Goodbye to the Marlers & Fackrells

The Marlers and Fackrells went home this week. President Kurt and Sister Kathy Marler have served faithfully for 3 years and presided over 618 missionaries, including the Senior and Temple missionaries.  They have made a big impact on all of our lives and they will truly be missed.

Jim and Patti Fackrell's son, Jacob, served here when the Marlers first arrived in the mission.  When the Fackrells came to pick him up they decided to serve a mission here while their daughter, Cara served her mission in Estonia and Latvia.  They have been here for 15 months.  They have done much to help the branches around Chocope and have even served in the mission presidency the last 6 months.  They have brought many to the temple and we will miss spending time with them.

On Sunday morning, President Marler picked us and the Hawses up in the mission van. They drove us to the Casa Grande Stake Conference.  We stopped in Chocope to pick up the Fackrells.  The Marlers and Fackrells both spoke in the conference. Casa Grande has been a stake for 5 years and is located an hour north of Trujillo.

The Stake Center is a large, one story house they have tried to convert  into
a chapel the best they could.  It is difficult to buy land for a new chapel in
Casa Grande.

Fackrells, Marlers, Hartmans & Hawses

Hermana Placencia & Hermana Castillo from the temple.  They both sang
in the Stake choir.  I love how the choir members all wear white blouses
and matching scarves.

Bill with some future missionaries. 

The Marlers with four of their missionaries. 

The Alex Rodriguez family.  They are the ones who took us to the
Huacas a few weeks ago.  Their children are so cute, Tracy and Denzel.

We met with the Stake Presidency and Zone Leaders after the conference.  The Stake President's wife made and served us a Maricuya cheesecake.

The Stake Presidency.

Sister Marler and Patti Fackrell with the Stake President's wife.
She was also the choir director.

The Zone Leaders, Elder Bolivia from Lima and
Elder Consuegra from the Dominican Republic.

President Marler with the Fackrells.

After the meetings we all went back to the Fackrells home in Chocope for lunch.  They fixed a delicious meal of roast, potatoes, carrots, corn, salad and cherry pie.  Jim even made fresh limeade.

Washing the dishes.

The sign on the way home from Chocope.
33 KMS equals 20.5 miles; 162 KMS equals 100.66 miles;
589 KMS equals 366 miles.

On Monday, the senior missionaries met at Squalos for our last lunch together with the Marlers and Fackrells.  

We will miss these four.

The new Mission President and his wife, Bill & Sandy Marble arrived on Tuesday evening.
The Marlers, the Rios's and the office missionaries were there to meet them.

Three mission presidents.

For their last night in Trujillo the Marlers and Fackrells stayed in the Albergue.  We played Jan's bucket game, visited and sang with President Marler on Tuesday night after our temple shift.  We went to the airport to say goodbye to them on Wednesday evening. It was a happy/sad moment as we bid them farewell.

Friends were even at the temple to say goodbye before leaving for the airport.

President Marler taking his last load to the car.
A man in Cajamarca made him the guitar he is carrying.

The mission van is loaded and ready to roll.

And away they go.At the airport, we met the Marbles for the first time. 

Elders Craft, Carmen & Espinoza with Jan and Sister Rios.
Elder Craft is taking good care of Sister Marler's pillow.

The Marbles are happy to be in Trujillo. 

Some of the crowd that came to say goodbye.

The three Presidents and their wives.

Bill with the Whitneys.

Some of the lunch bunch,
The Whitneys, the Hawses, the Fackrells and the Hartmans.

Hermanas para siempre!

Hermanos también. 

A few last goodbyes.  The Marlers are sure
loved by their missionaries.

This past week we had a new assignment from President Marler before he left, to start checking the Missionaries rooms and apartments.  Last Thursday we started with the Primavera Zone.  We went with the zone leaders, Elders Olsen & Drescher, so they could show us the way.  It was a fun experience and for the most part, we found things in pretty good order, especially since they didn't know we were coming.

Waiting outside one of the missionary apartments for them to come open the door. 

Elder Olsen having a snack while we wait for more Elders.

Me with Elder Olsen

Elder Garside is in the middle.  Bill's brother, Larry, was his Bishop
when he left on his mission from Oxnard, CA.

Elder Drescher all tuckered out from our morning's efforts. 

Two cute sisters in Huanchaco.

One of the last things the Marlers did for their missionaries was to bring them all to the temple one last time.  We had special sessions for all nine zones and the leadership council.  Here are a few pictures of some of them.  There are some very special missionaries serving in the Trujillo North Mission.

This month marks 60 years of the church in Peru. Frederick S. Williams moved to Lima with his family in 1956.  He had been a mission president in Argentina & Uruguay.  He contacted the church in Salt Lake City and a branch was established that same year in Lima.  Soon after that, some missionaries were transferred from Uruguay to help out.  The Andes Mission wasn't formed until 1959.

Peru held a special celebration in Lima to commemorate the first 60 years of the church's presence in Peru on June 26, 2016.

Peru joins the United States, Mexico and Brazil for being the only countries with over 100 stakes.

Today there are 560,000 Members in Peru, 764 Congregations, 102 Stakes, 13 Missions, 133 Family History Centers, 2 operating Temples and 2 announced Temples.