Trujillo Peru Temple Dedication

The Trujillo Temple was dedicated June 21st.  We did not have church, just the dedicatory session.  President Dieter Utchdorf and Elder David A. Bednar officiated.  I think back on our time concerning Peru and it started with Justin's mission to Trujillo.  And now it is ending with the Trujillo Temple dedication. It will be such a blessing for the people in northern Peru to have the temple close, some of them the very people Justin taught on his mission.

Justin and Miranda and Jenny and Jon came to visit in May.  It was so fun to have them with us and to be able to show them where we live and what life is like for us.

Justin and Miranda flew to Trujillo for two days.

They went through the temple open house.  Justin only took a small bag and didn't have room for a suit, in case you were wondering why he is wearing shorts.  We are so happy for him that he had the opportunity to go back and see the people and places he had served on his mission and also to show Miranda what he was talking about when he spoke of his mission.  They were walking down the street when they heard someone yelling "Elder Townsend, Elder Townsend."  It was a bishop Justin had served with.  Justin has been home from his mission for almost 13 years now but I guess he left an impression.  

This girl showed Justin the picture she still had of him and his companions in her scrapbook.  They were three Americans in a companionship and were nicknamed the three Nephites.

This was their apartment.

This boy was a little kid when Justin was on his mission. 

We have a security guard in our neighborhood that lived in Chepen when Justin was there on his mission.  He is not a member but went to church there with his uncle when he was a little boy.  Lonny has talked to him about the church some, actually he approached Lonny initially with questions.  When Justin was here, he and Lonny gave him a Book of Mormon.  

It was fun for Jenny and Jon and Justin and Miranda to vacation together in one of the world's greatest places.

We also acted as tourists around Lima, going to the beach, the Inka Market, the Chocolate Museum, the San Francisco Cathedral and the Plaza de Armas.

Here is Emily at the Larco Museum

and singing "Look at this stuff, isn't it neat,

 wouldn't you think my collections complete? Wouldn't you think I'm a girl, a girl who has everything?"

The Catholic Cathedral in the Plaza de Armas is old and impressive but this guide is a show by himself.  He has been our guide on at least three tours.

At the time Lonny was still the branch president at the MTC so Justin and Miranda went to church with us, the same place where Justin lived when he first came to Peru 15 years ago.  Back when we wondered where he was and whether he was safe and what exactly he was doing.  Lonny was released the end of May so now we have been going to church next door with Emily.

Two weeks later Lonny, Emily and I had to speak in Sacrament meeting.  They both spoke in Spanish but I had a friend translate for me.  Later in Priesthood meeting a man was being introduced as an investigator.  The missionaries had given his ill wife a blessing but sadly she had died.  Someone in the meeting told him he should keep meeting with the missionaries and coming to church because there was much the Church could do for him and his wife, and he said he knew that was true because a young girl had given a talk in Sacrament meeting that had touched his heart.  Everyone told Lonny he needed to tell Emily what he had said.  The missionaries thanked Emily for her message because they can only do so much.  She is not sure exactly what she said that the man referred to but is thankful her Spanish was understood.  A couple weeks later in church they announced the man was getting baptized.