Monday, July 27, 2009
Week 1 & 2 in Montevideo
Sunday July 12th,
We prepared to get ready of our Church meeting with start at 9:30 AM. Janice was the first to attempt our shower. She got it in and said this isn't to bad and then quickly changed her mind as she came dashing out of the shower. The water had turned cold in a very short period of time and she was very cold, shaking from the cold and unhappy!!! I later inspected the water heater and it was tuned down pretty low so I turned it up and later I was able to take a warm shower although it was a short one than normal.
We went to Church (about 3 blocks from our home) at 9:30 AM with Elder's Solomon and Sessions. The Buceo ward members greeted us warmly and were happy to see new missionaries. The Sacrament meeting was of course in Spanish although the speaker could have given her talk in English. She served a Mission in Ohio a few years ago. Her name is Rona and she is married to a Japanese Diplomat that is currently investigating the Church. The Church building was pretty cold and everyone wore their coats for all the meeting.
We went to the Gospel Essentials class that was taught by Myriam Izaguirre and we attempted to participate by reading some sections in the manual that she asked us to read. It went pretty well although we understood very little.
Hermana Hegerhorst went to Relief Society and I and the Elder's went to Priesthood meeting. Hermana had Rona translate for her and Elder Solomon translated for me. After the meeting the Missionaries had a dinner appointment so they took us home and we rested for a few hours and then the picked us up to go on an appointment with them to Genero and Sandra. Genero recently joined the church and is learning the Gospel. Sandra speaks very good English and was excited to practice on us. It was a fun meeting.
Monday July 13th
The Missionaries came and picked us up at 10:00 AM and we went to the Mission Office. They trained us how to do reimbursements for the Missionaries. This is when the Missionaries us some of their base money to purchase items that should be paid for by the church. They send in receipts and the Finance Elder's send them back the money. It is all done electronically so the money shows up on their credit card. Later that night we went with Elder's Solomon & Sessions to give a lesson to Rona's husband. It was a very spiritual lesson and I think we were able to contribute because it was given in English. He speaks Japanese and English and little Spanish so we were able to understand and contribute.
Tuesday July 14th
We were back at the Mission office at 10:00 doing more reimbursements. The Elders are so patient and helpful in getting us and our house set up we awoke this morning with our propane heater tank empty and the house getting cold. The gas company with deliver full tanks of propane so I had Elder Session order a tank for us. It arrived about an hour and half later and the delivery man came and put it on the heater and started it up again for us. He gave us the change and I gave him a pass along card.
Tonight we met with the 1st Councilor Nestor Martinez, Maria and their 3 children, Paublo 11yrs, Camille 9 yrs and Lucille 6 yrs. They are a wonderful family. Dad & Mom speak English very well. Dad works as an Operations Manager of software company and Mom teaches French at French school the children attend. They made us feel very welcome and comfortable.
Wednesday July 15th
We were back at the Mission office at 10:00 doing more reimbursements. Today after some help from Bro. Martinez Elder Solomon and I went to the Claro office and purchased a wireless USB modem for the computer to allow internet assess. We installed it and tried Skype at the Mission Office and it worked okay. We were excited to have internet access and be able to contact our families and friends. Elder Sessions and I learned how to catch the correct bus to get to and from home & the office. It took us an hour and half for the round trip.
We had an appointment with the Buceo Ward Bishop at 8:00PM. We met with him, he wanted to get to know us and tell us about him. He is a convert of 8 years and is already the Bishop. He is very interested in making the work go forth and was wondering what we could do to help. He is going to give us a Ward list on Sunday and then we could start and visit the members.
Thursday July 16th
We walked about 15 minutes to the bus stop and then waited about 15 minutes for the correct bus then took the 15 minute bus ride and then walked the 15 minutes the rest of the way to the Mission Office. It is about an hour process. When we arrived the Elder's Heap & Bennet that do the Statistical for the Mission were there. They trained me how to proof read some of the records then enter them into the computer systems. It was a very light week, only 5 new baptisms. They have had weeks of 33 new baptisms. They come into the office once a week on Thursdays to do this portion of the work. They would like to teach it to me so they could stay in the Mission Field instead of the office. Janice worked on doing more of the reimbursements.
Friday July 17th.
Today was our First Zone Conference it started at 9:00 AM at our Church Building. We were going to walk but it was windy and raining so we called Elder's Solomon & Sessions and they picked us up. There was about 30 Elders & Hermanas at the Zone Conference and President & Hermana Da Silva and their 2 assistants. President & Hemana Da Silva spoke and them some of the Zone leaders gave presentations. We ate lunch and continued until about 3:30 PM. We walked home and rested the rest of the evening. Janice and I are both sick with colds and aches. I tried calling my Mother to wish her a Happy Birthday using Magic Jack but the internet modem kept dropping the calls
Saturday July 18th.
I was able to call my Mother using Magic Jack in the morning when things were not being used as much. She was excited to hear from me although the call was short because we got dropped again. Janice and I spent most of them morning mopping the floors in our house and cleaning things up. At 1:15 President & Hermana Da Silva came to get us to got to the Temple with them. It was great to go to the temple. We had translator headsets so we could understand the session and an English speaker at the Veil. It was great! We met two of the Temple Missionaries, Elder Keith & Sister Teri Wilson from Alpine Utah. They know my parents from Alpine. They were very excited to see us. The other Elders are the Holladay's from Woodcross Utah. Neither of these couples spoke Spanish prior to their calls. They can communicate within the Temple and have memorized all the Temple Ordinances in Spanish. We went back home neither of us feeling really well.
Sunday July 19th
We both awoke not feeling well and decided to stay in bed and rest for the day.
Monday July 20th
We both awoke not feeling well and decided to stay in bed and rest for the day.
