Sunday, July 18, 2010

More From Iquitos!

This is the sun setting on the bank of a river in a pueblo we visited just outside of Iquitos.

As we drove out of Iquitos the housing conditions became more and more rustic. Despite these conditions the people are very happy.


All side streets are made of cement. Digging out the road and mixing the cement is all done by hand. Then sand is laid over the new cement to protect it from the elements while it cures.



Much to our amazement, some people actually live on the river in houses like these.





Monday, July 12, 2010

Our First Few Weeks in Peru

Larry has always been known for his perfectly combed hair, but the mototaxi ride magically ruffled it without him noticing.

Here is the view of the outskirts of Iqitos. We saw many homes with tin roofs or palm branches for the roof.
There are no cars in Iquitos so this is the mode of transportation, a mototaxi. The whole town is like a big moto cross adventure. Fifteen thousand of these mot0taxis provide the transportation throughout Iquitos. It was quite the adventure, but we loved every minute of it.

As we flew into Iquitos Peru we looked out our window to see the Amazon river twisting it way through the jungle.


Here we are in Iquitos Peru. This was our first trip to la selva, (the jungle). We walked off the plane and it was eighty degrees outside. We were surrounded by tropical foilage and you can find all kinds of tropical fruit here. These are the faithful elders that are serving there. The coveted placed to serve in our mission is in the selva.

This is a view of downtown Lima from our apartment. We live on the 21st floor of an apartment building. Big-city life has been an interesting adventure for us. Traffic is always exciting.

Larry and I had a two hour meeting with the outgoing mission president, and then he left. This meant that Larry and I were now responsible for 150+ missionaries. We thought, Here we go! Fortunately, there are several very capable missionaries who work in the office, and they have helped us with the transition.

After flying all day, we arrived in Peru on June 28th at 11pm. We stayed in a lovely hotel for a few days before moving into our home in dowtown Lima.









Elder Nelson was present at many of our training sessions.




Here we are at the missionary training center in Provo, Utah. It was an incredible experience to be instructed by living prophets. Our charge is to help the missionaries become better teachers of the gospel of Jesus Christ so that more people will come unto Christ. Here we met couples who had been called to serve all over the world.