The Story Continues

Last week we posted about the sealing of the Rodriguez Family.  Bill was surprised that Hermano Rodriquez would have remembered him from 50 years ago.  However, when we went to church on Sunday, Bill was impressed to go back to church to La Esperana and it all started to make sense.

Two wards meet in the building we went to, Bellavista and Tahuantinsuyo.  Bill has always been drawn to La Esperanza since he opened this area 50 years ago and was there at least 6 months towards the end of his mission.  

We always arrive at church early so we can see people from both wards and have a chance to talk to the members.  When we arrived Sunday morning, we ran into the Bishop of the Bellavista Ward and two Elders.

Elder Wynn form Orem, UT, Bishop Quezada of the Bellavista Ward
and Elder Bailey from Payson, UT.

When Bill told Bishop Quezada he had served in La Esperanza in the late 60's he told him his wife grew up in La Esperanza and he went to get her out of the nursery. 

Maria Elena & Eloy Quezada with their daughter Maria Valentina.

Maria Elena asked Bill if he knew her mother and father, Irma and Guillermo Rodriguez who were baptized by an Elder William Hartman in 1968. She was just a little girl. Bill said he remembered Irma and Guillermo and that they had two little girls, 5 or 6 years old, that were twins. She promptly went back into the classroom and returned with her twin sister, Maria Dolores. Bill told them he remembered their home across the street from the Plaza de Armas, and she said, "Yes, on the corner." They both became very emotional as they continued to talk.  Dolores never married and lives with Elena & Eloy in that same family home.  She helps take care of their daughter when they are working.

We also found out that Elena & Dolores both served a mission to Arequipa; same mission, same time.  Their mission president was our Temple President, Romulo J. Casos.

The Twins

Bill told them he remembered they had an older brother in his 20's who didn't want to talk to them and always left the house when they came to teach their family. Maria Elena said, "Yes, you know him. He and his wife were the couple that got sealed in the temple on Tuesday." We had officiated their endowment session and Bill was asked to be a witness at their sealing.

Bill told them that their mother Irma had told the missionaries that she had been a nurse in a hospital when a woman died after delivering twin baby girls.  The father was poor and couldn't take care of them and left them at the hospital.  Irma took them home to her husband and son and her husband said, "We can't keep them, we can't even feed the three of us."  She said, "We will manage."

This was truly a tender mercy from our Heavenly Father to make the impossible a possibility. It was not just a coincidence that we ran into their daughter and son-in-law at the Mercado last Monday that set this all in motion.

Another picture of he Rodriguez's with their daughter and son-in-law from Provo.
They are outside the distribution center before their sealing.  Thanks to my friend, Jan, for taking
the picture.  We were at the temple.

With the Quezada's.

Paulina Merreros, a Voluntaria at the temple in the Tahuantinsuto Ward.

Jan teaching me to knit slippers.

We take the bus from time to time.  Sen:27 and Par:16 means there is room
for 27 to sit and 16 to stand.  We have seen many buses that exceed that
capacity.  If the bus is full we always wait for the next one.  They come every
few minutes.


Last week after one of our shifts we went out to eat at the El Sobrero Restaurant.
They have good sea bass and a floor show.

Today we met some of the senior missionaries at Chong Wha for chinese food.  Afterwards we went with the Hawes to Makro, Peru's answer to Sam's Club.

With the Hawses in front of the restaurant.  We were the first to arrive.

This dish was kind of like sweet and sour chicken but made with peaches,
pineapple and mango. It was very good. Jim Fackrell ordered several different
dishes for all of us to share.

The young sister on the left is the Fackrell's daughter Kara. She just returned
from her mission is Latvia.  She came to spend some time with her parents
on their mission.

Anyone want cuy (guinea pig) for dinner tonight. 

We found generic peanut M&M's.  They taste pretty good when you
haven't had the real thing for months.


Here are some of the American Products we find from time to time in Trujillo.  They may only have them every 3 to 4 months or you may only find a few of each on the shelves.
It is like a treasure hunt to seek and find familiar items.  We usually buy more than one to put in our cupboards.  We were so excited to find the tomato soup and have enjoyed several meals with it and grilled cheese sandwiches. Meals that weren't that exciting back home have become delicacies down here.

