Laureles Zone ... Feel the Love

We had a great zone conference today with these people below...

Look closely for your child, you will not recognize them.

They are growing like weeds. These are powerful young men and women

that are great instruments to the Lord.

The Lord takes these young ones and makes them mighty,

not from years and years of deep study, diplomas, certificates and degrees,

but from humbling themselves, asking to be guided by the spirit and

then following the promptings.

When they qualify themselves by being morally clean,

studying the scriptures, praying etc....

they can confound the wise. It is through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Everyone can qualify for this gift of guidance in their lives through faith,

repentance, baptism and then receiving the Holy Ghost.

The greatest achievement we can reach is to be under the influence of the

Holy Ghost.

If you would like to know more about this...

push the mormon.org button on the side of this blog.

And a little side note...

These are called empanadas. Just pockets of dough filled with meat. The missionaries love when we get these for their breaks during training

I had to explain what they were for the next post...

Paper, Rock, Scissors for the Last Empanada!

This is the Laureles Zone during their snack break playing for the last Empanada...

The Cowboys of Cajamarca!

Below are the Cowboys of Cajamarca.

There are only 12 of them in this part of the mission.

They remind me of the boys on the John Wayne Movie "The Cowboys"

(one of my favorite movies)

Elders... if some outlaws come and take the President's life,

We want you to stay with the herd and bring them home.

I know that these Elders would do that too.

Some are new companionships and some are the same.

There was training, eating, proselyting, teaching some more eating and then some more training over the past few days. We love them.

I missed them this time, But I will see them soon.

Below is Elder Nash and Elder Davila who came to Cajamarca to change the Stake Presidency. The two on the bottom left are Elder Nash and Elder Davila. The three on the bottom right are the new Stake Presidency.

They are excited to work hand in hand with us to

excite the members on missionary work.

We love new fresh enthusiasm in this beautiful part of our mission.

Let's Go Elders... We're Burnin' Daylight!

(also from the cowboys)

BTW - mini van already in getting body work done...

just a big scratch all the way down the side.

Botanical Gardens... Who knew?

Today the office Elders and I went to the Botanical Gardens for their preparation day. I knew they would love it but, Wow, I had no idea they would get this excited. Our office Elders have Saturday as their preparation day but all the other missionaries have Monday. The office Elders have to be ready to help the others with Dr. appointments, Apartment matters, Finances etc... So they are in the office on Monday.

It is important that the missionaries get a day to unwind.... I told them that they should take artsy pictures of the flowers and they might end up on the blog. They took some great photos. It is spring here now. Everything is beautiful.

They also were able to handle the turtles and the rest of the animals. I hope that the turtles weren't traumatized after they played with them.

The missionaries are easy to please.... after we were finished in the Botanical Garden, I said, "who wants to go to McDonalds?" Wow, another jump for joy,

President Turk and the Assistants are still in Cajamarca and will be home Monday. Sorry they missed this!

Office Update...

This is Elder Mennis. He has been in the office as the Secretary of Records for the past several months. He made our transition very easy. He is so capable, kind and obedient. But the time has come to let him fly. He will be a fantastic Zone Leader in Viru. They are lucky to have him.

He was replaced with a computer engineer from Colombia. This is Elder Barinas. He will also be a great addition to the office staff. These Elders are unbelievable. They have long hours. Not only do they run the office but they are out teaching every night too. They will do whatever it takes to make the missionary work run smoothly and efficiently. Thank you Elder Mennis and Welcome Elder Barinas.

No, not my Mini Van...

Remember how I was just telling you about my Red Mini Van? Well, President Turk and the assistants decided to drive it to Cajamarca today so that the Elders could recline the seats in the back. After all, it is a six hour drive. I was supposed to go but they are staying longer to work with Elder Nash and the area seventy on a new Stake Presidency, trainings, exchanges etc... So me and my senior companion are doing splits. I can do so much more here.

Anyway, back to the Van....

They were driving along the highway, and a big sugarcane truck in front of them, pulled off to the side of the road. President Turk went around it to pass and all of the sudden the truck turned right back into the highway lane. President Turk swerved, honked and couldn't go far because of on-coming traffic, so the truck hit the brakes but not before bumping into them and scratching the car all the way down the side. We are so grateful that it wasn't a horrible accident. President Turk turned around to talk to the driver and the truck took off into the sugarcane field as fast as he could. They started to chase him and then of course came to their senses and stopped.

But now I understand that my sweet van has a damaged side.

I haven't seen the photos yet.

Will this stop me from hauling the Missionaries.... No way, No how!

After the scratch is painted, we just won't let the President drive her without me.

Another New Batch... Changes and Transfers!

There is nothing better than a fresh new batch of missionaries

from the Missionary Training Center.

They are ready, willing and eager to do anything and everything.

Here is the Mandatory photo shoot with the President...

Looking Good!

Then they are off to receive their trainers and area assignments.

We had nine from the MTC and three locals.

Adding twelve new missionaries can ripple the whole mission.

The transportation, luggage and logistics can get pretty tricky,

but somehow it all works out.

It is always fun to watch the reunions, laughter, hugs, photos,

excitement and emotions of change day.

The Mission means Change in every way - Constant Change.

