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).

  

It's a Wonder...

We never dreamed we would be at Machu Picchu Peru, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.  It was off to Cusco and Machu Picchu.  Once again we were traveling with the Clarks to returning missionary seminars.  These are always a treat because we get to work with the missionaries and talk to the mission president and his wife. We met a young man who had just taken the English test and passed.  He's from Lima.  We also took time to go to church in a local ward.  I always feel blessed to be somewhere that feels so familiar.  The church is wonderful.

Saints Day Parade

Cusco is a beautiful old colonial city whose downtown surrounds a grand plaza complete with two large cathedrals.

The streets of Cusco 
(no, we are not the old stones)

 Many of downtown Cusco's cathedrals and houses are built upon the ancient stones of Inca temples.  It is the jumping off point for a visit to Machu Picchu.  To get to Machu Picchu we hired a guide who showed us around the Cusco and then drove us to the Sacred Valley that is home to many Inca ruins. We stopped at a small village and watched these women spin, dye, and weave the Alpaca yarn.  They are singing a song for us here.

Using natural dyes to color the llama yarn

We spent the night in a small town called Ollantaytambo.  There is also a large Inca temple ruin here and the streets remain much the same as in Inca times.  They are narrow with the original cobblestones. We met two young children as we walked through the streets.  They sang to us in Quechua which is the language of the native people.  Often you hear them called Incas, but the Inca was the King of the Quechua people.  So there were really only 11 Incas.  

Machu Picchu with Huana Picchu in the back 

The next morning, we boarded a Vista Liner train to make the 1.5 hour trip to Aguas Calientes at the base of Machu Picchu.  I had to take a picture of the stewards as they looked and acted much like airline stewards and stewardesses.  It was beautiful country with tall mountains and green (don't see much of that in Lima).  It was a delightful train ride.  When we got to Aguas Calientes, we were greeted by our Machu Picchu guide who led us quickly through the market stalls to where we needed to be to get on the bus to go up the mountain.  There are 27 tour buses that make 2 or 3 round trips each up the mountain per day.  With over 2-3 thousand visitors per day, they are non stop.  There were some places on the mountain road that made me wonder how two buses could possibly pass each other.  There just didn't seem to be enough room. When we got to the top of the mountain, we went through a checkpoint where they checked our tickets and passports.  Then it was time to hike.  I still remember my first reaction to being there.  I just couldn't believe that I was actually seeing something that I thought I would only ever see in pictures.  It is amazing to think that people were able to get those huge stones to the top of the mountain.  And...I just kept thinking of how I would feel as a mom raising children in this city that has so many drop off points.  I would constantly be worried that the kids would just fall off of the mountain.  Even though there were tons of people there, it was amazing to see!  The guide took us around and explained the history, building techniques, and worship associated with the city.  It is surrounded by lushly covered mountains.  The guide spent two hours with us and then left us to explore on our own.
The Clarks decided to hike down to the bus stop, but we still had a few places we wanted to see before our scheduled departure.  We hiked up to where the old Inca Trail begins, found a large grassy terrace and a big rock and sat down and made ourselves comfortable so we could just soak in all that was around us.  I kept thinking of the people that lived there who gardened on the terraces and raised llamas and kids.  It was quiet up there.  Sometimes we felt like we were the only ones there.  We took some more pictures.

Machu Picchu

Val tired to get some without people in them.
 That's difficult, but he managed to do it.  It was too soon time to start hiking back down to meet the Clarks and catch our bus.  Back on the bus, down the hill, off the bus, through the market to find the train station, then wait in the dark since the power went out.  While there, we saw the super fancy Hiram Bingham train with its chef, tables with cloths and lamps, and luxury.  It would have been fun to take that train, but it was much too expensive.  We arrived in Ollantaytambo after dark and had dinner at the train station.

 It was a delightful meal.  The next day it was more visits to Inca ruins and back to our hotel in Cusco.  Our hotel there had a delightful restaurant on the top floor that overlooked Cusco.  The next day we transferred back to our first hotel in downtown Cusco.

