On a Miracle Streak

We are on a miracle streak so it seems.  We saw more of them this week.  Two of them started the week off.

Sunday we were still in Puerto Maldonado a bit discouraged due to the poor outcome of our scheduled meetings on Saturday.  But Sunday was a complete 180 and by the end of the day we were shaking our heads amazed at the outcome.  After Saturday we were concerned about how much work it was going to take to get the leaders and members on track with the self-reliance program.  By the time we left Puerto mid-day Monday, almost all aspects of the program were in place.  How did that happen?  The only explanation is a miracle from our point of view.  And probably the hard work of our area manager helped.

We attended church in the morning at two branches that meet in the same building.  Our area manager spent the time after sacrament meeting of the early branch in meetings with leaders.  By the time the late sacrament meeting was over he was still holding meetings.

When we came to the church for our 5 pm leader training, all branch presidents were in attendance along with all members of the self-reliance committee and elder's quorum presidents and relief society presidents.  Wow, much better attendance than the day before.

 Above on the left is our SR Area Manager with the members of the self-reliance committee for the Puerto Maldonado district.  Below are the leaders in attendance.

We started off our part of the meeting by showing the self-reliance video Bishop Diaz.

In the video, this bishop says 40% of his members are not self-reliant.  We then asked these branch presidents what the percentage of members in their ward is that are not self-reliant.  Here are the answers they gave us.

Do you see the percentages to the left?  There are five branches in this district and those are the five answers we got.  The president who told us 25% really didn't have a good idea what self-reliant meant so he may be underestimating his members.  I was surprised to be told such high numbers.  So these self-reliance programs can definitely help the members it would seem.

We told them the three main objectives of the area presidency and leaders of self-reliance is that all stakes and districts have 1- a functioning self-reliance committee, 2-a self-reliance center available to provide support and help to their members, and 3-self-reliance workshops being offered on a regular basis to their members.

We went over what constitutes the committee and we gave an overview of the workshops but we didn't talk much about the center.  After Saturday we thought it would take awhile before they would be ready to implement a center.  We thought let's get the committee going and the workshops going and then we will tackle the center issue.

Well, the area manager took over after we did our part and he had other ideas.  By the end of the meeting, he had a couple of volunteers to work in the center and Monday morning he trained them on what to do.  This new area manager doesn't let moss grow under his feet!

Right after this meeting, we held a Mi Camino fireside.  We did our typical presentation at the beginning, our manager did the budget section and the local leaders did the rest of the fireside.  But at the end when it is time for them to form workshop groups, this new manager handled it differently.  He had them go to different areas of the chapel according to which workshop they were interested in and then he had the group members choose someone from the group to be the facilitator. Now that was a different approach.  He then asked the facilitators to stay afterwards for a brief training.

 Here are a couple of the groups consulting among themselves about what day and time they wanted to meet.  Below is Jorge Ramos, the area manager, explaining to the group how to pick a good facilitator.

 Below is a photo showing all the group elected facilitators.  We ended up with six groups.  They each announced which group they were facilitating and when and where they were going to meet.  All the facilitators seemed excited to serve.

We gave a quick training after the meeting and didn't end up back to the hotel until 10 pm and we still needed to eat some dinner.  So we had a late dinner and went to bed.  Definitely, the missionary curfew was not kept that night but then it isn't strictly applied to senior missionaries anyway.

When we met our manager Monday to head out to the airport he reported to us his additional work Monday morning and we were amazed.  All three objectives had been met.  The committee had been formed (but we know that doesn't necessarily mean it is functioning), workshops were organized and plans in place for them to start and the two volunteers for the center were excited to start helping their fellow district members (that doesn't necessarily mean it will happen either).  But we left Puerto Maldonado with a lot more hope for the work there then we had the first day of our visit.  It will be interesting to see if this new manager's approach really works or not.

While we were in the Mi Camino workshop, we got an unusual phone call.  Since it was not during our presentation we were able to take it.  I found myself talking to a gringo from the states, a Steven Crandall.  He explained that he and his wife had come down to pick up their "son" from his mission in Bolivia.  Now this "son" is sealed to them in the temple, but not officially adopted by them.  I know, it is an odd situation, don't ask me to explain it.  I didn't ask questions.  Since he is not officially adopted to them, they found out they could not bring him back to the United States with them as they originally had hoped.  So they were in Cusco until Wednesday when their flight was scheduled to leave trying to set him up so he could be "self-reliant" after they left.  They had talked with President Harbertson and he had recommended they contact us since after all that is what we do, help people be self-reliant.  We had three days to help this boy find a job & find a place to live.  My first reaction was "You have got to be kidding."

Luckily while I was on the phone with them, the spirit "brought all things to my remembrance" and I recalled that Fundet (an organization the provides free training to returned missionaries and free room and board while training) was currently recruiting for three possible job careers - Logistics, Microfinances and Telecommunication & Internet Installation.  I told them about Fundet briefly and told them I felt that would be the best answer for their "son" but that the deadline to apply was tomorrow, Monday.  So I gave them a few phone numbers to call and we set an appointment for Monday afternoon, the earliest we would be back in Cusco.

