MikeMaryMission

Sister Jackson, one of the Mission Leaders, telling the 21 new missionaries about how Elder Melvin J. Ballard predicted the immense growth of the gospel in South America 100 year ago!  One of the coolest things I get to do is accompany my friend, Bev, every six weeks when new young missionaries arrive to serve in the Argentina Buenos Aires North mission. These fresh faces, sometimes nervous, sometimes joyful, usually a mix of both, are a real energy booster.  For several years, senior missionaries in the area office host Trick or Treat for the children of employees. It was so sweet to see these beautiful little faces light up when missionaries in costume (I wasn't in costume. Will be next year) give them candy. They were each taught how to say Trick or Treat in English. Sooo darling.  The families then have a Halloween party in the lunch room.  Elder Richardson (above) says "it's great to be king". Just kidding. He and his wife are two of the Humanitarian Aid mission...

This is how we purchase fruits and vegetables at the grocery store.  You get what you want, put it in plastic bags and take them to these scales, weigh it and then put the sticker that the scale produces on the plastic bag.  If you purchase from one of the neighborhood stores, they usually insist on choosing items for you. S o grateful for Zoom and similar platforms. As missionaries, it is easy to feel out of the loop. Got to watch Grandson, Michael, deliver his homecoming talk in church this morning. He returned from his mission in Salem, Oregon on Wednesday. His talk was so good to see because he is a man now. His sense of humor was delightful. His future is very bright and I look forward to see how he continues to blossom. Argentina had a holiday on Friday. It’s apparently their version of what used to be Columbus Day. Now it’s Honor Indigenous People’s day. We women senior missionaries got together for lunch. C, one of the sisters, likes to entertain. She made beautiful sa...

  Work on our street being done. A couple of the workers wanted to be sure they were seen in this photo.  As a young high school seminary student, I was blessed with a wonderful teacher, Gary Clark. He passed away a few years ago but I am glad that for the last couple years of his life, I was able to connect with him on Facebook and thank him for his diligence in teaching us.  One of the most profound lessons he taught was about throwing our pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6). It's a caution Jesus gave the people, I believe, about sharing sacred experiences.  Brother Clark was teaching us from the scriptures. We were particularly rowdy that day. You know, early morning seminary students can be real ... um ... idiots. He started to share an experience he had when he simply stopped, waited for us to notice and get quiet. He then proceeded to tell us his experience again and again, some of the students started talking to each other. Another pause. Another attempt. After ...

Someone recently said that here in South America, when projects are in the works, there’s no sense of urgency. Things don’t get done quickly. That’s been my experience but definitely not Mike’s. He is still working on the temple project but it will be completed soon and he’s been assigned some contract work, one of his favorite areas of law.  Last week I had an appointment with someone with whom I will be working on the end- of -year history. It’s going to be a cool project and I really like the woman I will be supporting. My style is to jump right in, get organized, and move forward. Well … that style doesn’t work here. The historian is attending meetings the next couple of weeks and we will talk again later in October. I read a report from a previous year and it looks like we are writing an area annual report. Should be fine. Waiting to hear about the Communications project I will be helping to complete by helping to enter data. But … the information has not yet been completely a...