Week 48 ~ We Found Gold Here

We had stake conference today. It was really good and the large chapel was packed including the stage. The Peruvians are beautiful people. Diane doesn't understand much of what they say and she feels uncomfortable just smiling and saying “Gracias” and wants to just go home.  Joe likes to visit with everyone. He loves that interaction and would stay until there was no one else to talk to. Joe explained that especially the women love to see Diane and give her a hug, actually it’s always a kiss on the cheek, because she is an American and a missionary. Trying to be more patient even though she doesn’t know who they are or what they’re saying.

We enjoyed a day out yesterday with Jerry and Jeri Prince from Canada. They are a great couple we enjoy being with and it was sure nice to get to know each other a little better, our background, work and families. We went to the Gold Museum of Lima not very far from our apartments. We spent three hours looking at all the fascinating collections. There were two floors of the private collection of Miguel Mujica Gallo, a dedicated Peruvian who spent most of his time and fortune collecting items of Peruvian history and world weapons.

The first floor was the Museum of World Weapons. Very impressive with huge quantities of ornate knives, guns, medieval armor, shields, helmets and battle axes, cemeters, clubs and swords. Amazing. There was a room strictly devoted to Japanese weapons and Samurai warrior armor that was great.

The basement was dedicated to Peruvian history and the different cultures through the centuries. It was here that we saw the metal craftsmanship of the people in silver, copper and a lot of gold jewelry, head dresses, earrings, and funeral masks. Most all the artifacts were found in the graves so it is assumed the items were not used for every day but were made specifically for the burial of a high ranking individual. We saw some wonderfully preserved pieces of pottery, along with two fancy litters to carry an important person, a perfectly preserved mummy of a woman complete with hair and fingernails, and woven tapestries. No pictures were allowed but I managed to get a few. Joe was sure I would be reprimanded since there were cameras and security guards everywhere.

This is our wall at the office with pictures of our children and all the grandchildren. It is quite the conversation piece with those that come by to talk, especially our local workers who are fascinated by the blond American families.

Week 47 ~ Missionary Service

Not much unusual or exciting this week to report....except our "exciting" and interesting couples we associate with on a daily basis.  We decided it would be a good time on a slow week to introduce you to these wonderful friends and fellow missionaries. They have added so much to our mission just being our friends and such wonderful examples of dedication and service.

Manny and Lydia Acosta from Salem, Utah. Elder Acosta serves as assistant to the president and Sister Acosta helps with the missionary applications from the area and translating before sending them on to Salt Lake. She usually has an interesting story to tell about these valiant young people. The Acosta's have served four missions.







Bill and Billie Murray from Bountiful, Utah. Elder Murray serves as a real estate lawyer and deals with all building transactions in the area. He just told us a few days ago that Arequipa temple site has just received clearance for building as the agriculture zoning was finally changed to building and development. Now the permits can be obtained and building started for southern Peru. Sister Murray teaches an institute class and also works on the historical timeline for the South America Northwest area with relation to church growth and area politics and growth. Elder Murray serves as Branch President of the MTC branch and always shares wonderful stories from the new missionaries. The Murrays know Joe's brother Tom very well as they lived in Walnut Creek at the same time.


Rob and Mary Merrill are from Winache, WA and they both work Humanitarian. They are very involved with eyeglasses, wheelchairs, improved water, new baby care and food production in many remote and jungle areas of Peru. In fact, just Friday a family came in the office about 4:45 from Ica (about 4 hours away) wanting a wheelchair for their son. They didn't have any paperwork from their Bishop and we don't have them in the office, of course. They need to go through our partner who serves more groups than just our church. The family wanted to take the wheelchair right out of the lobby! It was sad to have to send them away where a phone call would have saved them the hassle. Rob is a retired dentist.


Robert and Kelly Bluth are from Medford, Oregon. They also serve in the legal department. Elder Bluth is a lawyer and helps with legal matters while Sister Bluth teaches an institute class. They have eight children so she spends a lot of time keeping up with internet and facebook, pictures and birthdays.