Our meeting went well.  The RM, Hilario Salas, actually knows enough English since he lived in the states for 7 months before his mission with the Crandalls to score an Intermediate Low on the English test they take at the end of their mission.  This would qualify him for Pathway if he wanted to do that.  But we didn't talk a lot with him about that as we were pretty sure our group was full for the year.  Hilario wasn't real happy about not being able to return to the US, but we were able to convince him that Fundet was his best option and get him to commit to that program.  This gave a lot of peace to the Crandalls.

We also invited them to our apartment for a family home evening that night where we used one of the self-reliance principles, "Resolving Problems" as the lesson.  It seemed the most appropriate.  I think that helped him make his decision as well.  He did have a friend that he knew from the orphanage where he lived before staying with the Crandalls that was also committed to Fundet so I think that helped sway him in that direction.

During the family home evening I learned that Steven Crandall had an older brother that had served in El Salvador at the time the mission was closed down exactly when I served.  As soon as he said that, I remembered I HAD known an Elder Crandall on the mission and it clicked for me why he seemed familiar to me.  I had been trying to place where I might have known him but it is because he looks like his brother!  What a small world!

This experience with Hilario and the Crandalls was the second miracle we saw this week.  The fact that Fundet had three options for a career right at the moment this RM needed the help was amazing.  Fundet is not always recruiting.  Maybe every 3-4 months they may be looking for candidates sot he timing was fortuitous.  And normally they recruit for one specific career at a time, not three.  It was a life-saver for the Crandalls.  They felt like they could now leave him here in Peru and not be stressed about his future.  It still isn't going to be easy, but Hilario has better possibilities than I at first imagined, if he will apply himself.  One of the principles of self-reliance is individual responsibility.  Each person has to gain self-reliance for themselves.  We can't give it to anyone.  Just like eternal salvation.

And so we entered September.  Wow.  Another month gone.

Here is a photo of Hermana Hoskins and her latin companion, Hermana Corchea.  For about a month now we have been using A&W root beer as an incentive to learn English.  We select one companionship each week to receive a can of root beer based on which latin missionary seems to have improved the most during the week.  So it motivates the gringo to study with their companion and help them learn because they want to share that can of root beer.  The latins are not keen on the flavor of root beer usually but they don't know that until they try it, but most of the gringos will do anything to win that can of root beer.

Our English classes for the members have seen a spike in attendance ever since Pathway was approved.  Now members are more motivated to learn English because they want to be able to participate in Pathway next year.  Dave handles most of the English classes as I have to help out with the self-reliance workshops and the center in the evenings.  But he thrives on being the center of attention and loves to joke and tease the members as they learn.  And they love him.  They think he is a fun teacher and enjoy the classes.

 As the week went on, I felt progressively worse but hoped I could hold out until the next week as we had a very busy weekend scheduled.  But it wasn't to be the case.  Friday morning I woke up miserable.  But that evening was my piano recital!  I had postponed it and postponed it.  I wasn't about to cancel it at the last minute.  I had groomed and worked with my students for weeks. They were ready.  I stayed home all day and somehow was able to make it through the recital.

It was the first time for all of them to play in front of people.  They all came dressed up in their Sunday best.

Here is the group at the end of the recital.  Front row L-R:  Lynn, Luz, Dianeth, Dallin, Moroni  Back row L-R:  Sherlene, Olga, Sariah, Britney, Luciana, Yeni & Miranda.

All but one of my students showed up and played.  And I was quite pleased how well they did.  Some did better than others, but everyone performed well.

Olga, one of my adult students had just recently started lessons and had only two lessons under her belt and yet she was willing to play Old MacDonald.

 I love these three sisters that come for lessons.  They are the sweetest girls and they help each other out.  The oldest, Sharlene is developing her talents well.  She comes and practices on the Tullumayo piano after she comes to our English classes.  She is making some good progress.

 I started out teaching Dallin but the mother, Yeni, was so eager to learn as well and I found she had a natural gift for the piano so of course I made time to teach her as well.  She was probably the most nervous of them all.

Sariah Bornas Pinto is my most advanced student.  She already knew some piano when we started.  She is pretty dedicated about coming to practice as well.  She was able to play How Firm A Foundation out of the Simplified Hymnbook.

Each student played two songs, a hymn and a fun song.  Most are early beginners, but the parents were so proud.  They took photos like crazy all the time with big smiles on their faces.  It was fun to watch both the parents and the students.  The parents were so grateful to me for teaching them.  They even surprised me with a half dozen red roses!  How sweet of them.

Piano Recital program

I hope to do another recital, early December so they can all play Christmas carols.  Hopefully this recital will encourage them to practice even more.  Only three months left.  Most will have to keep up the practicing on their own after I am gone if they want to be able to play the hymns in church.  Hopefully a few will.

