Election Day

Sunday, April 10th, was Election Day in Peru.  There are no church services anywhere in Peru on election day so we were not able to go to church.  Elections are always on Sundays and one of their election laws prohibits any type of public meetings during voting hours. The voting process requires that they dip the tip of their index finger into a bottle of permanent purple dye; this avoids allowing people to vote more than once and for a week or so after the election, everyone walks around with a purple finger!  If they don't vote they must pay a fine.  People over 70 are not required to vote and do not pay a fine.

As a result of this law the Peruvian people take their politics seriously.  Peru has numerous political parties ranging from the far left to the far right and all sorts of ideologies in between.  This also creates a lot of travel for the people because they have to vote wherever they were last registered.  Since registering to vote in a new town is a bureaucratic process and takes money, the majority of the people just travel back to wherever they came from in order to vote. The bus lines always take advantage of this and raise the price of bus tickets.

They are electing their new president this year which only takes place every five years.

It looks like there will have to be a run-off election on Sunday June 5th since no one received 50% of the vote, the majority needed to avoid a run-off.

Keiko Fujimori, 40, is the daughter of an imprisoned former president, Alberto Fujimori.  He ruled the country with an iron fist in the 1990's.  He was tried and sentenced to 25 years in prison for corruption, embezzlement, murder, bodily harm and 2 accounts of kidnapping.  What a guy!  He did stop most of the terrorist activities toward the beginning of his Presidency. This allowed the Church to put American missionaries back in the country. Keiko had about 38% of the vote. 

Trailing her was Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, 77, a centrist economist who served as the country's prime minister in the mid-2000's. 

Fujimori has promised, if elected, not to use her power to free her father from prison, but she believes the courts will ultimately absolve him.

Alberto Fujimori.

Because of the election, the temple closed on Saturday after the 11:30 session.  We took advantage of the time off and decided to do our grocery shopping early.  When we got home I discovered that I had inadvertently left our little camera in the taxi.

Since there are probably 10,000 taxis in Trujillo we knew we would never see it again.  So after we put the groceries away we headed to the mall to buy a new one.

One of 3 large Department Stores at the mall.

First picture with our new camera, taken inside the store.

On Sunday afternoon we walked around the temple to try out the new camera.  I must say, it might have been a blessing in disguise to lose that camera because this one takes much better pictures and it is just a basic little camera that fits in Bill's pocket.

This ground on the North side of the Temple is reserved for a future 
Stake Center.

Where we dump our trash.

Today we went to the Mercado for some fruit and nuts.  Then on to Chili's for lunch.  We hadn't been there in awhile and felt like a little bit of home.  We even forgot we were in Peru for while.  

Chips and Salsa with frozen lemonade.

Chicken tacos, yum!

We visit this ATM a lot. This is how we get our funds for shopping & eating.

These are water heaters.  People have them in their showers and on their kitchen sinks.
You turn them on when you want hot water and it warms the water as it passes to the hose.

Anyone for a new kitchen. We found these in Sodimac, a store like Home Depot or Lowes.
I love the tiny appliances.

Pictures taken with the new camera when we were coming and going.

You can see the news of the election on the newspaper above the taxi.

The McDonald's near the Plaza.

This car is from a driving school, Escuela de Manejo.
You really need to learn to drive defensively down here.

Exit Store in the mall.  All in English, interesting!

General Conference & Bill's Birthday

We always look forward to General Conference and being able to hear messages from the General Authorities who have been called to lead us.  Their words are always inspiring and seem to address our individual needs. Truly an inspiring weekend.

It was exciting to hear the announcement of 4 new temples. Peru rejoiced in hearing that there would be another temple built in Lima, Peru. Members at the Stake Centers here in Trujillo stood and cheered and hugged each other when it was announced. 

The Deseret News stated, "The Lima Temple is the 2nd smallest temple in the world, 9600 square feet, yet it served over a half a million members in nearly 100 stakes, the largest number served by any temple. After the dedication of the Trujillo Temple, the Lima Temple District was reduced to 73 stakes.  In contrast, the Mount Timpanogos Temple has more that 107,000 square feet and serves 55 stakes."

I was curious about which was the smallest temple in the church so I did a little research and found out it was the Colonia Juarez Chihuahua Mexico Temple. Bill & I actually attended this temple with Linda and Don (sister & brother-in-law) about 16 years ago.

Here are some interesting facts about that little temple:

"The Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico Temple was the second temple built in Mexico and the first built in Chihuahua.

The Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico Temple was the first of the new generation of smaller temples built outside of the United States.

With just one ordinance room and one sealing room, the Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico Temple is the smallest temple in the Church.

At the time of the dedication of the Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico Temple, the Mexican saints were experiencing a drought in the area. In his dedicatory prayer, President Gordon B. Hinckley petitioned the Lord for rain. After the final session on Sunday, March 7, 1999, the first rain drops began to fall."

Sunday was Bill's 69th birthday.  We ate pancakes for breakfast, dressed very casually, knowing this would be a day we would not see anyone as we would be home enjoying conference.  We were settling into our seats in front of the TV getting ready to watch the Spoken Word before the morning session of conference when we heard a knock at the door.  When we opened it, we found our fellow temple missionaries singing Happy Birthday in Spanish and Hermana Gomez holding a banana pudding birthday treat. We work with such a special group of people.

After Conference the Casos's came by to wish Bill Happy Birthday as well as the Hawses bearing cinnamon rolls and a Trujillo wallet left by the Nields.  Before bedtime he received a call and singing from the office missionaries and President and Sister Marler.  It was a wonderful day. We ate two of the cinnamon rolls before I remembered to take the picture. They were soooooo good.  Next time Bill has a birthday I am going to dress up!

Thanks to the internet. we are able to watch all of the sessions of conference in the comfort of our little apartment, just like we do back home.

After conference we spent a little time listening the the Messiah by the Mormon Tabernacle choir, before taking our evening walk around the temple.  It was performed in the Tabernacle to celebrate Easter.  Our neighbor De Anna Fry sent us the link.  The Uchtdorfs and Benders were on the front row.

This picture of a sunset was taken by Jan some weeks ago.  It is always beautiful walking around the temple, no matter what time of day it is.

It was spring break in Utah this week so Heather took the kids on an outing to Salt Lake City. Robert had to work but the kids seemed to have a great time.

Micah at the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point.

They did a ropes course at the Museum. Sadie is afraid of heights but said it 
was one of her favorite parts of the trip.

Sadie & Ellie swimming.

Max settling in to watch conference in Providence, UT.

I also like this picture of the Temple and Albergue - taken from the houses across from the temple.