Week 25 - and the Feria

How the weeks speed by.  We have spent several weeks preparing for and running an exhibit in the Cusco Huancaro Feria (think state fair).  It was a lot of work and stress, and some changes on-the fly to overcome some obstacles that were thrown in the way, but we survived the 10-day event, with some outstanding results.

I had to start out with this picture of a bag with 2 legs, at least that's what it appears to be walking down the street.  Actually this is a Chechua woman bearing a big burden, which seems to be their life.  I feel that Peru was built upon the backs of the people, especially the women.  Most of the abuelitas (little grandmothers) are permanently stooped over from carrying heavy burdens all their lives.  Even when they aren't carrying a load, they are still bent over, and many limp and shuffle.  When we get to meet some really old ones - we find out they're younger than us, just worn out and spent from a lifetime of heavy labor. 

Here's some take-out food from the Chinese restaurant around the corner.  Arroz y pollo (rice and chicken) on the right.  And what's that on the left?  It's lemonade in a handy container.  You just poke a straw in it and suck away!  The Peruvians are nothing if not clever and adaptable to their circumstances, and they find a way to get most everything done, even if its not the most efficient.

In the stages of Feria preparation.  We're doing an on-site inspection of our exhibit space, which was supposed to be 4 x 3 meters, except at the last minute, we got switched to a 3 x 3 meter space.  All of our banners were made for 4 x 3 meters.  Aggravating, but we will adapt.

Here's the "before" picture:  3 brick walls and a gravel floor.  Doesn't look like much, but we'll see if we can make a silk purse out of it.

After some major recalculations, several trips to the hardware store, a tall ladder, and the help of 4 missionaries, we have the booth all set up - 2 days before the Feria opens.  I can't stand to wait until the last minute and then get jammed up on an unexpected detail.  Of all the hundreds of exhibits in the Feria, we were the first one up.  The director of the Archivo, our co-sponsor and his assistant are on the left.  Next are Elder Yorgasen, the Hasler's, and Elder Olsen.  This was one of those setup projects where I had it all calculated in my head, didn't have enough time to explain it all, and hoped it would come together as planned, and it did.  I calculated it would take about 2 hours, but it took nearly 4 (hey, that's good for Peru).

After the setup, the Hasler's invited the Elders to dinner, and we got to come along.  Elder Olsen is being reassigned as a trainer for a (lucky) new missionary, he has managed the visas, transportation, and office management of the Mission for a number of months, and has done an outstanding job.  Whenever we need some assistance, he is our go-to guy.  He has trained Elder Yorgasen well, so we're still going to be in good hands.  The Hasler's are delightful and so faithful:  You have to be to extend your 18 month mission call to 36 months!  They spend most of their day in a dark, cold basement taking photos of old records.  This sounds like a mundane job, but they do it very well, and their work is so essential to what we do in Historia Familiar.  Their photos go to the Granite Mountain Records Vault up the canyon from SLC, where they are permanently stored, and then made available for indexing, when they become searchable records.  The Archivo gets an identical duplicate copy.  When we log onto the FamilySearch account of a member or friend, we can see what records are available that are linked to their family and ancestors.  And we find invaluable records like birth, marriage, and death records.  There is a gigantic worldwide backlog of records that need to be indexed, so learn how to do it, and get involved.  Who knows, you may index a record that we will be searching.  In her spare time, Hna J. is indexing Peruvian records.  While she's not fluent in Spanish (yet), her familiarity with it helps her to interpret the words and dates.

Some essentials that we're running out of.  I sent this photo to Blake, and he rounded up these items, along with some others, plus items that I had ordered from eBay.  The Hasler's are taking a well-deserved break home to the US, and they will be our couriers to get all these items, plus a few more, back to us.  Actually we continue to think of items we need, and hope they have room to include them.  We love to get items from home, but be aware:  the cost of postage is more than the cost of the items - no joke.

Well, back to the Feria.  This was the morning of the 1st day of the Feria, or as it's known in Peru:  setup day.  Which it was for everyone but us.  We had to endure traffic of all kinds down the main street where we were, including a huge bus - it must have gotten lost, I don't know why a bus would drive down here, but everything else did:  trucks, cars, motorcycles, llamas, bicycles, and lots of people packing loads on their backs.  Choing dust, noise, confusion, and in the afternoon, a few visitors actually started to trickle in.

