Meeting the Missionaries

We did a whirlwind tour our first week to the different parts of our mission so we could meet all of our missionaries. We introduced ourselves with a slideshow of our life story, our family, and our interests, and then we had a chance to speak to them one by one. We didn't have any more than one minute with each missionary, but it was a great time to shake their hand, greet each one by name (thank goodness for their name tags!), and tell them we were truly happy to meet them.

We took pictures of each zone!

(Each mission is divided into "zones." We have ten Stakes and two Districts (like a Stake, but on a much smaller scale because there are not enough members to form a full Stake.). That means we have twelve zones.)

It was exciting and fun and tiring all at once. We often had to get by on a few hours of sleep because we were up late at night and then up early the next morning.

To fly to Ayacucho we had to get up at 4 to catch our early flight. But when we got there, the sun was up, and there was blue sky! And mountains! It was wonderful! It was the first time we'd seen blue skies for five days.

We love our missionaries. They have walked away from their "lives" for one and one half (women) to two years (men). They have left families behind. Jobs and careers behind. School behind. And they pay for their expenses themselves (sometimes their families or congregation help them). They study and pray and work hard, and they face constant rejection and frequent ridicule and sometimes even danger. And yet they don't complain (Well. Maybe sometimes. But rarely.) They are my heroes.

Chorrillos

Pachacamac

San Juan

Villa Maria 

Cañete

Villa El Salvador

San Gabriel

Nazca

Chincha 

Pisco 

Ica

Ayacucho