A Blast from the Past!

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Happy Valentine's Day!

I found this cute litte guy on my pillow!

My wall decorated for the holiday.

A sweet note from Hna Orme who is home is AZ now.

Capilla Abierta for Prosperidad Branch.
I think the holiday weekend (Carnival) prevented a good turnout of people. The members that could come did a great presentation. Many references were given. One of the references has already been contacted and the missionaries called me, very excited because the contact was very strong and a baptism date has been scheduled. This contact also has older children and they are hopeful to convert the whole family!  Elder Taylor thanked us most graciously for going to the huge effort of doing Capilla Abierta's for Uruguay.
YouTube: Capilla Abierta Prosperidad

Beautiful pepper tree. Just had to take a photo.

Properidad has a very active and strong group of young women.
They just returned from going to the Temple.

We made resident status I guess. Flia. (Familia) Burnett 714.
I also received my "green card", cedula, so I am here legally now.
Next step, drivers license. (I have to seriously think about this one.)

Sunday, February 15, 2015
What a very special day, all the way through.  It started with a training we did in the Ferrocarrill Ward.  Their Sacrament meeting started first (which is unusual) because another ward shares the building. We were asked to share our testimonies so we were sitting on the stand. Mike was talking with the Bishop and I am going to let him tell it from here:
Mike here.. The Bishop asked a few of the usual questions like what parts of Uruguay did I serve in on my first mission 43 years ago.  When I mentioned La Floresta, he said that this ward was originally part of the La Floresta ward which is now several wards.  We were asked to share our testimonies in sacrament meeting so I mentioned that I had served in La Floresta and spoke of a few memorable moments there.  After the meeting a small group came up front to tell me they remembered those days and that they remembered me, but the most startling thing was when one of them pulled 3 photos of me out of her purse.  It was from my 20th birthday and the day I was called to be a branch president in another branch, so it was a good bye party as well.  I have a copy of one of those photos at home.  She was just a young girl when the photo was taken.  Wow.. What a wonderful reunion.

Elder Burnett and Elder Croft

Right after Sacrament meeting we went to another room and quickly set up our projector, sound, and laptop to give our training.  We could not stay for the last hour because we had to get home and pack our bags for Treinta Tres which is a 4 hour road trip.  We had a family history presentation that the Elders set up for us for the ward council at 6 pm.  We had the perfect plan.  And when we arrived, it was blown apart.  It wasn't for a small group, people from the stake came and we had it in the chapel. Their overhead projector wouldn't connect to my laptop, so for the first hour it was Mike presenting as best he could without familysearch. Finally, we got a flat screen from the Stake President's office and we did a smidget of familysearch photos, stories, and entering names.
I think we got a few more motivated after our presentation.  We gave them our phone number if they wanted any further training.
But, we also found some old books of days gone by that were just sitting in the hallway, not protected or anything. We told the bishop he needed to secure them in their family history center and then he proceeded to show us more!  What a treasure of information for the people of Uruguay.  I am going to call Salt Lake and ask them how to best give them this information so that it can be indexed. Uruguay has so few records for documentation.  I feel this is very important and needs to be preserved.
We spent the night in TreintayTres, (two star at best).

Monday, February 16, 2015
We made deliveries today in Treinta y Tres.  Emergency food, heat/smoke detectors, cleaning charts, and chart on how to de-ice a freezer.  I made bunches of cookies before I left and we delivered those as well.

We picked up some Elders along the way and gave them a short ride to their apartment.

We left Treinta y Tres and headed for the border town of Chuy.  We stopped by Lascano to give them their things and fix an array of problems.  Mike had to put a sink back on the wall, fix the plumbing, and fix their falling apart beds.  

They had their beds tied together with rope and
stuffed blankets underneath. 

On our way through the rice fields and on to Chuy, we enjoyed the scenery which included a full rainbow and a big crane.  He was standing as still as a statue.  We turned around to try and get his

picture, but he flew off before I could take it.  I got a little bit of him though. 

Can you see the beginnings of a rainbow?

This is usually all the rainbow you ever get in Uruguay.

