Sunday, April 30, 2017

Trying To Make Things A Little More “Snappy”

I heard from my publisher/editor last week.  She told me that my blogs haven’t been as “snappy” lately.  Well, after about 70 of them and a couple of long weeks we sometimes get tired and run out of things to say.  So I’ll try to do a little better.


This was the week of inspections.  We inspected the Este, Maroñas, La Costa, Florida and Durazno Zones.  That is almost half of the mission.  We drove well over 600 miles.   We did this while we were also doing some office work.  We took some pictures of some of the missionaries.  They make us so happy.  They seem to really like Renee’s cookies.



One of our stops was in Paso de Los Toros.  These Elders really have it going on.  They just got through painting their house.  Doesn’t it look nice?  I am so proud of them.  The feeling in the house was incredible.  Too bad it is such a long way from Montevideo.  We also couldn’t pass up a chance to take a picture of the bull.  It’s a cool statue.


One of the things that we do when we inspect the apartments is to check the smoke alarms to make sure they are operating and that the missionaries are reporting it correctly.  The missionaries are supposed to check them every month and report it to the mission president.  It is pretty important.  We have had some problems with alarms failing so we take extra just in case.  Elder Holland and Cuenca have a weak alarm so we left them a new one.   One problem that showed up this week is evidence that someone may be losing a little hair on top.  I guess that’s why the Yankees and John Deere make hats.

So when you hear Durazno you should immediately think of El Gaucho and a “Bauru”.  We have featured it in the blog before and made sure we stopped this time also.  I think this is my third time at El Gaucho with Elder Ruiz.  I can’t think what I like more him or the Bauru.  Good that I don’t have to pick; I can enjoy them both at the same time.

In the middle of the week we had to work on a contract that needed to be renewed.  There were some problems.  The Real Estate guy was super nice even though we had some significant problems with the Utilities.  He gave us the stuff that we needed to fix them so that made us happy.  Normally we go into downtown Montevideo, take a number and wait and hour or so to get helped.  Then we usually forget that we need a photocopy of my identification to complete the transaction so we have to go around the corner to make one.  Then after another hour we go through the song and dance again.  Well, this time we just stopped at the local water company and they fixed it in a hurry.  Of course, we still had to go down the street to get a photocopy of our documents but still it was really slick.
I was feeling pretty good about how slick we got the water changed so we stopped at the power company too.  They wouldn’t let me change the power to my name because we have a couple of bills from other houses that are due, not past due, but due.  So, using inspiration, I had them use Renee’s documents.  Great idea, right.  Now I was really on a roll.  In past blogs I have talked about how hard it is to find an allergy medicine I take.  I still needed one prescription to fill so I stopped at the pharmacy right next to the light company.  We were in luck!  So with the water, lights and the prescription, I had completed the trifecta!!!  It was a great day.

Thursday evening we finally had time to visit Humberto and Cristina.  They are doing great.  She made “Bondiolo” for us.  It is basically deep friend apple bread.  We made another great sacrifice eating it to make them happy.  She is such a good cook.


Friday night and Saturday night we had Capilla Abiertas.  First in Canelones and then in Pando.  Both branches were very well prepared.  Between the members and missionaries they were able to teach the Gospel to quite a few people.   We show the “Prince of Peace” video that was prepared for Easter.  We could tell that several people were very interested.  This is a great chance for the missionaries and the members to work together.  We really enjoy them.


Today we went to Church in the Malvin Ward.  This is our “home ward” or where we go when we are in town.  It is the first time we have been there in about two months.  We were able to go to Sunday School with Humberto and Cristina and visit with many of the other members.  It was a good day.  I even made Elder Child’s day by letting him think that we had twin ties.


Elder and Sister Wiberg are Temple missionaries.  They go home in the next week or so.  We finished off the week by enjoying lunch with them and our friend Gordon.  It was quite a treat.  We spent over three hours talking about life in general.  We are going to miss the Wibergs when they go home.  Good thing we still get to see our friend Gordon.

So I hope that is snappy enough for you.  We have some rather big things coming up so stay tuned for more exciting blogs.  We are having a great time keeping busy helping out the missionaries.   We appreciate all of the support we get from home.

We love you all.
Gordon and Renee.

6 comments:

  1. All comments made by your publisher/editor are made with all the love in the world :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Renee, This is Karla Twiggs, your old and still visiting teacher who NEVER checks in. I do enjoy this blog though, snappy or not. I notice the trend toward the "food" shots. Good to know you aren't starving over there. We 'the Twiggs' are well back home. Went to see the Idaho Falls open house this weekend--very nice. The rooms all seem smaller and mostly lighter. Anxious to have it open again and now we have the Pocatello one to look forward to. Today was the hymn sing in sacrament mtg. One of my favorite Sundays. My son and his wife were there with me and they had never experienced a hymn sing. My daughter in law compared it to a testimony mtg. where the song does all the testifying for you. You both look well and happy, keep the news and pictures coming. Thinking of you, Karla

    ReplyDelete
  3. I enjoy reading about your week every week, snappy or not. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. The opinion of your hairdresser back home is that your hair isn't Mitch thinner, but maybe a little lighter. 😀

    ReplyDelete
  5. Always enjoy your stories and reports and of course the pictures! -Wendy Manzanares (mom of Elder Manzanares)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh how I loved seeing a picture of my daughter Hermana Labrum! I am so impressed she is a "clean sister". Oh how she has grown up! Thank you!!!

    ReplyDelete

Please keep comments positive! Gordon and Renee are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This blog is meant to be a fun way for them to communicate with their friends and neighbors back home.