Day 2 of Mission Health Visit - Monday, June 1 - Mission Argentina Resistencia

What do we do here in the South America South Area as the Area Medical Advisor and Assistant? Walt is "on call" 24/7 for 2,300 missionaries in the 14 missions--10 in Argentina, 2 in Paraguay, and 2 in Uruguay.
Like last night (June 10) from the time we left the area office at 7:00pm (early for a change) until we arrived here this morning at 10:20 (after visiting a hospital first) Walt had 14 calls...which is more than normal.
Very early this morning we were called about a near disaster when a call came from one mission that 4 of their sister missionaries had carbon monoxide poisoning in the night, but thank heavens, they were just to the first stage of naueous and vomiting and rushed to the hospital in time, where they are now being treated with oxygen. The cause is thought to be their water heater. Very scary!
One of our main aims--in addition to daily taking calls from each mission president, mission president's wife and missionaries she has call us--is to visit each mission at least once a year (preferably twice a year) to give an hour presention in their zone conferences on "Missionary Health and Safety" and then speak in private consultation with each missionary who has a health concern.
This mission health visit to the Argentina Resistencia Mission is our #8 mission visited.
The others have been in 2008: Mendoza Nov 26-Dec 5; Neoquen Dec. 10-19; Buenos Aires North Dec. 23; Buenos Aires West, Dec. 29, (and scheduled to be there Dec. 31 but that's when Walt had to fly an Elder home).
In 2009: Buenos Aires West visits continued Jan. 7, Feb. 11, transfer mtg on Apr 27, and Zone Leaders Counsel, May 1; Argentina Rosario Mission Feb 23-26; Uruguay Montevideo West March 30-April 3, and now Argentina Resistencia May 31-June 6. We are scheduled to have our 2nd visit to the Argentina Mendoza Mission June 21-30, and to the Paraguay Ascuncón Mission the end of July.
(Whew....sorry, I guess this is mostly for us to have a record on our blog of our mission visits.)
Now back to last week's adventure in the Argentina Resistencia Mission - Day 2, June 1:
Here Walt is checking the blood pressure on an Elder.....missionaries are from Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, a lot from Chile and Peru, Colombia, Mexico, and the United States. At this first zone conference there were no sister missionaries.

"What do you do, Hermana Petersen?" is a question I am often asked. Well, my #1 calling is to take care of the Medical Area Advisor, so he can take care of the missionaries. Following that, I keep all the records of what the missionaries' health concerns are, and what Dr. Petersen advises them to do. We set up a class room near the chapel and they come out from the zone conference, usually only missing about 10 minutes of the z.c. We love being with the missionaries. They work so hard and are so enthusiastic about sharing the truths of this restored Gospel and bringing eternal temple blessings to as many families as possible!
Sorry, got the cutline for the photo below under the photo by mistake and can't get it to cut/paste.At the end of their 5-hour zone conference, there were sack lunches waiting, today with this gigantic submarine-type sandwhich, an apple, an orange, then each had one of those tortas from the photo shown in Day 1, that were in the plastic containers behind this Elder.
Between the two zone conferences on June 1, the mission president and wife drove the 5 minutes back to the mission home to have lunch. So the first z.c. was 8-1pm, following which the mission president had a 30-min mtg with his zone and district leaders. The next z.c. started at 2:30 p.m.

Anyway, for lunch we had a yummy cream soup, shown in photo above, and a Welsh recipe of a corn torta shown below.

Cutline below again.
The plan was that they take their sack lunches and eat at their apartments, but some missionaries have a 4-5 hour bus ride back, so they gather round a table in the kitchen.
Here we are at the end of the first day, ready to leave the Resistencia Chapel to return to the mission home for a late-night light supper, then off to more zone conferences in the morning. More to come for Day 3, June 2.
And below...Elders carrying cases of Books of Mormon ready to go conquer the world after the great doctrinal dicsourses they had from their mission president in zone conference. A smidgen of which is: "Elders y Hermanas, what can happen when you ask someone to be baptized? They either say no or yes. When they say 'no' you are sad, and may have some tears.....but oh the blessings if they say 'yes.' In the Celestial Kingdom they will come to introduce their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and beyond to you, and with tears they will say to their posterity: 'This is the missionary who brought our family eternal salvation.' What rejoicing there will be!"