We had missionaries from the 4 Cusco zones helping to staff our exhibit.  Well, they actually were the staff, as our Expanol isn't good enough to carry on extended conversations.  I was really glad the missionaries were there when a local reporter came through.  Elder Day gave her a good account and explanation of our exhibit:  the importance and love we have for families, and how it ties to the records that are kept in the Archivo. 

All politicians like any photo op and any opportunity for glad-handing.  The gentleman in the red cape and yellow hat is the Governor of the department (think state) of Cusco.  He and his entourage (all dressed in local costume) made a walk through he Feria about mid-afternoon of the first day.  He stopped at our exhibit and made a short speech about it

Our exhibit got a gold medal from the department Governor, and Sr. Farfan, the director of the Archivo, got to wear it.  We are very grateful to him and the Archivo for inviting us to the Feria.  Through the thousands (literally) of people we talked to, we were able to give them a good understanding of the work of the Archivo, and its responsibility for preserving the records of Cusco and Peru:  They have records going back to the 1540's.  I have seen the original signature of Francisco Pizarro!  The Hasler's are working to photograph and preserve these priceless and irreplaceable records, but there are many that they will not be able to get to in the next year.  So if anyone has a year or so that you'd like to spend in an exotic and culturally important place in the world, we can help arrange that, just give us a call.

What would a fair be without livestock.  And what is cuter than guinea pigs, or Cui, or Cuy as they are known here.  They are cute, cuddly, and - delicious.  They are considered a delicacy by the Peruvians, and are served at celebrations and special occasions.  In all forms:  you can get filet of Cui, Cui plancho (flattened), nuggets of Cui, whole roasted Cui and deep fried Cui.  When I get home, I'm going to get a Cui for a pet, and when I get hungry - I'll have a bowl of cornflakes!

A fair is no fair without food, and in addition to the numerous vendors throughout the Feria, there was a large food court with a tent (a great idea to block out the blazing sun), where everybody gathered.  I must say that we were warned that things might get a little rowdy, especially during the big holiday Inti Raymi (part of the sun), and weekends.  However, all (and I do mean all) of the people were courteous, well behaved and respectful, even into the evening when the food court was jammed, the beer garden was busy, and the bands were jumping (they did have some good ones, along with ones that needed more practice).  Again, our respect for these wonderful people was increased by this experience.

Despite all the confusion and distraction of the first day, we received 38 referrals.  After the first day, the visitors really started coming, and our exhibit was very popular.  The missionaries were busy explaining the Archivo, our relationship with it, the historical artifacts and information it contains - and our connection to families.  The Peruvians are rightfully proud of their heritage, and were pleased to know of our efforts to help preserve it.  They also love their families, so it was a natural fit, and we were very well received.

One of our banners showing photos of families (recent and old), along with some of the historical documents in the Archivo.

Our Mi Familia folletos were quite popular.  We had allocated 1,000 to disribute during the 10 days of the Feria, but when things got going, we saw that we would run out of those, and I had to scramble and rush-order another 500!  We gave away 1430 during the Feria.  The English version is "My Family", and is a helpful booklet to record names, dates, places, photos, and stories about and descriptions of family members and ancestors. 

A Feria is not a Feria without many displays of agricultural products, and papas (potatoes) are no exception.  Here's a few of the more than 400 varieties grown in Peru.

And there are about as many varieties of maiz or choclo (corn) as well.

The days were very hot, and the missionaries were real troopers.  I kept them slathered in sunblock, even the Latins, and kept them supplied with bottled water.  The sun bears down really hot, even though this is the "cold" season.  The actual temperature was probably around 75F, but when the sun was bearing down directly, it feels like you are in an oven.  This is due to a combination of the altitude (11,000 ft), and the latitude (13 deg S).  It's one of those things that you have to experience to really understand it.  We've never experienced anything like it til we came here.  At the end of each shift (2 per day), all the missionaries got a 5 Sole allowance for helados (ice creams), which really helped to cool them down.  Here are some delightful Hermanas (David, Hill, and Dominguez) enjoying their end-of-shift refreshment. 

The crowd on Inti Raymi day, about 32,000 people visited that day alone.  Can't say that I've ever been in such a massive and constant crush of people as this, and everyone was polite and courteous.  It was like this at least 3 of the 10 days.  This is like a "Waldo" picture:  can you spot the missionary?

Two of the (very) few non-Peruvian visitors were Brent and Maria, from Florida.  Brent had been a missionary in Trujillo about 25 years ago, and had come back for the Temple dedication there a week prior, and they were making a trip through most of Peru, including Cusco.  They now have a son on a mission, and are part of a big FaceBook group of missionary parents, which also includes Elder Andromidas' mom.  So they good to meet him here at the Feria, along with Elder Asay.  Maria is from Puerto Rico, and is a native Spanish speaker.  She was so enthusiastic, and kept scooting people from the street into the booth to see it.  We wished she could have stayed for the entire Feria.