Nighttime in Cusco' Plaza de Armas

 Saturday night, there was a beautiful fireworks show which we decided was just for our send off so we got on our coats and headed for the Plaza de Armas.  We found a nice bench and settled in.  Of course, sitting there we were sitting ducks for all of the vendors.  Elder Clark was the first one to cave by buying a pair of gloves.  Soon all of us had gloves, hats, and scarves and all of the vendors had pass along cards.  We looked like a bunch of minions sitting there in our funny little Inca hats. It was so fun.  At one point we saw a delightful young family which Val was sure must be members of the Church.  So he took off after them, tapped the woman on the shoulder and asked if she spoke English.  Lucky for him she did.  So he was able to give them a Restoration pamphlet.  It's our way of doing missionary work.  Church again on Sunday and then dinner at our guide's house who is a member of the church and was kind enough to invite us to dinner at his house.  What a treat!  Then it was off to the airport.  We feel so blessed to be able to mix missionary work with a little travel.  It is the best of both worlds.

On the road again...

Don't know if you have noticed, but today we are playing blog catch up.  It is a holiday here, and we are at home.  We have been busy doing mission visits.  We have been asked to go with the Clarks to attend some returning missionary training seminars.  The area presidency felt that the missionaries who were returning home needed some training in staying spiritual, finding jobs, continuing to study English, and the opportunities that they can take advantage of.  Missionaries spend one day at the end of their mission getting this additional training. Our part of the training deals with the Pathway program.  Pathway is a one year program in conjunction with BYU Idaho where students can study at institutes and on line.  It is a great way to get a college education for a little less cost and from your home town.  Our trip to Iquitos was in conjunction with the returning missionary program.  We also got to travel to Arequipa and Chiclayo. Interestingly, the three cities they asked us to visit were the three cities we felt we needed to go to.  Tender Mercy!  In addition to missionary training, we also take time to visit with the mission presidents to see how the Companionship Language Study program is going, specifically what we can do to be of help to them as they try to encourage missionaries to study English on their missions.  We were able to do our Power Point presentation in Iquitos and Arequipa. In Iquitos we met with zone leaders and in Arequipa with three zones. What fun to interact with the missionaries and the presidents and their wives.  It is always the highlight of our mission.

President Zobrist

President Gomez

Temple lot

Arequipa, is the second largest city in Peru and has a European feel to it with narrow streets and a large square surrounded by a large cathedral and colonial style buildings.  One of its claims to fame is a mummy of a young girl recently found when ice melted revealing her.  Our hotel was beautiful and just a block away from the mission home.  Arequipa is also scheduled to get a temple.  They had just finished acquiring the last of the land needed for the temple site, so President Zobrist (who just happened to be a neighbor of our friends the Van Wagoners when they lived in Las Vegas) and his wife took us to see the temple site and presented us with our very own little bottles of temple dirt. How fun is that.


The day after, we took a tour of the downtown cathedral.  They took us to the top and we could look out over the entire city.  Amazingly enough, you can see the temple site from there.  Won't it be fun when it is done and people look out and ask "What is that beautiful building over there?" We also got this fun picture of a little girl and her goat there at the Plaza de Armas waiting for people who pay for pictures. Notice her colorful, traditional dress.

We also visited a convent.  It was the tradition that the second daughter of the cities wealthy would be sent to the convent when they were about 13.  Each had her own room complete with space for a servant.  From that time forward, they could only see their families through a grated hole.  At 16, they had to decide whether or not they were going to be nuns.  If they decided not to, the family was embarrassed and often the girls were shunned.  At the time it housed over 200 young women and their servants. So not only did the girls live a life of solitude, but so did their servants.  It was a city within a city complete with streets, a communal bath and laundry area and a dinning area.  Now it is a museum with only a small section dedicated to the nuns who still live there.  I think there are only about 20 now.

