"Little Peru" in Provo

We received a Skype Call 

from these great people last night

Tanner Perry, Nick Christensen, Cameron Williams, Sebita Celis, 

Kyle Nichols, Justin Ebmeyer, Rebecca Blake Bahr, 

Rachael Bakaitis, Andrew Logan, Michael Farnsworth, David Arthur,      

Sam Andersen,  Spencer Ruiz, Josh Gricius, 

Adam Mark Jones, Jonathan Erickson, and Brandon Reas.

They all just had a hankerin' for some good Peruano Food.

They met up at a Peruvian restaurant in Provo.

WE MISS AND LOVE YOU ALL!

Do what is right let the consequence follow...

We pray for everything great and good for each of you!

27 Dresses... WOW!

We drove out to Virú yesterday to deliver a bunch of cakes for 

a gigantic wedding.

Yesterday the Elders organized a wedding for 27 couples.

This is something to behold.

The couples would come in and sit at one of seven or eight

stations that the missionaries had set up for all the paperwork.

While all of their guests were ushered into the chapel.

In the chapel the movie "Seventeen Miracles" was being played

while the audience waited for their couple to be called.

When the couples name was called they would go into the
Relief Society room with their guests

where the Mayor would marry them.

Then they were escorted out of that room to the back patio for 

Cake and Punch 

and photos and hugs etc...

It was quite the production.

President and I brought a lot of cake

and we still had to rush around Virú to buy more.

The chapel was packed with hundreds of guests and family members-

But all 27 made it through the mass wedding.

The couples ranged from very old to the very young...

All excited to make this commitment to their spouses 

and to the Lord.

And now they are all getting baptized members of 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

A  huge Thank you to Elder Escobar and Elder Armstrong

for their organization.

And to all of the Virú Zone missionaries

that made this happen.

Elders... Aburto, Armstrong, Arteaga, Chicche, Chun, Colonio, 

Escobar, Espinal, Hendrix, Ipi, Lopez, Martinez, Perez and Ureta

And Elders Richards and Castillo from the Office.

The RM.... Highly Recruited!

I am so grateful when I think of the incredible skills that these missionaries

are gaining.  While they are helping others

Come unto Christ

they are really helping themselves by gaining a foundation 

that is far above the norm at their age.

The better the missionary, the better he/she is prepared for the real world

after the mission.

They are learning skills that cannot be taught at any

University on the planet.

They cannot be bought at any price.

They cannot be obtained in any other way

except through giving your life for 2 years (18 months)

to the service of the Lord.

When you are representing the Lord, Jesus Christ 

every day and every hour for two years...

You learn self discipline.  You learn how to teach,
You learn organizational skills and goal setting.

You learn to listen to the Spirit, You learn how to Love others
and how to work with others.

You learn that service is where true joy is found.

You learn that the things of the world are just that.. Things!

You learn how to listen to your own thoughts and ponder

and search the scriptures for answers.

When you look to the Lord and the Scriptures 

they fulfill every need that the world cannot give you.

When our missionaries around the world return home from their missions..

they are the most highly recruited students

from the most prestigious companies around the world.

The companies know that returned missionaries

 are honest, highly trained, obedient, 

self disciplined, fast learners, and skilled in many areas.

They are the highest performers.

They are goal setters and achievers.

Elders Calisaya and Zapana are no exception.

President said that they are organized and great teachers.

They know how to teach using the Book of Mormon.

Thank you Elders in Esperanza for your great Examples.

Elder Parker Dennis...

Finally... Another one of our visa stragglers came in last night.

Elder Parker Dennis is from Dallas Texas.

He has been serving in Colorado for the last several months.

But he's here and we are happy.

He was on the BYU drumline

He is a singer...

He loves college football...

He will be trained by Elder Bustinsa

who is from Peru...

They will be serving in Chimbote 

in Buenos Aires

Welcome... Elder Dennis!

Huaco Plantation

My Huaco collection is out of control!

It has completely overtaken my credenza behind my desk

and is spilling over to my desk and to my dresser in my bedroom.

