A Day of Rest - Sunday, September 5, 2010

The Sabbath is always a welcomed day and to make it even more enjoyable there was a clear, bright, sunny sky outside. Oh, it looked so good and felt good too.

After getting ready for church, I put a meatloaf together for dinner. We will add a baked potato and asparagus to make a meal. Yum!

Rich left before me to get the visual aids and things run off for his Sunday School class. He came back and walked with me to church. It was a pleasant walk and the sun felt good on our faces.

I was glad the whole Relief Society Presidency was there today because I had a picture to give them. A few weeks ago they wanted a picture taken of the four of them with me. Luckily I had our camera with me that day. Yesterday when we went to the Kodak store we had four copies printed to give them. They were pleased today to receive the photo.

Relief Society was taught by Sister Aguirre, one of the counselors. I took the English Liahona of General Conference addresses, but the one she used was evidently from a past issue so I couldn't follow along. It didn't seem as crowded in Relief Society today for some reason.

Sunday School only had two couples in attendance, one being the parents of Abigail who had her 15th birthday party on Friday. As we expressed to them how lovely the evening was and asked questions about the traditional event, the conversation evolved into an interesting discussion about earning a living in Argentina.

First, we learned that most families start saving two or three years in advance for the 15th birthday celebration. Families that are not members of the church have to rent a hall to hold the event which amounts to around 3000 pesos (around $750). Members of the church are able to hold it in the church's cultural hall which is a savings for them. Rich then asked how a family saves that much money and it led to a discussion of how the workforce operates here in Argentina.

Most of the population work under a three month contract. At the end of the three months the company can either renew the person's contract or fire them. Usually around the age of 40 or 45, the person's contract will not be renewed. They let the person go and hire someone younger so they can pay them less money. So it is really hard for middle aged people to find jobs. They usually have a car so they become a remise driver. People don't work with the same company for twenty or thirty years like we do in the states so they don't have a retirement coming in. Most men can never quit working. Sad!

He asked what a school teacher would make here in Buenos Aires and they said probably around $450 a month (U.S. dollars) Wow! And that is for someone who probably has a degree.

Well, after this interesting discussion, there was only about 5 minutes left for the lesson. It was okay with Elder Kroff anyway because he wanted all four couples there for it and we didn't have that today.

Walking up the hall greeting our branch members along with some leaving the chapel from the San Fernando ward, we received two dinner invitations for later in the month. Everyone is so nice to us and we appreciate the kindness shown.

After church we waited for our dinner to cook and anticipated the arrival of Elder Steven Davis who was going to stay with us for a few hours while the Assistants went out to work. He is recouperating from an injured leg and has been staying with the Assistants, and will probably stay with us in the office for a couple of days so his companion can team up with some other elders to work. He is from Ohio and is such a pleasant guy. We enjoyed visiting with him.

We read with mixed emotions the last blog entry from the Doyles. They leave their mission in Switzerland for their home in Sandy tomorrow. We will miss our daily contact with them through their blog. What a reunion they will have with their seven children and lots of grandchildren.