 |
| Our Lima Apartment |
A while ago we went to the Restaurant Rosa Nautica which is on the coast, near the centre of Lima. As we ate we could look out to sea & watch the body boarders chasing the waves. The food was good & the entertainment was great fun!
 |
| Surfing on the Pacific Coastline |
 |
| Well Fed and Contented |
We also went to our Stake Dance Festival. As you saw from our previous Blogs, Peruvians love to dance - so there was no shortage of people wanting to take part. While they were all really good, obviously, some Wards put in more effort than the others and their performances were fantastic!! Costumes were hired, & each Ward did a dance from a different part of Peru.
 |
| Even the Men Enjoy Dancing |
 |
| Wonderful Costumes |
On Wed 14th Dec. We flew with the Lima East Mission President Ardila, his wife & three daughters, to Huanuco.
 |
| Our Mission President and His Family |
 |
| Our Hotel in Huanuco |
Altho´it´s only 30 mins flight from Lima, it´s right out in the country. On arrival at 6pm, I forgot to re-apply the insect repellant, & the next morning found my legs covered with bites. Being hot, I didn´t wear tights (nylons for you Americans) so the insects were free to bite!
 |
| Ten Bites That Itched For Many Days |
Along with missionaries from three surrouding Zones, we piled into two buses to drive to a place called Kotosh. We had to walk on a swaying suspensión bridge over a river to get to the Temple of the Crossed Hands, which was built 2,000BC.
 |
| Crossing the Swaying Bridge |
 |
| Yes, They Really Do Grow This High |
In the afternoon we watched sketches/skits by the missionaries, then the Ardila´s gave the missionaries their Christmas gifts – a book to record their daily studies, and a red Christmas hat with their name embroidered on it .
 |
| Personalised Christmas Hats |
We were touched to see that the three Zones had also bought pressies for the Ardilas to show their thanks & gratitude to them.
We found that the taxis in Huanuco were even worse than in Lima. They were dirty inside & out, no working safety belts & no window controls. In other words, only fit for the scrap heap, but that’s one place they won’t go!
We gave our Health Presentation on the Friday morning, & inspected a Clinic to approve it to be included in the Insurance Scheme for missionaries. The airport in Huanuco was so small it had overflow seating outside in the sun/or rain.
 |
| Huanuco Airport Seen from the Plane |
Brian was able to give President Ardila a copy of our PowerPoint presentation so he and his wife could give the same presentation on their visit to Huancayo the following day.
 |
| Boys Sharing Their Toys |
Considering the Ardilas come from Columbia, we were delighted how well we could communicate, mainly in Spanish with a little English where needed!
On Monday 19th we bagged up our homemade cookies for the 99 missionaries, & their teachers in the Mission Training Centre.
 |
| Bagging Up Cookies |
A group of Senior Missionaries then sang carols to the young missionaries from the steps overlooking the grounds of the MTC.
 |
| Serenading Seniors |
Lots of extra fairy lights came on as we finished, giving it a really festive air.
 |
| Their First Christmas Away From Home |
The missionaries all lined up to get their bag of cookies, hot chocolate & some Peruvian goodies that had been made in the MTC kitchens. The American missionaries particularly appreciated a taste of home!
 |
| Merry Christmas Elder |
The following morning we were up at 4am to catch a flight to Trujillo in the North of Peru. The plane was three and a half hours late taking off, & when we reached Trujillo, the pilot made 3 attempts before he was able to land. Half the missionaries in the Mission were in the Institute Building, very near where I lived in 1976. We gave our Stress Prevention presentation, and then they all practised for the evening Program of carols. The Elders were given a green or red tie to wear, & the Sisters were given a green or white scarf to wear for the presentation.
 |
| We're Ready to Sing Tonight |
Every town has a main plaza called the Plaza de Armas, & this is where the Program was held, complete with sound system, lighting, seating etc.
Sister Turk, the wife of the Mission President, did a great job conducting the 100 strong choir along with solos, duets by 2 Sisters, then 6 Elders singing. There was a stable, and children dressed to act out the Nativity. Last year they had a live donkey, but as he wasn’t very obedient, it was felt the program was better without him!!! After the last carol, the rows of missionaries parted down the middle to let Papa Noel aka Brian pass through. He & some Elders had large bags of sweets to give out to the crowd, who nearly mobbed them, they were so excited.
 |
| Singing in the Main Plaza at Trujillo |
This was all repeated on Thursday 22nd December with the other half of the Mission, and the same singers for special numbers. We went to their Christmas Devotional in the morning & watched a video of the Christmas story. About 8 names were taken from a hat & those missionaries had to go & share their thoughts about Christmas & a family Christmas tradition. They practised in the afternoon, & performed in the evening. The Tuesday evening crowd was a little smaller as there was a light rain just before we started. Pres.Turk thought there were about 1,000 on Thursday, many of them seated, & hundreds standing. The missionaries looked & sounded fantastic! We felt so proud of them all. It was a real privilege to be there. I don’t think we will ever forget it, nor will the 200 missionaries who took part on the 2 evenings. In 1976, little did I imagine as I used to walk across the Plaza de Armas every day, that 35 years later I’d be sitting there watching 200 missionaries singing, & that my husband would be Father Christmas!!
 |
| Have You Been a Good Girl This Year? |
On Christmas Eve, we went with 3 other couples to celebrate Christmas in a lovely Italian restaurant. On the way the bus broke down & we had to catch another. In the evening 10 of us went carol singing to 7 families living near the Temple. This was meaningful for us because each year our family would go carol singing to some of Brian’s patients.
 |
| Carol Singing on Christmas Eve |
On Christmas Day after Church, we joined 2 other senior couples for Christmas Dinner American/English style & had a lovely meal eating food we had all prepared.
 |
| American Style Christmas Dinner |
We returned home in time for 2 Elders to use our Vonnage phone, thus giving them free calls to their families. They are allowed to phone home at Christmas & Mothers Day, so of course, it’s a very treasured time. We also rang/Skyped our 4 kids so the phone was in constant use! When asked for the food they missed the most, the Elders requested beans on toast for tea, so that’s what we gave them. We also had Walkers shortbread, imported from England, which was gorgeous, & Panetone, which Peruvians have at Christmas, but was nothing like as good as our Christmas cake!!! The Tiffin I prepared, made up for it though.
 |
| Baked Beans for Christmas Tea |
We home teach the Rios family each month, and have become great friends. When we exchanged Christmas presents, they surprised us with a beautifully soft alpaca rug.
 |
| What a Great Christmas Gift |
Even though Christmas was a big celebration, it was dwarfed by New Years Eve, when it appeared that every other home were setting off fireworks. The noisy celebrations continued to keep us awake until after 3am.
