This was our busiest and probably most stressful week yet. It
was transfer week and 7 missionaries completed their missions and returned to
their homes, 5 of which were “extranjeros” or foreigners (4 Americans and 1 Ecuadorian).
The vast majority of stress came from the extra processes required by the
Peruvian government when extranjeros leave the country and the changing and
very confusing airline travel requirements (due to Covid). Anyway…sparing you
all the details…6 of the 7 missionaries made it out on their first try. But
President and Sister Packard got an early morning phone call from Sister E (our
Ecuadorian) informing them that she was denied entry onto the plane because she
hadn’t taken the right Covid test (Antigen vs. RT-PCR). AARGG! I (LeAnn) had
read so much fine print from the airlines, the Area travel office, and the
various governments with regard to which tests would work for which
situations…and I still got it wrong! Oh well…things worked out for the best
after all, and she is safely home now.
In addition to the mission transfers, this week we moved
into a new apartment…YAY! Since this will be a mission couple apartment, the
Area office takes steps to fix it up (new paint, termas/instant hot water
devices, furniture, fumigating, and cleaning). We love having a working oven, a
washer and dryer, and furniture (including an actual kitchen table and a bed
frame)! So, we spent most of our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day getting
settled in.
On Monday night we had 2 of the “leaving” sisters stay with
us (since we live near the mission office and driver who takes the missionaries
to the airport) and it was one of these sisters who ended up not being able to fly
out as scheduled (she left for the airport at 3:30am and returned to our house
around 7am). Anyway, she was able to get the correct Covid test and then sleep/rest
for most of the day. Tuesday evening, before leaving for her flight at 10:30pm,
we were able to visit with her, and she told us, “I’m glad that I was able to
stay this extra day. Yesterday, I wasn’t ready to go home. I was dreading it,
but now I am ready. I needed this time to prepare and think.” Her remarks
remind me of a great truth: We don’t always know what is “good luck” or “bad
luck.” Sometimes things that seem really horrible in the moment, end up working
out for our great good down the road.
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto
thine own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)
¡Feliz año nuevo! (Happy New Year (almost)!)
Love,
Lane & LeAnn
LeAnn was not happy after she just mopped the floor, then came out of the bedroom to find the first little friend. Then the next morning, as she got out of bed, the next little friend was waiting for her right as she stepped on the floor out of bed. Fun! Fun!
Her cousin Noelle (on the left) also graduated from BYU!
Fun to see Jaron taking a polar bear plunge in Monterey, CA, where he is stationed with his family.
Heart wrenching expression on our grand daughter! Elizabeth said she was not happy when Jaron ran off to do the plunge!
Busy week. Again.
We hope everyone enjoys a great week of Christmas spirit!
We know that Christ really is the reason for the season.
May we all remember Him, because we will one day meet him again.
Merry Christmas!
Two cars loaded full of decorations and food for the all-mission Christmas activity.
No earthquakes
or tornados here this week. Just a lot of mission work! I (LeAnn) felt like I
got pulled into the vortex that is the Peruvian migrations office…so
frustrating! I spent hours working on migration status extensions for a couple
of our missionaries and basically got nowhere. Even our contact in the Area
office was stumped by the situation. Hopefully, we can get things resolved this
week.
One of our
office responsibilities is sending out replacement phones when missionaries
lose their phones (Yes, sadly, this happens from time to time.) We also replace
the phone chips when those get lost. (And don’t ask me why the missionaries are
taking the phone chips out of their phones, but they do that, too. I think it
has something to do with increasing the data capacity…) Anyway, I’m supposed to
coordinate all this phone chip stuff with the Area office and our contact at
Claro (the local service provider), which means that I do the following:
1. Ask Lane what am I supposed to ask/tell
the Area office (or Claro).
2. Type up the message in English and then
put it in Google Translate to convert it to Spanish.
3. Have Lane proof the message to make sure
it’s in the correct voice (formal, not familiar).
4. Send off the message in an email to the
Area office representative.
Then when I get
an email response from the Area office, I just reverse this process:
1. Paste the message into Google Translate
so I can understand it.
2. Tell Lane what the Area office said in
their email.
3. Wait for Lane to help me with how to
respond.
Well, last week after
going through the above process, the Area office was having Claro send us out
some new phone chips. When the phone chips arrived, Lane texted our contact at
the Area to confirm the delivery and ask a couple of questions. I was sitting
at my desk when Lane burst out laughing.
“What’s so
funny?” I asked.
Lane’s response:
“Well, when I told Brother R that the phone chips arrived he said, ‘Oh good. If
you have any questions, just ask Sister Simmons. She knows exactly what to do.’”
I’ve got
everyone fooled!
It’s easy for me
to feel overwhelmed at this time of year when I think about all that I want to
do, all that I could do, all that I need to do and all that I should do. But
this afternoon I read this scripture (which I may have shared before…can’t
remember…but it’s worth sharing again!) and I immediately felt better:
Counsel with the
Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest
down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep;
and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God;
and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day. (Alma 37:37)
¡Mantengan las
cosas simples! (Keep things simple!)
Love,
Lane & LeAnn
Occasionally we close an apartment the missionaries lived in because we don't need the apartment in that area, or because the missionaries found a better apartment or location. The result is a lot of garbage that ends up being cleaned out of the apartment that has collected and been left there over time by the many missionaries that lived there. We don't actually go in and clean the apartment out ourselves. We simply coordinate the effort with contractors we work with. The apartment owners often are not happy about the status of the apartment when the missionaries leave, and unfortunately there often is clean-up work we have to do, like painting and repairing items like faucet handles, toilets, door handles, and the like. No fun, but part of managing all the housing for the missionaries.
Corinne (Mission President's wife) visits each missionary apartment about every six weeks, and often brings excess items back that the missionaries don't need. We save what is still usable for potential future use. Here we are cleaning up a couple of hervidoras (kitchen pots for boiling water) that Corinne brought back from some apartments.
¡Feliz diciembre!
Merry Christmas
season everyone! Even though it’s green (well, brown, and definitely not white
or snowy) and warm in Lima, we see Christmas displays everywhere, which makes
us very happy. We’re both feeling a little more familiar with the mission
office processes, but are very thankful that we have a good support system with
the Area office.
This week was
the “Mission Tour,” which occurs once per year and involves having a member of
the Area presidency and his wife visit our mission, speak with the missionaries,
and conduct training meetings. We weren’t too involved with the logistics of
this, but were able to attend Friday’s training and lunch. As part of the
president’s message to the missionaries, he encouraged the missionaries to
continue their efforts to learn English…which made me feel a bit guilty as I
haven’t been as diligent in teaching the English Connect lessons now that we’ve
taken over all the mission office responsibilities. I’m hoping to do better!
This week in
church, a young man from Las Vegas, NV (He’s married to a girl from Lima.) shared
his testimony. His Spanish is probably similar to mine, and he kept going back
and forth from English to Spanish (which was nice for me!) and made the
following remark:
“Our weaknesses
are our greatest opportunities for growth.”
Of course this
is obvious, but somehow it particularly struck me and reminded me of these
verses:
“And if men come
unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that
they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble
themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith
in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. … and I will show
unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.”
(Ether 12:27-28)
¡Ten algunas experiencias buenas esta semana! (Have some good experiences this week!)
Love,
Lane & LeAnn
