An LDS Missionary Couple in Peru

Return to Peru: Brief Humanitarian Trip

2009-12-30T08:34:00.006-07:00

We had the opportunity to return to Peru with Beverly's sister and her husband during the first two weeks of December 2009. It was a wonderful opportunity to gain closure after our abrupt departure from our mission at the end of August.

This is a picture of the Tarma valley. It shows the dirt roads we took up the mountain to the Yanamarca ruins:

The Palcamayo valley as viewed 3000 feet above on the cliffs of Yanamarca:

Beverly and Scott pose on the cliff by 1000-year-old, pre-Inca ruins of Yanamarca:

We had the great blessing of seeing many of our dearest Peruvian friends. Our closest friends were the Durmand family shown here--Karola, Alex, Durman, and Cami:

Other dear friends bid us farewell at our Tarma hotel--Mayra Quinto, José Quinto, Sharon (granddaughter of José), Beverly, Martha (wife of José), Scott, Caroli Leyva, Sister Leyva (no relation to our former mission president), Sister Chuco, and Ángel Chuco:

After visiting our former missionary area of Tarma, we traveled to Tarapoto, in the high Peruvian jungle on the eastern slopes of the Andes. There we worked with the Rotary International Club of Tarapoto to inspect and initiate a water-conservation and reforestation project:

From Tarapoto, we flew to Iquitos in the low Peruvian jungle of the Amazon basin. This is a hut on the banks of the mighty Amazon River:

We stayed in a rustic lodge in the jungle:

We inspected three fish-farm projects sponsored by Rotary International and the Hope Alliance of Salt Lake City. This fish farm was located just outside the village of Yanayaco in the dense jungle:

Two other Hope Alliance fish farms were located near the jungle village of Las Palmas. This is a member of the village:

Four Las Palmas boys, ages 10-13, walked with Scott into the jungle to inspect the fish farms :

Hope Alliance also sponsors micro-credit loans in Iquitos. This woman received a loan to begin her sewing shop, where she sews shirts, dresses, and sports clothing:

Boathouses on a river that passes through Iquitos:

A houseboat in Belén, a suburb of Iquitos:

Houses on stilts along the river in Belén:

We loved our return to the Peru Lima East Mission and our visit to a new part of Peru, the jungle cities of Tarapoto and Iquitos. It was a magnificent trip.

Update: 8 Natural Regions of Peru

2009-12-29T13:47:00.006-07:00

Peru has eight natural (or geographical) regions, and all eight regions are represented in the Peru Lima East Mission. Below you can see Scott's photos of each region, the first six photos were taken during our mission and the last two during a December 2009 return visit to Peru.

Chala region is the coastal area along the Pacific Ocean. It is subtropical dry and tropical savana. Lima (where we lived for 4 months) is in the Chala region:

Yungas region has an altitude of 1,600 to 5,000 feet above sea level. It includes the forest along the eastern slopes of the Andes mountains, with an extremely diverse climate, flora, and fauna. We traveled through this region during our trips from Lima to Tarma:

Quechua region, altitude 7,500 to 11,500 feet, includes big valleys divided by rivers. The second largest city in our mission, Huancayo, is in this region. Cusco and Machu Picchu (not in our mission) are also in this reagion. We lived in Tarma, which is also part of this region:

Suni region, 11,500 to 13,500 feet, is dry and cold. Cities in our mission in this region and that we have visited, include La Oroya (where we went most Saturdays while living in Tarma), Huancavelica, San Pedro de Cajas, and others. This picture shows the Suni region near the town of San Pedro de Cajas:

Puna region, 10,500 feet to 14,800 feet, includes the altiplanos or pampas (vast high plains), where puna grass grows. The two cities in our mission in the Puna region are Cerro de Pasco and Junín (where we went most Saturdays). This picture shows the Puna region, with wild vicuña, between San Pedro de Cajas and Junín.

Junca region includes the jagged, snow-covered mountains above 13,500 feet. This picture was taken near Ticlio, the mountain pass (at 15,800 feet) that we traveled through in going from Lima to Tarma:

Rupa region, 1,600 to 2,300 feet, is the high jungle areas on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains. The city of La Merced in our mission (and where we attended a Multi-zone Conference) is located in the Rupa region. This picture was taken after our mission when we visited Tarapoto:

Omagua region is the low (below 1300 feet) jungle. The town of Satipo in our mission is located in the Omagua region. We visited Iquitos, on the Amazon River, after our mission, and Scott took this picture when we visited the Amazon jungle.

The Peru Lima East Mission is an extremely geographically diverse mission, with probably the biggest elevation changes of any mission in the world.

Scenes of the Peru Lima East Mission

2009-10-23T12:13:00.007-06:00

The following pictures, taken by Elder Scott Zimmerman, provide a brief pictorial overview of the Peru Lima East Mission. To see an enlarged view of any pictures, just click it; and then click the Back arrow button on your browser to return to the blog.

The Peru Lima East Mission includes not only the mission office but also the South American Northwest Area Offices:

The Lima Missionary Training Center (Lima MTC) [also called the "Centro de Capacitación Misional" or CCM] is also located within the boundries of our mission:

Near the Lima MTC and within our mission is the Lima Temple:

Lima has large shopping malls and department stores, but it also has open-air markets:

The Pacific Ocean forms the western border of Peru, although the beach is not in our mission:

A view of the Pacific at sundown:

The mission also includes the High Central Peruvian Andes. This picture shows the terraced farmlands on the south side of the city of Tarma, shown down at the bottom of the valley:

Two women load milk to take to the local market in Tarma:

The dirt road that winds its way up the mountain between Palcamayo and San Pedro de Cajas:

An LDS member of the San Pedro de Cajas (13,300 feet above sea level) branch:

An LDS member of the Junín branch (13,600 feet):

A wild vicuña, relative to the domesticated llama and alpaca:

An open-air market in Izcuchaca, Peru, between Huancayo and Huancavelica:

Farmlands built on the edge of cliffs in the High Central Andes near Huancavelica:

A common site throughout Peru: Catholic chapels. This one is located in Huancavelica.

A Quechua-speaking member of the Huancavelica branch:

High mountains and meadow (13,500 feet) with a shepherd and his dog:

Lake Junín, the second largest lake in Peru (Lake Titicaca is bigger), located at 13,500 above sea level, in the cold, wind-swept Pampas (altiplano) of Junín:

An 18,000-foot peak near Ticlio pass:

To see more of Scott's pictures of Peru and the Peru Lima East Mission, click here.

Peru Lima East Mission (Misión Perú Lima Este)

2009-10-23T11:39:00.005-06:00

The Peru Lima East Mission (Misión Perú Lima Este), from which we recently returned home, covers the east side of the city of Lima (on the coast) and also the High Central Andes of Peru.

The mission is one of seven missions (as of October 2009) in Peru, as shown in this map:

The Peru Lima East Mission, the Peru Lima North Mission, the Peru Lima South Mission, and the Peru Lima Central Mission, each cover a section of Lima as well as several regions (state-like politcal areas), as indicated in the above map.

The Peru Lima East Mission includes the following regions: Lima, Huánuco (with the city of Huánuco as its capital), Pasco (with Cerro de Pasco as its capital), Junín (with Huancayo as its capital and includes Tarma where we lived for seven months), and Huancavelica (with the city of Huancavelica as its capital).

To travel through the Peru Lima East Mission involves more elevation changes that any other mission in the Church. A typical tour of the mission starts in Lima (sea level, where there are 10 LDS stakes), goes up from there over Ticlio pass at 15,807 feet above sea level, drops down to La Oroya (12,200 feet; 2 LDS branches), passed through the town of Junín (13,600 feet; an LDS branch), climbs up to Cerro de Pasco (14,200 feet, the highest stake in the Church), drops down to Huánuco (6,200 feet; two stakes), returns past Cerro de Pasco, drops down to Tarma (10,050 feet; four LDS branches), drops farther down to La Merced (2,600 feet; an LDS stake), returns up to Tarma, goes over a pass of 13,600 feet, drops down to Huancayo (10,600 feet; two LDS stakes), travels on to Huancavelica (12,100 feet; an LDS branch), and returns over the Ticlio pass and back down to Lima.

For more information about this fabulously diverse mission, read more of this blog.

Death of Our Daughter; End of our Mission

2009-09-09T11:48:00.003-06:00

It is with heavy hearts that we inform you of the passing of our daughter Sheri Lynne Zimmerman Klein (age 33), on Sunday, August 30, 2009, due to complications (eclampsia) from childbirth. Her newborn (second) daughter Ava Lily Klein was taken by C-section and is healthy and strong. Sheri's first daughter Abbey, age 3, and husband Eric are doing as well as could be expected.

We were released from our mission by the mission and Area presidents. We left Tarma on Tuesday, September 1, and flew out of Lima that night, arriving at our home in Orem on Wednesday. On Thursday, we attended a memorial service for Sheri in Lolo, Montana, where she was living at the time of her passing. We held a viewing on Friday in Orem and her funeral and burial on Saturday.

Picture of Abbey, Sheri, and Eric, taken July 2008:

Thanks to all of you who followed our blog during our 11 months as missionaries. We will of course miss our daughter but we will also miss the wonderful people of our mission and the many friends we left behind in the High Central Andes of Peru.

What Tourists See in Peru

2009-09-07T15:05:00.010-06:00

Our mission president and the Area presidency gave us permission to travel around Peru with Scott's sister and her husband. We saw many amazing places and people. Thousands of tourists visit Peru every year. If you were to visit Peru, what might you see?

You might visit the Cathedral in the Plaza de Armas (central square) of Lima:

... where you would see statues of Mary with her robe in the shape of a mountain--a ploy the Spaniards used to convince the Inca people to worship Mary as they did the mountain Gods:

You might visit the San Francisco chapel, with its catacombs in the basement:

Not far south of Lima is the archaeological site of Pachacamac:

You might visit the museums in Lima filled with wonderful examples of pre-Inca and Inca pottery:

Or you might travel 3-4 hours south of Lima to see the Ballestas Islands and the National Preserve at Paracas with wildlife of many types:

On one of the Ballestas Islands you could see the huge "candelabra" drawing. To us it looked like a "Tree of Life":

You could take a plane ride over the mysterious Nazca Lines, enormous drawings in the desert rock. The lines can only be seen from the air:

Most tourists travel to Cusco. Here two young women pose in the ceremonial costume of Cusco:

On a hill overlooking Cusco, you could visit the mammoth archaeological site of Saksawaman:

You could see women wearing their traditional hats and sweaters selling produce and souvenirs:

An amazing Inca site you could visit is found at Pisaq:

Here, a saleswoman and her daughter pose above the Pisaq terraces:

On the way to Machu Picchu, you could stop at the ancient Inca site of Ollantaytambo:

And of course, most tourists visit this Wonder of the World, Machu Picchu:

Machu Picchu is on the edge of the Peruvian jungle on a high mountain top:

On the train back from Machu Picchu to Ollantaytambo, you might be entertained by Peruvians in native masks and costumes:

You would probably want to visit Lake Titicaca. We stopped at various tourist sites, including this one, where Peruvian women sold their wares:

Some interesting Inca ruins are found at Raqchi:

You might get a close-up view of llama, alpaca (shown here), and vicuña:

Once in Puno, on the shore of Lake Titicaca, it's a short boat ride out to the floating islands of Los Uros. The islands, homes, and boats are made of reeds, which grow in the shallow western bay of the lake:

The Uros travel from their islands and to the mainland in small rowboats:

... but they also travel in reed boats:

Not far from Puno are the ruins at Sillustani, a pre-Inca and Inca burial site, with stones of granite (light colored) and basalt (dark colored):

A woman who lives near Sillustani posed for Scott:

Such are the amazing scenes and peoples you might see if you were a tourist visiting Peru.

Our Fifth Huancavelica Trip

2009-08-17T16:38:00.008-06:00

We left for Huancavelica on Saturday morning, August 15, and as usual, drove up to the altiplano between Tarma and Huancayo. This is the scene we saw at 13, 600 feet:

As we passed through Huancayo, we saw hundreds of people in all styles of dress, from modern to traditional. This woman, in traditional attire, was walking along one of the main streets of Huancayo:

As we drove into the high mountains south of Huancayo, we could see that the farmlands had dried out:

This is the same view from last April, at the end of the rainy season:

Another example of a dried-out hill with farmlands:

... and the same view from last April:

When we arrived in Izcuchaca, we stopped to take close-up pictures of the picturesque Spanish colonial bridge:

On the city side of the tower, we could see the steps that Spanish solders climbed to watch for enemies from the bridge:

On our way back from Huancavelica, in the mountain town of Ccaccasiri (a Quechua word prounced Hah-hah-see-ree; the double-C has a hard H sound), we passed through the middle of the Sunday market:

People gathered at the market to buy many different kinds of things: yarn, clothing, detergent, soda, dishes, soup kettles, etc.:

We spent the night in Huancayo. At dusk, we had a bird's eye view of the cathedral dome from the hotel roof near our room:

We noticed the contrast between the ancient cathedral and the modern high-rise office building in the background:

At various locations on our route, we saw adobes (bricks) stacked and waiting to be used for making houses and other small buildings:

Because it's the end of harvest time, we saw many farmhouses where the straw had been stacked to feed the animals until next year's crop.

... and fields where the straw was still waiting to be harvested:

We are now at the beginning of the "burn season," when sheep and cattle herders burn the dried hills so that more nutritious pasture grasses will grow next season:

Even though we've been to Huancavelica five times now, we always see new things as the seasons change. We never tire of the trip.

The Huancavelica Branch

2009-08-17T16:03:00.007-06:00

This past weekend, we attended the Huancavelica Branch Conference where Scott met with the branch and district presidencies, spoke in sacrament meeting, and gave a 75-minute training session to leaders and other members. It was a special time to be with the many friends that we have made during our four previous trips to Huancavelica.

Here are some of the wonderful members who attended the conference.

The Medina family with Beverly and Scott (the two little children in front are not part of the family; they just wanted to get into the picture):

Beverly with some of the Primary children:

... and with some of the Young Women and other children:

Scott with the full-time missionaries (Elders Paredes and Huamán) and some young boys:

The wife of the branch president (President Huamaní) and their baby:

Beverly with three generations of the Ramírez family (daughter, granddaughter, and wife of the district president):

President Ramírez, the district president, as he leaves the conference to go home:

And a young man who is sending in his missionary papers:

These Huancavelican members hold a special place in our hearts.

