Off to Melo

This week we traveled to Melo to fix houses and get to know the Elders.  Melo is the most distant part of our mission.  We traveled over 900 kilometers in one day on windy two lanes roads with no cruise control.  That’s over 560 miles for you gringos.  We left at 7:00 A. M. and walked in the door at 11:00 P. M.  It was a good day as we saw many missionaries and were able to help them with their housing and listen to the great experiences that they are having.  One of my favorites is about Rio Bronco.  This town is on the border with Brasil and is the farthest area from the Mission Home.  The four Elders pictured have worked hard to help the Sacrament attendance increase from about 20 per week to over 50 per week.  This takes a lot of work.  No wonder their shoes are worn out.  They are so positive and good to work with.   We always feel better when we are with them.  Melo is a wonderful town.  It has a Stake and several buildings.  The missionaries have great attitudes and are so good to work with.

We are in the middle of changing some houses for some of the Elders.  This is quite the process as we have to complete new contracts and finish the old ones.  We do this through the Churches attorney, President Eduardo Viera.  He is a Stake President in one of the local Stakes.  He is very helpful and is good to help me understand the Spanish that I need.  Business Spanish is quite a bit different from Church Spanish.  We did have a good experience in changing the house this week.  The Real Estate agent is a widow named Diana.  We got to know her quite well and shared family photos.  She was quite impressed with the picture of our family from the funeral of Renee’s dad.  This gave us a chance to talk about families.  She lost her husband about 12 years ago.  We were able to bear testimony of eternal families and gave her a card to invite her to see the Easter Video. 

Inserted by blog administrator as example of picture from Grandpa Matheson's funeral

On Friday we helped with Oro Conference.  This is for the missionaries that have been out for one transfer.  The Mission President holds a meeting to help review what they should be learning.  It is a good chance for them to learn from each other.  Yesterday we had the chance to listen to Women’s Conference that starts at 9:00 P. M. our time.  Next week we get to listen to General Conference over the internet.  We are looking forward to it.  Today is Easter and we had dinner at the Mission Home with the Mission President and his wife and three other Temple Missionary couples.  We ended the day with an ice cream social to say fair well to the missionaries that are leaving the office.  It was a full day and enjoyable day. 

We are so grateful for Easter and what it represents.  I can’t imagine what our lives would be if we did not know that the Savior suffered in Gethsemane and died on the cross for our sins and to make it possible for us to be forgiven and return to live with our Heavenly Father.  I cannot comprehend the wonderful blessing of the resurrection.  Because of the sacrifice and resurrection of the Savior, all of us will be resurrected and have the opportunity to return to live with our Heavenly Father in Heaven with our families.  We know that this is true.

Thank you for all of your love and support.

Gordon and Renee