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.