Musings on the Mission....

Well, Jeff and I have been feeling very remorseful that we have been so terrible at keeping a journal of this mission. He claims that if I didn't spend so much time reading everyones else's blogs and start to write more in mine that we would have a pretty good history. As of right now everything seems to be a big blur in the past but after this week which included another one our "getting stuck in Andahuaylus" experiences I thought I would begin again. The only problem I see with putting this on our blog page is that you all may be bored to tears like Rob and Brisa were when they watched "Errand of Angels" about a day in the life of a sister missionary....only another sister missionary would really appreciate the movie!
It seems that almost everytime we attempt to fly in or out of Andahuaylus our plane is either canceled or the smoke blows in or the winds are too high or, as was the case this time, the pilot was afraid to land! Curses!! So there we sat high up on the mountain as we watched our little 18 passenger plane circle the airport and then fly away much to the chagrin of all the customers, well, all 6 of us there waiting. What it meant was that we could wait until the next day and hope that the piot would want to come again and get us (because the plane only flys once a day) or go back into town and look for a way to get to Cusco. Since we had Zone conference in Lima the next day we opted for driving to Cusco and catching an early flight to Lima since Cusco has flights that leave early in the morning which would get us back in time. So we drove the 45 minutes back to town and went to the bus terminal to see what there was available to ride in and ended up renting a 8 passanger van driven by Lucho and his brother. It is an 8 hour trip over curving unpaved mountain roads and so not one that I relish doing very often but luckily I had my supply of "gravol" anti-nausea medicine to keep us all from getting sick. Most of the missionaries throw up on the drive to Andahuaylus! The plus side of the whole trip is that we were entertained by Lucho and his brother who talked the whole way and wanted to know all about life in the states and "that black guy Obama". We in turn tried to convert them but gave up when the raod became so bumpy and noisy that you could hardly think straight! Half way throught he trip we came upon a giant Eucalyptus tree that had fallen across the road and blocked both lanes and so all the men int he van had to get out and try and move it and did I mention that it was raining? Well, we finally drug into Cusco at 9:00 at night and got a pretty good nights sleep at our home away from home "the Jose Antonio" and tried to hook up with the three amigos but couldn't get ahold of them. (For those of you that don't know who the three amigos are they are: Jim Rippy, Mike Metcalf and Chris Olsen and they came down to Peru to visit the sights and we are hoping to get to see them this weekend.) Anyway, when we got up in the morning and went to the airport there was a huge line of people and apparently they had cancelled our flight!! Double curses!! So here we were stuck once again until the 9:30am flight left, so Jeff changed zone conference to Friday and set up interviews for the afternoon....you know that ride you used to love as a kids where you ran around pushing the merry go round faster and faster until you had to fling yourself on and hold on for dear life? Well, that is kind of what our mission feels like most days...you just run as hard as you can and hope not to be thrown off the ride!!
Today we had our zone conference and it was so great and the spirit was so strong and as I looked out over the sea of faith-filled faces I thought this is what makes it all worthwhile these great missionaries and their great spirits and their love for the work and the people...it made all the long drive from Andahuaylus to Cusco worthwhile.

The years second most anticpated event (well, for Rob and Brisa) the Honeymoon!

Boarding the boats fot he jungle trip!
Hammock Heaven in our own little paradise!

Rob and Brisa in a little jungle downpour...note that Brisas boots were full to the brim!

We'll build a little love nest int he woods!

Lake Sandoval where we saw bats. birds and howler monkeys!

Inka Terra a beautiful jungle retreat!

Malerie spied this little (well big ) pink toes tarantula onour night walk through the jungle!

Cruising the Madre de Dios River looking for caiman ...I sware our guide had x-ray vision!

A little philosophy on the meaning of life....

A little frivolity and let's not get so deep yet!

The jungle get-a-way/ honeymoon for Rob and Brisa was a wonderful detour in our usually hectic schedule. We stayed at the beautiful Inka Terra resort where they pampered us from head to foot except when we had to make a mad dash through the rain to get to our boat only to find that they sent a boat without the roof on it...I will try and post the results in our video but you know I am not that sophisticated so we shall see. All in all we had a wonderful time getting to know Brisa!

The Most Anticipated and Prayed for Event of 2008!

The wedding of Rob and Brisa was the highlight of 2008 and an answer to a mother's prayers or as Dan would say: "Mom, your prayers ruined the life of a perfectly nice young lady!"


All the family was there except I don't know where Malerie wandered off to?


Don't you just love the red high heels!

Love will keep you warm!

The Elmer girls are never too far away from a good time even if it means weathering the cold extremes of winter!

We are still waiting for the answer to this prayer!

I think their lips may be frozen to his cheeks if truth be known!

She is contemplating whether to walk up those stairs or let mom carry her!

