June 1st. Saturday. We have some catching up to do - our email has been down for more than a week.

Elder Cook speaking to the camera and
seeing the four groups with Carlos Aguiero,
 the translator in the foreground.

Before I begin, I just spent the afternoon sitting next to Elder Maynes and Elder Cook in the SAS area offices as they gave a Priesthood Leadership Conference broadcast to four locations in Argentina with about 8 stakes represented.  They were going to give it from Neuquén but the Copahue volcano in the Andes mountains has been threatening an explosive eruption that would ground most air traffic in the area.  Both Argentina and Chile have issued red alerts.  Elder Gonzalez asked if I would represent the office and provide any necessary help, so it gave me a rare opportunity.   You can see in the photo that they can see the 4 sites as they speak and the four sites can see them on large screens. 


Elder Maynes speaking

It was a two way meeting with Elder Cook and Elder Maynes taking questions for half of the meeting.  The 12 have a very sincere desire to ensure the leaders and members know that they are loved, appreciated, supported and that they are "good enough to do what the Lord has called them to do."

Now let me go back to where I left off on the 15 of May:

15 Today we had the SASA Area Review. They set up the camera in the nice Sala (conference room) with Elder Gonzalez center, and Elder Zeballos on his right and Elder Vinas on his left.  I was off camera at the end of the table by Elder Zeballos and Bro Michael Fuss was at the other end of the table.   We were there to take notes of what was taught and what the area presidency were asked to do.

It was impressive, especially, who was there.  The twelve were there except Elder Packer and Elder Anderson, who were on assignment, and the presiding bishopric and the seven presidents of the seventy.  Before they began Elder Bednar mentioned that SASA’s question was very good and very much like the question being asked by the Africa Area Presidency that would take place next week.  There was some small talk, most of it directed at Elder Gonzalez’s choice of a tie which was a striped tie with the colors of his Uruguay soccer team.  They knew him well enough to recognize the teams colors in the tie.  Elder Perry conducted then assigned Elder Christofferson to direct the discussions since he is over this area.  There was a briefing by an Elder Porter then the SAS presidency gave their brief.  They were asked to start with an update on their families.  All three were pleased to be near their birthplaces and families.  Elder Vinas had been asked why they did not use family pictures and his response was that this was the first time in 17 years that he was near his family, consequently had never had an opportunity to take on - the seventy really put in a lot of time.   The presidency’s main points were that the attendance remains flat even though there is a continual supply of new converts.  Few wards have a critical mass to really get the leadership support they need.  Their question was how to maintain a strong priesthood presence and grow it.  The meeting then turned into a brainstorming session.  One of the things that came out was with all the new missionaries coming into the field, we need to be creative in using them.  After all, they are full time servants of the Lord who need to be put to work for the salvation of mankind.

16 Thur.  Elder and Sister Switzer are here as public relations missionaries.  They invited us to go with them to the largest mosque in South America (and very close by – we walked).  They have been trying to set up some short visits for Elder Cook to some of the local Churches and Government folks.  Right now the government is in such an uproar they could not set up anything but they have several of the big churches including the archbishop of Argentina (the spot once filled by the Catholics new Pope).  Anyway we went with them and got a guided tour of this place.  I knew something of Muslims but it was interesting to see how they tried to endocrine you during the tour.  Their argument is that the Bible has been translated many times and has a lot of man’s own agendas added to it, while their holy book has not ever changed so it is the most correct revelation from God and so supersedes all other doctrines and prophets.  They believe in Christ but that he was only a prophet not the Son of God or our Savior or that he brought about an atonement. 

