Last night the Norris came to pick up their daughter

Last night we went to the airport at 11:45 p.m. just before sister Norris' family arrived from Alabama. It took over an hour to go through customs but finally they came thru the opening with their luggage.

Oh what joy to be reunited after one and a half years.

Trip to Andahuaylas 2-15/16-2010

We found out how beautiful Peru is. We flew to Andahuaylas to inspect the missionaries apartments. We were on the same plane with President and sister Tyler and elder Jenkins. The plane is like the plane from the TV sitcom Wings. The flight took about 1 and 1/2 hours.

There are 9 rows and the plane holds 18 people.

Welcome to Andahuaylas. It is the summer but at the same time it is the rainy season. Everything is this luxurios green.

From the plane looking down before we landed.

Andahuaylas is in a bowl and this is looking up to the hills.

While we were out inspecting the rooms it started to rain.

Some of these pictures are taken while I am standing in the yard of the chapel.

The missionaries from Abancay came and the president interviewed them also. We all ate at this Chifa and then the missionaries from Abancay went back. About a 4 hour bus ride.

President Flores is president of the Andahuaylas District. When you see him he always says, "Que tal Andahuaylas"!!

Inspecting the rooms in Andahuaylas

Looking out the window of two of the elders rooms. They set up tents and sell their wares. Notice the river. The other picture the elders room is across the street from a town square.

We were very impressed with how clean and neat the rooms were. The zone leaders Elder Hirshi and elder Celiz took us to each room. After the inspection Karen left two cookies for each missionary.

Usually each pair of missionaries would be with us but they were back at the chapel being taught by elder Jenkins and sister Tyler or being interviewed by the President.

The missionaries didn't even know that we were going to inspect and the Zone leaders just a couple of hours before we arrived.

Feb 9th - With the Davis

While we were in the MTC in Provo we met John and Ana Marie Davis from Boise, Idaho. By the way their Stake President is Douglas Stoddard Rose and his wife Ruth Jordan were in the Andes mission lo so many years ago. Any way the Davis have been serving in Chile and stopped by in Peru on their way home.

We met them at the airport on their way back from Cusco. We took them to one of our favorite restaurants, Mangos that over looks the ocean in Miraflores. While there the Slingerlands came and joined us. Doctor Slingerland is the Area doctor and prior to this mission he served in Chile.

The Davis and Slingerlands knew a lot of people in common in Santiago.

This picture has the Davis standing in front of a 400 year old Olive tree.

Friday/Saturday 2/5/10

We have an elder Rivera that is from Ecuador. He came into the mission directly from Ecuador bypassing the MTC here. Somehow he fell through the cracks and never received a Carnet. So in order to get one he had to be taken out of the country and brought back in. We decided it was easier to go to Chile than any other country. So we flew to Tacna on Friday, stayed the night at hotel Corona Real and the next morning drove to the border of Peru/Chile to immigration. March 3, 1961 I started my mission in Tacna. At that time there were 30 members and the city had about 10,000 people. Today there are over 10,000 members and the city has a population of over 250,000. There were only two things that I still recognized, the town square with the arch and the Catholic cathedral.

The Turista Hotel now called the Gran Hotel is still there and our branch, where we lived was right across the street from the hotel which now is occupied with several shops.

On Saturday our driver took us to the border where I paid $332 dollars for elder Rivera to get his Visa. It was in this building at the border. From there we went over into Chile and the city of Arica. The first person that I ever baptized was a convert that we took from Tacna to Arica as they had a baptismal font. As I started in Tacna the city of Arica, Chile was opened and I was present when they had their first convert baptisims.

Elder Rivera and I standing at the border. I am standing in Chile and elder Rivera in Peru. In this area is the largest desert in all the world. Not even a weed will grow.

Arica, Chile is on the Pacific ocean.

People at the beach. Just sitting in a car my hand and arm were sun burned.

1/30/10 The Schellenberg's

At midnight Karen and I went out to the airport to pick up another couple coming to our mission. They are the Schellenbergs from Pleasant Grove, Utah. They spent a week at the Lima MTC and then the president assigned them to work in the Sacred Valley.

1/23/10 P day at the Cleverly's

After a rousing game of horse the office elders and assistants came to a delious dinner prepared by Karen and then we played a game of golf.

Flooding in the Provincias

This is a picture of the Urubamba river at the base of Machu Picchu and Aguas Calietes and the zone of Machu Picchu Pueblo. Elders Jeppesen and Armijo are working there. The Area Office ask us to air lift them out but they pleaded to stay and help the people

While the world had their attention focused on the horrible earthquake of Haiti, Peru was experiencing much more than usual rainfall during their rainy season. Some days the rain would be more than ten inches. This caused massive flooding and mudslides.

As people were displaced from their homes they were moved to these temporarily tent shelters. As many of the homes are made of adobe bricks the homes would desolve like sugar in a bowl only leaving the roof and what furniture they had.

These pictures happen to be of the Sacred Valley and around Urubamba. In December Karen and I drove over this bridge.

The President is standing on the roof of what once was on top of a house. In Urubamba over 1,000 homes were destroyed.

Some of the devistation. None of the missionaries were ever in any danger and are a great help in coming to the aid of the people and the members. Between Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu there were four major mud slides that whiped out the train tracks. There were around two thousand tourists stranded at Machu Picchu that had to be air lifted out. The Area Office told us to bring out the missionaries but they talked the president into staying They are filling sand bags and helping the people in any way that they can.

The roads were closed between Cusco and Abancay and Cusco and Quillabamba.

Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink. The road covered with water.

Their became lakes which was previously farm land and crops were undated with water.