Sunday, March 4, 2012

 Elder Schiffman in the area office has started a project called white shirts
and skirts.  He has angels in the US that are donating white shirts, skirts and ties to send to Peru. Many of the young people who come to the mission to serve come from very humble living conditions.   Many of our missionaries have benefited from this project.   We can't thank you enough for your kindness and generosity to help these young people.


We also need to thank the Jenson Family and the Collins Family
for their generous donations as well.   Your donations are so appreciated.

 This young man arrived ready to serve a mission with one pair of shoes, three white shirts, two pair of pants and two ties ready to serve a mission for two years.  He left our apartment with eight new shirts and ten ties, three pair of pants and a suitcase to pack everything in.  Thank you all for your desire to help these young people.  Now he doesn't have to worry about having enough clothes.
We have cousins serving in our mission. Elder Crump and Elder Collins.
They are both working hard to learn Spanish.
 Missionary work is all about talking to people, what better place than at the airport while you wait for your flight.  Here the president and assistants have a good chat with this man about his family and God's desire for them to be an eternal family. 

         We have a great group of sisters serving in our mission right now.
              We love their focus,  their enthusiasm and their great smiles!
 Hermana Boyer and Hermana Tayun
                             Hermana Bowles and Hermana Rodriguez
               Hermana Farias, Hermana Sanhueza, and Hermana Steimle
Hermana Zagal and Hermana Rodriguez
 Often times missionaries are called to a specific mission because they are suppose to learn and grow from that specific mission president.  These are all the presidents that live in the same building as us.  Occasionally we gather for dinner and FHE.  It is our chance to relax and share experiences.  The Tylers on the left and the Mannings on the right will be completing their 3 year service here in Peru the end of June.  It has been a privilege for us to get to know these great people.
 On Thursday we flew to Iquitos Peru to meet with and train four zones.  I walked into the room and had to laugh as I saw all these elders with matching ties.  I wondered who was getting married?  Thank goodness none of them were!  They were just making a statement about their unity as a zone and wanted to wear matching ties.  I told the zone leaders the president would look great in this color of tie as well.  Their comment, "No problema Hermana Blunck we will have one for him at zone leader counsel." 
                                         We love these smiles!
The future leaders in the church.  What a responsibility it is to teach and train them.  We love every minute we are able to be with them. 
                       Learning to be an effective missionary is all about
                             practicing and becoming a better teacher.
                Here I am listening in on a group of elders who are practicing? The big question is how much do I understand.  That all depends upon who is talking and how fast they are talking. 
              Everyone is working diligently to find names and addresses of people  they have written down to visit.  At stake are fresh baked cookies from Lima for those that find the most people to visit. 
There is something special about fresh baked cookies
that motivate missionaries.!!
               We are still smiling after 20 months in the mission.  It is amazing how quickly the time has passed.  In March our daughter Lynette will return from her mission in Cusco Peru.  We are excited to see her and learn about her experiences there.     
                        Nauta Peru is two hours outside of Iquitos, here these men
                             are setting up  internet service for the newly formed     
   church unit. In the middle of the jungle you have cell service
and internet service here.  Amazing!  Sometimes I don't have serve in my
own home in Oregon.  No land lines or cell towers here, everything is done by satellite.