4/12/2010 Urubamba and Mara and Mopay

At the end of the day we stayed at our favorite hotel which is in Chincheros. We left from here to go to Machu Picchu.

From Mara we went to Mopay which was a place where the Incas used as an experiment place to determine which crops to grow. There is a 20 difference in temperature between the bottom and top.

The pensenista of elders Peterson and Tapia who are just now opening the town of Mara. The president knelt down and dedicated the city of Mara to the preaching of the gospel.

The town square and outside the elders pensenista. The night before the elders came looking for a pensenista and a place to live she had a dream that two would come and she was to help them.

Scenery of Mara in the Sacred Valley between Urubamba and Chincheros.

We are standing overlooking the city of Mara which is just being opened up for the firs time with missionaries.

The Mara cementary and looking down on Urubamba and the two story chapel which is one of the prettiest in the mission. It was just rededicated a couple of weeks ago after remodeling.

We joined the missionaries from the Valle Sagrado zone on their P-day. Karen and sister Tyler were the goalies.




Looking down on the city of Urubamba and the Ricolleta hotel where we stay in Urubamba. We arrived late at night at the hotel from Quillabamba.

This is the country flower of Peru. I can't remember the name of it.

4/11/2010 Quillabamba

We left Cusco and drove to Quillabamba arriving late at night. Early the next morning or Sunday we drove to Echirate and attended their branch meetings. Then we drove back to Quillabamba where at 2:00 the president started

Zone conference and interviewed each missionary. Quillabamba is very beautiful. The jungle at the base of the Andes mountains. We were very lucky that it was cool for Quillabamba.

Sister Tyler taught the English speaking missionaries in Spanish and the Spanish missionaries in English the song Head shoulders knees and toes.

The setting of Quillabamba from our hotel balcony. At 7:00 we headed back to Urubamba before they closed the road at Ollantaytambo. Quillabamba is beautiful and they have a beautiful chapel but I hate the ride of some six hours getting there of which at least two of the hours is a dirt road and there was fog and it was night so that we couldn't see the cliffs where it drops down a thousand or more feet. We went over the pass that is just over 14,000 feet in elevation and we stopped there to see a gadzillon millon stars with the milky way and the southern cross.

April 10, 2010 Cuzco Zone leaders meeting

All the Zone leaders in Cusco taking a break with a Big Mac and fries.

I ask this fellow if we could take his picture.

All the missionaries that are still in the mission that have worked with us in the mission office. L to R Elders Eck, Rodriguez, Malale, Hales and Celiz. Elders Smith and Hatton are still back at the office now.

Update hotel construction across the street

The hotel begins to rise up out of the ground. They are now on ground level or the 4th floor with four underground parking levels.

They are pouring cement every day now.

The house behind didn't sell out but now the house sits vacant.

New missionaries 4/7/2010

We greeted eleven new missionaries today. They are Sisters Crespo and Ortiz. Elders Alvarado, Chipunavi, Dettenmaier, Henriquez, Kester, Lopez, Palmer, Pastrana and Perez. Four from the US, 3 from Guatemala, 1 each from Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Colombia.

Missionaries going home 4/6/2010

Every six weeks we have a group going home. This is elder Smith the tall one that is replacing elder Hales in the office. Elder Hales is going to Cusco to work with elder Rodriguez. The shoe of elder Gurr.

Elder Cissna from North Ogden, Ut and Elder Irizarry from Layton, Ut.

Elder Gurr from American Fork, Ut and elder Chuan from Cajamarca, Peru.

Whoops. Same picture twice.

Sister Huntsman from Castle Dale, Ut.

Sister Collantes from Lima, Peru

Elders Irizarry, Arciniegas from Call Valle, Columbia and elder Milla from Lima, Peru

Elder Chuck Johnson from Victorville, Ca.

Elder Milla from Lima, Peru

Elder Torres from Iquitos, Peru

Elders Orbegoso from Trujillo, Peru and elder Pacaya from Iquitos, Peru