A great Easter week

Well it's Sunday night again. We've had another good week. Most of the week was spent talking to people in their homes, helping them to remember Christ especially in the Easter Season. Sharing a message about Christ is always rewarding. Sometimes we shared smiles, sometimes we shared tears. But either way it's a good feeling to see the light in their eyes when they share feelings of Christ.      Monday one of the young girl missionaries had a birthday. So we took her (hermana Russell, from Utah) and her companion (hermana Ybanez, from Argentine) and a couple of the young men missionaries (elder Elton, Utah and Elder Olhaiser, Argentine) to lunch. We had quite a feast. The young missionaries all had chicken and rice. Joyce had cow heart with chicken and rice, I had grilled cow liver, fried chicken gizzards, some undefined sausage, chicken and rice. It came on a platter with charcoal burning under it. That kept the meal warm while we enjoyed it. Then the young girls came to the house to make brownies (from a package mix) that had been mailed from home. The young men came by for just a minute to help eat them, then they had to go. Tuesday morning we attended our first district meeting. Where we met another set of young missionaries ( elder Tapia, Cusco and Maldonado, Argentina) that serve in the neighboring town of Vista Alegre.

Thursday is fruit day. We finally found the fruit market. I didn't get any pictures but it is pretty intense shopping, Vendors set up on the street and under a covered area. Then sell fruit by the kilo. This happens every Thursday and Sunday.   I will get some pictures this week. Saturday we went to Marcona with the mission president and his wife. Marcona a coast town about 50 miles southwest. The town is a mining town. There is a large copper mine there and a Marble quarry. We went to see the animal preserve with sea lions, seals and  Humboldt penguins. Then visited some beautiful beaches. It was nice to just get out, relax, oh and speak some english.

We went to visit new friends and Joyce found this beautiful rose and snapped a pic.

 The rock formation behind us is known as the elephant.

 I think what was most impressive was the desert between Nasca and Marcona. Miles and miles of absolutely nothing but sand and dirt and rocks. We did cross one river where water was pumped from under ground and crops were irrigated in the old flood plane. but other than that, NADA. This desert runs for hundreds of miles along the coast of Peru and down into Chile.

 Selfies in the desert, about 50 miles in the back ground is Nasca, Those big clouds in the distance don't produce any showers untill they are about 40 miles east of Nasca.

Best friends in any conditions.

 I'm so glad I like chicken and rice... Dinner in Marcona

 Sunday after church in Marcona (Curt, Elder Moran, Ecuador, Sister McGinn, Elder Rowley, Utah, Elder Whitaker, Utah, Elder Castillo, Peru)
                                    

There are sea lions, seals and penguins in this photo.
Well thanks for reading, I hope you all had a good Easter. Thanks for all the prayers.
Elder and Hermana Mayberry....

Finally in Nasca

After months of worrying and getting ready - we're here!  We landed in Lima just after midnight and a glitch in the communications got us picked up just after 2 a.m.  When we got to our hotel, we gladly fell into bed for a few hours of sleep before President and Hermana McGinn picked us up for a meeting and a delicious ceviche lunch and then we strolled around the shops near our hotel. The next morning we hopped in a cab and went to meet a gentleman named Marco at interpol to start our paperwork for staying here.  It kind of felt like we were horses as they checked our teeth. Glad they didn't feel they needed to float any!
When we were done at interpol, we grabbed our luggage and rode to the bus station and caught the Cruz de Sur to Nasca for about an 8 hour ride. We had some wonderful Elders (Elton & Olhaiser) and Hermanas (Russell & Ybanez) at the bus station who welcomed us.  The sisters even decorated our apartment with balloons and a sign.  Our place is comfortable and we will enjoy it here.  We went to a women's meeting and they asked us to bear our testimonies.  Of course Curt tore it up and all I can say is .... my spanish can only get better from here! The leader of the congregation (Pres. Campana) tried again on Sunday and luckily I had my notes with me so it wasn't quite so bad.

We had an interesting experience (picture of Curt by the grapevine below), water was getting pretty deep in that little patio by our back door and was just about to start into the house.  We hauled a couple bucketfuls but the water just kept coming out of the little box in the corner. We called for help and found out that the water supply all comes in for one hour during the day and the pressure isn't
regulated. It is pumped from this storage cistern to a tank a couple of families use. We have a valve that LEAKS when there is too much pressure and so we learned not to panic too much ... at worst, it will quit flooding in an hour or so.  The other picture is of Curt trying a new piece of fruit, it was a bunch of seeds in a green slimy stuff but they aren't bad at all.  They probably have them in the states and we've just never tried them. This is definitely life worth remembering!

What a week!

What a week. We arrived here in Provo UT on Monday. We were part of a group of 129 seniors who would be serving in many parts of the world. From Germany to Japan to Australia to Nauvoo to Peru and some who would be serving their mission from home. We had a marvelous  experience. On Monday we were divided into districts of 4 to 6 couples each. I was assigned to be the district leader. There was an Elder Levie in our group who had been very close friends with Bruce and Bonnie Staggs who now live in St David. Elder Levies wife only spoke Mandarin Chinese. We also had a couple from Mexico who only spoke Spanish. Then there was the Davis's who were in their 70s but whose primary mode of transportation was a 3 wheeled motorcycle. The Nielsens were part of our group and they had just served a couple of years here at the MTC.  We were a diverse group to say the least. The Levies were soon transferred to another district so we would only have one interpreter in our class room.
We spent most of the week improving our teaching skills. Or for some of us, just trying to develop some basic skill. Each couple took turns being the teacher and the student. This gave us a chance to get to know quite a few of the other couples. We ate three meals a day in the cafeteria. This wasn't required, we ate enough at any one meal to satisfy the calorie count for the entire day. But the socializing during the meals made the experience worth repeating over and over again.  We also met the Poulsons and the Scotts. Sister Poulson was a Fenn born in Pomerene  and Elder Scott is from the Andrew Hunter Scott family. Joyce and I got quite a few comments on our youthfulness. Most couples were at least 10 to 20 years older than us. It was kind of funny, most were too proper to ask us our age but a few would just sit down by us in the cafeteria and ask " how old are you two"! Then the next question would always follow. What did you do as a career? We did our best to redirect the conversation to avoid the whole immigration debate or the border security questions or the "did you ever have any close calls"?
Well the week has come to an end. We fly out tomorrow. First to Atlanta where we plan to see Lincoln Dahl and Dane Owens in the airport during our lay over then it's on to Lima. Tuesday we will be in Lima, then take the bus to Nazca on Wednesday.

 There were three single sisters in the group too.

Farewell 2/28 - spending time with loved ones who came to support us

Here are a few pictures from the day. Sorry we couldn't capture pictures with everyone.

After church, we all came to our house and ate some yummy food.  Special thanks goes to my mom for organizing and getting everyone's help to put this meal together.  My dad always said, "You don't need to fatten 'em, you just need to feed 'em".  We had to put that into practice once we ran out of pulled pork (the one item on the menu I was in charge of ...oops).  Luckily, we had a lot more food to choose from.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends(those that came and those that couldn't make it).  We love each of you and are very grateful for you.  Thanks again for spending the day with us.