The whole flam damly minus Jeff!

It really was a wonderful day even if it was freezing, but I have to give Brisa and Rob credit they never complained even after more than 2 hours of picture taking! I just wish I had better pictures to post on this blog but these will have to do. We had a wonderful man who sealed them in the Salt Lake Temple who gave some really good advice, and even though Rob and Brisa will probably never remember it we certainly will. He said two things to remember are 1. After you make the decision to marry to never look back and wonder "What if?" but to look forward and work each day for an eternal marriage and number 2. to tell and show each other every day how much you love them. It helped us all to remember that it is the little things that count in a relationship and that help to make us happy in our lives. After the temple ceremony we went out on temple square to take photos and then across the street to have a great breakfast at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Hmmm...french toast, bacon, eggs and fruit compote and juice! That evening we went to Layton for the reception which was hosted by the Archibald family and was really nice. Lucky for Rob he has married into a wonderful, loving family...I can't believe how fortunate all our boys are to have chosen women from such loving homes. We are truly blessed!

Bolivians, Babies and Brisa!

This has been an exceptionally crazy last couple of weeks what with the all the Bolivian missionaries coming to Peru and being reassigned to the 4 Lima missions. The funny thing was that President had just been complaining the day before that we needed more missionaries and, viola, the next day his prayers are answered! Talk about powerful prayers! About 100 north american missionaries had to leave Bolivia on an emergency transfer so to speak and we received about 24 of those into our mission in the middle of our normal change period which caused just alittle stress! The problem was that they could only be placed in Lima as many did not have any visas etc. so that meant that a several of our missionaries had to be sent out to the provinces upsetting areas and companionships etc. But the really wonderful thing that happened in the midst of all of this turmoil was a meeting that was called by the area presidency in the CCM for all the mission presidents and their wives and all the recently escaped Bolivian missionaries before they were divided and placed into the different missions. We walked into the auditorium where all 100 missionaries were sitting and the feeling there was like a funeral. You can imagine how many of them felt to have to leave their beloved mission and come to a strange new land full of rice and chicken (JK!) Anyway, all of the area presidency spoke and tried to bouy them up and last of all President Nash got up and spoke and he said he felt impressed to speak in english and that they could respond in english. He basically asked them one question: "What have you learned from this experience?" Well, after a few moments of silence one by one the missionaries began to share the feelings of their hearts and it was powerful. After 3 or 4 comments President Nash said someone needs to write this down as something special is happening here! So we all began to take notes! What we heard was amazing as missionary after missionary stood and expressed their testimony of the miracles they had witnessed, of the confidence that they had gained in the Lord and in his inspired leaders and in the knowledge that the Lord loves his missionaries and there is no reason to doubt that He will protect them and that this is the Lord's work and He is in charge! Nothing can stop the work of the Lord not even a military uprising! One Elder, Elder Peterson, that came to our mission shared an experience that when he was set apart by his stake president he was told to serve faithfully in Bolivia and anywhere else the Lord called him to go! He thought that was an odd thing to say until this happened. Another told of how their little zone of 10 elders found themselves in the city of Trinidad surrounded by the military with all the roads blocked when they were told by the mission president that they had to get to Santa Cruz which was several hours away by bus in order to leave for Peru. The airport in their city was also blockaded and so they did not know how they were going to escape and get to Santa Cruz. Someone (probably the mission president) told them of an airport 3 hours north of the city that was open and that the church would have two small airplanes waiting there for them if they could get there. They found a small dirt road leaving the city that was not under military guard and made their escape. When they arrived at the airport the 2 planes were waiting for them and so they loaded in. Not 30 minutes after their takeoff the military came in and closed the airport! They were so grateful that they followed the spirit and found that the Lord truly was watching over them. It reminded me of the people of Alma and how they escaped from the armies of Lamanites in Mosiah. It was a marvelous experience and a priviledge to be able to be in that meeting and to have the spirit bear witness that this work is real, that God is real and that miracles are happening daily.

On a lighter note another miracle is happening in our family--Rob is getting married! It is testimony that a mother's prayers are heard and answered! While in the midst of all the bolivian crisis Rob called to let us know that he had gotten engaged to a young lady from Alabama named Brisa Archibald. It was an answer to my prayers and even though we don't know this young lady at all we feel really good about it. Everyone in the family who has met her loves her and so we are anxious to meet her too.

We also have been fasting and praying as a family for Dan and Angie to be able to have another baby and I feel like soon we will know. So keep them in your prayers and we will combine our faith to get yet another Elmer baby here soon! I consider all these experiences tender mercies from the Lord as we serve this mission and strive to bring our misionaries and our family closer to the Lord. I am secretly thrilled that this also means that I will be able to come to the wedding and finally meet the grandbabies that I have not seen in person yet--how blessed can I be!!