Getting Ready - Monday, August 23, 2010

We woke up to no hot water as expected -- in fact no water at all comes out of the hot water taps in the kitchen and bathroom. I had to heat up a couple pans of water on the stove so I could add some warm water splashes to the cold water shower I took this morning. It is sooooo frustrating!!! Then I heated more hot water to do the morning dishes.

As we left the building, we saw a couple people and Rich asked if they had hot water. When their answers were "No" he asked if the administration knew. They all said "Ohhh yes!!! They've been told." Surely workers will be solving the problem during the day.

The day before transfers is stressful for some of us and calm for others. Elder Peterson is the busiest. He is making the last minute changes from the President, but the biggest concern he deals with is finding remises to transport missionaries here and there. The church has a remise service from Bonpland that picks up missionaries from the airport who are returning from the South, and also takes them to the airport when they go there. They service the three missions in Buenos Aires so their schedules get filled up if the requests are not in timely. We have so many going and coming from the South this time, that he has been having a difficult time getting things lined up for our missionaries. He had his nose to the computer ALL day making the travel arrangements, plus making sure all the transfers were in order so the Assistants could start making the calls this evening to those that were involved in the transfer. I don't know how he does it. I didn't talk to him all day so he could concentrate.

Rich and Elder Paz left for a period of time to go buy a refrigerator for some elders. At first we were going to give our fridge to the elders and then have them buy a little larger one for our apartment. The one we have is really too small for a couple. I struggle to find space when I need it. The measurements of the next size up from ours is a little too big for our space. It will just barely fit and extends out too far from the wall. We don't know if it is worth it or not, so we will let the new couple decide if they want to replace it.

I started working on the 32 baptisms that took place last week, and then cleaned out some files in my drawer of outdated materials, plus cleaned up and deleted some things on my computer that are not relevant to what I do. I want things in tip top shape when someone else takes over my desk. The shredder was busy.

At the missionary fireside last night, we took pictures of several people. Rita Mansilla and Evelyn Escobar are two of our friends. Both are in the San Fernando ward and they came to see some of the elders that they knew to wish them well as they leave the mission. Rita is from Perú and has been a member of the church for years. Evelyn has been a member for about a year now and is still super active even though she has no support from home at all. I love these two sisters.

The four girls to my right and Lidia to my left are darling young women. They just love us and run up with hugs and kisses every Sunday. The girl on the right is Lidia's sister. I am not acquainted with her, but Lidia brought her to the fireside because she is an investigator. The five girls told us Sunday that they want to fix us a Peruvian dinner, but all of us would not fit in any of their homes. So they wanted to schedule a time to come to our place and fix dinner for all of us. They wanted to do something special for us before we leave. How thoughtful!!. So, this Saturday it is. They are coming at noon to fix dinner. It should be a good time, for sure!!

We left for home about 4:30 and upon entering the building, we could hear clinking and clanking downstairs so we knew workers were trying to solve the water problem. Alright -- finally!! At first we didn't have any water at all, and then during the evening the cold water taps started to produce. It was getting later and later, so Rich went down to the basement to see what was going on and there were some men there watching the pumps fill up some tanks with water. He told them we didn't have hot water and one man seemed puzzled. He said he would be up to check on us, and when he came just minutes later, he worked on our hot water heater checking to see if there was any bubbles or blockages in our line, but all seemed to be in order. He said that when all the tanks get filled that everything should work, but if we still didn't have hot water in the morning we should call him. He gave us his phone number.

I heated some water to wash my face before bed. I wouldn't have made a very good pioneer.