Uh Oh... Uh Oh...

My sweet red mini van was in another side scraping incident...  Ouch!

It was the exact same side that President Turk

was scraped by the big truck.

Remember from a past blogspot,

a truck turned and hit the President and then he took off into the sugar cane fields 

and the President started chasing him.

"Don't chase a big truck into the sugar cane fields

 in my sweet red mini van."

He didn't go far until he knew it was a bad idea,

but I am sure the missionaries were loving it.

Well, no need to chase anyone today.  

My red mini van was scraped by a parked car.

I have no idea how that parked car moved

all by itself and scraped my car.

Let me just say this...

I have been driving in this incredibly insane peruvian traffic

ever since we arrived here... which has been almost a year.

I have dodged and darted and maneuvered 

my way safely through every

crazy obstacle you 

can imagine.

And then...

I am pulling off the side of the road

to let missionaries out and in,

just that simple,

and I clip the tail of a parked car.

What is going on?

The sweet missionaries jumped to the rescue.

One of them was translating for me,

One was calling the Mission Secretary in charge of the cars,

Two of them were picking up the books that we

were there for in the first place.

One was looking at the fingernail marks in his arm

from where I grabbed him

when I heard the scrape.

And then the sweetest thing happened,

While we were waiting for Alexis, 

the mission secretary to get there,

the missionaries do what they love to do,

they started teaching the Gospel

to the man with

the damaged car.

He was sincerely interested

and lives in our neighborhood.
Evidently 

the President and I are having him and his family 

over for dinner and Family Home Evening.
The missionaries arranged that too.
Awesome!

This might be 

the most fortunate fender bender in history.

I knew it wasn't my fault..  It was the angels!

The ugly dents could be the beginning of something very Beautiful.

Service with a Smile - Our Zone Leaders

We have had a full day.

It started with these Elders in the office for our 

Zone Leader Concilio.

We started at 9 am with training and ended up at the 

mission home for lunch at 2:00

And then we had a service project from 3 to 6 pm.

Some of these Elders travel 6 and 8  hours to get to us.

Some travel 2 to 3.

They are really tired before we even start.

Half way through the training 

I make them sing some upbeat songs.

My favorite calling in the church was primary chorister

So thank goodness the Elders love this music too.

After a grand lunch by Lucy and Alicia

There was a quick change of clothes and 

we went to the California Chapel

 These Elders are always ready to work

I can't tell you how impressed I am with each one.

 The ZL's were given instructions and assigned to different chapels

 And then they were off to their assignments.

Some stayed at the California Chapel.

 Some were weeding.

Some were posing

 Some were mowing, some were trimming.

These Elders were at the Palermo Chapel

 If you look closely in the grass you can see the word

FACER... 

I wonder who was mowing this lawn.

He's sitting on the top of the hill.

 Here we have our trusty Assistant Elder Nichols

who was parched.

He was digging up flower beds.

I am so glad he was wearing a hard hat.

Above is our secretary of records, Elder Barinas
And below is Elder Mayorga...

Their group was at the Primavera Chapel

This is part of the crew at the Laureles Stake Center

Below is the crew that was with President Turk in Esperanza

These Elders did some great things today.

They did about 3 weeks worth of work in one afternoon.

Then the real work begins.  They have a full night of teaching

WOW!  You are Super Men!

My Brother Tom

This is a picture of my favorite brother and his wife.

It is Tom's birthday today

so I wanted to wish him the best day ever.

He is definitely my favorite because he booked his flights

with all of his children

to come and see us in Perú

Now that is a Special Brother!

Tom, I will love you forever and ever for doing this.

Happiest Birthday Ever...

You won´t believe what we have planned for you in Perú!

Hurry and get here.

Elder Ralph

This last week has been a tough one here in the mission.

Three of our missionaries have lost loved ones.

Yesterday one of our Elders lost his father.

Each of these missionaries are full of 

faith and wisdom beyond their years.

Their foundation is built on the rock and not sand.

