Thanksgiving in Uruguay with the Rocha Zone

Hermana Walton (Las Vegas) and Hermana Lee (Ohio)
These are the new missionaries for La Paloma. They enjoy singing and playing the piano in addition to sharing the Gospel.

Thanksgiving was celebrated in Uruguay by our Zone on the Monday the 29th of November. The following are some of the pictures of the activities and preparation for the feast!
Hermana Hegerhorst and Taylor starting the preparations

Peeling the potatoes, some good help in the kitchen, Pres. & Hermana Taylor and Janice

The Urugauyan version of a BBQ, they call it an ASADO. You start the fire on the left side and wait for the coals to drop and then pull them under the grate on the right side. This time the coals were so HOT that I could hardly get close to the grill. I used the cardboard box to help shield me from the heat but it did not work very well. The chicken got a little burnt with the heat being so high, but trying to cook 20 huge chicken breast all at the same time I did not have any other option. The burns will heal ...right???? just kidding

While the old people were preparing the food the young were playing or taking it easy. Elder Woods (Arizona) found a lady Jennifer from Montana to play some tennis with. They were pretty evenly matched and were very glad to find someone to be able to play with. They both had a great time!

Some of the Elders taking it easy after District Meetings, impatiently waiting for food!
I put them to work!

I had them trim the hedge that separates our house from the neighbors.
They did a great job! Thanks Elders!!

Some of them headed up to the top of the light house. If you look real close you can see them on top the the lighthouse. This is taken from our front lawn using a 10x power zoom lens.

This is the results of all the hard work and preparation, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans (or at least something that looks like them) sweet potatoes, jello salad, dressing, rolls and a marinated chicken breast (or burnt offering). It all got eaten and then some!

The feeding frenzy has begun

Hermana Walton (left) and Hermana Lee both looking very content after the meal........but wait there is more!!!!!!! Dessert

For dessert we had sweet potato pie (no pumpkins here) and a huge apple pie.
They both turned out great!

Right out of the oven, the sweet potato pie was really tall but settled as it cooled.
It finally got do cooking just after midnight. It did not want to cook!

Pres. Taylor was very content with the meal and was trying to catch a few ZZZZ but with all these friends around it was a bit difficult. One of his turkey friends decided to come visit for a bit.

Elder Caufield and Elder Delbar

This week we had changes and our Elders were transferred and and we now have sister missionaries in La Paloma. So just before the Elders left Elder Caufield showed me how to make donuts.

They are actually spud nuts! They were delicious on the first day when they were crispy! But the humidity gets into everything! So the next day they weren't as crispy but they were good!

I spend way to much time in this room!

It was Elder Delbars birthday the day before they were transferred! So we made fajitas and he asked for Dan's special chocolate surprise cake. The only problem we had was we didn't have any candles so we just used matches. I doesn't work to well! The matches burn out way to fast. But we were able at least to get a picture.

3 Branch Relief Society Activity in La Paloma

We had a 3 branch combined Relief society activity.

Our branch invited the 2 branches in Rocha to join us in La Paloma for a fun activity with skits and food and a visit to the beach. We were expecting maybe 20 women to come, but a bus showed up with over 30 women an children on it! Wow! It was great! We never expected such a great turn out.

One branch did a skit with an aerobic theme.

We sang some hymns.

We even had an impromptu dance to the music.

The treats were yummy! Dan and I even made sugar cookies the night before. They were a hit! It was a great time for all that attended.

Youth Activity

We had and activity for the youth in the Branch and their friends. We had 3 members of the Branch and 5 non members of the Branch attend. This was our first activity in a while the weather is starting to warm up and the sun is stay up longer. This means people are willing to come out of their houses and participate in activities.
Top row left to right: Elder Caufield Guiliana Piriz, Romina (friend of Jimena), Jimena, Romina (friend of Jimena, both friend have the same name) Elder Delbar.
Bottom row, Augustin Piriz, Gonzo (friend of Gabriel), Gabriel, (friend of Gabriel)

Janice made cinnamon twists (Tracey Graham's recipe) for treats at the activity. She also thought that a cold glass of milk would be the perfect combination. The kids asked us is the mild hot? Is it Skim Milk, you want us to drink it? We were shocked to learn that they only drink milk with hot chocolate or coffee or hot with sugar. They all looked at us like you got to be kidding. We continue to learn the customs here..... They loved the cinnamon twists and Elder Delbar got to drink about a dozen glasses of milk that Janice had poured out of the blue bag you see in the picture. He was great with that!

