Sometimes while cleaning off my computer table, I find bits of poetry or thoughts written on small pieces of paper. That happned today so I will share with every one some thoughts about love put into a verse. It is definitely not a master-piece but there isn't a better subject to be found.



Love

Love’s the absence of hate and fear;
The essence of everything dear.
It is a verb. It is a noun.
It makes a smile out of a frown.

Love is what inspires mothers.
It unites sisters and brothers.
Love is the proof that people care
And makes them more willing to share.

There’s evidence love is divine.
Your soul was rescued as was mine.
By someone sent from up above
To bless us with redeeming love.

VerNon A. Bingham
March 28, 2008

There were a couple of ice bergs the size of a foot-ball field. This was between Elephant Island and Esperanza Island down at Antarctica where we went on a cruise February and March 2008. We were impressed beyond words.

This is one of the more impressive ice bergs that we saw as we cruised along Esperanza Island on our cruise February and March of 2008.

It was while we were in Christ Church, New Zealand, visiting the Antarctic Center there that made us want to take the cruise that we just finished March 7, 2008. We were in New Zealand March of 2007 when this picture was taken. It is amazing how they have created a center for educational purposes so people will understand what is happening at the South Pole. It is from Christ Church, New Zealand, that all supplies are flown to the Antarctic Circle.

As far as the date is concerned, this picture is out of chronological order. We rented a car in Toranga, New Zealand, and drove north. As we passed through Hamilton, we found the temple and took this picture. This happened on our cruise to Australia and New Zealand, February and March of 2007. This view was breath taking and one we want to share with every one.

This is the new mission training center in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It has room for as many as eighty missionaries. They were talking about building here nineteen years ago while we presided over the training center which was located in a stake center in Ramos Mejia. They told us that we would never see the completion of this beautiful center but they didn't count on our return to Argentina nineteen years later. The building is located right near the temple.

We were in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from February 16 until the 19th. That gave us time to attend the temple twice. When we were here nineteen years ago (1989-1991) we took the missionaries to the temple on Tuesday every week for the two years we presided over the mission training center. We had to drive some distance to get to the temple. Now the training center is right next door.

We think that the most impressive building in Uruguay is the LDS Temple. It is located in a ubeat neighborhood and is really beautiful. The temple was opened in 2001. There is a beautiful chapel and a hostal (place for temple patrons to lodge) on the same block as the temple These buildings show that LDS Church does nothing second rate. The mission home is also on the same piece of property.

My camera is tilted because we were driving by this building in Montevideo, Uruguay. The building is not slanting as it appears. This is an example of a colonial edifice with a more modern one in the background.

We were in Montevideo on a rainy day as is evidenced here. That was March 5, 2008. On our way back from visiting the temple grounds, we passed some impressive buildings that represent the government of Uruguay. There are some impressive modern buildings but the early Spaniards left structures that are impressive. I will include a few to give readers an idea of what Montevideo is like.

I am enclosing this poem because in May we are going to visit Rouen, France, where Joan of Arc was put to death for heresy.

COURAGE

What made Pelayo's feat so great (It was Pelayo who started the reconquest in Spain 718 AD)
When Covadonga would not yield?
What is it that decides the fate
On any given battle field?

Physical strength well has it's part
In every conflict that may be,
But what resides within the heart
Will determine finality.

French troops were inspired by Joan of Arc
To overcome much greater odds.
When left alone without her spark,
They stumbled over paltry clods.

Columbus dared the ocean blue
In his three motley caravels;
Looking for India's morning dew
Across the sea's treacherous swells.

Men such as Sir Walter Raleigh,
Unafraid of great risks and scorn
Were pron to look beyond the sea
Where new colonies might be born.

Was Cortes right in his bold feat
To subjugate a land and race?
Once on the shore, thoughts of retreat
Were soon to vanish into space.

Did Cuahutemoc reserve the right
To see a people mostly destroyed
Because of a commitment to fight
Against such odds that were employed.