Tuesday July 21st
We both awoke not feeling well and decided to stay at hom and rest for the day. Janice is not getting better so we have Elder Solomon call Dr. Peterson in Argentina and he told us to get her some AZITROMICIAN in 500 mg capsules and take one capsule daily for 5 days. Our landlady Cristina was over and she called a pharmacy and they delivered it to the house. Janice stayed in the bedroom and Elder Sessions studied in the living room while Elder Solomon and I took back the Claro USB Modem to the store and got my money back. Cristina has agreed to let us get High Speed Internet via the phone line. That is if Antel will allow it. Cristina had an earlier tenant that put in a phone line without her knowing about it and ran up a 40,000 peso bill and skipped out without paying it. Cristina refused to pay so Antel may not allow us to put in the line until the bill is paid.
Today was very busy in our little house. Pablo, Cristina's son was trying to repair a leak faucet in our bathroom pedestal style sink. He was not have much luck but was persistent about trying to get it repaired. Cristina came over and I plugged my telephone into the wall jack and you could hear a lot of background noise so she called a friend of hers that works for Antel the telephone company to come and investigate the noisy line. He came and said the line was fine and that the cheap phone I bought did not have a good filter on it so it allowed the background noise to come through. Cristina brought a spare phone that she had over and is letting us use it.
We both took some of the antibiotic and went to bed. My mouth and throat are raw with huge canker sores and I can hardly swallow. It really hurts.
Janice had a tiny bit of energy and decided to try and bake a cake mix that we had found at the Disco Store in the neighborhood. She started the oven which is a combination gas and electric oven and everything was working properly. She put in the cake and set the timer. She came back 40 minutes later to discover that the oven had stopped working. The cake had baked about a 1/16” along the sides and the rest was still soupy. Another thing to add to our list of things that do not work properly in our house!!
Wednesday July 22nd
We both awoke not feeling well and decided to stay at home and rest for the day. The Propane tank in the heater was empty again so I had Elder Solomon order us more. Pablo came back over and attempted to repair the sink some more. I hope he got it right this time. Cristina ordered us some more antibiotic since I am taking it also we would not have enough for Janice. The pharmacy delivered it to us is just a few minutes. They will delivery just about anything around here I understand. Just call and here it comes. Both Janice and I are feeling better. There was a strong wind storm today and it made the house feel cold.
Thursday July 23rd
We both awoke this feeling better. We prepared to go into the office. Today we had committed to make lunch for the Office Elders. We are going to make spaghetti, salad and bread. We had purchased all these items with the plan to make them on July 21st but because we were sick we postponed the lunch. While we were preparing lunch we noticed a big puddle of water under the refrigerator. I told Cristina and she immediately had Pablo tearing apart the fridge and freezer to find the problem. He cleaned everything up and decided to move the fridge to a different location because he did not think the water was coming from the fridge.
The meal preparation went well and on time but we had to wait for Pablo to finish up his repairs before we could leave the apartment. They would not lock up after themselves but insisted that we wait until they were done.
The meal at the Mission Office went very well and the Elders, Baker, Van Wagenen, Heaps, Bennett, Sessions & Solomon really seemed to enjoy the meal. They suggested that we do it regularly. Janice suggested she make a meal once a week and ask each of the Elders what they would like and rotate the meal according to the request she receives.
We worked on reimbursements and other tasks that the Office Elders needed help doing. Elders Solomon & Sessions took us home about 5:30PM and we worked on reimbursements until 9:00PM and then retired for the night.
Friday July 24th.
Pioneer Day in Utah and it feels like we are Pioneering a bit lately.
Today we awoke to 4' diameter puddle in the kitchen were the fridge used to be. The fridge apparently was not the leaking culprit. It turns out that it is either coming up through the floor or though the wall. Pablo and Cristina came and looked at it and called a bricklayer to come and look at the situation. The repairman that was supposed to come and look at the oven did not show up and the water dispenser company that was supposed to show up at 9:30 AM did not show either. Pablo and I took apart the receptacle that the oven plugged into and it was melted and one of the wires had burnt all the way through which caused the circuit to open and the oven to go off. That repairman is supposed to fix it tomorrow also.
Elder's Sessions and Baker came a got us about 12:30 and we had to drive all the repair and looker people out of the house so we could leave with the Elders. They were going to take us to Cuidad Viejo or Old City which is the main downtown portion of Montevideo. There is a CITI bank there that the Church uses and the Main Post Office that was holding some of the missionaries packages. We also had to go to a place that made the name tags for the Missionaries. The old city had very narrow and run down streets and sidewalks. The traffic was loud and stinky. The wind was cold and all in all it was not a real pleasant experience until we entered into an area that was full of stores that sold tools and then I started to feel better about things.
We came back home and the Elders dropped us off at Disco Supermarket and we shopped for food. We walked the 4 blocks home with our groceries. Later that afternoon and evening we worked on reimbursements.
Saturday July 25th
Today is P-Day and we cleaned the house and went shopping. Shopping is still a new adventure with all the labels in Spanish and us no know what they have in the store. We spend a lot of time just looking a labels and getting to know where things are at in the store. We found a new store this morning, it is kind of a hardware store. It has lots of the terracotta flower pots and cans and cans of paint all stacked on top of each other. It could take days if someone decided that they wanted the can on the bottom of one of the piles. They had plumbing, housewares and tons of other things all piled into this little store of treasures. We found a laundry basket that we could use.
In the afternoon the Electrician can by to fix the oven that was broken. He replaced the receptacle in just a few minutes so Cristina had him replace our door bell that had stopped working. He tried to repair another door bell but did not have the correct parts. Cristina is going to but the parts and I will replace them.
Janice decided to cook the cake mix that she had started on Tuesday when to the oven died. It tastes great just does not look and feel like a cake. It is very moist and dense. I like it. I guess it lost most of the leavening agent sitting in the fridge for 5 days. We topped it of with a product they love down here called Dulce de Leche or Sweet of Milk. It looks and tastes very similar to caramel and it is a very tasty cake.
I invited Cristina to go to Church with us tomorrow and she accepted with the understanding that she is not a religious person and is not interested in becoming one. I told her that was fine she could just come to church and if hse liked it great if not that was fine also. The Missionaries had started giving her the discussions and she had told them that she was not interested in continuing them. She said she likes us and would like to go to our Church with us. Church starts at 9:30 AM and we had talked the Missionaries into picking Cristina and us up a few minutes early....
