HELP!

We have all read stories about wives who have secretly sprinkled foreign substances in their husband's food...sleeping pills...cyanide...aphrodisiacs...
Well, today, I found this hiding in Diane's grocery bag...



Chia seeds! Now, I am going to have nightmares that Diane is trying to make me look like this...



You think I am kidding? Remember, she fell in love with with me when I looked like this!



Anyone know where I can find some Farrah Fawcett hair seeds?

My Office on Wheels

Time to service the Hilux and change the tires and brakes...this week matter of fact! Then we are back on the road...

Skills We Brought To The Table

The kindly Carters took us to a great Italian Restaurant in Buenos Aires called Piegari. Great food and better company.



So, after dinner we took a few photos...



...and went back to the Carter's HiLux (the Buenos Aires version) only to find a line of cars blocking our exit! That is when my Resistencia training kicked in and I instinctively started pushing the cars around...just like I do to get out of my driveway most mornings when people park in the street blocking the exit from my garage...



It made me feel great to know that I can use the things that I am learning on my mission to help others in a wide variety of circumstances and situations.



Thank heavens they leave their cars parked in neutral...!

Trip to Buenos Aires and Montevideo, Uruguay

We sort of felt like these two heading out to Buenos Aires and Montevideo!


But we did it! We first spent the night with Pte. y Hermana Carter in Buenos Aires.



We ate with them at a Mexican Restaurant called Maria Felix. It was very good.





We stayed at their home and talked until 1am and then got up at 5 am to go to the airport where we flew to Montevideo, Uruguay!





We stayed there until Saturday. We attended the Mission Presidents' Seminar. 15 Mission Presidents and their wives from Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay and the Area Presidency and their wives. 10 Area Seventies joined us Friday evening for a discussion and special Temple Session in the Montevideo, Uruguay Temple. The Temple is actually closed for 3 weeks but they opened it up that night just so we could have a Temple Session. It was an amazing and very meaningful experience.



We are back in Buenos Aires for the evening and headed to Resistencia tomorrow. We are definitely rejuvenated with some ideas on what we can do to better help the missionaries and members in our mission!

So, How Did Your Morning Go?

Here's how ours went this morning in Ibarreta...a little drive down a country road...


That started to bog down a little in the mud...



That eventually led to us being completely stuck in the mud! Here is the view out my driver's door window...



That's not good. So we sat stuck in no man's land for half an hour in the rain (yes, it even started raining). Two cowboys on horses passed us by shaking their heads...when I asked if they could help, they asked if I had a lazo! Sent them on their merry way. Then I called the local missionaries and they started rounding up the locals for the rescue! Meanwhile a few people who lived somewhere nearby came up to the HiLux and told me I had made a mistake and should not have come down the road. One nice older man asked us if we wanted him to bring us some hot water for our mate while we waited (we don't drink mate). Wasn't sure he and I were on the same page as to what needed to be done in this situation!



And so we waited...and waited...and waited until the rescue crew came...



We had people running everywhere....some saying go forward, some saying go backward, go to the left, go to the right. But somehow, with my four wheel drive, about 15 people and 1pickup (of sorts) I was able to back out. Of course, what came next was entirely predictable...we had to rescue the rescue vehicle...



But once we all hit a paved road we did not look back! An hour and a half after we started down the road, we detoured around town to get to the Church building.



Here are the heroes of the day...





We are close...but not too close...



I had to prove to them that I got dirty, too!



And so, you thought you had a tough morning because your toast was cold, the sprinklers got your newspaper a little wet or your favorite shirt was in the dirty clothes hamper.....hah, you've got nothing!

He Is In The Books!

Diane and I are in Ibarreta. We are sitting on our bed at 11:30 pm in a small hotel. I am on my iPad reading and answering the missionaries' weekly letters. Diane is on her iPad following Twitter. All of the sudden Diane throws her arms up in the air and starts screaming "Score"! After recovering from the shock and surprise I looked at the screen on her iPad and this is what I saw...




Congratulations, Scooter...and to his number 2 ranked BYU Cougars Lacrosse Team who beat Utah State tonight. It's not the same as being there but it was exciting just the same!

You Learn To Improvise

How do 13 people get to eat hot dogs at the same time?


Nothing like cooking wrinkle-free sausages for dinner!

She Did It Again!

"It" is "outdid" herself. We had Zone Leaders' Council again today. Diane gave a 20 minute presentation in Spanish detailing the events of Christ's last week before his death and resurrection, had homemade chocolate chip cookies to give as a thank-you for the 15 members that came and helped us out with role playing during the council, then served a dinner of taco salad for 42 missionaries...and topped the day off with 42 of these individual hand made desserts:










I do not even know how to explain them...similar to rice crispie treats only using Coco Crispies and peanut butter with a chocolate sauce topping and Jelly Beans! Needless to say, the missionaries were taking pictures of them before they started eating them.

It is a fair question to ask, "What do you do in comparison to what Diane does?" The answer is, "Around Diane I feel pretty one dimensional, so really not much!" But we do make a good team.

Easter Tie

One of the missionaries ordered a custom-made crocodile tie. He is an "out-of-the-box" type thinker. It arrived at the mission offices to be sent out to him in the mission field. So, I thought I would model it before we sent it out to him.



Here are a few thoughts I had about the crocodile tie...

1. It looked better on the crocodile.

2. PETA is NOT going to be happy about this.

3. At least it is not a crocodile bow-tie!

4. So long dry cleaning bills; and

5. ..."To my faithful, trusted and loyal son, Robert, I leave all my money, property and treasured possessions. To my whacky son, Bruce, I leave my crocodile tie."

A Few Funny Missionary Fotos

Looks like Elder Estrada has been a little too crabby lately (sorry)




Elder Garrett's brainstorm of an idea to sleep comfortably in the unbearable summer heat of Fontana was to put his night clothes in the freezer and then put them on frozen as he went to bed! I am not making this up!



I am not sure that Elder Wasden was really that into this picture...




A man-sized mate...A man-sized missionary




You can barely see Hermanas Lopez and Griffeths in this picture...how far away was the photographer? I am surprised he didn't run off with the camera!





Elder Estrada having a better day (starring one of Diane's famous, "Smile" cookies)...

And here is one of my favorites...I asked Elder Cardona how he did it and even after he explained it to me I still don't know...


The force is definitely with him.