Life Happens!

Something Normal

This past week has been quite normal. We did a lot of missionary things that we do every week. On Monday morning we had our normal weekly meetings at the mission office. That night we had Family Home Evening with all the senior missionaries. Elder (Dr.) Hixson explained to us why the word of wisdom was written for our day, not for Joseph Smith's day. It was very interesting and we learned a lot.

We had mission leadership council on Tuesday, which lasted until the early afternoon.

Wednesday we were able to go to the Lima Temple with our zone. It was really neat to be there with those missionaries that we work with. They look great in white. We also had time to work on presentations that we are giving.

Thursday we worked in the office until the afternoon. On Thursday nights we are the missionaries for a Pathway Connect group. This means we go to the church and set up the room, greet the students, and try to encourage and support them. Later that evening we ended up going to the health clinic to take Elder Wilcox and Elder Armstrong back to their apartment. Poor Elder Wilcox had been very sick and was dehydrated, so he received an IV at the clinic.

Hermana Mayta contacting 

Friday I taught EnglishConnect class to a group of 9 women. That's what I do on Friday mornings. Thor went to Fundet and oversaw several groups doing the self-reliance course for small businesses. That's what Thor does on Friday mornings. Friday afternoon we traveled to Cieneguilla to make some visits. We stopped at the Guevarra's to see how Brother Guevarra is doing after his surgery. He had a plate and 6 screws put in his leg. He will be out of commission for 4 months. That's a long time for the main provider of the family.  Thor was able to leave a very spiritual message with them. We visited others in the area. Then we met up with the sister missionaries, Hermana Mayta and Hermana Estevez. We tried to contact people, but we weren't  very successful. We did get our first "I'm a Catholic and plan to remain one" speech. We then took the Hermanas out for dinner. 

Hermana Estevez, she's from Ecuador

Hermana Mayta, she's from Bolivia

Didn't you just love General Conference!  That was our Saturday and Sunday. We spent Saturday at Presidente and Sister Amato's watching conference with their family and the office elders.

A Shopping Expedition

A group of sister senior missionaries took a van out to the blanket factory (a 45 minute ride). We were not able to see them make the blankets, but we got to see the bundles of llama and alpaca wool in the factory yard. We were able to see the many different blankets that they make and purchase them.

Many bundles of lama or alpaca wool

A bundle of llama or alpaca wool

Some of the sample blankets at the factory.

Something Spiritual

In our mission leadership council on Tuesday, Sister Amato taught us all a powerful lesson on the atonement and life.

Life happens. We make mistakes. Do we learn from our mistakes? Do we repent and try again? Do we give our burdens to the Savior?

To illustrate these points she used a game called "Don't Step In It".  You make realistic looking dog poo from clay and place them on a green mat. The person is blindfolded and has to go the length of the mat without stepping on the poo. 

Sister Amato and Elder Lewis experiencing life! It happens!

An elder was blindfolded and he walked the mat. As soon as he stepped in the poo, Sister Amato would stop him and place a heavy bag of rocks in the backpack he was carrying. The backpack got full of rocks as the elder stepped on more poo.

At the end of the mat, she talked about how life happens. We are not perfect. Do we continue to carry the rocks from our past mistakes? 

It is through the Savior that we can be rid of our rocks. As we repent and change we give the Savior our burdens. When we forgive others who have wronged us, that weight is also lifted from our backs. As we reach out in distress or in sickness, the Savior can strenghten us.

May we all center our life in the Savior and give our burdens, mistakes, and sins to Him.

Plants of Peru

Random Picture of the Week

This is how they water the grass in the curb strips and medians.