Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time - In Peru

 Christmas was different this year!

Instead of 40+ boxes of decorations, I had  two nativity scenes, a Christmas train and a few lights. George took time out from his busy schedule closing out the mission financial records to put together this shelf for me.

I think it looked quite festive!

Rather than a lot of baking for friends and neighbors, I baked a lot of sugar cookies for some very appreciative missionaries.

When I returned from the US in October, I brought back one can of pumpkin but no pie plate so instead of a round pie, we enjoyed a square one. 

 The Assistants to the President, who ate Christmas dinner with us, didn’t seem to mind the shape.  For Elder Vallejo, it was his first taste of pumpkin pie.

 

No winter wonderland here! 

It is summer with the temperatures and fierce sunshine to prove it.

From exactly midnight until 3:00 a.m. Christmas Eve there were fireworks which definitely added to a 4th of July feel of the high temperatures.

A few things were the same..

Santa made an appearance.

William, our driver is so fun!  It takes a special guy to wear a Santa suit in this weather.

He delighted the missionaries we visited that day.

The youth and children at church put on a sweet nativity, which brought back lots of good memories from our years in Barcelona.

Out Bishop invited us to join the ward leaders for a Christmas party at his home.  A highlight was a wild White Elephant Gift exchange which they called an American tradition. At first it was quite tame until Elder Lewis decided to steal an already opened gift.  Then things got crazy!

What a fun group!

Back at home in the USA, our children and grandchildren enjoyed the holiday.

Scott flew over to Boise and stayed with Matt and Cady.

Our two boys went snowboarding at Brundage.

Mary, Mark, Jackson and Trevor celebrated in Harper’s Ferry.

John, Monica and Isabella didn’t go to Paris.  John is a master at AI! 

Christmas in Meridian was great for Isabella!

We missed some of our ‘normal’ Christmas activities but embraced the opportunity to celebrate in a new culture, Truly we are so grateful to be here in Piura to commemorate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, the blessings of His atonement and the promise of resurrection and eternal life.

What’s An Office Missionary

 We believe that missionaries are called of God through his living prophet.  Young missionaries, single men ages 18-25 and single young women ages 18 -29 are full time proselyting missionaries with the purpose of inviting others to come to the Savior.  Senior missionaries like us are not proselyting missionaries but instead serve in a variety of ways all around the world. Some senior missionaries will look after the health of the younger missionaries, others will be looking for partnerships to do humanitarian projects, others will support local leaders and members, some will help in Family History Centers, or with college students.  There are many ways to serve. George and I were called to be ‘Office Specialists’.  Our Mission President then decided how he felt we could best serve in the office.  George is the ‘Financial Secretary’ and he and I share the responsibility of “Housing Secretary.’ We both feel that our job is to help take care of the temporal needs of the young elders and sisters so that the Mission Leaders can concentrate on their spiritual well being.

The office in Piura has been staffed by young missionaries since the mission started.  While they did outstanding in their office jobs, their calling is really to ‘Invite other to come to Christ.’  President Van Alfen says that the young elders in the office are sacrificing so that others can go out and find and teach. The 9 senior missionaries who are here now are the first in this mission.  Two fantastic Peruvian couples are serving in a city a couple of hours north of here and doing a wonderful job supporting local members and leaders.  And as an added blessing, they help us with our apartment inspections.

The mission office is on the upper floor of this building. 

The ground floor is an apartment for young missionaries.  The two Assistants to the President live there along with another set of proselyting elders.  Like in many houses in Peru, you enter an outside door into a sort of courtyard.  Then if you go straight ahead you walk into the missionary apartment.  

To the right is a garage which we use for storage. 

To the left and up these stairs is the office. 

There is a nice lobby area and Hermana Malpica, the Office Secretary’s desk.

Looking back from the door to the other offices.

Our office and the Nye’s office is in the back.

Elder Lewis and I share an office.  Luckily it is big enough that we have room to sort supplies that go to various zones.  On this day we were also organizing supplies to replenish the emergency backpacks that each missionary has.

Through that back door is another storage room for pots and pans, cleaning supplies, dishes, silverware, all kinds of kitchen supplies, pillows, trash cans, dish drainers and other things that are needed in missionary apartments.  The church requires that each apartment have a smoke/CO detector and in some countries, like Peru, a water filter. 

Elder Lewis and I share an office.  I am trying to learn not to talk to Elder Lewis too much.

I guess that I am slowly learning work place cubicle etiquette.

