After Vacation & Two Porvenir Wards

When we returned from our vacation on Wednesday night, there was lots of activity still going on around the temple.  Big crews worked morning til night to complete the maintenance and cleaning of the Temple, Albergue and grounds, in preparation for the re-opening of the temple on Tuesday. While we were gone they thoroughly cleaned our apartments including the walls, furniture, rugs and drapes. The entire temple was cleaned both inside and out as well as the grounds receiving a complete overhaul. The church really takes good care of their temples.  

Re-laying the stone in front of the temple.

Scaffolding around temple spire & equipment used to wash the buildings. Even Moroni got a bath.

It is hard to see in this picture, but when they were up on Angel Moroni, they strung 
a wire from the top of Moroni's head to the tip of his horn to keep the birds from 
sitting up there and taking care of business.  Well, now they just sit on the wire instead.  Smart birds.
They didn't want to lose their domain.

Today we went to church in the Porvenir Stake, visiting parts of two wards, Gran Chimu and El Porvenir that meet in the same building. This is a very poor section of Trujillo.  In fact our taxi driver didn't want to leave us there.  He said it was peligroso (dangerous).  We assured him we would be fine (we always feel safe among the members at church) but he insisted on waiting for us to take us home.  We really appreciated his thoughtfulness and Bill paid him extra for his kindness.

We like visiting the different wards and seeing the members and workers that come to the temple. They are always excited to see us. We saw several of our favorites today.

This is one of the smallest buildings we have been to.

Martha Rocha Castro comes to the temple 2-3 times a week.
She often gives me these crocheted roses that she makes.
She says they are friendship roses.

Bill with several warm welcomers.  Segundo Rodriquez, on the right, served his mission
in Guatemala.  His mission president was Mel Markham, a friend of Bill and his
brothers when they were growing up in Long Beach, CA. Segundo works in the temple.

The sister in the middle is Aymana Luna.  She works in the temple and
gives the biggest hugs.  She has been wanting us to visit her ward.
She works in the primary.

This is the chapel.  The picture makes it look bigger than it is.  It is a narrow
room and there is no piano in the whole building. 

The Bishopric of the El Porvenir ward.  The Bishop, Jose Anticona, is the
2nd from the right, no coat, light blue tie. 

These two sisters have worked at the temple since day one,
Juana Rodriguez & Elaine Valverde.
In fact we first met Elaine at the Temple dedication.

Of course we always find dedicated missionaries.
These two work in the El Porvenir Ward.
Elder Andrade from Arequipa & Elder Reyes from Lima
Elder Reyes gave a talk about trials and tribulations.  He told the
story of the ugly duckling.  I even understood most of it.

Elder Zanafria from Ecuador & Elder Paredes from Puno
work in the Gran Chimu ward.

This little girl sat in front of us in Sacrament Meeting.  Bill gave her a piece
of candy and she became an instant friend.

Rosa & Carmen Armas.  Carmen is one of my favorite people.  She
served a mission in Arizona and speaks good English.  She is one of our
coordinators at the temple.  She is not in either of these wards but was
visiting as a member of the Stake Young Women.  Her sister (in pink)
came with her.

Across the street from the church.

Bill paying the taxi driver after returning us safely home.


We are in the middle of summer here and the weather is quite hot.  However, back home in Utah they received their biggest snow of the season yesterday, 11 inches.  Here are Micah and Ellie, knee deep in snow in their back yard in Providence, Utah.

Micah celebrated his 13th birthday on January 17th.  He was our 3rd grandchild and 1st grandson. I was able to be there when he was born.  He has always been our cute and funny little boy.  He is sweet natured and a good big brother to his sister Ellie.  He is a good student, takes karate and plays the drums in the middle school band. We love you, Micah.  Hope you had a great birthday.

Wearing his Trujillo, Peru Temple tie.

We also want to wish Brent & Amanda a Happy Anniversary.  They were married 18 years ago today, 1/31/1998.  Amanda was a great addition to our family and they have given us 9 wonderful grandchildren.  We sure do love their family.

And last but not least, I have to admit that we added to the herd while we were on our vacation.  Notice the cute little hats on some of them that I bought from the little chola lady in Cajamarca.