Steven and Janna Rogers are from Lehi, Utah and serve full time in the temple. We see them on Sunday in our ward and at many of the missionary activities but don't see them every day at the office so don't know much about them.









Steven and Linda Record from Santa Barbara, Califonria. Elder Record serves as an assistant to the area presidency. Sister Record also serves in the presidency office helping with missionary applications and other office work. This is their second mission.









José and Monica Gonzalez are from Pereira, Colombia. They have served as President of the MTC next to our area office. Sister Gonzalez figures she has seen over 2000 missionaries enter and leave the MTC during the last two years. They have been released and will leave here Tuesday for their son's wedding in Provo. Another son is the bishop in my daughter's ward in Arkansas. Joe has been playing ping pong with President Gonzalez and gets quite a workout!






Jerry and Geri Prince are our youngest and newest missionary couple from Alberta, Canada. They bring a sweet spirit to our group. He is a retired owner of a dental lab making teeth for implants and crowns. They serve as self-reliance missionaries and are still understanding their calling and scope of their responsibilities. Sister Prince now plays the organ for our Sacrament meetings and fills in for Primary music.






Nelson and Amy Burton are from Virginia and are serving in the office as missionary medical. Elder Burton is a retired heart surgeon who trained under Elder Russell Nelson. Sister Burton is a nurse and she also organizes the FHE events each month and organizes the special farewell dinners. She teaches the 9-year-olds in Primary in English!








Kim and Julie Lowe are from Santa Rosa, California. They are serving in downtown Lima in self-reliance but we get to see them often as they have reason to visit the office. They are active with workshops for all people in different parts of the city. Sister Lowe is also teaching an English class using the same technique Joe uses from Blaine Ray. I heard Elder Lowe talking to someone and mention Garberville. I know that is just north of Ukiah so I told him I was born in Ukiah and grew up in Sebastopol. He marveled and shared a memory of doing car ralleys with a guy from Sebastopol who had a blue volkswagon named Randy . . . . I was speechless and told him that was my brother, Randy Portlock.

Roger and Linda Sheffield from Highland, Utah just went home last week. They served as missionary doctors for the area and did some traveling. They were well known for their day trips all around Lima and an expert on the best places to go. He and Joe have been on many bike rides together.








Juan and LaPriele Hernandez are from Kennawick, Washington and serve in the mission office as assistants to President Boswell. There are 5 missions in Lima but the Lima East mission is right here so they get to join us for many of the activities. LaPriele also teaches in English the 6-year-olds in Primary.









Craig and Lesley Raeside are from Adelaide, Australia. They both have that great Aussie accent. Elder Raeside serves as the missionary mental health doctor and Sister Raeside is busy teaching piano lessons to 23 students. She has been choir director for the high school for years and headed up our Christmas choir. Elder Raeside also serves as a counselor in the MTC branch presidency.






Peter and JoElla Hansen are from Half Moon Bay, California. Elder Hansen serves as assistant to the area presidency and JoElla helps at the front desk. We have Walnut Creek in common and know many of the same people. They are serving their second mission. He serves as a counselor in the MTC branch and is wonderful with the missionaries.







Couple missionary service is great and we enjoy our time here with our dear friends.

Week 46 ~ The Sun God Left in Ruins

We are grateful for weeks that are easy going even though there are a lot of happenings with our responsibilities and those we work with. Elder Montoya was to arrive in Lima last Wednesday from Salt Lake but there were complications with his family and he will not arrive until February 13. We do a lot of Skype and phone conversations with him as our direct leader. We are trying to replace two assistant area auditors even as we enter another audit cycle in two weeks. They will need to be trained and able to follow up on the stake audits during the month of February.

We enjoyed Saturday with four other missionary couples as we rented a van to travel about 45 minutes south to the ruins of Pachacamac, the most popular ruins in Lima right on the ocean. 

