Silent Night

Moroni was in danger.



I counted 27 fireworks displays at one time.





The Senior Couples watching fireworks from the roof of the hostel near the temple We are in the background. The couple in front are Elder and Sister Goates.








Fireworks by the Montevideo Temple

This picture was taken from the roof of the hostel. There is a parking lot, a two-story brick chapel, and then the temple. The other buildings on the right are the senior missionaries apartments (not ours), the mission homes, and the church offices, including the distribution center for Uruguay. It takes up an entire city block with a tall fence around it, like the one around the Idaho Falls Temple.

Betty's Birthday

The young volunteers in our office got up early on my birthday and decorated the office. We had gone to an outdoor training the day before and everyone was really tired, so for them to get up the next day was amazing. They would have rather slept. They blew up about 30 balloons and put them up in the classroom where we teach the workshop. We were going to have a training that day in there. They made a cute sign on the whiteboard,saying "Hermana Heath, Feliz Cumpleanos." They told us to come at 10:00 and not be early that day, as we usually get to the office about 20 minutes before we need to be there.
When we got there, everyone was milling around the office as if nothing was happening. The assistant manager, Veronica, called me into her office, and had me do something. Everyone else gathered into the classroom. We were the last ones to come in. When I opened the door, they all said, Feliz Cumpleanos! (I don't have a tilde on this computer for the n.) What a fun surprise!
















They had a chocolate cake with caramel (dulce de leche) filling and decorations. It looked really delicious. Then they put a "candle" on it and lit it. This is what happened!


The people in the background are: Florencia, Veronica, Daniel Collato (Our Manager/ Bishop.) My expression pretty much says it all. It was amazing! I thought we might get in trouble for lighting fireworks in the building, but there are no codes here like in the States. YIPPEE!!! FIREWORKS ON THE BIRTHDAY CAKE!


We all took a picture together in front of the birthday sign. There are better pictures but this is the only one I could get so far. Hopefully, I can get another one this week. It was an amazing birthday. Thanks for your thoughts, prayers and Facebook wishes. They all came true!!

Relief Society Christmas in Uruguay

We had a Relief Society Christmas Luncheon one Saturday (Nov. 20.) Here are some pictures from that day. We all drew names ahead of time, and had a gift exchange from our Secret Sister. After everyone opened their anonymous gift, they went one by one, showed the gift they had received, and the secret giver revealed herself. It was fun. We had a spirit of sisterhood and anticipation for the Christmas season.


The tables were set with the food when we got there. We had a broccoli torta, which is a thick quiche. We also had empanadas which are round pastries with meat filling folded in half and sealed. Yum! There was a roll of some sort, kind of like an egg roll with meat and vegetables inside.


After we had eaten most of the delicious food on our plates, Julia Bengochea, a new convert, came around with pizza with a yummy, thick crust, and a large rolled sandwich with tuna salad in it. The bread was slightly sweet, so the sweet, salty thing kept me wanting more. Yum! The problem was, we were full by then. Everyone ate anyway. Then, of course, we had a big cake (postre) for dessert. I thought I would pop from eating so much!

I got these pictures from the sister missionaries that live in our ward. They took pictures of our investigators. Actually, their investigators, but we have been visiting them and fellowshipping them.

This is Grizelda. She is the mother of a 16-year-old who got baptized the third week we were here. She is SO nice! She works as a server at the Spanish Embassy. The sisters are Sister Casebolt from Farmington, UT, and Sister Gardner from Taylorsville, UT. They are hard workers who have 3 people getting ready to be baptized.

This is Alicia Torres, who was less-active, but came to church once to try our ward out. Everyone is so friendly, she kept coming back.










Yolanda was playing the piano for two of the sisters singing around the piano. I don't know the name of the gal on the left, but Blanca is in the middle. She is outgoing, friendly , and loves music. She tells me all about what she is thinking and what's happening in her life. I catch about 30% of what she is saying, but that is enough to know how to respond. She is a good friend.







This is a better picture of Yolanda. She lives close to us, and she is the one who plays the piano for Sac. Mtg. and Relief Society every week. Her hands are arthritic, but she plays just fine. She is always complementary to me.



We had a special musical number. The sisters sang "Angels we Have Heard on High."

















The bishop came a little later and he took a group picture. The man is the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric. He was putting his tie back on.