Week 6 in Montevideo

This is some of the packaging we find at the stores.

Bottom left is a very tasty liquid yogurt, this flavor is peach, They come in bags apprx. 1 liter

Bottom Center is milk again in the 1 liter bag

Bottom Right is a 5 liter bottle of water

Top left is a box of tomato paste

Top left /middle is a bag of ketchup

Top middle / right is a bag of mayoniase

Top right is a bag of milk in the little pictures they use. The bag is placed into the picture and the corner is trimmed off an you pour out of that opening.

Cans and bottles are not used nearly as much as in the USA

Wednesday August 19th
We met the Halloday's that are serving at the Temple at a street market close to were we get off from the bus. The market sold vegetables like, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, onions, avocados, corn, turnips, strawberries, bananas and many other that I don't know what they are. There were drivable trucks with the back ends built into meat markets and cheeses of all sorts. We bought some of the vegetables but shyed away from the meat markets. It was great to visit with the Halloday's and the Wilson's, Hopkins that arrived later to the market.
We met with President Da Silva today. He stopped by the office to see if a package had arrive for him and we asked to speak with him. We told him we were frustrated and that we needed to feel like we were contributing to the Mission. We feel that we are not being used to are full capacity and don't feel like we are contributing. We told him on things we would like to help with and asked what we could do to lighten his load. He told us that we were needed and that he would think about the problem and get back with us.
Thursday August 20th
President Da Silva & Hermana Da Silva came to the office this morning and held a brief meeting with the office staff. In the meeting he indicated to the Elders that they had high goals of the number of people they needed to baptize each week and that they should be working harder and smarter. He then told them that we have the Hegerhorst's and they are not being utilized to their full potential and that they should train us and then we could take some of the office duties off their shoulders and allow them more time to be out in their areas to spread the gospel. He then told them that we were going to be the Office Managers as of Monday. He told them that when their work was done for the day that they could go out and work! They were excited about that. The Executive secretaries immediately pulled me a side and started training me on what they do.
Later that afternoon President and Sister Hopkins (Temple President) called and said they would like to take us to the store and show us around and make sure we were comfortable buying things and knew what we were buying and where to buy things. We had figured most of the stuff out but they shared a few new insights which will be helpful.
Later that night we went to dinner with President and Hermana Da Silva and discussed ways that we might be able to help in the Mission. We enjoyed the meal and we were able to communicate better with them. Our Spanish is coming very slowly but it is coming.
Friday August 21st
We wanted to get to the office early and get started on the things we needed to do so we arrived at the bus so went to the bus stop at 9:00 AM in order to catch the 9:10 AM bus. We waited until 10:05 and our bus never came by. We hailed a taxi and made it to the office at 10:15AM. We found out later that day that a bus driver had been shot and that the other bus drivers don't got work when that happens. It sure makes it miserable for all the stranded travelers. I guess it a law that the person that dies must be buried in 24 hours so the other bus drivers will be back to work next week.
The Executive Secretaries cornered me first thing and trained me on what they were going to do that day and I took over and they went and did other things and then left the office to work in their area. I spent the day building the packets for the new “ORO” that will be coming in September 22nd. I got them and most of 30 extras done in one day. I will be able to focus on other activities Monday.
Saturday August 22nd
We awoke early to clean the house and other chores prior to Elders Sessions and Jacobson coming over to have Hermana help them bake a cake for one of their investigators. Her name is Alba and it is her birthday. While the Elders were here they got a call from some Elders serving about an hour away that their water heater was out and what the prices would be for another. They said they would try to install the water heater but they needed the money to purchase it. For some reason the system they use to transfer money around in Uruguay called “Abitab”does not work in the area (Penarol) these missionaries are assigned. We volunteered to take them the money and to help them install the water heater. It turned out to be more complicated than expected. The store they were going to buy the water heater from closed at 1:30 and we arrived at 3:00. We went to another store and purchase and different brand of water heater. It turned out the bracket on the heater was high on the old heater and lower on the new so the new heater would fit on the bracket without hitting the ceiling. We needed to install new wall bolts (in concrete) for the water heater to rest on. I did not have a drill or bits to drill into concrete. So the missionaries called several of their members and finally found one that had a drill and bits that were several sizes too small but it was better than nothing. I drilled the holes and about 3 inches into the wall I hit something hard in both hole. The bolts were about 4 inches longs so we had to cut an inch of each so they would fit correctly. Then the plug that came with the heater was different so we needed to find an adapter to convert the plug on the water heater to the plug on the wall. We went to 4 stores and finally found one. We started back to the Mission Office at 5:50 PM. The Elders at the office had appointments and needed the one car that we were driving (the other is in the shop being repaired). We called them and told them that we were going to be late and made plans to meet up with them. We made record time and got the car back to them. We had to hurry home and put icing on the cake so the missionaries could take it to Alba and surprise her. They did and we went to deliver a plate of cookies to Carolina Carrales whose birthday it was also. She is the Ward's YSA representative for the Hermana's. She is a great young lady and is taking the Mission Preparation classes to prepare for a mission in December. She really enjoyed to cookies and asked Janice to teach her how to make them. We then walked to the grocery store to get somethings we needed for tomorrow. We got home about 9:00PM and were very tired from a long day.
Sunday August 23rd
We awoke later than normal because I forgot to set the alarm clock. It still gave us 2 ½ hour to get ready for church. We were able to study the lessons to be taught in Sunday School and Priesthood Meeting. The Missionaries arrived at 9:00 AM and we went over to talk to one of their investigators to see if she was going to go to church with them. She told them that she had to go to a street market to buy leather that she uses in her work. The missionaries were frustrated that this will be an on going problem.
We went to Church and were able to understand a little bit more that we were able to understand previously. We were able to participate in the Sunday School class which as about the martyrdom of Joseph & Hyrum Smith. We had picture of the Carthage Jail and were able to show them the the class members and explain to them the feeling we had in the rooms and what occurred in them.
After Church Janice prepared a great meal and we Skyped Mitch and Cassie for a short time and then the internet kept dropping us off. It was very frustrating as it would let us on and then drop us. After the 4th time we said goodbye.
I worked on the blog and Janice worked on emails and reviewing the office manual.