Saturday we had scheduled a trip to Sicuani to help the members fill out their applications for the Perpetual Education Fund and meet with the Self-Reliance committee.  I woke up sicker than a dog. I was pretty miserable.  There was going to be no way for me to manage to go out there.  The question was - Could Dave handle going out their on his own (answer - yes) and did he have enough Spanish to be able to communicate with them (answer-pretty much) and could he handle showing them around the PEF website and take them through the steps to apply (answer - not on your life).

What to do?  Sicuani is one of the areas that really needs help so we didn't want to postpone.  So I spent the morning typing up in Spanish step by step instructions for filling out the application on line and printed out a few copies.  I walked Dave through the steps and then he left the phone with me so he could call using one of their cell phones if he ran into trouble and off he went.

Before he left he and Elder Johnson did give me a priesthood blessing.  And I'll be danged if I didn't start to feel a difference right away.  Not enough to have traveled with Dave, but enough that allowed me to prepare the material I needed for our Pathway fireside the next night and I had the best night sleep in days.

A perk I had from being sick was I was able to listen to the BYU vs Nebraska football game via the internet while preparing our fireside materials.  So I may not have seen the miracle pass at the end but I heard it.  So not only are miracles in the air down in Peru but apparently in Nebraska as well.

Dave got himself to Sicuani using taxi & bus services, found the chapel and hotel on his own and worked with the young adults.  I did get a handful of calls but for the most part he took care of everything.

Something Dave saw while he was in Sicuani this last weekend.

In honor of Alyssa & Spencer's days with American Fork Marching Band.  I don't think these guys down here in Peru can hold a candle anywhere close to AF.

Dave said no one showed for the Self-Reliance committee meeting which was a shame as we had hoped to inform them about Pathway and set up a date for a informational fireside for the members out there.  We will still need to make that happen before we leave.

Spiritual Thought for the Week:  I think it is time for one of Dave's favorite scripture quotes.

"What power shall stay the heavens?  As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints."  D & C 121:33

And we may add 'pouring down miracles from heaven'.  This is the Lord's work.  He is in charge.  We are only instruments in His hands.  Hopefully, in tune instruments.

Some Miracles mean Work

As exciting as the news was to have Pathway approved for Fall Semester here in Cusco, it meant we had our work cut out for us.

Sunday we visited as many wards in the morning as we could to make sure the announcement was made.  Good thing, because some places had the information wrong.  We wanted them to announce that we would be at the self-reliance center that afternoon from 4 pm to 8 pm to answer any questions and help those interested get signed up.  Some places we found out had announced 3 pm so we adjusted our schedule to make that happen.

We honestly thought we would have perhaps two dozen people come by.  We had asked the Guerras to be there to help us field questions and get people signed up.  Good thing.  Because our expectations were way off the mark.  We had a flood of members come.  They filled the office, overflowed into the hallway.  We didn't know what to do with so many people.

We decided to herd them into the classroom across from the center.  It is one of the bigger ones.  Capacity is probably 30 people when jammed.  We filled it to overflowing and then began an informational presentation.  I handled that along with Brother Guerra.  Dave and Sister Guerra stayed out in the hall and in the center to sign up people as they showed up and tell them to wait for the next informational session.

 This is one of the informational sessions held on Sunday.  This is one of the later ones so the room is not that full.

 Franz Guerra standing, fielding questions from members.  Below, I explain the program and the requirements to be accepted.

 Members waiting out in the hall and in our self-reliance center for their chance to hear about the Pathway program

We had an informational meeting on the hour every hour from 4 pm to 8 pm.  I had a set presentation down pretty well by the time we were done.

In the meantime, Dave and Gabby were busy trying to help people register.  The hard part was that registration required an English evaluation which required 60 minutes to take and with our model center gone we no longer had the six laptop computers at our disposal.  They would have helped tremendously.  We now only have two very antiquated desktop computers used by family history.  We had brought our laptop and the Guerras had brought theirs but we still were ill-equipped for the number of people that showed up.  We had to start telling people they could sign up on their own computers at home or in other locations.

Nefi Jarom Miranda Ramos, one of our English class students, in the red jacket works on taking his English evaluation test.  He passed with flying colors.  His English is quite good and he really has an interest in linguistics.  We are excited for him to have this opportunity to study through BYU-Idaho.

We were there until 9 pm or later.  When the dust had settled we counted how many had registered a visit and we had 107 on our list and we are sure not everyone signed up.  We also had a call from the missionaries at the other stake center saying there were a group of people over there looking for us.  We don't know if they came over or not, but this far surpassed the two dozen people we had expected to talk to.  Many were there just to learn about the program.  Many probably didn't have the needed language proficiency to qualify, but my goodness, we realized that previous to this we probably only knew about the tip of the iceberg when it came to member interest in this program!

By the end of the day we knew of a total of 10 people that had signed up and been accepted.  Just 5 more to go.  But we felt pretty confident that we would reach the minimum and probably more.

Monday we made ourselves available not only during the morning office hours for members to come and register for Pathway but also during the afternoon.  We had planned to stop at 6 pm due to it being Monday and family night, but we were not able to close up shop until 7:30 pm.  We had received news from our contact in Idaho that we were sitting at 47 enrolled and accepted!  Say What??

