A Night of Rain - Friday, Feb. 5, 2010

We are so glad to be in the confines of our humble home tonight and out of the wild stormy weather outside. This morning as Rich read the forecast for today, we scoffed in disbelief. The sky was clear and yet we read of the hour by hour deteriorating weather, and by 5:00 it was suppose to be 90% chance of rain. That seemed impossible at the time. It did start to rain by mid afternoon and by 5:00 when we were to leave, it was raining pretty hard.

Luckily, we had the President's car here because the elders had used it yesterday and today for some errands while he was in zone conferences for two days. He told us he wasn't going to pick it up until tomorrow, so earlier in the day we decided we would use it to go grocery shopping tonight. We are so grateful we had it to even get home after work.

We were here for about 15 minutes and the rain let up a little, so we decided to make a quick trip to McDonald's, then go to Carrefour which is about 20 blocks away. While eating our McNifica Combo, it started to rain hard. I thought we would have to wait there until it slowed down a little, but we decided to run to the car with our umbrella and head down to Carrefour. We would shop while it rained and then were confident it would lessen or be over by the time we finished. They have a drive in covered parking area which leads into the store, so it was wonderful to be out of the rain.

We completed our shopping finding almost everything on our list. Just because something is on the shelf one week, doesn't necessarily mean it will be there next week. It's weird, to say the least.

We found a short line, which is unusual, and as we were checking out, I glanced outside and it was raining harder than it was when we were at McDonalds. Oh dear!!! How are we going to get the groceries out of the car and into our apartment building? Then, as we were driving down Peron towards home, we were actually driving through a flood. The street was covered completely with water, and the cars were plowing through it forcing the water to spray upwards on each side of the vehicles. It was quite pretty to watch as we followed cars down the street. We don't think we have ever seen so much water from a rain storm.

We were lucky to park right in front of our building, and with the umbrella in one hand, Rich emptied the car and handed me the bags to take to the elevator. I thought for sure he would wait until the rain let up, before he took the car back to the office, but he wanted to change his clothes and relax and he couldn't do that until he didn't have to go out again. So off he went in the rain and came back with a pretty wet shirt in the back. The rain runs off the umbrella onto his back side. I think he needs a larger one. (An umbrella, that is)

As I am writing this entry right now at 10:30, it is still raining. So since about 4:00 this afternoon, the rain has been pretty constant.

Today I knew what I had to accomplish at the office, so I set out to do it without hesitation. I had four zones to get ready for conferences next Monday and Tuesday. Our conference is on Monday and thankfully we don't have to travel. The conference is being held at the San Fernando church where we work.

After I finished with the pedidos, I began assembling envelopes with letters and flight plans to the parents, and letters and certificates to Stake Presidents for the next batch of missionaries going home. The next transfer on March 10 will be here before we know it. Next week, after the conferences are over, it is time to start on my binders for the new missionaries. Wow!

We love our mission and can't believe how fast the time is going. We have almost been gone one year. Seems impossible!

We decided to give an outside tour where we go everyday. This is the side of the San Fernando church where our office is located. The slanted roof part is the mission office. Under the awning is the door to our office on the left, and a door into the cultural hall on the right. There is a sliding gate that opens to an area where a car can be parked.

To get to the front of the church, one must walk past our gate and around the corner. On the church property inside the fence is that flowering tree with the big pink blossoms which has been in previous entries.

This church is also the Stake Center. Plus, the community uses it for cultural events throughout the year. It is in a good location and was remodeled and refurbished just prior to us arriving last March.

On transfer day, missionaries meet here to pick up their new companions. It is bustling with activity for a few hours.

This is the street in front of the church. Remises line up here picking up and dropping off missionaries each transfer. Our office is on the other side of the building.

It is almost midnight and still raining. Claps of thunder and lightning have been added to the activity outside. I just don't know where all the water is going. Hopefully not in some missionary's apartment.