The tour was informative but the ruins, although massive, were only about 25% uncovered . . . if that. Let me explain a little: fifty years ago archeologists would begin the excavation work for a particular site and rebuild, so to speak, the broken down adobe walls to what the original building would have been. Some of the work is extensive. But then in the 1990’s, new laws came out that prohibited replacing original work. Currently, only cleaning, uncovering or stabilizing work is allowed so to the regular tourist only sees piles of rubble.

 Ruins

Ravaged by time and weather,

Stalked and haunted by shadows

And ghosts of the past.

What was once a royal temple

Standing proud and strong,

Now blows away with the wind

And is buried by the sand.

After our tour, we went to lunch at a wonderful resort that had play areas for the children and a small bird aviary with a friendly toucan, several parrots, doves, a hawk and others. There were rabbits, llamas, sheep and goats. During our meal, we had live entertainment with the Peruvian flute and Folklorico dancers. We got home about 4:00 and it was a pretty perfect day. The weather was even perfect being mostly cloudy so we didn’t have the sun beating on us as we were in the open. Being so close to the beach, we wish we had time to just walk along the shore and dig our toes in the sand. THAT would have been perfect!

We actually had a rainy day!! We really had to watch ourselves as we walked the narrow path to the office because the buses and trucks would spray water and mud ten feet wide. It was still 80 degrees with rain coming down most of the morning, the first we have seen since we’ve been here. They say, whoever “they” are, that this is the El Nino year and we will have torrential rain the first quarter. I imagine that will be mostly in the mountains of Peru because Lima doesn’t get rain and it would definitely be a disaster if they did because there are no windows, no run off, no gutters, and no underground drainage. 

Until we wash away . . . 

Week 45 ~ 2015 Ends with no Regrets

Just before midnight, we walked over to the church office building and climbed up to the roof and then up more stairs to the air conditioning box to watch fireworks all over the valley. We could see about 180 degrees. It was unbelievable and hard to put in words. Joe says it was like the bombing of Bagdad, constant and noisy.  

Even going to the Oakland Temple to get a view of the whole Bay Area was a treat, but, even then, the fireworks were in pockets, here, there, over there. But our view New Year’s Eve was one spectacular show. The whole sky was exploding as far as we could see. New Year’s Day we had Belgian waffles with strawberries, bananas and whip cream, watched the Rose Parade, Joe went for a bike ride while Diane just scrapbooked and watched football.

Joe wrote this poem for the New Year we want to share:

       Goodbye Old Friend – Hello New Friend

                By Joseph Cheney – January 1, 2016

Three hundred and sixty-five days ago the old year quietly died

And a new year like the ocean deep, rolled in like the thundering tide. 

We can reflect and remember the good and the bad the year we just laid to rest

And now we must build and strengthen again, this new “friend” with which we’ve been blessed

We may not know what lies up ahead, or of things which we may be afraid,

But the old friend to whom we just said goodbye, if we listen, can still give us aid.

He would tell us, “be strong, have courage and faith, remember you came through just fine.

The new year and friend you have just welcomed in will help you become more refined."

Be kind and be patient, love and forgive, just as you’ve done in the past,

And when this year ends and closes its eyes, this truth you'll see you have grasped:

A year is just a blink of an eye, especially the older we get,

And someday we’ll know and understand well these words on our own epithet:

“It mattered not the years that he lived, most important to him he said,

Are relationships built on respect and trust and strengthened in family and friends.

So this new year, full of wishes and dreams, written goals to which we devote,

The thing that will last through every New Year are those that give us most hope.

And the one that to me will matter the most, that strikes the most sure chord

Is to love and to trust and give of my life to Him who is Savior and Lord. 

Week 44 ~ A Missionary Christmas

Christmas in Peru. Wow. What a busy and entertaining few weeks we have had! I know it’s busy at home with last minute preparations, buying gifts, party gatherings, music and family. Here it was busy in such a different way and we really felt the spirit of Christmas.

Wednesday we joined six other missionary couples to attend a Christmas music celebration at the National Theater. We went to dinner first at Scarlatti’s next to the La Rambla Mall. The food was excellent! Then we attended the music performance that included a full orchestra, about 150 members in the choir and then the Peruvian Cultural Dancers. What a show and performance! The music was so magnificent and spirited and the dancers and costumes were fabulous! And to think we got in for the price of S/. 30 or $10 USD. Everything was perfect, the company, the food and the entertainment.