We had an appointment for Family Home Evening at our apartment with the stake president's family already set or we would have been tempted to keep the office open longer as midnight was the deadline.

But we had a lovely Family Home Evening and french toast dinner with the Garcias.  Much of the talk was related to Pathway and how everything had fallen into place.  We made sure the stake president knew how great a privilege this was to have his members have access to this and how miraculous we felt it was but we also made sure he knew of our appreciation for his support.  Prior to this we had felt more of a cold shoulder from him than any warm acceptance of our service.  This miracle has created a change in heart in him towards us.  The lesson was on faith and miracles, imagine that!

There were still many members who wanted to register.  BYU-Idaho said they would extend the time to register until the first day of class on September 14th but it would be on a stand-by basis if there was room in the group, so the names would go on a waiting list and enrolled in the order they appeared on the list.  So all week long we have continued to encourage people to register and take the English evaluation.  We have been busy all week at the center.  Such a contrast from the time since our model center was closed down.  No one was coming in prior to the Pathway announcement.  We were beat by the end of each day and we didn't have much down time all week long.

Such a miraculous few days!  We were stunned and euphoric at the same time.  But this miracle hasn't come with smooth sailing.

Late Monday I noticed a couple of girls going through the registration process and the website kicked them right past the English evaluation and automatically accepted them.  I questioned them what had happened.  They didn't know.  The step before the evaluation are questions, in English, about their educational experience with English.  As I tried to understand why they would not have been required to take the English evaluation, it occurred to me that probably if they mark a high number of years studying English the site probably was programmed to just skip over evaluation.

However, the problem was that they had misunderstood the English questions.  All the questions asked if they had attended schools taught EXCLUSIVELY in English or if they had attended certain INTENSIVE English study programs.  Well, English is taught in the high schools and universities and many take classes from foreign language study institutes of learning.  But they are not exclusively in English nor intensive in nature, but the members saw the taught and the English and marked multiple years of study.

I spoke to them in English and discovered that their English was very limited and they struggled to understand what I was asking let alone give me an answer.  I frankly told them of my concern.  The last thing I wanted was for them to waste their money and time and fail to succeed in this program.  I told them I wanted them to reapply and take the English evaluation.

It turned out that wasn't a simple thing to make happen.  It also turned out they were not the only ones that had made this mistake.  We realized if these two girls had misunderstood, there was a good chance others had as well.  We talked to Ismar Villacientos with Pathway on Friday and explained our concern.  He did a search of the 47 accepted participants and found that 28 of them had not taken the evaluation!  Oh no!  That was more than half.

He sent us the list of names and we started the arduous task of contacting each one of them and evaluating their English skills.  Luckily, Brother Guerra did most of the work as we had a trip to Puerto Maldonado previously planned for this weekend.  Luckily, as well, we personally knew 6 of the names on the list and could vouch for their high English abilities and felt confident they did not need to take the evaluation.

We left for Puerto Maldonado Saturday around noon.  The last time we had gone was in March.  I had checked the weather forecast and it was showing temps in the high 90's but with the humidity it was saying the RealFeel would be 110.  Oh boy.  As much as I like warmer temperatures, that was a bit more than I wanted.  Luckily, it was hot, but didn't feel like 110.

We met the new area self-reliance on the plane.  He was taking the same plane out.  He was also staying at the same hotel we were.  This was his first visit to Puerto Maldonado so we had to show him around, which was opposite of what normally happens when we travel with Carlos.

We got checked in and then headed out to the best restaurant in town, Burgos.  We were not disappointed.  The meal was excellent.  Fresh fish, yeah!

 I am talking with the new self-reliance area manager, Jorge Ramos, for the Puerto Maldonado area.

 Right there at the restaurant a cocoa tree!  The bean pods get much bigger when they are mature.

 The view from the restaurant looking over the city above and the river below.  Now that looks like a jungle scene to me.

We learned about the copasu fruit.  It's the big ugly brown things above.  It only grows in the jungle and they use it to make fruit juices and they use it to flavor ice cream and slushies.  We tried it in a drink and it was quite tasty.

We had a few hours to kill before our first meeting so we visited the market and picked up some more piranha head key chains.  Gotta have enough for all the grandsons.  It is just what a boy would think is cool.  No doubt about it.

 One of the stalls in the market.

Here are some of the sights we saw while we were in the jungle this time.

 Above, Dave took this photo of the wall mural painting at just the right angle to make it look like the hummingbird is drinking from the flower in the foreground.

 Since it is so warm there, motorcycles are the preferred mode of travel or else the mototaxis.  But we sure see crazy things like this mom above carrying her baby between her legs as she straddles the motorcycle.  The dad is wearing a helmet but he doesn't seemed too concerned for the safety of his wife and baby.

