ESTANCIA SANTA SUSANA II

A BEAUTIFUL FLOWERING TREE BY THE MUSEUM.

PERIOD KITCHEN IN THE MUSEUM.

BILL AND ROBIN ASHTON-AREA HUMANITARIAN COUPLE FROM CALIFORNIA

BARB AND STEVE ZOBELL- AREA PSYCHOLOGIST FROM CALGARY ALBERTA

MICHAEL AND THE GAUCHO.

MICHAEL ON THE HORSE!  

ESTANCIA SANTA SUSANA

Today we had a great day!  7 missionary couples went to a ranch and enjoyed an asado and a Gaucho program !

Today we drove about an hour outside of Buenos Aires and had a great day at "Estancia Santa Susana".  We enjoyed many wonderful and fun activities.....an

"Asado" (similar to a BBQ), a tango program, a lovely small museum and a Gaucho program with lots of horses...... oh and yes, Michael and several of the missionaries enjoyed a horseback ride.  I enjoyed a fun ride in a wagon!  It was a most relaxing day and one that we really needed as we have been working long hours.  We have many pictures so I will put some up tonight and some up tomorrow!  We so enjoyed our missionary friends and had a lovely, lovely day!  Here are a few photos......

One of our favorite family movies is "Man From Snowy River" and "Return to Snowy River".  Our favorite part is when Jim Craig precisely whips off small suspended rings with his whip .  The Gauchos used another tool but it was just as awesome!

Today, we saw the Gauchos gallup on their horses at a fast speed and put  a small metal object through a tiny ring suspended from a pole.  These are some of the pictures.  It was so fun to watch.

MOVING FORWARD

One of the lovely little balconies we pass everyday!

One of the many, many fruit stands all over Buenos Aires.  

We cross these railroad tracks everyday on our way to work.

Hola everyone!

We have been back in Buenos Aires for about three weeks now and have been very busy with our new temporary assignment and our audit work.  We have spent many hours into the evening and a couple of Saturdays trying to learn new tasks and adjust to alot of office work.  We have kept in close touch with our assistant auditors however, and they are very busy trying to get all of the stakes within the four countries to complete their audits by the end of March.  It is indeed a challenge for them!  Every month we receive a stewardship report from each one of the 29 assistant auditors and we study the reports and answer each one of them in an email commenting on their work and their challenges and offering our help where needed.  For the month of February, we received some great reports, but also word about frustrations and how some stakes are slow to begin the audits during this audit period.  Our assitant auditors are continuing to assemble audit committees throughout the area and train them.  We have received these wonderful pictures from a couple of our Assistant Auditors over the past couple of weeks.

A couple of Audit Committees in Paraguay

Hermano Beraud with one of his auditors in Paraguay

Hermano Beraud with another auditor in Paraguay, around Asuncion.

Hermano Tossen with an audit committee in Ushuaia.  (the southern most part of Argentina in the Patagonia Region)

We really enjoy getting these photos.  We are trying to print them off and we post them in our office!

One of the exciting projects we have going in our audit program is a brand new, (never been done before) blog:  SAS AUDITOR.  (South America South Auditor) .  Hermano Perry who helps us in Chile is in charge of putting it together and keeping it updated.  We put our ideas together with Hermano Perry and came up with a really good format.  We hope to introduce the blog this week to our Assitant auditors!  We are very excited.  The church has a format within the church network for church organizations to post blogs, so it is really great.  We have come to realize more and more how the technology in the church is there to facilitate many, many programs world wide.

Along with all of this we are enjoying sharing meals with the local sister missionaries, and they often stop by our apartment for some water and a short chat.

Hermana Valequez from Paraguay and Hermana Renaria from L.A., USA

We walk about a mile to the office everyday and here are some of the sites we enjoy on a daily basis.

There are many, many beautiful tall doors in Buenos Aires and all throughout the areas where we have traveled .  Here is just one of them!

This vine has been blooming for months, and we enjoy it every single day!

We hope all of you are well and we assume that you are all looking forward to spring as we approach our fall here!

We love these pots on the window sill.