Sunday 26th
We were getting ready for Church and about 8:30 AM we got a text message on our telephone, it could be either the Missionaries, Cristina or another wrong number. Your right it was Cristina telling us that she had over slept and was not going to be ready for Church but that she would like to go next week.
We went to Church and had a great surprise, the chapel was warm. The past weeks it has been freezing. Not to be out done the classrooms were cold for Sunday School and Priesthood meeting. The Bishopric had told the Missionaries that they wanted us to share our testimony and little about ourselves in Sacrament meeting but instead they just had us stand and they introduced us to the members. I was okay with that, this language barrier is very tough to get through. We continue to study the language each day and we are learning but it sure takes time.
After Church we came home and made some lunch and studied Spanish. Later in the evening the Missionaries stopped by to share some of the “special” birthday cake and some ice cream. They are great young men.
We prepared to get ready of our Church meeting with start at 9:30 AM. Janice was the first to attempt our shower. She got it in and said this isn't to bad and then quickly changed her mind as she came dashing out of the shower. The water had turned cold in a very short period of time and she was very cold, shaking from the cold and unhappy!!! I later inspected the water heater and it was tuned down pretty low so I turned it up and later I was able to take a warm shower although it was a short one than normal.
We went to Church (about 3 blocks from our home) at 9:30 AM with Elder's Solomon and Sessions. The Buceo ward members greeted us warmly and were happy to see new missionaries. The Sacrament meeting was of course in Spanish although the speaker could have given her talk in English. She served a Mission in Ohio a few years ago. Her name is Rona and she is married to a Japanese Diplomat that is currently investigating the Church. The Church building was pretty cold and everyone wore their coats for all the meeting.
We went to the Gospel Essentials class that was taught by Myriam Izaguirre and we attempted to participate by reading some sections in the manual that she asked us to read. It went pretty well although we understood very little.
Hermana Hegerhorst went to Relief Society and I and the Elder's went to Priesthood meeting. Hermana had Rona translate for her and Elder Solomon translated for me. After the meeting the Missionaries had a dinner appointment so they took us home and we rested for a few hours and then the picked us up to go on an appointment with them to Genero and Sandra. Genero recently joined the church and is learning the Gospel. Sandra speaks very good English and was excited to practice on us. It was a fun meeting.
Monday July 13th
The Missionaries came and picked us up at 10:00 AM and we went to the Mission Office. They trained us how to do reimbursements for the Missionaries. This is when the Missionaries us some of their base money to purchase items that should be paid for by the church. They send in receipts and the Finance Elder's send them back the money. It is all done electronically so the money shows up on their credit card. Later that night we went with Elder's Solomon & Sessions to give a lesson to Rona's husband. It was a very spiritual lesson and I think we were able to contribute because it was given in English. He speaks Japanese and English and little Spanish so we were able to understand and contribute.
Tuesday July 14th
We were back at the Mission office at 10:00 doing more reimbursements. The Elders are so patient and helpful in getting us and our house set up we awoke this morning with our propane heater tank empty and the house getting cold. The gas company with deliver full tanks of propane so I had Elder Session order a tank for us. It arrived about an hour and half later and the delivery man came and put it on the heater and started it up again for us. He gave us the change and I gave him a pass along card.
Tonight we met with the 1st Councilor Nestor Martinez, Maria and their 3 children, Paublo 11yrs, Camille 9 yrs and Lucille 6 yrs. They are a wonderful family. Dad & Mom speak English very well. Dad works as an Operations Manager of software company and Mom teaches French at French school the children attend. They made us feel very welcome and comfortable.
Wednesday July 15th
We were back at the Mission office at 10:00 doing more reimbursements. Today after some help from Bro. Martinez Elder Solomon and I went to the Claro office and purchased a wireless USB modem for the computer to allow internet assess. We installed it and tried Skype at the Mission Office and it worked okay. We were excited to have internet access and be able to contact our families and friends. Elder Sessions and I learned how to catch the correct bus to get to and from home & the office. It took us an hour and half for the round trip.
We had an appointment with the Buceo Ward Bishop at 8:00PM. We met with him, he wanted to get to know us and tell us about him. He is a convert of 8 years and is already the Bishop. He is very interested in making the work go forth and was wondering what we could do to help. He is going to give us a Ward list on Sunday and then we could start and visit the members.
Thursday July 16th
We walked about 15 minutes to the bus stop and then waited about 15 minutes for the correct bus then took the 15 minute bus ride and then walked the 15 minutes the rest of the way to the Mission Office. It is about an hour process. When we arrived the Elder's Heap & Bennet that do the Statistical for the Mission were there. They trained me how to proof read some of the records then enter them into the computer systems. It was a very light week, only 5 new baptisms. They have had weeks of 33 new baptisms. They come into the office once a week on Thursdays to do this portion of the work. They would like to teach it to me so they could stay in the Mission Field instead of the office. Janice worked on doing more of the reimbursements.
Friday July 17th.
Today was our First Zone Conference it started at 9:00 AM at our Church Building. We were going to walk but it was windy and raining so we called Elder's Solomon & Sessions and they picked us up. There was about 30 Elders & Hermanas at the Zone Conference and President & Hermana Da Silva and their 2 assistants. President & Hemana Da Silva spoke and them some of the Zone leaders gave presentations. We ate lunch and continued until about 3:30 PM. We walked home and rested the rest of the evening. Janice and I are both sick with colds and aches. I tried calling my Mother to wish her a Happy Birthday using Magic Jack but the internet modem kept dropping the calls
Saturday July 18th.
I was able to call my Mother using Magic Jack in the morning when things were not being used as much. She was excited to hear from me although the call was short because we got dropped again. Janice and I spent most of them morning mopping the floors in our house and cleaning things up. At 1:15 President & Hermana Da Silva came to get us to got to the Temple with them. It was great to go to the temple. We had translator headsets so we could understand the session and an English speaker at the Veil. It was great! We met two of the Temple Missionaries, Elder Keith & Sister Teri Wilson from Alpine Utah. They know my parents from Alpine. They were very excited to see us. The other Elders are the Holladay's from Woodcross Utah. Neither of these couples spoke Spanish prior to their calls. They can communicate within the Temple and have memorized all the Temple Ordinances in Spanish. We went back home neither of us feeling really well.
