Typical horse carts. They use them for all kinds of hauling. There is an entire sub-culture associated with the carts in Uruguay. They are slowly being phased out, but not without a struggle. There are thousands of them in Montevideo. They use them to haul garbage, building supplies, etc. It is all informal, but they provide an important service. These carts have solid axels. Many have a differential. Many times they use the rear end from a car, and mount the cart on it.

Missionary ingenuity. The faucet leaked badly unless pressure was maintained on it, so ...... It is difficult to shave in the morning, because everything has to be dismantled.



Mom at the gate of San Ramon, a large estancia between Paysandu and Salto. It is a beautiful ranch. We have no idea how big it is, but there are no other houses for miles.

Mom and the Howletts in front of the great bull at Paso de los Toros.

Mom and I standing in front of the statue of Artigas in Montevideo. This is the old section of town, and is quite nice.

This fancy urn holds the ashes of Artigas. It is in a small museum below the statue of Artigas. It is well done. The ashes are guared by two soldiers who don't move a muscle.

Inspection trip 3

This is really just a test. I want to see if I can remember how to do this. It has been a long time since we posted anything.

This picture is of a guacho between Vichadero and Tacuarembo. We had taken a wrong turn, or rather we had missed a turn, and had just crossed the Rio Negro river on Ruta 44 to Melo. We stopped and asked this gaucho for directions. He knew all about the country and the highways, and was able to give us good directions. He was very friendly and helpful. He was happy to let us take his picture. Notice the bridle on the horse. It looked like it was hand braided. The horse was well disciplined. You can also see the sheepskin that they use as part of the saddle. Looks comfortable. His poncho covered him and all of his saddle. He looked dry, even though it had been raining quite hard for some time.

As part of the church's world-wide day of service our branch cleaned up the Ferando beach in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. It is a beautiful beach, but had a lot of trash on it, bottles, plastic bags, etc. There were a lot of dead fish on the beach as well. We had a perfect day for the activity. We had hotdogs after we finished cleaning the beach. The young men played north American football, the kids played in the sand, and the adults sat and talked. It was our best branch activity to date. It created a real feeling of fellowship that was still being felt on Sunday. It brought the branch much closer together. It created a good memory for everyone involved.

These are some of the members of the branch waiting to go to the Ferando beach for our service project. Alejandro Chineppe is in the red cap. He is the workhorse of the branch. He is the Elders Quorum president, and is the one that gets everything done. We ended up with 50 people or more at the beach. It was a perfect day, and we had a great time.

The young men playing North American football. They really took to the game. Some of them were very good as well. The young man in the dark blue at the right of the picture is a natural. He is fast as lightning, and has great moves. He loved the game. The water in the background in the Rio de la Plata, the widest river in the world.

This gives you an idea about the dead fish we had to pick up. There was a line of dead fish along the high water mark of the entire beach. Many of the fish were this size. We have no idea what killed them, but it was effective whatever it was. We were going to take some fun pictures with them, but they smelled so bad nobody could stand it long enough to get good shots. Sister Chineppe is holding the bag, had Jairo Geddes in the blue shirt and his friend are loading the fish.

A picture of the people from the branch. Quite a few people had gone home by the time we took this picture, but it is a good representation of the people in the branch. Everyone had a great time.

CoyAnn and Bill at the Ferando beach. We had finished the cleanup project, and CoyAnn had gotten everyone fed, so we had some time to relax and take pictures. Life is tough in the mission field. A beautiful beach on a perfect day with good friends, good activity and good food.

This view is looking west on the Ferrando beach. It is getting to be evening. This picture and the next give you an idea of the size of the beach we cleaned up. It was a great activity and a perfect day.

This is looking east on the Ferrando beach in Colonia. Just everyone in the picture is from our branch. There are some sunbathers in the background who are not.

Gevasio Edgardo Sena standing at the head of the grave of his good friend from the United States, Manuel Lopez, who died in Colonia Del Sacramento, Uruguay on 18 July 2007. They were friends of more than 30 years. Manuel loved to visit Uruguay, so his family decided to have him buried here. I let the lanyard of the camera get in the way, which is the apparent rope in the foreground. Sorry.

The inscription on the headstone. The Sena's will always remember him. He was an important part of their family. He was a veteran of the Korean war, and was a good singer of operatic music.

Another view of the headstone with a wider view of the cemetary.

Gervasio Edgardo Sena standing at the foot of the grave of Manuel Lopez, his good friend from the United States.

