Barrio Laureles & Despedida (Farewell)

We went to the Laureles Ward for church on Sunday at 8:00 AM.  They were having their Primary Program.  This will be the last Primary Program we will see in Peru.  We love to watch the Peruvian children.  They are so enthusiastic, love to sing and speak from the pulpit like they have been doing it for years.  

They gave out these cute little Books as as a "recuerdo" or
souvenir from the program.  Also all the children and teachers wore
these little flowers with the Primary colors, red, yellow and blue.
Hermana Hulga Leon gave me hers.

Hermano Bustamante greeted us as we arrived at the church.
Wayne is in the background.

Hermano Bustamante and Hermano Nunez from the temple.

Laureles Ward is in the South Mission.  We don't know these
missionaries as well as those from the North Mission but it
is always fun to interact with them.
Elder Johnson is from Logan, Utah.  He went to Mountain Crest High School.
Elder Juarez is from Lima. 

Two sisters from the temple. Hermana Centurion on the left
has been working at the temple as long as we have.
Hermana Hulga Leon is in the Primary Presidency.

Bishop Guzman and Bill with his little son, Esmaro.

The Bishop with his mother.  We didn't get his wife Diana in the picture.

Cute little Esmaro.

Two cute sister missionaries, Hermana Espinola & Hermana Asher.

This ward had lots of cute Elders.
Elders Velasquez, Willard, Millett, Johnson, Peredes & Juarez

Saturday was our last Saturday in the Temple.  I left without saying goodby to Cynthia Garcia.  She was sad.  When Jan told me about it, we decided we had to leave the  Laureles Ward after Sacrament Meeting and get to Cynthia's Central Ward before their meeting started at 10:00 AM. She was so happy we came.  We were there to greet them when they arrived.  We were able to take some pictures.  We sure to love her and her fiancé, Antony Apolinario.  Bill gave Antony one of his white temple ties.  They will be getting married in April.  We are sorry we won't be able to go to their wedding.

A selfie with Cynthia and Jan.  You can see Bill giving
President Diaz a hug in the background.

Another selfie with sweet Cynthia. 

Hermana Avalos, Cynthia and Antony.

Friends from the temple.

Elder Reyes from Lima and Elder Babbel from Idaho.
They are the Zone Leaders of the Central Zone.

Antony took this picture of the four of us.
Wayne and Jan have been a source of strength and support for us here in Trujillo.
We sure do love them and they will be our friends forever.

Monday was our last P-day.  We went to the mall and had lunch at Subway with the Wayne and Jan.  We played Deal 0r No Deal at Coney Park one last time, and went to Tottus one last time to get just enough groceries to last us for one more week.

We know it is getting close to Christmas when Tottus has all the varieties of PANETON in every aisle. Paneton is a special treat the Peruvians traditionally eat at Christmas time.

Bill took these pictures in the produce section so we won't forget the interesting kinds of fruits here in Peru.

Monday evening Sister Casos planned a special "Thanksgiving" turkey dinner for us as a going away party.  The Temple Presidency and Temple Missionaries were all invited.  Unfortunately the Guevara-Castros were not able to be there. Their 19 year old granddaughter died of an aneurism and they had gone to Lima for the funeral.

Sister Casos even made pumpkin pie. She had to use fresh pumpkin and grind her own cloves since you can't find some of the ingredients down here.  The Peruvians had never had pumpkin pie.

We will really miss this special group of people we have come to know and love.  A great time was had by all.

Sisters Casos, Gomez, Guevara-Magan, Me, Cocacalla and Jan 

Sister Diaz brought pizza for Bill.

With the Guevara-Magan's. We call him "Smiley". He is
always so happy.  He always hugs Bill when he greets him
and calls him "my brother" in English.

President and Sister Coacalla

Another picture of the Jose & Luz. 

President and Sister Diaz

The Gomez's

President and Sister Casos 

We will be going home in 6 days, arriving just in time for Thanksgiving on the 24th and my birthday on the 25th.  We are starting to see signs of Christmas around Trujillo.  They have decorations in the stores and the big Christmas tree is up in the mall.  I even was able to help Jan put up her Christmas tree. This year is rapidly coming to a close.

Missionaries from the Trujillo South Mission came to the temple today.  They were sure happy to be there.  They ate in the Comedor and spent time taking pictures around the grounds.

Two of the tallest missionaries in Trujillo.  They are even taller than Wayne.
Elder Herget and his trainee Elder Rotweiller.
Elder Herget knew Wayne and Jan's daughter, Emily, when they
lived in Connecticut.

And here they are jumping for joy.

A missionary selfie.  The blond sister is from Evanston, WY.


Supermoon 2016
A record supermoon rose last night on November 14th.
It appeared bigger and brighter in the night sky than it has in nearly 70 years.
The moon is closer to the earth than usual.  The last time the moon sailed this close
to Earth was on January 26, 1948 and the next time won't be until November 24, 2034.

And lastly, we saw this poster for a lost puppy on the bus to the mall. They are even offering a reward.  Hope they can find him.  It is hard to lose a pet.