We taught them all how to play "Spoons" and they loved it. They did not want to stop when we tried to play other games. Some of the young men did not even bother to look at the cards as they went around the table they were just concerned about making sure they got a spoon when the person that got 4 cards in a row picked up the first spoon. It was fun to watch and play. They all wanted to come again the next week, but they all forgot. So the Elders and us played a few games of 7 up while we waited to see if anyone was coming and of course we had to indulge in some Uruguayian versions of Molasses cookies. Since they do not have molasses here we have to substitute honey for molasses and brown sugar for molasses. They have a different taste but they are still good.

A Helping Hand or La Paloma Entertainment

Here you have Elder Hegerhorst (me) pushing Ruben Bica in his wheelchair. I hold on to the handle of his wheelchair and push him while riding the bicycle. It is not to bad on the flat roads but on the hills and rough roads it get very difficult to push him this way. I like to push him this way because it is faster and I have a way back home without walking. Ruben seems to enjoy the trips and I have not scared him too badly. Although Janice decided one day that she wanted to help push on the other side. It is a bit more complicated than it looks and the next thing Ruben knew was Janice running into his wheelchair and almost causing a crash. She decided after that she would leave the pushing to me.

And there they went......

Visit from the Parents of Elder Richard Jones

This is a Uruguayan version of a BBQ. They build a fire on the elevated grates on the left hand side and as the wood burns down the coals fall through the grate at which time they are moved over to the area under the elevated grate on the right hand side. This is were the cooking takes place. The total process takes about 3 hours. It is very hot, smokey and time consuming. The meat cooks fine and tastes great once you finally get it done. You have to be careful not to run out of coals before your meat is cooked. It takes some practice and patience but it is kind of fun! Here we are preparing chicken for Elder Richard Jones and his parents that came to pick him up from the mission. This is the lunch we held for Elder Jones and his parents. Of course the Elders got to participate and enjoy the meal also. Left to Right, Janice Hegerhorst, Sandy Jones, Dr. Robert Jones, Elder Jones, Elder Delbar and Elder Caufield

While the Jones's were in Uruguay they visited many of the areas that Elder Jones served in. La Paloma was the last area he served. They visited some of the members in La Paloma. Here they are visiting Ruben Bica. Doctor Jones was able to help Ruben understand why and how to control his blood sugar for his diabetics. It has been a few weeks since the visit and he is doing a bit better. We hope it will continue!

The visit with Elizabeth Glatti,

We wanted to take a picture of both families before the Jones's left the country. There was no one to take the picture, so we set the camera on the hood of the car (which was slanted and a bit to low, but that is all we had). You can see that we all had to crouch down a bit or the top of our heads would have been cut off . What ya gonna do?
Left to Right Elder Richard Jones, Daniel Hegerhorst, Janice Hegerhorst, Sandy Jones,
Dr. Robert Jones.

Cooking Lessons, General Conf,, Party for Elder Jones

Janice giving cooking lessons to Ruben. Here they are making a pot of vegetable chicken soup. Ruben loves soup and chicken so it was natural to combine them and give him both!

Watching General Conference in a room in the Church in Rocha. There was a small TV and it was broadcast in English. The sessions were live but with the time difference the Saturday morning session started at 1PM and the afternoon session at 5 PM and the Priesthood session at 9PM. We then caught the 11:30PM bus as was home at 12:30AM. Then Uruguay had a time change so we lost an hour. Sunday Morning session started at 2PM and the afternoon session at 6PM and we were on the 8PM bus for La Paloma. Conference was great! Left to Right: Elder Richard Jones, Elder Woods, Elder Stapley, Elder Hegerhorst (standing) Hermana Alicia Taylor, Elder Curtis Merritt, Elder David Delbar, Elder Wheeler.

Baby green parrots in a nest about 40 feet above ground.

Between the sessions of General Conference we had a baptism. Sheila was baptized. She visits her Grandmother in our Branch almost every Sunday and she wanted to be baptized and her parents said that would be great. They are not members but have seen that she loves to attend and the good that the Gospel has brought into the lives of their other relatives. Janice wants to put her in a suitcase and bring her home with us!

A few of the Branch members at a going away party for Elder Richard Jones. Elizabeth hosted the party and we had a great time! She always makes way to much food but it is always awesome.

The Branch did a service project for the City of La Paloma. 11 people participated and we all had a great time.

The city of La Paloma has an old house that they want to convert into a place where they provide meals and food to people. We helped them clean out the trash so they could start the renovations to the building.

