Our First Week

February 21, 2015

Our first week in Lima, Peru!! We have had so many experiences that make our lives interesting, new and challenging. It’s hard to imagine we were in with Kaylinn just last Sunday because so much has happened.

We arose at 3:30am to catch a flight from Salt Lake to Los Angeles. Arriving there at 8:00, my mother met us for breakfast. That was so fun to have about two hours to visit and give hugs before heading to South America. It was a holiday so she was able to travel with light traffic to and from the airport. We left Los Angeles for a non-stop flight to Peru about 1:00pm arriving in Lima about 11:30pm. We went through customs, got our bags and walked out into a maze of people waiting for their loved ones. I was so relieved and thankful when we heard “Elder and Hermana” calling from the crowd. Our dear friends the Acosta’s were there to pick us up. We rode the taxi to the apartment they had so lovingly prepared for us and arrived about 2:00am.

Everything was so neat and clean with a large bouquet of flowers on the table and fruit, cereal and milk in the fridge. Our apartment is the second floor on the right. Since it is a new acquisition of the Church for senior missionaries and we are the first couple to live in the apartment, everything is new from the kitchen dishes to the furniture, beds and bedding. After we got all our “stuff” unpacked, which took a few days, we feel very comfortable in our new home. Of course, I have plans to give it a homey touch, but it will take time to find the items I want to complete “the look”.  

Some things about the apartment: the couch, loveseat and side chair were nice but so very stiff and extremely uncomfortable so Elder Acosta had the manager remove them yesterday. Although we are without anything to sit on, they will be replaced with a lounge recliner chair and one couch which will be much better for our needs. The big bed is hard as a rock and yesterday the Kendell’s helped us locate a mattress topper which will be delivered sometime next week. We are fortunate to have two air condition units as the Acosta’s located the second one from another missionary’s vacant apartment. The temperature is pleasant but during the day when it gets up around 80 degrees, it is quite muggy and uncomfortable but the apartment stays refreshing.

The floors are tile and the two bedrooms have a light parquet wood laminate. The kitchen counters are like glass in a grey tone. We have a cute little washer and dryer in the kitchen and small fridge and microwave. The appliances are all new!  The stove is gas and we have already found the oven doesn’t have a broiler on top. We don’t have a toaster either so we are looking for a nice toaster oven. Our bathroom is small with a pedestal sink but a large tile shower.

Tuesday we arose fairly early. The Acosta’s took us to the office about 11:00 where we met the other senior missionaries and so many of the staff that we will be working with. They were all anxious to meet us. Then we went to lunch at a fabulous café and bakery, Don Maminos, with the Acosta’s, Hansen’s and Clark’s, all great people and we enjoyed our visit with them and the food was good, too.J We discovered the Hansen’s are from the Walnut Creek/Concord area and the Clarks from Eagle, Idaho know Joe’s sister Nancy very well. After lunch, the Acosta’s took us shopping at the Wong’s next to the Maestro (like Home Depot) and we got more food items for the kitchen. It was a very nice store, much like those we have at home, with very nice produce, big isles and many household and kitchen items. The food selections are not as many and, of course, very different. It was curious to me to find many “canned” products in sort of a heavy mylar bag, such as milk, tomato sauce, soups, mayonnaise and ketchup. It took us a couple of hours, and we were plenty tired by the time we got home. Quite a first day!

Wednesday we got to the office by 11:00 on our own. It is a 5 minute walk from our apartment, and I need to wear walking shoes as the walk if so uneven and dirty and take my office shoes in my handbag. Although we were only in the office until 3:00, we proceeded to make headway on our responsibilities. We needed to apply for our photo ID, gain access to the computers, and meet with the area presidency, President Uceda, President Waddell and President Goodoi, to introduce ourselves and visit for a few minutes.

We went to an early dinner with Pete and JoElla Hansen and met Ron and Bonnie Clark at Prados Restaurant right across the street from the temple! I had a view of the temple while I ate my dinner! We had a few minutes after dinner to stop by the little LDS bookstore filled with little fun LDS gifts and mementoes. We attended the 6:00pm English session. At the end I had a choice to speak English or Spanish and I chose Spanish even though I don’t speak very few words. It was pretty traumatic and I needed help with every word, one by one, and by the time I got done the sweat was pouring from my brow. Phew! The Sister that helped me found me in the Celestial Room and gave me such a big hug and congratulated me. I didn’t think I deserved that. Joe was so proud of me for trying . . . my second day in Peru!