Elder Von, the young missionary who trained us lamented the fact that the church hadn’t gone to a paperless office.  Personally I am glad to have paper copies of things but then I am old.  See all these notebooks. The bottom 2 shelves hold notebooks for each apartment in our mission.  We have a signed copy of the contract plus any addendas, copies of the tax payment each landlord is required to pay based on the rent they receive and information from each inspection.  The binders on the other shelf are monthly financial records.  That is all Elder Lewis!  I handle the housing notebooks.

In the very back and down at the apartment level is another storage area where we keep enough furniture to furnish 2 apartments should the need quickly arise.  Also lots of water filters, blankets, sheets, and mattress covers.

Carrying things up and down the spiral stairs was difficult.  Luckily now a lot of the things I use the most are stored in the room behind our office, instead of down stairs.

Interesting that lots of Peruvian apartments have a storage area like this that is partially open to the outside.  It has rained once in the 6 months we have been here so that rain isn’t a problem but bats can be! One of our missionary apartments had a brief infestation.  Luckily the bats seem to have moved on, at least for now. That apartment also had rats.  I told them that another apartment also had rats but when the downstairs neighbors got a cat, the rats were no longer a problem. Don’t you think that Dr. Seuss could write a good story about this apartment? Bats, rats and cats!

When we were going through our specific office missionary training at the Missionary Training Center, we were reminded of the story from the New Testament of Mary and Martha found in Luke 10. Like Martha, we are often ‘cumbered about much serving’.  Yes we are busy but we try hard to never let the business  get in the way of loving, spending time with or being kind to a missionary or anyone else.

Layout of office

Financial SEcretary

Housing secretary

Supply Chain management 

Inspections/ Spiritual thoughts,,,variety of missionaries; all are serving and reaching people; it really is a marvelous thing to watch

Music & the Spoken Word

One of the ‘perks’ of our bonus mission at the Church Headquarters is that we can just walk across the street and attend a broadcast of Music & the Spoken Word.  If you haven't heard of it, here’s a brief introduction.  

“For more than nine decades, nearly the lifetime of radio, The Tabernacle Choir has presented a weekly program — Music & the Spoken Word — without interruption, giving voice to peace, hope, inspiration and the goodness of God. No other broadcast can claim such a heritage.The first broadcast of Music & the Spoken Word was on a summer afternoon, July 15, 1919.  Today, 96 years later, it is the longest continuous weekly network broadcast.  In a world so noisy and full of distraction, this program continues as a welcome reprieve, fulfilling through word and song our hope expressed each Sunday: “May peace be with you this day and always.”

The amazing talents and spirit that fills the Tabernacle each Sunday morning during the taping of the 30 minutes broadcast is a perfect way to start our Sabbath day.

I thought I would share a few tidbits from the  ‘spoken words’ we’ve enjoyed over the last weeks.

I wish I could share the music with you but it is readily available on YouTube.

“Kindness is a lovely force but it can only be powered by people.  For all our magical gadgets, no appliances, instrument, apparatus or device can extend kindness to another human being.  That power is vested only in people. “ Anne O

“So what’s in a name?  When it comes to the name of Jesus Christ, everything.  His titles and names remind us of His divine role in our lives-bringing us hope, healing, transformation, and salvation.  He is our Savior. He is our Redeemer. He is our Christ.”

‘The individual piece and stitches of our service to others may appear small and insignificant.  But a tapestry could never be called beautiful without the thousands of individual stitches by which it was made.  ‘Great things are not done by impulse,’ said Vincent Van Gogh, ‘But by a series of small things brought together.”

“Jesus Christ laid down His life for you and me, His friends.  And it’s this great sacrifice-this greater love-that is known as the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  His atonement includes His suffering, death, and Resurrection, which together makes it possible for us to return home to God and to receive heavenly help along the way.

The Savior’s love is more powerful than our biggest mistakes.  Because of His atonement, we can repent and begin anew.  

Jesus’s love is stronger than our deepest sorrow, depression, and even our most vexing anxieties.  Because of His Atonement, we can find peace and hope.”

‘The pace of life has changed-yes. But not the purpose or the principles. Let no one be deceived about flexibility as to fundamental principles. We cannot afford to be flexible in terms or honesty.  We cannot afford to be flexible in matters of virtue, old fashioned as the word may seem.  Flexibility must not mean setting aside considerate manners, or sound morals, or honorable obligations-or setting aside the commandments or tampering with the basic laws of life……to change the superstructure-the facing and the fashions- is one thing, but to tamper with the foundations is another…..the age old, God given rules of honesty, morality, responsibility….and even the inner voice called conscience are still what they have always were, no matter how times have changed, no matter how modern we feel, no matter how flexible other things may be.”

