During free time in Choquehuanca we run onto this young man getting ready to start walking on these frozen potatoes. after a few days he will have chuno. Umm, I can hardly wait.
This is this the only hotel in Choquehuanca. It is pretty scary. When we got up in the morning all the pipes were frozen so the toilets wouldn't flush. Oh well they don't flush them much anyway. We didn't even think of a shower. Poor Choquehuanca, the branch president has quit functioning and the only other priesthood holder with a recommend turned me down. One young man that has his mission call and the elders are pretty much running things. Things in Ayaviri are just a grim. Everybody is discouraged and we can't seem to pick it up. I visit Choquehuanca every three weeks or so. They may end up in the Juliaca stake and they would send leaders down. Or they may just close it down and tell everybody they have to attend in Juliaca. I hope not, there are some very good people in Choquehuanca and they will have four missionaries serving from there.The area is deciding now. They really want to be part of the Juliaca stake. I think we will know this week.
I knew if we hung around here for awhile we would run into Cusco. I didn't think it would be in front of Orion pushing a shopping cart.
After Susan got her purse stolen we needed to replace her cards and phone. As luck would have it some people from our ward were coming down so they brought a care package. Real brown sugar, peanut butter, bacon bits, cards for fathers day, and my repaired hearing aids. Things are good now. As luck would have it some other people are coming next week and I think they are bringing more stuff. We are really spoiled!
Sad to hear about the struggling branches. We know there are good people there, but it's hard to run a unit without committed leadership. No doubt lives are hard there, but blessings do come with commitment and service.
ReplyDeleteWe're getting ready for the 4th of July here. Will probably go see the St George fireworks - but they are nothing like the show on Christmas Eve in Cusco, as you know.
While you're freezing in the cold season there, we're sweating it out in the heat here. 102-105 in the St George area this week. Even though "cold season" is only a few degrees colder, the non-insulated concrete buildings just transmit it through, and it keeps on coming. Seems like the coldest buildings are the chapels - and even when it's freezing they will open the windows. The coldest we ever were there was in Sicuani - I have a picture of Dawn in bed with her coat and gloves on trying to read. After a few months we figured it out: we went to the hot places of the mission in the cold season, and the cold places in the hot season. We spent a few days in Espinar in our shirtsleeves. We also about died in the heat one day in the jungle outside of Puerto Maldonado, so we didn't always hit it right.
Hope you are well, you are doing a great work there. Did you get into a new apartment yet?
By the way - we never did develop a taste for chunio - the local version of freeze dried potates. I guess I could survive on it for a while, but it wouldn't be pleasant. Of course there are the discussions over whether white or black chunio is better, but neither are on my list of favorite taste treats. We miss the good polla ala braza here, and causa.
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