The Haslers in the Peru, Limatambo Mission 2023-

Nothing says, "Conundrum," like Latin American politics. This week got off to a start with the news of the pending "Takeover of Lima." The taxis were full of warning voices that the activists from the outlying communities and cities were coming to take control and force the government to depose the current president. They also wanted to force the deposition of her cabinet and the congress, according to reports. This was to be accomplished by invading the city center, disrupting traffic and causing a general maelstrom. Threats similar to this in the past have been very upsetting and  have generally stirred the pot. All of this was scheduled to be set in motion on the very day that fifteen new missionaries were to arrive to our mission, Thursday. Likewise, the center of the projected disturbance was planned for the very location where we were planning to put two new missionaries but did not have the apartment ready yet. Indeed, the set up was scheduled that very day...

  It has been two weeks since we wrote and time has just gotten away from us. We have made numerous medical appointments, participated in three baptisms, done five baptismal interviews, purchased one knee brace, helped a sister get a tooth pulled and so on.   We had one especially memorable baptismal experience and will include it only to avoid making this into a Russian novel. We went to the baptism of Rocio and Abigail in the nether parts of San Gabriel.  We left with just enough time to be there at 7 but the baptism actually happened at nearly 8. That is such a small part of the story. This part of Lima is up in the Andean hills. The Andes are so precipitous as to render places like the Rockies mere foothills. The way up can only be loosely called roads. The houses are all partially built. One looks around in some awe at the rustic quality of everything. It is a zone that is notorious for every thing from drive by purse snatching to down straight up pistolero-type hold...

Another whirlwind week! Rich got to paint with Grace, our mission leaders's daughter. It was wonderful to visit with her, what a sweetheart!   We made payments to the dentist, made several medical appointments and followed up on missionaries. Julie was finally able to pick up her Carnét de Extranjería so she's legal!  On Thursday we took some food to some ailing sisters. They’ve had a rough few weeks. Then Rich got to go to the emergency room from 2-5:30am Friday morning to be with them. We put their names on the temple prayer roll and visited with them on Saturday. We think they are slowly improving.  Rich taught a Spanish class. Julie taught her English Class. We do much of this virtually but some connections are so bad as to make it impossible. Saturday evening some Elders invited us to their friend's baptism. She’s an older woman and one of her desires was to meet a sister missionary. She was so thrilled and excited that we came to be with her for her baptism. ...

  What a great week we have had! Helping out with the Multi-Zone Conferences is always wonderful and we love seeing all the missionaries and visiting with them. The Conferences themselves were inspiring and uplifting and we’re so impressed with the great work these young elders and sisters do. We taught our English Connect 1 class and Rich helped an elder struggling with his Spanish. We also made bank payments to renew missionary visas and paid for some medical needs. We made medical appointments that were needed and called and visited with missionaries that have been to the doctor or have been sick recently. It is feast or famine, we went days with no medical needs. Then, in one day we had six… We attended the temple and saw a dear friend there from our time serving in Cusco. That was super fun.  A sister whom Rich interviewed a while back asked the sisters who taught her if Rich would baptize her. We were honored to attend her baptism Saturday evening in Vista Alegre. She wa...