I have some in the living room too.

Holy Huacos...

Here is one of the latest I acquired as a gift from 

the sweet office elders who had it personalized.

I totally love it.

Thank you sweet Elders!

If I am sitting at my desk and my grandsons Skype me...

they always ask if they can see "the Guys"

So I hold up many of them one at a time

and either make the Elders blow in them to make sounds

or tell them a story about them.

They love the Guys!

Some of these I inherited when I arrived.  

Others we have collected at the different ruins.  

Some were gifts.  Some are made by the Elders.

I wish that I could ship one of "My Precious" Huacos

to each of my missionaries as a wedding present.

Wouldn't the spouse just love me?

The small one in the front (below) is a free hand one made by Elder Vera.

Elder Vera why didn't you take this guy home with you.

I am glad you didn't because I will always think of you when I see it.

The little colorful hidden car is a gift from Elder Davila... Colombian Transportation

It's a little colorful bus full of everything and anything.

 Terry just got me another great huaco for our anniversary.

I haven't taken a picture of it yet.

It is home on my night stand.

These sweet ugga buggas will always be with me.

They will bring so many wonderful memories to me forever.

I am sure I won't bring them all home

But I have to bring a few for sure.

They are pronounced like Walk o''s...

They are replicas of those found in the ruins all over Peru.

Taking Care of the Flock

While the President was out teaching with 

Elder Oyarzun and Elder Smith...

...they stopped in on one of the less active members of the ward

that the Bishop wanted them to follow up on.

She had lost her husband a few years back 

and had not been to the ward since.

It's difficult to go alone.

While they were talking to her

she totally agreed that she needs to be back 

in full fellowship.  She misses it and knows 

that it is true.  She committed to attend this Sunday.

They met one of her daughters that runs the bodega connected to her house, 

and they met one of the sons that runs the internet store

that is all part of the front of her home.

They started to talk to her about her family.

They found out that she has 12 children.

Only two of them have heard the Gospel and 

joined the Church.

These Elders should be very busy working with this wonderful

family and the potential for teaching opportunities.

That is why it is so important to work with the Bishop

and help him with home teaching, errands, contacting, service, cleaning...

and whatever he wants you to do.

Taking care of the flock is the best way to share the Gospel.

I Love Andy Williams...

I am feeling very sentimental today.

I heard that my good friend Andy Williams died.  NO!

So many of my great memories are tied to his music.

When I hear him I think of my Dad...

I think of Christmas... 

I think of my Children...

It doesn't feel like Christmas until I sing

his version of Jingle Bells at full volume.

But my all time favorite, favorite song of his is

"Happy Heart"

It makes me giddy no matter what mood I am in.

In fact... when I am traveling on long trips

here in Peru and I am going stir crazy or getting car sick

I just turn on Happy Heart full volume

and I sing as loud as I can.

 When I hear "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You"
It reminds me of my sons wedding dinner.
All his boy cousins sang..
"I love you Hali.."
That is a very sweet memory

When my daughter Molly was just seven years old I taped her singing 

Moon River for my parents anniversary.

She had a stuffy little nose and she sounded so cute.

She was so excited 

to give the cassette to my parents.

Ten years later she recorded Moon River again for my parents 50th Anniversary.  We incorporated a small part of  her little stuffy nose version at the beginning sounding like an old radio recording.

And then she sang the whole song.

Thank you Andy,
You were the Best!



I tried to attach Molly's version of "Moon River" but I don't know how.

Oh by the way... the best news of all is that our Molly Girl is expecting a baby...  Which is going to be perfect timing for me.  She is due in March. I will have a new little 3 or 4 month old grandchild to lure me home from Peru.
It will take some heavy persuading. 

I will be announcing soon if it is a girl or a boy.  She has two boys already.      We are excited to find out.

Grandchildren are the Best!

It's the Beach Boys...

Elder Guyman and Elder Jimenez

live next to the beach.

They are getting really good at Surfing...

but only in their dreams as they listen

to the lapping waves on the shore.

They had the President running all over this afternoon.

