Serving Together Argentina

  Yes, even senior missionaries have ups and downs.  The past week and a half was filled with both.  Last Monday we were doing some service helping a member get firewood.  Many people in this area use firewood to help heat their houses and will even use it to cook.  As I (Brian) was helping to load up our truck with the wood I accidentally hit the back window of the truck creating a gaping hole and cracking the glass.  It didn't completely shatter but it's certainly not good.  This was not the start to the week we wanted to have.  It's now been almost two weeks and we've finally found a place that has the window in stock and can replace it, so this Monday we'll be driving two hours to get it repaired (and paying about $300!).   The week then got better as the new couple that is coming to replace us arrived, the Barlows.  They are the couple on the left of this picture.  Elder Barlow is the older brother of our mission President...

We began the last month of our mission by having an awesome visit with Martha's brother and sister-in-law Bill and Carin (Elder and Hermana Taylor).  They are serving as Humanitarian Aid missionaries in the South America South Area in the church offices in Buenos Aires. We wanted to visit them before leaving Argentina and this last week it all worked out for us to visit, except for the freezing cold weather.  We really enjoyed spending time with them as they showed us all around the big city.  Buenos Aires is huge!  You'd need at least two weeks to see everything.   It's been so fun to share our Argentine experiences with each other.  We've talked on the phone several times throughout our missions.  We are in two very different places of the country but yet some things are exactly the same.  For example, the picture above is in their ward building in Buenos Aires.  The background you see is exactly the same in most of the church building...

Elder and Sister Barlow, us, Sister Barlow and President Barlow This past week we had a visit from the Barlows, all four of them.  Our mission president is Brad Barlow and his older brother Alan is serving with his wife as a senior couple in our mission. They arrived in January and will finish their mission next July along with his brother.  How fun would that be! Elder and Sister Barlow are currently serving in the big city of Resistencia but will be replacing us next month when we leave.  They came to this area with the mission leaders to check out the area and get to know a few members and the unique needs here.  Like us, they will support two branches and four groups which span about 400 kilometers.  They will come before we leave and we'll have a couple of weeks to show them around and acclimate them to our dear pueblito, Ibarreta! Bañado la Estrella at sunset Martha at sunset, not quite. The other reason they all came was to visit a wetlands called Bañado ...