MikeMaryMission

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...

The first step before seeing the dentist was going to this center to get xrays.  Dentist visit was okay. I do not like dentist visits so Mike went with me but this week's follow up? I think I can handle it by myself.  Much like young missionaries, senior missionaries go through the process of getting acclimated, feeling you know what you are doing, getting a handle on the language and actually doing something worthwhile. The 2025 South America South area was completed and submitted. I felt like I had arrived, I had a handle on things and did something of value. That's not to say that it's a Pulitzer Prize winning document. Far from it. It simply means that I am doing some good here, I helped someone, the Area Historian, with a big job accomplish a big task. Here's the thing about historical reports. Who reads them? No idea but we have been commanded to keep a record of what we are doing and so we keep a record. We make it as accurate and well written as possible.  What ...

How is this for an Easter egg? It was on display at an ice cream store close to a museum where there was an exhibit by a local artist. The Edward's, Sister Richardson and the Moore's visited the exhibit, had a nice dinner in the museum cafe and then ice cream at this little shop nearby.  We have actually seen eggs this size in many different places. This is a spirtual experience that I feel is important to share. We have found a hamburger place we really like. We don't go out to eat much but if we want a burger, we go to this one particular place. It's a few minutes' walk from our apartment. When we left the restaurant, about half a block from where we started, I noticed a man looking at us strangely. It was creepy. A few steps later, Mike remembered that he left his glasses on the table at the restaurant so we turned to go back, got his glasses and walked back again. That man looked at us oddly again. We have been told that we, as senior missionaries are targeted b...

  No idea where the hazy effect is all about but this is church ... after church.  Classes always start about 10 minutes late each Sunday and sometimes even 15 minutes late.  It's lovely really. These are brothers and sisters in the gospel connecting.  So ... every night at about 9:30, we hear quite the racket. It's the trash pick up. The large dumpters are on the street. Everyone takes their trash bags to these receptacles. In our building, we actually take our trash to a regular trash can in the stairwell across the hall from us. The building workers then take it to the large trash container. You can see how quickly they end up overflowing in spite of being emptied every night, seven nights a week. How are they emptied? A crane lifts them over a compactor truck. Unfortunately the boxes in this picture obscures the huge hook at the top of the container. The bottom is shut but there is a remote that another person presses, the bottoms of the container opens up, trash...

  This is Elder Tim Hansen. He and his wife Bev, are among the angels on earth with whom we serve.  This conversation, in impeccable Argentine Spanish, was a delight to see.  Any wonder that this man was a pediatric anesthesiologist?  The Hansen's moved to St. George shortly before their mission. Isn't that wonderful for us!? On a senior mission, we interact with angels every day. No. Not the kind of angels we usually think of, extra terrestial beings who come and go in our lives. No. These are human angels, an extraordinary group of senior missionaries. They love the Argentine people, they love each other, laugh together and serve each other. Sometimes there are things going on at home that, even if they were home they couldn't do anything to help the situation, but it's hard to see grown children going through difficulties and be so far away. It's wonderful that in many cases, senior missionaries go home for a period of time to assist when a new baby is born, ther...