This last week we flew to Iquitos Peru for our last specialized training with the missionaries in this city. Iquitos is so unique because it is located in the heart of the Amazon jungle. Over the course of our three year mission we have flown in and out of Iquitos about 90 times. Access to this city of 400,000 people is only by air or boat. We have 48 missionaries serving in this area. July 1st Iquitos will become a new mission in our church.
Tourists flock to Iquitos for an Amazon adventure. We have flown to Iquitos each month to teach and train missionaries. This city if filled with the buzz of motokars, dirt side streets, river traffic, palm trees, aguae
Hermana Price and Alvear
Elder Turley and Elder Rix
On a few preparation day excursions we have been able to discover a little of the sites in and around Iquitos.
The mighty Amazon River. It is the second largest river in the world. At some points it is 6 miles across and you can't see the other side. It is full of some of the world's largest fish and pink river dolphins.
Flat boat traffic on the Amazon.
Typical items to buy in the market. The black charcoal is harvested after they burn the forest to clear the land. The women use this charcoal to cook over. Many women cook outdoors because it is so hot and many do not have electricity or natural gas in their homes. The wealthy homes have tile or cement floors. Many people live in extreme poverty with dirt floors.
There are many kinds of tropical fruits in the jungle. The green bananas are used to prepare a jungle dish called tacacho which many people enjoy with BBQ pork.
Motokar capital of the world.
Most all the labor is done by hand. Here men are mixing and hauling cement. They are using 5 gallon buckets to hall the cement to the second floor. People work so hard to earn so little, just enough to provide food for the next day.
Once a year the Amazon river and other surrounding rivers flood. Life continues on like normal during this time. The Belen area floods each year. People live here because the land is cheaper.
Motokar traffic becomes boat traffic.
We joke with our missionaries that are serving in Iquitos that they are having a "Nat Geo" experience. (National Geographic experience) Here they are serving a mission for the Lord and He has placed them in the middle of the Amazon jungle.
President Blunck, a missonary to the very end. Here he is obtaining a reference for a family to visit.
We will finish our mission on June 29th and arrive home on June 30th. We are very excited to see our family and friends in the states. If you are interested we have been invited by our bishop to speak in the Canby II Ward on Sunday July 21st at 11:30am.
Address: Canby LDS Chapel
1285 S. Elm St.
Canby, Oregon 97013
Thank you for your love and support!
"Thank you" seems an inadequate way to express how I feel about your service with my son. You have changed and blessed his life forever. Elder Wilson has also been asked to speak on July 21 with his brother who will be leaving for his mission to Paris, France, on August 7. By the way, did you know you can print a blog to a book at blogspot.sharedbook.com. That's what we plan to do with Elder Wilson's blog.
ReplyDeleteHola President and sister Blunck. It is hard to believe that we have been home for 1 year now. It seams like we were just in Peru and have you bring Peanut Butter and Syrup to us in Nauta. We are leaving on Monday to travel to Iquitos and Nauta to do projects to help each city. In Iquitos we are going to work on a Orphanage and a school. In Nauta we are going to work on a new concret sidewalk for the school children to walk on when it is raining.
ReplyDeleteWe will meet with President Chocus and give him the funds to pay for 2 more missionaries that are leaving soon. 2 more are turning in their papers soon and that will make 10 missionaries serving from Nauta by the end of the year. What a wonderful pay-it-forward these faithful members are doing. We are sorry that we will not be able to come to Oregon on July 21. Our flight arrives back from Peru on the 20th.
We look forward to traveling with you back to Peru when the chapel is completed in the near future. I never thought that we could out grow the new building in Nauta but I think in the near future there will be over the limit for that building. I can see the missionaries returning to Nauta and making the branch stronger and stronger. Amos has been on his mission for 16 months now. We email all the missionaries each Monday. Some of them haven't heard from their families at all. We will talk to them when we are there next Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
We are taking a new projector for the branch, and enough clothes for 4 more missionaries. We will have 25 people with us so I think that we will stand out in the town. We will take pictures and send them to you after we arrive home. We will be think about you on July 21. Stay by your phone and we may call you.
Love - Elder Scott & Sister Carol Nelson