Getting the Open Chapel Program Started

Thursday, August 18th was a special day in our Area.  The "Area Review" took place in our office. That is where General Authorities from SLC come to bless the Area with their observations and suggestions.  We enjoyed a devotional presented by Elder Dale Renlund and Elder Whitney Clayton. They shook our hands and asked about our assignments here.  It was awesome!  They told us that no matter what our specific assignment was, we were first to remember that we are "Disciples of Christ."
Below is a picture of Elder Carlos Godoy, President of our Area and his wife, then the Claytons, then the Renlunds, and Elder Montoya, Counselor in our Area and his wife.  They are such kind, warm leaders.  Those in the Area Presidency met with us about our assignment and we really felt their love.

They finished preparing our apartment this week and we moved.  We now live at 162 Asuncion, in an area called La Molina.  It is a 2nd story apartment and our landlord lives just below us with his wife. They are such sweet, older people, Jorge and Teresa.  They have been kind and helpful.

We began some volunteer work at the MTC where we pose as investigators for an hour so that the missionaries here can practice their teaching.  The MTC is located right next to the Area Office and we go during the work day.  They have a beautiful facility with huge buildings for missionary apartments and study.  They have flags of all of the countries represented here.  They also have built some little homes "casitas" where we go to do our teaching.  They are fun and that is where the missionaries come to practice their teaching on us.

We received approval for the Open Chapel program to proceed in the Area last week when we met with Elders Godoy and Montoya.  They were actually quite excited to get things going.  So we attended a special training for all of the 18 Area Seventy fromVenezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia on Saturday.  We presented a Power Point explaining the Open Chapel program.  Mom organized the slides on the program and then we presented it both together.  They love it when mom speaks Spanish because there are so few Sisters that speak and none as well as she does.  Anyway, they were positive, asked lots of questions and asked us to come quickly to Bogota, Colombia and Guayaquil, Ecuador.  We will see if the Area Presidency decides to let us go!

We have also received permission to have our first Open Chapel event here in the Lima, East Mission.  We will train the members of the Santa Felicia Ward this next Sunday, and then on Saturday, September 17, we will have our first Open Chapel in the Area.  That should be an amazing event and we are excited to have all of our materials prepared and to get going.

We do a lot of walking including yesterday when we walked 12 blocks to the grocery store and then 12 more back with all our groceries.  There are taxis but we like to walk.  From our new apartment we have a 15 minute walk to the office and a 15 minute walk the other way to the temple.  And of course there are many fruit stands, bakeries, and shops along the way.  We see lots of beautiful vegetation as we are out an about.  Below you will some of it.

Another week passed and we are on our way!  We attended a baptism for a young lady, Rosa, who is 18 years old and a very sweet girl.  Janet sat by her in Relief Society and got to know her a bit more.  Today, Sunday August 28, we met in the Area Council with Elder Held, an Area Seventy, and presented the Open Chapel program to the stake presidents in his area here in Lima.  President Larsen of the Lima Central Mission wants to meet with us this next week to get the program going in his mission.  We will be busy trying to schedule and get handouts and information available. How blessed we feel to meet with so many of the great leaders of the Church!  What great men they are.  It is different for Janet to go to these meetings since they are usually attended only by priesthood brethren.  

Arriving in Peru

We arrived at the airport early Monday morning August 8,  only to find our flight was delayed.  Thanks to Bryson we didn't have to spend the day or night in the SLC airport.  He came to get us to wait for the next flight the following morning.  We spent the day with Monsons which was fun.  Our Tuesday morning flight was also delayed so when we arrived in Atlanta we had to hurry to board our flight to Peru!

Once we landed in Peru, it took us 45 minutes to get our baggage.  Then we passed through customs and were met by Elder and Sister Record who took us across Lima to our apartment in the temple housing unit.

At the Airport baggage claim

Elder and Sister Record

Temple housing

We began training the next morning with Elder and Sister Hansen.  Doug was trained by Elder Hansen and Sister Record trained Janet.  The Area Office is located next to the MTC right next to an LDS chapel that is huge.  It is about a 30 minute walk from where we live.  Everything is so green and beautiful as you can see by the gardens at the office.  There is always a haze over the area, but for winter it is not cold.  We have only seen the sun a couple of times...that's how it is in Peru they tell us.  Next week Elder Renlund and Elder Clayton will be here for the Area Review with Elder Godoy (Area President).  It should be interesting.  We may not even see them.  Maybe after their visit, we can visit with Elder Godoy and get started on the Open Chapel program!

Elder and Sister Hansen

Area Office gardens from 2nd floor

Sunday, July 31, 2016, we were set apart by our Stake President, Doug Watson, to serve as missionaries in the South America Northwest Area.  We will be taking the Open Chapel program that we used in our first mission in the South America South Area to our new assignment.  We will work out of the Area Office in Lima, Peru, under the direction of Elder Carlos Godoy of the 1st Quorum of the Seventy.  We spoke in Sacrament Mtg. in the Mesa Branch later that day and then had friends and family over to the house for a light lunch.  It was so good to have all of that support as we take off on another mission adventure.  Here is a picture of us with the Stake Presidency at our setting apart.  We were joined by some of our family.

                                                                     

                                                 
Monday, August 1, we entered the Missionary Training Center in Provo Utah.  We were one of 100 Senior Missionary couples to enter that day.  Here is a picture of the MTC.

                                                                           

                                                                   
We were immediately assigned to a District along with 6 other missionaries.  The Nydeggers, from Highland UT, going to Federal Way WA, the Fultons, from Taylorsville, UT, going to Guam, and two single sisters headed to SLC to the Family/Church History Center, Sister Neff from Thatcher, AZ and Sister Kappel, from Oregon.  Elder Knapp was assigned to serve as the District Leader.  Here we are with our amazing teachers!

                                                                           

We have a pretty strict schedule with classes and meetings beginning at 8:00 a.m. after breakfast and going until noon.  After lunch we practice teaching until dinner at 4:30 and then we have had firesides or meetings in the evenings.  At times it seems that all we do is have class and eat!  Here is a picture of the cafeteria.  They told us that they serve over 300,000 gallons of BYU creamery ice cream every year.  Wednesday is ice cream day and the day new missionaries come.  We had over 800 new missionaries arrive this past ice cream day!  Here they are...

Saturday is Preparation Day for Senior Couple Missionaries.  We enjoyed visiting the Provo Temple, buying chocolate chips (which are hard to come by in Peru) and doing our laundry.  It was very crowded in the MTC laundry center as you can see.

                                                                  

The MTC is a busy, beautiful place.  There are so many missionaries here with name tags indicating their names and what language they will be speaking in their respective assignments.  It is fun to stop and visit with those assigned to speak Spanish.  Today we met an Elder from Arizona going to the Idaho Falls, Idaho mission, small world!

The grounds are beautiful and we love the flowers and the sculptures and statues on the grounds that remind us of great missionaries who have served in the history of the church.

                                                                      

Peru, here we come!