Smack Dab in the Middle...

Sorry, absolutely no time to blog ....

We are in the middle of the world and having a great time.

We love Quito, Ecuador.

I will tell you all about it when I get back to Trujillo

and I am able to download all the photos.

I forgot to bring my adapter for the photo card.

These pictures were just taken with the phone.

We are in the middle of the world and here we are

 on top of the world playing with the llamas.

They all loved President Turk.

 Tillman, Griff, Walker and Penny...

Papa T is going to bring you home a llama.

(if your moms say YES)

We Have Arrived!

A long day of travel...

catching a plane to Lima and then a plane to Quito

 We are in the beautiful country of Ecuador.

 A few days of training.

We will let you know what's happening.

Rumors?

We have heard a few rumors that there are some

wild parties going on in our home in the States...

We hear that they include fast cars, scantily dressed people,

whistles, wild headpieces, screaming...

the swinging of bats and flying objects...

and then blaming the babies for all the problems...

"No griff, I haven't seen your candy"

 "I have absolutely no idea where your orange balloon is"

  Happy grandchildren... Happier Grandparents!

We love our peeps!

Chavín de Huántar

President took Elder Mecham and Elder Cornejo

on a little excursion outside of Huaraz 

to see the ancient ruins of 

Chavín de Huántar

To get to it you drive through this tunnel

that is the highest in altitude in the whole world.

When you think of Peru you think of llamas.

But the llamas we see are usually the dressed up kind 

in the city square that you get your picture taken with.

President found some real working llamas on his trip.

The people of Chavín were known for their llama jerky.

They used it heavily in their trading.

Behind the Elders you can see some of the ruins

that date back to 1200 BC. and earlier.

This is the lanzón that is found deep in the center of the Temple in Chavín.

It is a giant granite shaft that has intricate carvings of a fanged God

that they use to worship in the cult of Chavín

The Elders always love to go exploring....

this site was occupied by people up until the 1940s.

That is a lot of people living here through the few thousand years.

The whole Temple site use to be decorated with many of the masks

of the Chavín culture..

but very few remain after all the damage 

to the site through the years.

Goodbye to this fascinating place of wonder and culture...

and ancient civilization.

Until we come again...

Adios!

One more peek at Huaraz...

More photos arrived home today from Huaraz

with President Turk

I want all the families happy

with equal time on the blog... 

It will never be equal time but please know

that I love them all the same.

(with all my heart)

 Above are the Assistants with the Zone Leaders

Elder Yat and Elder Herrera.

Just look at them... don't they just glow with happiness?

They are all outstanding.

  Here they are individually

Elder Acuña, Elder Cottle, Hermana Bell, Elder Román

 Hermana Lujan, Elder Fernandez, Elder Prestwich

Elder Hoyos, Elder Albujar, Elder Shaw

Elder Herrera, Elder Ipi, Elder Yat and Elder Perez

You are all adorable!

Con Amor...

your mission mom

Lord of the Rings...

The Elders always feel like they are entering Lord of the Rings territory

when they head to Chavin.

And this is where the President is tonight

and tomorrow morning with his Assistants.

He is exploring the Ruins of Chavin.

 But before exploring... he spent the day with these very important

people in our lives....  the second half of the Huaraz Zone.

These Elders are in the high and exciting lands of Peru.

They are experiencing some of the real 

traditional foods, languages, culture and vistas

of ancient Peru.

It's unbelievably Beautiful

Elders Perez, Cottle, Shaw, Albujar, Acuña and Román

are living quite the mission life.

I am sad I was not with them today, but I will 

see them in a week and a half

for our mission tour.

President said that each of these interviews were special.

They are all loving their missions.

 They testified of their witness of the Book of Mormon.

Each has a story to tell.

Each knows it is true or they would not or could not

go through the motions of a mission.

It is Really Impossible.

One of our missionaries told President Turk that 

he has taken each chapter of the Book of Mormon

and written down in his Scripture Journal

 how each chapter applies to him personally.

I love this idea.  I have not done this.

I think I will.

The missionaries tell how the Book of Mormon 

gives them strength in the hard times.

It brings comfort and guidance 

and memories of reading with family 

They can hear their parents voices reading from

the book and testifying of the truthfulness.

They share with President special verses 

and passages that have changed their lives.

Many have had powerful witnesses in the MTC

as they were living, loving and searching these 

Scriptures for the few weeks they were there.

Another Elder said that each time he hears his investigators

testify that they have asked if the Book of Mormon is true

and they have received an answer.... and it is YES,

it greatly enhances his own witness of this Book.

You never have just one witness,

it happens again and again 

as you read it, share it, feast upon it,

ponder it, and mostly as you live it.

This Book is the Gift of all Gifts.

Share it for sure this holiday season.

There is no better feeling in the world, Really!

Taking Care of Each Other... I hope!

Look who is hanging out together in Lima...

some of our sweet returned missionaries.

Elder Del Aguila, Elder Castro, Elder Dipaz, Elder Morales and Elder Rojas.

You are look fantastic.... take care of each other.

We love you all!

Griffin is Three!

Our grandson Griffin turned three years old today.

We were actually in Chicago

when he was born.

It seems like a long, long time ago.

This morning he got a new bike, blew out some candles on his waffles...

 and do you see that baseball piñata behind him...

He has been dragging it all over the place with him.

He is having a little cousins party tomorrow to break the piñata

and eat some yummy cake.

