A couple of weeks ago, as I was making telephone calls to check on job placements, I came across an unusual name. Everyone here uses two last names, one of them being the mother´s maiden name, and one of the names for this young woman was Pacharoti. I had baptized two girls, teenagers, in the city of Rivera in 1970, and had always wondered whether they managed to stay active. When I asked this young woman whether they could possibly be relatives, she told me that they were her aunts. She also told me that they had married good LDS men, and had been sealed in the temple. They had raised righteous families, 8 children between the two, had sent out 5 missionaries, and that every one of the children had been married in the temple. I am reminded that we are not always aware of the results of our work in the church. The words of a hymn came to my mind. "My voice shall echo the message sweet, I´ll say what you want me to say.¨ Our voices do echo, down the long years, and who can predict what can happen if we say what he wants us to say.

Our work goes well, but as soon as we master one set of skills, it seems we have to begin learning another. We did complete the teaching of the 12 hour career workshop for the first time this week. We survived it, but we do need to improve, and I think that the, (mostly self-inflicted), pressure to improve at our jobs is one of the most difficult parts of the mission for us. It is also, perhaps, the most rewarding part of the mission.

We have had significant luck with encouraging inactive people and then having them show up at church. Whether the changes are permanent we can´t know, but it is surprising how important a little bit of attention can be. Often all we have offered is a phone call or a kind word.

The only unusual thing that happened this week, was that I had the chance, on Saturday evening, to run in a 10 kilometer race in Montevideo.

There were 7000 runners, cheering crowds, lovely weather, and a beautiful course.
It is almost impossible to describe just how many runners there were, but if you go to werunmontevideo.com they have some amazing pictures, which

This is my Bishop, (also my boss), and his son. I know it is a bad idea to beat your boss, but I beat them both, running it in 61 minutes, my best 10k ever.
After the race, Betty and I walked home on one of the prettiest spring nights of the year.
The two buildings with bright lights in back of us are, believe it or not, the towers of the World Trade Center of Montevideo