Barrio Monserrat & Valentine's Day

It was a beautiful, hot day in Trujillo on Sunday.  We went to the Monserrat Ward.  They have a pianist so I was able to sit in the congregation and sing the hymns for a change.  We always try to sit by an open window or under a fan when possible and hope for a good breeze.  As usual we found many friends to meet and greet from both the Monserrat Ward and the Laureles Ward that meets in the same building.

Diana Guzman and her sweet baby Esmaro.

Herman Silva, Bill & Hermano Nunez from the temple.
Both men are on the High Council.


This building is in the Trujillo South Mission, under the direction of President Rios.
We found six Elders and two sisters serving in these two wards.
The sisters slipped away before we got their pictures.

Elder Maldonado from Ecuador and Elder Ramos from Arequipa, Peru. 

Hermana Mayela Caceda is one of my favorites.
She is one of our coordinators in the temple each week.

Hermano Bustamante with Elder Peterson from Arizona & Elder Price from Boise, Idaho.
Hermano Bustamente serves as a coordinator in the temple.
He loves Bill and always greets him with a warm smile, handshake and bear hug.

Everyone loves Nicole Bendezu.  She works in the temple office some days
and serves as a coordinator in the temple on other days.  Both her parents work
in the temple as well and she is the niece of Juan Uceda of the Seventy.
She is currently serving as the Stake Primary President and speaks good English.

Cristal Sanchez & Rafael Castillo.
This cute couple have been married about 18 months.  Rafael was counselor in the
Bishopric with Freddy Espinosa from the temple. Unfortunately, Freddy and his
family weren't there this Sunday.  Their Bishopric was released a couple of months ago.
Rafael is a great singer and sang next to Bill in our Stake and Temple choir.

Two sweet sisters from the temple, Lucy Huerta & Rosa Perez.

Elders Chalon & Hernandez

Valentine's Day is celebrated in Peru.  I guess lots of holidays are international.  There are only two holidays that are truly American; the 4th of July & Thanksgiving.
Others like Mother's Day, Father's Day, Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day feel just like at home.  Here are some things we saw in the mall and tiendas (shops).

Bill bought me some flowers and we had a quiet Sunday afternoon at home with Chicken strips and french fries.  Sandy Nield brought us some heart cookies and we watched a Valentine's Day movie on the Hallmark Channel.  

Friday was Sister Casos's birthday but because of everyone's temple schedules, we were not able to celebrate until Monday night. Sister Coacalla took pictures of all of us in our whites and put them in a frame for her.  She really liked it.

Everyone at the party except Sister Coacalla who is taking the picture.

The food table.

Here are some of the poses Sister Coacalla took for the frame of the six couples who live in the apartments.  I don't have the ones of President & Sister Casos and President & Sister Diaz.  

Los Gomez

Los Guevara - our newest couple from Lima.
The arrived February 1st.

Los Nield

Los Haws

Los Hartman

Los Coacalla

We had a sweet experience in the temple today.  When we were at the mercado (open market) on Monday a man walked up to me and saw my name tag.  He asked me in English, how I was doing.  We started talking with him and his wife.  They were LDS and both are from Trujillo but have been living in Provo for 16 years.  He sells real estate. 

We told them we were missionaries in the temple.  He told us they were here visiting her parents and were coming to the temple the next day (today) with her parents. They were baptized a year ago and were coming for their own endowments and sealing.  

We were able to officiate their session and they invited us to their sealing.  Martin asked Bill to be the second witness.  Later his father-in-law, who is from La Esperanza where Bill served 50 years ago, told Martin an Elder Hartman knocked on his door years ago when he lived with his parents. He didn't want to talk to them because of anti-American sentiment. Later Bill showed him a picture from his mission and he said, "that was him."
What are the chances Bill would be a witness at his sealing 50 years later.

Martin Somerkamp (son-in-law), Sister and Brother Rodriquez, Zahayra Somerkamp (daughter).

It doesn't matter how many times we drive through the city, we can always find new things to take pictures of.  

A moto truck.

We think this taxi is delivering flowers to a wedding.

Our first car was a green volkswagen so this brought back some fun memories.

Selling team jerseys.

Selling water on a moto truck.

Washing the temple fence.

Scrubbing the sidewalk outside the temple.

Bill took this pretty picture from the sidewalk outside of the temple.

Here is a new picture of the herd.  Wayne Haws said they needed to look like they were boarding the ark so I had to turn them around for the picture  Unfortunately, I am afraid some will be left behind because they are trying to sneak on more than just two.