“It is life’s challenges, the weight, the strain, and the struggle, that true inner strength is forged. May we discover that the quiet work of building inner strength has the power to transform us and lift us and inspire those around us.”

“Nearly 600 years ago, Thomas á Kempis, in his book, The Imitation of Christ, wrote: ‘Love is an excellent thing….It bears a burden without being weighted and renders sweet all that is bitter…..Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger or higher or wider, nothing is more pleasant, nothing fuller’. God is a God of love and we can feel the power of His love as we exercise faith and trust in Him..  Thee is power in love - it is God’s power.  Power that can change our lives, power that can change the world.”

It was raining in Salt Lake City this morning so we were very happy that Music and The Spoken Word is now being broadcast from the Conference Center which is right across the street from our apartment.  During the summer when the number of tourists in Salt Lake City swells, the larger and more comfortable Conference Center is better equipped to handle the crowds. It’s only about 2 blocks to the Tabernacle but in the rain it was nice to only walk 1 block.

I was particularly touched by both the music and the spoken word this morning.

“Faith is that quality of trust which prevents the uncertainty of the future from destroying the opportunities of the present-which brings peace in the midst of confusion, and sleep even when some problems are unsolved.  Faith is trust, belief, conviction, a force in the lives of all balanced men, and it leaves an awful emptiness when it dies or departs.”

“And thus it is with prayer.  We may not know quite how it works, but we don’t need to. The Lord has not burdened us with complicated formulas.  He has made the process of prayer so simple that a humble child on his knees can make it work.  The only requirements are that out desires be righteous and our supplication to be sincere.  The Lord stands ever anxious to assist us.”

“Knowing that God’s love for us is real and unchanging can calm the storms of life and bring meaning amid uncertainly.  God will not forget us or forsake us.  In this we have peace - a peace that comes from knowing that the world and its affairs remains in the loving and all powerful hands of Him who created it in the beginning.”

Today to celebrate Memorial Day, the choir sang several patriotic songs.

I loved listening to

America The Beautiful

Shenandoah

God Bless America.

This photo taken by our son John seemed appropriate to include.

“In a way we are each writing our own epitaphs today.  Our remembered acts may include a few things we did in life, but our lives will in large part be remembered for how we did those things.  What we do matters, but how we do it matters even more.”

“He who suffered the most, Jesus Christ, always reached outward, relieving the suffering of those around Him.  His perfect character enables His perfect love to extend to each of us always.”

Our last ‘Music and the Spoken Word’ was memorable!

First, our son Scott surprised us with a visit.  I don’t have the words to explain how great it was to hug my ‘baby’.

Plus we happened to see our friends from Lake Oswego - Mary and Dave.  They recently moved from Oregon and are ‘grandparents jumping’ between Texas and Utah.  It was great to catch up with them.

The last ‘spoken words’ didn’t disappoint either and seemed appropriate for us as we start the next mission adventure.

“As we reach for the Savior with our whole soul, we find that ‘His arms are always open, extended, stretched out, and encircling. They are described as mighty and holy, arms of mercy, arms of safety, arms of love, ‘lengthened out all the day long’.  Indeed when we spiritually stretch towards Him with all the might we can muster, the Savior ‘reaches our reaching’”

Serving a mission in Peru will cause us to do a lot of ‘reaching’ for the Savior.  And I know that He will always be there reaching out for us with love, mercy, forgiveness and strength.

Conference April 2025

 We live directly across the street from the Conference Center so we watched the preparations all last week.  Everything was given a spring refresh, from the flower beds to the railings.  One perk of being at the Headquarters Mission is that we did get tickets for conference.  What a magnificent building! It seats 21,000 people and as far as I could tell was completely full.

We were way up in the 2nd balcony but the view was still very good.  And of course they also have jumbo TV’s so that you can really see the speakers’ faces.

The spirit was strong and testified to me of the divine calling of each of these men and women.

My faith in my Savior was strengthened and my resolve to serve Him, on this mission, and as long as I live grew.

A few of my favorite quotes from the 5 conference sessions, 

Each April and again in October, members of our church and others are blessed to listen to words of council and encouragement from our church leaders.  When we are home in Idaho, we watch on TV. Congregation around the world make arrangements for their members to participate by satellite or internet. It truly is a time of the outpouring of the spirit.

This year our beloved prophet, Russel M Nelson, who will be 101 years old in September, attended the last session.  His message was prerecorded but his presence was a blessing to all who attended or who listened at home or at a church building.

Hopefully in October we will be watching in Peru.