Our Miracle Home in Tarma

The Area Presidency asked us to move to Tarma to help the Tarma District prepare to become a stake. We've had several spiritual experiences that have helped us know that we need to be in Tarma. But most Peruvian mountain towns lack satisfactory housing by North American standards. We've had US missionaries, as well as a former president of our mission, tell us we would probably not be able to find adequate housing in Tarma.

We knew it would take a miracle for us to find a place to live, so we fasted and prayed for a miracle. We also asked for help from members of the Tarma District.

On Monday, January 19, after a weekend in Tarma working with leaders and attending church, we were shown various rental options by the district executive secretary, Brother Román, and the Modelo Branch elders quorum president, Brother Durmán (whom Scott met during a temple recommend interview in Lima a couple of months ago).

We looked at 9-10 places. None of them had hot water, refrigerator, stove, sufficient electrical outlets, or places for our automatic washing machine, etc. Most were dirty and run down.

A Miracle. But then we found the three-level home shown above. It's more than we could have hoped for. We will rent the first two floors. Other renters will be in the third floor and the owner of the home will move to one of three adjoining apartments. Our part of the home has a large living room, large kitchen, two bathrooms, and five bedrooms.

The home is clean and fully furnished, with refrigerator, gas range, tables, beds, etc. Furnished apartments are unheard of in Tarma. They're even rare in Lima.

The kitchen and bathrooms have hot running water. We don't even have that in our apartment in Lima! This is probably the only home in Tarma with hot water in all the sinks and showers.

Another Miracle. It turns out that Brother Durmán works for the largest banking chain in Peru and he deals with contracts and other legal matters. He drew up a rental agreement that both we and the landlady signed on the spot and which will safeguard us. We will move to Tarma in mid February.

The home also comes with a big yard, as you can see in this picture.


This shows the entrance to the house. It doesn't look like much--which, for security reasons is exactly how it needs to be. You can see the battered blue steel entryway and the high walls around the lot. It is located on a quiet side street about four blocks from the main town market, about seven blocks from the main city square (Plaza de Armas), and about a mile from the LDS chapel.


We would be unfaithful servants if we failed to bear witness of God's mercy to us. He has answered our prayers so that we can serve Him in Tarma. We know we are engaged in the work of the Lord in fulfilling the prophecies of the Book of Mormon that the truth would go forth to the children of Lehi and the house of Manasseh.