we got closer to the city of crazy drivers)