Posadas!

Friday morning we woke up before the sun and took a taxi to the bus terminal where we waited to board our bus to ARGENTINA!!

I spy Darin...

And we were off. Had my eye mask in hopes of sleeping, but the bus was SO bumpy and swirvy that that was just about impossible. 

So instead I "watched" a marathon of Mr. Bean movies.

The bus ride took longer than we anticipated. We didn't get to Encarnacion until about 3 p.m. and then had to get across the bridge to Posadas. We jumped in a taxi, but the line to get across was forever long. After sitting on the bridge for about 45 minutes, barely moving (our taxi driver had turned the car off and was pushing the car along from the outside b/c he was almost out of gas) we decided to hop out and walk the rest of the way. Why didn't we just do that from the start?! It was such a beautiful walk and much cooler than it was inside the taxi.

So crazy to me that even on the bridge there were tons of people walking up and down selling stuff.

We made it! We went through customs and then grabbed a taxi to take us to our hotel.

This hotel was so lovely, after the one we had stayed in in Asuncion. We were both so exhausted by this point and just wanted to enjoy the nice hotel and relax, but it was already 5 p.m. by that point and we only had the one evening in Posadas so we quickly cleaned up a bit and were off to my area, Villa Cabello (our hotel was in downtown Posadas. My area is more on the outskirts of the city).

I was so worried that I wouldn't remember where anything was or that no one would remember me. Even though these people are engraved on my heart, I'm not sure it is the same for them considering they see SO many missionaries. I'm sure it's hard for them to remember all of us. I was in this area for 9 months though, which isn't normal so my hopes were high. 

It was so great to get to Hermana Isabel's door and to see her face when she saw me. She is just the sweetest! She was a recent convert when I got to this area and had us over every single Sunday after church to eat. She would also do our laundry and frequently go to visits with us. She was like a mother away from home for all of us missionaries. I was able to teach her son Fernando and see him get baptized as well as help her other son Marcelo prepare for his mission. It was so surreal to be there talking to her again as though no time had passed at all.

After visiting Hermana Isabel we walked around in search of Manuel's house. It took me a bit to remember where he lived, but I eventually did. He got baptized while I was there as well, and we taught his brother's family and helped them go through their marriage process. They were some of my favorite people to visit in Villa Cabello. We did eventually find his house, but he was not there :(.

Manuel (the shorter one :) on his baptismal day.

We stopped in to see the Krul family. Only Hermana Krul was there and she was busy working in the pizza parlor they have created in their dining area so we didn't stay long, but it was so nice to see her. Her kids had no idea who I was and I felt so old telling them, "I remember you when you were just this tall and couldn't even speak yet!" 

To end the night we went to see the Gonzalez family. I was so anxious to see them as I had spent so much time with them right before I went home. They were baptized just weeks before I left the mission. It was such an amazing experience to teach them about the gospel of Jesus Christ and even more amazing to see how it has affected their lives 7 years later.

They were beyond excited to see me. Nelida said she had been checking the bus for me all afternoon/evening. I just can't even express what I felt being with them. It was pure heavenly happiness. 

Nelida told us that she asks every missionary she meets from Utah if they know Hermana Kretchman and Hermana Runyan. It is  so cute that she is so surprised when none of them know me, haha, especially since I'm not even from Utah :). It just amazed me that all these years later they still think of me.

They knew it was my birthday so they prepared a little asado for us (I guess it wasn't called an asado, they called it a paleta--a smaller assortment of meat that takes less time to cook. Apparently an asado takes around 4 hours). The meat was amazing. It was so fun to watch Rogelio cook it and to hear their 16 year old son Leandro explain all the different cuts of meat. These Argentines don't fool around when it comes to meat. I couldn't believe that a teenager knew so much about a cow and how to cook it!

At one point Rogelio went upstairs and then came back down with this hymn book that we had given him. He showed me the message and said that he reads it every so often and keeps it safe in his room.

We hung out with them for a few hours. It was just so easy to talk to them. We talked about everything. I loved meeting their little adopted daughter Sol. They adopted her, literally the day that I said goodbye to them. I remember coming to their house and Nelida was holding a little baby. What a sweetheart she is.

At about 11:30 p.m. we told them that we should get out of their hair and Nelida responded, "No! Don't go! It's only 11:30, at least stay till midnight. After all, when will we see you again?" My heart. She is the best. They did eventually take us back to our hotel and we did have to say goodbye, but I know I will see them again someday, somewhere. They are a part of me. 

The next day, Saturday, we had a few hours to kill before catching our bus to Puerto Iguazu. I was so happy that I got to eat some of my favorite Argentine foods at our hotel breakfast. Facturas (delicious danishes--Darin was enjoying one in this photo below, or something like that).

And chipa!! Mmmmm...sooooo good. Darin didn't appreciate it as much as I did. Maybe it was just the nostalgia I was tasting. No, I'm pretty sure it's just delicious.

We walked over to the stake center that is there in the downtown area. We would have our zone conferences there. It was interesting to see the signs for the Posadas mission now that it has changed from the Resistencia mission.

We hung out in the plaza for a bit before leaving for the bus. After being in Asuncion, Posadas felt so nice to me which is a bit of a change from how I felt on my mission.

Even though we were in Posadas for less than 24 hours, I am still SO glad we did it. Being back there was amazing. It definitely made me appreciate the fact that I am not a missionary anymore (that is some hard work), but it also made me appreciate my time as a missionary. Those people and places really are a part of me. They have impacted my world so much. I love them. I am so happy that I got to share something so precious to me with my husband. It was a birthday for the books.