                                                                                                     This is an ice cream crepe!

Look at these cute dolls. This is Sister Acosta who lives upstairs. She brought these dolls down to show me what she's been doing the last several months. Yes, she made these dolls by hand without a sewing machine to give to her dear friend Jessica and her daughter who live here in Lima. Everything about them is handmade. Truly remarkable and precious! I can sure appreciate the hours of handwork required for each doll. Wow!

We went caroling all through the neighborhood for about two hours. We had many, many who came to their windows and doorways to listen, to take pictures and videos and give us warm hugs and wishes for a merry Christmas. I must say, our little choir is pretty good with some very strong voices. It was really quite heartwarming, something I don’t think the Peruvians have seen before AND we sang in Spanish so they were quite impressed. We ended at the Bluth’s apartment with volcano cake and ice-cream, cookies and candy. 

Week 43 ~ Celebrating Christ's Birth

Our week in the office was a little crazy because of all the reimbursements that needed to be made to all the brethren who attended the annual meeting. It was complicated by the fact that Friday was the cut-off date for the bank card transactions and setting all the accounts to zero which included the eight men from Colombia and Venezuela. Vilma Ramos in our office helped Diane a lot, especially with communication with those having questions and problems. 

We had some incidents in getting all the men back to their homes. One brother got very sick in the Lima airport and had to go to the hospital. He was throwing up and fainted. Another flight was cancelled to Bolivia and the dear brother had to stay an extra day and then take a bus all night to his home because he couldn’t miss another day of work. On the way to our meeting, a brother from Huancayo took a group taxi with his wife. He was afraid of flying and even after our encouragement to take the nice bus Cruz del Sur, he still took the taxi which went off an embankment and rolled three times. No one in the car was hurt badly except for bruising and cuts.

The traditional craft fair at the Cultural Center is a little way past Jockey Plaza and artisans come from all over the country to sell at Christmastime. Some of the missionaries went down Thursday to spend a few hours browsing all the vendors. There were dancers in native costumes and Peruvian music which made the atmosphere festive. We saw so many amazing things and bought a few items, like our Amazon wood bowl, some Christmas tree ornaments, bird whistles, earrings, a roughly carved wood soup ladle, homemade bread (YUM!), and stuffed alpacas with real alpaca hair (for the grandchildren to play with). Each of the missionaries had their own treasures and we enjoyed sharing what we bought.



There is a group of all the American sisters that get together once a month called Lunch Bunch. It is held at various homes of the sisters, not missionaries because our places are too small, but those whose husbands work in the office or Embassy. The homes are always very spacious and beautiful with huge gourmet kitchens and large patios and backyards. Monday I attended the Christmas lunch and the home was huge but decorated for an old fashioned Christmas. It was charming with teddy bears and lots and lots of Disney everywhere with ornaments, pictures and toys. I bet there were seven Christmas trees, all decorated and one with the traditional train track around the tree. Each tree was a world in itself AND the wife is 8 months pregnant and three small children. Okay, okay, she has a nanny and her niece, two housekeepers, one cook and a yard maintenance man to make it all possible. We had a gift exchange and I ended up with a darling ceramic pot hand painted with Peruvian pictures.

Friday morning at 7:00, the finance department gathered for a traditional Peruvian breakfast and gift exchange. Joe and I went down early, yea, 6:15am, to set up table decorations for a surprise. We used the garlands and Christmas balls we had from our meeting and the cafeteria looked very festive. Otherwise, it would have just been “the lunch room.” It was quite unusual to have a typical Peruvian breakfast . . . a pork sandwich! Needless to say, Joe and I were pretty surprised. There were no eggs and bacon, no cinnamon rolls or doughnuts, no fruit, orange juice or hot chocolate. Instead, we had the Peruvian favorite, Sanguche.   Pervians have a sandwich for breakfast, lunch or dinner, in between, before going out or at the end of a long night, actually any time, and always with tastes of Peru. This Sanguche was with roasted chunky pork on a Kaiser roll with some cooked red onion. It was missing the mayonnaise or cheese as the sandwich was a little dry. It was served with Inka Cola or Maracay juice to drink.

