Temples...

In our stay here in Peru, we have been blessed to be able to visit many Temples, old and new.  In fact, we recently were blessed to be able to attend the Trujillo Temple Open House (Puertas Abiertas, Open Doors, in Spanish).  What a beautiful addition to this wonderful land and what a blessing for these faithful saints. They expect to have about 80,000 visitors before the open house closes on May 30th.

Trujillo, Peru

We were blessed to be able to visit with our friends Romulo and Marlene Casos who served with us in the Area Offices in Lima. Brother Casos has been called as the President and Sister Casos as the Matron of this beautiful building.  The temple has made such an impact that the Catholic Cathedral on the main square had a sign by the door that read "This temple is a house of prayer."  

We also visited the Temples of the Moon and Sun from the Moche culture and Chan Chan of the Chimu culture.  

Moon Temple in Trujillo

Chan Chan in Trujillo

Sun Temple at Macchu Pichu

In our many travels we have been blessed to see the ruins of ancient temples (Huacas) dedicated to the worship of the gods of ancient cultures.  In Arequipa,  Lima,  Macchu Pichu, Cusco and the Sacred Valley,  just to name a few.  Each one reminded us of how people throughout history have payed homage to "God" and built temples.  Some cultures included the sacrifice of innocent people in this worship.  I am grateful that all I have to sacrifice is a willing heart and a contrite spirit.

Pachacamac, our first Huaca visit

Koricancha in Cusco

In Cusco and the Sacred Valley there were so many places to see, that I decided to include only a few.

Sacsayhuaman, Sacred Valley

In all of our visits we have also toured many Cathedrals.  Every main square we have visited included a beautiful, large Cathedral.  One in Quito was covered inside with gold leafing, and all of the others feature large stained-glass windows, whose colors, unfortunately let in very little light.




But of all these places and buildings we have seen, our favorites have to be our beautiful temples.  They are filled with light, so that when you enter you feel as though you have entered Heaven.

Lima, Peru

Guayaquil, Ecuador

Bogota, Colombia

In Barranquilla, Colombia and in Arequipa, Peru we were blessed to be able to visit the future temple sites there.  Sister Zobrist even shared with us a small bottle filled with dirt from the Arequipa site.  So we have a treasured bottle of "Temple Dirt".

What a blessing to be able to attend and to feel the spirit in these beautiful Houses of the Lord.  Each month, we attend a session of the temple in Lima with many of our dear Senior Missionary friends and with the Peruvian saints.  We have heard many stories of the sacrifices people make in order to attend the temple.  While visiting Puno, we spent time with a young returned missionary who was planning to take a trip with his family and many members of their stake to visit the temple in Cochabamba, Bolivia.  He was going to be sealed to his family.  These people sacrifice much of their time and money to participate in the blessings of the temple.  It often takes them days to travel to the temple.  We have been blessed to be only minutes away from a temple in all of the places we have lived.  I need to commit to better temple attendance!!

My Favorite Things....Perú

Today's blog is all about some of my favorite things in Perú.  I am amazed at the traffic, the people, and the workers that make our life so much better

Enjoy!

From a tour bus

Going around a corner

The roads are always very crowded, but you get a very different perspective from up high.
There were times when we couldn't believe he actually made it without knocking off something on another car and on the bus.  If you think it is crowded outside, wait until you get inside a bus and they keep adding just 5 more people and you are too tall to stand up straight...

Room for 5 more?

This is a street scene from downtown Lima on Good Friday.  What an experience.  There are seven cathedrals close by and people come downtown to make a pilgrimage to all seven.  It resembles a little street fair with venders selling food, balloons for the kids, religious symbols and just about anything else you might want.  Forget about getting a taxi.  I am so glad we did it, if for nothing else than saying we had the experience.  One of the main cathedrals has the requisite huge flocks of pigeons that rise up in mass and fly above your head.  Watch out for falling objects.

How about I walk to the store

One day, Val decided to take the little cart and walk to the grocery store. "It's not that far!...
But when he got all loaded down, it really did seem like an awfully long way back home. That's what I call sacrifice.