Sunday July 19th
We both awoke not feeling well and decided to stay in bed and rest for the day.
Monday July 20th
We both awoke not feeling well and decided to stay in bed and rest for the day.
Tuesday July 21st
We both awoke not feeling well and decided to stay at hom and rest for the day. Janice is not getting better so we have Elder Solomon call Dr. Peterson in Argentina and he told us to get her some AZITROMICIAN in 500 mg capsules and take one capsule daily for 5 days. Our landlady Cristina was over and she called a pharmacy and they delivered it to the house. Janice stayed in the bedroom and Elder Sessions studied in the living room while Elder Solomon and I took back the Claro USB Modem to the store and got my money back. Cristina has agreed to let us get High Speed Internet via the phone line. That is if Antel will allow it. Cristina had an earlier tenant that put in a phone line without her knowing about it and ran up a 40,000 peso bill and skipped out without paying it. Cristina refused to pay so Antel may not allow us to put in the line until the bill is paid.
Today was very busy in our little house. Pablo, Cristina's son was trying to repair a leak faucet in our bathroom pedestal style sink. He was not have much luck but was persistent about trying to get it repaired. Cristina came over and I plugged my telephone into the wall jack and you could hear a lot of background noise so she called a friend of hers that works for Antel the telephone company to come and investigate the noisy line. He came and said the line was fine and that the cheap phone I bought did not have a good filter on it so it allowed the background noise to come through. Cristina brought a spare phone that she had over and is letting us use it.
We both took some of the antibiotic and went to bed. My mouth and throat are raw with huge canker sores and I can hardly swallow. It really hurts.
Janice had a tiny bit of energy and decided to try and bake a cake mix that we had found at the Disco Store in the neighborhood. She started the oven which is a combination gas and electric oven and everything was working properly. She put in the cake and set the timer. She came back 40 minutes later to discover that the oven had stopped working. The cake had baked about a 1/16” along the sides and the rest was still soupy. Another thing to add to our list of things that do not work properly in our house!!
Wednesday July 22nd
We both awoke not feeling well and decided to stay at home and rest for the day. The Propane tank in the heater was empty again so I had Elder Solomon order us more. Pablo came back over and attempted to repair the sink some more. I hope he got it right this time. Cristina ordered us some more antibiotic since I am taking it also we would not have enough for Janice. The pharmacy delivered it to us is just a few minutes. They will delivery just about anything around here I understand. Just call and here it comes. Both Janice and I are feeling better. There was a strong wind storm today and it made the house feel cold.
Thursday July 23rd
We both awoke this feeling better. We prepared to go into the office. Today we had committed to make lunch for the Office Elders. We are going to make spaghetti, salad and bread. We had purchased all these items with the plan to make them on July 21st but because we were sick we postponed the lunch. While we were preparing lunch we noticed a big puddle of water under the refrigerator. I told Cristina and she immediately had Pablo tearing apart the fridge and freezer to find the problem. He cleaned everything up and decided to move the fridge to a different location because he did not think the water was coming from the fridge.
The meal preparation went well and on time but we had to wait for Pablo to finish up his repairs before we could leave the apartment. They would not lock up after themselves but insisted that we wait until they were done.
The meal at the Mission Office went very well and the Elders, Baker, Van Wagenen, Heaps, Bennett, Sessions & Solomon really seemed to enjoy the meal. They suggested that we do it regularly. Janice suggested she make a meal once a week and ask each of the Elders what they would like and rotate the meal according to the request she receives.
We worked on reimbursements and other tasks that the Office Elders needed help doing. Elders Solomon & Sessions took us home about 5:30PM and we worked on reimbursements until 9:00PM and then retired for the night.
Friday July 24th.
Pioneer Day in Utah and it feels like we are Pioneering a bit lately.
Today we awoke to 4' diameter puddle in the kitchen were the fridge used to be. The fridge apparently was not the leaking culprit. It turns out that it is either coming up through the floor or though the wall. Pablo and Cristina came and looked at it and called a bricklayer to come and look at the situation. The repairman that was supposed to come and look at the oven did not show up and the water dispenser company that was supposed to show up at 9:30 AM did not show either. Pablo and I took apart the receptacle that the oven plugged into and it was melted and one of the wires had burnt all the way through which caused the circuit to open and the oven to go off. That repairman is supposed to fix it tomorrow also.
Elder's Sessions and Baker came a got us about 12:30 and we had to drive all the repair and looker people out of the house so we could leave with the Elders. They were going to take us to Cuidad Viejo or Old City which is the main downtown portion of Montevideo. There is a CITI bank there that the Church uses and the Main Post Office that was holding some of the missionaries packages. We also had to go to a place that made the name tags for the Missionaries. The old city had very narrow and run down streets and sidewalks. The traffic was loud and stinky. The wind was cold and all in all it was not a real pleasant experience until we entered into an area that was full of stores that sold tools and then I started to feel better about things.
We came back home and the Elders dropped us off at Disco Supermarket and we shopped for food. We walked the 4 blocks home with our groceries. Later that afternoon and evening we worked on reimbursements.
Saturday July 25th
Today is P-Day and we cleaned the house and went shopping. Shopping is still a new adventure with all the labels in Spanish and us no know what they have in the store. We spend a lot of time just looking a labels and getting to know where things are at in the store. We found a new store this morning, it is kind of a hardware store. It has lots of the terracotta flower pots and cans and cans of paint all stacked on top of each other. It could take days if someone decided that they wanted the can on the bottom of one of the piles. They had plumbing, housewares and tons of other things all piled into this little store of treasures. We found a laundry basket that we could use.
In the afternoon the Electrician can by to fix the oven that was broken. He replaced the receptacle in just a few minutes so Cristina had him replace our door bell that had stopped working. He tried to repair another door bell but did not have the correct parts. Cristina is going to but the parts and I will replace them.