One of their stops they met this young man

who had just returned from Ecuador in a large

martial arts competition

and he brought home the medal.

The Elders are teaching his family the Gospel.

The sweet Primary president in the ward went out with the Elders too 

this afternoon.  Her husband bought her a washing machine

and so with the time she saves now do the laundry

she goes out and serves with the missionaries.

President asked her how she learned about the church

and she told him that my Tutor Mabell and her family

introduced them to the gospel.

They live right behind Mabell.

They ran into these cute children on the street.

They are all new members in the last six weeks.

The primary president just hugged them all and kissed them.

Elder Jimenez and Elder Guyman

are working their little tails off.   

There area is called Buenos Aires...   or Good Air.

A little touch of Argentina

Sweet Baptism... Singing Audition!

I snapped this picture as we were driving to a baptism.

I thought that the golden sun was going to be spectacular.

I obviously didn't realize I was driving through

the brick making yard.

Bummer...

Not too pretty.

 President Turk and I attended a couple of baptisms this last weekend.

This one was so sweet.

You see, the young man that was baptizing his father

is one of our mini missionaries.

 He already has his mission call, but while he is waiting 

he is working with our missionaries.

 He was out working last week and He received a phone call

that said that his father was being baptized.

He was so excited.

 He came in from his area and was able to perform the ordinance

He was thrilled that this happened before he left on his mission.

Isn't this a great way for him to start his real mission.

This will be his most important baptism by far!

Elders Johnson, Vera, Cerpa and Vanden Bosch

sang a beautiful special number A cappella with parts.

Thank you Elders for your preparation.

If you Elders are still in the Trujillo area in the next couple of months

you will all have singing parts for the Christmas Program.

It was a beautiful audition.

The Great Deceiver...

President was out with Elders Whitelock and Herrera teaching the 

Gospel of Light.

We want everyone to walk in the light.

Nobody wants to be in complete darkness.

Satan wants to lead us all down a dark and dreary road.

You see, Satan can never have a body of flesh and bones.

That means that he can never have children.

He can never have a family... 

He is miserable forever

and wants everyone else to be miserable too.

He is the best deceiver of them all.

He is wicked and doesn't care about anything or anyone

and so anything goes.

That is why it is critical that we follow our Savior, Jesus Christ,

...be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost.

This gift of the Holy Ghost is a guide, a light, a protection 

to each of us that live worthy to listen to this voice.

In our lifetime, wouldn't it be sad if we spent more time washing dishes or spending time on the computer, mowing the yard or watching television than loving and lifting our neighbor and sharing the gospel and saving souls

Our missionaries care about people and their happiness.

They are not here for money, for fame, for excitement....

Their missions are out of Love for their Savior.

And their love for the Gospel that teaches them to walk in the light.

LIGHT and TRUTH

that is what the gospel is all about.

Does this sound familiar today?  These scriptures are talking about Satan...

20 For behold, at that day shall he ^arage in the ^bhearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.

 21 And others will he ^apacify, and lull them away into carnal^bsecurity, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the ^cdevil ^dcheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.

 22 And behold, others he ^aflattereth away, and telleth them there is no ^bhell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful ^cchains, from whence there is no deliverance.

If you found a cure for cancer, wouldn't it be inconceivable to hide it from the rest of mankind? How much more inconceivable to keep silent the Gospel of Jesus Christ…     It is the Healing for the Soul. 

The gospel is only good news if people can hear the good news...

 PLEASE...

Let's teach everyone to walk in the Light of His Love!

The Gospel is Simple...

 President took a quick trip to Virú yesterday to 

teach with Elder Hendrix and Elder Perez.

Elder Cornejo was with Elder Arteaga and Elder Chun.

I absolutely love this quote by President Henry B. Eyring about missionary work.

President Eyring said…

“One of the ways you will be attacked is with 

the feeling that you are inadequate.

Well, you are inadequate to answer a call to represent God

with only your own powers. 

But you have access to more than your natural capacities

and you do not work alone. 