Elders Asay and Andromidas at work.  They loved talking to the Feria visitors.  In addition to a Mi Familia and other literature, we offered a follow-up visit, and many people enthusiastically agreed and provided their contact information.  They love our message about families, and are anxious to learn more.

I think every schoolkid in Cusco got to come to the Feria at least one day.  We had literally thousands stream by over the 10 days.  They are all in uniform.  How do you keep them all together and not lost and wandering all over?  Easy, just bring a long rope, and they all hold on to it.  I keep saying that the Peruvians are clever, and this is just one of the many ways.

One night we were exhausted (well, that was every night), we decided to go the food court in the mall for a bite.  The mall was pretty well deserted, which was curious, but we could hear some big noise at the food court end.  They had set up a really big-screen TV, and that end of the mall was packed - the Copa Americana (America Cup) futbol (soccer) quarter-final game was on:  Peru v. Chile.  It seems that all national pride is one the line with these games.  If I was an owner of one of the shops in the mall, I would have been upset, because no one was buying anything, everyone was watching the game for 2 hours.  But the owners were probably there too.  The crowd was pretty animated and chanting:  "PeruPeruPeru" constantly, and when Peru scored, it was pandelerium!  What's the longest word in the Spanish language?  It's goal - pronounced "Gooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllll"

Hna J got on tippytoes to watch, even she was pretty excited when Peru scored.  Unfortunately, Peru lost 1-2, and were out of the Copa. 

We found a little time to squeeze in a couple of family visits.  We delight in seeing their old family photos, and love to help them preserve them with our digital camera.  The little guy in the center with the dark shirt is my age, and he's now the father of one of the really great families we have gotten to know.  His papa and mama are on the left.

We'll set up anywhere to get Historia Familiar work done, even in the back of the chapel after Sacrament Meeting.  Out comes our computer and printer, we connect to our WiFi phone, and we're in business!  The Elders are always eager to help, and we still rely on them to translate.  Elders Ludlow and Flores are always ready to mug for a photo.  We can actually carry on gospel and HF related conversations, but we sometimes still get stumped on a single word or phrase that we don't know.  The love of the people and their patience with us overcomes our inadequacies.

Another quick visit - what did we find this time?  The birth certificate of Hermano Roberto - the little guy in a previous photo!  The work of photographing and indexing original records really pays off.  It was so delightful for him to see his name, and the names of his padres on a forever-preserved document.

Well, back to the Feria.  Remember I keep saying the Peruvians are clever?  Have you ever seen a gasoline engine powered cotton candy machine?  Well, now you have.

Hna. J negotiating the crush of the crowd.  She takes it all in stride, and loves being out with the people, even on a crazy event like this.

Elders Olsen, Salazar, and Yorgasen at the end of their shift in the booth.  Note their clipboards are filled with referrals.  They had a wonderful day, met many great people, made many new friends, and were quite productive.

A photo of some of the yummy lookin and smelling food at the Feria: rib chops, 1/4 pollos, papas, and veggies.  It was pretty tempting, but we remembered that it's still classified as "street food", and passed on this opportunity.

I have always said the Peruvians are clever, but sometimes I can't say they are efficient.  As an example, this sign: Ingreso Exposistores, or "exhibitor's entrance".  This went up on the afternoon of the 10th (last) day of the Feria.  The entrance for exhibitors had been moved twice from the start of the Feria, was never marked with signage, and nobody knew where it would be on any given day.  Much confusion and shouting.  Anyway, our plaques (missionary badges) soon became well known, along with my signature hat, and whenever we would get to the right entrance and be seen, the gatekeepers would just wave us in, along with all the other missionaries.

The midway and carnival are always a big hit with kids everywhere, including Peru. 

Snapped a pic of some large prize-winning llamas as I walked by.  These are the largest of the camelids here, which also include alpacas, guanacos, and a couple others.

We got some help one afternoon from Hna Roxana, one of the local members who is responsible for records indexing in Cusco.  She came by to help out, and just started passing out literature which really wasn't helpful.  We gave her a little training and encouragement, along with her own clipboard, and she really went to work.  In just a short time, she had a full page of referrals!  We love her enthusiasm and smile.