MENDOZA

STAKE AUDIT COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN FROM TWO STAKES:  GODOY CRUZ AND GUAYMALLEN.  US AND CARLOS ACOSTA OUR AAA IN MENDOZA

After we finished our time in Cordoba, Catamarca and La Rioja, we drove to Mendoza which is in the western part of Argentina and located very close to the Chilean border.  Mendoza is a very beautiful city and the people who live there love it!  The province of Mendoza is well known for it's olives, olive oil and many, many fruits and vegetables.  Since Argentina does not import anything (or very little) the goods from the province are all over Argentina.  We have found a small store about four blocks from us that sells only products from Mendoza.  I have to say, they are incredibly delicious, from the jams (which have little sugar), tomatoes  in beautiful jars, garlic, artichokes, syrups and many other products.... The olive oil is amazing as well.  As we drove in and viewed the vineyards and olive groves we were quite taken with the thousands and thousands of acres devoted to this agriculture.  

Our AAA in Mendoza is Carlos Acosta, the nicest person in the world!  We arrived late on Thursday afternoon and he picked us up at our hotel and we all drove to a nearby chapel where we met two committe chairs from the Godoy Cruz Stake and the Guaymallen Stake.  They are very nice and we had a really good meeting with them.  We discussed their audit problems and some other issues that have come up in their stakes.  As always it was a pleasure to meet these men and they were very gracious to us.  Our meeting ended about 10:30 or so and Hermano Acosta wanted us to go to his house for a light supper.  So we gladly accepted.  We went to his home and met his very lovely wife and his daughter.  We visited until about 11:30 and then he drove us back to our hotel.  It had been a wonderful and very long day!  Note:  The Argentine people do not even think about eating dinner until 9:00 at night or later!  This was not our first late supper, we have had several!

The mountains on our way to Mendoza from Cordoba.  It was amazing!

Our next meeting was the next evening, on Friday, with the committee chair of the Mendoza Stake.  His stake has all of their audit exceptions resolved and they work really hard to keep all of their books in order and their auditors well trained.  This was a great meeting as well.  (Michael always has his eyes closed in these pictures , it seems but oh well..!!)

Our next meeting was in San Juan, about 2 hours north of Mendoza on Saturday evening.  Hermano Acosta drove up with us in our car and we stayed overnight as the meeting was late and the two lane roads are not good to travel on at night.  We had some time during the day on Saturday so we enjoyed a few hours in the city walking to San Martin Avenue where we spent about an hour looking at many of the Mendoza crafts located in a special shop and eating a delicious lunch at a local restaurant.  Every city large or small, has a major street named "San Martin".  He was the most famous general in South America as he liberated Peru, Chile and Argentina from the Spanish.   

One of several mosaics on a very large statue in the city of Mendoza.

Every avenue and street in Mendoza is lined with these trees.  Hundreds and hundreds of them.  It provides a lot of shade which is really nice on a hot, hot day!

We received a call from our area president, Elder Gonzalez on Thursday night , when we arrived in Mendoza.  He asked us to return to Buenos Aires and take on an extra assignment for three to four months and be the executive secretary to the area presidency.  The current couple who had that position has just unexpectantly been called as Mission Presidents to Antofagasta , Chile.  They have to leave immediately to go home and get things in order before leaving for their assignment.  So after our training in San Juan, we headed home to Buenos Aires.  It took us two full days of driving.  We will also be doing our audit assignment at the same time, but will not travel now until this extra work is finished and a new executive secretary is found.  We had about 12 meetings planned in Chile so we had to notify all of our AAA's in Chile (which was hard)...and let them know we were not coming.  However, they were very gracious about it and we will travel to Chile later in the year.  So yet another surprise for us!  We are here to serve.... so this is fine.  Elder Gonzalez is origianlly from Uruguay and is a very kind and energetic man!  His two counselors are also from South America, Elder Zeballos from Chile and Elder Vinas from Uruguay as well.  It will be very hectic for us, as the new assignment is very demanding as well.  But it is an adventure and we are embracing every moment!

San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca and La Rioja

From left to right, DA, Hermano Morales, Michael, President Valdez, (stake president) Hermano Perez, and Hermano Arpires.

We are on a twenty day journey to visit some of our assistant auditors, stake audit committees and hopefully some branch and ward secretaries.  We will be traveling through the northwest part of Argentina and also central Chile.

We are using a car from the car pool at the area office for part of the trip.  We left early Thursday morning, February 7 and drove to Cordoba.  It was an all day drive but we enjoyed it very much.  On Friday we drove to San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca and met up with Nestor Morales and his lovely wife, Patricia .  We had a training there with the stake president, and two auditors.