Wow, that's looks really painful........ Mostly we either ride the bus to the market and then take a taxi home, or we just take a taxi both ways.  It is just too difficult to try and get everything on a bus to go home.  There is a little store just up the street from the Area Office called Vivanda.  It reminds us a little of Trader Joe's in its appearance and decoration. Sometimes we eat lunch at the deli there or take something home for dinner.  There is a large chain of grocery stores here called Wongs. There are two fairly close to the office.  We affectionately call them the right Wongs (large store) and the wrong Wongs (small store but close to Don Momino's Bakery that has the most delicious bread). One day we were able get something at the wrong Wongs and not at the right Wongs so all of a sudden the right Wongs became the wrong Wongs.  Got that?



And here are some of the people we see around the neighborhood.  The street cleaners that sweep and pick up in all kinds of weather, the street vendors selling all sorts of things, the recyclers who rummage through garbage and pick out the plastic and carry it in huge bags on their backs,  and a mother sitting down to rest with her daughter on her back.      

The woman to the right has two large bags she is carrying filled with plastic bottles that she "rescued" from the trash left on the curb to be picked up.  The bags are so big you can't even see her among them. Trash is collected every day except Sunday even on holidays.  They bang two pieces of metal together to announce they are coming.  We use grocery bags as trash bags and put it out everyday. At least it makes use of all those bags.

The street cleaners work every day.  They dress in long pants and long-sleeved shirts with their faces covered with handkerchiefs.  I can't imagine how horribly hot it must be during the summer months.  They walk along the busy streets with their brooms and trash cans and put out little yellow cones to alert drivers to their presence.  It's amazing they don't get hit by some of the crazy drivers here.  Sorry these two pictures are so blurry.  I took them from a distance.

 

Couldn't resist this picture of a mother with her child on her back wrapped in her colorful shawl.  No baby carrying backpacks here.  They use these shawls to carry everything.  You can see the same thing on the back of this woman selling bread.  She has a traditional hat and the skirt with long leggings and this is summer with 80 degree heat and humidity.

Our vigilantes guard our street night and day in 12 hour shifts.  They have a very small hut without water or lights.  This is Guillermo.  For the longest time I could not understand what he was trying to say to me, but it is getting better.     I am so grateful for his tireless service.  He makes me feel safe.



This is a selfie of me and my friend, Maria.  Isn't it wonderful when your apartment owner is also your wonderful friend.

For my birthday, she brought me the best chocolate cake ever and a chocolate bunny.  She is so thoughtful.  I love spending time with her.  We always find something to laugh about.

What's been happening with English?

It is hard to believe that we are nearing the end of our mission.  Hermana Bart mentioned today that we only have 90 more days.  They go home the same time we do.  90 more days - that just not enough time!  But we did want to share some of the exciting things that have been happening as more and more missions and missionaries have embraced the challenge to learn English while on their missions.

Every quarter, we send a very short survey to the missions asking them to report their missionary progress towards learning English.  Here's a chart of what has happened in the last year.

So, not only are more missionaries actually trying to learn English, but during the last year there has been a 220% increase in the number of missionaries passing the English Proficiency Test.  Here's an amazing group of missionaries returning home from the Colombia Bogotá Norte Mission.  All of the Spanish-speaking missionaries returning home in that group took the test and are holding their proficiency certificates.  Hooray!!!! 

I think the smiles on their faces are almost as broad as the ones on our faces when we got this picture. Thank you mission presidents, mission moms, and missionaries for accepting the challenge given in Preach My Gospel, "If you don't speak English, you should study it as a missionary.  This will bless you during your mission and throughout your life.  Learning English will enable you to help build the Lord's kingdom in additional ways and will be a blessing for you and your family."  We know that this will bless many lives beyond their own and we are so thankful that the Lord has allowed us to be a part of that. 