Our 6:00 pm meeting with the facilitators was a bust.  No one showed up.  Our 7 pm meeting with the leaders did not go well either.  It didn't get underway until way late (30 minutes, typical Peruvian time) and not that many came.  Mostly women representing the Relief Society and Young Women.  I think we had one branch president there out of 5.  We did hold a meeting but at the last meeting we changed our presentation and mostly talked about following the inspired leaders and accepting this program that yes, requires more work, but I likened reaching self-reliance to learning to play the piano.  It doesn't happen over night.  It takes time.  We had been told the leaders in Puerto Maldonado were no supportive of this new workshop programs as they had complained it took too long (6-12 weeks) and wanted to stick with the old program that only required 2 weeks to complete.

More about the rest of our stay in Puerto Maldonado in the next post.

Spiritual Thought for the Week:  Ether 12:16  "Yea, and even all they who wrought miracles wrought them by faith, even those who were before Christ and also those who were after."

Topical Guide shows labor, toil, work as synonyms for "wrought"

Miracles in Cusco

This is a late post.  We've been so busy dealing with the fall out of our latest "miracle" that I haven't had time to record the miracle in our blog until now.

But first an update on Nilda Mamani, our friend fighting cancer.  She continues to show miraculous signs of improvements.  They have held off operating on her and continue to do testing since each time the doctors analyze a test, they say the tests come back different than before in a good way.  The doctors are baffled by the improvements, but we know it is faith, prayers, fasting, and priesthood blessings that have created the changes that so baffle the doctors.  Thanks to all who have offered prayers in her behalf as well as those who have generously donated to our Go Fund Me account for her.  We are almost half way to our fund raising goal.  Please if you haven't donated already and feel inclined to help us help this sister, please visit the following link.

http://www.gofundme.com/8g5dp5defc

We did talk to her bishop about the best way to distribute these contributions.  We want them to be used correctly.  If we donate through the church it can only be used for medical costs or living expenses.  It can not be used to help sustain her business while she treats or isn't feeling well.  We would like to donate through the church, but the concern is whether the monies go directly to her or if they will be put into a general stake fund and the stake president decides how they are used.  We are needing to get to the bottom of how things work here.  We have been told we can not specify her name on the donation slip.

 Quillabamba, the paradise of the mission

 We started the week out in Quillabamba.  We visited all three branches Sunday morning.  They have two branches that have over 100 people attending and another smaller branch with probably 60-80 people in attendance.  One of the branches is without a branch president currently.  Other church leaders were in Quillabamba as well, Segundo Regueati, counselor in the mission presidency, along with the mission secretary were there interview possible candidates to call as branch president.  As part of their supervision they took a look at the branch records and while we were at the building, there began to be a stir.  They called our boss, Carlos Hale in and then they asked Dave to come in and be a witness.  Carlos used to be an accountant and apparently, they found some irregularities in the contributions and distribution records they wanted his professional opinion on.

To make a long story short, they determined that the branch president had pilfered thousands of dollars from the church through the fast offering account with bogus records of members requesting fast offering assistance.  Over a 10 month period, he apparently fabricated s/60,000 soles worth of contribution assistance.  That is equivalent to $20,000 which comes to a lot of money here in Peru!  It was such a disappointment to hear of a church leader doing something like that.  There are definitely wolves in sheep clothing among us and as long as Satan has power to tempt us, these sort of things will happen from time to time.  Most of the leaders, however, are good, honest men working under incredible odds doing the best they can to build up the kingdom of God here in Peru.

Throw back to last week's blog, these photos show us working with the members Saturday night helping them complete their Perpetual Education Fund applications.

Sunday evening we had a training meeting for the leaders to hopefully get the self-reliance committee up and running properly.  The district specialist had not been getting much support from the leaders as they believed she was responsible to do everything.  The Peruvian people are not used to working in committees.  It is a new concept to them.  So we are finding we have to do a lot of mentoring with the leaders to get them to understand how this works.

In Quillabamba we drank a lot of cremoladas (a frozen fruit drink that was very refreshing in the heat there) and we found THE best chocolate cake we've had here in Peru.  It was actually moist and sweet.  Too bad Quillabamba is so far to go for a piece of chocolate cake.

Carlos shows off our empty cremolada glasses, above and below, we toast our success in Quillabamba with a couple of pitchers of chicha morada, the drink all Peru loves.

This palm tree is on church property in front of the chapel in Quillabamba.

We left Monday morning early and stopped in Urubamba for breakfast.  We had THE best pancakes we've had here in Peru at a small restaurant that you would never have guessed knew how to make pancakes.  Most of the time when you order pancakes here, you get crepes, not pancakes.  But these were actual, thick pancakes with maple syrup even!  Most of the time they serve them with honey.  So needless to say, a few pounds were added to our frames during this Quillabamba trip.

I just love the views we enjoy on this road trip.  The mountains are brown now since we are in the dry season but once we drop down into the jungle part it is totally green.

There still are a few spots with water run off crossing the roadway.

The mountains had gotten a fresh sprinkling of snow over night.   It had rained in Quillabamba, but up at the higher elevation it was snow.

The rest of the week was the normal things, English classes, Book of Mormon class, Self-Reliance workshops, etc.  UNTIL...the miracle day - Friday, August 21st.

