Palermo Stake Conference

The last two days have been busy at the temple. It is nice to have a Sunday to go to church.

Wayne took this picture of us before we left for our meeting.

We saw the Hartman's leave about 9:15 this morning and wondered which ward they were going to.  At about 9:30, President Casós invited us to go to the Palermo Stake Conference with them. We were going to it anyway so we rode with them.  When we got to the church, the Hartman's were there.

The meeting was very good. I had a neat experience at the meeting. I don't understand much Spanish. I always listen and try to figure out what is being said, sometimes I get it. This morning was one of those times when the spirit touched me as Pres. Valdivia spoke. He talked about the young man who had just sung a beautiful song, With God, Nothing Is Impossible.  This young man's mother had passed away the week before,  Pres. Valdivia mentioned how this young man might have told them he couldn't sing, and how hard it would be for him to sing.  He sang it beautifully. Pres. Valdivia went on to say how important the temple is and that when we're participating in temple work we help those people who can't do it for themselves.  The spirit touched me and I knew that as I serve in the temple everyday, I am helping others and that's where I should be.

The choir sang two beautiful songs, Our Savior's Love and Love Is Spoken Here.  Both made me cry!  It was a wonderful conference and I enjoyed it.

These are some of the Sisters that sang in the choir: Sis. Quintanilla, Sis, Haro, Sister Valdivia, Kiera, and Sister Meza in front. The light from the windows make this picture not so good but it's all I got.

I made meat loaf (with apple cinnamon oatmeal, by mistake), creamy potatoes and carrots for lunch.  I made this banana cake for our treat.

We have had a great Sunday.

Just a note- James Eardley plays on the Dixie High basketball team.   They won the state 3A championship last night.  James is a senior.

Macro

Today we decided to go back to Macro to get some more plates and some of the candies like peanut M&M's.  We also bought some forks and spoons and ------

I liked these plates because they have a Peruvian look to them.
Only in Peru!

The Mango

I have never had a fresh mango.  While were at the market with the Fackrells.  I bought one because right now they are in season here and are suppose to be really good.   I peeled it and cut it into chunks so we could eat it.

It was delicious!  I will be getting more of these.

Today is George's birthday.  He is 2.  We love you Georgie!

Tonight we are going to Sister Malca's house for a party with her family.  That will be the next post.

2/22/16

Today is Monday!  It is our day off so this morning we went to the store to get groceries.   We didn't really need much but we did need milk.

We decided to go to lunch. We went to Chong Woa.

This pineapple had rice in it.  It was quite a presentation and very good.

We ended up eating with the Sister Sisters, Sister Angell and Sister Vaughan, Jim and Patty Fackrell and their daughter Kara, and Bill and Sandy Hartman.  President and Sister Marler came and visited us.  We sat on a round table so it was easy to visit.  We laughed, told stories, and had a great time.

The Sister-Sisters said they had chocolate chips at a store called Makrel's.

We found them and some candy like peanut M&M's and we got dishes that won't break.

We had a great day!

Plaza, Chan Chan Ward, and Knitting

We left our apartment early this morning.  We decided to go to the Chan Chan Ward. The chapel is a few blocks away from the Plaza de Armas.  Every Sunday morning, they have a special flag ceremony, the military band plays, and they have a parade.  These are some of the pictures.

This is the band. They played the Peruvian National Anthem. Wayne liked that.  He videoed it but It was too long to attach. Sorry.

These are the search and rescue men and women. They stood at attention and sang as the band played.

This picture shows the different groups lined up to be the parade.

I liked this picture.  The women in the middle are dressed in the Peruvian skirts with their braided hair and hats.

There were some Gerber Daisies that they'd just planted in the flower beds.

The sacrament meeting was good.  We saw many of the people who work at the temple. It was a good morning.

When we got home, I made a chicken  and broccoli casserole for our lunch.  It wasn't very good and it made the house stinky.

In the afternoon, Sandy Hartman came and I showed her how to knit checkerboard slippers.

Bill joined us and showed us how to play a fun and easy card game.  It was nice to share out Sunday afternoon with the Hartman's and to do fun things with them. We enjoyed it.

A few days ago I mentioned that I needed to crochet myself some hot pads. The ones I have are bulky and I don't like them. Sandy was with me and said, "just a minute!"  She came back with these for me. She knitted them for me.  I thought it was so sweet of her.  She is my good friend and I sure do love her.

We had a great Sunday!  Tomorrow starts another week. The  Sister Sisters and the Fackrell's want to go to lunch so we will have a good time tomorrow.

Bananas! Bananas! BANANAS!

