Open Chapel in the Vitarte Ward

Sunday, October 9, our church department taxi picked us up at 8:30 a.m. and we headed out to do Open Chapel training at the Vitarte Ward, address Industriales 251.  Our meetings began at 9:00 and we were assured that it was just 20 minutes from our apartment.  The driver assured us that he knew where we were going, but we got suspicious when we pulled up in front of an old deserted warehouse and he announced that we had arrived.  We assured him that it was not the chapel.  He redirected his GPS and we headed in a different direction.  This time we came to a brick fence with no gate.  We convinced him to call the Bishop of the ward, who told him where to go, but by this time we were late for the meeting.  When we finally arrived 45 minutes late, we tried to sneak into Sacrament Mtg., but "blending in" down here is not easy.  The Bishop stood and asked us to come to sit on the stand.

We did have an excellent training in a ward with about 250 people in attendance.  It was in a poor part of Lima where there are shacks on the hillsides and lots of humble people in the streets.

Saturday, October 23, a young couple from the Vitarte Ward, the Mendiettas picked us up and took us out to the chapel this time it was just a 20 minute drive.  It was an excellent experience.  The members had really worked to create beautiful, informative displays.

Elders at the Reference Table

Members at the Primary Display

The diplay of the Elder's Quorum

Relief Society Display

Young Women Room with the value colors in flags

There were some excellent missionaries in the ward who had invited lots of investigators.

Missionaries in front of the chapel with the Open Chapel banner

Delicious treats!  Peruvian cookies....

As we ended the night, we took a picture of the participants from the Vitarte Ward.

Sister missionaries teaching from the banners inside

We enjoyed working with a very humble little Bishop.  Here is a picture of  Bishop Velasquez and his wife who were super!

In the end we had about 150 visitors and lots of them brought friends who were not members of the church.  The missionaries had also invited their investigators and lots of them showed up and it was the first time that many of them had been inside of a Mormon Church.  The Elders got lots of references and we met lots of humble, great people.