I don't think we have shared a very special experience we had with one of the recently returned missionaries here in Lima that served in the Ecuador Quito Norte Mission.  Daniel Acevedo was referred to us by Sister Richardson as someone we might want to talk to who had learned English on his mission.  We invited him to come to our office so we could video tape his testimony about learning English.  After we had finished taping, he mentioned that his dream job would be to teach at the CCM.  I suggested that we take a minute and go over there and see if we could just introduce him to some of the people there.  We walked over and quickly found Brother Campero.  He is responsible for hiring new teachers.  After the introductions, he asked if he might talk with Daniel for a few minutes.  We said our goodbyes and thanked Daniel for taking time to share with us.  When I returned to the office, I pulled up my email messages and much to my surprise there was a new message indicating that they were hiring new teachers for the CCM.  Brother Campero had not mentioned that because he had just barely made the posting that day.  What a Tender Mercy that was. Daniel was interviewed and because of his abilities and talents was offered the job!  And...to add to that he is now engaged to a beautiful young woman he met who is also a teacher at the CCM.  Who knew that learning English could have such great benefits - we did.  We love this work! (Picture of Daniel and his fiancé coming in a future post). 

Come Listen to the Prophet's voice...

Okay, in order for you to truly appreciate today's Tender Mercy, I have to make a confession.  I did not read the March Liahona Magazine.  That said, this morning Val and I went to the CCM to role play as investigators for the really brand new missionaries.  It has been fun to be able to interact with them in a different way.  After our presentation, we went to the restrooms to change into our regular missionary clothes - suite, tie, skirt, blouse.  While I was waiting for Val to finish changing I picked up the Spanish edition of the March Liahona.  I then chose a rather short message to read that I thought I just might be able to understand. The title of the story was I recognized the Prophet's Voice. The story talked about a young lady who had recently moved from Mexico to the United States to attend school.  She talked about how one Sunday evening she was searching the radio to find some uplifting music and heard a man talking instead.  She then states "I suspected that the voice was that of President Gordon B. Hinckley, who was President of the Church at the time.  I realized that it was odd for me to be able to distinguish his voice.  I was accustomed to listening to general conference, Church Educational System firesides, and other Church broadcasts through the voice of a Spanish interpreter speaking over the speaker's voice.  Yet somehow I knew the voice on the radio was that of President Hinckley.  I wasn't yet fluent enough in English to understand what he was saying, but I listened to the talk on the radio anyway.  His voice brought a feeling of peace."

Why is this a Tender Mercy?  Our April newsletter that was sent to all of the 30 missions on April 1st had this focus - Come Listen to the Prophet's Voice.  Last October, I was very excited by the announcement that some of the general authorities would be speaking in their own language.  I was thrilled to think I would be able to hear them.  I guess I thought they would use subtitles, but instead they used voice over interpreters.  The impression that came so strongly to me at that time was that most of the young people we talk to about learning English have never listened to the actual voices of the prophet and apostles.  The interpreters do an amazing job, but they cannot convey the spirit in the same way.  I had collected a couple of missionary testimonies to put in the newsletter that mentioned what a blessing it was to know English well enough to be able to listen to the prophet and others in their own voices.  We also share this message when we do our bi-weekly presentations at the CCM. Today I found an article that I can share with the missions that further testifies to the blessing of being able to listen to the prophet's voice.  While she did not talk about having that ability herself, she did mention what I had been telling the missionaries, "I was accustomed to listening...through the voice of a Spanish interpreter speaking over the speaker's voice."  It was a testimony to me that we have been sharing the right thing.

Where's Waldo?

     Fourteen months ago we were new missionaries in a "strange" country.  We didn't know where anything was, how to get there, or how to communicate even the simplest things.  Thanks to one of the other amazing Sister Missionaries here we found ourselves experiencing our very first shopping trip to Jockey Plaza Mall.  Not just a small mall, but one of the largest we been in.  The phrase we looked like a deer caught in the headlights described us perfectly.  When Norma asked what we needed to buy, we just stood there hardly knowing what to say so she guided us through a few stores to make some necessary purchases.  Then we went outside one of the stores to catch a taxi.  At that time even that simple task was daunting.  How much to pay, how to understand what the cashier wanted to know, how to describe where we lived, etc.  In the end, we ended up in Waldo's cab.  What a nice man.  We couldn't say much but we did get his phone number.  We tried a couple of other times to use his services, but we couldn't find him.  I think maybe I had the wrong number.