But not today! Two pots of gold for sure!

Rainbow amidst the rice fields and palm trees.

We arrived in Chuy about 8 pm and made a visit to the Elders there.  Got up the next morning and headed back to Montevideo with one stop along the way.  It was a long drive home because everyone was headed back to the city from their holiday weekend.  We played leap frog all the way to Pan de Azucar.  There the road turns into a 4 lane highway.  Grateful for a safe trip once again. 

Wheat and Black Beans, Final Preparations Underway

Friday, February 13, 2015
After a busy week of cooking and transporting, today we are getting ready to deliver emergency food packs, new carbon/smoke detectors, and various other items.  The Anderson's came and helped fill the bottles.  I love Hermana Anderson. She is so innovative and independent.

We also went out to dinner with all the senior couples. It was a rare treat to find that everyone had this evening off.  We called it our Valentine's Day dinner.  Anderson's, Cook's, Harris', Ness' and Burnett's.  We ate at Garcia's. They raise their own beef and they are the closest thing to a perfect grilled steak that we have ever tasted here in Uruguay.
And of course, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset with moto-flying windsails in the foreground.

#33 to add to our Tree! Lots of "NEWS"

Monday February 9, 2015
NEWS! NEW BABIES IN OCTOBER

I posted this on Facebook. 

WOW, WOW, WOW! Our family tree! Grandchild #33! What blessings. What blessings. Congratulations to Chris and Candiss and their whole family!

Candiss called us and said since Tara announced their new addition, she decided to announce their great news. She is due before Tara in October as well.  

Tuesday - Thursday Februrary 10 - 12, 2015

La semana de cambio - The week of changes. NEWS! New secretary for the office is Elder Bauer.
NEW old song revived.
We also learned something old that was new to most of us. President Cook found the "alma mater" song of the Uruguay-Paraguay mission. I played it on the piano and everyone sang "La Uruguaya". It has quite a catchy tune. As Mike was sharing his knowledge of this song, he shared, with tears in his eyes, how this song had come to his mind after we had received our mission call. The last verse of the song states, "Quiero yo volver" which means, "I would love to return". All the missionaries loved the song and we sang it together on Wednesday to all the missionaries that were at the Malvin Stake Center for changes. Everywhere we go now, the missionaries are humming this song.  It has gone "viral"!

Hermana Cook had the office staff over to the mission home 
to say good-bye to Elder Bekker.

He is being transferred out of the offices. 
Hermana Cook served delicious ice cream with all the toppings!

Elder Delgado (foreground) and Elder Moss

Elder Bekker

L to R Leavitt, Delgado, Moss, Bauer, Cooks, Me, Orme, Sanhueza
Bekker, Torres, Pin

Hellos and good-byes at the Malvin Stake Center on Wednesday.

Valiente Dinner

YouTube of Valientes Departure: Valientes Feb 2015 Depart

I have lots of YouTube videos of the mission and the capilla abiertas.  Open YouTube and search Debbie and Mike Burnett and my channel should come up.

Hna West, Linnell, Orme, Me, Smouse

Hope to see you all on Facebook!

Woo hoo! Number 32!

Sunday February 8, 2015

BIG NEWS!  We have grandchild #32 arriving in October! Congratulations to Myron and Tara and the whole family.  We are so excited for this event!!!!  Love, love love!

We did a capacitacion in the Bella Italia ward today. It was the first time that I gave my 3 minute introduction without my notes.  I missed a few things, but I was pleased.  Then, the bishop asked all four of us, (Anderson's) to share our testimonies at the end of Sacrament meeting.  So I shared my testimony with them , off the cuff. Mike stood by my side and did some minor interpretations for me when I said something incorrectly, but I think it went well.

Bella Italia Chapel

Nice big room for capacitacion.

White boards more often than not, have permanent markings
on them. We always bring rubbing alcohol so that we
can clean them and use them as our screen.
Come to find out, they have a new flat screen with
HDMI, so we put all our gear away and used that.
The picture color was great and so much easier to set up.
Very grateful we brought our HDMI cable from the States.

The bishop giving his introduction.