Well, all good things must come to an end, and this one finally did, after 10 days of nonstop action, challenges, heat, fun, and blessings.  We (the missionaries) talked to literally thousands of visitors to the Feria, and we received over 1150 referrals.  Referrals meaning the persons themselves wrote down their contact information.  The next phase is timely follow-up with the referrals who want to know more.  It will be a big job, and the Presidente has committed some significant resources to that task.  After the Feria was over (6pm last Monday evening), we went to work taking the booth down, and it came down a lot faster than it went up.  Our tall ladder was not available, but luckily we had a tall Elder Falslev who was able to clip the top ties with ease.  He and his companion Elder Domador staffed the last shift, and they finished it up very well.

The booth is down, the banners rolled up, TV is ready to carry out, backpacks are full, the Elders are tired, and we are exhausted.  It was a wonderful blessing to be able to participate in this event, just don't ask us to do another one real soon.  Our love to all, Elder y Hermana Johnson

Week 22

Finally, a bit of time to catch up over the past 3 weeks.  With travel to different areas of the mission, our Historia Familiar work, and prepping for the big Cusco Feria (fair) next week, we've had lots of new experiences.  Here are a few:

 One afternoon, we needed to go to the downtown area.  Instead of our usual 12-15  minute taxi ride, Hna J said:  "lets walk".  So we started off with a big set of stairs, over 200 steps.  Not much if you're at normal elevations, but try it at 11,000+ feet.

 Here's the view from the top of the stairs.  The Mall is directly in the center, and our apt building is the white building just to the right, we live on the 3rd floor.

 This has to be the narrowest sidewalk in the world!  The street and buildings were built way before there were cars, and it's barely wide enough for 1 lane and about a foot on the side.  Hna. J claims dominance, and 2 other pedestrians dart out into the street and loop around her just in time to avoid the oncoming car.  Driving (and walking here) is a game of inches.

 From an elevated street, we got a look down at one of the many local markets.  Some are in designated areas, others (like this one) just set up wherever they decide to and start selling.  Always colorful and a lot to choose from.  The citrus and bananas come from the "jungle" which is downhill from Cusco, but surprisingly not that far away, and still at a rather high elevation.

 For those of you who don't believe it, there really is a post office in Cusco.  How it works, we really don't know, it's kind of like a black hole:  everything goes in but nothing comes out.  Our package to McCall and her new soon-to-be daughter has been in route for nearly a month, but hasn't arrived yet.  For all we know, it's still sitting in here.

 After being on our mission for 5 months (can you believe it?), we have a new travel strategy:  We go to the warm places of the mission during the cold season, and the cold places of the mission during the warm season - Hna J. strongly approves.  We scheduled a long working weekend in Urubamba.  It's only 1.5 hours away, and only 2,000 ft lower in elevation, but the difference in climate is striking, as shown by Hna's light sweater (not even needed) and these bright blooming flowers - which she is always attracted to.

 Palm trees at 9,400ft?  Yes, believe it.  Here is the main square in Urubamba - always called the Plaza de Armas in every city.  I can turn the other direction and see a glacier at 14,000 feet.  Peru is the land of contrasts without doubt.

 We make new friends on a "combi", or 12-15 passenger van.  These little girls were friendly and giggling, especially when they saw my camera.  We're on our way to Ollantaytambo (try to pronounce that!), 30 minutes away.  The fare?  1.5 Soles per person, or $0.50.  So for 3 of us (we took Hna Crump on a "split", I gave the driver a 5 Sole coin, and got change back.  I can't figure out how that business model works, but it sure makes for cheap transportation.  The way the combi's work:  They park at a designated location, open the doors, start yelling the destination, and people pile in until all the seats are filled, then they close the doors and take off.  If anyone needs to get off along the way, they just shout to the driver and he stops.  If anyone is standing by the side of the road, he stops and picks them up.  They squeeze in, sardine-style.  The record so far?  23 people in a 15 passenger combi.

 We met so many delightful people and members in Urubamba and Ollantaytambo.  Here are elders Jensen - who looks exactly like me 44 years ago - and Elder Bravo with our new friend Apolinar.  He's got a garden and orchard right inside his courtyard - wish we could do that at home.  He had a bad fall when he was a child, and his grandmother (who was raising him), couldn't afford to take him to a doctor, so he's needed crutches ever since.  But he gets around, we saw him at the bus station, church, and on the streets - what a wonderful man, and always cheerful.