More Missionaries and Members

2009-08-12T21:22:00.005-06:00

On Monday (P-Day), we invited the young missionaries to our home for lunch (pizza). We recently found ready-made pizza crust, mozarella cheese, and mushrooms in a nearby store, and we found English ham and black olives in Huacayo (2 hours away):

Scott also made garlic bread with rolls from our nearby bakery, garlic salt, Parmesan cheese, and parsley flakes:

The missionaries--even the three Latinos--loved the food. Elder Winn (on the left) especially liked eating "American" food; Elder Chochobot (on the right) from Tacna, Peru, also devoured the pizza and garlic bread:

Our two Guatemalan missionaries, Elders Castro and Per, ate their share:

On Tuesday, Scott took a "colectivo" (a taxi with a set route), traveled an hour and 15 minutes to the town of San Pedro de Cajas (a town with no bank, no 'landline' telephones, and no Internet service---but with a nice LDS chapel) to give temple recommend interviews. Four members came: the branch president and these three wonderful women. They were so loving and appreciative. Two of them requested a blessing from Scott, which he was happy to give:

We love the missionaries and members in the Tarma district.

Hike to Yanamarca

2009-08-08T20:34:00.011-06:00

The priesthood leaders of the Vista Alegre branch of the Tarma District invited Scott to go on a hike with them to the ruins of Yanamarca and, while at this "Lamanite" location, give a talk on the promises to and blessings of the Lamanites.

The hike began at an altitude of 9550 feet above sea level in the small pueblo of Tupín, a 10-minute taxi ride from Tarma. The group included (front left to right) Jaime Calderón (1st counselor in the district presidency), Miguel Espinoza (district counselor), (back left to right) Jesús Zabala (district counselor), and Carlos Florián (who attends Scott's Institute classes):

On the way, they met a woman with her burro:

... a boy with his lamb:

... a man threshing his barley by hand:

... and a couple separating beans from chaff:

They saw lots of cattle, sheep and burros, even at altitudes above 12,000 feet:

They passed three ancient wells, which were fed by a spring coming out of the mountain (Jaime Calderón is in the background):

The Peruvian mountains are full of prickly plants:

... and beautiful prickly flowers:

At 13,500 feet above sea level, after hiking over four hours with a vertical elevation change of 3550 feet, they arrived at the top of the mountain Pumampi where the pre-Inca ruins of Yanamarca (Quecha for "black town") are located. The ancient town contains the ruins of two dozen homes and another two dozen buildings that appear to be harvest storage units:

Here's the back of one of the two-story houses:

The doors to the houses barely fit Scott's body:

Some of the houses have only one or two walls left:

This was the most attractive, well built home in the complex:

Here Scott poses (with Miguel Espinoza) in front of one of the homes. Many of them have a stone roof, and over the years dirt has blown onto the roof, and now grass is growing there:

The village is located on the very edge of a 3,500-foot cliff:

Down in the valley, below the cliff, is the agricultural valley of Palcamayo. They hiked down from Yanamarca to the road you see 3500 feet below:

You can see how close this structure was built to the cliff:

This building appears to be a storage unit for the harvest:

This wall was once part of a three-home complex (the residents must have been small people, because Scott's head reaches the second floor):

Scott and his friends hiked up the not-so-steep south side of Pumampi, but they hiked down the dizzying cliff side:

While in Yanamarca, the group held a devotional and Scott was the "featured speaker." He quoted scriptural promises of the descendents of the Lamanites and said, "These prophecies are being fulfilled even as we speak, here in Tarma." He pointed out that (a) we all have unfaithful, as well as faithful, ancestors; (b) the Lamanites were more righteous than the Nephites when the Savior came to the Americas; and (c) some day we might be able to read the complete record of the Lamanites, from their point of view. The descendents of the Lamanites should cherish their heritage, as part of the House of Israel and as the covenant people of the Lord.

Lima MTC (CCM de Lima) Peru

2009-08-06T15:01:00.008-06:00

The Lima MTC (Missionary Training Center), known here as the CCM (Centro de Capacitación Misional) is located in the La Molina area of Lima, about a 30-minute walk from the Lima Temple. We visited the CCM again this week. Here's the sign out front, on Avenida Melgarejo:

The CCM campus is large and beautiful:

Missionaries walk through the main quad to get from their dormitories and classrooms to the cafeteria:

President Joseph Groberg (shown on the right) chats with two missionaries:

Sister Groberg, President Groberg, Sister Beverly Zimmerman, and Elder Scott Zimmerman enjoy breakfast in the mission president's apartment:

Some of the missionaries enjoy breakfast in the cafeteria:

Scott poses with Elders Wigington and Cabrera. Elder Wigington is in the Peru Lima East mission:

Beverly poses with some of the sister missionaries during breakfast:

The Lima MTC is a place of learning, service, and spiritual growth for the missionaries who go there for three weeks (if they already speak Spanish) or for six weeks (they have usually attended an MTC in the US and come here to learn Spanish). It's such a joy to feel the spirit of the missionaries in the Lima MTC.

Beverly's Presentation: Traditions of LDS Women

2009-08-06T07:19:00.005-06:00

When we were in Huancayo at the Mantaro Stake Center last month, we were surprised when the stake president asked Beverly to be the main speaker at a fireside on Traditions of LDS Women. After all, Beverly had never given a talk in Spanish of over 12 minutes, and the stake president wanted her to speak 30-40 minutes!

Sunday, August 2, we returned to Huancayo for the Relief Society Fireside, where Beverly read a 30-minute talk. She used PowerPoint slides as part of her presentation. This is the title slide:

She spoke of three traditions of LDS women: Virtue, scripture study, and temple covenants. Here's the slide that introduced the tradition of virtue. It includes a picture collage of some of the wonderful LDS women we know in our mission:

The event was well attended (about 150 women). Scott took this picture of some of the congregation:

After the fireside, Beverly shook hands with members of the stake choir:

Dozens of women came up to the stand afterwards to thank Beverly for her talk and to have their picture taken with her:

Congratulations, Beverly, on giving your keynote address in Spanish!

People and Animals of the High Central Andes

2009-08-01T16:54:00.013-06:00

During our recent trip from Tarma to Huancavelica (where we did a financial audit), we had a cultural treat. We traveled on Peru's Independence Day, so the highway had its usual herds (watched by herdsmen, herdswomen, and herdschildren) and also parades, dancers, and musicians.

Near a small town at about 12,000 feet above sea level, we stopped for these revelers:

In the foreground you can see some of the dancers, and in the background you can see the musicians. In the upper right, you can see the man in charge, passing out beer. He also directed traffic so that Scott could take pictures!

In this picture, you can see the percussion women and the "trumpeters":

The "trumpets" were long, home-made wooden instruments. The women in the background are standing right on the edge of a 1000-foot cliff (this is normal behavior for people in this mountain region).

A close-up of the "trumpeters":

A close-up of the percussion women in their native hats and traditional costumes:

We loved seeing the baby lambs ...

... and piglets:

We also saw herds of llamas mixed in with the sheep:

Some llamas had ribbons in their ears to identify their owners:

We also saw herds of alpaca (they have finer wool and are shorter and chubbier than llamas):

For comparison, we include this picture of vicuña, which run wild, have ultra-fine wool, and have long, slender necks (however, we didn't see any vicuña on this trip):

This woman swings her whip to keep her herd of sheep and llama moving along the highway:

This little girl swings a whip to let her sheep know who is boss:

Sometimes cattle have colorful ribbons in their ears for identification:

Such amazing sites on the highway between Tarma and Huancayo!

Ditty on our 4th Trip to Huancavelica

2009-07-30T22:16:00.006-06:00

OUR TRIP TO HUANVELICA (to be read in the sing-song manner of a Dr. Seus book)

Dirt road, narrow road; sunken, bumpy, dumpy road:

Pothole, train track, rain and shaky bridge:

Large rocks, speed bump, landslide from the ridge:

Donkeys, llamas, broken railings, chickens, trucks and dogs:

Oxen, cattle, moto-taxi, tractor, sheep and hogs:

Stalled cars, bicycles, cement, and piled up bricks;
Water streams, tricycles, smoke, and broken sticks:

Women walking, herding, selling, waiting for the bus:

Children hiking, biking, playing, not aware of us:

Men were chatting, planting, painting, carrying their load;
Stopping traffic for some dancers right out on the road!

Markets, parties, bands, parades, policeman wanting bribe:

This is only part—but all our poem will describe.

Summer in the High Andes

2009-07-30T16:21:00.005-06:00

It's summer in the "sierra" (mountains), which is the dry-but-cold season. (It's winter on the coast of Peru, where it's cooler and wetter.) The hills and mountains in this agricultural area are no longer lush green, a sign of the end of the harvest season. These pictures were taken earlier this week during our trip from Tarma to Huancavelica:

Beverly took this picture of Scott among the interesting rock formations on a mountain near Huancavelica:

She also took this picture of Scott posing in front of a Spanish Colonial bridge that spans the Mantaro River in the town of Izcuchaca:

The Mantaro River also cuts through this mountain valley:

At 12,000 feet above sea level, this woman herds her sheep and llamas:

Because we traveled during the celebration of the Peruvian Independence, many homes flew the Peruvian flag. This home also has an ornament, which the people place on their roofs to bless to the home and protect it from evil spirits:

This village in the High Andes is interesting because of the unusual colorfully painted homes:

Many farmers own one or more burros. These two burros are taking a break from their day of labor in the high farmland of the Central Andes:

We love to serve in this amazing country of Peru.

A Day of Visitors

2009-07-26T13:09:00.006-06:00

Sometimes we go weeks without visitors, but Saturday (July 25) we enjoyed lots of visitors.

First, two wonderful missionary couples came from Lima to stay with us for a few days: (left to right) Elder Jack and Sister Kay Beals (Area auditors), and Sister Veronica and Elder Glenn Lamb (Perpetual Education Fund).

Then another group came for breakfast. Two sisters, Darcy (who lives in Phoenix) and Mandy (who lives in Cedar City) Olsen, came to Peru to visit friends in Lima. They found our blog, contacted us, and asked about traveling in the High Central Andes. We had them contact Zarahemla López, a travel agent. Zara acccompanied them to Tarma, along with her brother-in-law Carlos Shiraishi (he works with FamilySearch in the Area Office) who drove the van. They are all members of the church (left to right), Zarahemla, Mandy, Darcy, and Carlos:

We fed ten people for breakfast: a feast of French toast, English ham, scrambled eggs, and juice.

In the evening, we had a surprise visit from the Durman Durand family (our dear friends who have moved from Tarma to La Merced). Here they are enjoying a dinner of American tacos and Mexican chips and dip (left to right, Cami, Durman, Karola, and Eduardo):

It was a great day of visiting with our friends (both new and old)!

Pioneer Day Celebration in Peru

2009-07-23T13:50:00.007-06:00

The church members here in Tarma usually don't celebrate Pioneer Day. In fact, they know very little about the pioneer trek of the early Mormon Saints. (Our branch president actually asked us from where and to where the Mormons traveled.)

So Beverly volunteered to host a Pioneer Day celebration at our regular Missionary Night. We invited our branch and many other members. Beverly spent three afternoons preparing the food, a typical (Utah) Mormon menu of "funeral potatoes," emerald salad, barbecued hot dogs, and chocolate chip cookies.

The logistics of the entire process was a challenge: (1) finding ingredients for the recipes, (2) estimating how many would attend, (3) determining how to prepare, refrigerate, and transport all the food, (4) planning the games, video, and program, and (5) managing the entire activity. Somehow, everything worked out.

We began the night by showing the Westward trek section of "Legacy":

Scott then explained about the Mormon pioneers and why their history is important to us. He told about his pioneer ancestor, George Gotlieb Zimmerman, and he also told the touching story of Beverly's ancestor Elizabeth Fox (who was lost on the plains). He explained the significance of "Come, Come Ye Saints" ("Oh, Está Todo Bien"), which we sang as a congregation.

Our traditional Missionary Night activity involves games, so we played two games that the members had never played, "Hot and Cold," and "Drop the Hankerchief":

We finished the evening with the food. Here's a tray of potatoes and 250 (small) chocolate chip cookies:

Some of the members helped Beverly dish up the plates. We served over 75 people:

Each plate had a sample of each type of food.

Everyone loved the food and several asked for the recipes:

Unfortunately, many of the ingredients aren't available in Tarma (we bought them in Lima); others aren't available in Peru (we had to use substitutes).

We enjoyed our Pioneer Day celebration. We had the opportunity to teach the Church members here about their Church heritage, and that they are pioneers too---as they have joined the church, met tremendous obstacles, and forged new traditions for their families.

Friday Baptism and Saturday Trip to Junín

2009-07-18T20:41:00.008-06:00

We went to the Church on Friday night for our music and Book of Mormon classes, and found out that the missionaries were holding a baptism. So we cancelled our classes and attended the baptism. Four children (all of whom are Beverly's piano students) were being baptized--three children (Isaac, Brenda, and Sharon) of a woman (Claudia, in the white cap) who was baptized last month, and one child (Diana) of an investigator (Rosanna, the other woman in the picture). The two missionaries are Elder Castro (on the left) and Elder Per (on the right), both from Guatemala:

The daughter of the investigator got frightened because of the cold water and backed out of the baptism. Scott interviewed the mother the next night, and she and her daughter will both be baptized on Sunday in La Oroya where the font is heated. [Note added later: They were indeed baptized in La Oroya. In her testimoney after the baptism, Roxanna thanked "Presidente Zimmerman" for explaining the miracle of forgiveness and giving her the courage to be baptized.]

Today, we went to Junín. While Scott was waiting outside the church for his class to start (trying to keep warm in the sun), he met a woman and her daughter. The woman was walking by the church, saw Scott, and became curious as to why some large, strange-looking gringo was in her town. So she stopped to ask him some questions:

Scott was equally curious about her because she was walking along knitting a "panti," one-piece leggings that the mountain women wear to keep their legs warm. (Even Beverly wears them in cold Junín at 13,600 feet.) She was knitting at a high speed without even looking down. She demonstrated her technique to Scott while her shy daughter clung tightly to her side:

In the meantime, Beverly had already started her piano class. Here she demonstrates how to play a hymn to four boys of the Junin branch:

She had about 12 kids in her class. Four of the kids were under the age of 5, and came because their mothers wanted a babysitter! Beverly finally "dismissed" them from the class because they were keeping the other kids from learning.

