Living in the World but not of the World

October 16, 2016

I’m sure we have all heard this statement many times.  Well this week we have a real good example.  Monday was the 10th and we needed to pay the rent on some of the houses.  The banks don’t open until 1:00 P.M. so shortly after 1:00 P. M. we took off for the bank.  The first bank was closed and we could not figure out why.  Then one of the Elders remembered that it was “Feriado” a federal holiday.  Not being plugged into the real world does have its draw backs.  So on Tuesday we did the trip over again and made all of the payments.  We even got a neat picture with Elder Rodriguez and Caudle at the Montevideo sign.

Elder Wankier, Elder Rodriguez and Elder Caudle

Tuesday we were able to catch up on some more office stuff so that was good.  On Wednesday we met the Elders in Los Ceibos and cleaned up the old apartment.  I expected to have to do a lot of work on the walls but they weren’t too bad so mostly we just cleaned up the floor.  We still have to do some more work on the house to turn it back but we should be able to get it done this month.  While we were in Los Ceibos we needed to get some parts for a water heater.  As I was trying to make a turn on the main road we had an accident and were hit by another vehicle.  We were not hurt and there was not much damage to the mission car but it was not pleasant.  I felt real bad because I could have done several things differently to prevent it.  Initially the guy we had the accident with was not very happy.  I totally understand this.  As we were waiting for the police and the insurance companies, we had a chance to visit and he became more friendly.  Turns out he has an appliance store near where we had the accident.  After we took care of business we purchased a water heater from him for the Elder’s apartment.  He even gave us a discount.  I will probably shop there again.

After we cleaned the Sister’s apartment last week we were not real happy with how the walls looked even though they were clean.  So we decided to paint the apartment on Thursday.  We showed up at 9:00 A. M. ready to paint it ourselves but the sisters would have none of that.  The four sisters pitched in and really made things go faster.  We had to move all of the beds, tables, etc. to get it done but it really went well. We were so impressed with how the sisters dug in and made the job go real smooth. I hope you can see the difference in these pictures and the ones from last week.

Elder Sarkady and Elder Brasil

Friday we were off to Castillos.  On the way we dropped off a microwave to Elder Cary and Ontiveros in Maldonado.  When we arrived we were very pleased that their apartment was clean and neat.  We were so grateful.  They told us of some people that they are teaching and seemed real excited about their area.  Good for them.  After that we dropped off new bikes to Elder Brasil and Sarkady.  They were happy to get them.  They have a huge area in La Paloma and the bikes will really help.  The first time we ran into Elder Brasil in the field it was a cold rainy night and he was very cold and hungry.  He told us how much he wanted rice and black beans.  Well guess what they were eating when we arrived?  You guessed it.  They were full and happy.  We were also real impressed with the cleanliness of their apartment.  They were also happy to tell us about some people that they were teaching.

Friday afternoon we met the Elders at the chapel in Castillos for a “ward correlation meeting”.  When you have a small branch this includes the Elders Quorum President, the new Primary President and the missionaries.  These are the only callings in the branch right now.  They spent most of two hours planning an activity for the branch.  They ended up making plans to involve several of the people in the branch to make it work.  It should be fun.  We hope to have some good pictures and stories in a few weeks.  After that we tried to visit a few members but did not have much luck.

Saturday morning we met the Elders at the Church at 10:00 A.M. to plan our activities and to start filling the font for a baptism.  The first thing we found out was that the valve on the font did not close so we had to do a little plumbing to get it fixed.  What a wonderful blessing that we fixed it and it didn’t leak.  Wooohoo!  This took most of the morning as we stayed to watch the font fill while the Elders went on a charla.  We did the usual lunch date at Hermana Nardas and guess what, we had Canelones again.  Double Wooooohoo!  They are so good.  We had a good visit and a great meal.
For the Siesta we took off for Chuy about a 45 minute drive to deliver a box of Book of Mormons.  It was hard to just drop off the box and not talk to the Elders.  Elder Anderson, Newman, Fonseca and Saeteros were in great spirits.  They were excited to tell us about the people they are teaching.  We expect baptisms from them.  As we left it started to rain real hard.  We had to drive a lot slower because of all of the water on the road.  We got back to the Chapel just in time to go get people for the baptism.

Sister Sonya was so excited to get baptized.  Even though it is difficult to get in and out of the font she was eager to become a member of the Church.  What a special experience!  After the baptism she commented several times that she felt so warm inside.  She bore a real special testimony afterwards.  It was so good to be a part of it.  Today they confirmed her in Sacrament meeting and welcomed her into the ward.  It was one of our most treasured memories to share this with the Elders.  Elder Stewart and Elder Castillo have been working so hard to make things work in Castillos.  One of the highlights of the baptism was the fact the Nalia, another investigator who is going to be baptized next week attended with her friend Zulma.  When Nalia found out that her good friend Zulma had been a member for two years she exclaimed, “Why didn’t you tell me?”  That’s a good lesson for a lot of us.
So we had a busy week, did several things that we had not planned but still feel good that we were doing what the Lord wanted us to do.  We do receive many rewards each day and look forward to serving the mission the best we can.  We love you all and appreciate all the support you give us.

Here is a picture of our fishing trip.  Never underestimate teenagers with photoshop

Love,
Gordon and Renee