We Have a VAN!

Monday, March 31, 2014

P-Day  I baked bread, zucchini cookies and my made  my own corn-flour tortillas!  They were not exactly flavored like the store corn tortillas, or if I were using Masa Harina, but they were still good. They were a lot of work though because of having to individually roll each one. I made about 16.  I paid bills and had a great visit via Skype with Briana.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

The trees are changing colors!

The Mission Home

It was cooking day for Zone Conference.  

WE HAVE a VAN to drive for 6 weeks!

At 8:15 pm the young women in the Malvin ward asked me to join them and they wanted me to accompany them on the piano while they sing a song for their New Beginnings program in a couple of weeks.  I also gave piano lessons to the group of about 8. Everyone played, There is a Green Hill Far Away. They all had fun.  I will continue lessons every week until they don’t want me anymore.

Wednesday, April 02, 2014

We met with the Area Finance person this morning. I was very bored because it was all in Spanish and it was a 2 hour meeting. I was also a popsicle by the time the meeting was over. They had the air conditioner on full blast. All the men wear their suit coats, so it doesn’t bother them.

I worked on a lesson about families in Spanish for Aida and Miguel for a 4 pm charla.

Aida is always so happy to receive us and she always has juice and some kind of sweet bread for us.  The lesson went well and she appreciated my Spanish efforts.  At 5:30 pm we met the Elders in Camino Carrasco to give them more flyers to hand out for their open chapel. We then got our first gas fill up. It is a good thing that this expense is covered by the mission.  Gas is about $7.50 per gallon.  We arrived home about 7 pm just before dark. Our headlights do not work. The parking lights and 1 fog light and our brights work. I fixed salmon for dinner with yummy apple cole slaw.  I heard the sisters about 8:30pm going up to their apartment so I invited them in to finish up the slaw and fed them homemade rosemary/garlic sourdough bread.  I didn’t sleep well last night so I am going to bed early!  10pm

Thursday, April 03, 2014

We worked at the office.   I am creating a powerpoint presentation for Mike’s talk he gives in the orientation for the open chapel. This evening we met with the Bishop, Ward Mission Leader and missionaries for the Malvin area in a 2 hour meeting on  possible converts and less actives.  My listening and comprehension of Spanish doesn’t do very well in the evenings.

Friday, April 04, 2014

Mike and I created a schedule to try on follow for the week.

7-9 am: Walk, companion study of Spanish, breakfast, dressed

9 – 10 :Personal study

10 – 1 pm: Mission Office

1 – 2 pm: Fix main meal for the day

2 – 3 pm: Eat and clean up

3 – 4 pm: Plan lessons for charlas

4 – 7 pm: Find and/or Charlas

7 – 9 pm: Charlas

We had set a morning appointment with Ema for family history but she had to cancel because she needed to babysit her grandson.  We went to the office and worked.  At 4 pm we had another family history appointment with Aida and Miguel.  We didn’t get too far because we didn’t have her membership #.  We also dropped by to see if Roxann was home and she was so Mike and I visited with her past dark. It was productive and we set a time to come and visit with the whole family on Sunday evening, after conference.

Garage Sale for the Scouts!

Can you find the Scout symbol?

Arm in Arm

Sunday, March 30, 2014

We did our 2^nd capacitacíon in the Camino Carrasco barrio. This one was held in their cultural hall, so Mike had a chalk board he could use to teach with. Our friend Aida walked in during our presentation.  That was a surprise! We sat with her during Sacrament meeting. She just loved being there with us. We found out from the Elders that Camino Carrasco is a shorter walk for some people, even though the boundaries are in Malvin Ward.  So, it solved the mystery of no one seeing Aida last week in the Malvin Ward.  She walked to Camino Carrasco. There was a simple but beautiful duet musical number during Sacrament playing the recorder and violin.

We got home about 2 pm and we fed the office Elders lunch. It was crispy, orange beef with rice.  Yum, yum. 

As soon as that was done, we took a taxi over to Ema’s and Ivana’s. It was raining hard but we shared umbrellas. Their word for umbrella is: paraagua = for water. Why didn’t they say paralluvia = for rain? Mike stayed at their house and the taxi took us on to Malvin Ward at 5pm. At first it was a little awkward because I know so little conversational Spanish so there was some silent moments while we were waiting for the conference to start.  But, fortunately the sisters came through and started visiting with both of them.  After the conference they did serve refreshments.  At first, I had heard that they were not going to because they feared too many people coming.  I am so glad they did, because Ema talked with several women she knew and they welcomed her with open arms.  They same was true for Ivana. Her seminary teacher came to her and invited her back.  The Primary president came and invited Lautaro to Primary.  Sister Zegarra and Sister Berrios both spent some quality time with her as well.  I asked them what they liked best about the conference and they both loved the music!  I thought that unique because the music is the only thing that is not translated in Spanish.  The music is all English.  The Relief Society offered us a ride home. Ema and I walked out the church, arm in arm and we both had smiles on our face.  When we first started to visit Ema, the Bishop had commented that he did not think Ema would ever come back. The Spirit did it’s miracle tonight.