Edgardo Sena and I at the head of the grave of Manuel Lopez.

Another view of the cemetary. Edgardo Sena is standing next to the grave of Manuel Lopez in the background.

Another view of the cemetary. Manuel's grave is in the middle background of this picture. Quite a nice setting.

THE PARTY

Alejandro Vasquez (left), Federico Villagran (center), and Alejandro Chineppe (right with gloves) at our last big branch party. They are standing in front of the fire where we were cooking a stew in a huge pot that we borrowed from the army. It was so windy that we had to cover the fire area with sheets of tin roofing material. It worked like a charm. Alejandro Chineppe did most of the work.


Some pictures of the dinner and activity. We had a karaoke. Everyone loved it. We had to give people numbers to create some order. The singing varied from good to awful, but everyone had fun. They would have stayed all night. I did my best Frank Sinatra impression, but noone was asking for my autograph.

CoyAnn is in blue at this end of the table. Gissel De Los Santos at this end of the table. Rosanna Mendez next to CoyAnn. The mother of Alejandro Vasquez next to her in the pink, and Deborah Villagran next to her.



Edgardo Sena in the white shirt with his back to us. Brother and sister Villagran next to him. Brother Villagran is leaving for New Zealand soon to find work. The elder standing in the background is elder Larsen. He is from our home town of Colorado Springs. We know his parents. Small world.

THE HORSE RACE

Horse races are normally on Sunday here, but one Saturday each year they have a big national competition. There are lots of races over a two day period, but there is one really important race held on Saturday. We were lucky enough to be at the track when it was run. It was fun to watch. Unfortunaley our picture of the horses going past didn't turn out. It was a mile and a quarter race, and was won by a nose. I believe the track is a mile and a half. I have Lucas Barrotti on my shoulders. Sister Barrotti has her daughter Ophelia on her shoulders. CoyAnn is taking the picture. The horses had just turned for home.






Some of the horses in the race. The horse shown was third. I couldn't get a good picture of the winner, which was on the other side of this show area. This picture was taken before the race, so we had no idea what the outcome would be.

Some years ago the city fathers decided to turn the area of the race track into a tourist attraction centered on a bull ring. The building in the bacground with the fancy facade is a fronton for jai lai. Unfortunately, just after they built the bull ring and this fronton, the country outlawed bull fighting. As a result the expected growth never occured, and the structures have fallen into disrepair.

The "Plaza de Toros" bull ring is in the background. CoyAnn, sister Barrotti, and two of sister Barrotti's five children in the foreground. It was a fun hour and a half at the horse races.

These are some pictures of our last district temple trip. We are waiting for the bus to go home in the photo above. The bus was late coming and going, which put a lot of stress on CoyAnn and I. Happily, everything worked out. It was a great trip. It was cold, but not too cold.

This is a picture of the Howletts in front of the temple in Montevideo. They are now our very good friends. They are serving in Carmelo, which is in our district. We get to see them at least once every week.

This is brother Edgardo Gervasio Sena in front of the temple in Montevideo. It was his first time through the temple, so it was a special day for him. This was at the close of the day. He was very happy.

CoyAnn and brother Edgardo Sena in front of the temple.

Brother Edgardo Sena and I in front of the temple.

Another shot of brother Sena and I.

Sister Coleman in our home for family home evening. She spent 17 years in the United States, but is now back in Uruguay. All of her children are in the United States. She is trying to get back, but so far it has been difficult. We try to include her in all of our activities. Note the BYU sweatshirt. She is a great teacher and missionary.

Sister Teresa Bueno (in the red vest) and two of her daugthers at our house for family home evening. She is a great person. She works very hard. She has been a member of the church for many years.

July07

We went to Buenos Aires last week, and decided we better update our blog when we got home. Sorry it has been so long. We will try to be more diligent in the future.








One of our local guard dogs. We bribe them with dog biscuits, and they watch the house. This is the big brother. I have no idea what his name is.

This is the "jefe" of the neighborhood. He starts fights with all the dogs, and then the big brother comes to help out. They rule the neighborhood. Nothing gets past them. When we come home at night they come to meet us, and walk home with us. They bark the whole way to let everyone know we are home.

Our good friend Miguel Lorenzo putting a hot water tank in our kitchen. He works really quickly, and does a good job. He and his wife are our good friends. He is a contractor, and works with our other friend, Alejandro Vasquez.