This morning Jim and Patty Fackrell stopped at the temple on their way back from the airport. They had picked up their daughter Kara who came to Peru to visit for 10 days.  In January Kara returned from her mission in Latvia.

They invited us to go to the market with them. I really wanted to go and was happy when Wayne said ok. All 5 of us piled into a taxi and we were on our way to the Hermalinda Market.

This market has everything, it is big, and it was fun to see.

We saw a lot of interesting things, live animals including pigs and a lot of chickens.  There were a lot of different shops and people selling their goods.

We bought 4 Avocados from a guy selling them out of a wheelbarrow for 2 soles and a Mango that was 2 soles.  The bananas were something to see. I have never seen so many bananas all in one place!

They were unloading big trucks full of green bananas.

We had a great time seeing all of the stuff there.  Wayne and I wanted to buy two things, a thermometer and a fan like those that unfold to use at church.  We didn't find either.  Thanks to the Fackrell's for a fun morning.

2/16/2016

Tuesday morning Sister Hartman asked me to take this picture of these people for her.

They had met them the day before at the Central Market.  I don't have their names but I do know the young couple are married and have lived in Provo for about 15 years. They were here visiting her parents who are the older couple.

The parents were receiving their endowments this morning and then they were sealed together. Their daughter was sealed to them too.  Brother Hartman served his mission here 50 years ago. This old man said he remembered Elder Hartman coming to his house when he was a teenager.  He didn't want anything to do with the missionaries then.  It was so neat to make that connection.

The old couple have been members for a little over a year. The Hartman's arranged to officiate the session they were in and Bro. Hartman was able to be a witness at their sealing.

There is more to this story.  It is their story to tell.  Go to their blog to read the rest of the story. It is really cool.  Tender mercies!! 

The story starts at the bottom of this post, and is continued in this post.

2/16/2016

6 months ago tomorrow, we left our family and home to serve our mission here in Peru.  What a great experience it has been.  We have enjoyed it and everything that comes along with it.  I do miss our kids, Grandkids, home, and Hooper.

It has been another fast week.  Today Wayne went with me to the Central Market to get some yarn. These are pictures outside the market on the street.

I think this is a load of sugar cane in this car.

This guy is selling chickens.

We bought some yarn.  I should be busy for a long time. Each color was 6 soles which is about $2.00

I loved the market.  We had been there before when Cory and Sarah were here.  It is so interesting to me to see the many varieties of Peruvians selling their goods.

We stopped at our mall on our way home to get a few groceries.

We were hoping the Subway would be open for lunch, but not yet, maybe soon.
 

We got our lunch at McDonald's and took it home to eat.

I wanted to get busy making checkers slippers out of the yarn.

I made this one first and did it wrong.  It is too skinny to get my foot in.  I'm doing another pair.  Hopefully they will be better.

I wanted to add this pictures of our missionary badges.  There is just something special about them.

We go back to the temple tomorrow to work on the next 17 months.

2/15/2016 ::: 6 months

We've come to the beginning of another week here at the temple here in Peru.  We have been here 6 months.  We still enjoy it and are so blessed.

Yesterday we went to church at the Palermo ward.

These are the Elders serving in this ward. Elder Anderson from Taylorsville and Elder Taures from Equador.

Elders Stevens from Texas, Gibson from Nevada, Ganza from Columbia, Weber from Oregon, and Wayne.  These Elders serve in the California ward and they were just leaving as we were getting out of sacrament meeting.  We love the young missionaries.

This was in Relief Society we sang Happy Birthday to a sister, the one in the orange shirt by Sister Malca who is on the right.  Sister Malca is probably almost 90 yrs old. She comes to the temple as a volunteer and helps fold clothes in the laundry.  She was also here 40 years ago when Wayne was a young missionary.  She and her husband are pioneers in the church in Trujillo.  Her husband died almost 2 yrs ago.

Sister Meza the mom and Sister Quintanilla the daughter.  They are great friends.

Brother Brionies with Wayne.  His sister Berta got married 40 years ago to Surgio Bendizu.  Wayne went to their marriage.  Brother Briones was 3 yrs old then.  He told us he remembers playing with the Elders then.  It was fun for Wayne to make that connection.

This group was outside the church. The lady in the orange is in the Relief Society. The Quintanilla's are there with their baby, he is a brother to the Quintanilla family we go to family night with.  The girl in the blue is Kiera Quintanilla, the niece of the couple and I don't know who the girl in the yellow is.

This guy was selling Valentine balloons on the way home from church.

I made this cheesecake for Wayne for Valentines Day.  He is my sweetheart.