I truly can't recall what precipitated the events exactly.  I do know that in our English Book of Mormon class, our student Angel came and we found out that he is the one that has been promoting Pathways with his friends and had round up 6 names.  We told him we could help him with some additional names.  That was on Tuesday night, but I think we finally had some breathing room to do something about it later in the week.  The night before, Thursday, we had gone online to the pathway website and found the application form for requesting a new site.  When we looked it over, we realized that most of the steps we were very close to having in place and that there were just a few key items missing.

So we woke up Friday morning and went to work.  We had to get permission and support from key leaders and from BYU-Idaho to make it work.  We first made a call to BYU-Idaho and learned that Gene Hayes was the man to talk to about approval of new sites.  We called him but he did not answer.  We left a message.  We also sent an email to him as well and told him where we were in the process and asked him to let us know what more we needed to do to make this happen.

You have to realize that the deadline for enrollment in Pathways for Fall Semester 2015, the start of the three semester school year, was Monday, August 24th so we didn't have much leeway.  My mind was telling me it really was going to be impossible to make this happen with only three days to go.  But we moved ahead anyways.

We went to talk to the institute director, Segundo Regueati, and he got on board and gave us the thumbs up from his direction.  He was key in giving us names of area leaders that would have to approve as well.  The main man being the area seventy.  It took us awhile to locate the correct area seventy.  It turned out to be Carlos Godoy, who had been here for the Inti Raymi stake conference a few weeks back.

At our lunch break we found some very encouraging emails from BYU-Idaho saying they were thrilled to hear from us and would pull out all the stops on their end to make this happen.  When we read these we started to think maybe this would happen.  Worst case scenario would be that the program would begin in January instead of September.

We were able to find time for the Guerras, Henry & Gabby, to meet with us Friday afternoon.  We had learned a few weeks back that they had been the first service missionaries in Peru when Pathway first came to the country.  They had served in Lima in 2011.  What a blessing to have a couple with experience in Pathway right here in Cusco!  And they are friends of ours even.  We asked them if they would be willing to head up the first group of Pathway students here in Cusco.  They were excited for the opportunity.

Next we had to get a local stake president on board as the sponsoring local leadership.  We contacted President Mario Garcia of the Cusco stake. We haven't been on the best of terms with him lately.  He was not real happy when the model self-reliance center was closed and he hasn't helped us get the volunteers we need to run the center, so we weren't sure how this proposal would go over with him.  He was able to give us a few minutes late afternoon.  We met with him, explained what Pathway was and that we needed him to sign on the the sponsoring stake leadership.  He agreed.  We breathed a sigh of relief.

All we were missing by then was the area approval.  BYU-Idaho was taking care of that on their end.  By early evening we were given notice that all had been approved and that Cusco, Peru was an active site on the Pathway web site for members to register for Fall 2015!!  We were stunned at how quickly and easily everything had fallen into place.  We were pinching ourselves and asking each other, "Can you believe this?"

We went online to pathway.lds.org and saw this wonderful sight:

We realized we had witness a miracle unfold before our very eyes.  To reach everyone in one day and have them not raise any objections or stall in giving their approval was phenomenal.

But here was the bad news.  

This meant we only had 3 days to get the word out to the members and have them apply!!  Yikes!

We had a trip to Abancay scheduled for the weekend but we had to call and cancel with them as a result of this.  We knew the weekend would have to be dedicated to getting the word out and facilitating as many as possible signing up before midnight on Monday.  If we didn't reach the minimum of 15 students, Pathway would still not be a reality here.  With only three days to do it in, we had so much to do and so little time!

We spent Saturday at the self-reliance center making phone calls, and helping those who had already heard about the opportunity sign up.  We made sure to call all the stake and district presidents and ask them to make an announcement in all their wards and branches about Pathway and let them know that they only had until Monday to sign up.  We told them to announce that we would be at the center Sunday between 4 pm and 8 pm to help anyone and also to field questions.  We put this announcement out to the two Cusco stakes, the Sicuani stake and the Urubamba & Abancay districts, all are within a distance that members could come in to participate.

By the end of Saturday we had 5 people who had passed the required English exam with an intermediate-low level or higher an were enrolled in the program.  Only 10 more people to go to meet the minimum requirement. 

We were praying and holding our breath we could pull this off.

Spiritual Thought for the Week:  Mosiah 8:18

Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles, therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings.

Goodbye - Transfers & a Mini-Vacation

The week started out better than last week.  We needed a pick me up after our disappointments last week.  Sunday, the 9th of August we hit our 14 month mark so it was nice to have a good day to celebrate that benchmark.

