We attended three missionary farewells during the last half of January. Two of our mission prep students left on their full-time missions. We threw a party for them and the other single adults and then attended the farewells the families held for each one.
The first farewell during the month was the one we organized on Jan 16th. We created a Jeopardy game for them to play with categories related to mission life. We had a Brazil category and a Bolivia category since those were the two countries they were going to as well as discussion, mission life and first vision categories as well. The sister missionaries helped us with the party. After the game we ate hot dogs, chips and watermelon and visited.
The next farewell was Ian Heredia's out in Murphy. He reported to the Brazil MTC on Jan 22nd and is going to serve in Brazil, Recife.
Eating and mingling after the program.
Hermanas serving in Murphy currently, Hna. Silva (from Brazil) and Hna. Callapa (from Bolivia) both dressed in pink!
Later in the month, the farewell for Milagros Menchi was held. Menchi's live just around the corner from us and so we know them a bit better. Their son returned from his mission in Brazil back in November so Milagros is their second send-off. Milagros reported to the Lima MTC on Jan 29th as she will be serving in Bolivia, Santa Cruz North. Interestingly, her mission president is Matthew Hawkins who was one of the missionaries I taught in the MTC back in the 80's while I was a BYU student. He served in Honduras. So of course, I had to write a letter to him for her to take.
We continued to meet with leaders and talk about ministering. Branch 3 has plans to incorporate us into the ministering lists so we can help new converts learn to be good ministers.
We continue to do a lot of service. We helped Dario A get to a doctor's appointment. Here in Argentina people can receive what they call a "pension" if they are certified as disabled. It is like being on disability in the states, we think. Because Dario has such poor eye sight (he is practically blind), he is working on getting certified to receive a pension for disability. But if you think the red tape is bad in the US, try getting through it here in Argentina. It will make the US process seem like a breeze.
Dario & Dave returning to the car after the appointment. Besides vision issues, he also has other health issues, but he has found that becoming a member of the true church, living the commandments and studying the scriptures has given him a new perspective AND better patience when dealing with afflictions/trials, which in turns is turning into noticeable health benefits. He has dropped weight, no longer need insulin and feels more at peace and contented despite his trials.
We also helped paint a front room for Giselle and her mom (who is wheelchair bound). It is a good thing we helped. They and the sister missionaries didn't really know how to go about it and E. Rhoades ended up doing most of the work or supervising work.
We also did an outing with Giselle and Rosa to their "campo", home outside of Venado Tuerto that is a small farm. Rosa's brother and mother live out there and up to 8 months ago, so did they. We learned that the home they live in now (near our apt.) is new to them. They had only lived there a few months when the sister missionaries started teaching Giselle. Makes you think the hand of the Lord was involved in that purchase/move. Here are some photos from our visit to the country.
E. Rhoades in front of a windmill covered with vines.
Peach tree and pumpkin/squash plants
Orange trees
We finally had a baptism in Venado Tuerto! It has actually been since the end of September the last time there was a baptism so this baptism ended a bit of a drought. And it seems to be a good candidate - Magali F, a 16 year old girl in the San Martin branch.
It was a bit of a miraculous conversion story. The missionaries had tracted out her friend who lived in Rama 2 and were visiting and teaching her when one day Magali was at the house when the elders came to do a discussion. She listened and liked it enough that she continued to listen even after her friend told the elders she wasn't interested. She has come to church, on her own, for a solid month and is well integrated with the other youth of the branch. We get nervous when youth or children are baptized without their parents, but hopefully this young girl will stay holding on to the rod long enough to make it a life long journey.
During the last half of January, we received some more revelation on what activities we should involve ourselves in. We invited the district president and his wife over for dinner so we could discuss this inspiration and get his stamp of approval and authorization. We must have fed him well enough (taco salad) because we got a thumbs up on each of the items we wanted to discuss with him. More about these developments in the next posting...stay tuned!
E. Rhoades with E. Williams. Venado Tuerto was his first area. He hails from Pennsylvania. This transfer was his first so he was a bit nervous and excited at the same time.
For those who may be counting (certain family members, grandkids in particular), I realized that we are now down to only 5 more transfers and a few weeks before we will finish up our time of service. That still means 7.5 months but we are definitely on the downward side now.
The youth 14 & up from the district spent the last week in January at PFJ, which is the Spanish version of EFY. Here is a photo of the group that went. It is a 5 day event, held in Pilar (just outside of Buenos Aires) where they stay in big tents, and have a wonderful spiritual time. We weren't able to get as many of the less active youths or non-members, new converts to attend as we would have liked but we did get Giselle and Emiliano to participate. Both of them are 18 yrs. old which is the last year you can attend so that was good. Emiliano actually went last year as a non-member and PFJ played a big role in helping him decide to join the church. Here they are in the photo below after they had just arrived and unloaded from the bus.
Venado Tuerto continues to have plenty of flowering trees and bushes around. Below is one I took while out on a walk one morning. Since pink and purple were my favorite colors as a teenager, I found this a beautiful sight. At first it looks like one tree with two different colored blossoms, but as I got closer I realized it was two trees next to each other where one had branches higher so that both colored blossoms could be seen at the same time.
Spiritual Thought: Since we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the first vision that ushered in the restoration of the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, this scripture is evidence that we are members of the true church of Christ as we are in the process of attempting to do just this:
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Matthew 28: 19-20
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Matthew 28: 19-20
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