23 de junio - Busy Day

Our day started at about 4:30 this morning.  We had an appointment to be up at the Area Offices at 7:30 to meet with two other couples to go Immigrations to finish our visa process. We left at 6:30 to allow driving time of about 45 minutes and then 15 minutes for getting lost. Our plan worked perfectly because we did make a wrong turn even with the GPS.  All the roads and exits are so close and meshed in and out that it is hard sometimes to end up on the right one even with the GPS talking us through it......bear left, stay right, stay left etc.  We hear "recalculating" quite a bit in our travels.

We made it on time, and met up with our friends, Elder and Sister Smith, from the Buenos Aires West Mission. They are the ones we were with in April when we started this process.  A new couple we hadn't met before, Elder and Sister Fitch, who are in the Bs.As. South Mission were also there.  They are also office workers and were recruited by the mission president, who is one of their best friends, to come to his mission. Even though they are the only senior couple in that mission, they socialize and play at times with the president and his wife, since they have that connection.  They are from Orem, and seem like a really nice couple.  She is very vivacious and friendly. We had a good time talking shop and sharing stories.

Off we went to the large warehouse type building that houses Immigrations. We rode in the remise with Sabrina, who prepares all the paperwork and documents to get us legal residency here in Argentina. She takes the Mission Presidents, and Matrimonials (senior missionary couples) to Immigrations and speaks for us and works out all the details. Good thing. We can't imagine doing it ourselves. 

The last time we attempted to complete the steps to get our visas, we were turned away due to improper language in the documents.  That is why we had to come back today.  Sabrina fixed everything the way they wanted it, so we felt like things would go smoothly.  No way! There is always a glitch. Now they told her that she didn't have photo copies of some of the documents, and each person needed two passport type pictures to attach to some paper.  Why in the world didn't they tell her that last time when they turned us away.  They only mentioned the language problem, not anything about needing copies and pictures.  Sabrina did ask if we left and returned, could we be worked in near the front of the line because of our low numbers from our early morning appointment. They said they would have to see how busy they were.

So off we went back to the Area Offices so she could make the necessary copies.  Then she marched us down the street to a Kodak photo place that takes passport pictures.  So, after about another hour and a half we loaded back in the remises for a return trip to Immigrations hoping for a place back in line where we left off.

We entered the building and groaned because it was jam packed with people.  Sabrina said she would try to get us in but it didn't look hopeful.  Then, all of a sudden, divine intervention occurred.  Just as Sabrina went to ask about it, the electonic numbering system went down and wiped out all the numbers of the people who had been waiting.  So they began handing out paper numbers to everyone.  Since our numbers from the morning were low ones, they handed out the first numbers to our group.  We were called up immediately to be helped.  We were all grateful, because we were so close to making a return trip AGAIN to get all this legal work done.  As it stands now, we do have to come back in 45 days to pick up the final document, but it shouldn't be a long wait.

Before returning to our missions, we were all starved, so upon arriving back at the Area Offices we decided to walk to a Panadería to get a sandwich and sweet roll for lunch.  We took it back to the lunch room at the Area Offices to eat.  We enjoyed visiting and getting to know one another.  However, after today, we probably won't ever see each other again.  That seems strange for living in the same city.  The South Mission covers a lot of ground.  They said that some of their missionaries are 5 hours away from the office.  We, in the North Mission, have the smallest area geographically.  But, we have some missionaries that are two and a half hours away from the office.

After returning to the office at 4:00, we worked for a couple of hours, and then went to the Argyles for dinner.  The President wasn't there, but Sister Argyle wanted to get together with Rich to have him help her with a DVD that she gives to the missionaries that are leaving.  It is just pictures with music.  Rich was bragging up his Mac computer and all that it does with ease, so she is putting it to the test with her project. He said it will be a piece of cake doing it on his Apple computer.  We enjoyed a delicious taco salad, then they got to work downloading things onto his computer. I was anxious to get home because I was extremely tired from getting up so early, but more importantly because it was. . . . . . . .

  

Urban's birthday today.  He is four years old and we wanted to talk to him on Skype.  He had a little birthday party in our back yard.  We really missed being there.  It is hard to be gone on the special occasions.

He is really into Spiderman, can you tell?  He is such a good boy and oh, so cute, don't you think?