August 10th to August 17th

August 10th 2009
Monday was spent preparing for the new missionaries they call “OROS” (gold) that are coming in on Tuesday morning. We worked on reimbursements and other tasks in the office.
August 11th 2009
Tuesday started really early. We awoke at 5:00AM to get ready and be at the office at 7:00 AM in order to leave for the airport at 7:15 to pick up the new missionaries “oros” that were coming in from the Mission Training Center in Buenas Aries Argentina. The oros had to get up at 3:30 AM to make their flight so I guess I should not complain. There were 12 new oros, 9 Elders and 3 Hermanas. It was a great group with 1 Latin Elder and 1 Latin Hermana and the rest from USA. We loaded them in to a large bus and sent their luggage in the Mission truck and van and took them to the Hostel which is kind of hotel that is in the complex by the Temple. It is for members that travel long distances to stay in while they attend the temple. It is very nice and the price is very reasonable. It is also used to house the missionaries as the are coming to and from the country. There are meeting rooms for presentations and big kitchens to prepare meals and dining rooms to eat in.
The missionaries arrived at the Hostel and unloaded their luggage and then we all got back on the buss and went into Montevideo to do blood test, urine test and a physical exam for immigration into Uruguay. That took about 2 hours and then we went back to the Hostel and were given presentations by the Mission President & Hermana Da Silva, Mission Secretaries, Mission Financial Secretaries. They had a lot of information to gather in and remember. Then we were given a light lunch. They were given about 4 hours to rest and do some paperwork. We all left and went back to work at the office. Later that afternoon we went back and there were more presentations from the Assistants to the President and then they had a large dinner and more meeting. Janice and I left after the Assistants presentations and went to the apartment of the Halloday's in the Hostel, they are Temple Missionaries and they let us use their phone to call our daughter Christina to discuss some bills that had came in the mail and then went home for the evening.
August 12th 2009
Wednesday we worked the office while the other missionaries went to the main bus depot where all the other missionaries and the oros met for changes. The trainers meet their new oros and the other missionaries that are being transferred and catch the bus to their new areas. It is quite a busy day for the office Elders.
August 13th 2009
Thursday we worked in the office while the office Elders took Hermana's and Elders to the airport at various times. It was late morning and President Da Silva came to the office and called all the Elder into his office for an “Office Meeting” . When they got out we asked what the meeting was about. He informed them that one of the Area Authorities would be coming to visit the mission in September and most of the meeting would take place at the Mission Office and it needed to be cleaned and organized. He also told them that our Mission was spending way to much money on medical items and they were asked to try to find ways to save money.
August 14th 2009
Friday we worked on reimbursements and other tasks in the office. Hermana Hegerhorst heard me reminding the Financial Elders about a commitment they had made to deliver a bed to some missionaries. She volunteered us to go and deliver the bed on Saturday.
August 15th 2009
Saturday is our P-Day and we got up early and quickly cleaned the house and went to the office at 9:00 AM to get the bed in the Mission truck and deliver it to San Jose to the missionaries the needed the new bed. When we arrived at the office it went from 1 bed to 2 beds. There was one bed in pretty good shape but the other had to be rebuilt and new hardware purchased to hold it together. The hardware store did not have the bolts we needed so I purchase a long section of threaded rod and made my own bolts with nuts and washers. The Mission has very few tools so I had to purchase some tools to get the job done. It is a bit frustrating trying to fix things with no tools. I was hoping to beat the traffic and get through town early but it was noon before the beds were repaired so we could get on the road. Hermana Hegerhorst navigated and I drove. We were really blessed to make it though the city and out to San Jose