With Those We Love - Wednesday, June 16, 2010

We were up at 6:00 as usual and after following our morning routine we were ready to leave our apartment at about 8:40. We dressed up at little more than usual as this was a special zone conference today. The elders always wear suits, but I decided to wear a jacket as we were having a picture taken with the Argyles.

We had three zones together for this conference and each zone had a separate picture taken with the family which will be emailed to all the missionaries. They were trying to avoid a multitude of cameras flashing pictures which would have taken a lot of time and been semi chaotic.

Before the conference started at 10:00, we in the office managed to get a few necessary phone calls made and things in order before we entered the church and took our place in the chapel.

We have anticipated this day for several weeks, and were looking forward to this last zone conference with the Argyles, as emotional as it might be.

President Argyle is always looking out for us and he asked Elder Lowry, an assistant, to sit by us to translate for me so Elder Kroff could better enjoy the meeting. Elder Lowry has been to the other conferences this week, so he already has heard the talks twice before. How thoughtful of the President!! And Elder Lowry was happy to do it and said that he actually likes to translate for people. He mentioned that he felt he would be doing a lot of it for Sister Gulbrandsen. She will love him! He's such a great guy and a wonderful missionary.

So the three of us sat up front on the side section of the chapel where we could all hear better, as there was no microphone. Whoever was in charge of setting up, zone leaders or maybe the assistants, failed to make contact with the bishopric member who keeps the microphone. But it all worked out fine, and everyone could hear. And Elder Lowry was fantastic and kept right up with what was being said. Remarkable!!

President Argyle actually gave two talks, one at the beginning and one at the end of the three hour conference. He expressed deep love and appreciation for all the missionaries and for the good work they were doing, and the importance of it. He thanked them sincerely for their sacrifice and service to our Father in Heaven. He strongly admonished them to be obedient throughout their lives in every way and to live up to the covenants they have made in the temple. He asked for a commitment from each of us to contact him either by phone, mail, or email each time our temple recommend is renewed. Everyone verbally, in turn, said "Si" that they would do it. He said contacting him on Facebook is not an option as he won't be there.

We read in the scriptures together and he used examples and stories to drive home his message. It was truly inspiring!

The President also talked about the transition between him and President Gulbrandsen. He made clear the fact that Heavenly Father is in charge. We all need to realize that it is Him for whom we work and serve, not the Mission President. If we focus on that it doesn't matter who is leading us. He told of the traditions that he retained from past presidents and said that he will not pass them on to the new president. Certain things that the mission is used to now may not go forward under the new leadership. If it is not in the handbook, then he will not tell the president about it. President Gulbrandsen will bring new ideas to the mission which will be needed. Whatever he does will be what the mission needs at this time to move forward. He did a great job in laying the ground work for new ideas and new direction, and encouraged faithful support from all of us to help President Gulbrandsen be successful.

Sister Argyle was wonderful as well. She said that their family has grown from four children to 431 more. That is how many missionaries have come to the Buenos Aires North Mission since they received their call and they feel like each is a part of their family and will have a place around their table in the eternities. She admonished the young servants to be self reliant and take care of themselves physically and spiritually. She also bore a strong testimony of the atonement and how it pertains to each of us.

The children each bore their testimony and did so well. They all speak Spanish fluently and expressed the thoughts and feelings of their heart. They thanked the missionaries for their great example and consider them their brothers and sisters. It was touching. Seth, the youngest, relied on notes to relate his thoughts in Spanish.

The family performed a musical number for us by singing the first three verses of "How Firm a Foundation." Then two of the children recited the 4th and 5th verses with music playing in the background, and we all stood and sang the 5th and 6th verses with them. I need to read those latter verses in English as I am not familiar with them. We, of course, sang in Spanish.

During the closing prayer sniffing was audible. The family remained on the stand and we all passed by them to tell them goodbye. The elders could hug the boys, but shake the hands of Anika and Sister Argyle. I hugged all but the President. I had to be a proper missionary, although I couldn't help myself with the children. It was reverent and spiritual with tears in the eyes of many.

As we all waited in our seats, the family filed out of the chapel and immediately left the church. That will be the last time that the missionaries will see President and Sister Argyle except for the Assistants and those of us in the office. The four of us in the office are driving two cars to take them and their luggage to the airport tomorrow for their flight down South. Then when they return, we will see them again during their five remaining days in the mission.

A light lunch of sandwiches and fruit was served in the cultural hall. Of the three zones present, Sisters Kroff, Romo, Shaffer, Tejada and Rivera are the only hermanas in the group. The young sisters are cute missionaries and we love them a lot.

This handsome group consists of Elders Beatty, Labra, Denton, Davis, Hales, and Smith.

This table is all smiles with Elders Massey (new last week), Williams, Short, Peterson, Ludlow, Gordon, Brown, and Briggs. I list them mainly for our benefit to remember names as we look back in years to come.

The three zones comprised a total of 57 missionaries that came to this conference. Facing the camera in this shot are Elders Tapia, Lowry, Sampson, Chanca, Lazo, Godfrey, Peinado, and Pearson.

We worked in the office for a couple of hours and made our way home around 5:00. Rich was preparing to return to the church for his temple lesson with Elisa and Nicolas when she called and said they couldn't make it tonight. However, I left my phone at the office and he didn't twirl the dial on his safe, so he made a return trip anyway to take care of those matters. When he got there, he discovered we didn't turn the heater off, so it was a good thing he had to go back.

What a wonderful day with wonderful memories. Our cup is full!