Helaman describes how this is possible: “And now, … remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; … which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall” (Book of Mormon Helaman 5:12).

Elder Ralph is our missionary that lost his sweet mother.

Her funeral was yesterday.

He made a video to be played at the viewing.

His family really appreciated his words.

Here is part of the video he made 

of course with his permission.

All missionaries have the choice if they want to go home or not.

Some go home for a few days.

Some stay in the mission.

It is a personal decision between the Missionary and the Lord.

Election Results...

I am printing off what an AP news article wrote about the results of our Elections here in Perú

                                              Ollanta  Humala          Keiko Fujimori

LIMA, Peru (AP) - Unofficial results show an anti-establishment military man who promises to redistribute Peru's wealth headed to a presidential runoff against the daughter of jailed former President Alberto Fujimori.

The count by the nongovernmental group Transparencia shows former Lt. Col. Ollanta Humala with 31.3 percent followed by Keiko Fujimori with 23.2 percent.

Because no candidate won a majority Sunday they will meet in a June 5 runoff.

The outcome presents Peruvians with what Nobel literature winner Mario Vargas Llosa called "a choice between Aids and terminal Cancer"  due to perceived anti-democratic tendencies of both candidates.

Alberto Fujimori led Peru in the 1990s and was recently sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering killings.



These are definitely unofficial results and could change with the final tally.

Bathrooms are Scary...

Today we took a preparation day

of the missionaries to do some deep cleaning.

There were checklists

There were "to do" lists

There were lists of things that were needed

There were lists of things that were broken

There were lists of things to buy

There were lists to check the people that were going 

to check off the lists

We had it covered.

We were pulling apart the rooms.

We were cleaning the nooks and crannies.

 May I just say this...

I do not like bathrooms.

I don't like 5 star bathrooms.

I don't like to share a bathroom.

I will not use a public bathroom...

unless I am near death.

I have gone all the way to London England not using a bathroom.

I know..

I am going to get Uromysitisis.

And now I check Missionaries bathrooms in Trujillo Peru.

Isn't that Funny?

Look at me... I am growing up.

I still have missionaries taking these pictures...

But I am in there right along side of them.

Some of the missionaries thought I was mad at them today.

No, I am not mad.

I was just raised in a family with twelve children.

My father (military trained) would come into our rooms

every Saturday morning to check our closets and drawers

and bathrooms and bedrooms.

I learned how to appreciate a clean organized living space.

Cleanliness is next to Godliness.

And the truth is that after these missionaries clean and organize

and throw out and scrub,

they love their rooms and bathrooms.

They can feel a difference.

It makes me very happy...

and all of them too.

the pictures of the bathrooms still bother me on my blog

Lock Down Weekend - Elections

Friday we went to this sweet baptism.

This couple was officially married about a month ago 

so that Shirley, the mother could be baptized.

Now, a few weeks later Jose, the father was baptized.

They are a beautiful family.

The children are not old enough to be baptized yet.

These stories are happening all over the mission every week.

 We had this baptism on Friday because Elections are this weekend.

You are not allowed to meet in churches on 

Saturday and Sunday

of election weekend.

So we will not be able to go to Church tomorrow either.

The missionaries are all staying in and reading

the Joseph Smith History.

President Turk was able to meet with these Gentlemen.

They are his District presidencies.

They had training all morning in the mission offices 

and then a great lunch

before they caught their buses back home.

It's a different life in Peru.

You don't just jump in your car and head to your church meetings

around the corner.

Some of these men traveled in buses for eight hours

and then had to spend the night.

Then they have to travel back.

We appreciate them so much and all they do for the saints

in their Districts.

Also on election weekends the stores cannot sell liquor.

They have to pull all the beer off the shelves

and they replace them with water.

     (phone photos sorry)

I am pretty sure this makes them stock up earlier and 

they drink more this weekend.

It is mandatory for every Peruvian to vote.  If you don't vote you have to pay a fine.

