Relief Society Birthday Party

It's that time of year, the fall leaves are turning colors, and there is a chill in the air from the last gasps of summer.  It's March.  The Relief Society Birthday Party is a tradition the world over.  Here are some pics of our celebration:



The welcome sign,  Bienvenidas a S.S. (Sociedad de Socorro)

I have no idea what Mercedes Martin is saying to Hna. Humphreys that is so funny, but it is cracking her up!

When we were helping to set up, the sister missionaries tried on some funny hats. I thought they were going to be used for our celebration, but they
never appeared. 
I guess they were for
the other ward or
 something.  The
girls had fun with them. 

  Sister Mendez is from Columbia and Sister Humphreys is from So. Calif.


We had a brief talk about the history of the Relief Society by the Relief Society President, Pelusa Masciadri, and then she played the piano.  WOW!  I had no idea she could play so well.  Others played the piano also, and it was great! 

 This sister is a new member, Julia Bengochea.  I knew her son was musical, but listen to this typical Uruguayan ballad:





Yolanda played Bach, and it was so wonderful to hear a classical piece. How amazing that she can play so well at her age! I hope I can grow up to be like her!

Some others sang around the piano. 





 What a load of talent!!


There were handmade embroidered, knitted, and craft items displayed on a table in the corner.  I forgot to get a picture of that table. 

The Birthday Cake

The Relief Society sisters made sure the baby was in this picture.  It was so cute to see the fuss they made over that cute baby girl.

So that's the Relief Society Birthday Party in Montevideo 3rd Ward.  The spirit is the same, and the sisters love to talk, eat, and share their talents the same the world over.

Starting Our Day

We were thinking of things we could write home about.  Nothing came to mind, but, I thought it would be nice to show you our daily routine. 

When the sun comes up in the fall, it's pretty.  This was the sunrise I saw one morning.   I took the picture through the windows, but you get the idea.



This one was beautiful.



But this one was spectacular!



We catch the bus outside our apartment about 8:15 a.m.  When we get off, there are a couple of portero-type of guys who always greet us.  They don't say "Buenos Dias" all the time here, they say "Buen Dia."  Here is one of the guys.  He says, "Buen Dia, Buenos Dias."  I think one of the greetings is for me, and one for Jerry.  I don't know which is which, though. :)

We are in front of the San Antonio Pharmacy which is right around the corner from our office, so we use that all the time.  It is open 24 hours. 



This is the entrance to our building, Plaza Mayor.  Who is that handsome missionary going in?




Inside, it has a lovely lobby.





The porteros there are very kind, and greet us.  The man gives us the newpapers for the office every day.   The four elevators are right behind them.





We get two newspapers everyday for the office. 
One is El Pais (The Country) the other is El Observador (The Observer.)   I put them on the manager's desk.  He must read two different points of view everyday to keep in touch with the market and social problems.  He makes an analysis of how major events impact the job market.


The buttons on the elevators are strange.  1E  is first floor parking (estacionamiento) 2E, second floor parking.  1S (looks like 15)  goes to the street behind the building-it is part of the parking also.  Our floor is number 2, but it is the 4th floor of the building.  The lobby is PB  (Primero Bis.)  It was pretty confusing to me at first, but the 2 was always easy to figure out. 

Here is a view from the 1E  parking level that looks out on the Plaza Independencia.  Our building faces the huge building, but our office is on the other side, facing a quieter street. 


 I stood on the sidewalk behind where that bus is turning the corner and took a picture of our office.  So if the bus was still there, I would have just got a picture of the side of the bus.   But, I waited for the traffic, and got this picture of our building.

I still got a picture of a bus, but at least you can see our office building with the mirror windows.  It's a beautiful, modern building.  We are very blessed to be able to work in such a nice office.



This is the hall to our office.  There is a German Company at the end of the hall.  Our office is on the right.  Our sign is on the edge of the picture.



Front view of the office with the sign.

Reception desk with the manager's office in the background.

                          A typical scene in the office.
Usually Jerry is at the computers helping people enroll in ldsjobs.org.  I am often at the reception desk.
We leave the office about 5:10 or so.  We walk a few blocks to the bus stop and it takes about 30 minutes to get home.  After dinner, Jerry and I walk on the rambla sometimes.  One night, we saw a beautiful moon rise. 

