Trainings and Tourist Time

Downtown Lima

It was a really busy week! We decided to take our P-day on Thursday, December 5th, since we hadn't had one in a while.
We went to downtown Lima. I had never been there. Thor and Erik had seen it when they passed through Lima a few years ago.

Municipal Palace--City Hall

We went on a "Free" walking tour. "Free" means they do it for tips. We had a really nice young man explain to us the history of downtown Lima.

The Cathedral of Lima

The Angel Moroni Fountain

Here is some information about the Plaza from Wikipedia: "The Plaza Mayor or Plaza de Armas of Lima, is the birthplace of the city of Lima. Located in the Historic Centre of Lima, it is surrounded by the Government Palace, Cathedral of Lima, Archbishop's Palace of Lima, the Municipal Palace, and the Palace of the Union." We didn't go into any of the buildings on the square, but we were able to hear the band play. The band is part of the guards for the Government Palace.

The Band for the changing of the guards

We went into two churches--Santo Domingo and San Francisco. Our tour ended at the Parque de Muralla. The best part were these amazing churros that we found near the San Francisco Church.

San Francisco Church

Parque de Muralla

Trainings

Thor had two major trainings. The first was on November 30th for returned missionaries.  Giving a vocational training to a group of returned missionaries is something that Thor has had as a dream about for sometime.  And he feels it is somewhat of a miracle that this training went from presenting the idea to ten stake presidents to fruition in a mere 20 days.  There were multiple occasions that as he made preparations for the training, that the guidance of the Spirit was so obvious that he thought:  "Heavenly Father really wants us to do this training."  Having a very supportive stake president (Presidente Lorenzo of Chaclacayo) was instrumental in facilitating this happening so quickly.  The training went very well, with our friend Miguel Serrano and Thor conducting the training together.  On the way home from the training (after an insanely busy week) Thor felt so incredibly refreshed.  And sensed a witness that this is part of why we were assigned to serve here in Lima.

Returned Missionaries at the training

The second was on December 6th for the missionaries with 3 transfers (18 weeks) left before they go home.  Once again, Thor felt the guidance of the Spirit in preparing and making adjustments for this training.  He loves team teaching/presenting with Miguel Serrano, and loves the missionaries.  That is the prayer in his heart at each of these trainings, that those on the receiving end will feel and know of his love for them.  The feedback they received is that the message is received.

Our missionaries at the training

All our cute missionaries that will be going home in 2 more transfers!

We also had new missionaries this week. We received 11 new missionaries! Some of them will be headed to Bolivia when they get their visas. Tuesday we had the new missionary training. It is always fun to see them when they come in. We then see them 2 weeks later and see how much they have grown.

A training for new leaders happened on Wednesday. I had 6 new English specialists that needed to be trained. I invited all 10 of them to come to the training. They met with me and we went over what they need to do to teach English in their district council meetings.

Rio Seco

We traveled out to Rio Seco on Monday. Rio Seco is a part of Cieneguilla and is a long ways from the chapel. When we first arrived and started walking Thor mentioned that it looked like Afghanistan and I said that it looked like Peru, just not La Molina where we live. We settled on it looking like an outpost on Mars.

Rio Seco

We were in Rio Seco to visit the Lozano Family. We were able to find them with the help of their son. He came to show us the way to their house after Thor called Sister Lozano. We had a wonderful visit. They showed us how they make their livelihood. They have a home business where they make tailors chalk. (The chalk is used to make markings on clothes that need to be altered, etc.) They have a humble home.  They have a front room that was partitioned off from the bedroom with a curtain. They had one large bedroom where the whole family sleeps. They have a 16 year old daughter, sons about 12 and 7, and a baby. The final room in their home was the kitchen. They do much of the work for their business in the back yard. They are a great family.

Rio Seco on our way to visit a family

Highlight of the Week

Sonia is in the EnglishConnect class that I help teach on Fridays. Her friends in the class introduced her to the gospel by taking her to a Halloween party at the church. After she went, she wanted to learn more. She invited the missionaries to teach her. Those missionaries are 2 of our office elders, Elder Armstrong and Elder Pardo. On Saturday Sonia was baptized with her three daughters.

Sonia and her daughters before their baptism.

What a special night that was. The ward was very supportive. The primary children that came sang "I Love to Look for Rainbows" and the Relief Society women sang "As Sisters in Zion". We loved seeing the love that our Elders have for this family and their excitement at their baptism. We especially loved seeing the light and peace on the faces of the newly baptized members.

Plants of Peru

Random Photo of the Week

Look carefully, these guys are mowing the grass with trimmers! It was a really large area.