An Amazing Apostle's Visit

June 13, 2023

We took our mission leaders's son’s advice and went with the Jacobsens to the Larco Museum on Monday. We loved it and were amazed by the artifacts we saw and the history we learned.

We’ve been dealing with an Elder’s package that his parents sent from the US. It has contacts, contact solution and Tylenol. Because of the Tylenol, it has to be treated as medical supplies and requires a Doctor's sign off, a health department approval and a tax commission approval before it can get out of customs prison. It has taken weeks but we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as it were.

The highlight of the week was the visit from Elder Neil Andersen of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles of the church. He came with other dignitaries. In all it was an extraordinary meeting with missionaries from all of the 6 Lima missions, well over 1000 missionaries. We sought out our niece’s daughter who is serving in the Lima South mission. We took some pictures and had a fun chat with her. To be together with that many missionaries was incredible. We loved every minute of it and now we’re trying to decipher our notes since we were writing so fast! What a spiritually powerful experience it was for both of us.

While Julie taught English Connect 1 to three Spanish speakers, Rich went to a newly arrived Elder from the US who had not been given much opportunity to learn Spanish. These elders live in one of the La Victoria neighborhoods. This is likely to have been the type locality used to define “sketchy” in the urban dictionary. Feral dogs roam the streets, no wall is graffiti free. Though not obligatory, every stair step provides an opportunity to clock your head… The elder is sharp and will get the this but we know how frustrating language learning can be.

We don't often talk as much as we should about the spiritual benefit of our mission. It is remarkable despite our focus on the banal and day to day of Lima. We are so blessed to work with the leaders and missionaries we have. They truly bless us.

We have been reading of Christ's visit to the Americas following His resurrection. We try to share that often with our taxi drivers and anyone else who will listen to us. It is remarkable how open people are to these things.

Peru suffered far more than our homeland during Covid. Many have lost family members and the trauma of the whole experience is evident. Nearly any personal conversation has an element of before or after the Pandemia. It has marked life in Peru in a remarkable and sometimes very intense degree. We have a friend who lost both of her parents to Covid. The result is that it seems that people are more humble and tractable than we have experienced elsewhere. There is virtually no one who expresses doubt about God here.

We love our mission and our missionaries!