San Fernando Canal

The capilla (chapel) was really cold today.  Usually the chapel is heated and quite comfortable, but today it was chilly and the whole church was cold. We had been warned about it being that way all winter long.  We have to wear our coats, we're told.  

Evelyn Escobar, who was baptized a week ago, was confirmed in Sacrament meeting today by Elder Clegg. It was touching to me, for some reason, to see him performing that ordinance.  I told him after church how impressed I was.  He said that was his first confirmation. It is so wonderful to see these young missionaries work so hard in this missionary effort, and help miraculous changes come into the lives of these people, and then to perform these saving ordinances.  These young missionaries are wonderful, and grow so much while serving the Lord.  We love being a part of this work.

After church, we ate dinner, then took naps.  I slept for two hours.  Good grief!!

The rest of our day has been calm and quite uneventful. So I have chosen to share something we did on a Sunday several weeks ago.  We decided to take a walk one Sunday when the weather was warm and beautiful. We headed towards the water which leads to the bay between Argentina and Uruguay.  From our balcony, when the sun is just right and the sky is clear, we can see water far off in the distance.  It is the bay.

There are many canals in this area that lead to the bay. We ended up at the Rio de la Plata, which is one of the channels that lead to the bay.  The locals call it the San Fernando Canal.  It was quite the tourist attraction. There were people all up and down the fenced off shore line picnicking, fishing, and lounging around. This family in front of us was playing a game. Ice cream carts were pushed along for purchasing a cool treat.

The breeze made it a great day for flying kites, and they were for sale also.

Many, many boats of all shapes and sizes are docked along these canals.  Then, the boats travel along these waterways on their way out to the bay.  The weekend, especially Sunday, is a big boating recreation day.   Some boats are big and fancy, and some are just sail boats.  The water is brown and muddy looking because the rivers up north flow this way and bring all the silt and gunk with it.  But we did see some jet skis zooming by. 

Part of the area at the "beach" had other attractions.  It was a bit carnival like with a row of concession booths with things to eat, and things to buy.

We walked by some men playing a game in the sand. We stopped to watch a minute to try to figure out what was going on.  One man explained to Rich that a pink disc is thrown out on the sand, and each player tosses a white disc to see who can come the closest to the pink one.  Ok, it must be challenging and fun.  

 
There was also a large playground where lots of children were enjoying the fun.

San Fernando has signs referring to it as the boating capital of Buenos Aires.  We had wondered, when we first arrived, why there were so many boat stores, now we know why.