I Hope I Remember How To Do This

Well I’m back! I have not been able to blog in about 6 weeks due to the internet not working in our apartment, but it's fixed!

So much has taken place, I should have been taking notes, but you know me, I did not. We are settling in and enjoying the personnel at the Area Office building. We have made many new friends and re-acquainted with several others who moved here from Ecuador when the Area was expanded from three countries to five.

Lima is quite different from Quito Ecuador where we have served twice before, but there are many similarities too. In Quito we were able to walk almost anywhere we wanted to go. The city of Lima is so much larger and there are many more cars, traffic is HORRIBLE. Driving each day takes a tremendous amount of faith. After a few days it is not quite so un-settling. It feels and looks like a combination of destruction derby, and the running of the bulls, but with cars. Lima has the European style of intersections that are roundabouts or ovals. We hired a wonderful young man to transport us to and from the office each day; he takes good care of us. His wife is a volunteer in the PEF call center; they are expecting their first baby in February, they just found out it is a boy! Jack and Regina are their names.

There is definitely more wealth here. The people are very amiable and the service in every way and place is far better than any service at home. In each store there are employees everywhere, they probably only work for commission, so they are very eager to make a sale and make sure the customer is happy.

This photo is for our good friend Don, he uses a "Mac" and thinks apples are the best. The first time we went to the mall closest to our apartment"Jockey Plaza" we walked by this store. I, as my usual self, began to laugh and said "let's take a picture for Don" so we did . It is always very busy inside. Apparently other people agree with him.
These are our volunteers in the call center. They are the greatest! They help in so many ways. Elder W. as at the far left and I am on the right. We love these kids. Almost all of them have PEF loans themselves, so they understand the questions students ask. They also do our calling, asking the participants the information we need to have a more sucessful out come in the program of PEF. Many of them travel one to two hours each day to work in the call center.

We had a great conference last week. Elders Christofferson and Clayton with Bishop Edgley and their wives came to speak to the missionaries (young and old) and then held a training for 22 Mission Presidents and their wives for three days. There are 22 missions in our five countries that compose our South America Northwest. It was quite a site to see all the Presidents with their wives and the General Authorities too, the Spirit was magnificent!

This is a photo of Pres. and Sis. Sloan from Quito, Ecuador. They came to Ecuador when we were there in 2008. They have made a great contribution to the mission effort. We loved seeing them! The Mission secretary, Sister Griesmer and I still keep in touch. She has a wonderful blog. It is such fun to read.

Peru to the North goes all the way to the border of Columbia, we found out last week we will be traveling to that area towards the end of November. I do really good in my own little area, but really I am a chicken when it comes to traveling. We have a couple here in Lima, Elder and Sister Lamb. They travel all of Lima and to Bolivia too. They are helping the students to find their "apptitudes". Some students choose a school and they are really not prepared to enter that field of study. They too are doing a great work.

So, I guess I CAN do this. I will try to update in a more timely fashion. It is hard to come home and work on the computer after doing it all day long at the office, but for our family history and the interest our family and friends have shown at home, I will to better. I also hope in the future I can post more pictures from our travels around Lima.

Love to all, until I write again,

Hermana W.