The guide asked what was Christ’s greatest miracles and when someone said resurrection he responded, “no God raised him up – only God raises man to everlasting life; Christ’s greatest miracle was bringing the dead back alive but they, of course, still had to die.”  They believe God is unique above all his creations and has no similarity to us in any way ( I am not sure how man was made in God's image then).  So, Christ becomes a prophet that is not the only begotten with the power to take away the sins of the world or cause the resurrection of all mankind, just one in a line of prophets.  And the guide tried to defuse a possible question about the Bible placing Christ as the Savior - the resurrection and the life, or son of God by giving this analogy; if someone is a the end of the line at the store and he calls to his friends and says, I am the last, he is only the last until another one comes in line, while the prophet Mohamed said he was the final (or something like that in English) so they claim he was really the last. (Wait until they hear about the restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith.) When asked about why women could not pray with men he said they could but men are commanded to pray and women are not, although, God accepts their prayers, but since the men bend over to pray the women would not be comfortable bending over with men, but a wife can pray with her husband at home if they want.  They are definitely claiming they are the only true religion while trying to put on a happy face for the public.  What they loose is that since Christ is not their savior, they are still living an eye for an eye and so their entrance into to heaven is based on if they do more good than bad in their life.  They never know where they stand and so live a very depressing life of uncertainty.  That is why dying in action can be used as an enticement, because it assures them entrance into heaven no mater how bad they lived their life.

17 worked late (till a little after 7:00) on the presidencies calendar with help from Yamila Caminos.  Joan and I walked her and her son, Lorenzo, to their bus stop.  The Ex. Sec and assistant seem to have to work late most every night.

18 Saturday there was a stake service project planned.  Here the schools are left in somewhat of disarray.  The government does not have the funds to keep them up.  The stake went in and was patching the walls then painting them.  We got there about 10:30.  I painted and Joan cleaned until their lunch (about1:00 usually).   Joan is pictured above with the Zobells.  I will look for some more pictures of this later. The stake provided ham and cheese on French rolls).  We talked to some of the members.  One fellow was from Denmark and he told us his interesting story in English.   He had family (two sons) in the Netherlands that had started going to the Jehovah witnesses (some of the family were JW including this man’s brother) and called to tell him to go.  Soon after a friend called and asked if he wanted to go with him to his church (LDS) and he went.  He took the lessons in a matter of a week and left for the Netherlands.  There he visited the church and made friends with a couple.  It took him about a year to finally be able to get baptized.  I'm in the background painting here.

That's me in the background doing some finishing painting.

Shopping, rug and groceries. ( they have bakeries for bread and vegetable stands for fruit and vegetables and small almacens (groceries) and Jumbo which is like a very large grocery with some appliances and the first floor is like a small mall and a small home depot.

19 I have to explain the apartment set up here.  They have added these small 7-10 story apartment complexes where there was once a home.  Each is a u shaped complex with two apartments on each floor (each side of the u).  The first floor has a garage door that opens to drive to the back parking and a locked entry, usually a glass door, to a very small elevator (you must have a key to get out as well as in the entry door).  The apartment door has a very elaborate lock that is a door lock and dead bolt in one.  There is a separate dead bolt you can lock only from the inside.  Each of these little apartments is locked up like a military installation, sometimes with an attendant inside. 

Joan waiting a the bus stop Sunday morning to go to Church.

 Here we are with one of the women that Joan has made friends with at the front of the Church, which is a three story building with a locked entry and a back basket ball court that serves as a parking lot on Sunday.

Our 3 story Church building has overlapping wards

Sunday we were in a hurry to catch the bus for church and I opened the door with Joan’s key and then we both went back to the bedroom area for something we forgot.  As we hurried out of the apartment, I shut the door and one key was still in the door on the inside.  I went to lock the deadbolt and the key would not go in because there was still a key on the other side.  We went to church knowing that we would not be able to get back in.  We normally walk home from church with some of the other couples just for the company and the walk.  I picked up a couple pieces of wire on the way home to try and push the key out.  The Zobells from Canada walked with us and tried to help but nothing worked.  We contacted the church maintenance folks and after a couple of hours (it turns out the locksmith had just set down to lunch with the missionaries and lived a ways away).  After inspecting the lock and that it was not locked by any of the dead bolts, he got a large sheet of plastic and slide it through the door and pulled it over the latch and got us in.  It turns out that he is the father of one of the secretaries we work with.  The one we walked her and her son to her bus stop the night before.  She is so competent and nice and had told us a little about her father so that we were very excited to meet him.  Alejandro Caminos came to our rescue and got us in.

Here Joan is walking home from Church with Sister Zobell.  We ride the bus to Church but usually walk home with some of the other mission couples for the fellowship.

We walk just about everywhere for work, shopping, church and to visit the parks near by.