My Sanctuary is No More....

There was an incident that happened tonight that I am not proud of...

A ginormous cockroach (or two) invaded my bedroom 

which is my safe place...

He was climbing down the curtains right next to 

my side of the bed.

I started to hyperventilate... jumped out of the bed

my heart was pounding...

And guess what?  My husband was gone!

He was in Huaraz for interviews.

 I had to call him immediately.... 

and as I was telling him how horrible this thing was,

the cockroach started to go under the bed...

I was now very sick because I didn't know where he was...

I was not going back into my room.

 I was out of my room with my camera and the telephoto lens 

trying to find the creepy thing... 

All of a sudden there was one at my door.

This was at the other end of the room...

OH NO.....  ARE THERE TWO OF THEM NOW?

Holy Moly... I was now in a fever pitch tone

on the phone still with the President...

The one that was closest to me... I threw a paper cup on top of him...

and screamed and dry heaved at the same time...

I then grabbed one of my huacos to hold the cup down.

My whole body was shaking and shivering.

President told me that he was on the other line with the Elders.

He told Elder Fackrell and Elder Smith

that I was not going to be able to sleep unless they

ran over and took care of the problem.

About three minutes later... 

my trustee office Elders were doing a shake down

of my bedroom and bedding.  Elder Smith got the one that I covered and

threw him out of the window.  He wanted to flush him down

a toilet but that would have given me very- very bad dreams.

Cockroaches never die, they just get bigger and meaner in the sewer...

and come up and find you.

The Elders looked everywhere for the other one... no luck.

We think that it could have been the same roach,

 he was just very fast.

These Elders are my heroes.

Although, I am pretty sure that if a cockroach 

came running at one of these Elders

they would have screamed too.

Oh how I wanted this to happen right here to Elder Fackrell.

Just the other morning I ran down the stairs to the kitchen for breakfast

 and as I pushed the swinging door open

a giant cockroach ran right towards me.  I screamed

and ran and Lucy grabbed the broom and went to town

after that thing.  She got the nasty guy... Needless to say I lost my appetite.

It is summer time here remember and this is when the little critters 

come out to play.... I have seen them in the garage...

but never in my bedroom or kitchen.

I am not happy.

Do you think I am going to sleep a wink tonight?

Not a chance!

Pepperoni Rolls...

All our new ones that have been here for a month

were in today for some fine tuning

and a little pizza.

 We had two small boxes of pepperoni rolls leftover....

 So of course I had them play a game to win them.

Our missions are to be enjoyed not just endured, Right?

So, we work really hard and play a little too.

I love happy- hardworking- well fed- missionaries.

 This group is special....
We are looking forward to seeing great things from them.

New Ones: Elder Orellana, Elder King, Elder Dow, Elder Guerra,
Elder Chacon, Elder Castillo, Elder Atuña,
Elder Montesino, Elder Oropeza

Their Trainers:  Elder Alva, Elder Romney, Elder Morales, Elder Quispe,

Elder Jensen, Elder Chacon, Elder Casanova, Elder Young, Elder Espinal

Office Elders:  Elders Mecham, Castillo, Martinez, Castillo, Smith,

not pictured Elder Fackrell... he was on the phone as usual.

Brothers....

Two of our Zone Leaders

Elder Cerpa and Elder Levos

discovered that they each had brothers that 

served in the same mission.

And that their brothers were both companions

and Assistants in the 

Paraguay Asución North Mission

Oh, the Connections in the Mission Field.

Brothers to Brothers

FHE... Glue for the Family!

Another mini missionary... Elder Paredes is heading out to serve 

for a few weeks with Elder Ramos....

While our ex-Elder Eliseo Gomez from Lima stopped by for a visit

and was able to see his son, Elder Armstrong. Fun!

 We had a great family home evening with the Pacheco family 

and Gil and Pam Greer.

Brother Pacheco was baptized by President Turk a few months ago.

His wife was baptized by Gil Greer a couple of weeks ago

and the daughter will be following soon.

Gil and Pam Greer were here for a month

so we had dinner and FHE with them on their last night.

I pulled out a puzzle for Roxanna the eleven year old daughter

to put together

and look who was loving it the most... the men!

 I want my missionaries to know

how to have fun as a family playing simple games and puzzles

and to make sure that they remember to turn off

the TV, computers, phones, iPads etc...

Communication is so important in a family and it is so easy 

to destroy the beautiful dynamics

with all our electronic devices.

Gather your families every Monday night and have a 

spiritual lesson, some games, treats, music and talk and 

laugh and love each other.

These moments are very powerful as a family.

They act as the glue in this pull apart world.

  Family Home Evenings are like puzzles...

Everyone adds their pieces to the beautiful picture

and it makes all the hard work worth it.

When it is finished, everyone is proud and happy.
And the Family is Together Forever!

Greers and Pachecos

thanks for sharing FHE with us.

How Great is This.....

Look everyone!  It's Elder Hunsaker and our grandson Tillman Turk.

Elder Hunsaker and his wife Aubrey are Tillman's Sunbeam teachers.

What a fun teacher he must be...  He's all over the floor.

Let me remind you of our story with Elder Hunsaker...

When we first arrived in the Trujillo Mission, Elder Hunsaker had been 

called as an Assistant to President Mora

and would stay on as President Turk's Assistant.

