Week #3 in Argentina

 We continue to get to know the Northern area of Buenos Aires and feel like each day we feel more comfortable driving to places we need to drive to on a regular basis.   Our week mostly consisted of doing missionary apartment inspections and driving out to cities in outlying areas to get contracts signed for new missionary apartments which is challenging given my limited Spanish Vocabulary for Real Estate transactions but somehow we understand what is needed and have been successful for each contract so far.   We love the missionary apartment inspections as we get to know the missionaries, ensure their apartments are safe and functional, deliver a spiritual thought and often leave them a treat.  I have discovered a little sleeve of cookies with a milk chocolate center in the shape of an animal which are quite tasty (Yes, the kid in me still loves animal crackers).  I tell them missionaries if they get the monkey they will have a lucky, successful day...Funny how dig they deep to see if they got a monkey, they often have one which brings a smile to my face seeing their smile in anticipation of a lucky day.   It's the small things that make these young missionaries happy.   You can see the monkey cookie in the picture below to the right...


We attended the Pilar Ward for the second time today and introduced ourselves from the pulpit today which went well.  Linda wrote out her introduction and testimony and did a great job speaking and pronouncing the Spanish words correctly although the Elders Quorum President came up after and suggested she clearly pronounces the word "Hermano" because it sounds like she said, "Her-monos" which would mean she called everyone monkeys...ha...seems that monkeys are a theme this evening.    I also was asked to speak between the 3 baptisms the ward had today and their confirmations right before the service so I was quickly trying to ensure my Spanish was up to par to tell a story which I guess I did ok....everyone says they can understand me well but then I think, "Are they just being nice to me??"  Needless to say Linda and I continue to study Spanish for hours a day to be able to communicate as well as we would like to.   It's a challenge but is coming slowly.   We are having dinner with the Elders Quorum President tomorrow and I'm pretty sure that will start of service in the Pilar Ward with over 50 new members to strengthen and get to the temple.   He mentioned they "need more hands" so we will offer our hands to support them.

There are only 4 cars in the mission and no bicycles so the missionaries either walk or take the bus "colectivos" everywhere they go....I love pictures below of missionaries from our district walking to the bus stop after a district meeting and another picture of the shoes of missionaries at leadership meeting held in the Mission Leaders home...the leaders have all been out over a year so these shoes have seen alot of steps in the service of the Lord.



On Saturday we did take an afternoon and did our first bit of sightseeing and traveled to the Recoleta Cemetary where Eva Peron is buried (see first picture) and all the politicians, doctors, military leaders and other famous people from Argentina's history are buried from the late 1800's into the 1950's for the most part.   Its a striking place that shows the lengths people will go to be remembered.   Some Crypts are well cared for while others are slowly decaying...It's a memorable place to visit.  I will just add some pictures from our visit there, its a huge place in which we saw little of it in the three hours we spent there...









And lastly a typical picture of the streets we drive on every day...Buenos Aires has done a beautiful job of creating tree lined streets that keep the sidewalks cool on a hot 95 degree summer day here...




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