without an incident. The driver here think traffic rules are suggestions to be loosely followed. You have to be very defensive or you will get cut off and in an accident. It is nothing to see 4 cars going side by side on a 2 lane road. When we got to San Jose, Hermana Hegerhorst called Elder Wall from the cell phone and told him were were almost in town and could he give us directions to his house. It turned out there was one Elder (from Peru) that spoke no English and the other just arrived in the area on Wednesday during the changes. His map was not complete and he could not find the road we were on so he had us stop at a know landmark and they rode their bikes to us. We loaded their bikes on the truck and put the Elder's in the back seat of the crew cab pickup and took them back to their apartment and exchanged beds with them. They kept the best of their beds to give to a young lady that does not have a bed frame. We then headed back to Montevideo. The round trip took about 4 ½ hours. It was great to see the city, the countryside and spend some time out of the house. I hope they send us on other trips. While we had the truck we went grocery shopping and then took the truck back so the Elders could use it in the evening. Elder Sessions and Jacobson took us home when they went to their area to work for the evening.
August 16th 2009
Sunday we awoke to a thunder, lighting, wind and rain storm the temperature had dropped about 40 degrees from the day before. The Elder's picked us gave us ride to church, none of their investigators came to church with them. We met with our Young Single Adults during Sunday School time and discussed what activities they would like to do. They are supposed to bring a list of activities they would like to do next week. They also decided that it would be great to learn and English so we volunteered to give English lessons on Thursday evenings at 7:00 PM. Now all I have to do is figure out how to teach English. This is going to be interesting. Gratefully the missionaries agreed to come and be our translators.
We were invited to dinner at the Wilson's apartment next to the Temple at 3:00PM with the Wilson's and the Rice's. The Rices are from Canada. It was great to visit with them and enjoy a great meal. The Rice's are going home in November and Wilson's and 11 months before they go home. Later that evening we met with President & Sister Hopkins of the Temple. We needed to get some advise from a former mission president on what a senior couple could do to be better utilized in the office. It was great to get some advise and them they gave us a ride home.
August 17th 2009
Monday we worked at the office for 1 ½ hours and then went to President & Hermana Da Silva's house for a meeting and a lunch. After the lunch we went back to the office for 30 minutes and then took the truck into the shop to be repaired. It had been hit by a motorcycle a few months earlier. We then went home to await a representative from Antel to install our new DSL line into the house for internet. We were given a window from 2PM to 6PM to for them to arrive. It is now 5:49 and then have not arrived :-( We are making a cake for our landlady (Cristina Sosa) it is her birthday today. Cristina came but the house and called Antel to find out why they had not came to install the internet without us even asking her to do it. She is very funny and teases us about many things. At about 8PM the bell for the front gate rang and it was the guy from Antel to install the internet. There is no such thing as a schedule down here! It is really taking some getting used to and I am not sure I really have yet! He installed the modem and then handed us an instruction sheet for installation in Window Vista and left. Oh of course the instructions are all in Spanish and most of the words are not in the dictionary so we called the Missionaries, Elders Sessions and Jacobson to come over and translate. They were not a lot of help so I struggled through it and installed it by trial and error. It worked for a short time and then stopped working. It was bedtime and the frustration level was growing so I called it a night.

More Pics

Elder Baker (from Montana) saving on washing dishes
The Office Elders at the Monday meeting & Lunch with Pres. & Hermana Da Silva.
You guessed it that is the back of my bald head

Getting to the Monday meeting we had some starter problems with the van and had to push it to get it started!