A shot of the Opera Pampa, a horseback opera in Buenos Aires depicting the history of Argentina.

CoyAnn and I going into the Opera Pampa. The usher is in gaucho costume. The opera was excellent. It is funded by the city and the national government.

The statue memorializing San Martin, the liberator of Argentina from Spain. A beautiful work.

A street in front of a big shopping center, movie theater complex in Buenos Aires. It was really pleasant. Note that I am wearing only a sweater. It is 10 to 15 degrees warmer in Buenos Aires than it is in Colonia, Uruguay.

The church in Buenos Aires where all the rich and famous have their weddings.

The burial place of Eva Peron, about whom the movie "Evita" was made. Note that her family name was Duarte. Her burial site is the only one in this famous cemetary on which people put fresh flowers every day.

Mom and I in front of the mausoleum where Eva Peron is buried. Her plaque is just above and to the left of CoyAnn's head.

The burial place of Luis Angel Firpo, world heavyweight boxing champion from Argentina.

An outdoor shopping mall in Buenos Aires. BA is a modern city in some places, and you can find anything you need. It was fun to look.

Looking down one of the streets in front of the Catedral (columns on the right). You can see the Obelisk in the distance. Similar to the Washington monument in Washington, D.C.

A picture of the Catedral where San Martin is interred. He has a magnificant sarcophagus inside the Catederal. The Catedral is a catholic church, and is beautiful inside. Wonderful paintings, and very ornate. Some of missionary friends, the Dunns and Rikers in the picture.

The "Casa Rosada" or "Pink House", which was the equivilent of our White House. Eva Peron lived here during her time in power. I am not sure if it is still in use or not.

Jeannie and Jerry Dunn with us on the steps of the Catedral. The Casa Rosada is in the background. Jerry is the cousin of Jack Dunn, who was a stake president in Colorado Springs, and a friend of ours. They are also very good friends with Ben and Cary Porter from Colorado Springs. Ben and I were stake presidents together, and we are all good friends. Truly a small world.

Just prior to the baptismal service for Christina Vasquez (in the white dress). Her son, Alejandro (behind her) baptized her. It was a wonderful, moving service. Elder Huerte (kneeling in front, and Elder Hoffman (from Grand Junction - now Denver on the right).

Elder Howlett and I with missionaries from Carmelo and Colonia. We had been to a meeting with Elder Mickleson, and came to this shopping center later for Burger King hamburgers. The elder in the middle is Elder Larsen from Colorado Springs. He lives in the East Stake.

Sister Howlett is in this picture. She took the previous one. The Howletts are from Delta and St. George, Utah, and are doing a great work in Carmelo.

Our good friends Miguel and Christine Lorenzo with their two children in front of our apartment. In June 2007. It was clear, but cold.

Alejandro Vasquez (in white) serving the guiso. We served it in bread bowls, which you can see on the table. It was a novelty for the branch. Elder Stutz from Houston, Texas is facing the camera in the lower right. He is now assistant to the president. Elder Huerta has his back to us.

The guiso, which is a stew. Everyone in the branch brought something for the pot. The branch paid for the meat. It was inexpensive and great. We will probably do it once more during the winter.

CoyAnn stirring the guiso. We cooked it in a big pot that we got from the army battalion that is stationed here. Alejandro Vasquez, our committee chairman does the cooking. We stirred it with a big stick, more or less clean. We just built the fire on the concrete.

A view of some of the members of the branch at our first big activity. We had an asado, which is a barbecue. It was fun, but a lot of work for the cooks. We had a guy come with a karioke setup. Everyone was crazy about it. We couldn't get them to go home. I think we stayed until midnight.

Elder Huerte is in the left foreground. He loves to eat.

Miguel Lorenzo (left) and Alejandro Vasquez (right) doing the asado. They use wood for all of their barbecues here. They burn the wood to make the coals. They then scrape the coals to a different area of the barbecue and cook the meat over the coals. Just about every chapel has a barbecue similar to the one in the background.

This is a picture of Elder Madsen and Elder Huerte at one of our big branch activities. Elder Huerte was with us for six months. He just moved this last week. We were sorry to see him go. Elder Madsen left six weeks before Elder Huerte. I don't think it is possible to take a serious picture of Elder Huerte. He is always doing something funny.

The newest addition to the Tilton clan, Hayden William Tilton. He had some struggles during the pregnancy, but is now a normal, healthy, growing baby. He is Doug and Tiffany's fifth. The second boy.