All in a Days Work - Wednesday, May 12, 2010

In the Fire of the Covenant the rescue party has found the Willie handcart company. We shake our heads every day at what those pioneers had to endure. It is most humbling to listen to their plight, and our respect and admiration for those early saints has placed them close to our hearts. Their example of faith is inspiring. We are enjoying learning of this pioneer experience, but it is painful.

We were thrilled that Elder Coria was coming to spend time with us in the office today while his companion went up to the Capital to begin his temporary residency requirements. He would be with other missionaries, so Elder Coria didn't need to accompany him. He was so talkative and excited to tell us how he had been doing as District Leader, and the success he was having in baptizing in Escobar.

Elder Coria's companion, Elder Lane, is from California and played football. He has an identical twin who is serving in Paraguay. We surely have our share of twins in this mission. We always have two or three elders serving who are twins -- our cute Elder Peterson being one of them.

My goal today was to complete the new missionary binders and the packets for the ones going home during the June transfer on the 1st and 2nd. With that being completed, it dawned on me that I needed to get letters printed and the missionary certificates ready for the President to sign for the July transfer. I like to have them signed before he goes South for the zone conferences, and he leaves this weekend. Then, I can prepare the envelopes and get them mailed timely to parents and Stake Presidents without rushing. Mailing them six weeks before the missionaries arrive home is not too early coming from Argentina.

The afternoon went quickly and pretty soon it was 4:00 and the elders were packing up to leave. Since we have had evening commitments this week, we like to leave shortly after 4:oo so we can eat and regroup before we head out for whatever is on our schedule. And, tonight we have been invited to go out with the sisters from Tigre, so we left at 4:00 too.

In preparing to leave, Rich locks up his safe which is encased in a cabinet that matches our desk areas and overhead cupboards. The cabinet covers up the ancient looking safe, which is a definite plus for the office.

I reminded Rich that I didn't have keys to our apartment building. When they changed the outside locks, they only gave each apartment one set of keys. They told us we would have to get some made if we wanted more. So we walked to a kiosco that advertized that they made keys. Luckily the man said to come back if they didn't work and he would make more, because sure enough, they didn't work. It is such a hassle to go back as there is no guarantee that the second set will work either. We know a place in San Isidro where the reputation is good for key making, but it would require a train ride and time. We are trying to decide what to do.

Our appointment with the sisters was at 8:00 in Tigre. Now, it is one thing to leave in the daylight and return in the dark, but to leave when it is definitely dark and cold outside at that late hour having to take a remise or bus to get there and back, and knowing it will be late when we get home is sometimes a challenge for us old folks. Oh, we can do it! We just have to mentally prepare ourselves for it.

The sisters wanted us to meet them on a corner. Yikes!! In the dark and in a neighborhood that we are unfamiliar with??? We were fortunate to get a remise driver who is in our branch and when we didn't see the sisters standing on the corner, he helped us find the address where we were going. Luckily we had it -- and the sisters were already there!! Now I wonder how long we would have had to stand on that corner before they came looking for us. Oh, the minds of youth!

We visited a sister who had many problems in her home. She has several children and she takes in kids that are kicked out of their homes, one being a 15 year old girl who is pregnant. She has a son on drugs who sells most of his clothes and things in order to buy them. She lives with a man who supports her as she doesn't work. The sisters tried to encourage her to come to church and have faith that Heavenly Father will bless her and help her through her trials if she will turn to Him. The lady thanked us over and over for coming to her home. The sisters like to take us because Elder Kroff has good insight and can add to the discussion, plus it shows people that it isn't just young people that belong to the church -- that there are older, faithful members too.

We walked for blocks out of the area with the sisters and then they ran to their apartment because they were late in getting home, and we walked a couple more blocks to the main road to catch a bus back to San Fernando. We were grateful to be on the bus that drops us right off at our apartment building. The time was close to 10:00.