Janice decided to cook the cake mix that she had started on Tuesday when to the oven died. It tastes great just does not look and feel like a cake. It is very moist and dense. I like it. I guess it lost most of the leavening agent sitting in the fridge for 5 days. We topped it of with a product they love down here called Dulce de Leche or Sweet of Milk. It looks and tastes very similar to caramel and it is a very tasty cake.
I invited Cristina to go to Church with us tomorrow and she accepted with the understanding that she is not a religious person and is not interested in becoming one. I told her that was fine she could just come to church and if hse liked it great if not that was fine also. The Missionaries had started giving her the discussions and she had told them that she was not interested in continuing them. She said she likes us and would like to go to our Church with us. Church starts at 9:30 AM and we had talked the Missionaries into picking Cristina and us up a few minutes early....
Sunday 26th
We were getting ready for Church and about 8:30 AM we got a text message on our telephone, it could be either the Missionaries, Cristina or another wrong number. Your right it was Cristina telling us that she had over slept and was not going to be ready for Church but that she would like to go next week.
We went to Church and had a great surprise, the chapel was warm. The past weeks it has been freezing. Not to be out done the classrooms were cold for Sunday School and Priesthood meeting. The Bishopric had told the Missionaries that they wanted us to share our testimony and little about ourselves in Sacrament meeting but instead they just had us stand and they introduced us to the members. I was okay with that, this language barrier is very tough to get through. We continue to study the language each day and we are learning but it sure takes time.
After Church we came home and made some lunch and studied Spanish. Later in the evening the Missionaries stopped by to share some of the “special” birthday cake and some ice cream. They are great young men.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Week 9 Last Week in the MTC
Sunday
We have Sacrament meeting with about 25 of the Senior that are still here. Those without specialty assignments like Office, Temple, Family History only recieve 1 week of training and they are off the their assigned Mission. The Sacrament Meeting was Fast Sunday and the Testimonies that were shared were very strong and the Spirit was strong. We have a lot of really dedicated people in our group.
Later that day we had a Mission Conference with everyone at the MTC. The MTC President and his councilors spoke. It was a good meeting.
That afternoon we went to visit my cousin Lynnanne and her husband. I had not seen her for 30 years or so. She live near Houston Texas. It was great to visit with her and her husband. We met them at her parents, my Uncle Carl & Aunt Mable. They live in Benjamin Utah which is just South of Provo.
Monday
We started our Office Training. We got and overview of Word, Excel, Outlook and MOS which is a Church software program that tracks Missionaries, Expenses, Housing and other things. It is currently be replaced through out the world with an internet version but it has not made it to Urugauy yet. There were 2 couple learning the MOS program and the rest of the group was learning IMOS. Our training went much faster than theirs did. It was 4PM and the Fire Alarm went off in the building and we all had to evacuate the building. Since we were almost finished with our training for the day the instructors let us go for the day. We went back to our apartment and had just sat on the bed when the wall phone rang. It kind of startled us because it had never rang before. It was the Front Desk operator telling us that we had a visitor. I asked who it was and he said that the person did not want to say. So we went to the Front Desk and as we came around the corner, surprise it was our wonderful Bishop Bigelow from our home ward. He was in Salt Lake City attending a funeral and was so kind to come and see us. If that fire alarm had not been activated we would not have been in our room and the operator said our schedule was mixed up in the computer so he did not think he would be able to find us. It was great to visit with Bishop Bigelow and find out how things are going back at home.
Tuesday
We continued our training on the office programs. The Devotional was given by Gerald N. Lund. he spoke on how to find people to teach. He had some really great ideas.
Wednesday - Thursday
More training on the office programs. We started repacking our suitcases to try to determine what we could keep and what would have to go into the car. Tracey Graham is picking the car up Thursday evening and taking it to her Mom's until our daughter Christina can pick it up when she come to Utah for Michael's wedding the end of July. We finally decided that there was no way we were going to be within the weight limits (50 pounds each) of the suitcases so we pick our biggest 2 and filled them up to the next weight (70 pounds) restriction. We had to pay the overweight fee but it was worth it. We were both allowed 2 check-in and 1 carry-on and a personal item. We max'd everthing out we could.
Friday
Our day started at 3:30 AM to prepare to meet the Airport Shuttle at 5:00AM. The shuttle took us to the Salt Lake City Airport where Gregg Spendlove was waiting for us. He just enough time to help us check our bags and get us into the Sky Club where those that travel alot on Delta get pampered and then he had to rush of to catch his flight. I hope he made it.... We caught our flight to Dallas about an hour later and then had about a 3 to 4 hour lay over in Dallas prior to catching our flight to Miami and another 3-4 hour lay over before we caught the all night flight to Montevideo, Uruguay. We arrived at about 9:30AM Saturday Morning exhausted.
Saturday
We concluded our 29.5 hours of travel time and arrived in Urugauy. The airport building is very small. I would compare it to small city like Walla Walla's airport. It was not as big as I would have expected for a City of 4 million people. We departed the plane down some stairs and got on a bus that took us to the airport building where we all lined up and went through customs and had our passports stamped and carry-on bags scanned. We then went to the baggage claim area and awaited our bags. We got 2 of the 4 quickly but 2 did not show up on the small baggage carosel so we started looking around for them. Keep in mind that we are now in a Spanish speaking country. I found the bags being held by the operator of the x-ray machines. I motioned to him that the bags were mine and he put them back on the belt and ran them through the machine one at a time and them proceeded to tell and to motion for me to open them. He was extremely interested in the many bottles of vitamins that we had packed. I tried to explain that we were going to be here for 2 years but he was not getting it. Finally another traveler bless his heart heard my broken Spanish eplaination and he explained it to the customs official and he let us have our bags. We then went through a door to the other room where there were hundreds of people lined up to greet people. I caught sight of a couple of young Elder's and then President and Sister Da Silva as well. It was great to see familiar people. The Elder's (Powers & Parrage)were the assitant to the President took us to our home and gave us about 4 hours to unpack and rest before they would be by to take us to the President's apartment for dinner. We had just got unpacked and the Finacial Elder's Solomon & Sessions came to help us sign the contract with our Landlady who lives in the home behind ours. Her name is Cristina. Elder's Solomon & Session are assigned to the Buceo ward where our home is located. They took us to a store to buy some cleaning supplies and other things we need to start up a home again. It was really great to have bi-lingual help. Trying to read labels in Spanish and understand what we were buying is very difficult. They were and still are a great help to us.
