Turning The Tables

Resistencia Sur y Reconquista.

WooHoo! We finished our first official Zone Conference Tour! 7 Zone Conferences in 4 Provinces in 9 days, 15 Zones and 191 missionaries. Approximately 50 hours of training, more than 60 birthday brownies, over 400 chocolate chip cookies and 1 birthday cake.

In November we do it all over again!




During the lunch hour we started the birthday recognition as normal.



But then the office missionaries came in with a little surprise.



August 25th is Diane's birthday, so we thought it would be nice to recognize her with a birthday cake!



We sang to her and then she tried to blow out the candles.


And tried.



And tried.



And after we both asphyxiated in the smoke, I told her she could stop because they were trick candles.



And we all lived happily ever after!

P.S. (Jennifer, I know you are proud of me for remembering without you having to remind me)

It Takes a Sole to Save a Soul

Resistencia y Roque Saenz Peña Zone Conference.

Oh, I will show you the obligatory photos, alright.



The working session.



The meal.






The cookies.




And even the group photo.

But these are the ones you will be talking about...









They all belong to the same missionary.

Diane and I are privileged to be associated with the hardest working, most dedicated, selfless and happy missionaries in the world.

Listen To Your Mother

Every day somewhere throughout Mormondom hundreds of mothers tell their sons to put down the controls of their video games and practice the piano. It sounds something like this:

Mom: Johnnie, put away your video game and start practicing the piano.

Johnnie:

Mom: Johnnie, did you hear me? You better practice the piano, because someday you are going to serve a mission and there won't be anybody to play the hymns in the Church and you will be the only one and then you will thank me because you will be a real blessing to the people there.

Johnnie:


And so goes the battle in a hundred countries and in a hundred languages (including the universal language of silence).

But, from my blog to your eyes, here is an example of what the pianist looked like in each of our Zone Conferences.







Here is an example of what the chorister looked like.






And, here are the pianists who played the hymns for the Resistencia Rio Negro Ward Conference today.






He accompanied for parts of two hymns (he is Diane's and my hero of the day).






She played the closing hymn.

Johnnie, put down the controls of your video game and practice the piano!

Posadas II y El Dorado

Yes, we do the same presentation every time in each Zone Conference. So let's see if you have been paying attention.



Diane's c_ _k _ _ s.



The mi_ _ ion _ _ ies singing ¡Que L _ _ Cump_ _ Fel_ z!




Me t _ ying t_ be se_ io _ s.



Gr _ _tin_ th_ miss_ _ nar _ _ s.



The gr_ _ p ph _ t _.



T _ e He _m _ n _ s.

We made it home at 10:45 pm. Tomorrow is an office day and then we speak in Corrientes at 6 pm and have a dinner in Resistencia at 8 pm. On Monday and Tuesday we have our final two Zone Conferences in Resistencia for this cycle! Next, we learned a few things we can do better for our next Zone Conferences...

Posadas I y Apostoles

I really love the cities and towns in the province of Misiones. They have a unique feel with the dense green vegetation, red soil and wide rivers.



This is the view from the Church building in the city of Posadas. The bridge spans the Rio Parana and leads to Encarnacion, Paraguay.



This is my favorite street sign ever...good luck trying to navigate that round about! Especially with the sign next to it that says you are going the wrong way on a one way street...



This is the chapel area...each of our conferences begin in the Chapel with some talks and musical numbers. I have a PowerPoint presentation that I discuss (thank you iPad, you have made my presentations more interesting). I made that missionary stand in the picture so his mother, Helen, could see that he is fine...not from too close up, though.



We had a large group of birthday celebrants in this conference and we sang ¡Que Los Cumpla Feliz! to them all.



Another good looking group of missionaries!



We are getting ready to say "Good-bye for now and enjoy your home made cookies!"



Here is the hotel we are staying at. Picture the confusion on the desk clerks' faces at La Mision Hotel and Spa, when a man walks in wearing a dark suit and a badge that says he is the Presidente de La Mision. I think it helped get us a good room with great service!

You Know The Drill By Now...Corrientes Y Goya Y Paso De Los Libres

Today we drove to Corrientes for Zone Conference. Afterwards, at 6 pm we started the 4 hour drive to Posadas in the Province of Misiones. Not surprisingly, the name of our hotel is La Mision. This is the best hotel we have stayed at in the mission. More on the hotel tomorrow (we will be here 2 nights).

Here are some photos of today's Zone Conference in Corrientes.



Visiting with some of the missionaries.



The Mary Poppins of the mission!



All good things do not have to come to an end...there are plenty more where that came from.



Diane chatting with some Hermanas.



The Assistants doing some training.



Another great day with some amazing young men and women...the Larsons, sitting next to me, may just be the youngest at heart of us all! In the picture are missionaries from Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Columbia, Peru, Mexico, Canada and the United States.

Formosa y Clorinda e Ibarreta

Yesterday and today we had Zone Conferences in Formosa. Here is what it looked like on the drive from Resistencia to Formosa...










The way there reminds us of what Uganda looks like.

Now to the Zone Conference...


Diane did it again! Two presentations each day in Spanish.


The missionaries in little work groups...notice the curtains...




It reached 90 degrees with 90% humidity the first day and we did not have the key for the air conditioning. We were all dying. The missionaries were relieved when I told them they could remove their jackets and we opened the windows and curtains for some air flow.



Diane gave out the homemade birthday brownies and I contributed by applauding...



And then at the end she handed out the homemade chocolate chip cookies with either a handshake for the Elders or un beso for the Hermanas to everyone's delight. I contributed by standing there and smiling...



The second day we got the key to the air conditioning and as you can tell from Diane wearing my jacket, I cranked the AC down low, low, low to make up for the first day! I also MC'd the birthday part...as my children will tell you, if no one else does, at least I think I am a funny guy in two languages...



A little bit of hands on instruction. What do you think? I think the two missionaries at the far end of the table are trying not to burst out laughing while I am trying to be serious!



The first day's group.



The second day's group.



An awesome tree across the street from the chapel in Formosa that Diane loves.

Then we drove back to Resistencia. Tomorrow we have a Zone Conference in Corrientes, then drive to Posadas where we stay Wednesday night and Thursday night for two more Zone Conferences. Friday after Zone Conference we head home to Resistencia. Saturday we head back to Corrientes to speak to a group of young men and women in the evening and then go back home.