Area Wide Training with Brother David and Sister Robin Beck and Brother Russ and Sister Lolly Osguthorpe

Friday January 21, 2011 we began a twelve day area-wide training trip with President David and Sister Robyn Beck (YM General President) and Brother Russ and Sister Lolly Osguthorpe (SS General President) and the Pinos and Ucedas. The Area Presidency mixed in and out of the travel and we alternated accompanying the Becks and Osguthorpes all along the way. We have felt the spirit, spent time with the Saints and forged new friendships. We have great respect and love for all of these couples.

We first flew to Caracas VE, then on to hot Maracaibo VE. We spent the day with the Becks. We had a parents focus group, then a YM focus group. Robyn and Shelley had lunch at the Krosnoselsky's, home of the mission president of the Maracaibo Mission. We then visited two families with YW while the men continued with training meetings. That night we had a youth and parents fireside. Sunday we flew from Maracaibo back to Caracas where we attended church and then joined the Osguthorpes for an evening training meeting.

The view from the top of Monserrate in Bogota Colombia. Monday morning we drove two hours from Caracas to Valencia VE, then flew to Bogota CO with the Becks. We had a few free hours so we drove through the beautiful city of Bogota and then rode the teleferico up Monserrate.

Brother David and Robyn Beck with us up Monserrate. Afterwards we had FHE with a family with three sons, then ate a late night dinner at President and Sister Hacking's, Mission president of the Bogota N. Mission

Noble YM from a focus group in Bogota Colombia

Sunday Jan 30 we flew to Cuzco Peru. This is a view of Cuzco from the Cuzco Mission home.

"P" Day!This is the lobby of our beautiful hotel in the Sacred Valley, Peru

Aguas Caliente at the base of Machu Picchu in Peru.

Machu Picchu is a spectacular place even in the pouring rain!

Odds and Ends from December 2010

Spencer and his friends making balloon animals at the orphanage Christmas party.


Nash Family at Santa Maria Beach, south of Lima.


In the pool after the beach!


We went to the Mall to take our traditional picture of Santa, but there was no Santa this year so Annalise, Spencer and Kiersten posed in front of the two story Christmas tree

This year our Christmas service took a completely different turn. Instead of "Secret Santa," we joined another family in helping a third family who was in need. They needed beds, sheets, shelves, food, and even a toilet seat. Two days before our planned project, they had a fire and were evicted from their apartment, so our plans changed to include moving and organizing. Christmas Eve day we worked side by side with Violetta to get things set up and settled for her family of four children. When we finished, we gathered together in the main room so she could speak to us and for Marc to leave a blessing on the home. This was a wonderful experience for us all. It was an extra tender thing to work with someone in need instead of it being secret. The service was what they truly needed, not just what we thought they needed. It was also a blessing to work together as three families and learn from one another.








Christmas Morning

It's a Jungle Out There

December 27, 2010 Marc, Shelley, Annalise, Kiersten and Spencer boarded our LAN flight from Lima to Iquitos, Peru to start our jungle adventure. The streets of Iquitos are filled with swarms of mototaxis. Almost as many as there are mosquitos in the Amazon.



We left Iquitos and traveled by boat 25 miles up the Amazon River to Explorama Lodge. We arrived just in time for lunch, our favorite, Lomo Saltado. Our meals were served buffet style in the lodge at 7:30 am, 12:30 pm and 7:30 pm. We sat at the "Nash" table.





Piranha fishing was our first adventure. We went boating up one of the many nearby tributaries on a small flat motorboat. We caught lots of 3-4" piranhas with litlle pieces of raw meat for bait. Being out on the river was beautiful. It is the end of the low water season so there are lots of floating logs that are being washed into the river as the waters begin to rise. One surprising thing was how many houses are along the banks of the river. I thought the river people would live deeper into the jungle, but the river is their "Main Street" and they live along its banks. As the fishing excursion ended, we saw people along the shores in or by their boats, washing, bathing, fishing. We even saw some little children holding up a huge boa constrictor for us to gasp at.













Day # 2 started out with a trip to Monkey Island. There are many species of monkeys on this refuge island. Monkeys who are sick or abandoned are brought here to be nursed to health or raised safely until they are ready to venture on their own. Both Shelley and Spencer were surprised when monkeys climbed up onto them.









We stopped at another spot to see giant lily pads and a baby kamon and baby sloth
As we boated back into the river we found a pod of pink river dolphins. They don't usually crest for long, but this was our lucky day. We had the same experience in the afternoon when we were back on the river; pink dolphins everywhere.

In the afternoon we boated on the river then hiked into an indian village. We were met by a row of cute little half dressed girls sitting in a row on a fence. We entered a large,circular palm thatched house where they taught us about their customs and their people. They then danced for us and with us! We went outside where they showed us their blow guns and then taught us how to shoot them. Marc, Spencer and Shelley all hit the target!Woohoo! We looked at their wares for sale and watched the kids play with a little sloth and a meercat.













Each day before dinner we swam in the pool to cool off. The weather was in the high 80's and 90's with about 100% humidity. A talking parrot walked along the edge of the pool, sqawking "Hola!" ON day #2,after our swim and before dinner, we met Julio for a night hike in the jungle. We each had our own flashlight and away we went, going down farther and farther into the trees. It was a bit creepy! We saw bats, lots of tarantulas, the eyes of an alligator in a stream, and big toads.

Evening # 2 after dinner we had a music and dancing show with youth from a school in a nearby settlement of Indiana. During one dance a girl brought a big boa constrictor out to the audience and draped it over a few people's shoulders. Marc was one of the lucky ones.

Wednesday we left by boat at 5:45 for a 75 mile boat trip up the Amazon and onto the Napo River. We landed at the Naporama Lodge and then hiked about 3 miles in the jungle to the canopy walk. We climbed up the first tower then up, up, up along the different walks and towers. It is the world's longest canopy walk,up about 12 towers and along the 12 suspension-like canopy bridges through the levels of the jungle: forest floor, understorey, canopy, and emergents. The high point was about 120 Ft. above the ground. At first it was scary but after the first bridge it was fun. The views were spectacular.















Early the last morning we boated back to Iquitos where we stopped at the San Juan market to buy blood wood bowls (a famous jungle wood) and then fly back to Lima. Truly this was a fascinating and fun adventure in the Amazon jungle of Peru

Peru--The First Four Years

Today is January 1st, 2011 and we are starting out the year with the goal to write about our amazing Peruvian adventures. We are in the middle of our fourth year here in Peru and these past 3 1/2 years have been filled with experiences that are spectacular and National Geographic-like and others that are just normal daily life.

So here's to "Living in Lima!"

Each year since our arrival here we have taken a family trip the week after Christmas.

2007--Chile



2008--Machu Picchu



2009--Ica



2010--Iquitos