Later that afternoon we were picked up and taken for dinner at Pres. & Hermana Da Silva's apartment (the Mission Home is being renovated). It was great to get to know them a little better. Pres. Da Silva speaks English pretty well but Hermana speaks very little. We would he would translate to her. They are both very nice people and it will great to work with them. They are about a year or two younger than we are. We were taken back to our home and we slept very well, maybe exhaustion had some thing to do with it.
We have Sacrament meeting with about 25 of the Senior that are still here. Those without specialty assignments like Office, Temple, Family History only recieve 1 week of training and they are off the their assigned Mission. The Sacrament Meeting was Fast Sunday and the Testimonies that were shared were very strong and the Spirit was strong. We have a lot of really dedicated people in our group.
Later that day we had a Mission Conference with everyone at the MTC. The MTC President and his councilors spoke. It was a good meeting.
That afternoon we went to visit my cousin Lynnanne and her husband. I had not seen her for 30 years or so. She live near Houston Texas. It was great to visit with her and her husband. We met them at her parents, my Uncle Carl & Aunt Mable. They live in Benjamin Utah which is just South of Provo.
Monday
We started our Office Training. We got and overview of Word, Excel, Outlook and MOS which is a Church software program that tracks Missionaries, Expenses, Housing and other things. It is currently be replaced through out the world with an internet version but it has not made it to Urugauy yet. There were 2 couple learning the MOS program and the rest of the group was learning IMOS. Our training went much faster than theirs did. It was 4PM and the Fire Alarm went off in the building and we all had to evacuate the building. Since we were almost finished with our training for the day the instructors let us go for the day. We went back to our apartment and had just sat on the bed when the wall phone rang. It kind of startled us because it had never rang before. It was the Front Desk operator telling us that we had a visitor. I asked who it was and he said that the person did not want to say. So we went to the Front Desk and as we came around the corner, surprise it was our wonderful Bishop Bigelow from our home ward. He was in Salt Lake City attending a funeral and was so kind to come and see us. If that fire alarm had not been activated we would not have been in our room and the operator said our schedule was mixed up in the computer so he did not think he would be able to find us. It was great to visit with Bishop Bigelow and find out how things are going back at home.
Tuesday
We continued our training on the office programs. The Devotional was given by Gerald N. Lund. he spoke on how to find people to teach. He had some really great ideas.
Wednesday - Thursday
More training on the office programs. We started repacking our suitcases to try to determine what we could keep and what would have to go into the car. Tracey Graham is picking the car up Thursday evening and taking it to her Mom's until our daughter Christina can pick it up when she come to Utah for Michael's wedding the end of July. We finally decided that there was no way we were going to be within the weight limits (50 pounds each) of the suitcases so we pick our biggest 2 and filled them up to the next weight (70 pounds) restriction. We had to pay the overweight fee but it was worth it. We were both allowed 2 check-in and 1 carry-on and a personal item. We max'd everthing out we could.
Friday
Our day started at 3:30 AM to prepare to meet the Airport Shuttle at 5:00AM. The shuttle took us to the Salt Lake City Airport where Gregg Spendlove was waiting for us. He just enough time to help us check our bags and get us into the Sky Club where those that travel alot on Delta get pampered and then he had to rush of to catch his flight. I hope he made it.... We caught our flight to Dallas about an hour later and then had about a 3 to 4 hour lay over in Dallas prior to catching our flight to Miami and another 3-4 hour lay over before we caught the all night flight to Montevideo, Uruguay. We arrived at about 9:30AM Saturday Morning exhausted.
Saturday
We concluded our 29.5 hours of travel time and arrived in Urugauy. The airport building is very small. I would compare it to small city like Walla Walla's airport. It was not as big as I would have expected for a City of 4 million people. We departed the plane down some stairs and got on a bus that took us to the airport building where we all lined up and went through customs and had our passports stamped and carry-on bags scanned. We then went to the baggage claim area and awaited our bags. We got 2 of the 4 quickly but 2 did not show up on the small baggage carosel so we started looking around for them. Keep in mind that we are now in a Spanish speaking country. I found the bags being held by the operator of the x-ray machines. I motioned to him that the bags were mine and he put them back on the belt and ran them through the machine one at a time and them proceeded to tell and to motion for me to open them. He was extremely interested in the many bottles of vitamins that we had packed. I tried to explain that we were going to be here for 2 years but he was not getting it. Finally another traveler bless his heart heard my broken Spanish eplaination and he explained it to the customs official and he let us have our bags. We then went through a door to the other room where there were hundreds of people lined up to greet people. I caught sight of a couple of young Elder's and then President and Sister Da Silva as well. It was great to see familiar people. The Elder's (Powers & Parrage)were the assitant to the President took us to our home and gave us about 4 hours to unpack and rest before they would be by to take us to the President's apartment for dinner. We had just got unpacked and the Finacial Elder's Solomon & Sessions came to help us sign the contract with our Landlady who lives in the home behind ours. Her name is Cristina. Elder's Solomon & Session are assigned to the Buceo ward where our home is located. They took us to a store to buy some cleaning supplies and other things we need to start up a home again. It was really great to have bi-lingual help. Trying to read labels in Spanish and understand what we were buying is very difficult. They were and still are a great help to us.
Later that afternoon we were picked up and taken for dinner at Pres. & Hermana Da Silva's apartment (the Mission Home is being renovated). It was great to get to know them a little better. Pres. Da Silva speaks English pretty well but Hermana speaks very little. We would he would translate to her. They are both very nice people and it will great to work with them. They are about a year or two younger than we are. We were taken back to our home and we slept very well, maybe exhaustion had some thing to do with it.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Week 8 2nd Week of MTC Office Training
Monday July 6
We started our Office Procedures training. It gives us an overview of Microsoft Office and then more in depth training on the Church’s programs for keeping track of the Missionaries, Paying for Rents, Utilities and vehicles. It is a lot less intense than last weeks training.