     Flash forward to yesterday, Saturday, March 28.  We have been here for fourteen months and had the privilege of sponsoring a new Senior couple.  They had just arrived that morning at 12:30 am. They are living in the apartment below ours and without even giving them much time to get a cat nap, we planned a shopping trip.  Since we were experiencing internet problems, Brother Murray stayed at the apartment and Val and I took Sister Murray shopping.  Because of what she needed, we ended up at Jockey Plaza.  After loading up a shopping cart to overflowing and with our hands full, too, we set out to find a taxi.  Val said, lets get one of the taxis here at the mall instead of going out on the street. That done, the driver helped us load all of our stuff into his car and we took off.  He asked how long we had been here and I said fourteen months.  I asked if he knew about the church and he said, "Yes, and I know you. You are the Kendell's, right?"  At which point Val says from the back seat, "Waldo?"  Of course!  What a wonderful blessing.  Our first taxi driver is the first driver for the Murrays.  We got his card, gave him a Resurrection pamphlet and our new Easter message and are so excited to be able to reconnect with a wonderful man.

     This is really what it looks like sometimes.  I just read an article that said there were 330,000 taxis in Lima in 2011. We have been in taxis that are new, taxis that are old, some where we have felt comfortable, others weren't. If you go very far, it is always scary because they weave in and out of traffic as they try to get you there as soon as possible.  Fares here are determined before you get into the taxi and depend upon where you are going.  We often feel, like we did in Chiclayo that we get charged more by some drivers because we are Americans and "They can afford it!" It is a delight to find the Waldo's in Lima because their cars are nice and so are they.  It is well worth a few extra soles because they give excellent service and truly seem to want to get you there safely.



     Had a delightful evening last night at President Boswell's home.  He is the president of the Lima East Mission.  He and his wife served all of the senior couples that work in the Area Office and the President of the MTC and his wife a traditional Easter meal: Ham, au gratin potatoes, carrots, green beans, homemade Lion House Rolls, jam and banana cake.  Yum, yum.  That's about 20 people. (Val appears to have caught a cold and decided to stay home and rest. That shopping trip really did him in.)  At the end of dinner he shared with us the amazing work and success of his missionaries.  They have increased their lessons taught by about 100% and their baptism rate is increasing, too.  And he really made my day when he shared what they have been doing to encourage English in the mission. What a blessing!  One of their assistants decided to do his whole zone meeting in English and he is a native Spanish-speaker.  The Learn English initiative has really caught on.  We are so proud of these young people and their efforts to be obedient.   Preach My Gospel says, "If you do not know English you should study it as a missionary."  They are doing just that.

He is in the minute details of our lives...

I just have to share something that happened this morning.  Yesterday, Saturday, I decided to wash a set of curtains in our dinning area.  After washing them, Val was putting them back up on the curtain rod and found that he was missing one of the hooks he needed so we improvised with a paper clip.  It worked, but wasn't the best.  This morning, while walking to church, Val stopped and bent down to pick up something from the street.  He held up his hand and what do you think he had found?  Yep, a drapery hook.  Just one.  Just what we needed!  Coincidence...we don't think so.

So what have we been up to lately.  Well, on Feb. 5th we took a trip to Puno.  To start with, our travel agency forgot to confirm our flight so when we arrived at the airport, we didn't have seats on the plane.  So frustrating.  The airline had oversold the plane by about 20 seats.  They offered to pay for a taxi to a hotel in Lima in the San Isidro district, give us lunch and dinner, bring us back to the airport and also give is $50 each for our trouble.  We accepted and were given a much later flight that evening.  So we lost almost a full day in Puno.  We did take the time to visit one of Lima's better museums so all was not lost.  We flew into the airport at Juliaca and an hour later arrived in Puno at the Sonesta Posada de la Inca hotel that evening.

 Puno is home to Lake Titicaca.