Our First Zone Conference with Pres. & Hermana Da Silva

Pics from BBQ; P-Day Cleaning, Car Problems

Hermana Hegerhorst trying to carry on a conversation at the Ward Dinner for Married Couples

Other attendies at the Ward dinner for married couples

Cleaning the house on Preparation Day

Cleaning the house on Preparation Day

The Asado or BBQ for Elder Powers (front Right)

August 5th to August 9th

Wednesday, August 5th
We worked at the office doing reimbursements and various other tasks. That evening Elder Solomon and Session invited us to attend a discussion they had lady named Alba Garcia, she is in her 60´s and wanted to meet someone older so the missionaries invited us to go with them. Alba spoke English pretty well and wanted to practice with us. She really liked to talk with Janice. They really seemed to hit it of well. The one hour discussion turned into 2 hours. She really like the scriptures that she had been asked to read and read even more that what was asked. She is in real need of a friend so we invited her to come to Church and meet some new people that would be her friend. She is very reluctant to leave the house and was coming up with excuses. She did say that she would think about it. The missionaries have another appointment with her on Saturday night so the will ask her again. We finally made it home at 7:30 and needed to prepare for the meal we cook for the missionaries each Thursday. This week they had requested biscuits and gravy. We had practiced last Friday on Elder Solomon so we felt confident we could make it. We were making the biscuits from scratch with ingredients that we could find in Uruguay. We were doing really well until Janice put the wrong amount of milk into the recipe so she had to double the doubled flour portion to make up for the milk error. Then we discovered that we had too much flour and not enough milk, but we were out of milk in the house so we improvised and use vanilla yogurt as milk. It turned our great. We also made fruit pizza with a sugar cookie crust, cream cheese frosting and oranges, kiwi & pineapple as the fruit topping and of course it would not be meal without a salad so we made a huge salad. We finished up about 11:00 PM and went to bed.
Thursday, August 6th
We had the Elders call us a taxi to bring all the food to the Mission Office. It cost about 100 pesos and a pass along card. The morning was spent doing office tasks and preparing the rest of the meal. Janice still needed to make the gravy part of the biscuits and gravy. The lunch went very well and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. This week we had 10 because the assistants to the President were back from their trips to visit all the Missionaries. We stayed late working on the reimbursements so we could finish it the next morning. We have 3 of the accounts that would not balance and will have to be reviewed by Elders Solomon & Sessions. We took the bus home and I seen a bus that said it was going to an area that was close to our home so we took it. We were doing fine until it took a left turn and headed in the wrong direction. We finally recognized some landmarks and got off the bus. Very few of the streets have street signs showing the street name. Some of the houses have the street name as well as the house numbers on them. It makes it very difficult to find your way around with out street name signs especially in the dark at 8:00 PM. We finally made it home and learned from that bus experience.
Friday, August 7th
We stayed at the house in the morning waiting for a delivery of our water bottles. They were supposed to deliver them at 9:30 AM and at 12:30 I had one of the Elders call the company and change the delivery to the next Thursday and change the amount from 2 bottles to 5 so we only have to wait around once a month instead of each week. We arrived at the office and discovered that the Internet was down so I called the Church systems person to fix it. He came the to the office and discovered that the problem was with the Internet Service provider so he got them working on the problem. Unfortunately the company is a state owned company and only work M-F 9 to 5 and it was 4:00PM when we got in touch with them. We had reports that need to be transmitted to Argentina that could not go out. Not a good thing!
We had been invited to attend a married couples dinner tonight. It started at 8:30 PM. We arrived at 8:32PM and were the first to arrive. The room was not set up, the food was not there yet. We helped the Brother that was in charge of the event set up the tables and chairs. Set out the plates and utensils and bring the food in from the car. It is now close to 9:00PM and one other couple was there. It turns out he works nights and had to go to work at 9:15 PM. At 9:15 one other couple had arrived and we sent Genaro off to work on his bicycle with a meal in his backpack. Other couples trickled in and they finally started the meal at 10:00 PM. The meal was cold and most were putting them dinners in the microwave to heat it back up. This is typical for Uruguay I am told and they would stay until after midnight and talk and eat. We had to leave a bit before 11:00 PM. We were going to walk Sandra (Genero’s wife) home and them walk home but the 2nd councilor would not let us walk so he drove us all home. It was a really fun evening trying to communicate with the ward members. Many of them can speak quite well but are reluctant to speak because they may make a mistake. This sound very familiar!! We got home about 11:00PM and went directly to bed.
Saturday, August 8th
We did our morning chores of sweeping, moping and doing laundry. We were invited to a BBQ in honor of Elder Powers who is one of the assistants to the President . Elder Powers is leaving for home next week and one of the people in his ward wanted to make him a going a way meal. We made a huge potato salad the day before, again being creative with our ingredients. The salad turned out great and the missionaries loved it. The BBQ was awesome and we all ate way too much. It was great. Janice spent the rest of that afternoon cleaning the kitchen in the Mission Office. The cupboards, the bowls, the plates, the utensils, and everything in between. I think it was kind of a self defense disease prevention project instead of just being nice to the missionaries. She spends some time in the kitchen on Thursdays and it has been giving her the creeps. I am sure it will be much better when she is done!!
We have an appointment with Elder & Sister Wilson who serve at the Uruguay Temple to come to their house at 6:00 PM and they will let us use their phone to call home. We still do not have internet access at our home and do not know when we will. We spent 3 hours at the Wilson's talking about missions and Uruguay. They also let us use their telephones and we were able to call our children and mothers. It was great to finally be back in contact with them. It was about 9:30PM when we started for the bus stops. Elder's Solomon and Sessions had borrowed our computer so they could show a DVD to Alba. They stopped by our house and we were not there so they called and came to our rescue and gave us a ride home.
Sunday August 9th.
We walked to church with an investigator that was told we did not speak or understand much Spanish but that did not seem to slow her down. She talked non stop the 3 blocks to the Church. We actualy understood some of what she said, it was amazing. Sacrament meeting started late and ended later. The invetigator had to leave and go to work but the Elders said she enjoyed the meeting. They had a young man with them also. It is great to be apart of the work here in the Ward and Mission.
We were set apart as the Young Single Adult representatives in the ward during the Sunday School class of the YSA. The bishop had just laid his hands on my head when his cell phone went off. I said “el espiritu” which means the Holy Ghost and everyone except the Bishop laughed. The Bishop was too busy turning red from the embarrassment of having his cell phone go off.
Elder Solomon is being transferred to Durazno this week so we had him and Elder Sessions over to the house for a waffle dinner Sunday night. They really enjoyed the meal and it was great to get to know them better and thank him for all the help he has been to us.