I didn't think we would see a harvest moon here without all the dust and smoke in the air.  Goes to show....  It reminded me of harvest time, though.  The only thing is...it's April!  I'm so confused!!


Sometimes the moon shines on the water.  It's gorgeous!

That is our work week, but on Saturdays, we look out the window and see the sailboats.

So that's our day.  We love our mission and are so happy to be serving in this beautiful area of Uruguay. 

One day, we had two investigators come into the office, and two other people who wanted the missionaries to come to their home and teach them about the church.  I called in the referrals.  We are doing missionary work after all.  Sometimes I forget that.  We are accumulating quite a stack of referrals we have made.  We hope to get another baptism. 

The church is true and it is the way to happiness in this life and the next.  We are so grateful to be able to do our part in the work of this amazing church. 

We Went to Salto, Uruguay

On Friday, April 8, we left at 6:30 a.m. for Salto with Veronica, our assistant manager.  It takes 8 hours by car, and she drove the whole way.  We were very comfortable and arrived at our "motel" just fine.



The lobby had a baby grand piano and a classroom in the loft.      Jerry and I were impressed with our room.

                                                            We had lunch at the resort. 

Then went to the chapel where Veronica was going to teach the Employment workshop. 

We visited with the Stake Employment Specialist, Elidia, and her assitant, Lidia.  Across the hall was the Family History Center in Salto.  A wonderful retired man was volunteering there and he and Veronica were  very good friends, but had lost track of each other.  It was a heartwarming reunion. 


After getting the workshop classroom set up, Veronica began teaching at 7 p.m.  She taught until 11:15 p.m!  Ugh.  I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open...ok, I fell asleep.  I wonder why.  Could it be the time?  Maybe it was the very fast Spanish for more than 4 hours. 

There were 13 people taking the class.  Two were middle-aged, and the rest were a group of amazing young people, about 18 years old who were full of energy and testimony.  We found out later that they did everything together, including singing in the Institute Choir and taking classes together.  What a wonderful group of young people!

That night, we went to see the main plaza in Salto.  This is a statue of Artigas, the national hero in Uruguay.  It was a beautiful, blue night sky.  I had fun taking pictures.

The next morning, we continued at 9:00 a.m.  Jerry and I were wondering if the young people would show up.  All but one did (one of the girls had to work) but there was a new girl that came.  I was really impressed! 


We had lunch at the church there.  Milenesa is kind of like chicken-fried steak, 

only a smaller portion.  We both like it.  They had milenesa, Russian salad, and soda pop.  Russian salad is diced potatoes, carrots and canned peas mixed together. It is served hot or cold. When it is served cold, they mix mayonaise in it. When we had it at the church, they served it hot, with the mayonaise on the side. I really don't like it cold, but warm was good. Jerry doesn't care for it, but he liked the milenesa. Salto is known for its oranges, and they have their own brand of orange soda. It tastes a little more like orange juice. That was a treat. They also have a grapefruit soda (think Squirt) which was very good also.

We left the church and went downtown to see what Salto was like at night. The town was brightly lit.

We ate at a pizza retaurant and it was very good. Veronica introduced us to some new Uruguayan dishes. It's so fun to go out with her. She has lived here all her life and is happy to show people the best of Uruguay. We went back to the resort and sat in the thermal pool. That's the big thing in Salto—like Lava Hot Springs. We slept very well that night.

Sunday, we went to church. It was at the Stake Center where the workshop had been, and the Stake President was there, attending his own ward. At Fast and Testimony Meeting, Jerry bore his testimony about how much Uruguay has changed since he was here 40 years ago. Several young children bore their testimonies and then a 92-year-old woman bore her testimony. Her eyes were so bright! She said she had seen many changes in the church since she was baptized 50 years ago! I am reading the “History of the Latter-Day Saints in Uruguay” and her story is in that book. I had read about her a week before, and now I was able to hear her testimony and see her in person! After church, we were able to get a picture with her. What a thrill!!

We had some time to see the Uruguay River that runs through the edge of town.  Here are some of my favorites: 

We enjoyed our weekend in Salto.  When we got back to Montevideo, Sunday night, we were refreshed and ready to get back to the work in the Employment Office.