Have we mentioned that life here in Peru is always an adventure?

Four-day Trip to Lima

2009-07-15T21:10:00.013-06:00

We received a call last Friday morning (July 10) from our mission president asking us to speak at a fireside at the Tilda ward in the Vitarte Stake in east Lima on Sunday. We were happy to do it. We left early Sunday morning, arrived in Lima in time to eat lunch with the missionaries and leaders at the Lima CCM (MTC), rest for awhile, and head to Vitarte.

The trip from Tarma to Lima is always an exciting one, especially as we go up over the Ticlio pass, at 15807 feet above sea level. This is the first time we have made the trip during the dry season, and things looked different. Compare the following picture to the one of the same lake and mountain located in the right-hand column of our blog:

The 17,000+-foot peaks are awesome :

We were impressed by the variety of shapes and colors of the mountains. This one has a Peruvian flag on top, but you have to look carefully. Also, the water in the foreground has a layer of ice:

These craggy peaks are also near Ticlio. There is a lot of mining in this area:

We were amazed at the deep, rich blue of these high mountain lakes:

We loved speaking at the young single adult conference in Vitarte. Beverly spoke on virtue and Scott spoke on preparing for the temple. We were happy to see our former Tarma missionary, Elder Santos (and his new companion Elder Germaine) who is now serving in Vitarte:

President and Sister Groberg of the Lima CCM (MTC) were kind enough to invite us to stay in the CCM guest room. The CCM campus is beautiful:

This is the entrance to the CCM as viewed from our bedroom window:

Flags represent the various countries (Columbia, Bolivia, US, Peru, Ecuador, Guatemala, Chile, Argentina) of the missionaries at the CCM:

We loved meeting many missionaries, including these three--Elders Cruz, Webb, and Obanda, who are coming to our mission, the Peru Lima East:

We attended a devotional with all the CCM missionaries and were asked to bear our testimonies (in Spanish) to these great young men and women.

We loved the many beautiful flowers located on the CCM campus:

On Tuesday, we attended the Zone Leaders Council with all the zone leaders of our mission. Beverly and I gave short messages at that meeting as well. After the council, we attended the temple with the missionaries. Scott took this picture before entering the temple:

After the visit to the temple, we had a barbeque with the zone leaders, President and Sister Leyva (and their son), and Elder and Sister Goede (office missionaries) who grilled great hot dogs and hamburgers:

We got to see some of our former Tarma elders, two of whom are new zone leaders: Elder Keel and Elder Bates. We also got to see Elder Oliveros (eating a potato chip, center of picture) and Elder Ebert (lower left-hand corner) who worked in the Mission Office when we lived in Lima:

We went to the new mission office get help from the Mission President's efficient secretary, Elder Myler:

It was a great four days of travel and activities.

Photos to Celebrate Our Half-Way Point

2009-07-08T13:23:00.008-06:00

On July 13, 2009, we will complete nine months as missionaries, the halfway point of our 18-month mission. To celebrate, we offer the following recently taken photographs, which have not appeared previously on this blog. To get an expanded view of each picture, click it.

Flower saleswoman in San Pedro de Cajas, Peru:

Valley above La Oroya, Peru (at 12,200 feet above sea level). The green pipe carries water for the city of La Oroya:

Grocery store with firewood in front, a rack of bags of chips near the entrance, and green bags of coca leaves (source of cocaine) in the doorway; taken in a small town south of Huancayo:

Sharon, granddaughter of our driver José Quinto, playing the keyboard in Beverly's piano class:

Yellow flowers on the side of a hill near the Gruta de Huagapo (cave) in the Palcamayo valley north of Tarma:

Dancers in the streets of San Pedro de Cajas:

Terraced farmlands above Tarma:

Three women of San Pedro de Cajas:

Cactus growning on a fence wall in San Pedro de Cajas:

School kids holding a parade in the Plaza de Armas of Huancavelica, Peru (sometimes we think kids in Peru march in parades more than they spend time in the classroom):

Vicuñas on the Pampa (altiplano) of Junín:

The town of Cochas Bajo, west of Tarma:

Woman sitting in the Plaza de Armas of Palcamayo, Peru:

Mountains south of Tarma, Peru (these peaks are about 17,000 feet high):

Missionaries of Junín and Huancayo

2009-07-06T10:34:00.004-06:00

Saturday, 4th of July, we "celebrated" by doing what we always do: travel to La Oroya and Junín for our piano and scripture classes. In Junín, Elder Bird wanted a picture with us because he is heading home to Tremonton, Utah, tomorrow.

Here we are with Elder Chochabot (left) and Elder Bird (far right) in Junín:

On Sunday, Scott gave a 30-minute PowerPoint presentation at the General Priesthood Conference of the Mantaro (Huancayo, Peru) Stake. His presentation was on missionary work in the priesthood quorums. The 18 elders in the Mantaro Stake sang a medley of priesthood/missionary hymns. Afterwards, Scott had his picture taken with a group of them. The zone leaders, Elders Barrios and Ebert are the first two missionaries on the left, front row:

While in Huancayo, we were reunited with Elders Olveros (left) and Ebert, who were office elders six months ago when we worked in the mission office in Lima:

We loved meeting with these dedicated, spiritual missionaries.

The Changing Seasons in the Peruvian Mountains

2009-07-06T10:16:00.004-06:00

During the rainy season in the mountains, which the Peruvians here call winter (go figure), which lasts from November to April, the hills are green, as shown in this picture taken April 4, 2009:

Yesterday, July 5, 2009, Scott took the same picture again, now with the fields all white, ready to harvest:

If you look carefully at this picture taken yesterday, you can see workers out in the field, harvesting and plowing:

You can see why we were surprised when we moved here in February to see the hills totally green, when our travel book described Tarma as a town nestled among brown hills. Well, now they're brown--during the cold, rainless "summer" season.

A Day of Mormon and Peruvian Culture

2009-06-29T20:45:00.010-06:00

Today was a national holiday, San Pedro and San Pablo (St. Peter and St. Paul), and all the members of our district (all ten branches) were invited to the San Pedro de Cajas branch, located about 75 minutes north of Tarma. We went with our investigator family, the Quintos. On the way to San Pedro, we asked the Quintos if they had talked to their adult children and had set a baptismal date. They told us that they have talked to their children and have set the date for the last week of July when their entire family can be here in Tarma to witness the baptisms. They want Scott to baptize them. Here are Martha (on the right) and José, and their granddaughter Sharon (their daughter Mayra, who also will be baptized, had her university classes and couldn't join us):

They are such a wonderful family. They attend church every Sunday and attend most of the other branch and district activities. They are faithfully reading the Book of Mormon.

We arrived in San Pedro de Cajas (elevation about 12,000 feet) at about 11:00 am:

On our way there, we saw vicuña, as usual. Scott, of course, had to stop and take more pictures of them (for reasons unknown):

To start the day's activity, all the members gathered in a big circle for opening exercises:

The first activity was a volleyball tournament, played on the volleyball/basketball/soccer court adjacent to the LDS chapel. All the chapels here in Peru have this type of sports court:

After that, there was a soccer tournament:

We enjoyed being with our wonderful LDS friends. Here Eliza and Beverly pose for a picture. Eliza (from Colombia but now living in Tarma) is one of Beverly's faithful piano students and a wonderful friend of ours. Her husband is counselor in the district presidency:

Beverly played games with some of the little kids, who got bored of watching the older kids play sports:

Later, we went into town to enjoy the huge festivities in the Plaza de Armas in San Pedro. An elderly woman, in traditional Peruvian dress, came to town to join in the fun:

Scott also got a picture of these three woman in their daily, traditional dress:

On special occasions like today, some women dress in beautiful costumes that have the general appearance of the traditional dress but are much more ornate:

These richly decorated and colorful costumes were worn by dancers, who paraded through the streets of San Pedro de Cajas:

Their capes are ornate, colorful, and beautiful:

People came from all over Peru to participate in the festivities. Here two young dancers from La Merced (in the Peruvian jungle) pose for a picture. We had to leave before they danced:

These dancers are from the town of Junín, not far from San Pedro de Cajas:

The Plaza de Armas (town square) was filled with spectators:

Back at the church, these three women served lunch, Ají de Gallina (chicken with hot sauce) with rice and potatoes:

We all enjoyed the meal, especially these three children of Claudia, a recently baptized woman:

While in the town center, Beverly bought a ceramic figurine from this woman:

This is one of two figurines that Beverly bought to add to her collection of "mother and child" dolls and scultures. It shows a Peruvian woman carrying a baby wrapped in a blanket on her back, with two alpaca at her side:

We had an absolutely marvelous day!

Missionary Games and Other Weekend Activites

2009-06-27T20:06:00.006-06:00

Friday night (June 26), the three Tarma missionaries, along with the two zone leaders (who live in La Oroya, an hour away), held a fun multi-branch activities on missionary work. Members played games and "earned" money, with which they could "buy" prizes. Here's the money they used (which Scott designed and printed for the missionaries). The pictures are of Elders Castro, Winn, and Bates, respectively. The design is similar to the Peruvian bills:

The members could also win "talents" by answering gospel questions or doing some other "spiritual" activity. This one-talent bill has a picture of the Lima Temple:

The zone leaders, Elders English and Lowry, show the phoney money:

Elder Bates explains the "prizes" (which turned out to be empty boxes) that the members could "buy" with the phoney money:

The members loved the game, even after they found out that the boxes were empty, a symbol of what happens when we win the "prize" of the gospel but we don't share it with others: our "prize" is hollow.

After the missionary activity, about eight young people surrounded Beverly and asked her to teach some English. From left to right: an unidentified girl, Mayra Quinto (our investigator, in the white jacket), Sharon (Mayra's niece, also our investigator), and Luz Karina Tinoco (a member and good friend of ours):

Saturday morning (June 27), Beverly and Scott made Mexican salsa, something we love but can't buy here in Tarma. This is the second time we've made it, but we like it so much, we did a huge batch this time, and then put it in empty Mexican salsa bottles that we brought from Lima:

Such was our Friday and Saturday this week in Tarma, Peru.

Baptismal Services and Other Weekend Activities

2009-06-22T18:09:00.004-06:00

Saturday, June 20: We attended two baptismal services.

The first baptism was of a young mother, Claudia, shown here with Elders Bates and Castro and her four children: Isaac (age 11), Brenda (10), Sharon (8), and Matthew (3).

The second baptism was of Maritza, sister to three church members, only two of whom are shown here, with Elder Winn:

Sunday, June 21: We attended several meetings.

Scott spoke in sacrament meeting on Father's Day. He was asked to give a 10-minute talk just two minutes before the meeting started, but he always carries several talks in his briefcase, "just in case."
Scott had several interviews with branch presidents, gave two temple recommend interviews, set apart the new counselor in the district presidency, and gave a 30-minute training presentation to the branch presidencies in our district.
In the meantime, Beverly gave a piano lesson to two of her regular students who used to come on Tuesday/Thursday mornings, but who now work. She gives them a lesson each Sunday evening.

Monday, June 22: We had our regular Preparation Day

We invited the three Tarma elders to our home. (Elder Méndez has been transferred.) We ate ham, O'Briens (fried potatoes with onions and red peppers), and French toast. The young elders also prepared peach cobbler, which we ate with ice cream. Now that's a rare treat in Peru!

As usual, we had a full, wonderful weekend.

Noche Misional (Missionary Night)

2009-06-18T17:29:00.006-06:00

Every Wednesday evening, our branch (Rama Modelo) has a Noche Misional (Missionary Night). Members and nonmembers come together to have short spiritual messages, often to see a Church video, to receive encouragement regarding missionary work or joining the Church, to play games, and to have refreshments.

Last night was no exception. Here Elder Bates (San Antonio, Texas) and Elder Castro (Guatemala) explain the game: Habla Chancho (Speak Pig!).

Here you can see part of the group. Going clockwise from Beverly: Sharon (granddaughter of our driver José Quinto and one of Beverly's favorite piano students), Luz Karina (a member friend), Mayra Quinto (daughter of José and also a piano student of Beverly's), Iván Orihuela (a young member who we have befriended), José Quinto (our driver), Martha (José's wife), and Isaac, a young boy whose mother, Claudia (sitting to the right of Beverly) was baptized recently:

Here Sharon is getting ready to be blindfolded by Mayra as part of the game:

This shows Iván, who had to pay a penalty for "losing" the game. He had to put water around his mouth and then try to bite a piece of candy that was buried in a bowl of flour:

We like Noche Misional because our investigator family, the Quintos, seem to really enjoy it. They come every week. They have agreed to be baptized at the end of July, after they talk with their adult children who live in Lima. We pray that the conversation with their children goes well and they are baptized.

Quick Trip to San Pedro de Cajas

2009-06-16T18:50:00.007-06:00

Beverly and I went to San Pedro de Cajas last Sunday for their branch conference. When I got home, I discovered that I had left my triple combination there in the chapel. The sad part is that this is the second time I have left my scriptures in San Pedro.

So today I took a "colectivo" (car for hire) to San Pedro and back. The normal one-way price is US$1.70 per person for a ride of an hour and 15 minutes, but I paid two fares so that I wouldn't have to share the front passenger seat with someone else! On the way there, I took pictures to show how the agricultural valley between Tarma and San Pedro is drying out as the rainy season has come to an end. This picture shows that much of the valley is still green, but many fields have been harvested and plowed. The hills are starting to turn brown:

Here, workers are filling baskets with the last of the lettuce crop:

Here's a common site along this dirt road---sheep blocking the way:

The sheep in the above picture belong to this shepherdess and her sheep dog (why isn't the dog working to keep the sheep out of the road?):

I also captured a picture of this woman resting on the side of the road after a hard day's work in the fields:

Once in San Pedro, I went to the home of the branch president, Árgeles Rojas, to get my triple combination. He invited me into his workshop, where he spends his days weaving:

His two sons also work on the looms. Here is his son Wilson Rojas, counselor (to his dad) in the branch presidency, making the cloth for a book bag:

Wilson asked me to leave a blessing on their workshop. I was happy to do so. My heart goes out to the millions of Peruvians like the Rojas family who work long hours every day and still live in poverty. The Rojas family sacrifices much of their time in serving the Church.