Being a Part of an Historical Event Even in Uruguay

Saturday, March 29, 2014

I gave piano lessons at the Malvin ward today for Charo.

We visited with Jorge and Ivana and I gave a miniscual part of the lesson in Spanish. We taught forgiveness. I also invited Ivana to the Women’s Conference tomorrow night. Mike told her that her mother was going too. I could tell by her facial expression that she was very surprised that her mother was going. She said if her mother was going, she would go too. Mike said he would come and help Jorge babysit their son, Lautaro. I am so excited to have these women come! 

This evening, the baptism was held for the 17 year old young man.  His mother was there too.  I played the piano.

We rushed home so I could watch Women’s Conference which started at 9 pm my time.  I have been anxiously anticipating this great historical for two reasons:

1.  I like being part of history and this was the FIRST ever conference for females, ages 8 years old and up.

2.  I can listen to this in ENGLISH! 

About 3 minutes before 9, Sister Zegarra and Sister Berrios came by to visit.  I invited them to dinner which they gladly accepted, but Mike was the gracious host and let me bask in greatness of the Women’s Conference.  He loves me so much and shows it all the time.  I married a wonderful man.

I loved all of conference, especially the bright spring colors and the fabulous choir. 

If you didn’t get to see this event, here is the link: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2014/04?lang=eng&vid=3408781210001

Ate Our First Uruguayan McDonald's Meal

Thursday, March 27, 2014

We worked in the mission office today.  Mike consulted with the office missionaries to get a feel from them where they need help.  We also worked on our next steps for every family we are working with. 

Our laptops will be our computers we use at the office but our batteries do not last long enough for a full day.  We took a bus to Portones Shopping Center to find a power converter.  Another new discovery we made today was that all bus stops are not created equal.  Our bus was D10. After waiting about 15 minutes, the first one just passed by without even looking at the wave of Mike’s hand. The second one was stopped at the signal and Mike flagged the bus, but the driver just shook his finger at us.                                                                        

Hmm?  We noticed one more bus stop further down the road so we walked there and did see some faded signs that stated this was D10 along with 6 other signs for different routes. We waited another 15 minutes for the next bus. Lesson learned. 

We decided to eat our first McDonald’s meal.  I have to say it was yummy. Mike got the French fries which he said were great. I got the salad trying to be the healthy eater.  The salad was fresh with good lettuce and fresh tomatoes but my only choice for salad dressing was olive oil and white vinegar which came in separate packages.  So I think next time I will get the fries. 

                                     

We found our transformer, but wanted to find the DVD for Disney’s Cars.  We went to every store we could find, but no one had it.  The DVD selection wasn’t great to begin with.  So, keep your eyes open for the DVD in Spanish. Message me with facetime, or facebook, or email if you do find it.  If we haven’t found it by then, we will have you buy it and send it to us with our next care package. 

We caught a taxi back to the office and Elder Pugmire was there, so he gave us a ride back to our apartment.  Mike had a charla tonight with the Elders.  They were a bit nervous about this one, because the lady had been given some negative and incorrect information about the church.  When Mike came home, he said it was a great lesson.  The Spirit was there and he was able to answer all her questions and share his testimony.  This lady was the mother of a 17 year old boy that is supposed to get baptized tomorrow.  Her signature is required for this.  The boy is anxious to get baptized and wants to prepare for a mission.  We will find out tomorrow, if the mother will allow his baptism. 

We Got a Package!

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

(Tune: You’ve had a birthday!) Primary Song: Play Song

We got a package, shout hooray!  We want to sing to you today!.

Lots of goodies and pictures too.  Happy Easter, Love you!

We happened to go to the mission office today to start setting up our office and meet with President Cook. A BIG box arrived.  The elders were questioning who would get such a large package and then they said, “Oh! This is for you!”  We are not usually in the office so our timing was perfect!  It took only 17 days to arrive safely.

We found out that our meeting with President Cook was not today, but next Wednesday. The elders had just told us next Wednesday. Oh, well.  Elder Pugmire dropped by the office too and he noticed that a big shipment of furniture had arrived. He asked Mike to help him deliver and set it up.  So he took us back to the apartment with our BIG box. Elder Pugmire’s timing was good too because we didn’t know how we were going to carry our box on the bus. Mike left with him and I opened up our box.  This was better than Christmas!  I had so much fun.  I hooked up our new speakers to my laptop and put on my Motab music. I opened the box and decorated with all my new things.  The food items that were sent will be savored!  After I situated the food in my ever so small pantry/bookshelf, I studied Spanish the rest of the day.  I think things are finally coming bit by bit.  Mike got home around 10:30 pm.  I can’t thank you enough, mi familia! Gracias, te amamos!

