Car help

  Kay was working on a car and had two guys (residents) ask if they could help.  They went and got their tools and started taking the car apart!

New friends from Saudi Arabia

 
 I met some women visiting for a few months from Saudi Arabia.  They have been exercising at Curves and I see them about 1 time a week.  They have been taking English lessons so are getting better and better at speaking English.   They will be going home next month and I asked them if they had been in an American home.  They said no, so we arranged for a lunch.  They brought their brother who has been attending Creighton and is their driver and translator.   When we saw the wonderful food they brought, we stopped making some of ours and had a nice lunch, visit and tour of the house and yard area.  They were very kind and we learned about Mohammed and Muslem beliefs and they learned a bit about Mormons.  I had them go to Mormon.org to get an overview.  Maybe we will visit Saudi Arabia some day….. you never know.          

 

       

 

                                  

 

                 

A babe is born

Tuesday I went to visit Felicia’s mom who was tending the kids while she was in the hospital and Felicia answered the door! Her mom had some unexpected things come up and couldn’t tend, so her C-section was put off until Wednesday.  I picked up grandma Tuesday night and picked Felicia up at 9AM Wednesday and we had a bouncing baby girl!  President Wilkinson thought he was visiting a mother and baby but came at the perfect  time… 30 min before the surgery.   When I told Felicia her Dr, Dr Besse is a Mormon she said “Shut UP” which now means “I don’t believe it”.  Both men were able to give her a priesthood blessing.  When Dr Besse found out she was sleeping on an air mattress on the floor he said we needed to get her off the floor sooooo   I called Open Door Mission and through some miracles… kindnesses,  employees agreeing to stay late, picking up grandma and the kids,  being allowed to use grandma’s id, bending some rules… we were able to get her a bed, stove, mats for the kids to sleep on, a dresser and a chair. It was a rewarding day.  Lauren said if I spend 20 hours a week on church service including my 6 hour temple shift, we should apply to be local missionaries... we will hit that goal this week for sure.

  She still needs a kitchen table and washer/dryer but we did good!

Conestoga Branch AP Overnight Campout

I (Janae) decided to organize the men to go to the Fathers and Sons AP camp out. Kay said if I organize it, he would execute the orders (he did a great job).  For the past several years one dad and one son had gone from our tiny branch (Sacrament meeting attendance is 30-70).

 We provided the hotdogs, smores and chips and asked Brother Caverhill (one of the many who live outside the boundries) to make dutch oven potatoes.  He added a peach cobbler to the mix. Saturday, Kay made Mountain Man breakfast to supplement the doughnuts the stake provided.

We went around in our normal interactions with branch members asking if they wanted to go Camping.   

We had a black  member come that had never been camping, 

2 young black brothers (I visit teach their inactive mother) they had never been camping or near an open fire (see marshmallow sticky hands pic).

A 23 year old tattoo laden inactive son of  one of our home teaching  ladies

3 boys that don't have dad's in the home that come to scouts

one boy whos dad works night shift

a father and 3 sons who joined the church last April

a student father (graduating) and his 2 sons

The branch Pres and wife showed up for dinner

Kay and Bro Caverhill I will call the "anchors"

.= 19!

Kay and I went to the church and picked up the 10 sleeping bags, 2 lg tents and mats and had an errand to run near the camp ground 40 min away so staked out a place for our branch and Seth's ward (2 families came from his)

all in all it was a huge success!  Everyone had a great time and we had a large group there

 The Aaronic Priesthood Camp out was held at Two Rivers Camp Ground.

Free Omaha with kids

  Kenefick Park shares the parking lot with Lauretzen Gardens.  Features 2 huge locomotive engines.  the Centennial and the Big Boy (black). Keeping with our free theme… we went into Lauritzen Gardens to use the restrooms. Heartland of America Park is on 9th and Farnam.  Metered parking on the street.  Note to self: bring some bread to share with the wildlife.   We walked around the whole park avoiding landmines where possible  and were able to see some eggs! What a treat.  We were going to walk along the river front to the pedestrian bridge but were short on time, tired, and not wanting to miss the slides…. we backtracked….. will do that another time.   The visitors center is across the street from the slides on the corner of Farnam and 10th with restrooms we used 2 times.  We brought wax paper and the kids slid down like bullets.  1 hour is a great amount of time. We were glad we had water bottles.  Of course we shared  our waxed paper with the other participants.