The Lord will magnify what you say

and what you do in the eyes of the people you serve. 

He will send the Holy Ghost to manifest to them

that what you spoke was true. 

What You say and do will carry hope

and give direction to people far beyond your natural abilities

and your own understanding. 

That miracle has been a mark of the Lord’s Church in every dispensation”

Oh how I testify that this is true!

 And it happens here, in our mission, every single day.

Elder Perez and Elder Hendrix out contacting.

Elder Perez asked a man in one of their lessons they taught...

 Do you remember when you were young

and your parents asked you to do something and you obeyed your parents?  

How did you feel?  How did it make your parents feel?

The man related to this very well... and said Yes, I felt good

and it made my parents happy.

Elder Perez told him that it is the same with our Heavenly Father.  

He has asked us to live the Gospel 

 and when we obey, we feel great.  

Life is good when we are obedient to the commandments of God.

It is really that simple!

Live it..  Love it...  Share it... Show it...

IT IS AMAZING!

(I love when the President takes photos for me of the cute babies)

Text Messaging...

I received one of those startling phone calls

at 3:00 am the other morning...

This is the worst feeling in the world in the mission.

Why do I think that I have to sound like I 

am sitting by the phone awake at 3:00 am

ready to take phone calls?

I sat straight up in bed and started to clear my throat

and practiced saying HeLlo, HeLLO , HelLo

Then I calmly said... "Hello" in my cheery pleasant voice.

It was Elder Richards the Personal Secretary

saying that we may have an appendicitis attack.

I was still trying to get my brain function on 

 to remember everything I needed to ask him.

Elder Richards had gone over all the symptom questions with him.

 This missionary was not in Trujillo.

I needed to know how severe the pain was

in case we needed to go get him and bring him in for surgery.

Has he had a blessing?

Are the Zone Leaders with him?

Get him to his Area Clinic for evaluation and then call me.

After I hung up the phone... I was wide awake wondering

if we would be leaving for a two hour drive there 

and then a two hour drive back...

I stayed in bed going through the possibilities that could happen.

Time started to pass.  I was getting groggy

My eyes were so heavy.

An hour later I received a text message

which was sweet not to wake the President.

The vibration startled me...

I read that it was not appendicitis but food poisoning.

The Elder was fine and was heading back to his room.

I was squinting my eyes as hard as I could to read the message and to 

text a message of "thanks" back to Elder Richards.

I was pushing all kinds of wrong buttons...

I was erasing on accident..

I was so incapable of sending a message in the middle of the night.

Finally after struggling for awhile with just one word

THANKS

I accidentally pushed send and I think it read...

T*g$?An/#ks

I am sure the office Elders cracked up over the in-com-pe-tan-te

Mission Mom that can't send a text message.

I just didn't want them to think I was sending a *Bleep* word.

Christmas is Coming....

Here is a typical little street in one of the 

Barrios of Trujillo

This is one of the neighborhoods where 

Hermana Jackson and Hermana Diaz work.

Their area also includes our mission offices actually.

President told me that the Hermanas are in this picture

but you have to have super human eyes to see them.

They are in the dead center of the photo.

This is the game... I spy with my little eye!

Hermana Jackson is from Indiana

and Hermana Diaz is from Peru...

Many differences between them and yet so much love and respect.

If we could all just focus on giving respect to every human being

the world would be such a beautiful place.

They serve everyone they can not just members and 

not just investigators.

They want to leave every area a better place then 

when they arrived.

"When ye are in the service of your fellow beings... 

ye are only in the service of your God"

And this is when you feel His love.

And with His love, there is a motivation

to do Good Continually.

It's contagious and you want everyone to catch it.

 These sister missionaries are the best and they taught some great lessons.

Thanks Hermanas.

It's that time again when my mind is spinning with thoughts about the 

Christmans Program in the Plaza.

Our theme this year will be...

"LIGHT OF THE WORLD"

I have rewritten the narration and added some new songs

and of course we will have a few new grand surprises.

This is my last big show.

We will be going out with a bang...

that's all I'm saying.

You won't want to miss this!