Visit of MTC President and Sister Groberg

2009-06-10T11:01:00.007-06:00

Last Sunday, the Lima MTC president and his wife, President Joseph and Sister Jeanne Groberg gave a missionary fireside in Tarma. The youth of the district loved their message of encouragement and inspiration on preparing to serve a mission.

Right after the meeting, a Tarma member took this picture. It shows Scott with President and Sister Groberg while Beverly is playing the postlude music for the fireside:

The next afternoon (Monday), the Grobergs came back to Tarma (after giving a fireside in La Merced) to stay with us. We had a nice meal and great conversation. Elder Groberg was an Assistant to the President in the Andes Mission when Scott arrived in June 1964. We also knew the Grobergs in Provo when the four of us were BYU students. We had a wonderful time renewing our friendship and reminiscing about our missionary experiences.

On Tuesday morning, the Grobergs walked to the church with us. Our Tarma missionaries, Elders Bates and Castro, were there. Elder Bates' father was a missionary here in Peru 28 years ago under then mission president Joseph Groberg.

The Grobergs then went to Cerro de Pasco, where they held another fireside, and then they stayed with us again Tuesday night. This morning before they left for Lima, we had our picture taken with Neli, our landlady:

The Grobergs are charming, friendly and gracious. We enjoyed their visit.

The Great Missionaries of Tarma

2009-06-08T14:03:00.005-06:00

As always, we have a great group of missionaries here in Tarma.

This picture shows all six Tarma missionaries, at the baptism of Mariela, last Saturday (June 6). Left to right: Elder Castro from Guatemala, Elder Méndez from El Salvador, Beverly, Scott, Mariela, Elder Bates (from San Antonio, Texas), and Elder Winn (from West Valley, Utah, if we're not mistaken):

We had a fireside yesterday (Sunday, June 7) with President Joseph Groberg of the Lima Missionary Training Center. He asked who were planning to leave on missions during the next three years. Mariela (age 18) was one of the first to raise her hand! She also bore a wonderful testimony yesterday in Fast and Testimony meeting.

Today (Monday, June 8) we had the four elders over for pizza on their P-Day. We had tossed salad, pizza, carbonated beverages, and cake. They sang happy birthday to Beverly (a day after her actual birthday). Here are Elders Bates, Castro, Méndez, and Winn:

We love 'em!

Only in Peru: More Road Signs

2009-06-08T13:52:00.002-06:00

There are two animal crossing signs along the highway on our way to Junín, on the high altiplano.
The first is a Vicuña Crossing sign. Almost every trip to Junín, we actually see vicuña crossing the highway:

The second sign is a Skunk Crossing sign. We've never seen a skunk crossing the highway, but we have smelled the results of one of them trying to cross but not succeeding:

Peruvian Money: The Nuevo Sol

2009-06-07T18:36:00.004-06:00

Our granddaughter Jeniel requested an explanation of Peruvian money. Okay, here it is, Jeniel.

The currency used in Peru is the "nuevo sol" (which literally means the "new sun"). I think the currency is called a sol because the Incas were sun worshippers, and if you ever spend a warm day and a very cold night in the High Andes Mountains, you understand why they worshipped the sun.

During my first mission in Peru (1964-66), the currency was the sol, then several years later, it changed to the inti (which is Quechua for "sol" or "sun") [Thanks, Sister Richardson, for pointing this out], and finally, in the 1980s, it changed to the nuevo sol. In common conversation, however, the currency is just called a "sol" (rather than nuevo sol), and the plural is "soles" (pronounced SOUL-ess).

The only bills that I have seen during my eight months this time in Peru are those of 100, 50, 20, and 10 soles. This picture shows the 20- and 10-sol bills:

Each sol is divided into "céntimos," just as the American dollar is divided into cents.

The Peruvian coins are those of (from left to right above): 5 soles, 1 sol, and 50, 20, 10, and 1 céntimo.

In Peru, to indicate the amount of, for example, 5 soles and 20 céntimos, you would write S/. 5.20, similar to how we would write $5.20 in the US, to indicate five dollars and 20 cents.

One US dollar equals about three nuevo soles, but the actual value has varied between S/. 2.95 and S/. 3.10 per dollar during our time in Peru. When we buy something in soles, we always estimated the value in dollars by dividing by three. For example, last week I bought a desk lamp for S/. 17, which means that is was worth 17/3 = $5.67 in US money.

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Mi Compañera!

2009-06-07T07:43:00.004-06:00

A warm Happy Birthday to the best missionary companion I've ever had!

Here's a picture of the wonderful sister missionary taken just last month:

Here's a picture (taken this week) of her teaching piano lessons to her student Eliza in Tarma:

And here's a picture (taken yesterday) of her playing games with her music students of Junín. When the kids got restless and couldn't learn any more music, she took them outside and taught them to play "drop the handkerchief" and "button, button." They loved it. They loved HER!

Thanks for being a great missionary. Thanks for being young at heart, even if you are now a year older. I love you.

Peruvian Avocado, Anyone?

2009-06-05T20:21:00.003-06:00

We love the avocados that we get here in Tarma. They are large, always ripe, and delicious. Scott is holding the biggest avocado that we've ever seen:

The cost for this luscious, football-sized beauty? 50 cents US.

Dropping Into Tarma from the South

2009-06-05T16:48:00.005-06:00

Today we made a quick trip to Huancayo, two hours south of Tarma. As we returned and dropped down from the altiplano at 13,500 feet into Tarma at 10,016 feet, we enjoyed these views.

It's harvest time for many crops, including potatoes. The workers put the potatoes in red and white bags for hauling to market:

The hills, which used to be a patchwork of green, are now a patchwork of yellows and browns, with a little green:

As we got closer to Tarma, the hill became greener, and we could see the terraced farms and the city (shown in the upper left corner of this picture):

The hills and valleys on the outskirts of town:

It's fun to travel to Huancayo and other places, but it's always nice to return home to Tarma!

The Long and Short of Our Member District

2009-05-30T20:09:00.006-06:00

Here's a picture of two wonderful women who live in the Tarma District. The woman on the left, my amazing companion, is the tallest female LDS member (5' 6" in height) in the district. The woman on the right, Dominga Contreras, a wonderful convert of a year or two, is the shortest female LDS member (about 3' 11") in the district. She lives in the high (13,500 feet), cold, windswept, remote town of Junín in the altiplano of the Central Peruvian Andes. She is a faithful member of my weekly Book of Mormon class there.

I just couldn't resist getting their picture together, much to the delight of all the branch members, who found the height difference as amusing as I did.

Amazing Story: 43 Years Later

2009-05-30T19:35:00.004-06:00

I (Scott) made this entry in my missionary journal, dated January 13, 1966, while my companion and I (from the mission office) were visiting the missionaries in the newly opened city of Ayacucho:

"Something exciting happened today, ... [W]e gave the fourth discussion (about the Savior) to two families whose wives speak very little Spanish. So as we gave the lesson in Spanish, the husbands translated into Quechua. What a joy! The brother who did most of the translating is a member but his wife and the other couple are not. They had an interesting discussion … in Quechua, very little of which we (Elder David Putnum and I) could understand.”

Here’s the follow-up to that story. The missionaries in Ayacucho, Elders David Putnam, Jr., and Steven Lawrence, continued to teach these two families. The three nonmembers were baptized. An article about these new members appeared in the July 1966 issue of the Liahona, explaining that the two women were the first members of the church who spoke only Quechua, the language of the Incas.

Here's the follow-up to the followup. Elder Douglas Earl, currently a Perpetual Education Fund missionary in Lima, wrote this blog post, dated April 19, 2009:

“In Nov. 1967 David LeFevre and I were sent to Ayacucho in the high Andes to help a little branch of members. There were 5 families in the city that were members. Two of the families, Espinoza and Ataurima were the first members of the church that spoke Quechua. [See above article.] ... We were in Ayacucho 70 days then we left and it was closed down to missionaries from 1968 to 1978. It was really sad to leave this town without missionaries and we "knew" [quotation marks added] that the members would be lost.

“FAST FORWARD 20 years [1987] when we were getting to know our missionaries in Lima [Elder Douglas Earl was then President Earl, the first mission president of the Peru Lima East Mission]. Three of the 5 Ayacucho families had boys of mission age. ... The third was Josue Espinoza, the son of one of the two families that were the first Quecha-speaking families to join, and a cousin to Roberto Ataurima. ALL THREE OF THESE BOYS from these 5 families, THAT DID NOT HAVE MISSIONARIES [in their city] FOR 10 YEARS, sent missionaries to the mission field AND ALL 3 MISSIONARIES WERE SENT TO MY MISSION.

“FAST FORWARD April 2009: After 41 years, I have returned to see my families and my city [Ayacucho]. ... Four of the 5 early families ARE STILL ACTIVE with ALL OF THEIR CHILDREN and grandchildren. The fifth family ANGEL HINOJOSA (who we baptized) was active when he died. The city is 20-30 times bigger, has 4 chapels and l stake. ... This could only happen in the true church of God. I went from being sad about our failure in Ayacucho to knowing that God knows us and has extended another tender mercy in our direction.”

Elder Earl and I have since communicated with Dave Putnam, who was happy to hear about the follow-up.

I was thrilled to have a tiny part in this amazing story.

[Thanks to my daughter Melissa for digging up my missionary journal entry from 1966, and thanks to Doug Earl for giving me permission to quote his blog and use his picture.]

Visit on the Hill to the Beraún Family

2009-05-27T12:57:00.005-06:00

As you know, we are hiring local LDS artesans to make tapistries for us. Today Scott visited the home of Hovita Oscanoa and her husband Mario Beraún (second counselor in our branch presidency) to see how one of the tapestries is coming. Here, Andrea shows Scott her work:

The Beraún family poses by the tapestry loom:

This closeup shows the beautiful detail of Hovita's work:

After inspecting the tapestries, we hiked up a high hill east of town. Here Scott is stopped by an angry, barking, but hopefully harmless, dog:

From a high cliff, Scott got this view of the little valley on the outskirts of town:

At one point on the hill, we got a nice view of our Tarma home. It's the blue house in the middle of the picture:

Farewell, Elder Santos

2009-05-25T18:51:00.003-06:00

We heard about Elder Ryan Santos even before we arrived in the mission, because his former bishop is a friend of Scott's. So we were thrilled when Elder Santos got transferred to Tarma about three months ago.

But now he's leaving Tarma and heading to Cerro de Pasco. It's hard to see him go, but Cerro is in our zone, so we'll see him at zone activities.

Elder Santos and Elder Bates visited us the night before Elder Santos left for Cerro:

Elder Illachura, another missionary here in Tarma, is also leaving. He didn't work in our area of Tarma so we didn't see him as much as we would have liked. Farewell and best wishes to both of these great missionaries.

"Souper" P-Day with Our Zone

2009-05-25T15:43:00.007-06:00

Today was change day, so all the missionaries in the zone gathered in Tarma for their P-Day. Beverly made a huge pot of soup (chicken, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, rice, pasta, onions, celery, peppers, and spices):

Scott made sixty sandwiches (35 tunafish and 25 egg salad, with onions, red peppers, mayo, lettuce, and tomatoes) and added potato chips and soda crackers to the plates.

And 16 elders in our zone, along with Scott and Beverly, ate all the sandwiches and most of the soup. Our meal also included soda pop and cake. Nobody went away hungry. The elders shown here include (far left to right clockwise around the circle): Elders Bac, Watters, Zambrano, Bates, Choque, Herrera, Carraciela, Shiflett, Santa Cruz, Bird, Illachura, Delgado, Cossio, Puglisi, Santos, and Mendez.

It will be sad to see some of these elders leave in the next day or two, and we will be happy to meet the new ones who arrive. Such is life on change day.

Random Images for this Saturday in May

2009-05-23T19:33:00.008-06:00

Here are some random pictures that Scott took today.

Our landlady's clothesline is in the foreground, where she is drying corn; our clothesline is in the background, where we are drying Scott's shirts. The picture shows some of our cultural differences.

On the outskirts of town, Scott took this picture. The rainy season is finally coming to an end, the hills are turning brown, and the sky is clearing.

Scott has taken over a thousand pictures from the back seat of our driver's car, but this is the first picture he has taken of the view we see most: the back head of our driver, José Quinto. Today, during our trip back from La Oroya and Junín, Scott taught José the fifth and final missionary lesson on Laws and Ordinances. José accepted it all, and was excited with the idea that he would receive the priesthood after he is baptized.

We pass these interesting homes by a trout farm every Saturday on our trip between Tarma and La Oroya. Finally today we had José stop so Scott could take pictures. The green pipe in the background is the water supply for the city of La Oroya. The thatched roofs are rare in our part of Peru.

As usual, today we got to Junín half an hour before our classes were supposed to start, so while we were waiting for our students to arrive, Scott walked to a little plaza on the south end of town, and found this interesting Catholic church.

Across from the church was a park. Like many parks in small-town Peru, the view is marred by tall cell-phone towers.

Still wandering around Junín, Scott was curious about what was on the other side of a fence that was too tall for him to see over. So he lifted his camera above the fence and took this picture sight-unseen. Not totally uninteresting. It shows that this land, at 13,500 feet above sea level, is indeed rocky.

Peruvians love to raise and eat "cuy" (guinea pig), but they normally keep them in cages. These two little guinea pigs evidently were running free, because they came out of the gate to their yard to feast on the green grass growing by a tiny stream.

We hope you found these random pictures to be interesting.

Thursday is Market Day in Tarma

2009-05-21T14:49:00.005-06:00

Tarma has an open-air market every day of the week, but on Thursdays and Sundays, merchants and farmers from all around the area come into town and set up their booths.

Here people are buying dried peppers, spices, flavorings, and other items:

This is where we normally buy our lettuce and carrots. The woman is laughing at Scott for wanting to take her picture, but she was thrilled that he did:

The market has rows and rows of vendors selling multiple kinds of beans:

In this typical scene, two women from the country, and a stray dog from the city, relax in the market. The women are selling potatoes. The dog is wondering why Scott is taking its picture:

Peru is famous for potatoes, and you can find dozens of types in the Tarma market:

You can also find all kinds of breakfast cereals (we've never tried any of them):

In fact, you can find about anything you want in this Thursday market:

Our Plaza de Armas (Tarma)

2009-05-21T14:29:00.007-06:00

Every town in Peru has a Plaza de Armas. It's the central square, and the center of activity of the town. It's like a popular mall in the US, with swarms of people in the afternoon and evenings, and casual strollers in the morning.