It was perfect because Brent Hunsaker was from our

home Stake in Mesa Arizona.  In fact, President Turk

had set him apart for his mission as his Stake President before

our call to Trujillo.  We had no idea at that time that President Turk

would serve as a mission president, let alone be Elder Hunsaker's

President in Peru.  The sweet part of this story is that Elder Hunsaker's 

mother, Lori, took a few notes after his setting apart so that 

Brent could remember the blessing.  In this blessing, given by 

President Turk, he goes on and on about Brent's relationship

with his Mission President.  Funny, he was talking about 

himself and didn't know it.  

Brent was here with us when Tillman was just one year old and they 

came to visit us for Christmas the first year.

So Tillman and Brent are together again 

now living on the other side of Mesa... 

Who would have thought?

This is little Tillman in Peru his first time..

Thanks Hunsakers for teaching our grandson Tillman

We Love you!

Ships are Leaving the Harbor!

A bunch of young adults gathered together in Chimbote

for a pre mission MTC experience.

Some already have their calls and some are just getting their papers ready.

The Stake called and asked President Turk and these Elders

to help with the training.

 The whole experience was fantastic.

There is an excitement with this work that is incredible.

 They listened carefully and were like sponges... soaking it all up.

 Chimbote is a fishing town.

Many fishing ships are right here in the harbor.

 Ships are safe in the harbor,  

but that’s not what ships are for!

  

 We are all the Lord’s ships…

And we are going fishing.  The Lord says in Matthew, Chapter four

"Follow me and I will make you fishers of men"

Here are some of the ships that are out of the harbor....

Elder Mecham and Elder Castillo

They are doing exactly what they should be at this time in their lives. 

And may I tell you that they are outstanding.

When I think of all of the lives they have touched and changed

by each of them leaving their safe harbor...

Oh how sad it would have been if they would have stayed home!

When my missionaries qualify themselves to have the spirit with them… 

They can confound the wise…. for they are given power from on high. 

They are teaching the Doctrine of Christ.

Leaving the Harbor is exciting and worth the risk to go 

be fishers of men.... Saving Souls!

Don't be afraid...  Just GO!

By the Way this ship is called the Grand Turk
it is out of the the harbor...

Get your ship out of the Harbor... NOW!

The President is Pounding the Pavement!

I love when the President is out in the field

with his missionaries.

Today he was with Elder Miranda and Elder Colonio.

They taught a couple of lessons.

One of the lessons they taught was supposed to be

to a mother and her two children.

But when they arrived the mother wasn't there...

Her children were there with the grandmother.

The grandmother had heard a couple of the lessons

but had not been progressing.

She had never been to church.

President asked her what she did on Sunday

that kept her from attending with her daughter

and grandchildren.  She told them 

that she was an artist and liked to go to 

some of the art shows.

But they asked her if she could just come once

to church and see what she felt.

She said that she could attend the art shows on Saturday

and that she would be to church on Sunday.

The little 10 year old granddaughter that has been

attending church....  looked at her grandmother and said...

"Grandma, you will feel so refreshed when you attend Church"

Out of the mouths of babes....

What a beautiful statement...

We do feel refreshed when we attend Church.

It is a time to renew and refocus and recommit

on the important things that we should be doing.

Remember we should not prioritize what's on our schedule

but we should schedule our priorities...

Church, Scriptures, Prayers, Family, Service

Oh how our lives fall into place

when we put the Lord first.

It was a special day for Elder Colonio.

After they taught their lessons today, he had an appointment

to receive his Patriarchal Blessing.

He was very excited.

A few or our missionaries come without

receiving their blessings so we make the arrangements here.

Thank you Elders for a great day.

Yo Ho... Yo Ho...

More training from the Palermo Zone 

only with a Pirate twist.

Zone Leaders Elder Cerpa and Elder Armstrong

are being a bit creative...   arghh!

 They want everyone to keep their eye on the true treasure...
making sure that their maps are accurate and focused.

 Assistants again are finding what our missionaries are made of...

Interviews today with the President were on personal prayer....

Each of these missionaries had tender stories

and testimonies of prayer.

They have seen miracles in their missionary work...

...In their families at home

...In their attitude and love for others

and in their relationship with their Heavenly Father.

 They have learned how important it is to come
to our Heavenly Father on bended knee
and sincerely converse with Him.

They have learned that a very important part of the prayer

is listening...  your thoughts and your heart will help you hear Him.

 19 ¶Lay not up for yourselves ^atreasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves ^bbreak through and steal:

 20 But lay up for yourselves ^atreasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor ^bsteal:

 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

I will be praying for all these little pirates to make sure that they are seeking after the right treasure!

Palermo Zone....

Zone Leaders:  Elder Armstrong and Elder Cerpa

Hermanas:  Pocco, Sheridan, Gallaguillos and Jackson

Elders:  Pesantes, Merida, Perez, España, Iler and Sumi

Much Love Palermo...

Little News Flash....

Penny and Tillman Turk

are going to have a new

Our score will be tied...

3 boys and 3 girls

PERFECT!

Parker and Hali are expecting in June

Photos of Laureles Zone...

All in for interviews... We love the Laureles Zone

The mighty Zone Leaders are Elders May and Vera

Laureles Zone includes...

Hermanas: Jimenez, Rojas, Bond and Petherbridge

Elders:  Almazan, Alquizar, Herrera, 

May, Cottle, Vera, Johnson and Balas.