A Taste of Home - Wednesday, April 28, 2010

For some reason I have not heard Called to Serve come on to wake us up for two straight days. I even think I am partially awake, but I must be deeper in sleep than I realize. Maybe I have mastered getting my ear plugs in tight enough to drown out any noise. Could be!

Today, lunch was going to be a treat. Why?? Because Susanne and Thale sent us a care package for my birthday and it arrived yesterday right on the day. It actually stopped at customs and sat there for a few days until our runner, Brother Valentini, was able to go retrieve our packages. He went yesterday so that was perfect timing for my birthday.

The care package contained cans of wonderful tuna fish and a jar of Miracle Whip so I could make REAL tuna sandwiches that are worth eating. We have given up on the tuna they sell here. Some brands are a little better than others, but they have a real fishy smell and taste. Mixing it with their mayonnaise doesn't help. So we were excited to have a tuna sandwich for lunch like back home. It was wonderful.

A jar of good ole Best Foods mayonnaise was also a treat. I have some Ranch Dressing packets and can't wait to put the real stuff on my salads. Yummm! Jif peanut butter is our favorite, and she also included some muffin mixes, packets of various McCormick mixes, M&M's, my favorite brand of lipstick, and a CD of Susan Boyle, the Britain's Got Talent star. We had never heard of her, but her voice is amazing. The Lawrences sent a cute card which included a picture from Urban which will be posted on our wall.

Today was a productive one for me at work as I got the Escobar zone conference things ready for pickup, and then boxed up all the mail and supplies to be shipped to the South -- nine total. I was on my feet most of the day and I could feel the effects after our walk home. I was ready to stop and sit.

Two Latin missionaries, Elder Fuentes (Chile) and Elder Aguirre (Mexico) came in to take the English test today. Elder Kroff got them set up in the President's office -- one at 10:00 and one at 12:00.

Then, in the afternoon he took a remise to our old mission offices in San Isidro to pick up mail that still gets delivered there, a year later. It is mostly utility bills that still go to that address. We are in awe that the Area Office is still holding on to that office space. For a long time all the furniture and a lot of clutter remained, but today he said the furniture is gone and the place is cleaned out. Our office moved to our present location right before we arrived in Argentina, so that has been over a year now. Seems foolish to pay rent on an empty space for that long.

However, we are a little concerned about those bills that are delivered there should the office be taken out of the church's name. Only the landlords of the apartments we rent from can change the address of those utility bills. Contacting all of them and having them go to the company to make the address change is challenging at best. Nothing is easy in Argentina, but it needs to be done.

Elder Peterson worked on our computer problem after he returned from taking an elder up to Immigrations to get another step in his residency done. Hopefully tomorrow, I will be able to catch up and enter the things I need to do.

Sister Argyle came by with a referral today on her way to the zone conference. She had approached the principal of the Lincoln International School, where her children attend, and asked if she would like the missionaries to stop by to tell her about the church. Sister Argyle is acquainted with the principal, as Seminary is taught at the school each morning and she is one of the teachers. The principal said, "Yes." Sister Argyle is a good missionary, always looking for opportunities to share the gospel.

After getting home, Rich walked to the Farmacia to pick up some pills and over to Disco to pick up a few items, while I put together a pizza for dinner and ironed a couple shirts.

At 8:30, Rich went back to the church to meet with our office elders for a discussion they had with one of their investigators. They invited him to attend if he wanted to, but knowing it was quite late in the evening, they understood if he couldn't make it. Rich decided to go since they made the invite feeling they must have thought he could add something to the discussion.

It was with a woman whom he had seen at church the last two weeks, but had never met. During the discussion it was evident that she was waiting for a hallelujah manifestation that the church was true. She wanted a big sign or stronger answer than she was receiving. Rich told her that that probably wouldn't happen. He explained that a testimony comes in small ways, or with a still small voice, a good feeling, or thoughts that this is a good thing and feels right. The meeting closed with the hopes that she would think about it in that way.

If missionaries are having a discussion at the 9:00 hour, then they can have until 9:30 to be back home in their apartments. They only had three minutes to spare, so being the obedient elders that they are, they ran home to make it in time, leaving Elder Kroff in their dust.