We are all in the Zone...

We are in the Zone Leader Concilio

After training... it was time for McDonalds and life size 

Foosball and Soccer

McGrath, Serrano, Takishita, Facer, President, Weathers, Nichols, Erickson, Marquez, Andersen

Albines, Luzuriaga, Vera, Tagle, Glasgow, Chacaltana, Barinas, Jones, Ralph

Warren, Gomez, Martinez, Maximiliano, Romero, Urbano, Brito, Arena

Bennett, Pacchioni

Un Dia Glorioso!

I was with seventy of my closest friends today.

I still can't believe I get to do this full time

every single day...

Es Glorioso!

Life is Beautiful!

The Talbots

We had the Talbots over for Family Home Evening.

This family has moved here because of Ryan's work.

They are in our Ward and neighborhood.

There really are not many North Americans here.

We stick out like, you know...   

They have five children... Sierra 12, Hunter 10,  Dawson 9, 

Gauge 6 and Miles 1

This is a very interesting adventure for this family.

This baby Miles reminded me of T-man and Fiffy my grandsons.

These young boys were loving the speed darts 

for American candy.

We also had my niece Annie talk to them on skype about being

in a foreign country, not knowing the language, 

leaving friends and family behind.

They loved hearing her talk about how it became a great experience

and something she will treasure forever.  

She has already been back to Uruguay.

Thanks Annie.

I'm not going to lie... there was a lot of sugar going on.

I hope that the children can sleep tonight.

Roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers, rolls, brownies, ice cream...

another Lucy Masterpiece!

A mother to the Rescue... AGAIN!

My Mom, my daughter Molly and her son Griff - 

How can you express thanks to a mother that has come to your 
rescue your whole life.

And now she is coming to the rescue... AGAIN

Only this time for something so sacred and special to me.

My daughter Molly is about to give birth to our new little grandson

"Walker Nash Watts"

and of course, I will not be there.

There is only one thing that could keep me away

and that is being on the Lord's errand.

Molly and I have talked this through many times.

Well, she has let me talk it through for me.

She is tough and has no problem with this.

But she knows that I worry.

And what about her 18 month old son?

I should be the one chasing Griffy and wiping his nose

and changing his diapers.

My Mom has stepped in with a whole army

of sisters and nieces and cousins

to watch over and be with my daughter and 

her little boys when this happens.

She could have the baby any moment,

but will be induced on the 12th if he hasn't come before.

I feel at peace because there is no replacement

for me the mom except

for my mom

who is even better.

Molly, we are Blessed to have Mama.

My life has been so richly blessed by having a mother

that knows who she is and knows who God is.

She has made covenants with Him 

that have empowered her life for good

and for each one of her children, grandchildren

and great grandchildren.

Thank you Mom for having me.

You are simply the most unselfish person I know.

I will love you forever!

Hey now... We are on a Schedule!

Today I was just minding my own business and enjoying 

the ride home from Cajamarca.

I was taking photos and singing in my head...

"The long and winding road .. that leads to your door"

(the Beatles)

I wasn't even queasy.

Everything was beautiful

The company

The views

The colors

Maybe too beautiful...

dun dun dunnn!

The children on the sides of the road were darling...

I took a picture of this sign below that says....

"Papas don't leave, Your families need you!"

When we drive these roads we see the women with about three little children running at their feet,

a baby strapped to their back, one nursing in the front, she is carrying a long stick to herd

the sheep or cattle that are surrounding her. They are all, of course, trudging straight up steep rocky hills

and she happens to be knitting while doing all of this.

The women are incredible.

Why would the Papa ever want to leave this work horse.

The women really carry a lot of the weight,
if not all of it.

While I was thinking about how hard these women work

I looked up and...

Wait a minute... What is going on?

Why are all the cars stopped and the people out of their cars?

Get back in  -   Get back in

We have got to keep driving.

I plan my eating and drinking schedules around these drives 

so there is no chance

that I have to stop along the way.

But this kind of deviation in the schedule could be troublesome.

But never fear, President Turk and the Assistants were on it.

They walked up ahead to see what the problem was.

I knew that they would fix everything.

Because when Mama's happy, Everybody's happy!

Not great news... Nothing they could do.

A semi truck pulling a trailer went over the edge and killed the driver.

They have a lot of work to do... This could be hours.

AND IT WAS...

You will notice that we are on roads with no bushes or trees or places to hide.

But on the right side of the road was this beautiful reservoir.

The only thing I thought was that I might be going swimming.

I said a prayer... and things worked out.

We got home much, much later... but safe and dry!

Help is on the Way!

Look everyone, our little Jahaida is growing up.

She got her hair cut and she just seems so much older this time.

This is her little sister Rita that we have been so concerned about.

We were able to get her an appointment while we were there in Cajamarca.

This is sweet Dr. Waldo Marin.  He is a member of the church and 

offered to check out all of Rita's medical reports.

Good news... she is covered by insurance and we are going to help them get to Lima and 

get the rest of the procedures done that she needs.

They were so grateful for the help.

What a great little family.  They have six children 

and the father and mother are diligent about working together 

and staying together.

Here you can see little Jahaida's hand taking the money from these men.