Nestor Morales (assistant auditor) and his very lovely wife, Patricia

The trainings are for the La Rioja stake.  Part of the stake presidency and two auditors live in Catamarca and the other members of the stake presidency and the other two auditors live in La Rioja which is 2 1/2 hours south.  We really enjoyed meeting President Valdez and the two auditors.  President Valdez had a heart attack about a year ago... but is fine and doing well now!

Our drive from Cordoba to Catamarca was amazing.  Our friend, Axel at the area office, ( his office is next to ours) loves to travel and he always tells us the best and most scenic routes to take.  We drove through the mountains and some rustic and picturesque villages.  We loved the drive and will never forget it.

We ate lunch in a park in the mountains and saw the most beautiful art work on some poles that were on a platform.

LA RIOJA

Saturday morning we followed Hermano Morales and his wife to La Rioja for another training which took place on Saturday afternoon around 2:30.  It was a great drive.  We discovered over the two and a half days of driving that raising goats and eating goat meat is very common.  We saw many herds of goats and were quite fascinated.  La Rioja province is also known for its olives and we saw acres and acres of olive orchards.

Our meeting in La Rioja went very well and we also enjoyed meeting the Audit Committee Chair, who is the first counselor in the stake presidency and two more auditors.

President Moreno, Hermano Morales, DA, Michael, Hermano Sanchez, Hrmano Castillo.

La Rioja is a beautiful town with very old and beautiful colonial churches and a very lovely plaza in the center of town.  We will be here for another day and then we will head back to Cordoba to train a new assistant auditor (Hermano Morales has just been called as a bishop) and to talk with the counselor in the mission presidencies regarding the dependent branches in the mission.  

ASUNCION, PARAGUAY - "MOTHER OF CITIES"

THE VIEW FROM OUR HOTEL WINDOW IN ASUNCION PARAGUAY

This past weekend we were in Asuncion, Paraguay for meetings to set up mission audit committees.  We had a meeting with our three  assistant auditors there, Hermano Grau, Hermano Vidal and Hermano Beraud.  After our meeting with them we had a training with audit committees..... auditors, audit committee chair and secretaries from the various districts..  throughout the Asuncion area.  There are a number of remote areas that are difficult to get to and also districts that don't have enough leaders to call auditors, so the Asunion Mission and the Asuncion North Mission called a few extra people to help audit these far away areas.  Some of the names  of the areas are:  Caacupe, Paraguari, Boqueron, and Pedro Juan Caballero.  In Boqueron, there are some indigenous people who speak Guarani.... so it is a particularly challenging area for auditors.  The training was held Sunday late afternoon.  Michael gave some of the training and answered questions, but our assistant auditors gave the majority of the training.  Especially Hermano Vidal...  he is very assertive and bold and it was fun to watch him teach in his very lively manner!

One of the greatest blessings of our assignment, is the dedication of the Assistant Auditors and their willingness to discuss issues with us and take direction.  It was a great team effort that brought these mission auditors into the program.  These three auditors in Asuncion who travel to the outer portions of Paraguay to get the training and audits accomplished  are extremely devoted to their tasks...... and very dedicated to the gospel in every way.  They are an inspiration to us.

There are many challenges in Paraguay...... The country was under a dictatorship for nearly 30 years and is still suffering from its affects.   There are policeman everywhere all armed, some with very long rifles.  The one rather small bank we went into to get our pesos changed, had four armed guards.  We  were told by the hotel to be very careful walking around Asuncion and to be careful taking pictures.   There is much poverty and lack of education and the church still has a lot of growing to do there.  We spoke with a church employee last week from Chile who traveled with Elder Bednar and Elder Oakes during the Area Review... and he said the meetings in Paraguay were by far the most exciting.... and stirring... there is much ahead for the church in Paraguay.

The dirt is very, very red in Paraguay and many buildings are made of red bricks, but nearly all of the roofs are red!  They are gorgeous!

THE NATIONAL PANTHEON OF HEROES

INSIDE THE PANTHEON OF HEROES

INSIDE THE PANTHEON OF HEROES

This is one of the finest examples of colonial architecture in all of South America.  Asuncion is called the "Mother of Cities" throughout this portion of the world.  Colonial expeditions departed from Asuncion.

