Porvenir

We had a good day today attending church in Porvenir at the la Merced Ward. It was a little further away than La Esperanza or Florencia, so we had our faithful taxi driver, Edder, pick us up so we wouldn't be late for church. 

Coming in to Porvenir.

Houses on the hill.

The House across the street from the church.  I was impressed
with their landscaping.  Very few houses have anything growing around them.
It was also fun to see sunflowers growing in Peru.

The people in the ward were so warm and welcoming.  Many wanted to take our picture and have their picture taken with us.  This group huddled around each other with Bill for a photo op.  I don't even think they were related to each other.

Of course we found missionaries.  Elder Connelly from Gilbert, Arizona and
Elder Choquevillca from Bolivia. Bill was proud to see Elder Choquvillca sporting his BYU tie.
 He had attended BYU before his mission and spoke good English

Another mixed group from the ward.

Bill standing next to Bishop Telmos and his counselor, Hermano Munsibay.  
They both work at the temple.
We don't know the man in the white shirt.

The chorister on the left (I played the piano) with three pretty girls and a ward Hermana.

Hermano & Hermana Jesus.  He works in the temple and is
the Peruvian version of our friend in Missouri, Jim Burch.  He has
a similar personality and mannerisms. I guess we all have a double, even
in foreign countries. 

Another picture of Hermano Jesus.
He also teaches the Investigator class which we attended.

This is Juan and Betty.  They were in the Investigator class.
They have been members for a year and plan to go to the temple next month.
We feel like such giants down here. 

This young man is Miller Zarate.  He is the Young Men's President.
He video taped us speaking on his phone so he could play it for his Young Men,
Bill in Spanish and me in English.  I'm sure it was noteworthy!!

After the meetings, I heard this beautiful piano music coming from the chapel.  I went in to find this young man playing the piano.  He is from a different ward and was practicing a Janice Kapp Perry song for an upcoming special musical number.  

More cute children.

 Primary children and their leaders in the chapel.

                                             
                   Scenes from the drive back home. All in all, it was a very good day.