March 9, 2014

  We want to mention that our Area President will speak in General Conference in the Saturday morning session. Elder Carlos H. Amado in all likelihood will be released in April. He will turn 70 this fall. We do not know if he has published any books or not, but if he has they would be powerful. He has a remarkable memory for events, details and people. Because of his vast experience and knowledge, he shares many things in the Presidency meetings that are relevant to the discussion. This makes the meetings very interesting even though they can run long.
  We have had a busy week like usual. Our service in the Area Office has broadened our perspective of church administration. The 3 Presidency members are very busy men. We were clueless as to what actually happens at the Area level.
     Hermana Pitcher is playing for a group of Sisters to sing at a Monday morning devotional tomorrow in the Area Office. It is a mix of English and Spanish speakers. We have a flute accompanist also. It is shaping up to be a nice number. Every practice has had a different mix of Sisters. The number was sounding very nice until one new addition came. Now it sounds well, a little off key.
   We had a nice rainstorm this past week. It has been a while since we've had rain. That's probably why they call it the "dry season." We are going to need to find our umbrellas before long and then take them with us everywhere we go.
   Hermana Pitcher was able to play the piano for church today. That usually doesn't happen because the young Sisters or Elders play. This new group of missionaries has no one that can play. It was a nice chance for Hermana Pitcher to play.
   We substituted at the Temple on Saturday which made it so we didn't have a day off this past week. It's okay though. We felt we were of help in the Temple. Hermana Pitcher was able to help the same sweet sister in a wheelchair yesterday. That faith inspires both of us.

   This is one of the typical homes we saw along Rio Dulce during our trip back in January.
    One fun thing we did this past week was buy lunch from a lady who cooks a meal and sells it out of her van on the street in front of the office. We've seen lots of employees buying from her and we decided to be brave and try it. It was really good so we'll probably be buying from her when we don't feel like cooking.