My Mission Mini Van

There are not many women drivers here in Trujillo. And there are definitely no blond women drivers in Trujillo with a mob of white shirted Elders and long skirted Sisters packed in a red mini van...

One of a Kind... I Love It!

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon (Red Mini Van) that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. (Elders to Baptisms)
I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.
I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.
I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.
I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

— Marjorie Pay Hinckley .. (I love her... this is one of my favorites)

Como Puedo Ser... Another group, Another video

We make one of these movies for each group and they beg me to put it on the blog so that when they get home they can watch it again.

Goodbye Again

Here we go again.. another goodbye. These missionaries will never know how much we really love them. I weep every time I say goodbye as I wonder how their lives will turn out. We will just keep praying for each one of them. I hope that I can see them again.

These sister missionaries are from other parts of Peru.

We are so thankful for all that they have done here in Trujillo.

Aren't they darling?

(Hermana Ruiz, Hermana Becerra, Hermana Yauli, Hermana Corasma)

We have three Elders leaving in this change... two from Santa Cruz, Bolivia and one from the Jungles of Peru, Iquitos Peru. We will always love them.

President Turk, Elder Angola, Elder Beltran and Elder Tamani

Halloween Peruvian Style

We celebrated Halloween here in Peru with kids trick or treating the same as in the states. But instead of them saying "trick or treat" they would scream "Halloween." It is a holiday tomorrow, everyone has the day off for All Saints Day or Day of the Dead...

You know what that means,

firecrackers and fireworks going off all night. Yippy!

But of course the greatest treat is going to one of our baptisms today. We went to this one that was held at our building right after we spoke in our Stake Conference. Yolanda is one of the sweet converts of the Sister Missionaries. The sad news is that Hermana Ruiz is finishing her mission Tuesday. We will miss her.

She is a fantastic missionary.

Elder Mayorga, Yolanda, Hermana Ruiz, Hermana Legg,

& President Turk

Companionships and Marriage

Today President Turk and I taught a marriage workshop in Paijan. It was sweet. We used the analogy of our missionaries as part of the presentation. We told the married couples that we can take two young men that have never met each other and put them together...

...they are usually different in every single way, different nationalities, different cultures, different languages, different skills and education, different skin color...

and of course they come with their own strange habits and distinct traits..

But give them unity in purpose and the gospel principles,

and by preparing spiritually like our missionaries do every day.... Scriptures, Prayer, Applying Christlike attributes... You can love each other, serve each other and live with each other in perfect Harmony, Happiness and Pure Joy.

The secret to great relationships is to make Christ the center.

These two Elders love each other like Brothers.... One is from Chile and the other from the US. This is what the Gospel teachings give to us... a powerful Perspective of why we are here, who we are and what we should be doing to get to where we want to go... Home to live with our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ...

...As a Family

Alpaca, Llama, or Guanaco?

We love these animals. They are so funny to look at.

Does this look like Emporer's New Groove?

I can't remember the character's name...

FANTASTIC NEWS...

We are getting another one of these... YES!

(Tillman above - Griff below)

Griff is going to have a little brother or sister.

Landon and Molly are expecting a baby in May.

Come what May... and love it

There is nothing better than being an Abuela!

(Molly, by the way, is our daughter)

Random catch up...

This week our grandson Griff turned "1" It was a big day... thanks everyone for the support. We are feeling the love. We of course were at the party via skype...

How great is that?

Here is the President and his Amigos. We appreciate all their hard work

This is Elder Andersen who translated all three days for me. This is a chore. He just calls my phone and I have bluetooth earphones on. I can go anywhere in the building and still hear him. Thank you Elder Andersen.

After all three days of training, and several hours of tutoring, I ran to get my nails done. This is Stephanie, Her mom, Beatrice and her aunt. Let's just say it took a village to get my feet back in order. Thank you ladies. I haven't had a pedicure for about 5 months.

Faces of the Zone Leaders

The many Faces of Contemplation...

(except for President Turk)

These Elders were answering the Questions of the Soul using the Book of Mormon

They are so Capable. Great Zone Leader Concilio!

Happy Birthday to Murph... We Love You!

Second Day and All is Well!

Another beautiful day of Training... Learning.... Growing.... Sharing.

We can't tell you how much we are enjoying your Sons and Daughters.

Enjoy the Photos! Click to enlarge.

Great quote on the Gift of the Holy Ghost

“How great a blessing it is to have the ministering influence of a member of the Godhead.” Think of what this means, the ability and the right to receive the ministrations of a member of the Godhead, to commune with infinite wisdom,

infinite knowledge, and infinite power!

President Gordon B. Hinckley

Christmas Songs in October... YES!

No time to waste... We have a big Christmas Program in the Plaza de Armas coming right around the corner. We are performing on December 20th and the 22nd. We are going to have Beautiful Narration, Special Music, Nativity Scenes with Children, Costumes and Animals, Special Soloists, Community Singing and So Much More.

Elder Bennett will definitely have a starring role... Can you guess who he is in this video?

Spring Training...

Three more days of big time training.

We bring in all leadership for these sessions.

Assistants, Zone Leaders, District Leaders, & Trainers

We are teaching Fundamental Principles of Preach My Gospel.