It's Hard To Say Goodbye~Hermana Barney

This last week  has been a different king of week. On Tuesday, Elder W. traveled to a Zone Conference with President Armstrong. He came home feeling like he was getting a sore throat...and he did. He did not go to the office or with the President on Wednesday but began taking some antibiotics. He sounded like he had swallowed a very large frog! He voice was so gruff and low, I had trouble hearing what he was saying.  

Thursday he again went with President to another Zone Conference. Thank heavens these zones are only about an hours distance. Friday and Saturday I finally got him to stay in bed all day. Sleep, lots of liquids and his medicine are working well. He is feeling much better. 

Each day, I continued to go to the office and work on the several projects we have going AT ALL times. With missionaries coming and going about every six weeks (this month it is 4 weeks), we are constantly in a state of flux. I always have something necessary to do. Also, while Sister Armstrong is away, I have taken over the distribution of birthday cards. So that is another small project to be done each month.

Since I don't have a great deal to post this week, I will share some photos of our travels. In this way I can share some of the beautiful countryside and interesting things particular to Uruguay.

This was our photo taken at Christmas Conference. We are at the very, very back! (You need a magnifying glass.) Each missionary (184) received a copy of the photo.

In October Elder W. and I traveled to an area of Uruguay called Treinta yTres or "33." Look at that beautiful blue sky. It is green as far as you can see in all directions. A very different sight than what we saw during our assignment in Lima, Peru!!!

This is the major form of transportation in many of these small towns as well as in Montevideo. The streets are narrow and sometimes made of bricks or as in this photo, cobblestones.

This is not seen in Montevideo, but when we get out of the large city we find these "photo-ops" quite often.

This is a form of "sanitation truck." The horse and driver stop at the dumpsters, he dives in and gathers whatever he feels he can sell or use himself. In this case, the driver is not anywhere around. They are seen all over Montevideo. Usually the cart is filled to the brim with plastic bags of "found treasures."

 Thus my title, it's hard to say goodbye! For the past two years, Hermana Barney has been the Mission Nurse for both the Montevideo (ours) and West Missions! She is being released this next Wednesday. I am so sad, we love her. She is a very capable nurse. She takes every opportunity to share the Gospel. A person can't help but love her bubbly personality and her positive attitude. I will miss her sweet smile.  

It is Sunday afternoon, yesterday was the most beautiful day. It was not too hot, a little breeze, just right. It is even beginning to get a little  chilly at night. Summer season goes until March, so we have a few more weeks. Today, sitting in our apartment, I hear thunder and the rain begins, just a little, for a short time. The skies are dark and maybe there will be more rain later in the evening.

It has been a good week and they seem to be flying by. We pray you are all doing well. Each day our prayers are filled with gratitude to the Lord for so many blessings. We know there are many who struggle with the issues of life, but we also know if we hold strong to our faith and determine to live our lives to the best of our ability and follow the counsel of the Prophets we will not fail.

My love to you all,

Until I write again,

xoxoxoxoxoxo

A Great Week In The Office And Saturday To Rocha

This last week has been a very busy one in the mission office. With the announcement of the change in age for missionary service, this "transfer day" (remember, it is when we receive new missionaries) will come two  weeks sooner than normal. So, the office is very busy readying ourselves to receive another great group of missionaries.



On Saturday, Elder W. and I traveled to the small town of Rocha so that he could conduct an interview with a young woman wanting to be baptized. Rocha is about a 2 hour drive from our home.  It is probably the largest chapel I have ever seen and it only houses two branches, no wards. I took this photo of the Elders in Rocha the last time we were there. The young man in the jeans is not a missionary. They are a great group of fine missionaries.

                                                             

We don't see many mountains, I know this is not a real mountain, but it is about the biggest we see here. We are right on the coast, so we see and feel the ocean more. Our apartment is about 5 minutes from the ocean. We get wonderful breezes and sometime "squalls" too. Short bursts of very strong ocean winds, even now in the summer they can be chilly.


Everywhere we drive (yes we both drive here), when we get a little bit out of Montevideo, you see nothing but green pastures. Cows, horses and sheep are grazing all along the roads in pastures. There are huge groups of trees. It is like a "Johnny Apple Seed" was in Uruguay and planted literally thousands and thousands of trees in sections. Some are squares and some are rectangles literally. We have been trying to figure out why they are the way they are...no answers from anyone we ask. Here is a great example.

It is a pleasant drive, if you are drugged as the passenger! For any of you who remember, my sweet husband drives like he is still behind the wheel of a police car with the lights and siren on. The speed limit in much of this rural area is 90 kph, but you have to drive at least 120 to be with the traffic. Now that equates to only about 75 mph at home. But the difference is, I am NOT at home. We are in a foreign country and I don't want to go to jail. And everyone passes two and three cars at a time. There are more motorcycles, bicycles and small cars (that don't run well) and some very large trucks too. The motorcycles can have 1 to 4 people riding them, sometimes with children.

This chapel is one of the largest I have ever seen. This is the main hallway. The cultural hall is on the right side of that wall and the chapel is more to the right of this bench. That is a wall of the original building used to build the ward house. It is so gorgeous, it reminds me so much of Machu Picchu. It is over 100 years old. The stones fit exactly with (in this case) very little if any mortar. This next photo is of the corner of the chapel. The organ sits at the front as usual with this wonderful wall behind it. There is great woodwork in these old chapels.

   

                                                                       

We attended a Sunday meeting here months ago. It was a District Conference, two branches. An interesting thing happened; when we arrived we were greeted by a brother and sister. She was wearing a pair of slacks. I thought, oh they need to learn more appropriate dress standards for Sunday meetings. NO, they had invited a special local choir who were mostly non-members. The women in the choir wore a black blouse and slacks with a vibrant color scarf. This sister did not want them to feel out of place or awkward. How very kind and generous of her. And...they were wonderful, they sang two of our hymns with no accompaniment and stayed for the rest of the meeting. It was a very nice meeting for sure.

I wanted to post one other photo but, alas I do not have it. The driver of this trip was driving at a speed that made it impossible to take the photo. It was a sign on our way out of Montevideo. The sign said: "Las Vegas"! Can you imagine my surprise...Las Vegas. I guess people everywhere know our town. I'll try again next time we go to Rocha.

I love being here with my wonderful husband. I do miss our family so badly!!! But the time is passing so quickly, we will be home in no time at all.

As I close my blog, I need to tell each and every one of you that I have a strong testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I KNOW it is the truth. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. As I read its pages, I can feel the spirit of those people whose experiences I am reading about. I am so grateful to the leaders, teachers and friends who have helped me along the way to find this knowledge. I love the Temple and the work that goes on inside those walls. Our family is Eternal, I know that because of the saving ordinances of the temple; we will be with Rebecca again at the end of our mortal life, of that I am certain! I am grateful for that knowledge and my testimony. It has not come easy or quickly, but steadily and surely. 

My love to you all,

until I write again, 

xoxoxo