Tuesday July 7, 2009
We continued our Office Procedures training. The Devotional talk was given my Angel Abrea of the Quorum of the 70. His talk was about teaching with the spirit.
Wednesday July 8, 2009
We continued our Office Procedures training. In the afternoon we had 2 hours of language training. Janice’s Mom & Step-Father came to visit at 5:00 PM. We went to dinner with them and had a nice visit. I told her Mom that no tears were allowed and they both were able to make it through the evening with no tears. It was great to see them and enjoy their company.
We got a response to an email to our mission today that eased our minds. They indicated that they would pick us up at the airport and that there was a house for us to live in when we arrived. Until now we did not know if we would have to find our own or if the mission had something available.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Pictures of Tutors & Friends
Some pictures of our tutors and friends from home & the Mission Training Center
Mario (from Spain) , one of our tutors
Jade (from Domican Republic) one of our tutors
Benjamin (from Mexico) one of our tutors
Jorge (from Peru) one of our tutors
Carlos (from Mexico) one of our tutors
Fabrizio (from Peru) one of our tutors
Our family after we were set apart as Missionaires
Our friends Joe & Lois Brainich that we Home Teach
Our friends that we have know for years,Top left: Lamar & Marcia Jacobs, Janice & Dan Hegerhorst, Velvet & Mike Navarre, Joyce & Mark Wilson, Front row: Lane & LaWana Green
Monday, July 6, 2009
Week 7 June 29th to July 5th
Monday June 29th or First Official Day as Missionaries
We entered the MTC at 10:30 and started to meet the other Senior couples in our group. We have 67 in our group including 3 single Sisters.
The first couple of hours were spent introducing ourselves and an orientation from our trainer Brother Steve Graham. We have couples serving in all sorts of different mission, proselyting, temple, office, family history, humanitarian and 2 couples serving full time mission from their homes. In the afternoon we were assigned to read the Preach My Gospel chapters on Restoration of the Gospel to prepare for a lesson we are to teach on Tuesday to volunteer acting as a person interested in learning more about the church.
Tuesday June 30th
We had more classes and then we gave our lesson to the volunteer that was interested in the Church. After the lesson we evaluated the lessons we gave. We then received our next reading assignment for the evening. It was to read the chapters on The Plan of Salvation. To prepare for another lesson to give to another interested person.
The devotion as given by Gerald N. Lund. He spoke to us about how to find people that are interested in the Church.
Wednesday July 1st
We gave the lesson on the Plan of Salvation to our interested person and later evaluated our lesson. We had a recently returned Senior Couple give us a talk about how we can be creative and do things on our mission to meet and activate people. They taught us how to be organized and make the best use of our time.
We had language training later in the evening for 2 hours after dinner. We were pleasantly surprised to be able to remember and speak most of the things we had learned previously.
Thursday July 2nd
We were given the assignment to interview a person that is less active in the Church. We were then assigned to provide a lesson that would help them become more interested in coming back into full activity in the Church. We were also assigned to read the chapters about The Gospel of Jesus Christ to prepare for a lesson we will teach on Friday. We also went to the Referral Center which is where the telephone calls go when people are responding to media advertisements. We got the opportunity to put on telephone headset and wait for a phone call. In our group we had 2 calls come in. One was interested in getting a new Bible and the other was a crank call. The time we were there the phones were pretty quiet so not all of us got the opportunity to receive a call. Janice and I did not receive a call.
Later that evening we had our 2 hours of Language Training.
Friday July 3rd
We gave our lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a person that was a recent convert into the Church. We also learned the proper way to work with local leaders to make the best use of their and our time.
Friday night we had our language training. We had a Family Home Evening with 3 other couples learning Spanish. We were assigned to give a scripture and testify about it in Spanish. It went very well. We then played a game that tested our vocabulary. Later that evening all the people that were receiving language training met for a testimony meeting where we were given the opportunity to bear our testimony in the language we were learning. There were testimonies born in Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, French and English. It was a very spiritual experience.
Saturday July 4th
Was our Preparation day and July 4th. We did our laundry and run some errands. Later in the evening we attended a special fireside on the Restoration of the Church. It explained how some of the reformers helped to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the common people.
Sunday July 5th
We attended a very spiritual Fast & Testimony meeting with the other Senior couples in our group. They have a very deep and strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Following the testimony meeting we attended a Mission Conference that everyone here at the MTC attended. The MTC Presidency and their wives spoke. Later that evening we attended a Devotional that was very good. Life at the MTC has been exceptional, the staff, teachers and attendees have been great. The Spirit is so strong, it has been a great experience. Next week is our last 4 days here, we fly out Friday July 10th. We meet our shuttle to the airport at 5:00AM....
We entered the MTC at 10:30 and started to meet the other Senior couples in our group. We have 67 in our group including 3 single Sisters.
The first couple of hours were spent introducing ourselves and an orientation from our trainer Brother Steve Graham. We have couples serving in all sorts of different mission, proselyting, temple, office, family history, humanitarian and 2 couples serving full time mission from their homes. In the afternoon we were assigned to read the Preach My Gospel chapters on Restoration of the Gospel to prepare for a lesson we are to teach on Tuesday to volunteer acting as a person interested in learning more about the church.
Tuesday June 30th
We had more classes and then we gave our lesson to the volunteer that was interested in the Church. After the lesson we evaluated the lessons we gave. We then received our next reading assignment for the evening. It was to read the chapters on The Plan of Salvation. To prepare for another lesson to give to another interested person.
The devotion as given by Gerald N. Lund. He spoke to us about how to find people that are interested in the Church.
Wednesday July 1st
We gave the lesson on the Plan of Salvation to our interested person and later evaluated our lesson. We had a recently returned Senior Couple give us a talk about how we can be creative and do things on our mission to meet and activate people. They taught us how to be organized and make the best use of our time.
We had language training later in the evening for 2 hours after dinner. We were pleasantly surprised to be able to remember and speak most of the things we had learned previously.