At a mall close to us, there was a life-like manger set up with stable and animals and characters . . . except there was no baby Jesus, just the empty cradle. Diane thought maybe someone took the baby. How sad. Then Joe asked a worker at the Dunkin ‘ Donuts and with a little chuckle told the Americans that the baby hadn’t come yet. How unique! We had never heard of that. They put the baby Jesus in the manger Christmas Eve.

Week 42 ~ Mission High water Mark

This week has been a high water mark week for us on our mission.  First of all it marks the culmination of all of our efforts from when we began in February to this point.  Everything we have been doing was looking forward to this weekend in our annual training.   It's so hard to believe we have come this far and are at this point.  We spent the week putting the finishing touches on a meeting we knew would be the most important for us in our mission, bringing all the Assistant Area Auditors from four countries into Lima for our annual two day training.

On Thursday, the day before our big training, we participated in an area wide devotional.  The couple missionaries were asked to sing at the devotional.  It was a special time for us.




Afterwards we joined all the office employees for a special lunch with the Area Presidency.  All the employees and missionaries loaded onto very nice buses to ride to a wonderful restaurant where we were treated a wonderful buffet of a great variety of Peruvian dishes including the country favorite ceviche.  In the photos below, upper far right, is a picture of our dear area president, Juan Uceda.  What a wonderful gesture of unity and love given as a "thank you" to the church employees and office missionaries.

We were greatly blessed to be with our "Assistant Area Auditors" from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru.  How special it was to be with them and with Elder Montoya, via teleconference from Salt Lake.  We also were blessed to have Rahn Price, from the Church audit department with us.  Diane mentioned how the room and arrangement looked like the United Nations, with all the name plaques and countries in front of the men.  We were so blessed to be with these humble good men.  This truly is the "Payoff" of our efforts and what a time of year to gather as we are reminded of the reason we do what we do, bring others to Christ. Yes, it is even the mission as auditors in the Church.  These dear men are so humble and so greatful and gracious.  The biggest expense we have all year is in this one training.  We fly them here, we feed them catered food, we house them in a very very nice hotel.  And most come from very humble circumstances.  Even in traveling here many made great sacrifices in time and effort and even, in one instance, a near tragedy.  Our brother from Huancayo, en route with his wife in a taxi car, went off the road and rolled three times.  Miraculously no one was injured, only some scratches.  We were moved to tears listening to him describe his journey.  We want to finish with this sweet email one of our brethren from La Paz Bolivia sent today.  He wanted to express his feelings to us in his humble English:

My dear Elder Cheney:

First: Thank you for everything you for us.

Second: thanks so much to Sister Cheney. She's great.

Third: Please don't forget send me the instructions I need to know.

And the last: I'll need your help all the time in this calling. And for practice and learn more english.

Thak you very much.

God bless you all the time.

Erick Escobar

This what it is all about.  We are truly blessed to be able to associate with these good good men.  What a way to finish our year.  Now we will gird up our loins and start over again.  One year to go and loving what we do. 

Week 40 ~ A Thankful Heart

Happy Thanksgiving

We are so thankful for what we have but more importantly what we have had in our lives, for such good and dedicated parents, for our knowledge and sure foundation received in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for our safety and health all these years, for our freedom and privileges living in America, for our dear friends from around the world who have inspired, lifted and loved us through the years. We are so grateful for the background we have that has given us what we enjoy today.  We only hope we can somehow give back to others who cross our path, to share our testimony of Jesus Christ, to give hope where there is despair and put smiles on the faces of those around us.

Following is what Elder Hansen shared at our Thanksgiving dinner. Helps us put things in perspective:

Received on 10 Nov 2015 from Dale Mouritsen

This sister missionary, Joslyn Bunderson, is serving in the Brazil Vitoria Mission.  She is the granddaughter of dear friend, Dale Mouritsen, in ​Sunnyvale, CA.  We love this true missionary, having never met her.