 One of our families has a bakery, cafe, and an oven-for-hire.  For a few Soles, you can bring your bread, potatoes, chickens, guinea pigs, or whatever's for dinner to them, and they will custom-cook it for you.  This is an igloo-shaped oven, make of thick stone and concrete.  They build a fire in one corner, and the half-dome shape of it radiates the heat all around and really does a good job, much like a pizza oven.  If I can figure out how to duplicate this on a small and portable scale, it'll be the next Volcano cooker.

 We arrive in Urubamba with Hna Crump, and there are kids in colorful native dress, waiting to help us with a picture.  It only costs 1 Sole each, so it's totally worth it for this memory.

 Our first stop in Ollantaytambo was at the shop of Hermano (brother) Hernan.  He's a talented jeweler (note the starburst necklace with amber inset on Hna).  He also retails locally made crafts from other local artists, like the doll Hna J. is holding - the granddaughters are going to get some fun, but late Christmas presents!

 There are some famous and extensive Inca ruins at Ollantaytambo.  These are part of the national park network, and it costs 40 Soles to get in.  The deal is that 4 sites are included, but you have to go to them all in 2 days.  We couldn't fit this into our schedule, so we just took pictures, and will go in for a closer look next trip, when we can also see the ruins at Pisac.

 On the other side of the hill, there are some more structures built.  Olly is about halfway between Cusco and Macchu Picchu, so my guess is that these were houses or apartments where you could stay on the journey, sort of like the early version of bed and breakfast.  The roofs (made of logs and thatch) are long gone, but the buildings themselves survive in pretty good shape, considering they are about 500 years old.

 Whenever we are out, I bring along my iPad to entertain the little kids while we're talking about Historia Familiar with the rest of the family.  The "Buttons" app, which contains hundreds of sounds, short phrases, and gags is especially popular.  It also serves to entertain the elders.

 Back in Cusco, we got to meet again with one of our favorite families (well now the list is about 6 dozen), Mario and Maria.  Their daughter is serving a mission in Chile, and will be coming home in August, after serving 18 months.  They're excited go to the new temple in Trujillo, Peru with her when she returns, and they now have many family names to take with them when they go.

Twice a week, all the Latin missionaries get English lessons.  It's a priority for President Harbertson, he (very wisely) wants all the native Spanish speakers to go home at least at a basic conversational lever with English - it's so much an advantage in their education and employment.  Nearly every one of them is as good in Ingles as I am in Espanol, and most of them are much better!  That's due to their young minds and capability for learning, which unfortunately doesn't come as easy for us oldsters.  It was also Hna Valenzuela's cumpleano (birthday) and just after this photo, she got got the cake in her face, courtesy of Hna Hollingshead.  Evidently this is a Latin tradition.  I think it would be a good custom to bring back to the US!  Everyone got a big slice of cake afterwards, though a few were a little misshapen.

 It seems that there's a festival going on every few weeks.  We got back to town just in time for Corpus Cristi.  In this festival, the "saints", which are larger-than-life replicas of religious figures are dressed in finery and carried from their usual resting places in the several Catholic churches in town into the main Plaza de Armas.  They are really heavy, and are carried by men from each of the churches.  It's an honor to do this, and carrying the heavy load is part of their penance.  It seems like everyone in the city comes to this, and the square was jammed.  We went with Elder and Hermana Rhoades.  It was a delight to see the sights, sounds, and colors.  We're not really "crowd" people, but this experience was totally worth it.

 Here's a shot of the steps to the main cathedral, jammed with people and a few of the saints at the top.  I estimate about 30,000 people in the square and side streets.

 Dancer are everywhere in colorful costumes.  They dance in large groups, and practice for this for several weeks before.  Think of a downsized Mardi Gras, with the people much more orderly.  At least til the evening when it gets dark, and the drinking starts - by then we were long gone.

There were street vendors everywhere, selling everything from chairs to balloons to pictures, and of course:  food of all types. Here the Hnas are being offered some traditional lunches.  It looked to be delicious, but it's classified as "street food", and the missionaries are warned (wisely by Hna. Harbertson) to avoid it, which we did.

 There were also tasty-looking chunks of fried cui (guinea pig).  We passed on these also.

 Well, if I get busted, I'm going in style.  These lovely "policias" were part of the large contingent that was there to keep order, and were happy to pose for a quick picture.

 Elder Rhoades is always friendly and engaging.  He saw these 2 lovely women coming, in identical shawls, and stopped them to talk and ask for a picture.  They were happy to do so, and then asked him to send them a copy, to which he was pleased to take their names, phone numbers, and email, and have the pictures personally delivered by a pair of young missionaries.