By volume of water, it is the largest lake in South America.  The highest navigable lake in the world. It is actually shared by Perú and Bolivia.  We had wanted to visit in order to see the Reed Islands.
Titicaca is notable for a population of people who live on the Uros, a group of 47 artificial islands made of floating reeds (Totora, a reed that abounds in the shallows of the lake).  Even the boats they use are made out of reeds.  These islands have become a major tourist attraction for Perú, drawing excursions from the lakeside city of Puno.  Their original purpose was defensive, and they could be moved if a threat arose.  Many of the islands contain watchtowers largely constructed of reeds.

Uros Island

We were especially drawn to the islands because one of them has a population of members of the church and a small chapel. During our first island visit, our guide told us how the islands were constructed and then we were led into a home of one of the families to escape the pouring rain and hear more about the islands.  It was a very personal visit.  Next we visited the Mormon island.

Mormon Island Family and our fun treasures

Us with Luis

We met with a wonderful family and she shared with us her conversion story and testimony of the church.  They have recently disbanded the small branch and now the members have to get up early to take the 25 minute boat trip to make it to church for the 8:00 am meetings.  She is currently the Young Women's president and he is the executive secretary.  They are committed members and bore strong testimony to the truthfulness of the Gospel.  It was a very spiritual time with this amazing family.  What a blessing to have met them and shared time in their humble home.

We were also drawn to Puno because of a once a year dance festival featuring dancers and bands from Puno and other local areas.  This year, over 78 groups participated.  it is called the Festivalidad de La Virgin de Candalaria.  We were excited about seeing the dances and the costumes.  You can imagine our disappointment when we arrived and learned that the main activity featuring the dancers was only held in the soccer stadium on Sunday.  Elder and Sister Hansen, a couple serving with us in the area office had lined us up with one of their former missionaries.  They were mission presidents in Mexico a few years ago.  Luis Gustavo Quispe was our unofficial tour guide.  He met us at our hotel, suggested we spend some time on Friday getting adjusted to the high altitude and offered to take us into town later that evening to show us "how to be safe" while seeing the city and let us hear and see some of the bands marching through the streets.  There were people everywhere.  It was fun to participate in the activities.  During our outing, we talked about our desire to see the dancers.  He also offered to get up early on Sunday morning, go to the stadium to purchase tickets (the only way to get them) then come back and pick us up at the hotel.  We would go to the stadium early, see some of the dancers, leave to attend church and then maybe go back after church to see some more. 

Luis, who is only 24 years old, serves as a member of his stake's High council which meant he would be missing and early morning meeting not to mention he would be purchasing tickets on the Sabbath.  The more we thought about it, the more uncomfortable we felt.  It just didn't seem like the right thing to do.  We finally decided to call him back and tell him to forget the tickets, we just wanted to go to church.  We would just have to see the dancers on TV.  We thoroughly enjoyed attending church in the small ward.  During the Sunday School, Relief Society and Priesthood meetings we could hear a band outside.  After the meeting we went outside, and much to our surprise, there marching up the street next to the chapel were dancers and bands on their way to perform at the stadium.  

 

Instead of being far away in a huge stadium, we were literally right among them. Val was literally walking backwards in the street taking pictures of the dancers.  How cool is that!

He was able to get some amazing pictures and we were able to tell Luis to take the money and use it for his family trip to the Bogotá Cochabamba Temple where they were to be sealed together as a family the next week.  As Elder Quispe said, if we take care of the spiritual, the Lord will take care of the temporal.  Elder Clark even got a chance to play a trumpet with one of the bands.  It couldn't have been much better.

One thing I neglected to mention was that our guide to the Uros Islands and another historical site named Sillustani was very interested in the church,. We talked to her and gave her a Book of Mormon and a pamphlet about the restoration. We love being able to share the gospel.  It makes us feel more like missionaries.

Time with "old" friends...

Wednesday evening we had dinner with our friends Lilia and Ronald....