Some of our missionaries are from other parts of Peru 

and so of course they can't go home to vote,

so we have to pay their fines.

Cambios en la Oficina!

It's that time...

We are shaking things up in the office again.

Elder Mayorga is going out to work hard in the field.

He will be fantastic. 

Elder Chacaltana is the new Assistant to President Turk

Elder Monzon is training Elder Márquez

to take over the mail room.

This is a critical position.

You can not mess up the flow of packages to missionaries
or you could be shunned for life.

In the Finance department

Elder Jones is training Elder Facer.

Elder Jones is showing Elder Facer the secret safe.

 He is trying to explain the importance of 

complete confidentiality. 

"This is no joke Elder Facer.

I am about to give you the secret combination."

"Okay, I get it... I won't spill the beans."

"Shhhh... Listen closely, I will only say it once."

"Do you have it?  Can you open it?"

"Are you kidding me. 

Now I understand the importance of 

being the keeper of the Safe!"

Eureeeeeeka!

This is more precious than Gold to a missionary.

Moto-taxi Heaven... Esperanza!

President Turk and the Assistants were out with these great Elders today.

(Mendieta, Arthur, Pruett, Maximiliano, Puente, Vera, Calisaya)

You know what that means...

Fun, cozy rides in a moto-taxi.

They are the best.

Remember I still want one of these.

President Turk was with Elders Calisaya and Arthur today in Esperanza.

Can you see these three in the rear view mirror

all squished in the back seat?

Thank you for the traditional pose of the 

missionary companionship.

This always includes:

Arms around each other - Check

Two thurmbs up - Check

 Pens and daily agendas in front chest pockets - Check

Straps around the armpits from their backpacks - Check

 Big Smiles - Check

Dog somewhere in the picture - Check

Yep, he's there in the back.

 Of course there are always the Peruvian Gangs that we watch out for...

So that we can get a cute picture.

Nothing better...

just little missionaries.

Mourn with those that Mourn

It's April 6th

A very important date to Latter-day saints.

April 6, 1830 the Church was organized.

The Salt Lake Temple was dedicated on April 6th,

and Ten years ago on this date the Palmyra Temple was dedicated...

It was a day we will never forget.

You see, Terry was a Stake President at that time

and he received one of those very sad phone calls saying that one

of the missionaries from our stake had been in an accident in Argentina.

He lived for a few days and then passed away on 

April 6th, 2001.

Really one of the hardest things President has ever had to do

was to go and tell this dear family

that their son was gone.

And today on April 6th we started off with an email telling us that a 

grandparent of one of our Hermanas had passed away.

President Turk went to this sweet sister and told her about her 

Grandpa, and she was able to call home and talk to her parents.

He made sure that she was fine before he left.

As he was heading back to the office,

  he received a phone call telling him that one of our Elders

Mother had passed away in her sleep.

This was totally unexpected.

There was no terminal illness or sign of this coming.

She was exactly my age.

When President Turk had this Elder in his office with him,

I was in the waiting area telling his companion

what was going on.

These companionships are like close brothers.

He was heartbroken.

And as we talked about it for a while

and shed some tears for his companion,

I excused myself to answer the phone

and when I came back,

this Elder was on his knees 

praying to our Heavenly Father 

for his companion and brother.

So sweet...

  At baptism we promise to be "willing to bear one another's burdens"

I wish that I could take this pain away.

But I will be there for him always.

I know ultimately that only the blessing of the comforter and lots of time

are going to ease the hurt.

President Kimball said,  "When we see back from the vantage point of the future,
we shall be satisfied with many of the happenings of this life
which seemed so difficult for us to comprehend."

 We know and understand the beautiful plan of Salvation.

And we know that God loves each one of us and 

knows our needs and sorrows.

If a child asks his father for some bread, will he give him a stone?  NO

and neither will our Father which is in Heaven.

He will not leave us alone.

Mine angels round about you, to bear you up

 Sweet Story

My dear friend Elder Uaisele Fa, who is serving his mission right now in Brazil,

related this story in his letter this week...

