Branch Conference - Sunday, June 13, 2010

It was damp, cold, and foggy this morning, but the fog lifted by the time we left for church. Our alarm didn't go off as scheduled, so we slept in a half hour longer until I awoke and noticed the time. We were ready in plenty of time without having to hurry so it makes me wonder why we don't just get up at this time every Sunday. Seemed to work today.

Since it was our branch conference today and we were singing with the choir, I chose to wear my black missionary suit. Every time I do I get lots of compliments and comments about it. I guess black is and will always be a dressy color. I wasn't trying to stand out, but it brought attention my way.

I had a stack of envelopes containing the pictures we were passing out, and everyone was SO excited to receive them. They thanked me over and over and then when they saw Rich, they thanked him. We assume many people who take pictures just have them on their computers (if they have a computer) and don't have the money or take the time to get them printed off. Everyone loves to see themself in a photo, so we made several people happy today.

The Relief Society Presidency was especially happy to receive a picture of their foursome. Pictured from the left are Nely Fuenzalida (Secretary), Sylvia Aguirre (Counselor), Marta Aguirre (President), and Iris Florentin (Counselor). It is interesting to note that Sister Aguirre, the president, is also an attorney. She works from her home.

The Temple Preparation class was well attended with those present learning the difference between ordinances and covenants and how they pertain to the temple. Elder Kroff always makes it fun and keeps their attention while eliciting response from those in attendance.

Elisa and Nicolas are planning on being married in the temple in November after he has been a member for a year. He is the one Elder Kroff teaches a repeat class to on Wednesday evenings at the request of Elisa. Today, however, he was able to come to our branch and to class. They are a cute couple and exhibit happiness, wouldn't you say?

Our choir group had a goodly number and we all sat up on the stand. It was fun to look out upon the congregation and see families together to help me learn who goes together. We just didn't see a lot of stake visitors like we have at ward conferences at home.

At the beginning of the meeting, Lidia was confirmed by Elder Hales. She is such a sweetheart and is so excited to be a member. He sat with her during the conference, while Elder Peterson sat by two investigators that came to church with them.

Conference consisted of three messages. President Palermo talked about the importance of being good parents, the Second Counselor in the Stake Presidency talked about fellowshipping new members and investigators, and the Stake President talked about families and spending good quality time with each other.

The choir evidently sounded good as positive comments were heard after the meeting. Sister Cuevas, the director, was very pleased.

Before we left for church, I could tell that our crock pot wasn't doing very well. I had a roast, potatoes, carrots, and onions in it, but it wasn't very hot. It is an American applicance which has to be plugged into a transformer with adapters and this and that before it gets to the wall plug. If the connections aren't tight it shuts off. The least little jarring causes it to disconnect. When we got home, it hadn't been cooking so dinner was not done. I had to put everything in the oven to finish cooking, but it took a couple of hours.

This afternoon we heard a knock at our door and our neighbor across the hall, Lindsay Elmore, (on the right) asked if we had some scales that would weigh luggage. She and her husband, Tim, and the other gal in the picture, Joy Siebert, all teach at a private school here in Buenos Aires. They have been here for two years and are missionaries from a Christian church in the U.S. that has started schools in different parts of the world. One is here and is just two blocks from where we live. Lindsay and Joy were roommates living in a dorm type house until Tim and Lindsay fell in love and got married last December. Then they move into our apartment building.

Now, school is over and Joy is going back to the states to teach, and Tim and Lindsay are going to Perú for their next assignment which starts in July. Right now, Tim is in China working on his masters degree and won't be back until the first of July. Lindsay is flying home to Canada tonight for a vacation before she joins Tim in Perú in a couple of weeks. Too bad we didn't get a picture of them together. When Tim comes back we will get a picture of him. And . . . we didn't have any scales to lend her, but we enjoyed the conversation.

We had a fun visit with Dave and Michele on Skype after their three month absence of visiting their kids in Hawaii and Chicago. Angie was there so we were able to visit with her too.

We love Sundays! It's been a good day,