Last books photographed/We are done with the archive! Woohoo!!!

Icarus walking

Catching some rays

Tourist identification manual insert...

Nifty bas relief

Our banana lady

Stylin' shoes

Holding vigil

Trepador

Protest number...???

More stylin' shoes

Pres. Gutierrez and his wife, in Choquehuanca

Members in Choquehuanca

Last views of the altiplano for a while

We worked until late on Tuesday and Wednesday to send our last photos in by Friday. Thursday and Friday were short days and what a thrill it was to take the last photo in the archives!! We shipped them off Friday afternoon and now we wait to see if we need to do some retakes. We’re happy that we have time to do more photos if we need to. We estimate that we have taken about 850,000 photos. We now have a much greater understanding of just how many that is!

We celebrated our last official day by having lunch at Uchu’s and indulged in a decadent chocolate dessert. We are happy to have finished the project here in Cusco. We have come a very long way since we got our call to do family history records preservation and had to look it up to figure out what that meant…

We spent Saturday at home cleaning, relaxing and enjoying the beautiful day. Sunday morning we met the Harbertson’s and Quique Rubio (mission secretary) at 6:30am for the drive to Ayaviri  for their branch conference. The altiplano is stunning in the early morning and we enjoyed our three hour trip together. 

It’s always wonderful to visit Ayaviri and we had a great conference with the members. Rich and President Harbertson did some interviews and then we took off for Choquehuanca for their branch conference which started at 2:30pm. We love the members in these branches,

they are so humble and the simplicity of the gospel shines in them. It feels surreal to say goodbye to them after all of this time. Rich will go back to Ayaviri one more time and also to Juli. It is likewise surreal that we first came to live in the altiplano nearly eighteen and a half years ago.

Sister Harbertson commented on this and said, “For me this has been a passage in my life, but for you, it is your life.” Indeed, we find it nearly impossible now to imagine that we will not tread the altiplano again. It and its people truly are in our blood.

We left Choquehuanca at 5:00pm and arrived home about 8:30pm. We will miss our travels with the Harbertson’s, we have had so many remarkable experiences and so much fun with them! They are such great examples of being fully committed to the gospel. Their schedule is exhausting yet they cheerfully and energetically greet and teach everywhere they go. We do love them.

We have been witness to many miracles during our time here, more than we can count. Yesterday, a former member who has struggled for years, wanted an interview with Rich and President Harbertson. He has finally repented, changed his ways and told them that he is ready to be re-baptized! Six months ago, none of us could have imagined that this would ever take place. We are so happy for him and his family. The gospel of Jesus Christ brings such light and joy into our lives. We have come to understand in a very real and personal way the words spoken by Isaiah over 2700 years ago about these times. He saw our time and the work of gathering Israel in its full sway: 

“Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

“And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.”

It is not lost on us how blessed we are to have played a small role in this great work!