August, Multi Zone Conf. and Ichiara

The Mission President asked us at District Meeting if us and the Taylor's could make lunch for 60 Missionaries at a Three Zone Conference next week. President Arnold, the new Area President was speaking at the conference.
We finally agreed to make the lunch, this is some of the food that we needed for the Sloppy Joe's and Potato Salad and Cold Slaw Salad and Brownies.

Bags of groceries for the lunch

44 pounds of potatoes that needed to be cleaned, peeled and cut up for Potato Salad!

The peeler, cutter and .........

The "Boss" cleaning up the pots and buckets needed for transporting all the food!

We rented a car to transport us, the Taylor's and the food to Treinta Tres about a 3 hour drive away. We left our house at 6:00 AM in the dark to go to Castillos about 45 minutes away to pick up the Taylors. At about 6:25 the lights in the car started to go dim and I said we have a "huge problem". The alternator was dieing, I turned off the heater fan, the lights (it was still very dark) and drove for about another 10 minutes and then everything shut down. We pulled into a driveway along the highway and stopped. I called Elder Taylor in Castillos and had him call the Willy (the person we rented the car from). Elder Taylor speaks Spanish and could understand and explain the situation better than I could. Willy said he would be right out with another car. Willy and his wife finally showed up at 8:00 AM with repair parts. We traded cars and off we went towards Castillos.
These are some of the palm trees that are only found around Castillos. It was just before we reached them that I noticed that the "RED" engine too hot light was on. Great! I slowed down and it went off.
We went a bit further and the light came back on. I stopped and that gave us time to take a picture of some other odd looking trees. This time the light did not go back off. I slowly drove the few more kilometers into Castillos. Elder Taylor called Willy and told him of our problem. He asked us to take the car to a mechanic friend of his.
The mechanic said the fan was working properly and there was water/antifreeze in the radiator so he it was fine and we could go on. We loaded up the car and took off from Castillos at 10:00 AM. We made it about 2 kilometers out of town and I heard a noise coming from the back of the car! I stopped and got out and looked and a found that the passenger side rear tire was rubbing on the side of the wheel well. We turned around and went back to Castillos to a tire dealer who told us that the tire was the wrong size for the car. Then he tells us that he does not have the correct size and neither did the other dealer in town. Willy gets another phone call! President Taylor talks to his neighbor who had offered to drive him anywhere he wanted to go and asked him if he would lend us his truck for the day! He said yes and we started loading the food and us in to the truck. It was a 4 door small pickup truck and all the food went in the back under a heavy blanket. It was now 11:00AM and lunch was supposed to be served at 1:00 PM and we had a long 2 hour drive ahead of us. We were just leaving when Willy and his wife arrive in Castillos with another car. We told them that we were going to take the truck and they said they were really sorry for all the problems and that they would refund the rental fee the next day.
We arrived in Trienta Tres at 1:00 PM and need about an hour to prepare the food for the 60 missionaries. They continued on with thier meetings until we were ready for them and then on they came with huge appitites and smiles for the great food we had prepared for them! (Hermana Taylor and Hegerhorst serving the Missionaries)

President Taylor and some of the Missionaries getting lunch

The ate lunch were ever they could find a place to sit down.

After the we had cleaned up we were able to go into the meeting and be taught by a General Authority, President Arnold. He said some things that were directed right at us and helped us to know that our Heavenly Father answers prayers! It was a great experience to be able to talk with President Arnold and his wife after the conference! Here we have right to left, Hegerhorst's, Taylors, President Arnold and his wife and President and Hermana Da Silva our Mission President.
The Elders in our Branch are teaching a Japanese person (Ichihara), he speaks Japanese and some English and almost no Spanish so they are teaching him in English. He came to our house after Church to have lunch with us, the Elders and Ruben. It was an interesting lunch with many languages represented. The meal was excellent and we had a great time getting to know Ichihara.
This is our lighthouse, Santa Maria. One morning the sun was filters through the clouds and it was a bright red. The photo does not show the vivid red but it was a cool picture that I thought I would share.

Elder Bravo, Elder Delbar, Hermana and Elder Hegerhorst. The last Sunday Elder Bravo was in La Paloma. He was transferred to a different area in the Mission. He played the piano in Church and could fix just about anything. He wants to be a robotics engineer. We will miss him.

Elder Jones (took Elder Bravo's place), Elder Delbar, Hebert Velasquez and Gabriel Velasquez, Hermana Hegerhorst, ELder Hegerhorst. At the baptism of Hebert and Gabriel on August 28th. I got honor of baptizing Gabriel!