The time passes so quickly inbetween writing our Blogs, it’s just flying by.
When we’re not visiting Lima Missions or teaching missionaries we work on the Missionary Applications from the 5 countries in our Area Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru & Venezuela. Over half of the prospective missionaries come from one-parent families. Sometimes the Dads have died, but usually it’s because they left home years ago. The wonderful Mums who bring them up will have appreciated Elder David Baxter’s talk at last week’s General Conference, when he gave hope & encouragement to the huge army of single Mums, assuring them that they are not alone, or forgotten. Only yesterday, a single Mum said how much she appreciated his talk. We were very proud to say he used to be our Stake President & Brian was his Counsellor. He remains a very good friend.
 |
| A break between lessons in the CCM |
When these Latinos arrive at the CCM, they are often short of clothes & sometimes don’t even have a suit. Fortunately there is a stock of donated used clothes they can have, & the Mission Presidents can also help provide much needed clothing when necessary once they arrive in their Missions. The missionaries always enjoy & participate well in our Health Presentations on their 2nd Sunday. They also see us at the Temple on their 2nd & 3rd Wednesdays, so we get to know them.
 |
| About to be released on an unsuspecting world |
This week we were walking along the road to the Temple (we live opposite) & we saw a group of about 12 American missionaries, out on P Day. They were staying for an extra 3 weeks of language training that the Latinos don’t need. They all waved & crossed over to talk with us, it was great to see how eager they were to be with us!
In April 2009 I flew to Detroit to help when Andrew & Ruth had their 4th child/baby. The baby was having problems, & Ruth was taken in that afternoon to have the baby. I was jet-lagged & it was my first time in their home in Trenton. (It took 2 days before I found the dustpan & 5 to find the broom!) You can imagine how grateful I was when one of their friends took the children for a couple of hours so I could unpack & have a much needed sleep. (When I eventually got to bed, I’d been up 24 hours!) Lily was delivered by Cesarian Section, weighing 5 lbs 9oz & had to be transferred to another hospital where there was a Newborn Intensive Care Unit. (NICU) Ruth’s friend, Rebecca, arranged for meals to be brought to me for 10 days by the wives of fellow medical students, all Church members. These wonderful girls brought a variety of dishes each time, not just a casserole & it was such a blessing for me not to have to worry about food, when I was looking after my 3 grandchildren & trying to keep the washing & cleaning up to date to some extent. I was so impressed I wrote about the meals in my diary every night. One of them, Anona Davis, brought 3 scrummy dishes & the best newly baked bread, with rosemary, I’ve ever had. Anona also had the children for 5 hours so I could visit Ruth & Lily in the NICU & also have some time to walk round Elizabeth Park - a haven I found to walk round, to enable me to keep my sanity!
 |
| Dr Gough with his own assistants |
 |
| Outside the house in Trenton |
Last month, we went out to a restaurant with President & Sister Cardon who started in the CCM in January, to replace President Whetton who sadly died last year. The Cardons were talking about their son-in-law who trained as a Dr & Osteopath in Kirksville, Missouri, where Andrew trained. He & his family then moved to Trenton, where Andrew lived. The Cardons phoned their daughter & we phoned Andrew. You can imagine our surprise to find out that not only did they know each other, but are very good friends. Andrew is 2 years behind Anona Davis & her husband. Andrew & Ruth moved into the Davis’ home in Trenton when they moved to a bigger house. The Cardons even helped their kids move house.
 |
| Mae Brooks |
Last month our little grand-daughter Mae, Sarah’s daughter, was in hospital because she was loosing weight & had lots of diarrhoea etc. A viral infection caused the weight loss, but after blood tests & an endoscopy & biopsy, she was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease. The disease can’t be cured, but symptoms can be prevented by following a gluten free diet. Mae has now been discharged from Barts Hospital in London, and in 2 weeks Sarah will see a Dietician in a local hospital about gluten free foods, that Mae will have to have for the rest of her life. The good news is that Sarah is having a baby near the end of September, so we’ll home a few weeks before we can help look after Mae & Nauvoo when the new baby arrives.