We love you Griff... We are so happy that you are 

a part of our family forever!

It's Raining in Huaraz... As Usual

Look at these young boys ducking under the Church patio

trying to get out of the rain for awhile.

They are sooooooo cute.

President and the Assistants drove up to rainy Huaraz today...

I stayed home and was able to see Mabell, my tutor, while she 

is home for a few days in between her Cruise assignments.

We went to lunch and got much needed manicures.

I also had a million errands to run before we leave for Ecuador.

Mabell has been working on a cruise line in Greece, Italy,

Croatia and Turkey and now her new ship will be in 

Florida, the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

This is fun for her right now.  She will be back again in May

So I will see her before we go.

I miss her.

President spent the afternoon with these Missionaries.

The Zone Leaders Elder Yat and Elder Herrera, 

along with the Assistants, were training while President Interviewed.

 Here are a couple of Book of Mormon Stories...

One Elder told the President that the first time he read the Book of Mormon

was with his Teachers Quorum.  The Advisor had them all 

stay after the Block of Church meetings and read for 

another hour or longer.  Our Elder thought at that time that he never

wanted to be a missionary because it would be long Sundays

like he was experiencing with his teachers quorum.

But this is when he really started to feel the truth of this Book.

He said that every one of the boys in his quorum,

that read with them, served a mission.

A few years later, when President Hinckley asked 

everyone to read the Book of Mormon,

His mother gathered the children and they read it and finished

it by Christmas.  Shortly after this his mother passed

away suddenly.  He said that the only thing that got him

through this very difficult time was the Book of Mormon

and the feelings that he felt with his mother 

as they read it together as a family.

The Book of Mormon teaches us about what we will be doing

after this life and what we should be doing now in this life.

*******************

One of our sweet Sister Missionaries said that when she turned 12 

and entered the Young Womens Program,  

they told her all about the Personal Progress Program.

One of the goals was reading the Book of Mormon every day.

She started that day and she never missed another day of 

reading until she graduated from High School.

She said that when she started to read the Book of Mormon

at age 12, she found herself with tears streaming down her cheeks.

She never even had to ask if the Book was true.

She knew it from the start.

She also remembers her parents reading the Book of Mormon

when she was very young.

While her parents would read, she would act out all the parts.

*******************

Another Elder said that he first fell in love as a little boy 

with the Primary Songs about the Book of Mormon

"I Will Go... I Will Do..."

"Book of Mormon Stories that my Teacher tells to me..."

When he read with his family, he listened as his parents

bore their testimony to him and his brothers and sisters

of the Book of Mormon.

He said that he knew it was true because of their testimonies first.

This later became the foundation for his own testimony as he grew

to love the Book for himself.

Parents do not miss this opportunity to create these

spiritual foundations for your children.

Share your testimonies... Feel the closeness and unity

that reading the Book of Mormon brings.

All Aboard the Central Zone Bus....

Oh, we are out and about the city of Trujillo

with the Central Zone today.

We are Bus missionaries

Mototaxi missionaries

Combi, Taxi, Walking Missionaries

We are not Bike or Car

Missionaries...

Thank goodness, it's a Jungle out there. 

But whatever we take... We are moving all over this place.

We love to be seen and see others.

If you look carefully in the bus you will find two hidden missionaries

See if you can guess who they are.

Our Zone Leaders for Central are...

Elder Saldivia and Elder Richards

Central Zone includes:

 Elder Herrera and Elder Whitelock

 Hermana Doxey and Hermana Semorile

 Elder Fuentealba and Elder Nye

 Elder Jimenez and Elder Guyman

 Elder Rodriguez and Elder Randall

Book of Mormon stories today include these...

One Elder said that when he was 18 years old he was called to 

be the Seminary teacher in his ward.

They were studying the Book of Mormon that year.

He had never read the Book personally.

He said that as he began to be the teacher to those just 

younger than he was...

He found that he was the one learning the most.

He loved to prepare and read and feel and learn

with every lesson he taught.

He is so grateful for this calling that prepared him

for his mission and his life and 

gave him the chance to gain his own

testimony of the Book of Mormon.

Another Elder said that when he was 15 his father came to him

and told him that he was worried about the friends

that he was hanging around.

He said that the only thing that he would suggest

is that he read the Book of Mormon.

The father said that he would like to read it with him.

They started to read the book.

And while they were reading and he was gaining a testimony

of it... His friends started to make fun of the Book 

and tell him he was crazy to believe it.

But he had already felt the spirit testify to him

that this book was from God and that it was true.

He was loving the stories and the spirit with it.

He defended the Book of Mormon to his friends

and it made him a stronger person

and he started his personal study of the Book at this time in his life

and has continued to this day.

He loves the Book of Mormon

One Elder said that it was just he and his mom in the family.

And at age 12 when he was ordained a deacon,

his mother said that he needed to learn all about the

Book of Mormon.

They started to read together every singe night.

He said that it brought them together like nothing else could.

He had a closeness with his mother throughout his teen years

that most young men did not have.

When you read the Book as a family there is 

a true unifying spirit that binds and softens and teaches

love and charity for others.

Great Stories...

 And may I introduce the new taca taca winners (foosball)

they just overtook Elder Cook and Elder Fackrell.

Elder Castillo and Elder Guerrero

Congratulations!

Keep up the great work Central Zone.... 

We'll catch up with you on the next Bus!

We love you all!