This is a picture of the Plaza in Tarma this morning:

This is a closeup of the couple you see in the foreground of the picture above. They are just sitting around, relaxing, and soaking up the sun:

Tarmeñan women also enjoy the morning sunshine in the Plaza:

All the Plazas de Armas have a cathedral, and we have a nice one here in Tarma, the cathedral of Santa Ana. It was rebuilt in the 1952 by the then president of Peru, Manuel Odría, a native of Tarma, who is buried here.

The cathedral has beautiful stained-glass windows, this one of Moses:

And this one of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem:

The interior is beautiful:

That's the Plaza de Armas in Tarma, Peru.

As we passed by there today, after Beverly's music class at the LDS chapel, we ran into Melanie, a member from Lima and her non-member friend, an investigator who lives here in Tarma. They walked us home. Melanie even carried Beverly's musical keyboard:

We invited them in for "gaseosa" (soda pop). They were such nice women and so fun to talk to:

Every day is an adventure in Tarma.

P-Day Lunch with Young Elders

2009-05-21T14:21:00.006-06:00

We have the young elders (is that an oxymoron?) over for lunch just about every P-Day, and we like to post their pictures because their families come to our blog hoping to get news about them.

Well, they are all doing well. They are healthy, happy, and working hard. Left to right: Elders Santos, Bates, Illachura, and Méndez.

After lunch (spaghetti, garlic bread, tossed salad, and cake), they played a round of Uno before heading out for a day of preparation, diversion, and work.

We love 'em.

District Conference in Huancavelica

2009-05-19T13:39:00.005-06:00

We traveled to Huancavelica (12,100 feet above sea level) to attend and speak at the District Conference, as well as to make a change in the district presidency.

The main session of conference was held in a lecture hall at this hospital:

The large lecture hall provided barely enough room for the conference. Here the brethren are setting up before the meeting starts:

Beverly tried out the keyboard before the conference (surrounded by Milagros, the music director, and a soon-to-be-sustained elder):

Scott had a few minutes to take pictures before the conference began, so he walked to the Río Ichu, which runs past the hospital, and caught these women doing their weekly laundry:

After the conference, Beverly took pictures of some of the members while Scott was in meetings. Here are (left to right), President Manuel Torres, new first counselor in the district; President Rudy Zorilla, newly released and past district president; and President Alfredo Huamaní, branch president in Huancavelica:

This group of women and little girls wanted their picture taken with Beverly:

Here Beverly poses with the members and missionaries who traveled two hours (not counting an hour delay because of a landslide) from Pampas to Huancavelica for the conference:

This happy member is typical of the many young women who attended the conference:

This spirited young man enjoyed the conference:

Most of the members in the mountains of Peru dress in "modern" attire, as you can see from the above pictures, but this older woman, who speaks little Spanish and converses mostly in Quechua, wears her traditional attire, including the hat worn by the women in Huancavelica:

We love these wonderful, faithful members, who meet daily challenges living in these remote mountain towns.

Third Trip to Huancavelica

2009-05-18T17:08:00.005-06:00

On this, our third trip to Huancavelica, we saw more white fields:

We saw oats bundled in the fields:

We saw a new town market opening up for the first time:

We saw the rugged Andes Mountains, with patchwork farms where few people on earth would dare to climb. In the foreground of this picture, you can see the road that we traveled; it has been cut in the side of the hill:

Farm fields scale right up the face of the mountains:

And in Huancavelica, we had this view out of our hotel window:

The landscapes and people on our scenic drive to Huancavelica never disappoint us.

¡Huaico! (Landslide!)

2009-05-18T15:21:00.004-06:00

Huaicos (pronounced why-cohs) are common on the highways of the High Peruvian Andes. Constructing a highway on the side of a mountain leaves bare dirt-and-rock cliffs that are exposed to rain and wind. Because of the excessive amount of rain this year, landslides have been even more common than usual.

So as we approached the town of Izcuchaca (between Huancayo and Huancavelica), we came upon this group of cars, trucks and busses (about 8 in all) backed up along the highway. A huaico had just occurred:

People were standing around this appropriate warning sign--falling rocks:

An enterprising woman from Izcuchaca was selling goodies to the stranded travelers:

Heavy equipment had to be brought in to move the rocks and earth, which had tumbled down the mountain covering the highway, and spilling into the river:

After a 90-minute wait, we were able to pass across the landslide by driving on a temporary path that had been built over the dirt:

Such is life in the High Andes.

Signs of the Times

2009-05-18T13:45:00.012-06:00

When you take a 5-hour drive through the high Andes, with up-and-down elevation changes (between 10,000-14,000 feet above sea level), along switchbacks and through dozens of small farming villages, you see lots of signs. (Click to view the entire picture in full size):

Most of the signs are self-explanatory, but some may need translation:

Conserve el medio ambiente = Conserve the Environment
Pare = Stop! (Most drivers just ignore this sign)
Puccacocha = An example of the name of a town (most of these names are in Quechua)
Zona de Curvas Pronunciadas = Zone of Pronounced (Sharp) Curves
Zona de Neblina = Fog Zone
Zona Urbana = Urban (small town or city) Zone
No Arroje Basura a las Cunetas = Don't Throw Garbage in the Ditch (Also usually ignored)
Plazoleta a 500 m = Turn-out 500 meters ahead (to allow others to pass)
Protejamos Nuestra Carratera No Las Destruyas = Let's Protect our Highways. Don't Destroy Them
Peligro Caen Piedras Grandes = Danger Big Rocks Fall (Our favorite sign.)
No Adelantar = Don't Pass (Yeah, right!)
Centro Educativo = Educational Center (School Zone)

You also might not recognize some of the symbols. One is a speed-bump warning (even the smallest little village has speed bumps). Another is a picture of rocks falling on a car (it nearly happened to us!).

The Art of Peruvian Tapestry

2009-05-14T13:33:00.010-06:00

The region in which we live is famous for its artesans who create beautiful tapistries ("tapiz" singular, "tapices" plural). We purchased this one made by the woman in the center, Hovita Oscanoa, a Church member:

We are now having another tapestry done by David Román, also a Church member. We visited him in his home shop today and took pictures while he explained the intricate process. We have just included the major steps.

1. Get white sheep wool. It is plentiful in this part of Peru.

2. Mix the wool with water and powdered dye in a pot ...

3. ... and boil it over an open-air stove.

4. Repeat the above steps until you have a wide assortment of wool colors, analogous to buying oil paints to do an oil painting.

5. To get more subtle colors and shades, get different colors of wool and comb them together, analogous to mixing colors on an artist's pallette:

6. Create the many major colors and shades that you'll need in your tapestry.

7. String the loom with wool yarn to create the warp threads (the longitudinal threads). The type of yarn depends on the quality of the tapestry: the coarser the yarn, the coarser the tapestry; the finer the yarn, the finer the tapestry.

8. Outline the picture on the warp threads. Here David is drawing the picture of the "Waters of Mormon" for us. Notice that's he's already started this tapestry.

9. Thread the shuttle with weft yarn (the latitudinal thread), analogous to threading a bobbin. (He is using an old 33⅓ record player motor to thread the shuttle).

10. Mix colors of wool together by hand to get subtle shades of colors (analogous to an artist's mixing oil colors on the canvas) . . .

11. ... and then push the colored wool in between the warp threads on the loom:

12. Secure the wool by passing the shuttle containing the weft yarn through the stationary warp threads on the loom.

13. When you're done, sew the borders and remove the tapistry from the loom.

The real art, as David explained, is in the hands and eyes, not in the wool or on the loom. It's the subtle mixing of colored strands of wool and the careful execution of all of the steps that makes for a beautiful tapestry.

Our Great La Oroya-Tarma Zone

2009-05-11T19:52:00.006-06:00

Monday, May 11, we enjoyed feeding lunch to eight of the missionaries in our zone, the highest (in altitude and spirit) missionary zone in the world.

As usual, they 'ate us out of house and home'. They each had two bowls of homemade chili (a rare treat in Peru), three ham sandwiches with lettuce and tomatoes (a rare treat because missionaries normally can't eat ham or lettuce due to sanitary issues), and a peanut-butter-and-jam sandwich (a rare treat because the US elders hadn't eaten peanut butter since coming to Peru, and the Peruvian elders had never eaten peanut butter).

Here they are, starting with Elder Santos (front and center) and going around the table clockwise: Elders Santos, Santa Cruz, Caracela, Cook, Zambrano, Bird, Shiflett, and Bates.

Here's a portrait of each of these missionaries, in alphabetical order.

This is Elder Bates from San Antonio, Texas. He's calm and quiet, but a hardworking, loving, effective missionary. He also took a chemistry class from Scott at BYU a couple of years ago. He is one of "our" missionaries because he is on our branch in Tarma:

This is Elder Bird from Tremonton, Utah. He's fun and easy going. He works in the very high-altitude (about 13,000 feet), small farming community of San Pedro de Cajas where he wears gloves nearly every day:

This is Elder Caracela from Arequipa, Peru (a large city in the south). He is holding a package of Vizzio, one of our favorite Peruvian treats---chocolate covered almonds. He is new in our zone and works in La Oroya, a mining town at 12,200 feet.

This is Elder Cook from Logan, Utah who also works in La Oroya. He's been our Zone Leader since we arrived in Tarma three months ago. He leaves to go home in two weeks, and, as a former Aggie who saw the light, will start at BYU in the fall as a pre-med major.

This is Elder Santa Cruz from Chiclayo, Peru (a city in the north). He works in San Pedro de Cajas with Elder Bird.

This is Elder Santos from Fontana, California. He is also "our" missionary in the Modelo branch in Tarma. His father is from Cuba, but Elder Santos was raised in the US. Elder Santos didn't speak Spanish before his mission, but he obviously had it in his brain because he has a wonderful, natural-sounding Spanish accent.

This is Elder Shiflett from Mesa, Arizona. He was "our" missionary when we lived in La Molina. He holds a special place in our heart because he was with us for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners last year in Lima, and we worked with Brother Dinklang, one of Elder Shiflett's wonderful baptisms. He is new to our zone and works in La Oroya.

This is Elder Zambrano from Tacna, Peru (in the south). He is one of the Zone Leaders and is Elder Cook's companion. He is new to our zone and works in La Oroya.

Here we all are after a wonderful luncheon together on our P-Day.

Consider this short description and pictures of these wonderful missionaries as a belated tribute to their mothers on this day-after-Mothers Day.

Celebrating Mothers Day in Peru

2009-05-11T16:11:00.011-06:00

Mothers Day is a big day in Peru, and we enjoyed all the celebrating. On Saturday night before Mothers Day, the Tarma branches held a Mothers Day Talent Show. The church cultural hall was packed with members:

The talent show included speeches, pantomimes, dancing (this picture shows some children in costumes depicting a shepherd and a herd of llamas) . . . :

... and singing:

Each mother received a candy pack:

Our investigator friends, the Quinto family, enjoyed the show:

On Sunday, Beverly received a little pin-on note from the Primary kids in the La Oroya branch and a little rosebud corsage from the Modelo branch in Tarma:

She also received candy and flowers from Scott. (Several years ago, he spent $40 for a dozen red roses for her for Mothers Day. She got upset, however, that he spent money we could not afford on flowers. That was the last time Scott gave her a dozen red roses--until this year when he found a dozen rosebuds (silk flowers) for $3 at the local office-supply store. She was thrilled with them. So Scott redeemed himself by his conservative spending, and Beverly redeemed herself by accepting his token of love. )

Sunday night we talked to all of our seven children on the phone. It was a wonderful Mothers Day.

Our Missionary Mothers

2009-05-08T10:30:00.010-06:00

This year for Mother's Day, we pay tribute to our missionary mothers, who both served a mission in their later years.

Beverly's mother, Ora, served as a missionary (with Beverly's dad), in the Nauvoo, IL Mission in 1979.

Her daughters who served missions include: Dixie (Franco-Belgium Mission) and later with husband Terry (mission presidents, Germany Leipzig Mission); Kaye with husband Glen(Frieberg Germany temple); Beverly with husband Scott (Peru Lima East Mission).

Scott's mother, Ardell, served as a tour guide on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, UT in 1982, as a missionary with Scott's dad (England London Mission, 1984-1985), and (after her first husband's death) with her 2nd husband (England Birmingham Mission, 1992-1993).

Her children who served missions include: Dean (California Los Angeles Mission); Sharon with her husband Lin (CCM, Sao Paulo, Brazil; New York New York South Mission); Scott (Andes Mission) and later with his wife Beverly (Peru Lima East Mission); and Kurt (Texas Dallas Mission).

Thank you, our mothers, for setting an example of missionary work for all of us.

It Snowed, So It Must Be Summer

2009-05-07T21:02:00.006-06:00

Confused? You should be. Normally in South America, winter is May through September, just the opposite of the US. But here in the mountains, the Peruvians call the rainy season "winter" and the dry season "summer". The rainy season is November through April, even though those months are warmer than the dry season!

About once every six years, at elevations about 13,000 feet, it snows at the beginning of summer because the temperatures start to drop before the rain goes away. And that's what happened this year.

So, on our Saturday drive over the 13,500-foot pass, we found snow and fog:

The town of Huacapo received a few inches of the white stuff:

Some of the lower hills also got a dusting of snow:

This rare snow storm actually signaled the end of winter (the rainy season) and the start of summer (the dry, cold season). We're getting less rain and our nights are getting very cold.

Feliz Día de Madre, Mi Querida Compañera

2009-05-05T12:21:00.008-06:00

To celebrate Mothers Day, I write this extremely brief tribute to my wonderful companion.

We met in November of 1962 while we were both 17 and on a journalism trip of Utah County students. I represented Lehi High School, she BY High School. This is what she looked like then (she was as smart and hard-working as she was cute):

She graduated from BY High, class of '63. This is her graduation picture:

In February of 1964, I left on my mission. This is the note I wrote her (she saved it!) to thank her and her mother for coming to my farewell:

A year and a half after my mission, we got engaged. This is her engagement picture:

She graduated from BYU with High Honors shortly before we got married. This is a picture taken just after her graduation:

She graduated a second time from BYU, this time in 1993 with a Ph.D., after raising seven kids. This picture was taken just after she graduated and accepted a position as a professor of English at BYU (notice the old-fashioned IBM Selectric typewriter):

During her career at BYU, she saw many of our kids and our children-in-law get a BYU degree. Here are Beverly with me in our academic robes, with our daughter Sheri, our daughter-in-law Erin, and our son Russ:

After a 16-year career at BYU she retired to go on a mission. This is the last picture taken of her in her BYU office (notice the modern desktop computer):

In October 2008, we left on our mission. Here we are with three grandkids after the sacrament meeting where we gave our "farewell" talk:

Here she is as a missionary, receiving love and attention from the Peruvian members and serving them by playing and teaching piano:

Thank you, Beverly, for being the most wonderful companion (missionary and otherwise) in the world. Thanks for being such a wonderful wife, a loving mother of seven kids, a devoted scholar (academic- and gospel-wise), and a doting grandmother of 17 (soon to be 19) grandkids. Happy Mothers Day!

