Another Great Week

Another great week.  We had several assignments and things to do.  First, we help pay the water and light bills for the 80+ apartments.  We build a file with all of the bills attached and then process it so we can get the check to pay the bills,  We pay about half on the 1st and half on the 15th.  Uruguay has an interesting system to pay utilities.  They have stores called "Abitab" all over the city.  People go in to pay the water, light and phone bills.  We take a check for all of the bills and they pay each one with one big check.  It works pretty well.  We just got a phone plan for Renee's i-phone that we will pay each month the same way as everyone else.  The gas bills are easy.  We buy gas for the stoves (all the stoves are propane) in propane tanks just like the ones in the states.  When we run out we call a number and someone delivers it and sets it up for you for about $15 per bottle.  It works pretty slick.

We also changed two water heaters.  I don't know if you can see in the picture but they are electric and hang on the wall.  They hold from 20 to 50 liters, that's 5 to 20 gallons.  We use the same hoses that they use in the states with a lot more goop to stop the leaks.  In the water heater picture, Elder Parmenter is the tall one.  He is Dave Parmenter's nephew.  Small world.  As I state in the caption for the water heater, I wish Jason from Standard Plumbing were here.  He is such an expert.  I hope someone shows him the Blog (that would be you Dave).

Our travels took us to the Durazno and Florida states this week.  Durazno is peach in Spanish.  Funny, we didn't see one peach.  We did see a cool fort and a big pile of logs.  When we left to come home we took the wrong turn and ended up about 25 miles north before we turned around.   It cost us at least and hour.  Reminds me of what John Wayne said, "Life is hard, its even harder if you are stupid." 

This was the last week for our good friends and helpers, the Andersons.  They went home a little early for health reasons.  They were such a good resource.  We hope they get settled and solve  their health concerns.

One thing I wanted to mention this week is something that I have noticed about the members in Uruguay.  They pray with all their hearts.  Sometimes when they are praying I want to open an eye and sneak a peak to see if Heavenly Father is actually here.  It would not surprise me.  Well, actually it would be way more than surprising.  But, the members here have such a personal relationship with their Heavenly Father, that you know that they know who their Father is and that he hears and answers their prayers.  

Each week we have a chance to meet more and more Missionaries and learn about them.  They come from many different backgrounds but all have the same purpose.  There are a lot of missionaries from Peru, Chili, Bolivia, Argentina, Colombia and Brasil.  They have such strength and most of them are Lamanites.  You can tell that the Book of Mormon has spoken directly to them.  I really enjoy seeing the new ones come down and imagine how successful they are going to be.  It is wonderful to see them lead and take care of things in the mission.  It makes us younger and stronger in the Gospel.  We really are grateful for this opportunity.  Every day we have the chance to serve someone.  It makes us feel so good.  Imagine leaving home every day with the opportunity to help someone in a special way and then come home every night to Dulce de Leche.  This is what Heaven is, only we could stand to have the humidity reduced a little.