We actually got to the office by 9:00, the appointed time to start our day. It is summer here and quite warm for our walk to work in the morning. We still don’t have access to the computers although we have been talking with Kevin and Carol Lowell about some of the issues. Joe feels overwhelmed not knowing anything about finance or auditing and I feel overwhelmed not knowing how to speak the language. We left the office with the Elder Manny Acosta to pick up some needed items. When we got home about 4:00, the church maintenance staff came by the apartment to hook up the wireless internet. Now it works great and we have been able to watch everything from our TV back home, sports, movies, news and even Netflix. It’s amazing! Then at 5:00, the air conditioning units were installed. These are floor units with a hose that pumps the humidity in the air outside. It has made such a difference in the comfort of the apartment and we sleep so much better, too. The windows don't have screens so except for the dust and dirt that blows in, there are hardly any bugs to worry about. We enjoyed going back to the local Tottus grocery store to find more specialty comfort food like cheese, crackers (there are none) and chocolate. We love the fruit and have been eating a lot after washing it carefully. We only drink bottled water.

What a long week. Friday we actually worked a full day, 9:00 to 5:00 and were just exhausted by the end of the day. We gained access to the computer today and Joe had a few more hours of training with Brother Lowell. He is so overwhelmed not understanding much of what is going on. We are starting our work here right in the middle of the audit procedure. They are due in full by March 15. Thank goodness the Lowell’s are continuing to work from their home in Bountiful. We were invited to go to dinner . . . again . . . with the Hansen’s, Kendall’s and Acosta’s. At first we thought we were too tired but I was pretty sure we needed a boost at the end of the week. We went to LongHorn (with the Texas missing) at Jocky Plaza and enjoyed steak and ribs. Delicious! Then we walked around the mall which is absolutely huge and upscale and ended at a store like Penney’s to see if we could find a topper for our mattress. I was sure wide-eyed trying to take it all in. Got home about 10:00pm.

Saturday I cleaned and cleaned. It is so very dusty here and the dirt builds up on everything. The Acosta’s took us by taxi to the Inka Market, a traditional folk art market with so many wonderful things, leather, colorful embroidered pillows, woven blankets, beautiful alpaca sweaters, jewelry and other handcrafted woods and metals. It is so huge!! It is covered with nice tiled walkways and shops at every turn. I bought the green necklace pictured here.

During the evening, we decided to walk to Tottu’s Market and picked up a few grocery items. Then we decided to walk to Molina Plaza, now 8:10pm, because Joe knew the stores were open until 11:00. He wanted to go by a Radio Shack. So off we went for about 45 minutes of walking. By now it’s 9:00 and we are quite tired but we did our shopping, and at PlazaVea (Target sort of) and then for a bit at the Wong Market. We were looking for a toaster, shorts for Joe, shoes to wear in the apartment, and other items. We were pretty exhausted by 10:00pm and took a taxi home. Sister Acosta was so worried about us. She and Elder Acosta were waiting outside for us. They knew we went to Tottu’s but expected us home about 8:30, not 10:30! They were ready to call the police to look for us. I felt badly. I’m just not used to checking in and we were pretty spontaneous about our walking until late.

We’ve seen some weird things here. The night we arrived in Lima it was about 2:00 in the morning driving down one of the main streets. It was pretty busy for that time of night and there was a small bus, probably holds about 20 passengers and it was very full. The driver had his child about 3 years old on his lap and he was helping drive the bus!

Today we went to church and it was very nice. The building is very large and the ward is pretty large, as well. About half the members are missionaries, temple workers and American Embassy workers so there is an English Gospel Doctrine class and an English Relief Society, as well as Spanish classes. I wore headphones for the Sacrament speakers to get translation. The whole meeting was pretty tiring with so many people introducing themselves and listening to the Spanish. The Acosta’s invited us to dinner along with the Sheffields. It was wonderful food; they are so hospitable and have made us feel so welcome here in Peru.

I think we are ready for another week of learning and serving. We’ll do the best we can and take joy in our journey. After all, what are they going to do, fire us?!?

Missionary Training Center

Joe and I had a pretty rigid schedule all week but we tried really hard to keep to some sort of exercise program. We got up at 6:00. Joe went to the workout room but I just did my floor exercises for 20 minutes every morning. We always made it for a quick breakfast in the cafeteria before our first class at 8:00am. We had lunch at noon and then continued with role-play classes and teaching techniques until 4:30.