Monday July 27 to Tuesday August 4th

Monday July 27th
Normally there is a meeting with the Office Elders, Presidents Assistant's and President Da Silva at noon. Today the President & Sister Da Silva and the assistants are traveling to the various areas meeting the missionaries and inspecting their housing. Usually with the meeting is a luncheon cooked by Sister Da Silva and Mari a local Sister that has been helping the Mission Presidents for years. She is a great cook and has learned how to make some American dishes. The Elder really enjoy something from home. Today with them traveling we had to eat without them and we did not have the meeting. It was really tough duty but we gladly stepped up and put away the groceries. Later that afternoon Janice and I worked on stuff around the office. She worked on reimbursements and I started to clean out the garage area where the mail is sorted and we store all the literature for the mission. It was in need!!

Tuesday July 28th
Janice worked on reimbursements and I worked on cleaning out the garage area some more. On Monday some of the facilities maintenance people stopped by and fixed the toilet so it would flush and they came back this morning and fixed the windows so they would close. That will make the Mission Office much warmer than it was.
Wednesday July 29th
We continued cleaning and working on reimbursements. It is getting much more organized and clean.
Thursday July 30th
We continued cleaning and working on reimbursements. I also got to wire up an oven for the Mission Office. We took the old one that was hardwired into the wall and put a receptacle in the wall so the new oven could plug in. The Missionaries were excited because know they had a oven and stove that all the burners worked and the oven.
Friday July 31st
Elder Solomon and I went to Paso Carrasco to deliver a stove to Elder Heaps & Bennett that live and work in that area. The area has mainly dirt roads and old buildings. It is a poorer part of town. Elder Heaps and Bennett are really resourceful Missionaries they have a fireplace that they use to heat the home with and they were cooking on the fire when we arrived. They were making of all things doughnuts. They had a pot in the fire with oil and they were cooking the doughnuts in the oil. They had made a glaze and a lemon sauce to cover the doughnuts and doughnut holes in. They told us we could have some and they tasted great. I was really impressed with what they had done with so little. They where really excited and grateful to get a real stove and oven. They had been cooking on what amounts to about a 10” diameter propane tank with a burner attached to the top. They had just ran out of propane so they work making do with the fire. We went and bought them a new large propane tank and connected it to the stove and everything worked after I wired up the stove with a plug. They were really excited to have their new stove.
We went back to the Mission Office where Hermana Hegerhorst was preparing to make biscuits and gravy for Elder Solomon & Sessions. The turned out we considering we do not have sausage and some of the other ingredients you typically find in the recipe. The food here is quite bland with very little spices. We have one store in the area that has a small amount to spices that we would typically find in the States and they are really expensive, but worth it in my opinion. Later that afternoon I replaced and repaired door knobs that were missing or broken. We are slowly getting the Mission Office cleaned up repaired and organized. Later that evening we went with Elders Solomon & Sessions to visit Gladys Castellazzi and Genaro & Sandra Paulos. They were great visits and we invited them to prepare to attend the temple. Both seem very excited about it.

