Togetherness...

Nothing goes together as well as 

the

President's Pancakes...

General Conference...

and 

Great Missionaries!

There are 56,000 of us now worldwide.

Pretty awesome.

We are proud to be numbered among them.

Hurrah for Israel!

 The Standard of Truth has been erected; 

no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; 

persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, 

calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, 

nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, 

visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, 

till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, 

and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.

Why Me?

You know those people who are always crying

"Why Me?"

Well, count me one of those but with the

complete opposite tone..

"Why me.... What did I do to deserve this

incredible experience

of a lifetime?"

Thank you Heavenly Father!

I love every minute here with my husband

and the missionaries

teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ full time in Perú.

Every time President Turk comes home from

being out with the Missionaries,

He tells me experiences that make me cry.

(Elder Vilchez and Elder Prestwich)

I love the stories 

when all of the sudden the missionaries both stop

and have to turn around and head in the opposite direction

to another house.

There are no words spoken.

They arrive at a home where people 

are praying to know the truth.

Or when the missionaries are teaching and the spirit

is so strong that no one needs to say a word.

They just stop talking and let the spirit whisper.

Tears flow freely

and then those listening say,

"Yes, I feel it... I know that what you are teaching is true."

I love when the unexpected happens.

Missionaries can come across

those that think they want nothing to do with religion

and then small miracles take place

and these same people turn out to be the leaders of the church 

in their wards and stakes.

The Lord is gathering the elect.

If people are searching for Heavenly guidance...

they will find it if they are sincerely asking.

This is the Lord's work and we see His hand in it

every single day.

May I just say to the Whole Wide World..

That I would not be screaming this from the top of my Laptop 

unless I knew that this Gospel was absolutely True!

What will it hurt you to just ask?

Nothing... but

It will be the greatest regret of your life if you don't ask and it is true.

and I TESTIFY that it is TRUE!

ASK and ye shall receive.

SEEK and ye shall find

KNOCK and it shall be open unto you.

Find a Book of Mormon NOW

and find out for yourself.

You CAN Know 

and it is such a Glorious Feeling to really Know!

Don't be like one of our sweet converts that was given a Book of Mormon

at the age of 21.

He put it on his bookshelf.

It moved from shelf to table

from house to house

for over 40 years

until one day he picked it up 

and read it.

It completely Changed His Life!

He Knows it is from God.

He said that his whole life would have been different

if he would have read it the day the missionaries gave it to him.

He has a lot of catching up to do 

and a lot of teaching to do

to his family and friends whom he loves 

and wants the best for.

But he is so happy that he finally read it 

and found true joy and happiness.

President Turk's Famous Quotes...

Every Tuesday morning you will find

our missionaries in District Meetings.

Districts are made up of between 4 to 8 people 

depending on the size of the Zone.

Each Zone is made up of 2 to 4 Districts.

They meet to go over any announcements, review investigators, 

changes in schedules, health questions, 

Doctrinal training, language tutoring, practicing etc....

And then if they are close enough together

they will meet as a Zone for just a few minutes.

"It fosters unity, cohesion and esprit de corp"

This is a direct quote from President Turk

I started to giggle and he looked at me like

"Oh, too big of words, right?"

I am definitely letting President Turk

write the next blog post.

He is hilarious.

Get your dictionaries ready!

I just told him that he needs to write the next post

and he said

"Nah Gah Dah"

Another direct quote from President Turk.

The sweetest thing about these District meetings is that the missionaries

each pray for each others investigators

throughout the week by name.

The Central Zone is united and pressing forward.

President Turk was then out in the afternoon with 

Elder Hales and Elder Quiroz.

They were all over visiting ward members and less actives

and they taught some great lessons to their investigators.

President Turk loves the conversations that they have in between

their appointments.  While they are walking from place to place

he is able to ask them about what they are studying, 

and of course about their missionary work in that area.

Here is their great pensionista and her husband.

She is so sweet.

Thank Heaven for our Pensionistas.

Elder Quiroz and Elder Hales are fantastic.

Keep it up.

Just like President Monson said...

An inch is a cinch -  a yard is hard!

Our greatest successes come an inch at a time.

A Beautiful Gift of Love

President Turk received the nicest birthday gift ever

from my Tutor, Mabell's Mother.

They live in the Buenos Aires Ward.

She makes these beautiful Scripture Covers.

President Turk's Covers have the images of 

Christ appearing in the America's and 

Christ ordaining His Twelve Apostles

The detail is absolutely amazing.

They also made one for my Quad

and I chose the picture of Christ, that I love, called "The Healer"

and my favorite Greg Olsen called 

"Lost No More"

These are not great photographs

 of these precious pieces of art.

And Thank you is not enough.

Oh and on the back of one of President Turk's 

is his favorite place on earth...

The Mesa Temple.

You can even see the reflection 

of the Temple in the water.

When you order these you can choose whatever 

image you want on the Covers.

The artist can do anything.

Thank you Hermana Rivera de Escalante

Well, Mabell's Mom.

They are Fabulous!

Scrub a Dub Dub...

The Elders and Hermanas are deep cleaning their rooms today.

And unless their rooms look like this one...

and their bathrooms shine like the top of the Chrysler building

then they shouldn't be emailing you until it is finished.

Encourage them to do their very best.

I can't wait to see their rooms.

I will be popping in and out all week long.

I hope they will send me photos too.

I will be awarding clean room awards

and sparkling bathrooms awards.

They will...

