A Day with the Missionaries

Our day in Constitución was one of the best days of our mission so far.  The city is on the coast and takes us about 1 hour and 45 minutes to drive there.  

At our last two Zone training meetings, Doug gave each companionship a letter explaining our capabilities with videos and a list of all the videos he has on his computer from the Church.  He brought a projector, screen, wireless Bose speaker, which puts out great sound, even good enough in the Chapel or Cultural Hall.  He also has his laptop, Slate, Xoom, a scanner and printer!  There is not one of these items we wish we would have left home.  We use everything, many times a week.  Thank you to the Lawson's for suggesting we bring all of this!

Now the missionaries call us all the time to go with them.  Since Constitucion is so far away, we asked them to use us all day, and they did.

We started out with house inspections.  The Hermanas only had a trickle of water coming out of their shower head so we took them to a hardware store and bought a new one.  

Super Elder,  and "handy man" had this fixed in about 2 minutes.

We took the Hermanas to the Plaza where we were to meet up with the Elders for lunch.  They didn't waste one minute before they were talking to people.  I told them to ask this lady for a restaurant recommendation.  They stopped her before she could cross the street and ended up talking to her for 5 minutes or more.  She gave them her phone number and address and said they could contact her again!

The lady even wanted to pose for a photo.  Hermana Chavez has only been here for a month, (left).  She is from San Diego and is a terrific missionary already.  Hermana Martinez is a great trainer.  She is from El Salvador.  Imagine trying to rinse all that hair with a trickle of water!

After all the asking for a great place to have almuerzo, we ended up here.  We got the room on the left.  There is no McDonald's, Subway, Wendy's, or anything like it in Constitucion.

The two Elders on the left are companions, Elder Falcon, from Argentina, and Elder Hernandez, from Mexico.  Elder Holt is from Utah, and Elder Paz is from Honduras.  He is trying to learn English.  They encourage all the Latin Missionaries to try to learn some English with their "Gringo" companions.

After lunch we went with the 2 Latin Elders to visit a darling couple.  They gave them the lesson on tithing.  The Elders had such a wonderful spirit about them as they taught this couple in their "studio" type apartment.  We showed them "Windows of Heaven" and bore our testimonies of tithing.  I had a little translation help.  They are getting married on the 14th and baptized on the 15th!  They also came to the Noche de Hogar (family night), that night.

Eduardo and Leslie
He is 21 and she is 28.  He has a wonderful countenance and loves the gospel.  Leslie is a little more reserved.  We were already good enough friends to be kissing each other by night time at the Noche de Hogar!!

After visiting Eduardo and Leslie we went with the other Elders to visit an investigator Mom.  This was a combo package.  The son has a live-in girl friend who is inactive, with a little girl.  Three friends were there of the son, and the mom.  All the guys were in their 20's, I think.  We showed the Bible video of Christ's baptism, shared testimonies, answered questions, and invited them to the ward activity that night.  They all showed up!!

Ready to go with the movie.  About  35 people came; some old, some young and in between.  I left Elder Pulsipher and went to check out the kitchen situation.

I got a lesson in sopaipilla making.  I wonder if they "Lysoled" that table?

Cool rolling pin and biscuit cutter.

You have to poke your thumb into the dough three times.

Fry them in hot oil until golden brown and you have the best hockey puck ever!  These were served with Fanta and Sprite in glass glasses.  They never use paper cups or plates.  They are expensive and only come with 12 in a pack.

Our newest Hermana.  She speaks Spanish and English, both without any accent!  How would I know that?