MikeMaryMission

Typical afternoon in Buenos Aires Another wonderful week. When I write this, it doesn’t mean that everything is easy, all lollipops and rainbows 24/7. Nope. It’s not like that but all the wonderful things are the result of the hard things. The adjustments are slowly getting easier.    Have to tell you about the Humanitarian Aid missionaries with whom we work. There are two couples, the Richardson’s from Arizona and the Taylor’s from California. (Bill Taylor grew up in Hacienda Heights, right next to Rowland Heights where I grew up.) These people travel throughout the area (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay) delivering musical instruments to various schools, wheelchairs to communities in need, hospital equipment, etc, any number of things to meet the needs of people. In addition, they have a lot of paper work to do to keep track of things, order needed items, submit projects and budgets to get needs met. AND they do not serve only members of the Church of Jesus Christ of L...

  Went to a concert and angels showed up. A hundred years ago, an apostle of Jesus Christ, Melvin J. Ballard, came to Buenos Aires to dedicate South America to receiving the gospeal of Jesus Christ. This was not about just having missionaries from North America come to teach the people about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was about expanding the worship of Jesus Christ. The mission for us today is the same. We want to bring people to Jesus Christ, to live their faith. What better way to make the world a better place?  On Friday, August 22, we were priviledged to attend a concert commemorating this day. It was a lovely mix of music in both English and Spanish performed by the Tabernacle Choir on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, local cultural dancing and popular Argentine musical artists. Most people would assume that a concert of this kind would be all preaching but it was not. Only the last 30 minutes (of a two and a half hour event) focused on the Church...

Evidence of the strong European influence in Buenos Aires. We purchased a couple of appliances to help make cooking easier. Our gas stove and oven have to be lit with either lighters or matches and the oven takes a while. I can even bake cookies in the air fryer so that’s cool.    The pictures below demonstrate how to buy appliances here. Appliances, both large and small are sold at the appliance store: refrigerators, stoves, popcorn poppers, coffee makers, hair dryers, HVAC systems, computers, TVs and all electronic accessories, juicers, blenders, etc. What you need is not in the store? They will ship it to you for free.   The Tabernacle Choir of Temple Square are in town this week. It’s part of a commemoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 100 th  anniversary of being in South America. It’s huge to have them here. Tickets are hard to find, that’s for sure. We get them because we are missionaries. Local media is covering this event extensively. ...

  Mate'. It's a big deal here. No, we haven't tried it yet. I enjoy herbal tea so I think I will like this too.  According to AI, Mate' is a traditional Argentine drink made from dried yerba mate leaves and steeping in hot water. Because you don't strain the leaves before drinking, you need a special medal straw called a Bombilla. I've seen folks drink this from special cups like that above but they also seem to carry a thermos of hot water if they're not at home drinking it. It also contains caffeine. Not that I care about that but ... Ever have a job that provided co-workers that were irreplaceable, people that you know are supportive and will include you in all they are doing? That's what we are experiencing here in Buenos Aires. So grateful. Getting extra training on my projects this week (one for legal and another for Communications). Some of these things will be ongoing so that's good. But really, we are getting more and more settled and enjoyi...