On the Move Again!

After 23 moves, we did it again! We moved into our new house! I feel like we need t-shirts that say, "I survived a move in Peru!" The first huge obstacle was that the elevator up to our seventh story apartment was broken. So everything and every person had to go up and down seven flights of stairs, including a piano. There were no moving vans or U-hauls. When it rained they had to stop moving because there was no protection for our furniture. There were very few boxes; mostly garbage bags. All our clothing was stuffed in boxes and garbage bags. There was only shrink wrap to protect the furniture. It was all quite an adventure. Despite all of that, the people who helped us move were kind and helpful and willing to do whatever we asked.

The front of our house. Its hard to see in the light,

but there is a wood door, some gray stone and

a wood garage door. The windows up top are

from our bedroom.

These are the cute garbage collector ladies in our

neighborhood. They push the cart around together

and pick up our garbage three times a week. They 

were so proud of the treasures they find like a shirt or a

 pair of pants or recycling materials. "Gifts" they said.

This is a park being developed in our neighborhood.

We hope it is finished before we leave.There are 3

or four trees and some patches of grass.

This is the faithful groundskeeper. He is always 

working. One day Mark asked him how he liked

taking care of the park that was not. He laughed

so hard! Mark always makes people happy.

We are very happy to be in our house. It is a quiet and peaceful place; no noise or busy traffic. And we have so much more space. I didn't realize how cramped we were in our apartment until we moved into this house. We have large closets now for our clothes, in fact we each have our own. We have much more cupboard space in the kitchen. We have a small courtyard with grass and a patio and we have a balcony outside our second story bedroom! The other night we sat on our balcony and watched the most amazing clouds. They were moving fast for clouds. They really were beautiful in the blue sky. Some of them were huge! They looked like giant ships gliding slowly through blue water. It made me feel more at home to know that some things are the same in Peru, like clouds, dirt and wind.

                                           Stairs and Living Room

Living Room and Dining Room. That is the

garage door in the background. The wall is

all windows to the outside.

It is the middle of summer and miserably hot, and we are without air conditioning. After they got all the new air conditioning units installed in our house, they realized that there was not enough electrical power to support them. And they were right. It has been quite a trying experience for two over- indulged spoiled Americans. For example, we cannot run the air conditioning and the washer and dryer at the same time. We cannot run the air conditioning and use the oven. I cannot use the oven and do laundry at the same time. It has been quite a juggling act to get everything done that we need to and still remain halfway comfortable. We only have air conditioning in two rooms, our bedroom and the office. I call those two rooms the cool zones! They are an oasis for us.

Mark's new office; much bigger and carpeted!

                                                          Our bedroom. A cool spot.

We have had people here at our house working for three weeks now to get this all figured out. I am sure they are thinking we are pretty demanding and needy Americans and that we expect to live in great luxury. I love air conditioning and in Chiclayo, in the summer it can be miserable! It has been really good for us to remember that this is how the missionaries live all the time. I don't know how they ever cool off. They have no air conditioning in their apartments and none in any of the homes they visit. A lot of the churches and most public buildings do not have it either.

Our cute kitchen. I love the red!

In order to get us the power we need the electric company had to hook up a new connection to the power line. The greatest problem was to find it! One day two men came with a sledge hammer and just starting making holes and digging. First they put a big hole in the road in front of our house, but then decided that the line was not there. So next, they dug out a huge hole through the sidewalk. They had to dig down six feet in order to connect to the line. They worked out in the hot sun for many hours for two days, but finally they found it. It was a reason to celebrate! Our sidewalk will never look the same again, but we will be nice and cool in our house!

We found a man under our sidewalk!

We have a very small yard now, so we have a gardener. When they told us he would be coming three times a week, we were astounded. Our yard is about 40 feet by 20 feet and it is just a little grass with three tiny trees! The first day the gardener came, we left to go inspect rooms. When we returned two hours later, I expected the grass to be neatly trimmed and that the yard would be perfect. There had been a few weeds and the grass was long. We were surprised to see that after two hours of work, it did not look any different! The gardener did this for three days in a row. I really am not sure what he did! Mark and I went out and worked in the yard for thirty minutes to pull the weeds and trim some grass. The only tools we had were scissors! It was very stressful and crazy trying to do the yard with scissors, but we do not have any other garden tools. Our gardener uses clippers to cut our grass which are not much better. Where is Tucker when you need him! He could have had it done it in five minutes!




                                              Our huge yard/courtyard/carport/garage. We
                                               have a little patio to the left. The cement is
                                               for our cars.

               
                                                  Guest Room  and underneath the Den.

We have an empty lot on the right of our house, a house on the left of our house and an empty lot behind our house. The houses in Peru are built right next to each other, even in the nicest
neighborhood in Chiclayo. So we share a wall with our neighbors on the left. It is interesting. We have a park. There are a few patches of grass on one side and a few trees, but that is it. It is not finished. But it is quiet and we have space! My favorite part of our neighborhood is the lot behind our house because there are four baby owls that live there! They are so adorable. We noticed them the first morning we walked by there and now we look for them every time we walk. Some of them have favorite spots where they love to perch.


                                            The baby owls on one of their favorite perches.

Some days we only see one or two, but the lucky days are when all four of them are hanging out together. I can see them from the window of our office, because it is at the back of our house. So I just watch them sometimes with my binoculars. Yesterday, all four of them were there and I realized that they have two nests back there. They are in holes under the sidewalk! I saw two of them resting there and the other two were close by. It has been so fun to watch them learn how to fly and go further distances. I don't know how to explain how cute they are! When we get a little closer we can see their cute little faces looking at us and they turn their heads all the way around the cute way that owls do that!

Our baby owl friends. They really blend in with

the environment. In the background is the back of our house.

This is the Local Bird Preserve right by the gate of our "Gated"

Community: They are vultures eating garbage!

One day after getting semi-settled in our house, we had Multi-Zone Conference. We literally had one day to prepare, but like always, we had a lot of help, from the office elders and from above. We felt the need to emphasize the study of Preach my Gospel every day. It is the key to missionary work. I have fallen in love with that book. It has helped me so much to understand how missionary work is carried out. I did not have the opportunity to serve a proselyting mission, so this has been on the job training for me. Preach my Gospel has been a great blessing to me and I have gained a strong testimony that it is a very inspired book. It was written by prophets of God, just like the scriptures. I believe that it may be the second most correct book on earth!


                                           Zone Conference March 18-19, 2016

"Tengo un testimonio de Predicad mi Evangelio."

We also focused on the power of the Book of Mormon in conversion. There would be no missionary work without this miraculous book. The world is full of false teachings and doctrines, as Nephi prophesied there would be (2 Ne. 28:7-9). The Book of Mormon teaches us the truth. I have learned more powerfully, on this mission, the importance of the Doctrine of Christ. There is no other book of scripture, or otherwise, that states the Doctrine of Christ so clearly and so powerfully as the Book of Mormon does. It leaves no question about the way to come unto Christ. This is what missionaries do. We invite people to come unto Christ through faith, repentance, baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is the way that the Lord has determined will lead us to Him and the Book of Mormon leaves us no doubt that there is no other way.

My favorite passage about this doctrine is in the Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 11:31-40. This passage is incredibly powerful and very sobering.

               "Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will declare unto you my doctrine.

                "And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me . . .

                "And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they                        who shall inherit the kingdom of God.

                "Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from the                          Father;

                "And again I say unto you, ye must repent and, and become as a little child, and be                                baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things.

                "And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a                    little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

                "Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this                            buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.

                "And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same                    cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock . . .and the gates of hell stand open to receive                  such . . ."

Did the Lord not get across His point?! How do men manage to come up with so many other ideas and false teachings? How have they been so blinded? The Book of Mormon teaches us the truth! We need not be confused or blinded by the craftiness of men.


                                           "Battleship" at Zone Conference.

                                           There is no missionary work without these amaz-
                                            ing missionaries!

Last Saturday we had the opportunity to attend the baptism of a cute little grandma named Lucretia who was in a wheelchair and could not even walk. She was a tiny little lady with long dark hair. I would have never known she was a grandma. Both of the Elders who taught her had to carry her into the font and baptize her together. Her testimony was so simple and sweet. and her three granchildren were also there. After the program, I had the opportunity to meet them. They were so proud of their grandma. They said, "This is our Abuelita!" (Little Grandma) I was touched that they were willing to come to a meeting they did not understand, to support their "Abuelita."

                                           Goodbye to Hermana Valdebenito of Chile

We have been on our mission for 20 months now! It is so amazing! When missionaries tell me they have been out for 20 or more months, I automatically know they are very experienced and seasoned missionaries. So I feel that Mark and I are pretty experienced and seasoned missionaries. We do feel much more comfortable and confident in what we are doing. It is a great feeling. We have come a long way. Meetings are much easier to plan and it takes much less time to prepare. I used to spend hours preparing to train the Hermana Leaders. And speaking in Spanish is much easier. We still have our moments when we are frustrated with our inability to express ourselves, but know that the Lord has blessed us with the gift of tongues and that we have been able to get our message across despite our weaknesses.

                                                     Saying goodbye to Hermana Guillen
                                                      from Colombia. A faithful leader.

 In D&C 130:19 it says: "And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come." I love the fact that we gain the most knowledge through obedience and diligence. After 20 months in the mission field, I have gained a much greater testimony of these principles because I can see now how I have grown and all that I have learned. This mission has not been easy for me and I have struggled many times with many things, but I have tried to be diligent and obedient. I have tried to study the scriptures every day just like the missionaries do and I have studied Preach my Gospel and the Spanish language every day. It has been extremely difficult and sometimes I have even done things begrudgingly.


                                                   At Pimentel Beach with the new arrivals.

Hungry new missionaries. Last break-

fast in the "old" Mission Home.

Thank goodness that the Lord is so merciful and that "the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he has chosen." (1 Ne. 1:20) He takes us and uses us with all our weaknesses and our shortcomings. In the beginning, I studied Preach my Gospel because I was supposed to, but now I have a firm testimony that it is a book written through revelation by prophets of God. My knowledge of the gospel, the scriptures and the Doctrine of Christ have grown through studying this inspired book. In the mission, my testimony has grown more than I ever could have imagined. My knowledge and understanding of missionary work has grown and of how the church operates. I am grateful for all these experiences, good and bad, that have contributed to my growth. If we can just hold on when things get rough, and have faith in the Father's plan for our life, then we will know, "that ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." (Ether 12:6) I see now that I can be a much greater instrument in the mission, even than I was in the beginning, because of what I have learned and what I have experienced.

Saying goodbye to Cutter. El Gringito!

Treasures from Peru!

Feasting on the Words of Christ and other Delights

We had some big events in the last month. First: On Januay 20, 2016, the Missionary Department of the Church, headed by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, held a Worldwide Missionary Broadcast. They pointed out that this was the first time this had been done in 10 years, so it was a unique experience. It was really amazing to think of 80,000 missionaries all receiving this same training all over the world. Most of the broadcasts (like ours) were live, minus a few who were sleeping at that hour. The theme of the Conference was "Teach Repentance; Baptize Converts." This is what missionaries are trying to do in order to bring souls unto Christ.

We had the privilege of hearing from several General Authorities including Elder Neil A. Andersen - The Doctrine of Christ, a group discussion with Elder Bednar about teaching with the Spirit, Bishop Waddell (a good friend of ours and the mission) - The Purpose of Commitments in Missionary Work, a group discussion with Bonnie L. Oscarson about Teaching People and Not Lessons, Elder L. Whitney Clayton about working with members in  missionary work and closing remarks by Elder Dallin H. Oaks about Repentance and Baptism. I was so happy that Elder Oaks emphasized that our leaders want us to study Preach my Gospel every day!

Every missionary I talked to received a different impression from the meeting and that is fantastic and the way it should be. Whenever we attend any church meeting, we should be listening to the impressions that the Spirit has for us as an individual. My feeling from the Spirit was of the importance of Preach my Gospel. I don't think we can ever overemphasize or talk about this book too much. Everything taught in this meeting was directly from Preach my Gospel. I really believe the key to effective missionary work is directly tied to how the missionaries apply the principles of Preach my Gospel.

I was talking to the companion of a very effective missionary, one of the most successful in our mission. I asked him what he had learned from his companion and how it would help him to be a better and more effective missionary. The first words out of his mouth were, "He studies Preach my Gospel all the time." I said, "I knew it!" Then I talked to the missionary himself and he shared his testimony with me of the principles of Preach my Gospel and all the great companions he had that were such a great example to him of applying those principles in missionary work. I knew it!

Second Event: Julie, Tucker and Cutter were able to come and visit us in the mission. They arrived on January 27, 2016 and it was a day we had looked forward to for a long time! Cutter turned a year old on January 13, 2016 and this was the first time that my husband had ever seen him. Mark was so excited to hold him and play with him. It had been 11 and a half months since I had seen him too! I knew it would be a blessing to us to have them here and enjoy their company, but did not realize the blessing they would be to the mission. Our Leadership Counsel was blessed to have Julie sing for them and share her testimony. She also talked to the Hermana Leaders in my Training Meeting and was able to share some words of encouragement and faith to a sister who had to go home because of some severe health challenges. I felt like everything she said was exactly what this sister and her companion needed to hear.

                                                        In the kitchen with my oldest

Papa playing with Cutter

Tucker had some serious discussions with some of the Elders and Cutter just spread joy and sunshine everywhere he went. There were sisters at Stake Conference who wanted to have their pictures taken with him. One morning Mark took him out on a walk to buy some eggs and he could not get away from a group of women who were just enamored with the gringo baby. They kept saying, " Gringito, Gringito!" We decided this is going to be his nickname now. They all had to touch him and squeeze his cheeks! It's not every day you get to see a Gringito in Chiclayo! I'm sure for most of the people here it was the very first time! We were sad when they had to go, but their other five kids were really missing them at home. We were so thankful for the sacrifice they made to come and spend some time with us.

                                                         

Hiking at the Pyramids of Tucume

At the Museum of the Señor of Sipan in Lambayeque

A couple of weeks ago, I turned to my husband and asked, "Did we ever live in the United States?" After 19 months in Chiclayo, this has become our life and our reality. It is getting hard to remember some things in the States, so it was funny to see Julie and Tucker's reaction to everything in Peru. It all seems so normal to us. Many things are very different; the traffic, the driving, the handling of food, the buildings, etc., but Mark and I do not really notice it anymore! The first time Julie saw a moto, she exclaimed, "Wait, people actually ride in those?" They had the experience of seeing the Central Market, (which Tucker thought was extremely sanitary), to visit pyramids (which Julie thought were a little disturbing) and to learn about the Señor de Sipan. They saw the countryside and the crazy way people travel at times. They also got to see two Peruvian beaches and the mall, which almost trick you into thinking things are the same as at home. It was quite an experience. Of course it was sad to say goodbye for another year and a half, but we have always felt the great support of our family in this service.


                                                  At the Mercado Modelo (Central Market)

Third Event: The Mission President had his 58th Birthday! He is really getting up there! I never understood I was going to be married to such an old man, but it is much better than I could have ever imagined! I am so thankful for this amazing man who is my most faithful friend in all the world, who does anything he can think of to make my life better and who has never said one negative word to any person about me. He really doesn't even know about all my weaknesses. He is so full of charity that he thinks I am perfect! Believe me, I am not, but I am so grateful for his unfailing love. He is such a great Mission President and I cannot believe all the things that he manages at one time. He is an inspiration to all the missionaries. I had the privilege of seeing him give a blessing to a very ill sister. He gives blessings to missionaries all the time, but this was only the third blessing I have seen and heard him give. It was just as tender and inspired as to one of his own daughters and I realized he really is a father to these missionaries in the Chiclayo Mission. They are so blessed to have him for their father and their leader! I love him with all of my heart.

At Pimentel Beach

The Birthday Boy: 58 years old

It is amazing to me that everything in the scriptures is about missionary work. I did not realize this until I served a mission, but everything we read in the scriptures as missionaries applies to us! This is yet another reason why the Book of Mormon is so important to missionary work. There are so many applications for missionaries and so many great examples of teachers and missionaries in this inspired work.

In January we had interviews with all our missionaries. This is always such a great experience. My favorite question is always, "What have you learned in the scriptures recently?" I have such amazing experiences discussing the scriptures with them and hearing their insights. The one truth I learned about the scriptures this time is that the scriptures give us hope! That is probably obvious to many, but sometimes I am slow to catch on! One after one, the missionaries shared scriptures with me and each time I felt so inspired and so buoyed up. I realized this is one of the reasons I love the scriptures so much! The scriptures give me hope! I always feel hope about something when I read them; hope for a better world, hope for life after death, hope that the atonement can and will heal us, hope that we can overcome everything. The list goes on and on.


                                           
                                                             Singing at a Baptism

I was interviewing one missionary and he shared with me how much he loves to read the Book of Mormon. He said before the mission, he really did not enjoy reading the scriptures, but that now he has realized, that no matter what is going on in his life or what challenges he is having, after he reads the Book of Mormon he always feels better. I said, "That is exactly how I feel too. The scriptures always give me hope." He agreed, "Yea. That is such a good way to put it!" I am so thankful for the scriptures in my life. I know I am weak, but I could not make it through this life without them. They are the foundation of my testimony of Jesus Christ and of my faith. They have increased my knowledge of the gospel and have helped me to find the answers I have needed. (2 Nephi 32:3)

One scripture that has given me hope recently and increased my love for the scriptures is 2 Nephi 31:20. This scripture teaches us many things and is quoted often, but I received a different insight that has given me more hope. It tells us that we need to, "Press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and all men." For me these are not easy things to do. Even with my faith in Jesus Christ, when things have been their worst, I have not always felt like I could keep "going" forward, let alone "pressing" forward. The words "pressing forward" themselves imply that this is not going to be easy, because we are moving against something. It is called opposition and we have a lot of it in this life. All of this makes it difficult for me to have a perfect brightness of hope at times, but one thing I have learned in this mission is that no matter our circumstances, we all have hope in the atonement of Christ. This still does not mean that it is easy.

Last of all, we need to have a love of God and of all men. Some people are easy to love, like the missionaries, but others are very difficult to love. So we have this list of things we need to do and it could almost seem impossible, but I believe we are given the answer in the second part of the scripture. "Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." To me the answer to the first part, is like with so many things, the scriptures. If we feast upon the scriptures, we will be able to keep pressing forward, we will have a perfect brightness of hope and more love for God and our fellowman. These are all blessings that have come to me from feasting on the scriptures. Then we are given the hope that if we do these things, we will receive eternal life, which according to the scriptures, is the greatest gift of all. (D&C 14:7).

Yesterday, we had the privilege of attending the baptism of the 18  year old son, Daniel, of Jose. Jose is a recent convert of 9 months. He received the Melchizedek Priesthood in November and it is so wonderful to see him growing in the gospel and in his role as a priesthood holder. He was given the opportunity to baptize for the first time and it was his son. What a special experience and the testimonies of Jose and his son were powerful. The Holy Ghost bore record that their words about the prophet Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon were true.

                                                       

                                                              Visiting Sister's Rooms

I also had the opportunity to work with two sisters, yesterday, and to teach two lessons with them about the Book of Mormon. I had the great privilege of bearing my testimony of this sacred powerful book, the Book of Mormon. I was impressed with their ability to teach and in their faith that the Lord would guide them to know what to do. After a lesson with Anna, who is preparing for baptism the end of this month, we tried to visit two other investigators, and neither of them were home. We were walking on dirt roads in the heat of the day, and the sisters got a little bit frustrated. One of them asked if we could say a prayer, so in the middle of the dirt road, with dogs and people all around, we stood in a circle and had a prayer. The sister prayed with much faith that we would be directed to someone who needed our message that we had to teach.

We resumed our walk down the middle of the street. There were people on either sides, but after a few moments we almost walked right into a woman and her son who were walking two dogs. She was really sweet and friendly and seemed very comfortable about talking with us and told us some things she knew about the Mormon Church. After some minutes, she finally admitted that she was a baptized member of the church, but after moving to Chiclayo a few years before, she had quit coming to church. The sisters wrote down her name and address and phone number and arranged to visit her the next week. Her son of 9 or 10 years was so cute and had a special glow about him. I knew that he needs the gospel in his life. So the sisters now have a woman to rescue and a son who needs to be baptized. That was one miracle that day, that we happened to bump into these people who need the gospel after our prayer in the street.

I read chapter 8 in Mormon the other day and it is so powerful. Mormon talks about our day, when it will be said that miracles are done away. Just like so many beliefs in the world today, that teaching is false. There are miracles in this work everyday. The restoration and the Book of Mormon itself are miracles. The gifts of the Spirit I witness everyday are miracles.  I am so grateful for the scriptures and that they teach the truth. I am grateful they teach us the Doctrine of Christ. The Savior taught His doctrine very clearly to the Nephites and declared that anything more or less than this was not His doctrine. We need to feast on the words of Christ everyday so we understand and know the truth and we are never lead astray.



                                           When we visited the Sister's Room in December,
                                            their apartment was right over a restaurant. The
                                            stairs were full of corn stalks, that's how we
                                            fatten up cuy (guinea pigs) in Peru. These little
                                            guys were living upstairs getting ready for the
                                            slaughter!