Me with Lilia & Ronald at church

     You may remember them from one of our first blogs.  They were instruments in the Lord's hands.  We had prayed and decided we needed testimonies of missionaries who had learned English on their missions to share with others. Lilia found us on a bus, she introduced us to her husband Ronald, he bore testimony of the the Companionship Language Study program and now his testimony goes everywhere with us as part of our CLS PowerPoint presentation. What a blessing to see them again at Stake Conference, one year later.  As we enjoyed a wonderful, typical Peruvian dinner of arroz con pollo, we talked about that day when we first met Lilia on a bus coming back from Mira Flores and Inca Market.  We asked her why she walked past two other missionary couples and came and talked to us. She said she didn't know, she just did.  It was a confirmation for us that the Lord was guiding our activities and those of others that day just so we could meet Ronald and get his testimony. (See the scripture below)  Ronald and Lilia are in their early twenties.  They represent so many of the young couples in Perú.  Ronald is a member of our stake High Council and Lilia is the stake Primary President.  It's hard to imagine those callings being extended to members this young in Utah, but they are the foundation of the church here.

South America Northwest Area
 President

     President Uceda often reminds us that the church in Perú is still young and Ronald and Lilia are truly a representation of that.  In the early 1970's, President Uceda was one of very few missionaries from South America.  Now there are thousands and we are so blessed to be able to work with many them as we try to encourage them to learn English.  We have a wonderful testimony from him talking to the missionaries about being humble and working hard to learn English.  He is a powerful example to all of these young missionaries.  We tell them, that just like President Uceda, you have no idea how the Lord will use you in twenty or thirty years. President Uceda also tells them, that when he was learning English on his mission he had no idea that he would one day use English everyday in his work as a member of the Quorum of Seventy of the Church.

     Every two weeks we are blessed to be able to make a CLS presentation to the missionaries who are leaving the Lima CCM to go to their various missions.  FYI - Here it is called the Centro de Capacitacion Misional.  For the longest time I didn't know what people meant when they talked about the CCM.     We Love It!  It is the highlight of our mission.

Twins! Me with Sister Gonzalez at the CCM

Calling home for Christmas

On Christmas Day we got to spend time with the missionaries playing games while they waited to be able to call home.  Missionaries at the Provo MTC didn't get that blessing, there were just too many.

Rummikub at the CCM on Christmas Day. This is getting serious! 

It was so fun to spend time with them on that special day, but it's also wonderful to spend time with them every other week and to hear them recite the line of scripture that they have learned as part of our CLS presentation.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart,

And lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge Him

And He shall direct thy paths. 

                                                                                           Proverbs 3:5-6 

We divide them up into four groups and have the English-speakers teach the Spanish-speakers one line.  They are so excited about learning and the English-speakers are excited about their progress. They are great cheerleaders. It isn't much English, but we want them to leave thinking that:                            

English can be "easy" and fun. 

One year down, but not counting....

The End of Our First Year

With Self Reliance Managers in Puembo, Ecuador

Starting a blog is easy.  Keeping it up is hard.  After returning from our Cusco, Peru assignment, we had a short rest before being sent to Puembo, Ecuador –- a short distance from Quito, Ecuador. We created and gave a PowerPoint presentation to the Self-Reliance managers, that they could give to the missionaries who are just ending their missions and returning home.  The presentation shows missionaries how they could continue to learn English, which would qualify them to enter the Pathway Program, run by BYU-Idaho, and offers them a college education from their home countries using Skype.

On one afternoon, we all bused to the Equator (both of them)!  One was Ecuador's historical monument, which they originally built. The 2nd was the authentic center circumference of the earth, which was identified after GPS technology was developed.

(Any excuse will do!) 

It was fascinating being able to balance an egg on the top of a nail, and seeing water drain in opposite directions - on each side of the Equator.

This is the brochure we created for the missionaries.  It is a combination of two brochures we had already created for use by Area staff members to learn English.

