With Young & Old - Saturday, March 20, 2010

The elders called last night and asked if they could come over about 11:30 today and look at the CTR rings on the Deseret Book site. Elder Coria wants to buy one and asked if it is ordered on line and sent to Tooele, could our daughter send it here? He has mentioned it a few times previously, so this seemed like a good time to let him pick one out.

We were trying to decide what to do today. Should we go on a canal boat ride, or go shopping in the Capital? But, we will take care of the elders first and then see how much of the day is left. Last night while shopping, we picked up all that we would need to provide lunch for them on Monday. So I decided that since they would be here around the noon hour and we had all the fixins' for Sloppy Joes, that I would just make the lunch for today instead of Monday. I had Marianne send me 8 packets of Sloppy Joe mix as that is something not found here.

About an hour before they were to come, Sister Argyle called and asked if I could do her a favor and go to the office and fax an authorization to the hospital in Vicente Lopez. She needed to take Austin to the doctor to get his arm xrayed because it hurts and it has a suspicious lump on it. It could be either badly sprained, or maybe broken (although he can move it) -- all basketball related. He is suppose to be in a tournament this week and they need to find out what is wrong with his arm. I send authorizations to the hospitals so the billings go to the church. I told her I would go to the office and fax the authorization right away. So Rich and I left immediately to do as she asked. Luckily I was ready with makeup on and hair combed.

We hurried back and did some last minute cleaning that we were doing when the call came. Then the elders showed up and while I made the sloppy joes, Elder Coria picked out the ring of his choice.

The elders all stepped out on the balcony to see the view and get some fresh air, so I took advantage of the line up for a quick photo of the handsome four -- Peterson, Kroff, Hales, and Coria. Most of our pictures have these elders in them, but these are the three that we spend our days with and know the best. It is such a privilege to serve in the office with such talented and wholesome young men who transfer in and out. We are blessed!

The elders gobbled the food down which ended with our Pan Dulce that we bought at the convent a couple weeks ago. We bought it intending to share it with the elders, so this was a good time to bring it out. It is a sweet bread with nuts included and very tasty. They seemed to enjoy it. A scoop of ice cream would have tasted good with it, but no thought of that until too late.

The elders left about 2:00, to do their shopping and send their weekly emails home. Then at 6:00, "P" day is over and they are off to work again.

We cleaned up the dishes and decided to just rest instead of trying to cram anything else into the afternoon before we set out for our evening activity. Our senior friends at Bonpland called during the week to invite us to movie night at the Fuqua's home. We have been just once before and we appreciate them extending the invitation to us from time to time. Sometimes we can't make it due to baptisms or other commitments with the missionaries or the Argyles, but we go when we can. Last time we went, the President was in the South and we had the car, so we were able to drive there and have our own transportation coming back in the dark. Tonight we would take the train and a taxi to get to their place. We were to be there by 7:00.

As we were walking to the train station to get on the train closest to 6:00, we saw the cross bar down and cars stacked up waiting to cross the tracks. We hustled along and came to the ramp just as the train pulled to a stop. No time to buy a ticket, so we hopped on the train and would purchase a ticket on the other end. If someone would come by to check for tickets, we could be fined 10 pesos, but in a year we have never seen anyone checking. But we do pay our way and not cheat them out of the two pesos and 20 centavos owed for the ride.

When we got off at the Belgrano station, we usually take a taxi the rest of the way, but today we decided to see if we could find the bus that would take us to the corner of Santa Fe and Fitz Roy which is just a couple blocks from the Fuqua's apartment and also Bonpland. They live really close to where they work -- like us. So, we (Rich) asked a couple questions at one of the bus stops and we found out that bus 29 is the one to take. We hopped on and then were a little fearful that we wouldn't recognize when to get off, so after going a few blocks, Rich asked a nice lady if we were getting close and she said she would tell us when we were there. Easy!! We now have it down and feel we can get to Bonpland by train and bus for just pesos. We may try it when we go up to be with the seniors for General Conference in April. We are looking forward to that outing.

The senior couples at the Area Offices are down to four (more on the way) and two couldn't come to movie night so it left two of them and us. Our cozy group of six included us with Marilyn and Grant Barton and Joyce and Charles Fuqua. We love being with the young elders, but it is fun to be with the "old" missionaries too.

The choice of movie tonight was Seabiscuit. We have seen it ages ago, but really couldn't remember it too clearly so thought seeing it again would refresh our memory. We were both stunned and somewhat alarmed that NOTHING was familiar. We both kept waiting for a glimpse of something we recognized, but nada!!! I, then, tried to make the excuse that we probably thought we had seen it, but really hadn't. It worried us to say the least! We must have seen it when we were really young, but doubt it.

We left for home at 10:15 and did take a taxi back to the train station. Then, the train ride home was uneventful and we arrived at our apartment at 11:15. We enjoyed all of our Saturday activities.