Uraguay

We decided after serving for two years here it was about time for us to drive to the far reach of our mission, Jaguarão, which lies on the border with Uruguay.  On October 9th we arranged with the Elders there and in Arroio Grande (Great River), to stop by on the same Sunday for a short visit.  We stopped in Arroio Grande first and met with about 40 members there.  We taught them in their Relief Society and Priesthood meeting about how you can invite someone over  to learn a little more about the church.  Curt is here with two of the future missionaries from the Arroio Grande Branch. Curt likes to take off his missionary tag and put it on the young boys so that they can see how they would look as a missionary.

 This is the front of the house in Arroio Grande which has been converted into a chapel.

 Here we are with the Branch President and his wife, and Elder Higdon and Elder Melo who are currently serving in Jaguarão.  We were able to take a photo with almost all of the members who were attending church that week. 

We went to Jaguarão to their testimony meeting, and shared short testimonies. Afterwards we had interviews with the 4 Elders serving in those areas and even had time for a quick photo at the Border of Uruguay. The church was first preached in Jaguarão by missionaries who crossed the border from Uruguay. They have a nice chapel there and I was surprised when we asked them how many of their ward members had served missions, and there were 5. We finished the Sunday night by giving a Fireside in Rio Grande about how to share the Book of Mormon with a friend

 We are taking turns posing by the border of Uraguay:  Elder Melo, Curt and Elder Higdon.  We couldn't actually go over the border, but it was fun to know that we were close enough to touch it.

 If you cross this bridge you would be in Uraguay.

 Almost every one of these cities has some kind of Statue of a Gaucho.