I'm doing great! I love the mission so much. I learn something new everyday!

I had a really cool experience

the other day that I want to share.

We were teaching a women who is having problems with her marriage and family.

She has a daughter who is 4 years old and is an angel.

We were teaching her about the atonement and how we can have true happiness

if we apply and accept the atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives.

The spirit was so strong!

She accepted to come to church and wanted to know more.

I´ve never felt the spirit so strong in my life

and as we were leaving,

the little daughter said "bye bye you three"

Her mom told her "no, it's just the two"

The little girl then said pointing with her finger

"one, two, and him.... three" pointing at our side.

That day was one of my happiest days on the mission.

It's so important that we have the spirit with us at all times!

Everything we do in this life

should help us qualify for the spirit so that way we may have

this companionship with us constantly!

I invite us all to keep this in our mind always

so that a big part of our decisions we make in this life

may be led by the spirit. I love you all very much and

pray for you everyday.

Until next week!

Con Amor,

Elder Uaisele Otunuku Fa




Doctrine and Covenants 84: 88 teaches us about the ministering of angels

85 Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man.

86 Therefore, let no man among you , for this commandment is unto all the faithful who are called of God in the church unto the ministry, from this hour take purse or scrip, that goeth forth to proclaim this gospel of the kingdom

87 Behold, I send you out to reprove the world of all their unrighteous deeds, and to teach them of a judgement which is to come.

88  And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face.  I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

The ministering of angels is available to all Church members, not just Priesthood holders.
According to Elder Dallin H. Oaks,  "Through the Aaronic Priesthood ordinances of baptism and the sacrament, we are cleansed of our sins and promised that if we will keep our covenants we will always have His Spirit to be with us.  I believe that promise not only refers to the Holy Ghost but  also to the ministering of angels, for 'angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost'  wherefore, they speak the words of Christ.'  So it is that those who hold the Aaronc Priesthood open the door for all Church members who worthily partake of the sacrament to enjoy the companionship of the Spirit of the Lord and the ministering of angels.
(Ensign, Nov. 1998)

I testify that our missionaries are surrounded by Angels!


This is Elder Fa on the left
I took these videos when these boys were in 
High school.

Uasele Fa, Adam Ashby and Ben Mataele

This is Uaisele in the front

 No matter how big and strong you are...

You always need the Companionship of the Holy Ghost

Another Appendectomy

We absolutely loved conference weekend.

We feel rejuvenated, motivated, and renewed

 The inspired talks were amazing.

They fill us with Hope and Guidance and Love.

Who doesn't want this or need this 

on this earth today?

In between conference sessions today we ran to this wonderful baptism.

Nothing better than conference and baptisms.

 Then I saw Elder Araneda.

I was so surprised to see him at the chapel

Because 

yesterday he was getting his appendix taken out.

Then he pulled this face and made me so worried

He really should be in bed

but he didn't want to miss conference.

He is just kidding here.

He posed for this picture.

He really is taking it easy and is being watched closely.

I shouldn't even post this picture.

He is Kidding!

We are so happy that everything is okay.

We love you.

Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration

I just finished watching this movie again. It fills me with so many emotions.

I testify that Joseph Smith was and is a Prophet of God.

That through him the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored to the Earth.

Do we worship Joseph Smith.... No

But we sure do Honor him.

I am grateful to be here in Peru testifying to the world

that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is restored.

This Gospel is the vehicle that helps each individual become

the best they can be. It is for our benefit.

I don't understand the persecution.

If you believe it, Live it.

If you don't, Ignore it.

Hard to Ignore?

Yes

Because

We all come to earth with the light of Christ in us.

When we hear truth it rings familiar in our hearts.

But we have to choose to ask the Father with real intent if it is true.

And then follow it...

It is Peace to our Soul and Answers to Life's Questions

It is the path back to our Heavenly Father

and our Heavenly Home.

We all want this!

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.