Chiclayo is a smaller city and we were only there for two and a half days.  Since most of our time was spent with missionaries, we didn't see much of the city  But on the way there we met an amazing young woman on the plane.  She spoke beautiful English and we had a delightful conversation.  At the end, she asked if we were going to have time to see the city and offered to be our guide.
So, Tuesday morning she and her brother met us at our hotel and took us to tour a museum that housed artifacts from El Señor de Sipan.

With Candy at the Lord of Sipan Museum

This was a tomb that was only recently discovered in 1987.  They found many mummies (the wives, servants and children were buried with the "King"), artifacts of gold and silver and clay pots.  Afterwards, we were able to talk to Candy and Josémaria a little about the church and give them a Restoration video and a pamphlet.  They are our new Facebook friends. We also got to see our friends Sister Moore and Sister Arana.  They are now serving in Trujillo which is about a three hour bus trip.  It was fun to see them again and catch up on what they are doing.

Up the River numero dos...

Cinthia

Monday, it was downriver to the Ceiba Tops Lodge for a three day, two night stay in a rain forest lodge.  The boat ride took about an hour and a half.  Our room was air-conditioned (thank goodness) and in a beautiful setting on the edge of the Amazon in the middle of the rainforest.  You take a short walk to get the the main lodge where meals are served.  Next to the main lodge was a beautiful pool and hot tub and large "gazebo" with hammocks for enjoying the outdoors and a view of the river. Our first day there we were greeted by the resident tapir (all 500 lbs. of her).
While the Clarks rested, we took a short boat ride to another native village and then went to search for dolphins.  We found them and they put on a delightful show for us. Tuesday morning they got us up early, 5 AM, for a trip into the rainforest to enjoy a walk on the Canopy Walkway, the longest in the world.

Canopy Walkway

Didn't get away, but should have

It is a series of walkways that when you are finally at the top, you are looking at the rainforest from the canopy of the rainforest trees.  What a sight!


Wednesday morning,  it was another short boat ride to go piranha fishing (Success - I caught the smallest which got thrown back).






 Luckily, we ate them for lunch before they were able to eat us.  Check out those teeth!!!

Just before the small one on the back pulled my hair!

 Next it was a visit to the Isla de Monos.  I was lucky enough to find a couple of friends who decided they wanted to climb up and give me a hug. That was okay until one decided to start pulling my hair.  Not fun!  This picture is just before the hair pulling.  Wednesday afternoon, it was back to the airport and saying goodbye to our new friend and guide,
Armando.

Thanks, Armando, for a delightful stay.

While waiting for the airplane, we met up with a young missionary who was on his way to renew his visa in Lima.  Another tender mercy since we got to spend time with him talking about his experience with the CLS program.  Thank you Father for watching out for us.

Up the river - Amazon that is - without a paddle.

Never in our wildest dreams would we have imagined that we would be spending our 48th wedding anniversary on the Amazon River near Iquitos, Peru.  But tender mercies are never planned. They just happen.  Sunday, August 31st, we were wondering what we wanted to do for our anniversary in seven days.  No clues!  Monday, we went into the area office and discovered that we would be flying to Iquitos, Peru to observe some training and do a presentation to a group of missionaries there.  By Tuesday, we had our flight plans and had planned an extra few days to take a trip down the Amazon to stay at a jungle lodge in the middle of the rain forest. A few trips to the cash machine, that was interesting adventure in itself, to get the money to make a down payment on the lodge stay and were ready.  All we needed to do was hurry and pack. Our flight took off on Thursday afternoon. It was a bit scary flying during a lightening storm, but it was also amazing to see.  Unfortunately, no pictures. By the time I got the camera out, it was over.  We landed in Iquitos in the middle of a rain storm, which happen quite frequently there.


We got settled in our nice hotel. Friday morning, we got brave and hopped in a Motor Taxi for the short ride to the chapel where the training was to be held.