"Soon I will have to go wash my clothes by hand, with a washboard and soap.  And hang them to dry.  I will take a cold shower tomorrow morning, which I will be grateful for because I will have sweated all night. I'll brush the ants off of my table and eat some bananas and study the Scriptures and some Portuguese in the hopes that I will understand all the people and they will understand me.  Then I'll go into Sao Gabriel with my companion, praying and searching for the Lord's elect and loving the people I get to meet.  I am so blessed!!"

I sent the email to our children.  Later that same day our son, Clay, who served in Sao Paulo South (which is about 700 km southwest of Vitoria) a few years back, responded.

"And if she's really lucky, she'll be sleeping with fleas. It was so awesome being a missionary. Cold showers, washing clothes by hand, bananas and papayas and mangoes and avocados, fleas, big cockroaches, stray dogs, people throwing rocks at us and spitting on us, the magical moment when I understood what people were saying and heard myself speaking coherently in Portugues, dreaming in Portuguese, loving complete strangers, baptizing dozens of people in a river in the jungle, seeing people change their lives and be healed of addictions, just to mention some of the great experiences I had in Brazil," and we would add, in Bolivia, Venezuela, panhandle of Florida, England, Hawaii, Argentina and to mingle with people from all over the world at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

We love the people and the work and love being a missionary here in Peru minus the fleas and cockroaches.

Week 39 ~ Beautiful Weekend in Cusco

We had a very fast and unexpected trip to Cusco to help complete the outstanding audits. Although we were not there as typical tourists, we enjoyed the sights, sounds, smells, food, shops and cultural experience of this lovely city. Cusco is so clean with a mixture of the old . . . very old, and new. Everywhere in the old city is found the Inca walls of 1500 years ago, mixed with the Spanish colonial built around the original city, cobblestone streets and traditional Quechua Peruvians in their native costumes mingling with the modern generation and tourists. We had a little trouble adjusting to the altitude of about 10,000 feet, mostly light-headed and mild headache.

Some time was spent in the main Plaza de Armas and it was fun to just watch the people and the children. Since it was Saturday, the children and families were enjoying the beautiful weather and blue skies. The older Peruvian (Quechua) women don't like to have their pictures taken but the children love to pose.

The one thing we did was take a tour of Qurikancha. It was a little disappointing as most of it was Spanish colonial but some significant parts of the old Inca Sun temple have been uncovered after major earthquakes. The major earthquakes severely damaged the church, but the Inca stone walls, built out of huge, tightly-interlocking blocks of stone, still stand due to their sophisticated stone masonry. After the last major earthquake, I think it was 1995, the original Inca temple was again visible and is now a major attraction for tourists in Cusco.

 The Inca Sun Temple

(now the Church of Santo Domingo)

Saturday was spent with these two great men, Victor Condori who lives in Cusco and Hamilton Yupanqui who lives in Puno and took a bus 8 hours to arrive in time for our meeting Saturday.  We accomplished a lot and felt good about the training that took place.  It was a very important meeting to have and now we feel that things are back on track in the Cusco Coordinating Council.  Afterwards we ate lunch at a delightful Peruvian restaurant, Camino Real. We found the Peruvian food excellent.  The weekend was both busy and culturally fascinating.  Diane and I want to come back and spend more time here.  

We stayed at this hotel, Casa Andina. It was filled with antique furniture from the colonial period and some ceramics and stone pieces from the Inca. I asked about the beautiful antique tables shown here. There were about 7 of them along the corridor with chairs where people would sit and put their drinks on the table. Oh my gosh! These are at least 500-1000 years old and didn't even have glass on top. I asked if they were available to buy and the lady said, "Oh no, these are antiques and special to our heritage. We cannot sell them." You would think they would take better care since the inlaid wood was coming lose and there were some water marks from glasses set on the tables. Weird but these tables were beautiful in their antique state with the inlaid pictures depicting Peruvian colonial life.