Espinar, tiny place; Huge part of our hearts

With Lili Sullasi

Hotel entrance

More hotel

With Maritza Flores and Elizabeth Matos

With Puri and Vanessa

With Rosa Luz Carrasco, the bishop's wife

Moroni Flores

With the Pezo family

The Quispe Tunqui family

The Poulsen's workshop

Sheep skins

After Sunday meetings

The families from Tarcuyoc

Our luncheon afterwards

Back to school balloons

Rich has been working with a young man from Juli to get him on his mission. It has been one thing after another with this young man. He had to get a new passport and was already to do it when he lost his DNI (national identity card.)  After weeks he finally got his new card and traveled here to Cusco, about 12 hours by bus, to get his passport. When he went with the office elders to finish all the paperwork, he learned he has a S/250 fine for not voting. He can’t get his passport until that is paid. He didn’t have enough money to pay it, so back on the bus for another 12 hours to go home and find some work. 

Rich called the district president in Juli and told him about all of this, and the president made some calls and had a job waiting for the young man. This was several weeks ago and we think he is about ready to come back to Cusco, pay his fine and get his passport. Rich’s goal is to get him on his mission to Bolivia before we leave for home. What an ordeal!

We have had a busy couple of weeks with meetings, work and classes. On Saturday, March 5 we traveled with the Poulsens to Espinar. We arrived in time to get some lunch at a good restaurant, by some sweaters and get Julie’s shoe fixed. The strap for Julie’s shoe buckle needed to be fixed so we walked up through the market and found the repairmen with their sewing machines. Julie sat on a bench while her shoe was repaired. It took about 5 minutes and it cost S/3.00 ($0.85). There are definitely things we will miss about Peru!

In Espinar we made our way to the “new” hotel. One of the more notable things about Espinar from our time there was that addresses were largely absent. This does not appear to have changed. Streets might have had names, fair enough, but residence numbers are quite another matter. No difference with the Plaza Hotel #2. To add insult to injury, there is no sign to indicate that it is a hotel, indeed, the store fronts all bear the name of the the latest cement supplier in Peru. The good thing is that the hotel is in the same block as the chapel. It is also in a very quiet part of town…

Our friend Puri from Tintaya and her daughter Vanessa met us and we had a fun visit with them. In the evening the Poulsens presented a workshop on Family History and the attendance was great. They were able to help several people set up their accounts with FamilySearch and we had a wonderful time visiting with old friends.

Church on Sunday was so sweet. How wonderful to see our old friends and share memories with them. All the primary children are grown up now, many have served missions and are serving in the ward. It is so wonderful to see the growth from a little family group to a fully functional and growing ward. The wonderful friends we made out in the little community of Tarcuyoc, early on in this mission were there in force. They are led, pretty much, by the matriarch whom every one calls the Hatun Mama (Mama grande). She pretty much is responsible for about fifty adults who have joined the church out in this little tiny pueblo. They have to travel as much as an hour to get to church, when the river is high.

There was one little girl who was adopted by a single eighteen year old when we lived there. She would hug and kiss Rich every Sunday. She sat on his lap, often. Rich adored her and worried about what would come of this little dove when she grew up. Well, she is now twenty, and serves as a seminary teacher in her neighborhood. 

The bishop now was one of the young men when Rich was branch president. His mom, a school teacher, was one of the myriad abandoned mothers in the altiplano. He served a mission came home and married a girl from Espinar, who, coincidentally, or not, served in the same mission, just a couple of years later. They are making a big difference in Espinar. In fact, it is the strongest ward in the Sicuani stake. It is nearly two hours from Sicuani and receives very little support from there, but they don’t let that hold them back. It was a powerful experience to attend church there and to feel the spirit. 

One of the sweet elders who served there, Elder Johnson, was there for a visit as well. He said, “I don’t know why the church is so strong when it is so far away and abandoned.”

 Rich said, “I think it is so strong precisely because, it is so far away and abandoned…”

We were able to bear our testimonies during the meeting and we were pretty much a blubbering mess by the time it was all over. Then we had to look happy with teary eyes and stand and take hundreds of photos with all our dear, dear friends, loved ones. We told them we weren’t saying “adios,” simply “hasta mas tarde,” (until later.) We truly love these sweet people most of whom we have known now for eighteen years. It seems impossible. 

We were emotionally wiped out by the time we left and were able to doze a bit on the bus ride home. We always have fun with the Poulsens and we’re glad they were able to share in the Espinar experience with us. 

Monday morning came too soon, but we did manage to get some work done. Rich went to buy some paper and stickers that we need for our work and told Cecilia Huaman, the woman that works in the stationary store that this would probably be the last visit. She asked what exactly we did with the supplies and she mentioned that she was trying to find information on her father and was very interested in genealogy. Rich went the next day with the Poulsen’s and set up a time to meet with her. They met Tuesday afternoon and were able to get her set up in FamilySearch. The best part is that they found her father’s birth certificate among the records that we have photographed. Cecilia was so excited saying “that’s him!, that’s my father!” and then she cried. Rich said it was so touching and sweet and makes our sometimes tedious work so worth it. What a great blessing.

School is back in session and the streets and sidewalks are clogged in the morning and afternoon. It’s nearly impossible to move through the throngs of swarming kids and parents. Tons of excitement, the smell of cheap perfume and cologne are in the air. Fall is coming and the shadows are longer and the fields and hills are losing their vibrant green.

Our young friend Hyrum Montalvo and his wife came to visit Wednesday evening. We know his family from our time living in Tintaya. He was just a little boy but remembers our twin sons Glenn and William really well. We attended their wedding about six months ago. They were married in the temple and just a really sharp couple. She is six months pregnant with their first child and they are so excited. While they were dating they came to Rich’s Institute classes and loved them. They told us how much they would miss us and cried and cried. We’re not sure how to handle coming back here again only to say goodbye again! 

We walked to the Baratillo Saturday morning with the Poulsens. It was their first visit and they loved it. It is always a new adventure. We all bought some fun things and had a lovely morning. 

Rich and Julie met Matilde and Alexander for lunch Saturday afternoon. We have known Matilde since she was the little girl Rich baptized in Espinar and she married Alexander in the new Trujillo temple in December. They are another sharp, bright young couple and we are so happy for them. We had a fun lunch together and then we walked home and enjoyed the rest of the evening relaxing and getting Rich ready for his trip to Juli.

With the days winding to a close and autumn encroaching, we are filled with gratitude to have been blessed to serve these nearly three years. Peru, long ago ceased to be a strange place to us. It has become a second or, indeed sometimes it feels like our first home. We love this work and are privileged to serve this great cause in our small way.