A Slow Week

April 11-18          This has been a slow week for appointments, but we did get to go out for lunch with the Haslers.  This is a traditional Peruvian restaurant that specializes in seafood, the food is very delicious.  Lyle is peeling crawdads.

At one of our appointments in the Family History Center we found a little girl waiting in the hall for her mother who was in a meeting.  We brought her into the center with us and she drew us some pretty pictures.  Isn't she adorable?  She was so quiet, but I did get this smile from her.  She is a typical little Peruvian girl here with long hair past her waist. Everyone here has the most beautiful hair.  All the men seem to have a full head of hair all their lives.

We went out for Christine's birthday to Chili's. You can't get corn tortillas here so these chips and salsa were a treat.  I did make chocolate brownies (I can't celebrate her birthday without chocolate, that was her favorite) and we lit a candle.


Finally we get to go to Church.

Last week all the Churches were closed for the elections, so we finally got to go again yesterday.  We go to a different ward each week.  These are pictures of the Relief Society in the Vista Allegre (Happy View) Ward.

I told you the Peruvians have hair. Check out that new baby with all the hair. The stroller is a new item a few of the younger mothers have discovered, most babies are still riding on their mothers backs.  Fresh flowers for the table. I always feel at home when I am with the sisters of the Church.  

I don't understand enough Spanish to get the details, but I can get the main idea of what is being taught and it gets a little easier each week.  The members are wonderful and they try to help me by sharing their manuals, song books and hugs.

Doing Our Own Family History

When we are not traveling and we do not have appointments here in Cuzco, we work on our own family history.  We are working on Lyle's family line and to-date we have found and sent to the Temple thousands of ordinances and nearly a thousand names.  If there is anyone wanting family names, I can send them to you I just need your email address. 

We have been doing names from the Ransom Bailey/Davidson line and it has been a gold mine of family names.  They are from the Tennessee (mostly), Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia area and after the Civil war some settle in Texas.  There are several preachers in the family.  I can tell by reading some of their obituaries that, for the most part, they are honest people who have lived good Christian lives. Their birth dates range from the 1700's to the early 1900's when the 110 rule kicks in (we can't send names of people born after 1906 without written permission from the nearest living relative - they may still be alive).  It has been fascinating to see the transformation of the United States during those years through the lives of these families.  I try to find the couples without children, those who didn't marry and, of course, the babies and children. These people do not have progenitors looking for them.

Elder Poulsen was a reluctant participant at the beginning, but after he saw how much success I was having, he joined in and has almost out paced me with number of names.  We can see how doing family history and indexing can become addictive, there is always one more person or family to find.

There is also a spirit of peace and joy that comes when doing missionary work on both sides of the veil.  I am so grateful that Heavenly Father loves all of His children and has made a plan for all of us, no matter where or when we were born, to know of Him and receive the ordinances that will allow us to return to Him.

Elder Poulsen with his new Peruvian hat and wool sweater (still has the tag on it) doing family history on his laptop.     Yes, the days are getting chillier - we are going into Winter.