MikeMaryMission

  You know you are in the big city when the grocery store has its own parking garage and you see this cool car there! Each week gets better and better. Getting settled takes more time than we realize but we are settled. The apartment is lovely, very well placed in the city, close to the things we need and most of those are within walking distance. Because the ward to which we are assigned has so many widows, I have been assigned to minister to a couple of sisters in the ward. We are also assigned to minister to a new member. That's pretty darn cool.  Looks like we have a good plan in place for Mike to get the health care he needs. It's taken a little bit of time and effort on our part, having to be more assertive, but we are on the right track.  One of the cool things Mike gets to do once a month is meet via Google Meet with all the church attorneys worldwide. Think of that! Both paid attorneys and missionary attorneys meet and actually see each other. One of the things w...

Photo from the window in the bridge that leads to the gym in our building.  We actually attach to a building on 1st Ave in the Avenues neighborhood.  It's a simple 6-7 minute walk to temple square and church headquarters. Just to the right of the temple, there is a great view of the Church Office Building. We have been told that senior missionaries get deep discounts on meals in the cafeteria of the Church Office Building but we haven't been there yet.  Spoke with Sister Long, half of the Elder and Sister Long who are the other Senior Missionaries in our ward. They are scheduled to go home to Tracy, California, in November but a couple of months ago, their daughter, Mary, who was serving a Spanish language mission in Tampa, Florida, joined her parents and is serving a Service mission here. She is incredibly busy and serving in a lot of ways. One of her assignments is with the Long's themselves, serving in the churh history department. That group is very busy getting ready...

  The view from our living room. Helps us miss the trees of Buenos Aires less. Getting settled in Salt Lake and enjoying it here. Our goal of getting Mike the medical help he needs is in the works. Of course we miss our friends from Argentina but we kow that God moves in mysterious ways.  We were so ready to get back to work! We haven't been assigned a ward to attend yet but it looks like we are needed, no matter where we are assigned. Last weekend, we got to attend grandson Porter's sealing in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. It was lovely and such a pleasure to be with them. It was a full day, yummy luncheon, ring ceremony and then reception complete with a candy bar. It was all wonderful. While in the temple, we were surrounded by family and it's always a great reminder that we are eternal beings, that families can be together forever. That's why we are looking forward to our friends in Buenos Aires getting a second temple. As it stands, it seems that the plan is stalled b...

  Typical Buenos Aires morning. Dog walkers can handle virtual armies of dogs. As announced in the last blog, we have been reassigned to Salt Lake. We leave on Tuesday, May 26. We are flying to St. George to pick up our car and take care of some business and then head to Salt Lake on June 1. We are still part of the Buenos Aires (BA) North mission, at the BA area office. Everything we do is on line so we can just carry on with our work from there. We have meetings that take place over Microsoft Teams or Google Meet. We also have our own Zoom account that makes it easy to connect too.  A couple of days ago, Elder David A. Bednar was in BA and there was a special devotional for everyone who works in the area office. That means we have met/shaken hands with Elders Cook, Renlund, Causse' and Bednar. Also we have met Elder Dube, one of the General Authority Seventies.  This is going to be a really good change for us and we are grateful that location changes are possible. ...

The Just Serve booth about 15 minutes before the doors opened. It's one of the biggest there.  The 50th annual Book Fair in Buenos Aires is amazing. Argentines really love books. The OGC (legal department) spent an afternoon volunteering at the nearby convention center, where many nonprofit groups sold books and shared information about their causes. One of the largest booths was sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was directly inside the entrance. Part of the booth featured Sirve Ahora, or Just Serve, which helps connect people with community service opportunities. Just Serve They also had a crochet table where anyone could sit and crochet. People were making squares that would later be joined into blankets. The yarn was donated, and many participants brought their own crochet hooks. Anyone who wanted to learn was welcome to join.  This year marked the fair’s 50th anniversary, and it was wonderful that school-aged children could attend for free. O...

Elder Nunes goes home soon. I got to work with him in the English Connect program. He is very bright, good hearted and will be working with BYU Pathway to earn a college degree.  Yep. He's tall and I am ... not. The other day, I was talking to someone who lives here. We were discussing businesses and how employment is different here. It's like this country is 10 years behind. It's not against the law here to ask about a person's family situation. There are other little things I've noticed that show a level of sophistication that isn't the same as the U.S. Not that it's good or bad. Just different. So many interesting little things to notice and try to understand.  I've been to the dentist here. She's a lovely woman whose English is very good. Her dentist chair is beautiful. She has all the latest equipment but they don't use gas here. There's also a poster that shows the proper way to brush your teeth. No mention of flossing.  One day at lunc...