It's not a city without a sign




Our next step as Language Specialists is to meet with each missionary and encourage them to use a language learning plan each week. It helps them set weekly goals and keep track of how they are progressing. Our first meeting is simple, we are just showing them how to use the language plan and letting them know we will meet with them once each transfer (6 weeks). We have now met with about 20 missionaries and we can tell already the best part of this will be getting to know the missionaries. They all have a story and it’s fun to learn it.

I also started looking for a way to get around. We live about 30 minutes from the area we have been assigned. That means we have to keep things scheduled back to back because it’s not really practical to walk 60 minutes round trip to come home. We think by getting some transportation we will be more effective. Stay tuned!

Another exciting thing we did this week was to meet with a new senior couple who arrived here a couple of weeks ago. They are from Trujillo, Peru. There is a program to assist couples from Latin American countries to serve senior missions. The cost is reduced to make it affordable. They are going to be amazing. We met with them to share some of the things we have been doing. They have found the same problem that we are running into; it’s difficult to be productive during the day. They are trying to meet with everyone in their ward, but they only have a couple-hour window in the evening. Life is expensive here so people are out trying to make a living during the day.

We went to their house on Thursday which happened to be the day of a city-wide bus strike. Almost all of the buses are privately owned buses called combis. They are mostly just passenger vans. They go up and down the street and pick up people every chance they get. Each one has a route back and forth to the same part of town. There is usually someone yelling to potential passengers where they are going. Streets are loud with combi buses passing by and the person yelling to get as many passengers as they can. Apparently, some of the local gangs have decided that they need some of the money from the combis and have been forcing the bus owners to pay them a “protection” fee. Last week there were 4 owners killed because they would not pay. The strike was to demonstrate to the public a need for more police support. It’s super sad when someone thinks they should make money from hard-working people. The streets were eerily quiet. The buses are really more than half of the normal traffic. We hear there is another protest planned for this week.

The higlight for the week was meeting with the missionaries and the family of a friend that Herman Borup made at the gym. We met with 2 hermana missionaries the friend and 2 of her 3 children. We found out that her husband died a couple of years ago in a work accident. There was an amazing spirit as the Hermanas taught them about the plan of salvation. We were able to testify that through the atonement of Christ and His authority restored to the earth, we can become eternal families. This is the best part of missionary work, meeting with people and sharing our love for them, the Savior and His restored church. It’s especially fun when they are hearing it for the first time. But then again we met with an older couple who have been members for several years and talked about the blessings of going to the Temple, that was fun too.

Oh yeah, did I mention we went to Iquitos for the weekend? Apparently, it’s ok for Senior couples to get away for a couple of days. We went with one of the other couples on our mission to see life on the Amazon. We took a one-day boat tour which took us to a monkey preserve, a native village, and to a small preserve where we saw some paranas, crocodiles, and other fish. It was amazing how different Iquitos is from Lima. It seemed like it could have been on the other side of the world. But we’re home now, back to the grind.

We can’t wait to see what the next week will bring. We hope you stay tuned!

With love, your friends,

Hermana Y Elder Borup


A walkway over the Panamerican Highway

Our first meal in Iquitos with the Palmers


We missed the Iquitos Tri

Funny looking pineapple in Iquitos

The walkway down to Belen, which is an area of Iquitos that is flooded by the amazon for 6 months of the year. The houses are all built on stilts.

Barrels of olives in Iquitos

A random BYU fan in Iquitos. We just saw her on the street.

We ate some suri in a market on the Amazon River. Suri is a grub. It tastes like chicken!

Some fish and a black caiman (crocodile) on the gril.

Having a diet coke on the Amazon

always the angel

a little paint while visiting some natives in the Amazon

Holding a sloth

The perfect pet

Our Amazon ride

Visiting the cemetery in Iquitos

A living among the dead

a nice-sized moth in our hotel in Iquitos. It was at least 3 inches across.

gloating over their win in Pickleball

Looking for new transportation

I found a snake in the Amazon. I hope it's not poisonous. 

Nothing like a monkey hug.

Nothing like monkey lick

Nothing like a monkey kiss.

A close-up of suri

proof we were in the Amazon

 

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