Saturday August 1st.
Today is P-Day and we cleaned the house, did 3 loads of laundry and them walked to the Montevideo Shopping Center. It was a clear brisk day and the wind was not blowing. It was great to walk and see new territory! I am guessing it is about 1.5 mile walk and we gaulked and everything we could from the Buceo Cemetery to street markets it was great. The shopping center is a two story very large shopping mall with everything from home improvement stores, clothes, jewelry and electronics and of course a food court. We walked around just to see what was there and then went to Tienda Inglesa (English Store) and shopped for food. We then took a taxi back home. It cost 2548.50 pesos ($110) for the food and 58 pesos ($2.5) for the taxi ride. Hermana Hegerhorst's right knee decided it did not like walking and really greatful for the taxi ride home. Once she stopped walking all the time the knee started to feel fine. We made dinner of pasta Alfredo and salad with bread from the local bakery. Hermana Hegerhorst texted Cristina our landlady to see if she is going to church with us and she emailed us back and said she is planning on going but will let us know tomorrow.
Sunday August 2nd
We got the text message from Cristina (our Landlady) at about 8:30 AM telling us that she was still tired and she wanted to spend the morning with her son Pablo. So we will see if she comes next week.
We went to church and after Fast & Testimony meeting we were ask by the Bishop's 1st Councilor to come with him to the Bishop's office he needed to talk with us. He speaks English very well and so he was given the assignment to extend the assignment to us to be the Young Single Adult (YSA) representatives. This would mean meeting with them and planning activities helping them to grow in the Gospel. There are 39 YSA on the Ward list and about 10 that are active. We will need to verify that others are still at the addresses on the list and encourage them to come to some of the activities we will be planning. The 1st Councilor claims that the YSA can speak English so we should be able to communicate with them. We accepted the assignment and should be set apart next Sunday.
We were invited to a dinner for married couples on Friday August 8th. They start their activities really late here. It starts at 8:30 PM. That should be interesting to go to and try to communicate with the Ward members. We are studying and the language is coming slowly but we are learning and this will force us to open our mouths and speak. That will force us to practice what we are learning. It can only make us better.

Monday, August 3rd,
We got up early and went to the Church Offices and met with the person that is in charge of the computer systems in the Church offices in Uruguay. He gave us some good advise on how to get the internet hooked up at our house. Unfortunately it depends on out Landlady Cristina giving her approval to put DSL in our house. She had a bad experience with a prior renter that put in a phone line without her know and left owing 40,000 pesos on a phone bill. Cristina refused to pay in so the utility may require that that past bill is paid before they will put in the DSL line.
We meet with President & Hermana Da Silva at the weekly meeting with office staff. They just returned from a 3 week tour of the Missionaries housing and said their were some that were in pretty bad shape. They may use us to help get them into shape or move the missionaries to other housing.
We worked on a procedure to streamline the reimbursements process and insure that they do not get lost between the missionaries and office.

Tuesday, August 4th
We went to the our first District Meeting this morning. It was great to see the young men put together a meeting that everyone seemed to enjoy being at. They taught how to invite people to come to Church. I told them about the program the Seattle Mission has to invite people to come to tour the church building prior to attending a meeting. This gives them a chance to see what goes on inside of the building without the pressure of having a lot of other people around.
We then went back to the office and worked on reimbursements and I called Provo and got them to reconfigure our network to allow printing from all the computers to all the printers in the office and they are going to send someone by to look at the UPS's to find out why the keep beeping. They will also look at the network wiring and hopefully get it wired up so it is not such a fragile mess of cables. It is very possible that next Wednesday August 12th our main Financial Secretary ( Elder Solomon) will be transferred to another assignment. If so we will definitely miss his experience and patience in training us.
Tonight we made waffles and they were great!! Maple syrup in a rare item down here and it is very expensive when you can find it. We found some and it tasted great on the waffles.