From the day that Diane and I arrived in the Gran Mision Argentina Resistencia people were asking about plans to divide the mission. In fact, I even read on some blogs before we arrived that that was going to be the first thing that happened when I arrived. Rumors came and rumors went. The fact is that plans were being worked on, revised, reviewed, discussed and submitted.
Today, the Church announced that it was forming the new Mision Argentina Posadas. It will be comprised of the Province of Misiones, the towns of Ituzaingo, Virasoro and Santo Tome (in Corrientes) and parts of Paraguay. It will start operating on July 1st, 2013!
Diane and I will miss being with the people of Misiones, Ituzaingo, Virasoro and Santo Tome. We have some great friends there and had some memorable experiences there (not to mention Diane's stroke). Still, we are thrilled that the people will have more missionaries in their area and more local leadership to help them.
Congratulations to all of the missionaries, members and leaders who over the years built the foundation for there to be 2 missions in this great part of Argentina. It will be exciting to see where this all leads in the upcoming years. But for now...there is a lot of work to do to get things ready for July 1st!
On to the next rumor...
Friday, February 22, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
The Compromise?
Tomorrow is our first Zone and District Leaders' Council since Diane's return. We had a nice conversation about how Diane was not going to overdo herself. That means not cooking lunch or dinner for 70 people. Instead we are ordering pizzas for lunch and empenadas for dinner. Diane is going to do a presentation that she has been working on, so we were all agreed and set to go.
I came home from some interviews this afternoon and found this on the kitchen counter...
There seems to be a common occurrence in the kitchen when I am not around. But this will not feed 70 missionaries! It seems the grocery store was out of eggs when Diane last went. So a quick phone call to the Assistants (who will do anything possible for Diane) resulted in this Sunday delivery...
Just enough eggs to finish Diane's project...no, they did not go to the store to get more eggs on Sunday...but the Office Secretaries are in for a surprise tomorrow when they open their refrigerator to make some scrambled eggs. A few Brownies in the afternoon should make up for it, though. Really, I am trying to get Diane to slow down and while I would not consider this a complete victory it is a pretty good first compromise!
P.S....Of course, this is what I later found out was part of Diane's "little" presentation...
The compromise is starting to look a little like I was out manuevered!
I came home from some interviews this afternoon and found this on the kitchen counter...
There seems to be a common occurrence in the kitchen when I am not around. But this will not feed 70 missionaries! It seems the grocery store was out of eggs when Diane last went. So a quick phone call to the Assistants (who will do anything possible for Diane) resulted in this Sunday delivery...
Just enough eggs to finish Diane's project...no, they did not go to the store to get more eggs on Sunday...but the Office Secretaries are in for a surprise tomorrow when they open their refrigerator to make some scrambled eggs. A few Brownies in the afternoon should make up for it, though. Really, I am trying to get Diane to slow down and while I would not consider this a complete victory it is a pretty good first compromise!
P.S....Of course, this is what I later found out was part of Diane's "little" presentation...
The compromise is starting to look a little like I was out manuevered!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Hah!
For Valentine's Day I decided to present Diane with a gymnasium. You are probably thinking, "How sweet, Ray got Diane a membership in a gymnasium in Resistencia so she can continue her rehabilitation". And, you would be wrong...I got Diane a GYMNASIUM!
Remember the Quincho, where we USED to have meetings...
Well, it is now "Club Gimnasio Diane"! Diane's private gym...
Everything you need...stair climber, hydraulic workout chair for legs and chest, water cooler, workout mats...
Recumbent bicycle...
Workout balls and hand weights...
Walking path with indoor track...
Plenty of area to walk laps...
Top of the line stereo equipment...
Air conditioning and ceiling fans....and...
His and her bathrooms each with its own shower!
Anyone is welcome to come join us for our workouts. Membership is free, although you will have to pay your own transportation, which may be a little cost prohibitive!
¡Feliz día de San Valentín, mi amor!
Remember the Quincho, where we USED to have meetings...
Well, it is now "Club Gimnasio Diane"! Diane's private gym...
Everything you need...stair climber, hydraulic workout chair for legs and chest, water cooler, workout mats...
Recumbent bicycle...
Workout balls and hand weights...