The food was always good but we found with a buffet, we eat more than we should. One day I saw a young Elder stirring his oatmeal with a sliced banana on top. He was having a heck of a time and when I looked closer, it wasn't oatmeal at all but a bowl of peanut butter with a banana!! Another day, I saw a Tongan missionary with five large glasses of orange juice on his tray. I was wrong to think he was getting orange juice for his companions because he sat down at the table with us and was drinking them all and just stacking those empty glasses!!

Joe and I had a routine of only two meals a day with a snack of fruit or whatever, but at the MTC, we were getting three full meals and eating way more calories than we were used to. We did much better by the end of the week, eating more salads and fruit. I even cut way back on my breakfast meal to include fruit and oatmeal as opposed to French toast, doughnuts or eggs and bacon. Ugh, I know I’ve put on weight and will have to work on diet and exercise consistently when I get to Peru.

There is one picture here where Joe and I introduced ourselves to Motekiai Langi who has just been recruited by BYU football to play when he returns from his mission. Look how big he is next to me!!

The week was filled with so much information and wonderful teaching techniques. Although we won’t be actively proselyting, it is invaluable information as we may lead discussions at any time. We practiced with “investigators” who came to give us experience in conducting a missionary visit, we practiced with each other in our district and with other districts. Our combined large group sessions were motivating and informative. We came to know so many wonderful couples who will be serving in many places in the US as well as a few foreign countries, Ukraine, Croatia, Singapore, Chili, and South Africa. Our Tuesday fireside was with Elder Wilson of the Seventy. He spoke of many things but the one that made an impression was to actually read the Book of Mormon with our investigators.

The whole week was exhausting but rewarding. I think the classwork was more so since it was lecture and then interaction and especially after lunch when we were so sleepy. Names I don't want to forget who we studied with every day: Our district pictured above was Carolyn and  Gary West, our instructor Sister Moore, Gary and Wanda Pederson and Dan and Linda Unger. Gary Pederson grew up in Brentwood, California so we knew some of the same people and places.

Training in Salt Lake

President Hodgman set us apart to serve as missionaries Monday, Feb 2. After locking the front door and loading up our luggage, we flew to Salt Lake on United. We had four of the largest suitcases, two carry-ons and each of us had our personal bag. That's a lot of "stuff"!! Diane filled up three of the large bags, including a couple of clocks, placemats, a few favorite kitchen items AND our bathroom scale! Plus we had church shoes, tennis shoes and sandals.

Here is our whole life in these suitcases!

Two days were spent at the Church office building in Salt Lake being trained as area auditors using LUFUS software and other office procedures for church auditing and training of assistant area auditors, helping to foresee possible serious issues and to prevent problems from continually happening.

Those in the Church Audit Department who trained us are L to R: Rahn Price, Wes Johnson and Cal Simmons. We are replacing the Lowell's in the right picture and they are training us in our specific responsibilities. It was pretty intense but we came away with a solid understanding of the auditing process and purpose: to safeguard the leaders and protect the sacred funds of the Church.

Mission to Lima, Peru

We have been called to serve for 23 months in the Lima, Peru area office under the direction of the Area Presidency. We will work in the Church office 9-5 every day as church auditors. We will be responsible for training and supervising 35 assistant auditors who, in turn, train the stake auditors. Joe and I will attend an auditing training session February 5 and 6 in Salt Lake and then report to the MTC in Provo for one week beginning February 9.

Lima is in central Peru right on the Pacific coast. The climate is much the same as San Francisco with mild temperatures and winters of fog and mist. We will enjoy walks along the sandy beach and visits to the park and upscale mall. There are also concerts, art in the park and other cultural events in the city.

Alaskan Cruise

WOW! We had such an awesome trip filled with sunshine, forests, waterfalls and great people. We traveled north on HWY 101 stopping along the way to visit Diane's hometown places in Sebastopol and Ukiah. We drove through the Avenue of the Giant Redwoods and actually camped right under the trees without a tent. It was so warm and perfect! Took a tour of the Oregon Caves and, in fact, we had a personal tour as we were the only tourists there at 4:00pm.

During our trip, we spent a few days along the California, Oregon and Washington beaches, just getting our feet in the sand. Diane even picked out a piece of driftwood which we carried all the way home with us.

