La Familia Gerez - Monday, November 22, 2010

The alarm was fouled up last night and it didn't wake us at 6:00. I was lying there waiting for it to go off, and when I opened one eye to see how many more minutes, it was then 6:10.

The day's forecast is starting out sunny and nice, but by late afternoon some rain showers are expected. So in the bag went the umbrellas, just in case.

Today is a holiday - a new holiday thought up by the President of Argentina relating to some battle that was fought, but no one seems to know much about it. Doesn't matter, however, because if a holiday is announced, the city is locked up tight. We knew the mail would not come and the phones would not be ringing today.

We were being included in this holiday because last Friday, one of our branch members, Hermana Gerez, came to the office to invite Rich and me to her home on Monday for dinner with her family. They were getting together because it was a holiday. We gladly accepted and have been anxious to get to know this older couple in the branch who are very faithful and dedicated. Their daughter, Claudia and husband, are in the Tigre branch so we know them and we did know that Brother and Sister Gerez were her parents.

I busied myself with baptismal registers. A week ago we had 39 baptisms and last week I was not able to call on those I hadn't received, because the computer screen I use was not updated due to the hectic and unusual assignments that fell on Elder Peterson. The demands on his abilities and time made it impossible for him to sit at his desk for any length of time. I felt sorry for him last week. But the pleasant guy that he is, one would never know the stress he was under. He takes it all in stride and doesn't show his ruffled feathers should he have them.

Now that transfers are over, Elder Kroff started working on his zone money, all the while wishing that Elder Schoeny were buy his side learning this involved process.

Pretty soon it was close to 1:00 and we were able to take the car to our lunch/dinner appointment with the Gerez family. We walked in and saw two tables pushed together with several seats around them, which showed there was going to be a crowd. How fun!

We were the first ones there and then their oldest daughter and family came. She and the children all speak English, but the husband understands more than he can say. I can relate to that! What a delightful family. The four children were darling and the eldest boy was so sociable wanting to talk to me in English so I would know what was going on. The father was a bishop for 10 years. Their name is Diaz. Sister Diaz and her mother, Sister Gerez, were baptized at the same time 27 years ago. Brother Gerez followed four years later.

The dinner table was full of family, and after the blessing Rich told them that since we won't be home with our family on Thanksgiving this week, that we would consider this our Thanksgiving dinner to be with a family who is having dinner together. Gustavo and Karina Diaz are on the couch with son, Pablo. Belén, Camila, and Lucas are at the table. Karina served a mission in Resistensia, Argentina in her youth. Gustavo, Karina, and Pablo went to General Conference in Salt Lake in October. They have a friend in Salt Lake who is a Stake President and he got them tickets to every session. They had a wonderful time!!

The second daughter is Claudia Corta and her husband Fernando. They live in Tigre and do not have any children yet. Claudia served a mission in Los Angeles, so she speaks pretty good English too. Fernando served in our mission several years ago. The couple on the right are Rocio and Maximiliano Herrera who are friends of the family. They are in the San Fernando ward so we see them coming and going on Sundays.

Walter and Maria Gerez have a wonderful family of three daughters and sons-in-law, and four grandchildren. The third daughter is Romina Rodriguez with her husband Nicolas. He is a Bishop in one of the wards in our mission -- a young Bishop.

The meal started with a variety of empanadas, and then Cannelloni was served. It was stuffed with spinach and had a sauce with chicken chunks poured over it. It was really, really good. Hermana Gerez likes to cook.

We ate till we were stuffed as did everyone else. Everyone was so talkative and friendly and really made us feel welcome.

Then came the postre which was to die for. It was cake with a pudding type filling with strawberries in it. She made two and not a single crumb was left. Most had seconds -- the boys had more.

We left about 3:15 because the elders needed the car to go to an appointment which was set for 3:30. We had such a nice time with this family. It is good to see strong members of the church in Argentina. More like the Gerez' are needed in wards and branches.

We returned to the office and continued with our work, then left at 5:00, hurrying to miss the rain. It wasn't much of a storm, but did dampen things down a bit.