Elder and Sister Lamb Teach About Education and Employment

2009-05-04T12:48:00.009-06:00

Our good friends, Elder Glenn and Sister Veronica Lamb, came to Tarma to give training and a fireside regarding the Church's Perpetual Education Fund. This picture was taken after one of their leadership meetings with branch presidencies, branch employments specialists, and interested church members. Elder Lamb appears in his white shirt second from the right. Sister Lamb appears in a blue jacket; she is seated behind Beverly in the middle of the picture:

After the employment leadership meeting, Elder and Sister Lamb met with smaller groups. Here they are talking to some of the employment specialists in the Tarma district, along with the district employment specialist, Brother Daniel Román.

As a result of their presentations, we learned a lot about how Peruvian kids can select a career, fund an education, and obtain employment. We hope to apply what we learned in helping members here in the Tarma district.

Sightseeing with Elder and Sister Lamb

2009-05-04T11:11:00.010-06:00

On Friday, May 1 (a Peruvian holiday), we went sightseeing with Elder and Sister Lamb to several nearby tourist attractions.

Our first stop was the shrine of the Lord of Muruhuay in the town of Acobamba, about 15 minutes from Tarma, where a big celebration was held. These people, seated on bleachers in front of the Catholic church with the shrine, were watching people dance:

The dancers were accompanied by a large, loud band:

Originally, the shrine was a naturally carved image of Christ on the side of a cliff. But then someone painted the image and enclosed it in glass to preserve it. (It made the image look phoney.) Because of the holiday, people brought flowers and placed them in front of the shrine:

As we left Acobamba, we saw many farm workers in the fields. Here the farmers are harvesting lettuce and putting it in baskets:

On another farm, women harvested spinach:

These men were pleased that foreigners would stop and take a picture of them. A young boy runs to get into the picture:

Other farmers were plowing their fields. Here, a young girl leads her burro pulling a plow weighted down by the girl's father:

This hand plow is being pulled by cows:

Next, we stopped at Shaprash "Rostro de Cristo" (face of Christ), which you can barely see on the mountain just to the left of the tree where there are no branches. Scott is there with his camera:

Our next stop was Palcamayo, which was celebrating the holiday with masked dancers on the Plaza de Armas:

Spectators enjoyed watching the dancers:

As with almost all cities and towns in Peru, the younger women dress in jeans and teeshirts while the older women wear the traditional hat or cap, shawl, sweater, and skirt:

Then we visited the largest cave in South America, the Gruta de Huagapo ("Mother Grotto"). Beverly and Scott pose in front of the huge cave opening:

A river runs through the cave:

Then the river flows out of an opening and the water runs down the hill at the base of the cave:

The source of the underground river in the cave is Lake Junín, some 25 miles away, so the cave itself must be 25 miles long. However, the cave has only been explored to a depth of about 3000 yards (using technical spelunking and scuba-diving techniques). We entered the cave to a depth of only 300 yards. We were standing in complete darkness when this picture was taken:

The cave is surrounded by beautiful flowers, such as these bleeding hearts located above the cascading river:

We ate lunch at the base of the cave entrance. A young man pulled trout from the river while we watched, and then his dad grilled the trout (as Glenn looks on):

We left Huagapo and headed toward San Pedro de Cajas. Here's the amazing, winding, rough, dirt road that we traveled on as it passes through the valley and scales the mountain:

In San Pedro de Cajas, we witnessed still another town celebrating the holiday. Here, the townspeople are enjoying a procession, with a symbol of the crucification, dancers, and a band:

On our way back to Tarma, we spotted this herd of vicuña. It was the largest herd we have seen in Peru:

We enjoyed our day of conversation, food, photography, and travel!

Meetings in Huancayo and Huancavelica

2009-04-29T16:56:00.007-06:00

Our recent trip to Huancayo and Huancavelica had a purpose other than picture taking. This post summarizes our meetings during the trip. We left Sunday, April 26, after our church meetings and traveled to Huancayo (a two-hour trip).

Huancayo
At 6:30 pm, President and Sister Mendoza (he is 1st counselor in the Mantaro Stake presidency) picked us up at the hotel and took us to the Mantaro Stake Center, on the outskirts of Huancayo. Brother Mendoza is a Church Educational System director; Sister Mendoza worked as a chemical engineer before she got married and had children. Both of them speak some English.

Scott was the featured speaker at a stake fireside that night. His topic was "Becoming a missionary family." He used a PowerPoint presentation with pictures of families (including our own) who have done missionary work. The members loved the pictures and seemed to enjoy the presentation.

Afterwards, many people came up to talk to us. Some of them wanted their pictures taken with us. Here is a young man who is preparing to serve a mission, along with his parents:

Beverly was asked to accompany the stake choir, so some of the choir members wanted their pictures taken with us:

We also had our picture taken with the stake presidency and their wives. Next to us on the right are President and Sister Tupac Yupanqui (Tupac Yupanqui is the name of a famous Inca leader). The couple third from the left is President and Sister Mendosa. On the far right is the new second counselor and his wife.

The audience of approximately 180 faithful saints, was evidence of the "marvelous work and a wonder" that has taken place in Huancayo since it was opened to missionary work in 1964 during Scott's first mission.

Huancavelica
The next day, we traveled to Huancavelica for the sole purpose of doing a biannual financial audit--which we should have done two weeks earlier, but were never informed about until the day after we returned to Tarma!

Scott met with the district presidency and branch presidents. The district and branches are caring for the Lord's money in an appropriate and responsible way. They are wonderful, faithful leaders.

We look forward to going back to Huancavelica in three weeks for their district conference.

The City of Huancavelica

2009-04-29T15:28:00.007-06:00

We work with two member districts, one centered in Tarma (where we live) and one centered in Huancavelica. If you follow this blog, you already know lots about Tarma. Now we'll describe Huancavelica.

Huancavelica has a population of about 50,000 people and an elevation of 12,100 feet above sea level. It sits nestled at the bottom of a valley surrounded by steep mountains.

This is the one and only modern hotel in the city. We've now stayed here twice and our room has been freezing both times:

The hotel is located in the main square (the Plaza de Armas) next to this cathedral, built in 1673:

Huancavelica has several other Catholic churches, including this building:

A second major plaza is located on the west side of town. It includes this Catholic church, La Iglesia de Santo Domingo:

This church is in the same plaza as La Iglesia de Santo Domingo:

The town has a large open-air market, as do all the large towns of the Andes:

The Monday (April 26) that we were there, the city was holding a potato festival. Here is a table displaying 76 of the over 1500 varieties of potatoes grown in Peru:

As with most mountain cities, you can see late model cars at the same time you see women dressed the same as they have for a hundred years or more:

The river Ichu passes through the city of Huancavelica:

On a mountain side north of town are the famous San Cristóbal Mineral Springs, where people come from all over the world to enjoy its supposedly curative properties. The only people Scott saw at the springs were women washing their clothing in the lukewarm water that spilled from the pools:

In this view of the city from the mineral springs, you can see the main cathedral and the hotel at the base of the mountain:

Huancavelica was an Inca strategic center. The Spaniards found mercury and silver in the nearby mountains and founded the current city in 1571. Even today, the city maintains a pleasant colonial atmosphere and has several active mines nearby.

Scenes from Our Second Huancavelica Trip

2009-04-29T10:57:00.006-06:00

Our second trip from Tarma to Huancavelica was just as awe-inspiring as the first. Here are a few scenic pictures from the second trip.

Fields of wheat and oats clung to the side of a mountain:

The outskirts of Jauja, the first Spanish capital of Peru and the location of an LDS ward:

Many of the fields were white, all ready for the harvest:

A small town north of Huancayo:

The rugged mountains through which we traveled:

More rugged mountains and valleys:

An old Spanish bridge where we crossed the Mantaro River at the town of Izcuchaca:

Looking downstream on the Mantaro River at Izcuchaca:

Later, as we drove up the side of the mountain, the Mantaro River proceeded through other towns way down in the valley:

The highest point of our trip was in the village of Pucaccocha, at about 14,000 feet above sea level. All the fences and many of the homes were made of rocks:

The village of Pucaccocha and the highway along which we traveled:

The highest mountain on our trip (about 17,500 feet), which peak we could barely see:

At this time of year, the climate in the Andes changes from the raining season (which the Peruvians call winter, even though it's the warm season) to the dry season (which they call summer, even though the nights are cold). The clouds are spectacular:

When summer comes, we're going to miss those beautiful clouds in the Peruvian skies.

Roadside Friends

2009-04-29T09:25:00.004-06:00

While traveling the six hours between Tarma and Huancavelica through the High Central Andes, we took these pictures of people who live above 12,000 feet and who happened to be on the side of the road as we passed.

Three generations of women in their different dress:

A woman and her dog cleaning up at a roadside restaurant:

A grandmother entering a "bodega" (small, general store):

Women buying and selling in the central market in Izcuchaca:

Two women selling "tuna" (which is not the fish but rather is a cactus fruit):

Two women leaving their home in a small town:

Men and women conversing on a street in Huancavelica:

A farmer cutting his crop of oats:

Women chatting and laughing in Huancavelica:

A woman selling fruit in Huancavelica:

A woman walking along a sidewalk in a small town:

A man giving a haircut ("corte de pelo)" in an open-air market:

People waiting at the "paradero" (taxi stop) in a small but busy town:

A woman and her sheep dog in the high altiplano:

We hope this gives you a taste of the people and culture in our mission area in the High Andes.

Camelids of Peru

2009-04-25T19:55:00.006-06:00

Camelids are distant relatives of the camel. The camelids of Peru include the llama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuña, listed in order from largest to smallest and from roughest to finest wool. Here is a herd of alpaca that we saw on our trip to Junín today. They have recently been sheered. We have a couple of alpaca rugs at home and the wool is long and silky. The alpaca, like the llama, are domesticated:

The high central Andes mountains are also home to numerous wild (undomesticated) vicuña, as shown in these pictures that we also took today in the pampa of Junín:

A closeup of the same herd as above:

This picture shows the "macho" (male member) of another herd that we saw today:

This is a different shot of the same macho:

Vicuñas used to be on the endangered species list, but their numbers have greatly increased because the Peruvian government has taken measures to protect them. Vicuñas produce some of the best and most expensive soft, warm wool of any animal in the world. A scarf made of vicuña wool can cost US$1500, and a man's coat of vicuña wool can cost up to US$20,000.

(Biochemistry note: Because vicuñas roam the high Andes at altitudes between 13,000 and 15,000 feet, they have four times the concentration of oxygen-carrying hemoglobin in their blood as humans that live at sea level.)

Reading Rally in Tarma

2009-04-23T11:21:00.005-06:00

Just up the street from us is a large school campus:

So it wasn't surprising this morning as we left our house to see and hear this large band pass by, with school kids wearing their normal school uniforms:

Walking behind the band were students, teachers, and parents carrying signs and posters to promote reading among students in Tarma.

After our meeting at the church, we heard and saw other bands and school kids descending on the Plaza de Armas (city center):

All the school groups were holding signs, like this one, which says, "Reading makes a man complete, his communication lively, and his writing precise," or were carrying books:

A woman walked by and Scott couldn't resist taking her picture. She is carrying food for her guinea pigs:

All the school children came for the reading rally; these groups are in front of the cathedral on the Plaza de Armas:

These girls hold a sign that says, "An open book is a brain that talks; closed, a friend that waits; forgotten, a soul that forgives; destroyed, a heart that weeps" (from a Hindu proverb):

Dignitaries gave speeches, extolling the virtues of reading. The man sitting alone in the center is Brother Torres, president of the Tarma (LDS) Branch and governor of the (political) district of Tarma:

Peruvian children need this kind of encouragement, because most Peruvian homes have few, if any, books. Even Mormon homes here just have the scriptures and some Church manuals; usually there is no other reading materials. Hopefully, this will change over time.

Meetings in Huancayo

2009-04-20T08:08:00.008-06:00

On Sunday, we traveled to Huancayo (two hours south of Tarma) for two meetings. The first meeting (held at a chapel in downtown Huancayo) was for recent converts and was conducted by an impressive young man who had only been a member for one month. The prayers, music conducting, and first two talks (on faith and baptism) were also done by recent converts. Scott spoke on enduring to the end by studying the Book of Mormon and preparing to make temple covenants. The final speaker was President Travesaño of the Huancayo Stake, a charming, charismatic leader.

The second meeting was held at the Huancayo Stake Center (about 2 miles from the first building):

This meeting was for bishoprics and ward mission leaders of the Huancayo Stake. About 100 people attended. First we watched segments of a DVD from "Preach My Gospel," then Scott provided training on the responsibilities of mission leaders and how to create a ward mission plan.

We were impressed by the wonderful members and leaders of the Huancayo Stake. We also enjoyed the drive to Huancayo. As usual, Scott took lots of pictures from the car window. This picture shows the nicely paved (but curvy) highway leading from Tarma up through the mountains to the farm valleys:

Within 45 minutes, we were driving through the barren altiplano:

There are many people living in these vast grasslands, but the only evidence of them from the road are the many sheep herds that graze on the sides of the mountains:

In one particularly barren area, we spotted this man, who had gathered twigs ("leña") for firewood, loaded them onto his donkeys, and was taking them back to his home:

Further on, we passed farm houses along the sides of the road:

Many of these homes had political ads painted on them. This one proclaimed that, with Alan (current Peru President Alan García), Peru will advance forward, provide opportunities for all, and overcome illiteracy ("analfabetismo"):

We love living, traveling, and doing missionary work in the Central Highlands of Peru!