Rita is in the front.  These little girls are very savvy at running the candy/cigarette cart.

Thank you Elder McGrath and Elder Albines for your help and coordination

for this little girl and her family.

We love you Jahaida and Rita!

Sweet Cinco de Mayo and Anniversary

We have not been able to find Mexican Food anywhere in Peru.

All the Elders know that we miss it like crazy.

While we were in Cajamarca, 

Elder Nichols said that he knew of 

a Mexican Food Restaurant here.

I jumped and said we have to eat there because it is Cinco de Mayo.

We were on it.

We walked through the Plaza and ended up in front of this sign.

What is this....  A pizzeria that also serves mexican food?

I was so leery about even going in, but it's Cinco, 

what are you going to do?

It turned out to be some of the best Mexican food ever!

Maybe because we haven't had it for so long... 

 We loved it.

Thanks Elder Nichols and Chacaltana for taking us there.

These sweet morsels were filled with really good cheese and then fried and the Guacamole was delicious.

Below is what they called the taco.

It even had beans.  Beans are not seen here in Peru.

This is their version of taquitos.  They are filled with spicy ground beefand cheese and then fried in a fresh tortilla.

Delicious salsa too.

As we ate our mexican food and enjoyed the company 

and live music...

We also talked about our son Parker and his wife Hali.

It is their anniversary on Cinco de Mayo.

It sure makes it easy to remember.

We are so thrilled that our children have chosen 

such wonderful spouses.

What a beautiful gift.

Parker and Hali have a great marriage

and they are being so obedient by producing perfect grandbabies.

They have Tillman and now a little girl coming in July.

Thank you for getting married.

Thank you for loving each other.

and thank you for the babies.

Happy Anniversary!

The Cowboys and their Cowlicks

I am sure that you know by now that I call the Cajamarca Zone

the Cowboys of Cajamarca.

They are awesome.

During this visit I talked with them about the 

"Elephant in the Room"

We are all in denial about the mission division.

But I had to address it with them today

Because

The next change will determine 

who goes and who stays.
They are all wondering if they are leaving us.

I told them this...

If you are serving right now in Cajamarca ...

it doesn’t mean that you are going to the new mission.

But I want you to know that the missionaries that will

go to the new mission are…

*First of all, not completely decided upon.

*They will be chosen only through inspiration of the President.

*And they will be those that fit the specific criteria from the Brethren.

*They will be those that have been fasted and prayed over.

*They will be those that we know will represent us 

well in the new mission.

*There will be some that have been trained for specific assignments.

There is not one missionary that we want to let go.

*They are asking us for our best.

*They are asking for producers.

*They are asking for our favorites.

This will be the most difficult thing that we have faced in the mission by far.

We never ever want any missionary to think that we are getting 

rid of them...

Those that will leave will be those that we LOVE!

Those leaving our mission to the new mission

will always be one of our missionaries first

and a part of our family forever.
I really can't think about this, I can't stop crying.
I pray mostly that those leaving our mission will feel the promptings and know that it came through inspiration.

Here are my cowboys.

I know them so well, I can tell you who they are by their

cowlicks.  I spend a lot of time in the back of the room.

Moms try to pick out your son... Easy!

We have almost 200 missionaries and most of them are latino.

It is hard enough to get all their names but

try memorizing all their cowlicks...

Difficult but not Impossible.

You just have to love them so much that you even want to 
know how their hair grows!


Here they are in order...
McGrath, Albines, Prebe, Bourque, Morales, Villalobos, Cardoza, Rojas, Burymski, Vasquez, Rodriguez, Ebmeyer

Rerun... East Zone

I am running just a tinsy bit behind...

Here is the East Zone that we had in the offices a couple days ago.

The President is catching a few up on their shots.

This round the prizes are sweet... smelling.

The elders love to play for these items.

It saves them a few soles.

We drove all morning.

We are now in Cajamarca.  We have had a full day.

I will blog all about it tomorrow.

I am really light headed and exhausted.

The drive and the altitude about do me in.


FYI
The man whose car I dented and his family didn´t show up 
for our FHE.  I have never been stood up before.
I think I am going to go dent his car again.
ha ha!

Chau!

Road Trip... real men wear aprons!

This is Elder Facer the new Financial Secretary.

He and Elder Andersen drove with me to Chimbote.

We came a day later than the President and 

brought all the goodies for the Pensionista Conference.

We had our big pensionista conference here in Trujillo.

But we needed to have them in the farther zones too.

Well, I didn't have Lucy or Alicia with me

so we packed up their goodies and their aprons

and guess who had to wear the aprons?

"Yes, Sister Turk, I am man enough to wear the apron"

I stayed out of these conversations... but he was man enough

and he put together some very nice looking 

dessert trays for me.

Thank you Elder Facer.... Sorry Elder Chacaltana!

He's kidding of course - 

All the pensionistas came and we had a great time honoring them

and going over a few changes.

This is not an easy job.

We love you pensionistas!

I always find a few extra photos on the camera.

It's good for me to see that these 

very responsible 

Missionary Leaders 

are still normal young men sometimes.

This is funny and that is a very good dog.