The Day After - Saturday, Dec. 26, 2009

It was a down pour when we woke up and we wondered how long it would be before the Argyles called to say that our fun plans for today were cancelled. We had been invited to join their family and her parents who are here for Christmas to a day at an Estancia. It is a cattle ranch where there are a lot of activities for tourists: program, dinner, shopping, horseback riding etc. From the senior couples at the Area Offices we heard it is a fun place to go.

We were to leave about 9:30 a.m. so we continued to get ready as we watched the rain come down. Pretty soon President Argyle called and said we would have to cancel. In fact, since we had to make reservations, the Estancia called him and said, "You aren't still coming, are you?" They said it was really soggy and muddy out there and it wouldn't be a good idea. So we are now on schedule to go on Tuesday. It is suppose to be really sunny and nice all week.

President Argyle will not be able to join us as he is still in zone conferences this week, but he told us to take the day off on Tuesday and let the elders handle the office alone. Wow! Can't beat that!! With Sister Argyle's parents and children and us, we all can't fit in one vehicle, so Rich will drive one of the cars and Sister Argyle the other.

Then, Sister Argyle said she was taking her parents shopping at a little mall that was under a train station that was close to the mission home, and did we want to meet them there. She had told us about this shopping area a while back and we have never taken the time to investigate it. We didn't have anything else to do today, so we jumped at the chance to go.

We took a remise to the area and met them in front of Freddos (ice cream place). It isn't a big shopping area, but has some really nice stores with just about anything a tourist would want. There were bus loads of people visiting a big cathedral adjacent to the train station/shopping area, and when finished with the church tour, they would come over to look and buy.

Sister Argyle's parents are from Ephraim, Utah, and are great people. They are very friendly and sociable and we had a good time with them. They have been on two missions, both to Russia. They are planning on another one -- maybe. I asked if they knew everyone in Ephraim and when they said, "Yes, we do", I asked if they knew David and Karma Lee Barlow. They most certainly did and were so excited to go back and tell them that they met us way down here in Argentina. It may be a surprise for them also, as we don't think they know we are on a mission.

Sister Tamara Baker, and Hermanas Kroff and Argyle have evidence that the shopping trip was successful.

Brother and Sister Baker (Barry and Tamara) are leaving on Wednesday night to return home to the states. They will have been here two weeks visiting at the mission home.

After shopping, Sister Argyle invited us to go home with them and have pizza. The three of them walked over to this little mall, so on the way back to the mission home, we picked up the pizza crusts from the panadaria.

We added toppings and cheese to the crusts and enjoyed good conversation over the meal. We stayed a long time visiting and it was fun to see the President in a relaxed atmosphere. He got so sleepy that he disappeared and went to his bedroom to take a nap. I thought he was in his office working on something. But he said he could not keep his eyes open and had to give in to some needed rest.

We decided to take the train back home instead of calling a remise, so the President drove us up the road a ways to the train stop. For having our original plans for the day cancelled, plan B turned out to be a fine substitute. We had a good day and didn't have to go to the stores to exchange any Christmas gifts, nor stand in line for the sales like it is on December 26 at home.