Welcome to Argentina

Our alarm goes off at 6:00 a.m. and I am the first one out of bed.  I turn the front room heater on, and then head for the shower.  Rich lingers under the warm covers, but then I do have the hot water on demand, so I am happy.   He is up and has read any emails we received over night by the time I am finished showering.  He showers, shaves, and dresses way before I am finished with my makeup and hair.  Scriptures are read, breakfast is eaten, and after prayer, we head for the office around 8:30.  It is only a 5 minute walk and we enjoy it.  We like to see who is up and what is going on in our neighborhood.  We like to arrive before the Elders come at 9:00 to get a head start on what needs to be done.  

Today, Elders Clegg and Nelson and I headed for San Isidro to meet two Elders who needed to complete their DNI, which is something to do with their temporary residency.  I am becoming more familiar with this process, but still don't think I have a handle on it yet. Since Elder Clegg won't be around too much longer, he needed to show Elder Nelson and me what is done when we get to the Civil Registry. . . .where all of this legal work takes place.  Normally, we would take the train to San Isidro, but since we had other errands to run, we drove the office car. The two Elders that met us (along with their companions) made this trip once before with us, but the place was on strike and we couldn't complete their DNI.  So today we were excited to get them done.  

The man (Carlos) with whom we needed to conduct our business was there, so finally I would get to see what is done and how this process works.  However. . . . . like we have said before, nothing is easy in Argentina.  I could tell there was a problem when Elder Clegg was talking with Carlos.  Get this. . . they had no INK to take the finger prints.  I just about died!!  It is a good thing I can't speak Spanish, because I probably would have said something I might regret. So we failed again. The Elders shrugged their shoulders after mumbling under their breath, and said, "Welcome to Argentina". It is just unbelievable how hard it is to get things done. I suggested we get a phone number so we can call next time to see if the ink is in.  That we did.

We returned to the office, and all worked quietly at our desks.  Later in the afternoon, President Argyle came by to sign some papers, and to interview a couple of the Elders.  After the Elders left to preach and teach, we had a chance to visit with the President.  He told us that the ward we are in here in San Fernando doesn't need us.  It is a big ward, there is a lot of leadership, and they have four Elders who attend.  He said the Stake President has approached him requesting that we be assigned to a branch in Tigre.  He feels we are needed there to lend support and help out.  The Stake President had heard about Elder Kroff and the success he was having teaching the priesthood lessons, and wanted him to teach the Gospel Principles class in the branch at Tigre. He would be teaching the investigators that attend that branch. There are about 45 to 70 people in the branch.  Our ward here has about 140 people who come to church. We have made some good friends in this ward, and it would be sad to leave them, but we are excited to go and do whatever is requested of us.  What will the choir do, though. Rich is the only bass, in fact, the only male that attends regularly.  

When we returned home, we noticed that Melissa was on Skype, so we called her.  And low and behold, the whole family was there.....all five of them.  So we were able to talk to everyone.  It was fun to see our grandsons together on the screen. We can't believe how much they have grown in just three months. And, they talk so good now.  We love them so much.  

These two cuties are the love of our lives.  We are glad we can talk to them occasionally so they won't forget us.  They miss their grandpa a lot.  I wonder why? Can you tell?