It was great to board the Norwegian Jewel July 13 with stops in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Victoria, including a cruise up the fjord to see the Sawyer Glacier. Joe's sister Nancy and husband Galan joined us for the cruise, and it was fun to travel together, eating and playing games. Everything was great; the food, entertainment, games, music and especially our excursions in Alaska.

The best excursion was a 12-man canoe trip to the Mendenhall Glacier. Our tour guide was Alex, a wonderful man studying Marine Biology in Juneau.  We paddled across Mendenhall Lake, navigating past icebergs, surrounded by one of the richest samplings of Alaskan wildlife you’ll find anywhere.  We saw seagull nests and baby chicks, eagles, goats, and hundreds of spawning salmon. Our guide took us within a safe distance of the massive, awe-inspiring face of the living Mendenhall Glacier. We were fortunate to see a huge wall of ice break away and crash into the water with an enormous splash almost in slow motion. We did some fast back paddling to get away from the tidal wave. Our guide told us only about 50 people a season are lucky enough to see a glacier "calve". After that highlight, we had a thrill ride by skirting the base of beautiful and powerful Nugget Falls. We even had a snack of reindeer sausage, salmon spread, crackers and hot chocolate! Great sunny weather, great day!

The wall of ice that fell was as tall as a ten story building. If you were to put a boat in front of this glacier, it would be so tiny you would hardly see it.


Victoria

After getting off the ship July 20, we enjoyed a few days in Olympic National Park to see more spectacular scenery, wildlife, waterfalls, and beaches. We stayed at the Quinault Lake Lodge pictured below. Also pictured below is Joe standing against the largest Spruce tree in the world, about 1000 years old. It is 191' tall with a circumference of 58' 11". Very amazing!

We had a great white water raft trip down the Klamath River which was Diane's first time. We put in the water at 9:30am and traveled 14 miles downstream, getting out at 4:00pm. Diane rode the front rim of the boat like riding a bull as the boat slammed through the rapids. If anyone thinks of having such a great adventure, check out Noah's River Adventures.

On our trip, we attended three temples, Seattle, Portland and Medford. There were so many wild blackberries throughout Oregon and Washington, we stopped and picked a bucket full and Diane made a wonderful blackberry cobbler when we got home. While on our way home, we spent some time at Crater Lake in Oregon.

It's always great to get back home but we sure had a wonderful trip with lots of memories. Now we plan to be home for a few days before we take off again on another adventure.

Exploring Yosemite National Park

With our home base at Angels Camp, we were only an hour and a half from Yosemite. We arrived by 9:00 in the morning and enjoyed the whole day there. After coming down the mountain and then through the mile-long tunnel, this scene opens up to view. What a beautiful morning! Yosemite is internationally known for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant Sequoia groves and biological diversity. At this lookout point there are always tour buses full of tourists!

Our first stop was Bridal Veil Falls and we had a little walk up the hill to get to the base of the falls. There was a lot of water coming down and it was beautiful. There were also a lot of people -- in the way -- we had to dodge and take pictures around even for that early in the morning. We took a hike for a few miles to Mirror Lake. It was a really nice hike but Mirror Lake was sure a disappointment, like, we couldn't find it because it was so small.

One of the highlights of being in Yosemite is our visit to the Ahwahnee Hotel. It was built back in 1927 and has the true old and rustic characteristics. Joe and I walked all around the grand lobby, library and "Gentlemen's Lounge". There was a lot of beautiful artwork, Indian rugs and antiques on display. We had lunch in the grand dining room which was just delightful, a great Yosemite experience.

  We saved the best for last, Yosemite Falls. It is an easy mile hike to the bridge below the falls but Joe and I climbed up around the boulders to the base until we could feel the spray. There is a hike up to the top of Yosemite Falls but it takes between 6-8 hours and is pretty rigorous. Maybe we can do that another day.

Our day in Yosemite was so relaxing, except Joe out there in the middle of the meadow getting eaten up by mosquitoes! Even the crowds were at a minimum, probably because it is still too early in the year for most tourists. We are fortunate to be so close to enjoy this glacier wonder. At one time, the ice thickness in Yosemite Valley may have reached 4,000 feet during the early glacial period. The down-slope movement of the ice masses cut and sculpted the U-shaped valley, making such a unique place to visit.

