Forty Five Years!! - Friday, August 27, 2010

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today is our 45th Wedding Anniversary and we are glad to be healthy, happy, and serving this mission together. Elder Valente said, "Forty Five years -- how did you do it?" That sounded like an impossible feat to him, I guess. We attribute it to having the same goals in life, the desire to make each other happy, and staying committed to be active, faithful members of the church. Muy importante!!

Still no internet at the office!! It is wearing on all of us! When Elder Kroff called about it today, he was told that the 72 hour time frame in which they would respond started the day after we called them. So we called on Wednesday to report the problem, and the 72 hours didn't begin until Thursday. It ends on Monday, so since we haven't seen anyone for two days, it will probably be Monday before they come. Sigh!

Some of our work comes to a stand still without the internet. At one point today, Rich had to come home to do something on IMOS as he can access it from our home computer. I need to send something to all the district leaders through email so they can open it on Monday's P-day. So I'll have to work on that over the weekend from home too. Not fun!

The office was busy with missionaries coming in and out waiting for Elder Peterson to take them to Immigrations today. There were six new elders and one sister that needed to go. Close to the Immigration building is the Correo where Customs is located, so Elder Paz and a partner were going to stand in line and wait for their turn to pick up 23 packages that have made their way there. They only hold them for a certain amount of time and then, if unclaimed, they ship them back home. That doesn't make for happy parents, not to mention the disappointed missionary.

The three Assistants, Elders Valente (Argentina), Lazo (Perú), and Lowry (Utah) make a good team. Elder Valente is still pleased as punch with his new assignment. It will last for another three weeks and then he goes home. It seems like old times having him prancing around the oficina again. Elder Lazo goes next in October, and Elder Lowry will go with his parents who are coming to pick him up in December. We enjoy these three!

Before the office elders left, Rich had to go to the bank in order to cash a check and give them each a wad of money for their individual errands. The Gulbrandsens came in for a few minutes in order for him to sign the check, then they were up and out of here. We don't know what was on their agenda today.

The companions to the ones with Elder Peterson were making their way back to the office after having been out working around San Fernando. It was Elder King's birthday a couple days ago, and from a ward member back home he received a most clever gift. It was the Dr. Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham, with the rhymed verses changed to reflect the "Mormon" church and missionary work. The story was typed and pasted over the existing words on each page. It was darling, well done, entertaining, and funny. I read the whole book with gusto! So clever!!

We called Elder Peterson and Elder Paz a couple of times to see how they were progressing with their duties today, so we would know what to tell the missionaries that were waiting for their companions. Surprisingly, Elder Peterson and his group were almost done and he would be sending the elders back on the train shortly. Then he would join Elder Paz who was still waiting for his turn at the Customs Post Office. Another call to him much later revealed that all but two of the 23 packages had been located. The workers were still searching, and when they asked if they could return later for the two "lost" ones, they were told "No," they had to wait until they were found. At 5:45 when we left the office, they were still not back. What a day!

At home, we decided we had a few things to pick up at the store. After all, it was Friday and that's normally our grocery shopping night and dinner at McDonalds. Earlier in the day we had discussed the possibility of walking up Constitucion to find a little local restaurant to try out for an anniversary dinner. But, since we were a little later leaving the office and had some grocery shopping to do, it seemed too big of a deal to shop, take the food home and put it away, then take off walking in the dark to find some new place to eat.

So . . . .

we just pulled our little shopping cart into McDonalds and had the "usual." It wasn't my idea of the perfect celebration dinner, but it sufficed. We perched our camera on a ledge to take a picture of our anniversary outing. Yes, boring -- but it worked for us.

We came home to find that Melissa hacked into our blog site and posted our wedding picture. Boy, we looked young!! Then Susanne and Thale skyped us to visit for a while.

Our wish for no more water surprises didn't last. We met the "water guys" getting out of the elevator when we got home tonight, which caused a raised eyebrow. Sure enough, it's like "Ground Hog Day!!" No hot water again! Will this ever end???