We started out the day by attending the Inti Raymi stake conference.  We held our breath as we waited to hear who the new leaders were going to be.  We were saying silent prayers that the leaders would be people supportive of the self-reliance programs.  Elder Godoy, second counselor in the area presidency was there to make the callings. We couldn't have been more happy when we heard the announcement.  The new stake president, Carlos Albert Moreyra Pachas, previously was the bishop of the Vista Alegre ward.  His ward is the ward that is all gun-ho about the self-reliance program and have started the workshops in their ward.  So we know he will be supportive as we work to implement it in the stake as well.  His first counselor we are not familiar with, but we've heard that he is very much in to family history.  His second counselor, Miguel Angel Farfan, is going to be our biggest asset.  We are very familiar with him.  He was on the high council before this and was a faithful attender of the business workshop we presented to the members of the high council all ready.  He gained a strong testimony of the inspiration behind these programs and immediately organized a workshop group for the Young Adults in his stake as he was assigned over them on the high council.  He gets things done!  That is probably one of the best things about him.  We are pretty sure he will be assigned to oversee the self-reliance initiative in the stake.  As Derek says in his mission blog posts - YAHTZEE!!

After stake conference we headed out to Urubamba to sit in on the business workshop that the full-time missionaries are presenting to see how that was going.  We were really pleased with what we saw.  When we got there the elders had the room all set up, copies made, the report form up on the board, the tv ready to show the videos.  They had done their preparation.  The members were slow in getting there and instead of 10 like in the first class they only had 4 finally show up (which is disappointing but oh so typical here), but the 4 that came were really sharp and 3 of the 4 are youth preparing for a mission.  I was impressed that if they can learn these principles now in their youth and form these habits, they will be sure to see the blessings of the Lord in their lives and they will be a strength to the church here in Peru.  So sweet to see.

 Business workshop in Urubamba led by Elders Bravo & Jensen

We left there and went right back to Cusco to visit the Vista Alegre ward and see how they are doing with their workshops.  They are presenting the education and the business workshop.  Again, we were very pleased with what we saw.  Both groups had 8 people in attendance.  We were told that is only about 1/3 of those that attended the first business class but the education class actually added 2 people.  They were following the manuals well and staying within the time frame and the groups were having good discussions among them.  It was working just as it should and the members are facilitating the groups, not us!  YAHTZEE again!!

 Above, the Education workshop at Vista Alegre being led by Brik (far right)

 These two photos show the Business workshop hard at work, above doing partner work and below watching one of the videos as part of the class.  This group is being led by the member sitting on the floor, Jose Pompilla.

It was a very satisfying day to say the least, and a good morale booster 

Monday was piano lessons and preparation for our returning missionary training.  It was a bit of a challenge as we didn't have our projector any more.  Dave managed to hunt one down last minute.  We rely on a PowerPoint Presentation for most of the day so it was crucial to have one.

This group was a bit unusual as it had more sisters returning home than elders.  We had 9 sisters and 6 elders.  7 of the 9 sisters we have worked with in one way or another and our two sisters who helped as volunteers in the office when they were on crutches due to knee injuries were among the group.  3 of the 6 elders we have worked with as well.  It was sad to see them go, but they had such big smiles on their faces and you could see how happy they were to be returning home to family and friends and we know they have been great missionaries!

Front row L-R:  Sister Camacho (Mexico), Sister Borja, Sister Condie (Cedar Hills), Sister Ramos (Nevada), Sister Rasmussen (Sandy).  Middle row L-R:  Sister Rodriguez (Honduras), Sister Tuft, Sister Essig (Centerville), myself, Sister Sanchez (Honduras), Elder Rhoades.  Back row L-R:  Elder Valdivia (Argentina), Elder Gonzalez (Panama), Elder Perugachi (Ecuador), Elder Cando (Ecuador), Elder Alzamora (Peru), Elder Cedeno (Ecuador)

We are amazed to realize we only have three more RM trainings and then we will be the ones leaving as well!

We didn't stick around after our part of the training this time as we had planned a mini-vacation.  Yes, senior missionaries get to do that!  Considering that we don't take regular P-days we figure we can afford to take a few days off.  We've been wanting to visit the hot springs in Santa Teresa for just about a year when we first heard of them and we finally got to go there.  And it was an adventure!

Our plan had been to ride the local train out to Aguas Calientes the town at the bottom of the hill from MachuPicchu Wednesday morning so it didn't interfere with our training but we couldn't get on the train in the morning due to the tickets being sold out by the time we went to buy them, so we had to ride out Tuesday and spend the night in Aguas Calientes.  The Johnsons, the family history missionaries went with us.  Their schedule is usually open around transfers as the missionaries never know if they are going to be changed or not and the ones with changes are too busy moving around to work with the members and the Johnsons on family history.

We had dinner in Ollantaytambo before catching the train.  We had hoped to have time to visit the ruins there as they are supposed to be pretty impressive, but we didn't get away from the training as early as we had hoped so there wasn't enough daylight for long enough to make it happen.  I did get some photos using my zoom lens of the ruins on the side of the mountain.  Another day we will get out there!

 They look pretty impressive even from a distance.  You can see above a wall going straight up the mountain on the left of the photo.

Wednesday morning we had time to kill in Aguas Calientes before we could catch the local train out to the hydroelectric plant, the last stop on the line and the closest location to Santa Teresa.  We explored Aguas Calientes a bit and checked out possibly seeing MachuPicchu again the next day as we were anticipating a 6 hour wait for our return train on our way home.  We introduced the Johnsons to the yummy French pastry shop we had discovered when we came out in November, and we discovered some new pastries that we hadn't tried the last time.  We also discovered a square that we hadn't seen the last time.