We then transferred to a hotel in delightful Quito where we gave presentations to missionaries returning home and met with President and Sister Christensen of the Quito Mission.  What an inspiring couple, serving in a beautiful city!  We had many wonderful experiences while there.  One afternoon we stopped at a group of art and craft booths. As we viewed some necklaces (Julene really loved one of them), I felt impressed that the artist needed an invitation to obtain a copy of the Book of Mormon.  When I asked her if she would accept our card, she smiled broadly and said "I'm a returned missionary!"  She had been looking in our faces and didn't notice our name badges.  It was a "tender mercy" moment, that confirmed that when we live the gospel there is a "light that is radiated".

The 2nd "tender mercy" was holding an impromptu meeting in our hotel room with a member of the Church, who is a Member of the National Assembly of Ecuador, and directs the Special Commission for Culture, Education, and Technology.  It is too long a story, but in brief, she proved to be the person in the government I needed to meet. Two weeks earlier, on assignment from the Area Presidency, I had prepared a proposal to bring some of the BYU performing groups (Ballroom Dancers, International Folk Dancers) to these countries.  The one venue location I was missing, was Quito.  She was excited to be the person who could help — especially after I showed her my TV commercials of the two groups.  The Lord is very much aware of, and involved in, the details of our lives.

More Presentations

Following our return to Lima, we made presentations to 4 more of the 5 missions in Lima and 400 returned missionaries in the north portion of Lima.  They are only part of all the native returned missionaries, since there are 500,000 members of the Church in Lima, alone.  With 15 million members worldwide, those numbers will continue to increase.

We then were sent on assignment again to Colombia and other cities in Ecuador, where we gave presentations to hundreds of missionaries and met with many mission presidents.  We were brought to tears on more than one occasion, as we were led and directed in events, over which we had had no control.  We are very grateful for "tender mercies".

Barranquilla, Colombia new temple site
overlooks the ocean and city.

Barranquilla Spanish-language missionaries learning a scripture in English.

From humid and warm Barranquilla we flew to cool and rainy Bogota for more meetings with mission presidents, presentations to missionaries, attending the Bogota Temple, and enjoying a Christmas celebration with many Stake Presidents and Bishops.  We especially were overjoyed at the opportunity to give a presentation to the 80+ missionaries who were in the Colombia Missionary Training Center, just before they traveled to their respective missions.  We even managed part of one day for a little sight-seeing.

Pres. Dyer and a few missionaries at the Bogota MTC

Artifacts at the Bogota Gold Museum

With Clarks at the Central Plaza in the original part of Bogota.

On to the Coast of Ecuador

We were wisked from the airport to a Sunday fireside with over 100 missionaries from the Guayquil West mission and Elder Calderon, an Area Seventy.  The next day we met with more returning missionaries from the Guayquil North and West missions.  The next day we taught Zone Leaders and brand new missionaries in the North mission, had a wonderful luncheon with the mission president and his wife, and attended the Guayquil Temple.  It and the Bogota Temple are two of the three largest temples outside the United States.  We were exhausted by the end of the presentation the next day to returning missionaries from the South Mission.

 Finally, just before we flew back to Lima Thursday evening, we managed a tour bus of Guayquil and a walking tour of the city's outstanding river/ocean front boardwalk.  It was a hot and humid tour of the city, but as I stood on the roof of the bus with the air blowing in my face, I was very glad we got to take a closer look at this beautiful city that has placed a strong emphasis on artwork to beautify the city, and traffic lights at every major intersection that bring order to the driving and fewer car horns.  I love the look of this city.  It's too bad it is soooo humid and hot.  All in all it was a very fulfilling 2 weeks.  We have been very blessed.  We'll end the trip with the pictures telling the story.

Stayed at the Courtyard Marriott

Guayquil Temple

We arrived back in Lima one week before Christmas.

We enjoyed 3 Christmas parties with the other senior missionaries, then snuggled all down for a Christmas Eve sleep, when out on the street their arose such a clatter, we sprung from our beds to see . . . that in Lima . . . the whole town celebrates Christmas Eve with fireworks!!!   These were literally right above our heads! And went on from 11 pm to 2am.

New Year's Eve was much the same with "Bombs bursting in air...". Our year went out quite literally with a BANG (actually more than one).