Many folks take this time off from work, and the attendance here at the temple has really jumped. Almost all of the sessions are at least half full, and some are even 10 to 15 over capacity! Yesterday - Saturday the 18th - there were three big tour buses here and one smaller one. Two of them were from Salta. Salta is a city that is about 14 hours by bus farther north.
There were 100 youth here from Salta, and maybe 20 adults along with them. They actually arrived last Wednesday. They divided the youth into two groups of 50, and overwhelmed the baptistry a couple of times. The youth then went to a conference on Thursday and Friday. They returned again yesterday and visited the baptistry. The Salta buses departed about two in the afternoon to return. I must say that even though there were more youth than the baptistry could easily handle, the youth were more reverent than any group that you could imagine. Other than the number of people here, you would never know of their presence.
Along with a busy baptistry goes a busy laundry. The wet clothes stacked up so quickly that the dumb waiter couldn't keep up. Wet clothes go into a chute that empties in the basement of the temple. There is a small elevator that is used to get them into the laundry. I'll let Claudia tell you about her experience there.
I was sent to the laundry area. At least that is where they pointed me and said something about ropes. I knew how many people had been baptized, so I wondered where all the wet clothes were. I was the only one there and got everything washing and drying that was visible, then went looking for the stack of wet clothes I knew must exist somewhere. I went in the basement, and found a pile about eight feet tall of wet towels and suits. Yes, there is a little elevator, but right then but it was buried and not working. So I grabbed a poor woman that was walking past and pulled her down the steps to the clothes with me. Through motions I got her to help me carry up about six giant, wet laundry baskets of clothes and we got all the washing machines going. Then we went down and repaired the elevator. After I kept her working for about an hour with me, she managed to let me know that she was not a worker at the temple, but just a lady that was with the Salta group. That was fine with me. She helped me be useful. She was OK enough with it that she brought her English speaking husband to meet me, and he remained my friend for the next few days. (I never saw her again. I think she avoided me.)
And now everyone has heard about all the laundry I carried by myself from the basement. It has given me a lot of credibility in the world of cleaning. And the other Americans are sick of hearing about it.
Speaking of Claudia, she is beginning to put elementary sentences together and having limited conversations with the people in Spanish. I believe she is doing extremely well, and I am very proud of her efforts to learn the language. Of course, you all know that language doesn't get in her way when it comes to making friends. People here love her and want to be with her. That included many sister workers that request to be with her on sessions.
I was asked to send a short video to the Mendoza Institue of Religion about some of my experiences while I was a missionary in Argentina 47 years ago. Claudia and I made a video using my iPad. I tried for a week to upload it to the internet so brother Wajchman in Mendoza would have it. Unfortunately, the internet here at the temple would not allow to do it. In an attempt to upload it to the internet we went to the mission home, and talked to some of the elders there. It turns out that it was just another futile attempt to upload. But, in the process we met a couple from Preston, Idaho, who were here to pick up their son. Here is Claudia's words of what happened:
Brent was talking computer to the boys at the mission home, and I saw someone that I knew had just come to take her missionary son home. I walked up to her with the line, "Do you have any Reece's Peanut Butter Cups?" The answer was no, but she had a lot of friendship to share! We ended up making friends and going out to dinner with them that night. She helped me appreciate how nice the circumstances of this mission are. She will always be my friend. Right now they have gone with their son around Argentina and they will be back on Tuesday to go back to Idaho. And they have to come because we are holding their luggage hostage so they didn't have to drag it all over the country!
It is such a blessing to be here and work in the temple. I always feel the love our Savior has for us when I am there. It is incredible to know that his love for us is universal, and he doesn't care what our background is, nor where we live. He knows each of our hearts, and loves us for who we are with such an incredible love that I can't comprehend it fully. I feel only a portion of that love for them as I watch them in the sessions.
We walked around town last Monday to see some of the sights. The main cathedral in Cordoba was built in 1578, and is still standing today. It has been rebuilt, and is in very good condition. I am always awe struck to see the architecture and the grand size of these buildings. Here is a photo of what we figured may be the baptistry of the cathedral in the center of Cordoba.
This is the cupola of the main dome in the cathedral from the inside.
The lock on one of the main doors. It looks like it came from the 16th century!
These doors are about 16 feet tall. The lock above is in this set of doors. Notice the wear mark from where the bar has swung.
This painting was hanging in one of the side crypts. To me it shows the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost as separate beings.
Just outside is a place where you can play a pick up game of chess. This is for you, Seth. The wall behind the players is the back wall of the cathedral.
Claudia makes her first purchase in Spanish!
Just a couple more photos before I sign off. This is the view of the moon, Venus (top) and Jupiter (bottom) taken from here in Cordoba last night. It is interesting to note the orientation of the moon from here compared to the U.S. Here the crescent is facing almost directly below, slightly to the left. In the U.S. it is facing to the right at a very oblique angle. See if you can figure out why.
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