Our Visit to Some Very Big Trees

Our home base was Angels Camp at the WorldMark resort with our room overlooking the golf course. Joe felt right at home.

  

We visited Calaveras Big Trees, a grove of giant Sequoias. It is always a reverent experience to walk through the grove. Below is the 'Discovery Tree' noted by Augustus T. Dowd in 1852 and felled in 1853, leaving a giant stump which is the only remainder of the tree. It measured 24 feet (7.3 m) in diameter at its base and was determined by ring count to be 1,244 years old when felled.

The largest tree was believed to be the Mother of the Forest, which was cut down in the mid-nineteenth century and dwarfed any tree alive today.

It is so humbling to be in the presence of these magnificent trees. 



There are coastal redwoods and Sequoia redwoods. During the summer, we will visit some of the other beautiful redwood groves in California.

Camping in Nauvoo

In May, we met in Navoo with Tessa and Cory and the kids. Chelsea, Ethan, Gavin and Carson  joined us the next day. In 1839, early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—called “Mormons”—established this place of peace and beauty on a great bend in the Mississippi.  We had such a great time visiting the historical sites and the cousins loved playing together and having a giant sleepover. The campground was nearly empty and was great! We even made s'mores in the evening. We visited Nauvoo and Carthage Jail where the Prophet Joseph Smith was killed by the mob. Both places were special experiences for the children.

We ended our few days with a big picnic behind the Cultural Hall. It was such fun and new memories were made with the combined families.

IOWA HOUSE TRANSFORMATION

After our honeymoon, Joe and I spent a month in Ames, Iowa, his home for the last 23 years. We cleaned, packed and moved items to storage, painted, planted flowers, and staged the home to sell all in one week. We were so exhausted but we listed it for $12,000 over the suggested price and it sold in one day. Here are the before and after pictures to share what we did in such a short amount of time.

 Joe and I worked 12 hours a day. I bought all the decorator items to stage the home at the local Target, WalMart and Hobby Lobby only to return them a few days later after the home sold. Joe had never considered "borrowing" items from the stores but it wasn't my first time. He was pretty amazed! It was our joke how we made everything "Apple Green". That was just what I felt in the home and it turned out so darn cute.

The market in Ames, Iowa was hot, hot, so given the cute house, are you surprised it sold so fast? Joe had some difficult moments selling the family home of 23 years but we are so excited to move forward with our lives together. We will be in California for the summer but, believe it or not, we have purchased another home in Cedar Rapids where we will spend several months a year so we can stay close to our children and grandchildren there. The blog on our new home will be coming.



Honeymoon in Colorado Springs

Our honeymoon started at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. We were so excited to be there; we almost couldn’t believe we were staying in such a beautiful and exquisite place. The Broadmoor is truly a luxury hotel built in the early 20^th Century as the Grand Dame of the Rockies, built by Spencer Penrose in 1918. The hotel has always attracted a wealthy clientele, including past presidents. It has over 700 rooms and 18 restaurants and café` with three golf courses. We really felt like royalty while staying there for three days!!

Zip Lining

We went zip lining with Out West Adventures. It was the perfect day and Joe and I had so much fun, plus we were the only ones on the tour so we had a very personal experience.



Pikes Peak in the distance

Pikes Peak

We took the drive up the mountain to Pikes Peak which is 14,115 feet high. Since it had been snowing, we were only allowed to go to 12,000 before we had to come back down. The wind was blowing up to 50 miles an hour and it was freezing!!



Too cold for another picture - I'm done!

We drove to the Garden of the Gods close to Manitou Springs and stopped at the visitor’s center there to buy a few things. It was a beautiful drive but still cold and windy. The rock formations were like those in Canyonlands National Park in Utah and enjoyed the drive but we didn't hike any of the many trails because it was too windy and cold.

 

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

I think we were the only guests in the zoo and although it was freezing cold and the animals were in their barns, we enjoyed it very much. There were 22 giraffes, the largest herd in North America. They were eating right out of our hands! We got right up close and personal with the lions. Although there was thick glass between us, our noses touched. When we would turn to leave the exhibit, they would lunge toward us, playing with us because they liked the chase. At 5:00 closing time, we were heading out of the park and one of the zoo keepers that knew we were on our honeymoon asked if we would like to help feed the grizzly bears. How great was that! We were within inches of their giant heads and claws, such a great experience!!

 
 

 

 

 





 

 

Trip to Seven Falls