The 17th March was the 150th Birthday of Relief Society, which is the oldest & biggest womens’ organisation in the world. To celebrate, various service projects were planned. On 10th March, our Ward went to a poor area called Manchi, 20 mins from where we live to paint a Community Kitchen there. I imagined using emulsion on the walls, but we had to paint individual bricks on the inside & outside of the small building where meals are prepared for over 50 people who are unable to cook for themselves.
 |
| Obvious poverty in Manchi |
Donated clothes were also distrubuted among the grateful women who gathered when we’d finished our three and a half hours of work.
On 17th March I went with a Peruvian sister to the Stake Relief Society Birthday Party to celebrate 170 years of Relief Society. Several Wards had each been assigned an activity. We watched several scenes where the sisters re-enacted Emma Smith being given the authority to organise Relief Society by her husband Joseph Smith. I sang in our Ward Choir to end the evening. Each Ward provided their own Birthday Cake for their sisters to share. I also ate a small chicken, lettuce & mayo roll, which I think was the cause of 3 days of Inca Trots!
 |
| Santa Felicia Ward Choir |
 |
| Just part of a worldwide celebration |
The weather is beginning to cool down a little now, but not as much as expected - it´s still usually too warm to use the sheet but we don´t need the fan on the whole of the night now. Speaking of fans, the one in our bedroom is about 2 feet from our bed. Last week I had been awake a lot coughing, so decided on Saturday night to take a sleeping tablet. When it came time to get up to the loo, I was so sleepy, I walked into the fan, hence the colourful eye, which is changing colour & degree of bruising daily. Fortunately I have Arnica cream to put on it, but Brian has had a lot of teasing from everyone!
 |
| Four days after the injury |
It will be good when Autumn comes & the temperature is more comfortable, even if it’s still humid.
Most days the local home owners continue to water their small bits of grass, garden and trees around them as there’s no shortage of water as there is in England. (I hope when we return we will still be able to see “England’s green and pleasant land”.) They use a variety of sprinklers here, as shown in this photo which shows a plastic bottle with holes added.
 |
| Peruvian Sprinkler |
Outside the CCM there are proper sprinklers, & they are often on as we walk past on our way to work. One day, It was spraying over our path, so I walked briefly in the road to avoid it. Hurrying back on the path, I failed to see another sprinkler was about to turn on me & I got literally soaked. It was so funny, I just laughed & laughed! It was so hot, that it was really refreshing, and my clothes were dry in no time.
We’ve really appreciated the beautiful sunsets we’ve been having lately, especially knowing that once Summer is over, we will only get the occasional burst of sun during the whole Winter.
 |
| Sunset from our apartment |
When each missionary couple finishes their Mission, they choose where we all go to have a Farewell meal with them. Last month, the Langlois chose a restaurant on the coast in Chorillos, called “El Salto del Fraile”. The story goes that 2 young children grew up in a family, & later found out they weren’t siblings. They fell in love & wanted to marry but were forbidden by the girl’s family. The young man became a monk, & heard the girl was being sent away to Chile to be away from him. He ran to the cliffs, and when he saw her boat pass by, he threw himself off the cliff top & was killed. This is re-enacted by a young man, dressed as a monk near this restaurant which is on the cliff-top where the disaster happened. He then climbed up the cliff at a rate of knots to get money from the onlookers, only to jump off the cliff again an hour later. After the “entertainment” we all enjoyed the great food there.
 |
| Diving off the cliffs |
 |
| Accepting applause and money |
 |
| Happy eaters |
We had a relaxing day out during the Easter Holiday. Graciela and her husband drove us & 2 other couples to La Casona de los Condores, a hotel in Chaclacayo, about an hour out of Lima. There we enjoyed ‘chilling out’ in the form of swimming (for us ladies), the men played Rummikub & the ladies played Phase 10 & Skipbo, and lazing on sunbeds reading. The menus for lunch were brought to our sunbeds. When lunch was ready we moved a few yards to our table, then back to the sunbeds. Later the desert trolley was brought to us, & I enjoyed Lucuma mousse still on my sunbed. Luckily the sky was overcast, or we’d have been burnt to a frazzle! The inescts didn’t like our repellant, so left us alone fortunately!
 |
| Jane loves swimming |
 |
| Brian loves Rummikub |
 |
| The girls relax with Phase 10 |
No comments:
Post a Comment