Missionary Zone Conference in Buenos Aires

In most missions throughout the world, missionaries meet in larger groups called zones every six months to uplift and fortify each other. In our mission, we are basically alone so for the first time that we know of, the three sets of ranch service missionaries in South America met for that very purpose.

The Nielsen's, from Brazil and the Johnson's from Chili met with us in Buenos Aires since there is a great hotel near both the international airport and the LDS temple. We were happy not to have to travel by plane and the other two couples were happy to visit Argentina so it worked great.

Our plan was to drive in Buenos Aires sometime on Thursday and start our conference Friday morning. As the day approached, we realized that our only chance of leaving the ranch would be on Wednesday since a storm was predicted early Thursday morning. So after school on Wednesday, we took the kids home, dropped the teachers off in Feliciano, and headed straight for BA.

All went well on the trip, even remembering at the last minute that we had not received current proof of insurance. We were given the documents in the nick of time and, of course, were stopped by the police just outside of Feliciano. Not seeing clearly the expiration date, the policeman asked if we didn't have anything newer. What relief that we had been shown the information he needed to see. (We hear you can be detained for hours if everything is not in order.)

We drove a little over half way and stopped at a hotel in Gualeguaychu (say that fast ten times). We had chosen the hotel because it was close to the highway and should have been easy to find, but without a phone we couldn't get clear directions, and according to the map, it wasn't where it should have been. However, we found a friendly Argentine neighbor who described the way. It was not an easy find, and we were grateful for the kind stranger.

The two hour drive Thursday morning was no big deal since we were on paved roads. However, as we entered Buenos Aires, we saw 50-60 policemen with machine guns under one of the underpasses. We were glad to be missionaries while in a foreign country and to have our home in America once again. We had lunch and then attended a temple session that afternoon.

Friday was a perfect day! After breakfast, we attended a temple session again in Spanish.







We are good at packing people into our truck so it became the mode of transportation.

Then we returned to the hotel and after a good lunch, drug four chairs into our room for an uplifting meeting. Amy and I talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy. That is a unique challenge for us since we can't get to church all the time.

We also talked about our particular challenges and successes on our individual ranches. The Chilean ranch has an olive grove, and the Brazilian ranch has a farm with crops such as corn, sorghum and legumes. The Brazilian farm recently discontinued raising cattle (not profitable). We are currently the only missionaries on a cattle ranch in South America.

Saturday, we were going to tour BA together, but Sister Nielson wasn't feeling well. So, Amy and I went to the temple again. We are practically pros at Spanish in the temple...well, I am and Amy is getting better all the time.

Saturday afternoon, we helped Elder Noel Johnson get more cash at the BA airport using the free shuttle system, and then we played the game Crown Five. It was fun and relaxing and of course the two women beat all three men. It was gallant of us to let them win. :)


Sunday, we attended church in BA together, and then we headed for home. Originally, we were going to stay until Monday morning, but we felt driven to get home in case the roads were dried out enough to have school.


There were no problems on the road back to the ranch until we got to the dirt roads just outside the ranch. There had been so much water on Thursday, that the roads were still almost impassable on Sunday. However, we made it without sliding into any deep pits despite the sliding we experienced.

Monday, the roads were still not good, but we had school anyway. Tuesday, we tried to have school and got one student to the learning center and was on the way to get the other kids before rain came and we had to abort. Rain is expected the rest of the week.

Good Books we've read with all the rain:
Worth the Wrestle by Sheri Dew
Losing It: 5 Keys to Successful Weight Loss
For All Eternity by John Lund (good for marriages)
Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox