Daily Appendectomy.... Check!

Ahh... Our sweet Elder Mieles had his appendix out today.

And our Personal Secretary, Elder Richards

has been to so many of these that we are thinking of letting

him perform the next appendectomy.

Not Really!

But it might slow things down a bit if we spread that rumor.

We are happy it went well and it's over.

We had interviews with Casa Grande Zone today.

The Zone Leaders played Jeopardy as part of their training.

Well, you know I love that.

Elder Cornejo was the Alex Trebek of the game.

 One of the questions that Elder Contreras chose 

 was about baptism....

 He whipped out this picture when he was eight years old

on his baptism day.

He told about that sweet experience at age eight
and what it means to him today.

Look at this picture...  I love it.

Here is Elder Prebe getting ready to play

Preach My Gospel Speed Search.

And let me tell you that Elder Prebe

knows this book.

He is the other Zone Leader for Casa Grande.

If he is given an assignment, he gets it done

with creativity and imagination.

He is awesome.

 We had a great day with Casa Grande.

They make me happy.

I have a great life.... WOW!

FHE with the Pacheco Family

Elder Mecham and I were working really hard today

on the newsletter...  and of course

who is the fun guy in the background always

playing around?

We have to keep our President focused!

For those of you who know President Turk

you know that I am being very sarcastic.

He is a "nose to the grindstone" kind of man.

But we keep him light and airy -  What am I saying right now?

We had a fun family home evening with some of 

Elder Kellogg's  and Elder Palacios' investigators. 

We love to have families over for some American food

and to show them what a Family Home Evening is like.

We had a great dinner, lesson, games, and dessert.

They are a beautiful family.

Elder Vera... the man with many talents,

played beautiful music while we finished our desserts.

Elder Kellogg was a master at the ring toss...

He was stuffing his pockets full of prizes.

We hope to have the Pacheco Family over again sometime.

Thank you Elders for all your participation and fun.

Independence Day.... I Love Peru!

Perú declared their Independence from Spanish Rule in 1824.

And they celebrate it on July 28th.  Today!

President Turk was at the outdoor amphitheater  

talking to hundreds of the Young Adults as part of their 

big celebration today.

I am celebrating because my Dad is out of the Hospital.

Everything is great and he is home recuperating.

Thank you for your prayers, concerns and emails...

Oh - Happy Day!

We Love You Perú... Thanks for being so great to us!

Goodbye Giraldez Family...

One of the greatest things that happened to us when we arrived in Peru

was meeting and serving with the Giraldez Family.

President Giraldez has been President Turk's first counselor

in the mission presidency.

And his wife Martha has been a dear friend to me.

And we love their son Tato.

They also have a son and daughter at BYU.

President Giraldez works for the Church and has been transferred to Lima.

We are crushed.  They have always been our 

go to friends for absolutely anything and everything.

We had a special dinner for them this evening.

President Giraldez has been a fantastic counselor

and friend to President Turk.

When they would meet as a Presdency here in the 

Mission Home for their meetings...

I would hear a whole lot of laughter going on.

 I am so happy that they have enjoyed serving together.

We will miss them like crazy!

Best of Luck in Lima... 

We will be dear friends with them forever.

We love you... Giraldez Family.

The video below was when we were new to Peru and Martha was 

with me getting my first hair color.

This hair color took about 5 hours.

The stylist dyed my hair dark first and then had to bring it back to blond.

Now I just do it myself in about 30 minutes.

Who knew I could color my hair?

But this is a funny- funny memory!

The Actor in Esperanza

Arghhhhh...

Stop the wheels, I cannot keep up.

We are already in our next session 

of interviews.

We had the Esperanza Zone in today.

I was working quickly in between speaking, refreshments, teaching, games

interviews and lunch 

to finish the newsletter, get the birthday cards out for August

and write all new talks for Stake Conference, Multi Zone Conferences,

Adult sessions, training, etc.....

It is August!

We will be traveling a lot this month.

I love Esperanza Zone... and they are all latinos,

so I sometimes get a little teary

because I can't express everything I am feeling

and everything I want to say to these Elders.

I want to be able to say things 

like I would in English....

not broken phrases in Spanglish.

But with Elder Mecham at my side...

I really can say almost anything.

He is a fantastic translator.

And they have to feel my love for them

because it OOoZes out of me.

I just can't help it.

I adore each and every one of these young men and women

in this mission.

Today for one of the spotlights in the newsletter,

I asked each of these Elders this question...

What would be your dream job?

There were some very fun and creative answers.

Elder Guerrero said that he would be a 

An Actor in a Novella - Spanish Soap Opera

that is hilarious...

What do you think?  Perfect Right.

I gave him a headshot to take with him

after the mission.

He is very funny and adorable!

I would watch him.

Mission Baggage... I Mean Luggage!

I am going to give you a peek behind the scenes

of some of the grueling aspects

of mission life...

We call it Mission Baggage!

 And that's what it really is... the headaches of the bags.

Missionaries come with some major luggage

And each bag weighs about a ton. 

(some a little more ~ some a little less)

When the new missionaries arrive and are being trained... 

someone has to go get their luggage

at the hotel and take it to the chapel or institute 

where they are meeting their new companions.

Since I am the man (wo- man) with the van 

and our missionaries are not aloud to drive here in Peru...

and the President is training the missionaries...

I get to take my guardian angels..  Elder Cook and Elder Richards,

 they take off their guardian angel hats 

and turn into the baggage handlers for the day...

These two wear many hats on the mission.

They will have a great resumé when they return home.

The Personal Secretary means that you do absolutely everything and anything 

 that anyone can think of that needs to get done

and the Finacial Secretary means that you are the companion to 

the one that does all these crazy things...  so you do them too!

And I am the driver to the crazies!

 It takes much more space than a big van for all the luggage.

We have to call taxis that just transport suitcases and no people.

 After loading all the luggage (with style for the photo)

the Elders are dripping with perspiration...

and tired of hearing me tell them to use their legs

not their backs.

 They hop in on top of the luggage...

usually filled to the brim with the bags

 but this time there were only twelve arriving...

it left them lots of room to breathe.

Thank goodness they have some relief help when we arrive.

Elder Castillo and Elder Mieles 

stepped in..

not to help with the bags

but to get in the photo.

Not really - they helped unload

 They unloaded it quickly and then waited to hear the 

pitter patter of missionary feet 

coming to take all their stuff.

The moral of this blogpost is...

Missionaries... Please leave your extra baggage at home...

It will wear you down...

(any kind of extra baggage)

Trainers and Trainees.... Yes!

Let me tell you where everyone is going 

and who they are going with...

Elder Almonacid is from Chile and he is being trained by Elder Zarian.

They will be serving in Chimbote Sur.

Hermana Diaz is from Lima and she is being trained by Hermana Jackson.

They will be serving in Laureles Zone in Trujillo

Hermana Huaman from Peru is being trained by Hermana Galleguillos.

They will be serving in Casa Grande.

Elder Mollo from Bolivia is being trained by Elder Russell.

They will be serving in Porvenir in Trujillo.

Elder Palacios is from Lima and is being trained by Elder Kellogg.

They will be serving in Primavera in Trujillo.

Elder Peralta from Peru is being trained by Elder Quiroz.

They will be serving in Esperanza in Trujillo.

Elder Perez from Tacna Peru is being trained by Elder Hendrix.

They will be serving in Virú.

Elder Riquelme from Chile is being trained by Elder Perez.

They will be serving in Florencia de Mora in Trujillo.

Hermana Rojas from Lima is being trained by Hermana Galindo.

They will be serving in Palermo in Trujillo.

Elder Shimp from Texas will be trained by Elder Román.

They will be serving in Casma.

Elder Smith from my Mesa, Az will be trained by Elder Oyarzun.

They will be serving in Primavera in Trujillo.

Elder Wood from California will be trained by Elder Oroxom.

They will be serving in Chimbote.

Just a word about these trainers...  

They are the best of the best!

President trusts them with our new ones that are priceless.

This is the highest of responsibilities and we know these Elders and Sisters

will do a tremendous job.  We love you Trainers!

Perfect by the Dozen...

I asked these 12 new ones to give me three words that described themselves..

Left -Elder Palacios - positive, fun, caring

Right -Elder Almonacid - valiant, lovable, persevering

Left -Elder Peralta - strong, loving, patient

Right - Elder Wood - brave, cheerful, intelligent

Left - Hermana Huaman - charitable, patient, humble

Right - Hermana Rojos - sensible, simple, happy

Left - Hermana Diaz - talented, happy, patient

Right - Elder Perez - patient, friendly, curious

Left -Elder Shimp - athletic, simple, happy

Right -Elder Smith - loving, adaptable, spectacular

Left -Elder Mollo - humble, animated, patient
Right- Elder Riquelme -hard working, serviceable, persevering

We are thrilled with this great batch of missionaries.  We know that they are here for the right reason.
We expect great things from them....   Watch Out Peru... the new ones are in town!

Sunrise... Sunset

President and I were driving to the airport to say goodbye and hello

as the sun was going down...

I took this shot through the window.

I felt a little overwhelmed... sad and happy and love and 

well, a lot of emotions going on today.

We cried more tears as we said our last goodbyes...

Many members came to say goodbye also...

Even this darling 92 year old Sister who had to say goodbye to Elder Arena.

I cried and cried and then I had to shake it off and put on a happy face

because around the corner...

Twelve wonderful, excited missionaries had landed with huge smiles

on their faces

ready to meet their new mission parents.

I am grateful it was dark outside...

My swollen eyes were not quite as scary.

I can't wait to introduce you to new ones tomorrow.

They were heading to the hotel for hot pizza 

and then they were meeting some missionaries tonight

to head out to work for a couple of hours.

Good for them... they just jump right in!