Minutes before the downpour

The weather looked beautiful, but halfway there, it started to pour.  Our taxi driver stopped, got out his nifty plastic cover for the front of the taxi and then took off.  Unfortunately, Elder and Sister Clark were behind us and thought we had reached our destination.  So when their taxi driver stopped to cover up, they got out, paid him and then wondered where we had gone.  They had to hail another taxi, wade through the water to get to it and then try to find the chapel.  By the time they found us, they were soaked.

Our morning training with the zone leaders of the Iquitos mission was great.  Even the mission president and his wife participated.  What fun! We love doing these presentations as we watch our North American missionaries teach the Spanish speakers and then cheer them on when it is their turn to say the scripture in English all by themselves.  They are always the highlight of our mission. We had lunch with President and Sister Gomez at a fun little restaurant down the street.  We decided to try the alligator.  Of course, it tastes like chicken.  Friday afternoon and evening was spent observing the training for the missionaries who are ready to go home.  Dinner with them was delightful.  We opted for fried rice (?) instead of more chicken and potatoes which is the national meal of Peru.

Saturday we took a short ride up the Amazon to visit the Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm (a Nature and Wildlife Conservation Park).  Along with some rescued animals - monkeys, a jaguar, and an anteater, there were beautiful butterflies.  The monkeys were illusive, though.

We also visited a native village and met the Bora tribe.  They danced for us and explained their culture and the boa constrictor dance. Very interesting.  Elder Clark explained that they came from the tribe of Joseph.  He said he was from the tribe of Levi, since that's what his hat said.  Not sure they understood that one.

Sunday, Sept. 7th, was our 48th wedding anniversary.  We attended church at one of the local wards where we were treated like royalty.  It was all in Spanish, so we had to stretch to understand.  But the ward members were so welcoming.  I think they hoped we were there to stay.  It was sad to disappoint them.  After church, we had dinner at a floating restaurant in the middle of the Amazon River.  It was sooo fun to take a boat out the the restaurant which also has a swimming pool, so after dinner you can take a dip in the pool.  It was a beautiful setting complete with a rainbow in the background. It doesn't get much better than that.

How's this for romantic!

We're the pilot grandparents!

Note: Wrote this blog a while ago, but didn't publish.  So here is some old, news.
Saturday morning, August 30th,  we got to watch Max, our grandson, get baptized by his dad (our youngest's oldest).  We figure we are the pilot for watching a baptism through FaceTime.   We needed to prove that grandparents could be trusted to watch and be quiet.  It was so wonderful to "be there" to watch him get baptized and confirmed.  What a group with all of his brothers and sisters there (except Codi & Zach and their family) and most, if not all of Melissa's family there, too. Max is such an amazingly spiritual young man.  His parents are doing such a great job of raising him and his brothers and sister. I have been a little down thinking that I was going to miss four baptisms while on our mission, but this gives me hope.  Now we will just be missing our oldest granddaughter's high school graduation.  Who knows, with FaceTime we might get to be there, too.

Our missionary work is moving forward.  This month we met with the DTA of the area office about our plan for English for the Area office staff.  Val and I had a very spiritual experience as we prayed about how to teach English to the Area staff.  We have gone through about four different versions of the plan and just didn't feel right.  One Thursday when we were home together we were talking about what to do and inspiration hit us.  It was as if all of the answers where placed there for us to see.  The most important feeling was that we needed a plan that helped the office to embrace and be responsible for English.  That plan required that the departments each choose a language coach (someone in their department that could already speak English) and dedicate part of the work day to speaking and learning English.  That was a very big commitment on their part and some of them, including us, were not too sure about it.  We have never done a program exactly like this before. We can't promise that it will work, we have just felt inspired that this is what we needed to do.  The plan has two parts: Basic English and Workplace English.  For Basic English we are asking the employees to spend time at home doing online programs to get most of the basic English they need.  For Workplace English, the departments will choose phrases and vocabulary to practice daily that they need and use to interact with each other and with Salt Lake.  We will coach the coaches in vocabulary, interactive activities to do with the staff and ways to practice English.  We would appreciate the prayers of all of our family and friends that we might have inspiration to do the work the Lord would want us to do.