Morning earthquakes seem to be a thing here. We had another one on Thursday around 5:45am … lots of shaking but no damage to our place. We put our pillows over our heads (yes, that’s a real recommendation of what to do if you’re in bed during an earthquake) and I (LeAnn) prayed like crazy that the building wouldn’t collapse!
As far as mission office work goes … this week I learned how
to pay the fines the missionaries accrue when an election is held. Here in Peru
voting is mandatory, but the missionaries aren’t able to vote due to their
being away from their assigned precincts. All these government processes take
time – you have to first pay the fee at the national bank (thank Heaven for
online banking!), pull together all the necessary paperwork, convert everything
into a single PDF format document, and then enter the government portal to
upload everything. It’s not that it’s difficult … just tedious. Lane was busy
with missionary finances, housing issues and repairs, and trying to figure out
how to clear and reformat missionary cell phones.
This weekend was a little crazy. On Friday night around
midnight, President Packard texts, “Are you guys still awake?” Apparently they
had just received a call from a trio of sisters whose terma (hot water tank)
had fallen off the wall, crushed the toilet lid, and leaked water everywhere.
We couldn’t call anyone at that hour, but first thing Saturday morning, Lane
connected with a repairman. Then, around 9:15am we had another American
missionary come into the mission office for training. He’d been “stuck” in the
Lima CCM since Sept. 30 … don’t know why his paperwork took so long to process …
but we are so happy he’s finally here in the mission! Later in the afternoon,
Lane got a call from 2 elders whose phone had been stolen at knife point … thankfully,
no one got hurt. When it rains, it pours!
So, by the time we got to our “P-Day” it was about 6:30pm.
We can’t complain, though. President and Sister Packard had far more
“excitement” than we did. In addition to the Friday midnight call, they
received a 4:00am call from a missionary with a blistering sore throat that
needed help. And they had a stake conference assignment – which means speaking
in multiple meetings both Saturday night and Sunday. They are amazing!
Highlight for the week: One evening after working in the
mission office, we walked to a nearby store to pick up some supplies. Lane had
left his wallet at home, so I was checking out. As I handed the cashier my ID
and credit card, I noticed she was looking at me very intently. Then she said
something with the word “iglesia” (church) so I turned to Lane for help. She
was asking about our church … what it is and how you can go … and Lane had a
very brief discussion with her right there in the check-out line! We got her
name, phone number, and neighborhood name, and passed along that info to our
missionaries in that area.
“Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying
the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which
is great.” (D&C 64:33)
¡Que tengan una semana fantástica! (Have a fantastic week!)
Love,
Lane & LeAnn
One of our office responsibilities is helping to keep the missionary houses supplied with basic housing items. Here we purchased a couple of chests of drawers for missionaries moving into the apartment where we used to live!
The mission car that the Packards let us use becomes extremely valuable when we are purchasing or moving housing supplies for the missionaries!
Got a delivery this week from the States... thank heavens for family helping us and embassy workers in one of the wards here that travel to the States on occasion.
