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.

Back to the Temple & Barrio El Tumi

We went back to the temple this week after our two week break.  It was slower than we would have anticipated after a two week closing but we are in the middle of the Peruvian summer.  

On Friday, 1/5,2016, we were invited to a sealing the the Smith family, Jauan Carlos and Deysi.  They were inactive for many yeas.  They received a VIP invitation to the temple open house because Juan Carlos works for the government.  they didn't think much about going and just left the invitation on the table.

When the Elders came to visit them they noticed the invitation and that it was a VIP invitation, which made it special.  The missionaries talked them into going.

When they went inside the temple they couldn't believe how beautiful and magnificent it was.  They felt a special spirit there and decided they wanted to come back and be sealed as a family.  They became active and worked on their goal.  They received their own endowments several weeks before they were sealed.  They also have a little three year boy who was sealed to them.

Juan Carlos & Deysi Smith with their missionaries and friend Amy Becerra.

On Sunday we went to Florencia de Mora and attended the El Tumi ward at 10:00 AM.  Bill bore his testimony and I played the piano.  There were lots of people we know from the temple in this ward.  One is Luz Bastos.  She led the singing.  She is one of our favorites. She is always happy and comes several days a week, serving as one of our coordinators.  She has a daughter on a mission in Arequipa, Peru right now and two sons.  The Florencia de Mora ward meets in the same building at 8:00.  We know people from both wards.

The Bastos Family


These are President and Sister Tapia's daughters, Adriel and Adely.
They had blessed Adely's baby in the Florencia de Mora ward at 8:00.
We ran into them in the breezeway as we were coming to church. The baby's name is Amaris and he is 1 month old.

Hermano Rodriguez and his daughter.
They are both temple workers.  He calls Bill his Maestro (teacher)
because he helped train him when the temple first opened.

These elders serve in the El Tumi Ward.

These two elders serve in the Florencia de Mora Ward.

The Baitas from the Florencia de Mora Ward.

Sunday night was the Super Bowl.  Bill was grateful for modern technology so he could watch in on the Sling Box from Providence, Utah as the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers.

Lady Gaga sang a beautiful rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner".

On Monday we met the Marlers and the Senior Missionaries at TGI Fridays for lunch.  It is always fun to get together.

The Lunch Bunch.
Hawses from Hooper, UT; Hartmans from Logan, UT; Sister Angell from Rexburg, ID; Sister Vaughan from
St. Gorge, UT; Marlers from San Diego, CA; Nields from Snowflake, AZ; Gomez's from Arequipa, Peru and
Fackrells from Bountiful, UT

The Nields, Gomez's & Fackrells

Me & Bill with Sister Angell & Sister Marler.

President Marler always has his camera ready to capture
that kodak moment.

Jan and I - deep in conversation.

Real Plaza Mall

We ran into Franco Figgini at the mall.  He went on a mission to Chile
and works in the temple.

We stopped and bought a watermelon on the way home.  We share it with the Hawses.
Since Wayne was in the front seat he got to hold it.  The trunk was full of groceries
we had bought at PlazaVea after lunch.

We came home and found them washing the fence around the temple.  It actually
rained the next day but the rain is never strong enough to clean the fence.

The fridge is getting full.  Bill bought the map and I tend to pick up magnets as we travel.

Today was our granddaughter Bekah's 6th birthday. She is a precious little girl with such a sweet little spirit.  We were able to talk to her on Skype.  She was going to have birthday pie.  She was born during a snow storm in Kentucky but told us there is just a tiny bit of snow today.  We love you and miss you Rebekah Christine Hartman.

This is Bekah with her high brother, Brigham.  She is
about 2 months old. 

And here are a couple of more recent pictures of Bekah, around 3 and 5 years old.
I don't have one of her today but will add it later if I get one.

February 1st was our little Max's 5th birthday.  He was also born during a snow storm.  
He has been a fun addition to our home and is living with our daughter's family in Utah while he patiently waits for our return.