Kendell's Mission: January 2015

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.

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.

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.