The Buenos Aires Temple

The Argentine flag

We live in the Capital Federal community of Buenos Aires.  Home to the second largest population in South America with estimates of between 13 and 17 million people. Not like our country community of Gilbert.
 (sorry, it is hard to place the photos where they make sense)

Buenos Aires Temple on a cloudy early Saturday morning

one of the new wings

See the Argentine flag

from more of the back side

Mate Cups some with the metal straws

Argentina is the home of the tango, the gaucho, the asado (their unique BBQ), empenadas (meat pies baked in a clay oven), dulce de leche (a soft caramel) and alfajores (two soft cookies with dulce de leche in between and covered in dark or white chocolate), yerba mate (their form of a tea like drink they share by placing the mate leaves in a gourd, seen at right, and pouring hot water and sugar into it and drinking using a metal straw with a built in strainer then adding more hot water and sugar and passing it to the next person).

Temple from the right side

Holiness to the Lord
The House of the Lord
It is on two sides of the Moroni spire and above the door

Sat 13 July Terry and Linda Spallino invited us to go to the temple with them to do initiatory for some names of his ancestors.  Terry is responsible for all the Church properties and facility procurement for the area.  Terry is a convert with an Italian heritage and they have collected many ancestral names.

Here we are on one of the sides

here we are back at the front

It was the first time we had been able to go to the Buenos Aires temple.  It is a very beautiful temple with wonderful spires and lines.  It was recently renovated and two wings were added.  It is located next to the Argentine Mission Training Center where all the missionaries come in to learn Spanish.  

I had gone through the Uruguay temple in Spanish but Joan was able to go in English.  Here we both had to listen to it in Spanish.  It was great for me but a bit of anxiety for Joan. 

For Joan, this whole thing of become an office manager, learn the computer with many new programs, live in a new environment, find different foods, spices, cuts of meat, etc. and biggest of all, speak a new language is all pretty much an overwhelming and anxiety ridden experience.  It has pushed us both well beyond our capabilities and has required faith that we can actually learn all we need to, make a difference and do what is needed without making any troublesome mistakes.  As sister Huber once said, "a mission is not for the faint of heart."  But neither is any great adventure, and this is one spiritual, mental, and emotional adventure of "gigante" proportions.

Sunday was cold but the people and meetings were warm and loving.

Mon 15 We had home evening with the YSA in our ward at our apartment.  There was only four of them and Sister Isquerdo (Bro Isquerdo works until 10 pm). Sister Isquerdo gave a wonderful lesson about families and the power and influence a parent can have on their children.  She ended by saying that the mothers of the sons of Heleman gave her an example as well as a hope that she could have the same influence on her children.  We then had everyone describe what made them feel like children of God.  We ended with refreshments.  Joan had made brownies and I had bought some ice cream.

the young adults at Family Home Evening in our apartment

Joan was sick and feeling badly during the week.  Dr. Brunt gave her a prescription for antibiotics and did not make it in much of Tuesday through Thursday. 

Joan had her Spanish skype class.  She had a very sweet experience with the volunteer native speaker.  This one was an American who was born and raised in the Mormon Colonies in Mexico.  They told her she had a wonderful attitude, a sweet desire and the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues.