RESISTENCIA, ARGENTINA

The auditor on the right of Michael is quite an exceptional guy.  He travels all over his stake doing audits of small branches.  He takes the bus everywhere to do this.  He has spent hours and hours on fairly long bus trips and Martin says he does it with a joyful heart........he said he is an amazing guy.

Tomas, Aaron, Martin, Ema and Gabriella

We are on a 13 day road trip across Northern Argentina visiting small districts and stake audit committees.  The purpose of our trip is to encourage the stakes to complete their mid-year audits, which are due by the end of September, and to answer questions and give support where it is needed.  There are some changes to the audit program and the financial system in the South America South area, and even though all of the information has been sent out, there are still many leaders and auditors who have questions  and who need clarification of certain questions on the new audit form.  Michael is able to answer the questions and it is fun to watch the faces of the auditors as they finally understand the new form......."Si,si,si!"

Our first stop was Rosario about three hours north of Buenos Aires.  We arranged to meet up with our auditor there, Ruben Acosta.  We had a great visit with him and he was very up to date on which stakes in his area, about 10, have their audits done and which ones are struggling to complete them.  It is always very helpful ,and meaningful as well , to have personal visits with our assistants and learn of any problems or positive experiences they are having.

After a night in Rosario, we headed for a two day stay in Resistencia.  There we met up with our assistant, Martin Fernandez.   We were so happy to see him again and enjoy his excellent trainings.  Martin is the owner of a small private college that specializes in teaching English, and also Human Resourse education.  He speaks excellent English and often offers to translate documents for us, which we actually have had him do.  We had two trainings with Martin and also enjoyed a wonderful meal with he and his family in their lovely home.  Their children were quite exceptional and  little Ema, just a year older than our Millie ,was adorable for sure!  Gabriella, Martin's wife, prepared a delicious traditional meal and dessert .  She is an English teacher in the local high school and says it is very challenging!  After lunch, Martin, Gabriella, Ema and Mike and I went for a drive along the Parana River and the enormous bridge that crosses over the river.  It was a beautiful drive as the Jacaranda (lavender and purple blooming) trees are just starting to bloom in the northern region of Argentina.  They are gorgeous.  Ema sat in between Michael and I in the back seat and we visited with her and it made us miss our darling granchildren!

Martin is on the far left!

Jacaranda tree