Argentina Day 5

Oh it was so good to fly into the Neuquen Airport! I had made contact with a lot of my converts and friends in the mission prior to arriving, so I was looking forward to seeing a lot of people. After landing and reliving the whole arrival process at that airport, we decided to rent a car. This proved to be an excellent choice as we would have had to bother with calling taxis and taking busses. It allowed us to see a lot more than we would have otherwise. I had learned to drive stick in Argentina while on my mission, so I decided I’d drive since I knew where everything was. This proved to be an interesting decision as I am not a very good stick driver! Somehow, we made it to our Hosteria, La Casa Bonita, a nice little bed and breakfast that I actually walked by every Sunday on the way to Church. The folks there were very nice and it was a good place. It wasn’t a Marriott, but it was just fine for us and our needs.

After dropping off our bags, we braved the extreme wind and went to the mission home. We took some pictures and then knocked on the front door. Lorena, the house maid, answered. She recognized me but couldn’t call me by name. We took a quick tour of the mission home, then went back behind it to the mission office where I had spent a lot of time. We met the assistants, mission president, office elders, and darling senior couple. We talked to them for a while. Turns out it was a pretty busy time as they were about to have transfers and split the mission. While we were there, the office elders were like “we recognize you, and just figured out where from.” They pulled me over to a computer and showed me the contacts movie we had made one P-day while I was in the office. How funny! It was good to see that place and meet the people who are running the show now.

We then swung by the Sepulvedas on the way to the store to see what we needed to bring for that evening’s asado. It was fun to see them really quick, but it was a short stay as we needed to go to the store and we would be going back later. We went to Carrefour, my store of choice there to buy crackers, dulce de leche, fruit, bottled water, and other food for our stay in Neuquen/Allen.

We had a delightful evening with the Sepulvedas. They are such giving, incredible people. We learned about how they are doing in the ward and as a family. Brother Sepulveda is the first counselor in the Bishopbric and is essentially performing the bishop’s duties because there was an excommunication. That family is an incredible example in determination and desire to do what is right. They are a rock of a family. They all seemed to be happy and doing well. Unfortunately, Matias wasn’t there, so we set up a time to go back in order to see him. We also got to talk with them about the visit of Elder Cook from the quorum of the 12 apostles that was going to happen that weekend. Unfortunately, there was a risk that a volcano on the border of Chile and Argentina would explode, so they didn’t want to risk Elder Cook getting stuck in Neuquen, so they cancelled him coming down. It was so sad for all the members there. They had been preparing for a long time for this visit. There was a special choir, food lined up, a special meeting for the bishops that brother Sepulveda was going to be a part of, and just seeing an Apostle. But, luckily they still did a meeting for the bishops through Skype, so that turned out to be okay.

My parents and Hayley had a fun time talking to them and making a special connection to people who they had only known through my letters as a missionary. The Abuela became super good friends with Mom despite their language barriers. Hayley had fun playing with Benja, their 3 year old son who wouldn’t express emotion or say hardly anything! Oh, and the Asado was good.