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.