Just when we thought there was not much to write about...

This is going to be the first ever two-week report of activities. Though, we are only hitting the really high points…

We left Friday morning the 20th for mission Zone Conferences in Abancay and Andahuaylas. We rode with President and Sister Harbertson, Hermana Vicki who works in the mission home and the two mission assistants. It was a packed car. We arrived in time to enjoy lunch with the Sandburg’s and then had meetings until 9pm. It is always wonderful to be with the young missionaries. We had a great conference. Rich held about ten interviews.

Saturday morning we left at 7am to make the three hour drive into the mountains to Andahuaylas for another Zone Conference and a District Conference. Andahuaylas is west of Abancay into the high Andes. It is accessed by notoriously windy roads. The Andes practically jut straight up and geologically speaking, amount to one of the most juvenile terrains in the world. The only way up and down in these parts are switchbacks and they are cut into the sides of mountains that, at best are faulted, steep, and actively geomorphing… just nasty.

More to come... much more!

There is a new paved highway that opened about a month ago and has allegedly shortened the trip to three hours instead of the usual 6-8 hours it used to take, to cover about 120km. Note; these times are all relative because it is the rainy season… It’s a spectacular drive up the mountains with gorgeous valleys and breathtaking vistas. It had rained all night the night before, lubing and loosening everything. So, while we climbed we began noticing mudslides and debris on the new highway. The higher we ascended the worse the slides became. 

Our first break in the trip came about thirty minutes out of Abancay. We had to cross a creek that had filled with debris in the night but a whole crew of workers was working to clear it as we approached the crowd of waiting cars, trucks, etc. At one point we were stopped for 1 ½ hours while workers tried to clear the road. The highway was a mess.

Juggernaut #1

Entreprenurial woman selling cactus fruit  from the back of  her  car

Later, as we came around a corner the traffic was stopped again, this time with only five cars in front of us. A slide had just occurred and men were out trying level out a spot to see if some of the trucks could get through to pack it down. After another period of waiting, we finally made it over and continued on our way.

Julie and Hermana Harbertson

Jackpot #3

Human Balast

Clean up

Totally blocked

Off-roading 

The mountains are so steep that we have come to expect some slides and rocks on the highways however, this was unbelievable! We counted 408 slides that came out onto the two lane road that had to be maneuvered around. We didn’t even bother counting the ones that filled up the deep drainage ditches on either side of the road. All of this destruction was on a brand new highway of 50 miles or so. What a ride!

The  Sunday Slide

Naturally, we arrived in Andahuaylas three hours late. But we were safe and unharmed so we had nothing to complain about. We had a delicious lunch with Nancy, one of the pensionistas (a cook for the missionaries) then we hurried to the church to begin the zone conference with the missionaries. We met until 4pm then had to break for the priesthood session of the district conference. Rich did about 15 interviews and Julie and Sister Harbertson met with about twenty women leaders and taught them for an hour. Julie translated for Sister Harbertson and we enjoyed a sweet spirit with these wonderful women leaders. 

Rich and Julie both spoke at the adult session and by the time we got to the hotel we were so tired and so cold, we quickly got into bed only to find that the covers came up to about our elbows! We were too cold to get out of bed and try to figure out what the deal was with the blankets so we just slid down to the end of the bed, curled up and fell asleep.

The sun was shining and we had a beautiful Sunday. It was heaven to get out of the hotel and into the sunshine. The conference session was great, we both spoke and love meeting with the members in these far flung branches. What a wonderful welcome we received from people that we had never met in our lives but then, that is the way so much of this experience is. 

We were all a bit worried about making the drive home because of the landslides, it rained a bit Saturday night so we weren’t sure what we would find. What a blessing to find that most of the really bad spots had been packed down enough that we didn’t have any major problems. However, coming around a corner another slide had just occurred and there was no way to get through it as big Eucalyptus trees were in the mix. There was a road leading away from the slide right there to our left. It took us down in to a little village and we were able to get around the slide by going through this little pueblo. We were certainly blessed. 

It’s a long seven hour drive back to Cusco through Abancay, on an incredibly windy road, and we had to stop a couple of times just to stretch our legs. The car isn’t the most comfortable in the back seat, let alone in the third row where the two assistants were cramped, pretty much in fetal positions. We always enjoy these adventures, but home sure looked good Sunday night.

On our way up the hill to Cusco, President Harbertson said to Rich, “You know, were you to attempt to explain what we have just done, driving from the high peaks of Andahuaylas along those treacherous roads, down into the ravines and semi-tropical climes of Abancay and then wind back up to the heights of Cusco, dodging cows, sheep, horses, goats and pigs with their owners in the dusk… No one could get it…”

Cusco approach

Cusco approach

Cusco approach

We flew to Lima Monday morning for Rich’s dentist appointments and to get his Passport renewed. After freezing over the weekend, we melted in Lima! What a whirlwind time. Everything went well at the dentist and someone from the church offices picked Rich to take care of his passport. 

We should know better by now, that things don’t happen the way we thing they should. How long have we lived here and we still forget! Apparently the way of processing passports at the American Embassy has changed. For years, one would go through all the security checks and get to the room where they do passports; you would take a number and wait until you were called. Now you have to make an appointment ahead of time, so the people over passports in the church offices told Rich he had to go in person to make the appointment. Weird we thought, but okay. It turns out that you make the appointment on line and that Rich could have done that weeks ago. The church workers didn’t check and neither did we. So that will wait until our next trip on April 6.

On Saturday of this week, Rich participated in the training seminar for the district leaders and their branch presidents. President Harbertson, Rich and Quique Rubio have been putting this together for better than a month. As these things go the closer the date gets, the more nervous Rich gets. Quique Rubio, the mission secretary is a young fellow about the age of our sons and he worked like a madman. Rich helped as much as he could, making calls and sending emails but a lot of it was up to Quique. Rich learned that he did not sleep for about three days before this event. In the end, it went off very well, they got the training done and everybody sent home. In the end, it was an exhausting 16 hour day but worth it.

We’ve decided that we’re pretty much exhausted all the time, but it’s a fulfilling exhaustion. We love our mission and the opportunity we have to serve. 

Big Yawn

Street toddler