All of the heroes of Paraguay are housed in this wonderful building.  There are actual caskets as shown in the above picture, plaques on the wall, statues both of bronze and red clay.  Our favorites were the clay statues of the Catholic priests, they were beautiful.

We attended church on Sunday morning at the same branch we attended before and we were very warmly greeted by the members.  The youth in the branch had just returned from a large youth conference (EFY) I believe in Argentina.  They were excited about the experiences they had had.  The church puts alot of effort into the youth programs in South America and EFY is a really major activity for all youth.

TO OUR GRANDCHILDREN:  CAN YOU FIND THE CHURCH STEEPLE??

The church was only a five minute walk from our hotel.  

We have fallen in love with Paraguay and the people.  We hope to return once or twice again during our mission .  There is alot of work to do there as far as our audit program is concerned.  The remote branches are difficult to get to and the buildings are often down long dirt roads.  Our Assistant Auditors have a great challenge ahead but  the extra helping hands of the mission auditors will be a big boost to the program.

VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE HOTEL.

SANTA FE AND PARANA!

This past weekend we drove north of Buenos Aires about five to six hours to attend three trainings with our Assistant Area Auditor, Ruben Acosta.  He is over the Rosario area which includes the Rosario Mission and about nine stakes.  It is a big area and he does a wonderful job of training.

In the past, auditors have trained several stakes at a time.  Since studying the program and working at understanding it and implementing the principles that we have learned from our trainings in Salt Lake City, we decided to now stress training in small groups.  Specifically, the Audit committe which includes the Audit Committee Chair, (usually the 1st counselor in the stake presidency) and two or more auditors.  Also, included in the training we like to include the stake secretary as he trains all of the ward secretaries in the stake and keeps them on track.

This weekend our first training was Friday evening in Parana.  A smaller town about the size of Salem, Oregon.  Ruben came to our hotel and picked us up and we all drove about 20 miles to Parana.  The Parana River runs close to both Santa Fe and Parana...  To drive into the city we had to drive in a long tunnel under the river!  It was amazing.

Our training went well and meeting the leaders of these stakes is such an enriching experience.  The president of this stake was a plumber, electrician and installed gas.  He works very hard all day and takes care of this large stake in his off hours...  The stake presidency was a wonderful mix of brethern... He asked me to give the opening prayer in the meeting.... they are very patient with the fact that I do not speak fluent Spanish... I am always the only woman in these meetings so it is interesting!  Everyone is a perfect gentleman, making sure that I have the most comfortable chair in the room.  They will even move it for me when we change rooms!

There was a wonderful spirit in the room and much was accomplished through Ruben's teaching.  Mike answered a lot of questions, which was helpful...

We drove home in an enormous thunder and lightening storm!

On Sunday night we had two trainings in Santa Fe.  One at the Santa Fe stake center and one at the Santa Fe North stake center.  These trainings were also very wonderful.  One of the most amazing experiences is being greeted by everyone so warmly... In these meetings among the South American people, every single person is greeted at the beginning of the meeting and at the end all the men give each other a warm abrazo !  It is truly wonderful and somewhat moving to watch and witness.  The love between these people is honest and sincere... they love to laugh and visit and share their devotion to the gospel.  The last stake presidency we met with was especially wonderful, the stake president in particular.  He gave a strong testimony that was profound.... He and his secretary were baptized on the same day in l975.  We could feel the bond between them...

We had walked to church in the morning , about a mile , and Santa Fe is very hot!  Anyway, we met the young missionaries at church and they are always so fun to talk to.  One of the missionaries said he was from Portland and I asked him where and he said,"oh just a small town outside of Portland"  I asked him what it was and he said , "West Linn"  He said his grandfather used to be the bishop in the West Linn Ward..... Ted Hodges!  (Ellen and Laurie if you read this post you will smile over that)  He is a very nice young man .  I told him we knew his grandparents and to be sure to tell them hello in his next email!  The church is a small world!

One of the real treats about going to church as a senior missionary is being greeted by everyone... especially the little children.... they say "hola, hermana"and give you a kiss on the cheek!

Here are a few pictures of Santa Fe.  I didn't get any  of the members... but they were wonderful in
every way.

We will be making a return trip to Paraguay on the 19th of January.  We will be meeting with our three Assistant Auditors and two mission presidencias to set up mission audit committees to perform audits in remote areas that the regular auditors can't get to.  This has been a long time goal and need and it is finally becoming a reality!

Abrazos!