Fireside with Friends- Sunday, March 7, 2010

Getting ready for church today required packing up a towel and the baptismal clothes again. I washed a load of whites last night and threw in the wet clothes Rich used when he baptized William. Luckily his white pants dried enough throughout the night to be ready when we left for church at 8:15. He is going to baptize a mother and her son right after the block of meetings today.

We had a pretty good group of people at church today. It didn't look as sparse with more sitting towards the front rather than hugging the back rows. I was excited to see one couple there that were welcomed to the branch by a show of hands. I am acquainted with Osmar Avila as he works at the Area Offices and is the one in charge of the computer program where we enter the baptisms. I email him with questions all the time and he came out to give me training a while back. His wife is darling and there were no children with them, so I think they haven't been married very long. He bore his testimony and mentioned something about moving back into a house they have in Tigre. It will be nice to have another strong priesthood holder in the branch. Our congregation is mainly women and children.

During sacrament meeting, the sisters were nervously watching the door and whispering to one another. We realized that the mother and son to be baptized today were not here. Then, they got up and left for a few minutes after Brother Soler handed them his cell phone. A telephone call was made, but they didn't show up for Sunday School either after having told the sisters that they were on their way. Sister Collinwood said that they needed to be to church today because this would have been their third time attending which is needed before a baptism can take place. Now they will have to attend next week and be baptized the following weekend.

It was discouraging for the missionaries because they had seven people committed with baptismal dates, and one by one things fell apart and only one actually took place this weekend. The mother and son have had their interview and are ready after they attend one more Sunday.

Since we didn't have to stay for a baptism after church, we thought we would be in good shape to catch the 12:15 bus home. Just as we walked out the door we saw two of our #60 buses go by one right after the other. That wasn't a good sign!! We know that there isn't a regular schedule on Sundays and the buses are fewer and far between. But, we walked to the corner anyway figuring that we might be waiting a half hour. No such luck!!

It was an hour and fifteen minutes before the next #60 came by. Never again!!!!! If we ever see that we have missed a bus like we did today, we are calling a remise and paying the price. It wasn't worth it to wait all that time just to save money. At one point a yellow and black taxi from the Capital came by -- in fact there were three that whizzed by. As one of them passed, we noticed he cranked his head around to look at us. Then he stopped and backed up and asked us if we were waiting to go the Capital. He didn't ask anyone else standing there, just us. Since we were dressed up in suits, and jackets, and heels etc. we must have looked like "Capital" people. He probably thought we might want a ride in a taxi rather than taking the colectivo. I thought it was funny!! But the longer we sat there we decided we should have told him we wanted a ride. When we had made that decision, we never saw another one come along.

FINALLY, we made it home at 1:30 and had just enough time to eat a simple sloppy joe for lunch, rest up a bit and then leave for the church by 4:00 to get ready for the fireside for the missionaries who are leaving this transfer. We have to unlock the church and clean things up a bit before the fireside starts at 5:00. Missionaries and their converts and ward members who want to tell them goodbye start coming early. Luckily Elder Stoker and Elder Jones were there already and we enlisted their help in cleaning up the crumbs and papers and litter that was left after two wards had used the building. The chapel really needed some attention to make it presentable for our meeting. The elders even went to get the vacuum to use in a few places in the chapel.

With sixteen missionaries going home this week, the church was packed with people. They even had to open the overflow area. Other missionaries can come to this fireside if they bring an investigator. Hearing the testimonies of those leaving and a message to convert from the President, have had an impact on those investigators in the congregation. Some committments to be baptized have come from this fireside.

After the meeting, a group photo was taken before they all disperse to meet their friends and converts in the cultural hall. Mainly for our benefit the names from left to right are Elders Christensen, Velez, Owens, Zamorano, Henderson, Petty, Davis, Stoker, Walton, Pugmire, Bilodeau, and Nelson. Hermanas Collinwood, Gosnell and Rios are in front. We were sorry that Elder Haws wasn't able to be here tonight. He is in a zone that is very far from San Fernando, and his ride didn't show up to bring him here. That is so disappointing for him, I'm sure.

The cultural hall was a mad house, but we managed to make our way through the crowd and get a picture of each missionary with the people who came to wish him/her well. Rich includes these pictures on the DVD that Sister Argyle gives the departing missionaries. He comes home and adds them, puts music to them, and gets them ready to burn.

We had our picture taken with a few of the missionaries that we became close to. Elder Nelson worked in the office with us and when he was transferred, he really didn't want to leave. He would have preferred to "die" in the office (a missionary term). Elder Ben Nelson is from Oregon.

We first got to know Elder Pugmire over the telephone. He was serving down South in Tierra de Fuego and when he was transferred up North, he became an assistant to the President. Since his area for proselyting is San Fernando, we get to see him regularly when he drops by the office. He has a fun personality and we have enjoyed his humor. Elder Sam Pugmire is from Provo.

Sister Katherine Rios is from Peru. She is an older missionary - around 25 or 26. She speaks English very well, and also knows Italian. She is a sweetheart and such a great missionary.

Elder Owens was in the office when we arrived. He is reserved and quiet and a perfect gentleman. He loved it when I would bring lunch for them to the office -- especially sloppy joes. He was always appreciative of it and let me know. Elder Michael Owens is from Idaho Falls.

We have made wonderful friends on our mission and it will be fun to see many of these special young people at reunions each year.

Our fun filled action packed weekend is over and now we wonder what we have to look forward to next weekend. McDonalds maybe?