 Dancers everywhere in colorful and traditional costumes - this troupe including masks.

 Bands everywhere.  These dudes look really sharp, and can play some good music - and very loudly.

 I got to meet some new Hermanas - who called me "Papi", and they were happy to pose for a pic with me.

 There was enough of a police presence to assure order, so many that most of them had time to pose for pictures.  Some of their uniforms are almost as colorful as the dancers.

 Well, not as colorful or lively as these young dancers.  The whole procession was moving pretty slowly, so to speed up the event, we walked  - I should say squeezed - around the square counter to the direction of the dancers and procession.

 Here's one of the saints being carried.  The whole structure is really heavy, and is mounted on long timbers.  There are at least 2 dozen men carrying it, and they each have 70 - 90 lbs.  There are also "directors" out in front to lead them, but they can only keep in moving in the general direction, as we found out.  There is a stand following that the younger boys carry, and its used to set the saint on when they rest - which is frequently, given that it takes at least 2 hours to make it once around the square.

 We finally made it mostly around the square, though it was as totally crowded, as seen here.  When we thought we had made it around, there were more people and more saints.  We were able to bypass this one, but there was an opportunity to take this pic over the top of the crowd.

 We had nearly made it out of the square, saw a "hole" in front of this group (note their bare feet, also part of the penance).  I got blocked trying to make it across, and took a step back and got this photo, then smashed into the crowd to avoid the carriers.  I barely made it.  Elder Rhoades wasn't so lucky.  His backpack strap got speared by one of the timberss, and he was dragged about 6 feet before he could disengage! 

 The Hermanas were right behind us, and got "moshed", literally carried by the crush of people for several feet, I saw it, and thought they would be terrified, but they actually thought it was fun!

 There is a traditional meal that goes with this festival, called "chiriuchu".  We didn't get any from the street vendors, but the 4 of us stopped at a restaurant on the walk out, where we shared a plate.  It's got greens, veggies, quinoa, bread, sausage, chicken, corn, and of course - what's that leg sticking out?  It's cui, of course!  We did a quick count and figuring the number of people at the festival, and the number of plates consumed, about 20,000 cui died to bring you this festival.  That's not counting the chickens either.

 In preparation for the Feria (think State Fair), where we will have a booth highlighting the work of records preservation being done by the Haslers, and our Historia Familiar work.  Elder Hasler and I took a trip across town to the Feria grounds to check out our booth space.  There was a strike and demonstration going on downtown (not uncommon here), so we took a wide circle to avoid it.  We were on a side street when the taxi was hit with a loud BANG!  We thought we were being attacked by the strikers, but within a minute or so we discovered that it was only a soccer ball that had been kicked from an elevated field across the street.  I didn't know a ball could make such an impact, but it sure did the job on this windshield.  A couple motorcycle cops came to assess the damage.  We just got out, paid the driver, and walked the rest of the way back.  Like I say:  every day in Cusco is a new adventure!

After a long week of work, travel (and of course a few hours at the festival), we got together with the other 2 senior couples serving in Cusco:  the Rhoades and Haslers.  We dearly love them, they are our mentors, and our work would be much more challenging without their assistance.  Elder Rhoades knows where everything can be found or fixed in the city.  Elder Hasler has spent about 15 years in Peru in a mining career, as well as a missionary, and knows how to negotiate the bureaucracies to get things done.  The Hermanas are dear to Hna. J, and offer her the opportunity to share experiences, talk about families, and of course have some "girl talk".  We're a long way from home and our family and friends, but with these wonderful couples near us, we don't feel so isolated and remote.  The Cusco Mission is certainly blessed for their service.  The Sandbergs, whom we don't get to see very often, since their assignment is in Abancay, are going home at the end of this month, and we will surely miss them. 

BTW:  The lunch we had at Uchu Peruvian Steakhouse was outstanding, and could have been served at any fine restaurant that we have been in the world.

In addition to our usual work, we're in full preparation mode for the Feria which starts on the 20th, and runs through the end of June.  Don't expect to see much more from us til that's over, but we'll provide a full report.

July promises to hold more grand experiences, as we're planning a return trip to Puerto Maldonado, one of Hna J's favorite places in the mission - actually anyplace it is warm is on her favorites list.  We love our work, and we love you all.  we're so excited that a new granddaughter is coming to McCall and Neil any day now.  We will miss being near for that blessed event, but with the miracle of technology, we'll get to see her soon.  

Let us hear from you, remember it's as easy as dialing a local Farmington number:  801-447-5060.