Thursday July 2nd
We were given the assignment to interview a person that is less active in the Church. We were then assigned to provide a lesson that would help them become more interested in coming back into full activity in the Church. We were also assigned to read the chapters about The Gospel of Jesus Christ to prepare for a lesson we will teach on Friday. We also went to the Referral Center which is where the telephone calls go when people are responding to media advertisements. We got the opportunity to put on telephone headset and wait for a phone call. In our group we had 2 calls come in. One was interested in getting a new Bible and the other was a crank call. The time we were there the phones were pretty quiet so not all of us got the opportunity to receive a call. Janice and I did not receive a call.
Later that evening we had our 2 hours of Language Training.
Friday July 3rd
We gave our lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a person that was a recent convert into the Church. We also learned the proper way to work with local leaders to make the best use of their and our time.
Friday night we had our language training. We had a Family Home Evening with 3 other couples learning Spanish. We were assigned to give a scripture and testify about it in Spanish. It went very well. We then played a game that tested our vocabulary. Later that evening all the people that were receiving language training met for a testimony meeting where we were given the opportunity to bear our testimony in the language we were learning. There were testimonies born in Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, French and English. It was a very spiritual experience.
Saturday July 4th
Was our Preparation day and July 4th. We did our laundry and run some errands. Later in the evening we attended a special fireside on the Restoration of the Church. It explained how some of the reformers helped to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the common people.
Sunday July 5th
We attended a very spiritual Fast & Testimony meeting with the other Senior couples in our group. They have a very deep and strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Following the testimony meeting we attended a Mission Conference that everyone here at the MTC attended. The MTC Presidency and their wives spoke. Later that evening we attended a Devotional that was very good. Life at the MTC has been exceptional, the staff, teachers and attendees have been great. The Spirit is so strong, it has been a great experience. Next week is our last 4 days here, we fly out Friday July 10th. We meet our shuttle to the airport at 5:00AM....
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Week 6 June 24th to 28th
Preparing for the hike to Mt. Timpanogos Cave.
It was raining.....
Mt. Timpanogos Temple
Oquirrh Mountain Temple
Monday June 22th
We continued with our language training. During our lunch break we let Chris & Rashida Charles Skype their family back in England. They really enjoyed that. In the evening we took them to see a Cabello's store in Lehi Utah. Thankfully they enjoyed looking at all the animals and fishes and really enjoyed some of the fudge and roasted nuts they sell in the store. Chris proceeded to beat me in the shooting range they have. Rashida and Janice were busy decorating a future cabin with the furniture and paintings they found. As we were leaving we discovered that the Charles had never tried beef jerky so we bought a couple of varieties, teriaki and peppered. They enjoyed both but preferred the bite of the peppered.
Tuesday June 23rd
We continued our language training. The Charles came and used our computer to email their family. There was some confusion with our tutoring schedule and no one showed up for our afternoon session. Janice and I went for a walk and asked each other questions in Spanish. We stopped in front of the MTC and sat on a bench in the shade. A young lady walked by and I said Hola and she said Hola back which lead to more dialog. She asked us where we were going to serve our mission and told her the Montevideo Uruguay Mission and she got really excited and said you are the new senior couple we are waiting for. It turns out that she had just returned from that mission and still talks like she is apart of it. So the office Missionaries that I spoke with or President Ashby has let the word out and we are expected. The Devotional which is usually held on Tuesday's was moved to Friday due to the upcoming New Mission President Seminar which starts on Wednesday. So we were planning on attending a session at the Provo Temple in the evening. Someone overheard us planing the outing and informed us that it was closed for it's summer cleaning. So we went to the Mount Timpanogos temple instead. It was very busy and we had to wait an hour to get into our session. It is such a beautiful temple and we really enjoyed being there.
Wednesday June 24th
We continued our language training. The Mission Presidents checked in for their Seminar today. We were mingling in the hallway looking for our Mission President and hanging out with the Charles and I happened to see a name tag with Spendlove as the last name. It told the Mission President and his wife that Spendlove was my wife's maiden name. As we talked further it turns out that President Loren & Tina Spendlove are related to Janice. Loren is her 2nd cousin. We made an appointment with them on Friday at 1:00 PM to get to know them better and discover more about Janice's family.
In the evening the Charles joined the Leavitt's and us at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house in West Jordan Utah. It is a very beautiful Temple and the Church provided a very good tour and we had a great time. As we were leaving they were offering rides back to the cars on oversized golf carts so we all piled in and he took around the Temple so we could get pictures and then back to the cars. The Leavitt's and the Charles really enjoyed getting to know each other and we all had a great time.
Thursday June 25th
We continued our language training.
The Mission President's Seminar started and we were able to meet our Mission President and His wife. They are President & Sister De Silva from Paraguay. He speaks very little English and his wife speaks even less. He gave Janice the assignment to teach his wife English and his wife the assignment to teach Janice Spanish.
Friday June 26th
More language training. We met with Loren & Tina Spendlove for about an hour and Janice was able to catch up on some family questions. They had more meetings to attend so we set up another meeting at 1:00 PM on Sunday to continue the conversation.
We were invited to attend Chris & Rashida Charles setting apart to be the Mission President in Greece. Elder L. Tom Perry ( of the quorum of the 12 Apostles) was the one that set Chris apart and Elder Teixeira (of the quorum of the 70) set Rashida apart. It was really great to be apart of this special experience.
There were General Authorities all over the MTC, Elder L. Tommm Perry, Elder Dallin Oaks, Elder Ballard, Elder Nelson, Elder Holland, Elder Bednar, Elder Cook, Elder Christopherson, Elder Anderson and the president's of the Quorum of 70. It is really exciting to be around the leadership of the Church and feel of the special spirit they have.
Saturday June 27th
We spent the day packing and cleaning at the Leavitt's and took them to dinner.
Sunday June 28th
We went to church at a Spanish Ward and we were able to understand more than we had the previous time we went so we must be learning something.
The Charles came to dinner at the Leavitt's. Susanne made a wonderful meal and we all enjoyed visiting with each other. It was our last night at the Leavitts and our last night with the Charles as they fly out to start their new assignment as the Mission President's of Greece in the morning.
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