Peru - October 3, 2021

October 3, 2021

¡Feliz octubre! (Happy October!)

 

We’ve been in Peru for over one month!


We experienced our first transfer week in the mission and wow! … what a logistical feat! It’s super busy/crazy (I feel like I’m using these words a lot lately) for the mission president and his wife. Here’s an abbreviated list of events that occurred this week:

 

·         Breakfast at mission home for several missionaries.

·   Departing missionaries visited the beach and the Faro la Marina (a famous lighthouse), went out to a nice dinner with the mission president and wife, and then came back to the mission home for a Zoom testimony meeting with the mission, dessert, and fun games.

·         Leader Council Meeting

·         6-week Training Meeting

·         12-week Training Meeting

·         New Leader Training Meeting

 

Food or dessert is served at all of these events, so Lane and I were able to help with shopping and food prep. Lane also did a little more driving this week and actually made the drive (which takes about 45 minutes) from the mission home to the mission office without Corinne or Meredith as navigators.

 

On Friday we discovered that we have a little mouse “friend” living in our house. He (or she) comes and goes as he pleases and it was a little comical to watch Lane jimmy-rig blockades to keep our friend out, only to see him scurry across the floor minutes later. It’s a good thing I’m not too squeamish about mice. I don’t like them contaminating things, but they don’t bother me like snakes do (Tay & Izzy, I’m thinking of you!).

 

Our internet was down for a few days and it sure makes us appreciate modern technology. We loved watching General Conference and listening to inspired messages. So many messages resonated with us, but being here in Peru, we can especially relate to Clark Gilbert’s “mathematical” remarks about starting points, intercepts, and slope. We’ve both been blessed with strong starting points in life and must work to keep our “inner slopes” from stagnating. King Benjamin’s words are a good reminder of the importance of continual improvement:

 

“But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.” (Mosiah 4:30)

 

¡Que tengan una semana súper fantástica! (Have a super fantastic week!)

 

Love,

 

Lane & LeAnn




One of the sister missionaries that LeAnn has been teaching English to for many months finished her mission and returned home to Ecuador. 



We helped prepare a huge lunch of breakfast burritos for mission leader council.
Lots of potatoes, scrambled eggs, sausage, onions, and peppers.



Special breakfast at the mission home recognizing missionaries that excelled in missionary work.



Games at the mission home after recognizing missionaries completing their mission.



Our mission doesn't have cars or bikes for missionaries.  The missionaries just walk or take public transportation.  But one day we drove the Mission President's car from the mission home to the office to take things to the office.  A new experience in driving!  Nobody obeys any traffic rules.  It's literally like a rat race or an ant pile or a beehive of activity with cars swerving every which way, in and out of lanes, on sidewalks, cutting across three lanes to turn, and every other unimaginable driving habit.  It's a good thing nobody seems to get road rage here!  They all just honk and wave!  Like advice from the Penguins of Madagascar!



One evening we filled up the mission car with gas, and the gas station gave us a free gift bag for filling up the tank. On the way home we realized the gift included some cookies, a bottle of Coca Cola, and a bottle of beer!  We were a little nervous taking it back to the Mission President's home with the car, and were hoping there weren't any cameras associating the gift with the mission home car!



When we arrived home with the gas station gift we gave it the smell test to see if it really was what it looked to be!  Then it went down the sink...



Lane enjoying some breakfast cereal worth its weight in "gold" because we can't find it anywhere in Lima.  His mom brought it down from the States when she came to visit.  Corinne's daughter brought some too!  We're set for awhile!



Notice LeAnn's special black-plastic-bag layer-of-protection she uses on top of the sofa when she sits. She had previously received a number of bug bites on her legs, but we're not sure from what or where. The sofa had been in storage for quite some time (since prior senior missionary couples left Peru because of Covid) before we pulled it out to use it, and even though it had been plastic wrapped, it wasn't completely protected in storage, so she decided to not take any more chances on the bug bites!


We had a little un-invited visitor in our apartment. If you watch closely, looking on the floor near the baseboard between the fridge and the white shelving you'll see it scurry quickly from the fridge to the white shelving while Lane is poking under the fridge.  It is super fast, so don't blink!