Mary, Queen of Scots would not confess
To all the things that had been said.
Suffering imprisonment and duress
She yielded not, thus lost her head.

Sir Thomas Moore would not submit
Though ordered by royal decree
To compromise, so he might sit
In grace with king and thus go free.
(VerNon A. Bingham)
Started January 1994 to March 1995

During the cruise to Antarctica we had three formal nights. This one is not very good of us but it does show where the cruise took us. We were sixteen nights on the ship. We disembarked only five times.

We saw these penguines while visiting Ushuaia. We had to take a taxi about 40 miles east of Ushuaia and then walk a mile. These are similar to the ones we saw on the Falkland Island at Port Stanley.

We saw a lot of ice bergs while on our Antarctica cruise. Here is another one.

Judy and Earl Deschamps are presently serving as Matron and President of the Buenos Aires Argentine Temple. They served with us in the presidency in Cochabamba, Bolivia. They are wonderful people and have served faithfully in many parts of the world. We were privileged to be able to stay with them for a few days in Buenos Aires before going on the cruise. We enjoyed attending the temple a couple of times while we were there.

This is one of the buildings found in the miniture city that Evita Peron had built for the children of Argentina in la Ciudad de Ninos.

Near the Ciudad de la Plata about fifty miles from Buenos Aires, there is a city in miniture called, Ciudad de los Ninos (City for Children). This small city represents numerous countries of the world. One of the buildings has miniture dolls representing almost every country in the world. There is a small statue of Eva Peron, who founded this city for the benefit of children. We had been here in 1990 and wanted to see it again.

This is a picture of one of the ice bergs we saw while on our trip to Antarctica. We understand that the ice berg is five or six times larger under the water than it is on top so this must have been a large one. We saw these ice bergs as we passed Elephant and Esperanza Islands. There are many more and they are all beautiful.

Alejandro Llonto, his wife, Cristina & daughter, Veronica met us at the airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina as we were leaving the country after twenty event-filled days there. I met Alejandro nineteen years ago in a meeting where a few of us met with professional scouters to determine the feasibility of getting a charter for the LDS Church to participate in the Argentine Scout Program. Alejandro was one of the two professional scouters who met with us. He wanted to know more about the church so I met with him and invited him to meet with the missionaries. He was baptized some three weeks later. He has been a faithful member of the church ever since and has the blessings of an eternal family. I feel honored to have had a part in Alejandro's conversion. We are kindred spirits because we both know how scouting can have a positive influence in the life of a young person.

Here we are in front of the temple in Buenos Aires with Leonardo & Raquel Brosio and their two lovely daughters. Leonardo and Raquel were two of the 740 missionaries who passed through the mission training center while we were there nineteen years ago. We were privileged to see them on two different occasions during our trip to South America February 15 to March 6, 2008.

Four days ago we returned from a twenty day trip to South America. We left on February 15, and returned on March 7, 2008. We saw many beautiful places including some extremely large icebergs down by the South Pole. We visited the Falkland Islands, Ushuaia, Punta Arenas and Monte Video before returning to Buenos Aires.

We enjoyed the generous hospitality of President and Sister Deschamps, president and matron of the Argentine Temple. We attended a couple of sessions and had the privilege of meeting some of the missionaries who trained with us in the training center nineteen years ago. We will show pictures and include names in another entree. We can't even begin to express how wonderful it was to be there with people who have become so dear to us.

The last day of our sixteen day cruise to Antarctica we went to the temple in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and met a number of people we knew nineteen year ago when we served in the mission trainin center. Here we are with Elder and Sister Civic. Elder Claudio Civic is now a member of the Area Presidency in Argentina. Nineteen years ago, he was a member of the stake presidency where we had the training center. Elder Civic and I served on a committee to reestablish scouting in Argentina. We met Alejandro Llanto, a professional scouter, who joined the church soon after we held our first meeting. We also saw Alejandro, his wife Cristina and their daughter Veronica. They spent over an hour with us at the airport before we left. Seeing these people again one of the highlights of our trip.