Wheelchairs and a Cathedral in La Plata

Fun to see our Church logo
on the backs of the chairs

We had the opportunity on Friday November 8 to go on our first excursion out of the city. We checked out a car from the carpool in the area office and drove about an hour south to the city of La Plata. The drive was interesting, beginning to see more of the country outside the big city. (Most of eastern Argentina is flat as a board; where are the mountains???)

The purpose of our visit was to experience a "wheelchair delivery" with our partner organization CILSA. We enjoyed the experience. There were about 10 chairs shared with people with various physical challenges, including two adult amputees, several young children with serious muscular disabilities, and others with less obvious challenges. It was fun to see and hear the joy in each one as they experienced the new chairs. One mother expressed how her life will change now. She had mostly carried her child (who appeared to have cerebral palsy) everywhere, but the child was now too large and the wheelchair would allow her to have so much more freedom. Others had similar reactions of joy and gratitude.

Two Apostolic Dedications in Buenos Aires

The plaque in the park
commemorating the dedication

Missionary efforts of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South America formally began less than a hundred years ago. On Christmas Day in 1925, Elder Melvin J. Ballard of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, accompanied by Elders Rey L. Pratt and Rulon S. Wells of the Seventy, gathered in the Parque Tres de Febrero in Buenos Aires. As directed by the First Presidency, Elder Ballard offered a dedicatory prayer on the lands of South America.

We were thrilled to realize that our apartment is only a few blocks from that same park. We did a little investigating and were able to locate this plaque in the park, placed only 4 years ago in honor of the dedication.

The original dedicatory prayer included these words:

And now, oh, Father, by authority of the blessing and appointment by the President of the Church, and by the authority of the holy apostleship which I have, I turn the key, unlock, and open the door for the preaching of the Gospel in all these South American nations, and do rebuke and command to be stayed every power that would oppose the preaching of the Gospel in these lands; and we do bless and dedicate these nations of this land for the preaching of thy Gospel. And we do all this that salvation may come to all men, and that thy name may be honored and glorified in this part of the land of Zion.

To read the full dedicatory prayer, click here.

Humanitarian Projects: Our Initial Overview

Sister Kenison, hard at work
in our little office

As we received our introduction and training to our assignment, we were told it was typical for us to spend an average of three weeks each month in the office and one week out of the office. We didn't quite understand at first why so much office time was needed; we wanted to be out working among the people, getting things done! But we have come to understand the need for the preparation and coordination that occurs in support of the actual projects. There is a lot of "virtual paperwork" (online information) that is done for every project, describing the needs, the costs, the benefits, etc. We have a limited budget that has to be carefully allocated among the proposed projects, and so there is prioritization to be done based on priorities set by the Area Presidency and the Church. In addition, we have lots of partners to work with, lots of followup to do, and so on. So there is a lot of "administrative overhead" that goes into the actual efforts!

"La Casa del Señor"

As we entered the beautiful Buenos Aires temple and prepared to participate in an endowment service, so much felt different and odd; but yet so much was very familiar and comfortable. It's fascinating to experience something in a foreign language that you know well in your native language. As you try to make sense of the words, there's a need to focus and concentrate that can bring new insights and comprehension. This was particularly the case for us today as we were asked to be the witness couple. Though we may not have understood every word, we knew exactly what was happening and why, and didn't miss any of the "cues" for our responsibility. Attempting to interpret the language was relatively easy. It got perhaps a little more challenging when our turn came to participate in the spoken portions!

Early impressions of Buenos Aires

As we complete our first work-week, here are some photos and impressions of our new hometown. We're living in the Palermo area of Buenos Aires, which (we're told) is one of the nicest areas of town. So it may not be a very representative sample of the greater city. But it's our home for now, and we see mostly what we walk to within this area.

We love that the streets are all lined with these large, beautiful trees! They take up good sections of the sidewalk, and their roots tend to disrupt the smoothness of the paving tiles, but it's worth it. They add such a feeling of peace and loveliness to the "concrete jungle" that would otherwise dominate every view. Incidentally, since we're just moving from spring to summer here in the southern hemisphere, we're told they leaves have only recently returned. I'm sure it won't be quite as spectacular next winter when the branches are bare!

Project delivery: pediatric dialysis machine

On Thursday 10/10, we had the privilege of participating in a delivery for a project that was started many months ago. It involved the donation of a pediatric dialysis machine to the Hospital Posadas, one of the largest hospitals in the country. Argentina has a nationalized medicine system, so this public hospital has quite a large mission. We were told it serves as many as 7 million potential patients in many of its specialties, and has a large pediatric ward.

Hospital Posadas, Buenos Aires

Arriving in "the field"

Long immigration line!

After 14 hours of airplane time (including an overnight, with uncomfortable and interrupted sleep), it's always delightful to be greeted by red tape - in this case, an immigration line that took well over an hour of standing! Sigh. But we did survive, eventually got through the border check with minimal problems, all our luggage arrived safely, and we actually breezed through customs (the part we worried a little more about). So it certainly could have been worse! We were picked up at the airport by a delightful senior couple named Dave & Colleen Smith, and began our journey into town.