Scrub, organize, throw away, sweep, mop, dust. shine.

scour, wipe, wash, 

until they are thoroughly satisfied.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

This makes me very happy.

Quite the Conference!

Today was our Pensionista Conference.

Each companionship of Missionaries in the mission

has a pensionista that cooks their meals for them.

The missionaries pay for the food but their time and service is not paid for.

The pensionistas are called to serve by the Bishops.

This is a Calling in the wards.

I am telling you...  it is not an easy one either.

Gospel Doctrine Teacher is a piece of cake! 

They are a huge part of the work 

of this mission.

So I decided they deserved their own Name Tag.

Here are the office Elders and the President modeling some of the Apron colors

that we had made for them.

We met at the chapel around the corner from the mission home.

We did all of our training and reminders for their cooking

and cleanliness in preparation.

President also encouraged them to be great missionaries.

The Elders sang a special number

and then it was off to the mission home for refreshments.

We had about 60 to 70 Pensionistas

come to the Conference.

This is just for Trujillo.  We have a few more conferences for the Pensionistas

in the other areas of the mission.

Thank goodness that my Pensionistas were in the Mission Home 

to help me today.

Lucy and Alicia are the best Pensionistas EVER!

We served all kinds of desserts and sandwiches and 

Lucy made her famous Brownies and Banana Bread

and of course we had Birthday Cake for the President.

These women deserved a break... they love to be in the Mission Home

and they really loved their new aprons.

(Thanks to my real sisters for the donations)

A few of them gathered for a photo.

They look like Easter Eggs...

So Colorful.

I love and admire these women and their service, devotion and love

to our Missionaries.

Thank You - Thank You

From the bottom of our Hearts.

Their hands are full

and we pray that their hearts are too!

Coming To A Town Near You!

President Turk has called two new Traveling Assistants to help

reach the outer parts of the mission.

Elder Hargis and Elder Pickett will be touring

the mission

to help

Lift, Serve, Teach and Love

all in their path

for the next six weeks.

They are both hard working and love the Lord.

They will do whatever it takes 

to bless those they visit.

They are traveling with bare necessities and 

having the greatest time of their lives.

Thank you Elder Pickett and Elder Hargis.

You are a blessing to the Trujillo Mission!

THEY DID IT!

The Gurrs and the Geigles left us and went to 

climb Machu Picchu.

Not only did they see Machu Picchu

they climbed the big mountain

that overlooks it.

They all made it.... even Gracie who is six years old.

I am so proud of them.

This is something they will never ever forget.

I feel like they were the Von Trapp Family singers

from the Sound of Music

climbing through the Alps 

as a family.

This is an incredible climb.

They were all great sports and super climbers.

Contratulations little families.

You did something hard

We can do hard things, can't we!

You are all such great examples to us.

We Love You!

Birthday Boys..

Tomorrow is President Turk's Birthday

and Yesterday was Elder Wright's Birthday...

So we are celebrating today right in the middle.

It is perfect because it is the office Elders preparation day too.

Elder Wright has been doing a fantastic job as the Assistant.

The things he can now put on his resume are awesome.

*Throw a pensionista conference

*Entertain nieces and nephews of all ages

*Create power point presentations in lightening speed

*Play the drums in the Christmas presentation

*Conduct a meeting, sing a solo and train the missionaries

There really isn't anything he can't do.

THANK YOU ELDER WRIGHT!

We also have all the pensionistas coming on Monday 

to help celebrate with President Turk again.

My life is so grand because of this man.

He makes me the happiest girl

every day of my life.

Thank you Terry!

Happy Birthday to both of you!

Flat in Bed...

Okay here's the photo of me slipping down the wet tile stairs

last week in front of my whole family.

(ha  ha ..  I wish my hair was this cute)

My poor nieces and nephews were scared

when they saw me curled up at the bottom of the stairs

with a few tears.

Do you remember ever seeing your mom get hurt?

It's just something that is not supposed to happen.

Moms don't get hurt or cry.

Well, I was blessed. I went on with all the festivities of the family.

Then we had all the new ones arrive and we got them 

trained and out...

and we said so long to those leaving.

And then.. they came.

BACK SPASMS

I am flat in bed today.

But

I have to be up and going soon because we have 

 a packed schedule.

Thank you for your prayers.

We feel them.

I will be fine... because of great family and friends.

We Love You!

Love Our New Ones...

Seven new ones...

Here are a few fun facts about this group...

One is writing a book

One fell two stories, cracked his head open - had stitches and a concussion

One is a mathematician and wants to go into economics

One plays water polo and wants to be a demolition car driver

One of these elders works construction as a roofer

One really wants to parachute out of a plane

One has his knee drained often with a big needle

We always have a little fun at the mission home

while the trainers are with President Turk in the Chapel.

And here are the new assignments...

Elder Soto from Chile is being trained by Elder Hererra

and they are working in Esperanza

Elder Chacon from Perú is being trained by Elder Northcott

and they are working in Porvenir

Elder Guerrero from Argentina is being trained by Elder Oyarzun

and they will be working in Virú

Elder Jimenez from Perú is being trained by Elder Farfan

and they will be working in Chimbote Sur

Elder Coronado from Colombia is being trained by Elder Casanova

and they will be working in Chimbote Perú

Elder Hererra from Argentina is being trained by Elder Oroxom

and they will be working in Esperanza.

Elder Astill from Utah will be trained by Elder Perez

and they will be working in Porvenir

Great Group!

 When President told me who all the trainers would be for this round

of new ones...  I was thrilled.  You are so capable.

I think that you are all the best!