"Taking What the Trip Gives Us"

2009-04-18T20:09:00.015-06:00

In our travels in the past, we have adopted the motto, "We will take what the trip gives us." It's our way of saying we will learn from unexpected experiences, no matter what happens. It helped us handle our automobile accident in Poland and the injury to Scott's mother in Brazil, and it is helping us handle the physical and emotional ups and downs during our mission in Peru--for example, our trip today (Saturday, April 18) to La Oroya and Junín.

As we left Tarma toward La Oroya heading west, we traveled up through many mountain valleys like this one:

The road wound up through picturesque little towns:

Thirty minutes into the trip, we reached an altitude of 13,500 feet, our highest point between Tarma and La Oroya, at the tiny pueblo of Huacapo. The altitude change gave Beverly a headache and left her feeling short of breath. Here in Huacapo, travelers are urged to buy cheese, water, and other goodies at this roadside stand:

We arrived in La Oroya at our designated time of 10:00 am, only to find the chapel locked. It was almost 11:00 am before someone arrived to unlock the chapel and Beverly's music class got started. (No students at all showed up for Scott's Institute class.) Beverly had a group of eager students, including these two, who are shown playing a simple hymn while Beverly sings in Spanish:

At 12:15 pm, we left La Oroya for Junín. We stopped for lunch, as usual, near the turn-off to Cemento Andino (a town that produces cement that is shipped all over Peru). You can barely see the dirt road to Cemento Andino in the middle of this picture:

We (and our driver) had a tuna sandwich, some chips, and a drink that we brought with us:

Near Junín, we spotted this herd of vicuña, a protected animal of the llama and alpaca family. The vicuña has some of the finest wool of any animal in the world:

We arrived at the Junín chapel at 1:40, in plenty of time for our 2:00 pm classes. The chapel was locked and no one came with the key until 2:05. Then the missionaries arrived and announced that they had scheduled a baptism for 2:00 pm. Baptismal services supersede our classes, so we participated in the baptismal service that started around 2:45 and lasted an hour. This picture shows some of the branch members and non-member friends; Elder Bird (dressed in white) and his companion are at the back, and the young sister being baptized (also dressed in white) is holding her nephew:

Our classes finally started at 4:00 pm, the time we normally leave. Some branch members, who hadn't attended the previous classes, stayed for Scott's Book of Mormon class, so he had to improvise with his lesson. Here is the group of eager learners:

Scott gave a 20-minute class on the covenant message of the Book of Mormon, using the covenant between Nephi and Zoram as an example. It was a spiritual treat for Scott and hopefully his lesson provided new insight for the students.

Beverly faced her usual challenge in this branch--she has one or two excellent students (not shown) and a large group of children who want to learn to play the piano, but are too young to understand the concepts. Some of those adorable kids are shown here:

At 5:00 pm, we finally left Junín, driving across the high altiplano toward Tarma:

Our lessons hadn't gone as planned, but we had a wonderful experience with a newly baptized member and two groups of enthusiastic members. As we said, we take what the trip gives us.

Geographical Regions of the Peru Lima East Mission

2009-04-17T13:27:00.009-06:00

Peru has eight natural (or geographical) regions, and all eight regions are represented in the Peru Lima East Mission. Below you can see Scott's photo of each region, except the low jungle.

Chala region is the coastal area along the Pacific Ocean. It is subtropical dry and tropical savana. Lima (where we lived for 4 months) is in the Chala region:

Yungas region has an altitude of 1600 to 5000 feet above sea level. It includes the forest along the eastern slopes of the Andes mountains, with an extremely diverse climate, flora, and fauna. We travel through this region during our trips from Lima to Tarma:

Quechua region, altitude 7500 to 11,500 feet, includes big valleys divided by rivers. The second largest city in our mission, Huancayo, is in this region. We live in Tarma, which is also part of this region:

Suni region, 11,500 to 13,500 feet, is dry and cold. Cities in our mission in this region and that we have visited, include La Oroya (where we go every Saturday), Huancavelica, San Pedro de Cajas, and others. This picture shows the Suni region between Tarma and La Oroya:

Puna region, 10,500 feet to 14,800 feet, includes the altiplanos or pampas (vast high plains), where puna grass grows. The two cities in our mission in the Puna region are Cerro de Pasco and Junín (where we go every Saturday). This picture shows the Puna region just outside Junín:

Junca region includes the jagged, snow-covered mountains above 13,500 feet. This picture was taken near Ticlio, the mountain pass (at 15,800 feet) that we travel through going from Lima to Tarma:

Rupa region, 1,600 to 2,300 feet, is the high jungle areas on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains. The city of La Merced in our mission (and where we attended a Multi-zone Conference) is included in the Rupa region:

Omagua region is the low (below 1300 feet) jungle. We haven't been there yet, so we don't have pictures, but the town of Satipo in our mission is located in the Omagua region.

We have an extremely geographically diverse mission, with probably the biggest elevation changes of any mission in the world.

Six Months of Photographs of Amazing Peru!

2009-04-14T21:16:00.006-06:00

To celebrate our six-month milestone, Scott posted two photo albums of special pictures of Peru and its people. The first album, found by clicking here, contains scenic photographs, mostly of the High Central Andes. Here's one sample:

The second album, found by clicking here, contains portrait photos of some of the Peruvian people, mostly those who live in the Andes Mountains. Here's one sample:

Enjoy!

The Sights of Semana Santa

2009-04-11T17:33:00.011-06:00

Semana Santa (Holy Week) is the biggest celebration in Tarma. People from all over Peru come here to enjoy the sights and sounds of the events leading up to Easter. Here are some of the things to do and see during Holy Week. (We'll leave out the not-so-holy activities that also abound during this week.)

Dancers parade around in costumes to represent past Peruvian cultures:

Closeup picture of the dancers so you can see the beautiful, colorful details:

Alfombras de flores (flower carpets) are the most famous part of Semana Santa in Tarma:

The flower carpets are created on the streets beneath flower arches:

The thousands of residents and visitors line the streets to see the flower carpets and to witness the processions, which take place every night:

The processions pass under the arches and over the flower carpets. (Note: the little light just below the pinnacle of the arch in this picture is the full moon):

All the visitors need food, which the street vendors are happy to supply:

These are churros, similar to a donut only they are rectangular:

The most attractive snacks are candied apples:

During Semana Santa, the women from the countryside surrounding Tarma come into town to sell their flower petals. This woman just arrived with her bags of flowers and her two little girls:

The country women in the Tarma area wear either the traditional white sombrero ...

... or the traditional stocking cap:

This woman smiled for Scott's camera, showing the typical dental problems of the poor people here. She has a wad of coca leaves (from which cocaine is extracted) in her mouth:

We hope you all have a happy Easter, even if it's not as exotic as Semana Santa in Tarma!

How To Make a Flower Carpet in Tarma

2009-04-11T06:42:00.009-06:00

Tarma is the flower capital of Peru and the world capital of "alfombras de flores" (flower carpets), created during "Semana Santa" (Holy Week) leading up to Easter. So how do you make a flower carpet? Here are the steps, in case you want to do this for a Family Home Evening.

1. Get a plan (a drawing), get a site on the street in downtown Tarma (you could do it on your back patio), string off your area so no one will walk across your carpet, and draw the image in chalk:

2. Mix up a slurry paste of coffee grounds (you can use Postum) to make dividing lines:

3. "Draw" the coffee paste along the chalk lines, building up the paste to a height of about a half inch:

4. Buy colorful flower petals from "campesinas" (women from the countryside) who pull the petals off the stems of their flowers:

5. Get some green leaves from other "campesinas" and their families:

6. Fill in the space outlined by the coffee paste with the colorful petals:

7. Mix different colored petals to get special effects and shading:

8. Keep your team of workers organized so you meet the 6:00 pm deadline for completing your carpet:

9. Keep filling in your drawing with flower petals and green leaves:

10. If you run out of petals or leaves, buy more from the people sitting on the nearby sidewalks:

11. Use other plants, such as bean pods shown below, for special effects:

12. Enjoy your completed masterpiece. This amazing flower carpet shows campesinas wearing their typical white sombreros and selling their flowers on the outskirts of Tarma:

13. Wait until evening for the procession celebrating Holy Week to come by and walk across your flower carpet, completely destroying it (this is a picture of men carrying a replica of the Virgin Mary and walking across the very flower carpet shown above):

Various religious, social, and business groups start their carpets at about 2:00 pm, and finish them around 6:00 pm. If their flower carpets are in the "Plaza de Armas" (Main Square), they get trampled and ruined by around 9:00 pm. If their flower carpet is located along the side streets, it may take until 2:00 am before the procession ruins their carpet.

We'll show more pictures of Semana Santa in the next blog.

The Real Cost of Veggies in Tarma

2009-04-09T20:56:00.005-06:00

We've already mentioned how inexpensive the fruits and vegetables are here in Tarma, Peru. For example, Scott purchased all the vegetables shown here (plus a small bag of beans) for US$1.20 (in other words, almost free):

But here's the real cost: It took Scott a full hour just to wash, soak (in Clorox), rinse (in bottled water), and dry (with a paper towel) these vegetables to sanitize them and get them ready so he could start preparing dinner.

It took him another half hour to prepare this meal of tossed salad (it's against the mission rules for young missionaries to eat lettuce because it usually hasn't been cleaned) and egg-omelette burritos (one of our favorites). You can't buy tortillas or salad dressing in Tarma; we purchased them in Huancayo last Monday:

We eat very well here in Tarma, but the price is high: lots of our time.

Family Home Evening with the Quinto Family

2009-04-08T20:55:00.006-06:00

Meet the Quinto family. Brother José Quinto, our driver as we have traveled around the mission, is standing next to Scott; Sharon, the youngest daughter is standing in front of José; Martha, José's wife is standing next to him; and Mayra, the older daughter, is standing next to Beverly).

Tonight we held our second family home evening with the Quinto family and with our missionaries, Elders Santos and Keel:

The Quinto family have had the missionary lessons and seen two videos on the Restoration of the Gospel. They are progressing in their knowledge and have begun to read the Book of Mormon, but they still haven't come to church as a family. (Brother José has been to church with us once.) They have promised to come to church this coming Sunday.

They are a wonderful, kind, and thoughtful family. They have been touched by the Spirit to the point of agreeing to the concept of baptism but not to the point that they are willing to fully commit to a new religion. We have faith that the Spirit will touch them so that they will want to be baptized.

Easter Message: Would We Being Willing to Die for the Gospel?

2009-04-07T13:53:00.017-06:00

This weekend, we celebrate the great atoning sacrifice of our Savior. He suffered in Gethsemane and died for us on the cross. He also asked us to being willing to give our lives for His sake, if necessary. Are we willing to do it? We continually ask ourselves that question.

We've been asked to do some hard things on this mission. With Scott's history of heart disease, we never thought we'd be asked to live in the high Andes. We felt there was a possibility that living here might cause some serious problems, even death. We're glad that hasn't been the case.

More recently, we were asked to go to Huancavelica. Our travel book said the road was unpaved, and could be extremely dangerous during heavy rains. We both felt that, to some degree, we were risking our lives to make the trip. We're glad that wasn't the case.

In both instances, we knew what we should do, even if it meant putting our lives in jeopardy.

It turned out that our fears were unfounded. Scott's heart works as well here in the high Andes as it did in Lima at sea level. And the road to Huancavelica—though winding, steep, and at times a little treacherous—was fully paved. When it rained, our driver slowed down, and we felt only a minute or two of concern during the entire journey.

So what should we be willing to do for the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Overcome our fears and do whatever we are asked to do. And if something tragic happened and we died on this mission, we would want our children to know we were doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right place. We would want them to know that we felt our testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was worth any sacrifice we could make.

The Huancavelica District

2009-04-06T18:47:00.009-06:00

Our mission has two member districts: the Tarma District (where we live, and which has 10 branches) and the Huancavelica District (which is 6 hours south of us and which has only three small branches). This past weekend, we traveled to Huancavelica so Scott could interview the current district leadership (a new district president needs to be called). Scott also interviewed some of the members and held a leadership training meeting.

On our way to Huancavelica, we stopped in Huancayo, where Scott hosted a luncheon meeting with the two stake presidencies and the high counselors over missionary work. His purpose was to get feedback from the stakes on how the missionaries in our mission can support the local leaders and visa versa. The leaders in Huancayo are wonderful and competent, and the meeting was successful. The two stake presidents invited us to return in two weeks to give a multi-stake fireside.

Our trip to Huancavelica was filled with several mini-miracles. The first miracle was that we arrived safely, no small feat considering the many miles of winding, steep roads through high mountain passes. After six hours of travel, our car broke down and would not start. Our second miracle was that we simply got out of the car and walked the last block to the church, arriving in time for Scott's interviews. When we finished the interviews, we walked three blocks to our hotel.

The driver could not find a mechanic, so he had to rent tools to fix the car so it would be ready the next day when we wanted to leave for Tarma. Our driver is still investigating the church. He and his family are progressing, but very slowly. He is such a wonderful man and takes excellent care of us. He is an extremely experienced driver and has taken us all over the central Andes. Here he is in front of our hotel in Huancavelica:

The Huancavelica branch is small and meets in a "casa capilla," a rented building (situated behind a big green door):

The church building has a courtyard, from which you can see the mountains in the background:

Scott had wonderful interviews with the district leaders, men and women, and their spouses. As with most places we go, the members of the Huancavelica district wanted their pictures taken with us. Of course, we were thrilled to get pictures of them. The Huancavelica branch president is the man standing on a ledge behind Beverly. The Lircay branch president is the man with glasses on the back row, two people to Scott's right. The first and second counselors in the Huancavelica District presidency are the two men on the far right. The district president isn't in the picture because he now works in another town and was unable to attend:

One of the youngest members of the Huancavelica branch is Abinadí, shown here sleeping. He is the one-year-old son of the second counselor in the district presidency.

Our third miracle was that, in addition to interviewing the district leaders and their spouses, Scott was able to help a man whose membership privileges had been suspended. The man was confused about some doctrine and after Scott explained it to him, he realized he wanted to come back into full fellowship in the Church. He and his wife were so happy, they left sobbing.

Perhaps the biggest miracle of all was that we made it back to Tarma safely. What a trip!

Alfombras de Flores (Flower Carpets)

2009-04-06T17:13:00.011-06:00

On Sunday morning (April 5), Scott got up early and went outside to take a picture of the Plaza de Armas (central square) where our hotel was located. He was surprised to find the main street of town being filled with "carpets of flowers" as part of Semana Santa (Holy Week) leading up to Easter. Here's a picture of the cathedral, people milling around, and other people creating flower carpets:

Why are they making carpets of flowers? Probably for the same reason that we make parade floats out of roses in the U.S. Many of the flower carpets have a religious theme, as does this one below:

But others have a business theme or an ecology theme, like this one:

The colors from the flower rugs are made up completely of leaves and flower petals, as this close-up shows.