Walking path with indoor track...
Plenty of area to walk laps...
Top of the line stereo equipment...
Air conditioning and ceiling fans....and...
His and her bathrooms each with its own shower!
Anyone is welcome to come join us for our workouts. Membership is free, although you will have to pay your own transportation, which may be a little cost prohibitive!
¡Feliz día de San Valentín, mi amor!
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Busted!
I came home tonight around 9 pm from some interviews and setting apart a missionary who was leaving Corrientes to serve in Bahia Blanca and this is what I found in the kitchen...
Valentine's Day sugar cookies and banana bread...I think I may have to stage an "anti-cooking for the masses" INTERVENTION!
Valentine's Day sugar cookies and banana bread...I think I may have to stage an "anti-cooking for the masses" INTERVENTION!
Saturday, February 9, 2013
We are all glad Diane is back!
This is what awaited us when we drove up to the Mission Office this week...
But, the missionaries are not the only ones happy to have Diane back...the people at WalMart were smiling, too.
And, of course, McDonalds is going to see an uptick in its South American sales as well...
PS- If you go to a McDonalds in Argentina make sure you ask for the Big Mac...it is a long story but so worth it!
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Not So Fast...
How many times have you heard that if you speak Spanish then you should have no problem understanding Portuguese?
In fact, people say you can make good money by speaking and understanding both languages...
More countries speak Portuguese than you might have thought...
Well, yesterday I spoke with a Mission President from Brazil who only spoke Portuguese. I spoke Spanish to him and he spoke Portuguese to me. At MOST I understood 5% of what he was saying. But at the end of the conversation he was satisfied and so was I. I hope we did not do too much damage!
In fact, people say you can make good money by speaking and understanding both languages...
More countries speak Portuguese than you might have thought...
Well, yesterday I spoke with a Mission President from Brazil who only spoke Portuguese. I spoke Spanish to him and he spoke Portuguese to me. At MOST I understood 5% of what he was saying. But at the end of the conversation he was satisfied and so was I. I hope we did not do too much damage!
Location:Resistencia
Saturday, February 2, 2013
There is a Gap in the Blog
Today is February 2, 2013. The last blog post was November 22, 2012. That is a pretty big gap. Which got me to think that there is something intriguing about a "Gap"... and that maybe I should perpetuate speculation by leaving the "Gap" unexplained...after all...people still wonder about that 18 1/2 minute gap in the Nixon Watergate Tapes...
And what would model/actress Lauren Hutton have looked like without her gap?
Or would Alfred E. Newman have been the cover boy for Mad Magazine without his gap-toothed smile?
Have you ever wondered how the first couple of chapters of The Book of Mormon would have read if Martin Harris hadn't created that little gap in the translation by losing the 116 translated pages from the Book of Lehi?
I think it would have been fascinating hearing Lehi's family's story told by the father as opposed to one of the sons (instead of, " I Nephi, having been born of goodly parents", it might have started, "I Lehi and my wife, Sariah, were pretty good parents, but while Nephi and Sam and a few other of the children turned out fine, Laman and Lemuel and a couple of the other kids were real knuckleheads...!)
So, all of that thinking led me to the conclusion to not try and fill in the gap. Instead, I will just start the blog going again with this picture of the Di Giovannis and Diane and me today in the mission home in Resistencia!
And what would model/actress Lauren Hutton have looked like without her gap?
Or would Alfred E. Newman have been the cover boy for Mad Magazine without his gap-toothed smile?
Have you ever wondered how the first couple of chapters of The Book of Mormon would have read if Martin Harris hadn't created that little gap in the translation by losing the 116 translated pages from the Book of Lehi?
I think it would have been fascinating hearing Lehi's family's story told by the father as opposed to one of the sons (instead of, " I Nephi, having been born of goodly parents", it might have started, "I Lehi and my wife, Sariah, were pretty good parents, but while Nephi and Sam and a few other of the children turned out fine, Laman and Lemuel and a couple of the other kids were real knuckleheads...!)
So, all of that thinking led me to the conclusion to not try and fill in the gap. Instead, I will just start the blog going again with this picture of the Di Giovannis and Diane and me today in the mission home in Resistencia!
Location:Resistencia
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