Before

Before

   

After!

The wonderful people that are supporting us are
now on our refrigerator.

We walked and walked and walked and walked!

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

The printer and his wife came to our apartment this morning.  They are members and they held true to the Uruguayan culture of talking and talking.  We discussed the changes we wanted to make and they were very anxious to help in any way.  It is nice to be able to give work to members. 

In the afternoon our theme song was: Play Song

We were true missionaries today.  Our visits were all just drop bys.  

We walked 25 minutes to the Lopez’s. I timidly with my limited Spanish asked Ema to come with me to the Women’s Conference this Sunday.  I had an invitacíon for her.  I told her I needed a friend and she accepted!  WOW!  I was so excited.  Three weeks ago, she did not want religion in her life.  I think she feels our love for her and her family.  We have worked with Camila, Charo and Ivana.  Charo has been to church on Sunday and in Young Women’s. When we were there today, she was on her way to Seminary.  Charo will come for more piano lessons this Saturday. Camila is still very distant from wanting the Spirit in her life.  Ema’s little boys are fun and they showed us their Disney Cars book.  Mike wants to find the DVD and give it to them on our next visit  They have a DVD player.  

We then walked about another 1/ 2 hour to Miguel and Aida’s apartment but they couldn’t see us.  So we called a new family we wanted to visit and we just needed to wait about 45 minutes for him to get home from work.  So finding them turned out to be a lot more walking that we didn’t need to do.  We were using our google map coordinates. So we walked another 30 minutes but couldn’t find them.  We happened to be on a main street so we took the time to find el baño and get some bottled water. 

We walked back 20 minutes, no luck. They were the wrong apartments.  We called the missionaries and they gave us some clues. We walked back towards where we had just been for another 10 minutes and then called Pedro Lopez, Ema’s husband and he got us real close.  We called the family again and they answered the phone and came out and met us. It turned out that even if the street name is “Mt Jordan”  it could be located 3 or 4 alley ways behind “Mt Jordan”. Meanwhile during all this walking, Miguel and Aida called and asked us if we could come by. We said that we could after our visit with Ariel and Roxana. 

Ariel and Roxana are about our kids ages. They have 2 sons, Jorge is 18 and Gabriel who is 11. They graciously fed us dinner, cheese pizza from the corner store. His main occupation is ALARM SYSTEMS!  So there was some good conversations going on. We asked him if he could use some help. Ivana’s husband is very smart and loves electronics but all the work he can find is washing cars. Mike had considered training him in the alarm industry, but if Ariel could use him that would be better.  So our next step is to get the two together. In our next visit with Ariel and Roxanne we want to discover why they don’t go to church. Part of the reason is that he offers his alarm customers 24/7 service. Mike told him we did too, but not on Sunday because it was a sacred day. We only help customers if it is urgent. I gave Roxana an invitacíon to Women’s Conference. We got through with our visit at about 8 pm and it was too late and dangerous to walk anymore. Ariel kindly offered to give us a ride to Miguel and Aida’s apartment which was less than 3 minutes drive time. He also offered to pick us up and take us back to our apartment.  

Aida and Miguel were thrilled to see us.  She gave me a big hug. Aida is doing marvelous. She is going to her new medical treatment for alcohol substance. She hasn’t had a drink for a while. But the biggest success was that she and Miguel walked to church last Sunday!  We apologized for not being there because we were in Aeroparque Ward. She said she was well received and knew a lot of people.  She shared that walking there was really hard but once she stepped inside the chapel, the Spirit filled her with an abundance of energy for the rest of the day!  She also showed us the prayer chart and the positive actions chart that we had given her. She has been recording her progress on both charts. She thanked me for the cookies I had brought last time.  She said it reminded her of when she would make cookies with her children. 

We also made a dumb mistake by assuming that Miguel and Aida were husband and wife.  Mike had asked them if they had ever thought about being married in the temple.  They grinned and said that they were brother and sister!  

We were done at 9 pm. Ariel came and picked us up and drove us to our apartment. It was a very productive day!  I am sure I will feel all the walking tomorrow! 

Médico Hoy

Monday, March 24, 2014

P-Day.  

We went to the health clinic at 8 am this morning for our health check up. That was the next step to process our Visas.  We went fasting. They took some blood, checked our teeth, took a urine sample and asked some health questions.  Good thing I have no health problems so answering the questions was very easy. No, no, no. 

The sisters came over for P-day so they could all use all our computers.  If they use Pugmire’s then they have to take turns because they only have one computer.  It is so fun to have them.  They giggle and laugh and sing.  We invited them to dinner.

Mike helped move a big table to some Elder’s apartment. He also fixed electrical plugs for Sister Cook in the mission home.  I think he is in training to take over Elder Pugmire’s job until another couple can take their place.  Maybe?