25 de Mayo Holiday

Friday was the 25th of May, a national holiday where they celebrate the revolution against Spain back in 1810 leading to their independence on July 9, 1816.  We thought it was nice to coordinate with America's Memorial Day weekend.  All the wards had activities where they eat locro, a ham and bean type soup, and enjoy their time together.  Then later in the day a humongous pot comes out filled with hot cocoa (very sweet, I might add) and they enjoy that treat with sweet rolls and bread.  The pictures below show how 2 wards enjoyed this special holiday.

Catamarca Ward had their activity a little ways outside of town at a camping location.  They also had empanadas along with locro and all the sisters were busy putting the meat in the little shells that were then fried.

Here Doug is being taught by Sister Margarita Ledesma how to wrap his empanada.  All the sisters are very proficient in closing the dough and it's very artistic.  They also thought we both needed to learn how to do it.

I think she's thinking...My goodness but she's not doing a very good job but at least she's trying...  Something like that.  Sister Ledesma is a sweetheart.

The sisters hard at work.  You can see Valerie Pavon in the back, Sister Zabala/Argentina with a young investigator, and Sylvia Villa in front.

A great group of men:  Carlos Valenda, Carlos Medina, and Hugo Pavon.

Of course, it's never complete without the missionaries:  Sister Steward/UT, Elders Kayser/CA, Hughes/UT, Kohler/UT, and Gilman/ID

Here's Ambato Ward's locro, which is just about all served up.  We thought it was delicious.  About 100 people from our ward came to enjoy the day.

Lucho Rasgido with his wife Carman.  Lucho made the pot of locro, starting at 5 a.m.  It's something he's done for years.  The ward members bring the ingredients to his home and he makes the meal.

Matias and Pablo Quiroga, Daniela Brandan, Edith Quiroga, Bishop Brandan, and Gladys Brandan all enjoying their locro.  Everyone brings their own dishes and utensils and glasses as the church doesn't have anything in the kitchen for such events.

Below are pictures of the ward members enjoying the day:

We saw many displays of the Argentine flag throughout the city but really liked what the little town of Valle Viejo had displayed down their main street.