Oops, We Knew We Forgot To Build Something...

The Hotel we are staying at in Misiones does not have any parking. As in none, zero, nada. So, 4 lucky guests are allowed to park their vehicles overnight in the delivery lane. Yes, that is our HiLux parked perpendicular to the other 3. We were lucky guest number 4!



No. 1: I hope no one tries to make deliveries until we leave in the morning.

No. 2: I hope we are the first ones to leave in the morning.

No. 3: I have no idea where the other guests' cars are.

No. 4: I can't wait to see what they charge me for parking!

Sunday Afternoon Traffic

Driving through Pirane we ran into some heavy traffic...









You have to enlarge the pictures to appreciate all the horsepower...

Lost in the Translation

A sign at our hotel in Formosa...




"No throwing of head" (they meant to say "No diving") reminds me of Rudyard Kipling's line, "If you can keep your head while all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you..." and more significantly that classic literary line from the movie "Dumb and Dumber", when Lloyd says to Harry, "We got no food, no jobs... our pets' heads are falling off!" (My children used to watch the video a thousand times in the back of the Suburban during our trips to Utah and Colorado...I practically know the dialogue by heart!)
Just in case we are staying away from the pool...

Winter Survival Kit

Here is what we pack in the back of our car for our "winter trips"...



Diane's styling rubber boots...check

Ray's ugly industrial boots...check

Enough water to drown a fish...check

Two ponchos...check

Kleenex...check

Sports Illustrated Green Fleece blanket (thank you Lori for renewing our subscription in 2009)...check

Toolman...check

Satellite phone (Jack Bauer model)...check

Pen flashlight...check

Two portable electric heaters...check

Four umbrellas (I don't know why we have four)...check

Goretex jacket...check

Carboard box (some parts are edible)...check

Combine that with our luggage and Diane's bag of treats and we are ready for the road! I am working on something that will help us turn mud into solid ground...

Zone Conferences--Llamadas Animadas

Zone Conferences start today! During the training session in the conference with the Zones of Resistencia and Roque Saenz Peña the missionaries were role playing talking on the phone...watching them reminded me that these incredible miracle workers were just teenagers talking on their cell phones a few months ago...






And now...they are young adults going about changing the world!

Nuevitos

We had new missionaries arrive this week! Here are some of the highlights...



The group with Elders Gochnour and Gochez hamming it up in there.





They are all smiles after traveling for who knows how many hours and getting some much needed sleep...and then a hearty breakfast in the morning! After that it is time to get oriented to some of the aspects of missionary life in Argentina...



Me, explaining a few basics of missionary life.


Elder Chatwin explaining finances in Spanish and English.



Elder Scott assuring them that he will renew their visas in time and they can trust him with their passports.



Elders Chatwin and Scott remembering when they first arrived in the mission!



The two young ladies in the middle will be training the two young ladies on the ends.


The McCoys who we are grateful to have in the mission and will be serving in Roque Saenz Peña!

We show the new missionaries a video to get a feel for the mission. I thought others might like to see it as well. (Special appreciation to Mark Mabry who gave us permission to use some of his photographs) You can go to this link to YouTube for the Argentina Resistencia Mission-May 2012 video show and enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCo8Y7lNEN4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

It Is A Generational Thing

While Greg and Florence Hatch were with Diane and me looking at this in South America...








(No, Jen, those are not stock photos, I took them with the "good camera")




Their grandson, Benson Konkle and our grandson, Kyle Ray were checking out the sights together in South Chandler...




There is some scheming going on in those minds...their looks give them away! I am referring to Benson and Kyle...not the adults...this time, at least!

Consejo with the Hatches

Before we left for our mission, our friends Greg and Florence Hatch promised to come see us. Friday they made good on their promise. They wanted to observe our activities, so we have included them. First, Saturday and Sunday to Stake Conference in Formosa. Then, today the Consejo de Lideres de Zona y Distrito back in Resistencia. A meeting of 44 young men from all over the mission. Diane and Florence started early in the kitchen...



While Greg and I took care of the Elders in their training sessions...


Elder Ramsay stayed in the office playing Mission President for a day attending to my phone calls...



The real fun started when we practiced role playing and Greg took on the part of the local people (he served a mission in Colombia and speaks spanish)...



We had a few laughs a long the way...






But the best parts were when Florence (I translated for her), Greg and Diane each shared their feelings with the missionaries at the end of the day. We then hosted a dinner for about 60 people at our home...here is what the main dish of meat loaf, salad, baked potato and roll looked like...



Elder Bohman was trying to decide if he should have seconds or hold out for dessert...dessert won!



Can you blame him when it looked like this...



Homemade apple pie and vanilla ice cream!



Happy missionaries!



Great helpers!




Wonderful friends! And tomorrow we are off to Posadas!