The carpets of flowers probably covered 10 blocks of the main street and no traffic was allowed on the main street. By the time we came back from church three hours later, the carpets of flowers were no longer there and traffic was back to normal:

Many of the carpets of flowers had a picture of the Savior in the middle of them:

Vendors were selling their wares on the sidewalks all along the main street. Scott paid this woman 5 soles ($2.70) for a pair of colorful, handmade, wool gloves, with the condition that she let him take a picture. She was happy to get the 5 soles and to have her picture taken:

These two women were selling flower petals:

The most famous "alfombras de flores" are made in our town of Tarma. We'll find out on Thursday whether the carpets of flowers are better in Tarma than the ones we saw in Huancavelica.

Scenic Trip to Huancavelica

2009-04-06T15:55:00.012-06:00

Our recent trip to Huancavelica was a wonderful treat. This post is about the spectacular scenery that we saw as we traveled along the spine of the High Central Andes from Tarma to Huancavelica, the southern-most town in our mission. Scott snapped over 300 pictures and could easily have posted 100 breathtaking views. But he showed constraint and only posted six representative pictures. If you want to see more, check our Picasa Web Albums.

All along the 6-hour trip, we encountered farmlands and villages like this one:

These high valleys, at altitudes of 12,000 to 15,000 feet, included huge tracts of sheep pasturelands:

Nearly the entire trip consisted of tight cutbacks as we climbed up above one valley and then dropped back down into the next valley:

During our journey, we saw hardly any land that was not covered by farms:

Many farmhouses clung to the sides of mountains:

We got dizzy looking from the tops of the mountains down into the valleys below:

Both of us were worried before our trip because we had heard so many stories about how dangerous the road was with its numerous curves and steep climbs. But the highway turned out to be in excellent shape, and the beauty of the vistas took our mind off the danger. We look forward to going back to Huancavelica next month.

Eduardo's Baptism

2009-04-04T07:52:00.003-06:00

Eduardo Alejandro Durand Florián is the son of our best friends in Tarma, the Durand family. On Friday, April 3, 2009, Eduardo turned 8 and was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Here he is after the baptism:

We posed with him and his family before the baptism:

This is a special family to us. Unfortunately, Brother Durand's work has moved him from Tarma to La Merced, in the jungle about an hour and a half from Tarma. We will miss this family.

The baptism was wonderful. Just so you know some of the challenges that church members face here in Tarma, look at the dirty tap water, shown here in the baptismal font. The water also was freezing cold:

In spite of the cold, dirty water, Eduardo had the courage to go through with his baptism, as do many wonderful Peruvian people in Tarma.

Eduardo's Birthday Party

2009-04-04T07:06:00.008-06:00

After his baptism on Friday, Eduardo's family held a birthday party for him. Here Eduardo (center) poses with two of his friends:

The missionaries, Elders Keel and Santos, help blow up balloons for the party:

The balloons honor Eduardo Durand Florián for his 8th birthday:

The party involved music, friends, balloons, and dancing. We left after being at the party for 2 hours, just as the dancing began (and the music got very loud). When we passed by the restaurant 2 hours later (on our way to the church), the birthday party was still going strong and the kids were still dancing!

This picture shows some of the food at the party (notice the gelatin in cups, candy on round trays, and popcorn in paper cones):

Scott took a series of pictures of the little boys and one girl sitting in a row in front of us. As time went on, the boys got more restless waiting for the party to begin. (We waited for 2 hours.) Other boys showed up and they all tried to sit in the same seats. As you follow these time-lapse pictures, watch the behavior of the boys as compared to the little girl at the right:

Kids are kids everywhere in the world.

Typical Peruvian Street Market

2009-04-03T06:52:00.006-06:00

While Beverly was teaching her music lesson at the church in La Oroya two weeks ago, I (Scott) wondered to the nearby street market because no one came for my Book of Mormon class. La Oroya (12,200 ft) is a famous mining and refinery city in the central highlands and is well known for its polluted air. Nevertheless, it has bright, colorful street makets similar to the mercados found throughout the Peruvian highlands.

Here a woman sells her flowers, which come from Tarma:

This stand specializes in fruits, many of whose names I don't know in English or Spanish. I did recognize bananas, mangos, limes, and pineapples:

This woman has fresh fruits and vegetables from the nearby farms. Here you can see tomatoes, red peppers, hot peppers, apples, grapes, onions, and limes:

These women have huge sacks of the numerous species of potatoes grown in Peru:

I chatted with this 69-year-old merchant for about twenty minutes and invited him to church. He was as charming as his face shows in this pictures:

The man's wife is shown here. She looks angry, but she's just trying to get the attention of a fellow worker for some change. Her apron serves as her cash register and the pouch hanging around her neck holds a cell phone:

Farther into town, this colorful market sells everything you can think of---fruits, vegetables, clothing, electronics, hardware, etc.:

I love the sights, sounds, and smells (usually) of these Peruvian markets.

Mi Compañero: Then and Now

2009-04-01T13:20:00.012-06:00

We are celebrating the anniversary of two important events in our life: 42 years ago today, Scott and I got engaged; one year ago today, President Monson signed our mission papers. These pictures are of Scott on his first mission in Peru and on his current mission in Peru. Here he is in downtown Lima (in the first photo, Scott is on the far right):

With his mission president and some of the office missionaries in Lima (in the old picture, Scott is on the far left):

With some of the missionaries in his Zone (Scott is on the far right in the first photo):

With his companion (Scott is on the left in the first photo):

His official mission photo:

And other "then and now" pictures:

Scott's Spiritual Experience in Junín

2009-03-30T19:31:00.011-06:00

I'm not sure why this special, sacred experience happened to me in Junín, a remote, wind-blown town in the high altiplano of the central Andes. This shows the LDS chapel fence on the right on a typical Junín street:

Maybe because of the inspiration I felt when such wonderful children showed up to Beverly's music lessons, four of whom are shown here:

Or maybe because of the six people who attended my Book of Mormon class, among whom were the branch president and his family; a recently returned sister missionary; and a young man who is just submitting his papers for his mission. This picture shows Beverly and me with the returned sister missionary:

Or maybe because I needed this experience as a further personal witness of the Book of Mormon, as promised in my patriarchal blessing.

Regardless of why it happened in Junín, it was a special experience:

As I was reviewing the notes I had prepared for the Book of Mormon class and meditating on the scriptures in a freezing cold classroom in the Junín chapel, I felt a warm sensation in my chest—a true burning of the bosom—which I recognized as a witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

And then, when the class began, the eyes of my understanding were opened, and I was able to perceive the meaning of the scriptures with more clarity than perhaps at any time in my life. I mentioned to the students that the Book of Mormon was a book of covenants—nothing new there—and then I drew a diagram of one of the major themes of the Book of Mormon—the deliverance pattern, which includes captivity, deliverance, exodus, and the Promised Land—and I drew an arrow between the word exodus and the phrase Promised Land. I asked the students, "How do we have a successful exodus through the wilderness (our life on earth) to the Promised Land (our celestial reward)?" And the answer (which seems obvious in retrospect) is: we make and keep covenants. And why? Because through covenant keeping, we gain the guidance of the Holy Ghost.

The Liahona was a covenant by which the Lehites were guided through the fertile lands (blessed states of righteousness) during their exodus through the wilderness, just as we are guided through our mortal sojourn by keeping covenants and thereby receiving the Spirit. This process of exodus to the Promised Land was repeated three times—among the Lehites, the Jaredites, and the Mulekites—to fulfill the law of witnesses—so that we would understand that these three stories are our stories; they are stories of our exodus on earth.

We then re-read 1 Nephi 1:1 from the perspective of the deliverance pattern and saw for the first time that this verse is a mini-summary of the entire Book of Mormon. When Nephi says he was born of goodly parents, he refers not only to Lehi and Sariah but also to his lineage in the House of Israel. When he says that he learned the knowledge of his father, he was referring to his knowledge of the covenant between Jehovah and Abraham, which was passed down to his day, and which is renewed in our day through the Book of Mormon to the remnant of the House of Israel. When he said he endured much affliction, he was referring to his exodus in the wilderness (our sojourn on earth). When he says he was highly favored of the Lord, he is saying that he kept the covenant and received the Spirit. That’s how we become favored of the Lord.

We then read 1 Nephi 2:2-4, about Lehi’s call into the wilderness and likened his leaving all his riches to our leaving the riches of being in the presence of God to come to earth. The veil of forgetfulness causes us to come to earth with nothing, even as Lehi went into the wilderness with nothing.

In these early verses in the Book of Mormon, we are given an overview of the theme of the entire book: We succeed in our travel to the Promised Land (celestial glory) through making and keeping covenants.

I'm sure most of you reading this post knew all these things, but for me it was a personal revelation, given while teaching a Book of Mormon class to the descendants of Lehi, the remnants of the House of Israel, in a remote town in the high Andes.

Music and Dance in the Tarma District

2009-03-28T20:28:00.013-06:00

Every Saturday, we travel to two outlying branches to teach piano lessons and Book of Mormon. Today nine students came to Beverly's music class in Junín. Here is Fredy, Beverly's prize student. He has really practiced during the past two weeks and can already play several very simple hymns:

Thirteen students showed up to the music class in La Oroya. That brought the total number of Beverly's music students for the week to 40. They ranged in age from 4 to 60. Here are some of the students in La Oroya:

In this picture some of the piano students in La Oroya watch one of their group (Percy) trying to play the piano. Notice our nonmember driver (in the back, on the right). He sat through the music classes in both Junín and La Oroya. He and his family have also begun having the missionary lessons from the young missionaries:

After our day-long travels, we arrived back to Tarma in time to attend a district Primary activity. Here some young Primary girls doing a traditional Peruvian dance. They are high-spirited, very coordinated little girls:

Our four Tarma missionaries also enjoyed the event (l to r: Elder Keel, Elder Santos, Elder Illachura, and Elder Wengren):

The five dancers pose for a photo. Their names are Yomira, Yomara, Michaell, Dayana (she has twice been to our home for Family Home Evening), and Tamara:

Can you see in their faces how the Lamanites are flourishing as a rose, even in this remote part of the Lord's vineyard?

Our Trip to Huánuco

2009-03-24T13:52:00.009-06:00

Our Multi-Zone Conference was held Monday in Huánuco, near the far northern part of our mission, about 5 hour's ride from Tarma. We had to go to San Pedro de Cajas (again!) to pick up Scott's triple combination that he left there the week before. Scott ended up with 5 interviews while we were there, so it was worth the trip. Here's a shot of part of the town and the road that leads out of town toward Huánuco:

On our way out of town, we stopped at Cachipozo, a pair of natural salt wells considered sacred by the locals:

Near Cachipozo is a set of ancient white rock walls:

To get from San Pedro to Huánuco, we had to drive through the rugged Andes Mountains. Notice how high up the farmlands go:

In Huánuco, we stayed at the Grand Hotel in a large, well-decorated room:

There were about 50 missionaries at the Multi-Zone Conference. Our Tarma elders attended the conference. Here are Elder Keel, Elder Santos, Elder Illachura, and Elder Wengren:

On the way home, we saw this large herd of llamas near a lake at an elevation of 15,000 feet above sea level:

We also passed Lake Junín, the largest lake in Perú. It's a famous bird refuge. You can see the Cordillera de la Viuda in the background (click the picture to see a larger view):

The trip was a spiritual treat, not just because we attended a wonderful conference, but also because we were able to give the second missionary discussion to our driver. (We gave him the first discussion on an earlier trip.) He has attended a testimony meeting, one of Beverly's music classes, and the sacrament meeting in San Pedro de Cajas. He accepted our challenge to read the Book of Mormon, pray about it, and be baptized.

Scott's Morning Walk

2009-03-20T09:56:00.007-06:00

Today I went out on my morning power walk/run with my camera in hand. I headed east up the hill, and within 15 minutes I was out in the countryside:

I met this man harvesting his crop to take home to his animals:

I walked/jogged on by, but on my way back down the hill, the man was walking up with his load and his sickle:

I chatted with the man for a few minutes and found out that he is originally from San Pedro de Cajas. He then asked me if I would take another picture as a souvenir:

Later, I stopped to chat with these two women, who were loading milk onto their donkey to take the milk to market:

By the way, I always ask people for permission to take their pictures. One friendly woman with whom I chatted for a few minutes declined; all the others accepted my request and were happy to see themselves on my camera LCD afterwards. I love these happy, bright, hard-working Peruvians.

Our Trip to San Pedro de Cajas

2009-03-15T17:20:00.013-06:00

We left Tarma at 7:30 am and headed through the high Andes mountains to attend church in San Pedro de Cajas (altitude 13,300 ft.). This is rich farmland, and the Peruvians try to use every square inch possible, right up the sides of the mountains and down into the valleys:

The narrow and bumpy dirt road followed the agricultural valley and then did a series of cutbacks up the side of the steep mountain:

When we didn't stop to think about how close the road was to the edge of the cliff, we enjoyed vistas like this one:

At the top of the mountain, the terrain leveled off somewhat, leaving a patchwork of more farms. The purple-flowered plants shown here are potatoes:

As we approached San Pedro de Cajas, we saw the small farms of the village:

The branch of the church in San Pedro de Cajas is part of the Tarma District. There is a nice chapel (which stayed a not-so-nice 45 degrees during the entire meetings). In Sacrament Meeting, Beverly bore her testimony and Scott gave a 20-minute talk. Here are a few of the members: the branch president is 4th from the left on the back row and the two full-time missionaries, Elders Bird and Costo, are front and center:

This is a picture of one of the little Primary girls:

After church, we walked along this street to attend a social at a church member's home:

This woman is one of the church members who attended the party.

Several of the sisters of the branch posed for this picture:

The hostess of the ward social was happy to have Scott take her picture:

The food at the social was "pachamanca," a favorite here in the high Andes. It is like a "Dutch oven" dinner, but instead of an oven, they use a hole in the ground, lined with leaves. The hole is filled with potatoes, meat, husk-wrapped bananas with raisins, etc., and the whole thing is covered with red-hot stones:

Today was another amazing adventure for us here in Peru!