I use the story of the tortoise and the hare in my presentation.

Quien gana?  Who wins?

I guess you will have to come and visit us in Uruguay to find out who wins!  

"Chillin" and Not Because it is Summer.

Week of February 1-7, 2015 

I spent most of the week chilllin' (literally) because I got the flu bug. It started Sunday night when we were supporting the Anderson's in their calling by attending a Stake training meeting in Maraños for self sufficiency.  I had Mike bring me back to our apartment before the meeting was over.  I was back to almost full strength by Friday.
I finished my medical book for the missionaries and all my capilla abierta emails and I did get to study some Spanish.  So my time was well spent even though it was low-key time.
Because I felt fine Sunday morning, we did our capacitacion in Prosperidad. Elder Anderson was kind enough to do a small video and take some photos.

Our typical gear. One suitcase has our projector and
sound speakers and Mike hauls that. I have my computer bag.

Prosperidad is a small branch.

This young man is another "piano guy" in the making.
This is an old piano that is in need of a major tuning, yet he
played it beautifully. The violinist is also very talented but
also using an old violin.  I think they could be the next generation,
"piano guys". 

After our morning meeting, we came home and got food ready for the "break the fast" meal with the temple group.  Everyone asked me how I was doing, because they had obviously either been there yesterday when I almost passed out, or they heard about it.  At that time, I was totally fine. It wasn't until Sunday evening that the flu hit me.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Capilla Abierta in Progreso.
Even though this was a small branch, they worked very hard at having a good event. I was impressed that those that did come, were people they brought themselves. Those are the best!
YouTube: Capilla Abierta Progreso
(If you want to view any of the past Capilla Abiertas go to YouTube and search: Debbie and Mike Burnett.

Hermana Hickman and Hermana Silva

I love to watch the children.

Our sister missionaries are not afraid to go out and find people and
invite them to the capilla abierta.

I End January with a Grand Exit!

Saturday, January 31, 2015

We went to the temple today. We did a session, then did some sealings. After we were almost done, I was at the altar and suddenly started feeling like I was going to faint.  I walked over to a chair and Mike immediately knew I was not feeling well.  I tried to get up and walk down the hall to the dressing room, because I was feeling nauseas, but I kneeled straight down on the floor because my world was spinning.  Now I have everyone, in a panic and the helpful sisters all telling me in Spanish what to do.  You must get up, they kept saying. Hold your head up!  Mike went to get me a piece of candy because I had not had lunch and he thought maybe that would help. Someone else brought me water.  By this time, I WAS NOT DOING WELL at all because instead of throwing up it seemed my body wanted to use the other direction!  Great, I thought. I will pass out and then there what will my body do.  I am in full panic mode and the sisters keep telling me I must sit up as they are wheeling me into the bathroom. I keep telling them, NO, NO, NO!  I need my head down.  I heard Hermana Anderson tell me that I had a nurse right next to me.  So, I am sitting on the throne and finally could put my head down. Meanwhile, I am sweating and disoriented a bit. The sisters are trying to remove my temple robes, but one of them is pinned on so it doesn't fall off my shoulder! What a circus!   Hermana Anderson said I was as white as a ghost.  After the sister all left, except the nurse, I was eventually able to sit long enough with my head down, that I felt fine.  Of course, they wanted to take my blood pressure and it was a little low, but I am always low.  Hermana Anderson said my color was back too. The sweet angels brought me juice and a granola bar. I sat for about a half hour and then returned to normal activity, feeling just fine.
So I put Mike in a real panic mode.  He has never seen me faint.  I used to faint when I was a little girl but only when it was hot.
This time I think it was just kneeling at the altar too long.
So, Hermana Harris called me tonight to ask how I was. She must have come in the temple on the last shift.  And my did the temple workers have a story to tell.
I was so embarrased to be laying in the middle of hall and drawing all that attention to myself.  I told the sisters, Lo siento and Mi stupido, but they just said, Tranquilo, Hermana, Tranquilo.
So I ended January with a grand exit.
But, here are some sunsets that we have enjoyed. Can you find the wind surfers?