Christmas Multi-Zone Style

Odds and Ends from the Week

Tuesday, December 17th was the 2 week training for new missionaries.  We did our part on teaching them about being good stewards over their money. After we hurried to the Lima Temple, because we had been invited to a sealing. The sealing was for Abraham and his wife and little boy. Thor had met Abraham at Fundet. We got to the Temple and waited for a while, but they did not show up. We were really worried that something had happened to them, especially since Thor couldn't reach them on the phone. We finally returned to the 2 week training. 

That afternoon Elder (Doctor) Hixson and Thor traveled out to Cieneguilla to visit the boys home and check up on any that were sick. Thor is the translator and medical transcriber for the visits. There were no serious illnesses, so it was a good trip!

Elder (Dr.) Hixson checking out a patient at CIMA.

Our Christmas miracle happened on Wednesday, December 18th we saw Abraham and his family and they had just been sealed! We were coming out of the Christmas luncheon for the mission and they were going into the same restaurant to celebrate their Temple marriage. We were very excited for them. They had waited a day because they were waiting for rings. They looked very happy.

This is Abraham and his family in an earlier photo.

On Thursday, December 19th we had our last class of the semester with our Pathway Group. They are a great group of students trying to better themselves. They have grown so much during the semester. It has been fun to see them come together as a group. We will have many of them coming back to do the second semester in January.

Pathway 1 class with Elder Lindstrom taking the photo.

Multi-Zone Conference

Wednesday and Thursday, December 18th and 19th, we had multi-zone conferences. They were really special. It was the Amato's 21st wedding anniversary on Wednesday. President Amato did a special tribute just for her and then presented her with flowers. It was really touching.

President and Hermana Amato on their 21st wedding anniversary!

We had a special presentation each day about the Savior's life. Each zone had a part. They would read some passages and then sing a song about the passages. My favorite songs were: "He Sent His Son" and "The Miracle" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZeZ8eTqnp0.  Each day was so different on the music. The first day we had a lot of talented piano players and a violinist. The second day we had a guitarist and a beat box drum, and a group that sang acapella. It was fun to see how each zone did their musical number about Jesus Christ.

Each day we had a very talented group of Elders--Salway, Horton, and McClellan sing "O Holy Night" with Elders Jorgenson or Gunderson playing the piano for them. On Thursday we had another group of Elders sing a lovely acapella number in Latin.

The most touching part of zone conferences was when President Ellsworth of the CCM brought over a surprise guest for our Elder Rodriguez. It was his little brother, also an Elder Rodriguez heading for Chile. They haven't seen each other for 21 months and it will be another 24 before they are together again. So many tears!

The brothers--Elders Rodriguez--ours is on the right

For Christmas luncheon we went to Pardo's Chicken, where we had chicken, papas fritas (french fries) and a lovely veggie salad of beans, carrots, and beets. The elders were treated to a half chicken! The sisters only got a quarter chicken, which is plenty. After the food, each district built a gingerbread house. The head waitress was the judge and decided who did the best job! It was a lot of fun for the missionaries.

Las Flores zone with their matching ties at Pardo's

The gingerbread house contest

The view of the Temple from the restaurant

Gala de Navidad

Friday night we went to the Gran Treatro Nacional (Grand National Theatre). We watched their Christmas gala that they put on each year. We had National Childrens' Choir, an orchestra, and the National Folklore Ballet troupe. It was a high energy performance with lots of singing. We we able to see many of the folk dances of Peru. 

The Gala de Navidad

Pucusana

Pucusana is a quaint little fishing village about an hour and a half from here. We went there with our upstairs neighbors, the Pratts and their visitor and also the Grahams and their two daughters. We took a boat ride through the harbor and then out into the ocean. It was really fascinating. We were able to see a lot of different kinds of birds. We saw seagulls, pelicans, penguins, other birds from South American, and the blue footed booby. It really does have blue feet. We were able to see a lot of sea lions. There were a lot of crabs, a few jellyfish, and some pretty orange starfish.

We saw where the rich and famous live when they are on vacation. They have big houses close to the ocean and luxury motorboats, plus a private beach. We then sailed back to the pier. 

The town has a lot of fishing boats and we visited the pier where they drop the fish off for market. They also haul ice out to the boats so they can keep their catch cold.

On the boat!

At the harbor of Pucusana

We ate lunch at a restaurant that is by the Devil's mouth. A place where the ocean comes through a tunnel and sprays water all over. It was a pleasant day with wonderful people.

Plants of Peru

Random Photo of the Week

Elders Driggs and Tenney with their matching ties and lights!

All these hundreds of different animals are headed to the manger where Jesus is.