 Statue of Inca Manco Capac.  It was rather cool and wet, especially for August which is during the dry season.

This photo shows how the mountains just tower over the city.

 Everything in the city is touristic,even the planters, the park benches and the garbage cans.

Oh, and the restaurants get into the show as well with very interesting attractions.

The local train out was not as antiquated as I had been led to believe.  I was expecting hard wooden benches and crowded conditions, but we had padded seats (not great but passable) and only a few stand up passengers.  The cost with our national carnet cards was a whooping 15 soles one way.  Round trip 30 soles, which is equivalent to $10 US.  The biggest cost was the time it took to buy the tickets. We had a two hour wait in Cusco to buy the train tickets out to Aguas Calientes and each time we bought the tickets to the hydroelectric train tickets it took probably 30 minutes to buy.

 Train station as far as it would go into the jungle at the hydroelectric plant.

Hydroelectric plant

From the hydroelectric plant, we had to take a 30 minute combi or taxi ride over dirt, rutted roads to reach Santa Teresa.

The hotel is the part above.

Our hotel, EcoQuechua Lodge was just outside of town, set among the jungle.  You could hear the rushing water of the river the whole time, birds chattering in the trees and there were not a lot of people around.  It was very relaxing.  We had dinner by candlelight that night at the open air restaurant with only a grass roof.

Views from the lodge's open air dining area.

  Below, view from our room.

 Dave relaxing outside our room.

Before dinner, however, we headed out to the hot springs.  What a treat!  The pools were large, the water was clear and warm.  Not too hot.  It felt like sitting in a large hot bath that never cooled.  We stayed for about two hours.  We were all so relaxed and refreshed.  It was pretty enjoyable.

Pretty beautiful, huh?

We only stayed one night and then headed back, but again had a 6 hour stay in Aguas Calientes.  We did some more exploring and a bit of shopping.

 We took the Johnsons on the river trail walk where you can see lots of plants and flowers, although not so many as when we went in November.

 We discovered a few new fountains and water canals.  This one was pretty cool, in the shape of a snake.

 But was really fun was playing with this parrot.  He took a liking to me.  He didn't want to return to his owner after perching on my shoulder for a bit.  I was a bit nervous as it got right up next to my neck and ear.  Wasn't sure if I was going to get bit or pecked.  But no damage was done.

We had one day back in Cusco from this mini-vacation, Friday.

 On Friday we did have lunch with both of these leaders, along with our boss, Carlos Hale who was up from Arequipa to meet with them as well.  We liked what we heard.  Pres. Moreyra is feeling pretty overwhelmed at the moment, which is understandable.  Pres. Farfan informed us of some other great news.  He told us a youth in his stake is pushing to get BYU-Idaho Pathways on board here, something we have been interested in as well.  This youth has 6 people committed to participate and has been told if he can get 10, it will happen.  We know of 4 people who have come into our office in the last month asking about Pathways, and we also happen to learn recently that our friends, Henry and Gabby Guerra were Pathway leaders down in Lima before moving up to Cusco, so things could easily fall into place.  The biggest challenge is that the deadline to apply for fall semester is August 25th - not much time to get everyone on board.  What a great blessing it would be for the youth here should they be able to have access to BYU-Idaho Pathway program and what a boost to our push for the members and missionaries to learn English.  Keep us in your prayers, please!!

Saturday we headed out again with our boss, Carlos Hale to visit Quillabamba.  March was the last time we visited there.  This was only our second time out.  The road was still pretty, but not as impressive as we are not in the rainy season right now so where it once was green, it is now rather brown.  And where once there was water cascading down the mountains everywhere you looked, this time you would occasionally see a waterfall here or there and the water was pretty limited.

But it was still nice and warm there.  No need to wear a sweater or jacket at all.  Bug spray was, however.  We learned we were there during the mosquito period.

Saturday night we met with the youth who had finished the education workshop and needed help filling out their Perpetual Education Fund loan application.  We got about 4-5 of them completely signed up.

Spiritual Thought for the Week:  Richard G. Scott  Ensign May 1996 as quoted in the Institute Book of Mormon Student Manual, chapter 21.

"Problems or trials in our lives need to be viewed in the perspective of scriptural doctrine.  Otherwise they can easily overtake our vision, absorb our energy and deprive us of the joy and beauty the Lord intends us to receive here on earth.  Some people are rocks thrown into a sea of problems.  They are drowned by them.  Be a cork.  When submerged in a problem, fight to be free to bob up to serve again with happiness...

"The Lord is intent on your personal growth and development.  That progress is accelerated when you willingly allow HIm to lead you through every growth experience you encounter, whether initially it be to your individual liking or not.  When you trust in the Lord, when you are willing to let your heart and your mind be centered in His will, when you ask to be led by the Spirit to do His will, you are assured of the greatest happiness along the way and the most fulfilling attainment from this mortal experience.  If you quesiton everything you are asked to do, or dig in your heels at every unpleasant challenge, you make it harder for the Lord to bless you."