We Love Tigre

Should we take the bus or a remise to Tigre today? That was the big decision we had to make this morning as we prepared for church. If we take the bus, we don't know exactly what time it comes. So we decided to take a remise over and catch the bus back home. But just to add more information of how the colectivo system works, Elder Kroff decided to walk over to the bus stop at 8:15 and see what buses come by and at what time. This might help us in the future decide if we want to take the bus to church. The one we want came by at 8:30 today.

There was a larger crowd at church today -- we had about 63 people in Sacrament Meeting. A member of the Stake Presidency spoke, plus the Branch President's wife. There were a few more people in Elder Kroff's class today, and then because it was the fifth Sunday, the Priesthood and Relief Society met together. That lesson which was on provident living was taught by the same Stake Presidency member that spoke in Sacrament Meeting. He had double duty today.

At the end of his lesson he showed a short video about cleaning the church. Starting next month, all the church buildings in the South America South Area (Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and Chile) are going to start being cleaned by the members. That may prove to be a real challenge for members here in this part of the world. They don't live close to the chapel like we do at home.

After church, we went to the bus stop by our church to wait for our ride home. We met Robert and Rosa Baldovino there who were doing the same thing. They are members of our branch and live in an area close to San Fernando. They were assigned by the Stake Presidency to come to Tigre to church just like we were. This branch needs some strong priesthood brethren, so I guess Brother Baldovino was selected to help out. He helps bless the sacrament each Sunday, plus teaches priesthood.

Our bus came after a few minutes and off we went. It cost us 75 cents total to go from Tigre to San Fernando. Can't beat that!

I had a small roast in the crock pot to which we added mashed potatoes and gravy, jello salad, and brocolli and cauliflower. It tasted good and there are left overs.

After we had the dishes cleaned up and were ready to take a nap, the phone rang and it was the sister missionaries. Evidently we left church before they could talk to us and ask us if we could go out visiting with them this evening. They had an appointment scheduled with a male investigator. The sisters are not allowed to meet with the opposite sex unless another adult is present. Usually they get a member of the branch to go with them. But if they have us, it's even better because it doesn't take someone away from his/her family. The elders are not allowed to meet with a woman alone either. Neither elders nor sisters can meet with the youth without someone older present.

We took the bus back to Tigre and got off by the big train station there. We were to meet the hermanas at 6:15 p.m. While waiting for them to arrive, we were amazed at the amount of people swarming into the train station. We don't know what all these people were doing on a Sunday afternoon in Tigre, but they were all going home, we guessed.

We walked about 14 blocks to the first appointment, asking Elder Kroff at intervals along the way how he was doing. He answered in the affirmative every time. He had his great walking shoes on and sailed right along. The area was less than desirable and we were glad it was still light outside. No way would I be found on those streets after dark. We were glad we were with the sisters. It was a bit scarey. BUT, when we got there the man was not home. Great, now where do we go. We found a sleazy Remise company there and after about a 20 minute wait, they found a car to take us to a lady's house that was way across town. I was glad to leave that neighborhood. Some of the dwellings were just tin huts. It was so unbelievable.

This lady was home and we sat around her table while the three Spanish speakers communicated with her and taught her from the Book of Mormon. She had many problems and was in tears part of the time. It was a good meeting.

From there we ordered another remise which dropped the sisters off at their apartment and brought us back home. It was 9:00 by then and we didn't want to wait for a bus at that hour. It was a good day in Tigre!!