 

  across 10th is Conagra Foods with the lucky Chef Boyardee.  We made sure to touch his hat for good luck. make sure you bring change for the meters. 75 cents an hour.

Uros Islands on Lake Titikaka

             we were told there were three islands with churches on them… Mormon, Catholic and Adventist.  We passed by the Mormon church on request.

This is an article I found about the Lake and Mormons:

Lake Titicaca: Melting Pot of the Andes

BY DE LAMAR JENSEN

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At 12,500 feet above sea level, the chilling waters of Lake Titicaca would not normally be thought of as a “melting pot.”
But Titicaca, known as the highest navigable lake in the world, is no ordinary body of water. It is an avenue of commerce and communication for surrounding areas, as well as a sacred symbol and source of legend. In the lives of the Latter-day Saint Peruvians and Bolivians who live along its shores, it creates a common bond that ties them to each other.
The famous lake covers some 3,250 square miles and forms part of the frontier between modern Peru and Bolivia. It also marks the boundary between the predominantly Aymara-speaking Indians of the southeastern altiplano and the Quechua-speaking Incas from the mountains of Cuzco to the northwest.
According to ancient Incan legends, the first Inca, Manco Capac, and his sister-wife, Mama Oclla, lived on the Island of the Sun in the lake. They were sent by the sun god, Inti, to found the Incan capital in the fertile valley of Cuzco, some two hundred miles away.
The legend is rooted in the dim, unknown history of the past. Only thirteen miles from the southern tip of the lake is the ancient archaeological site of Tiahuanaco, believed by some to have been left by the earliest of the high civilizations of America. Near the western end of the lake lie the ruins of Sillustani, with their huge stone burial towers, called chulpas. And in the lake itself, the mysterious ruins on the islands of Taquile and Amantani are silent reminders of the once-great civilizations in this region.
Life is not easy in the altiplano, the cold, bleak, treeless plateau region around the lake averaging 13,000 feet in altitude. The area is too high for the cultivation of most food crops except potatoes (in hundreds of varieties) and the native quinua and canihuaco, highland grains cultivated in the Andes since pre-Inca times. The lake waters provide additional food, the delicious Titicaca trout.
Commerce is the principal livelihood for the people of Puno, a population center at the western end of the lake. Shops line the narrow streets. Vendors in open markets sell everything from anti-cuchos (pieces of beef heart barbecued over charcoal) and alpaca cloth to plastic zippers. Many of the goods are imported from elsewhere, some from distant lowlands over narrow and precipitous mountain roads. A principal source of livelihood for the people is the alpaca, a relative of the llama, whose soft wool is woven into beautiful sweaters, blankets, and rugs.
There is a raw, natural beauty to the land. The sky seems bluer, the clouds whiter, the wind fresher, and the stars brighter than almost any other inhabited place on earth. But missionary work is not easy in thealtiplano, where one can simultaneously freeze on one side and burn on the other as the sun’s rays pierce the rarefied atmosphere of the high plateau without warming the crisp, thin air. The penetrating cold of the dry winter months (May through October) is somewhat modulated in the summer rainy season (November through April), with its slightly longer days and shorter nights. But the rains themselves cause other hazards as the downpour turns streets into rivers of mud and the flatland into a bog.
Despite the uninviting climate, the region draws people of every background, and the seed of faith finds warm, fertile soil. The gospel is beginning to take root and flourish in the hearts of many of these people.
On any given Saturday or Sunday (and occasionally on weekdays too), a group of people gathers at the tip of a low peninsula which juts into the lake on its western end, near Puno. The group may be small or large, with as many as fifty or sixty people dressed mostly in their “Sunday best.” A few are all in white. The group consists of investigators, members, and missionaries from one of the three branches in Puno attending a baptismal service. They come together from many cultures, but they emerge from the waters of the lake as brothers and sisters in the gospel and members of the kingdom of God.
Converts to the Church in the recently organized Puno District represent almost every occupational category—from artisans, bakers, bankers, carpenters, and contractors to merchants, seamen, storekeepers, tailors, and teachers. They belong to several linguistic and ethnic groups. Although most members have had little formal education, their intellectual attainments are impressive and their linguistic skills are remarkable, many of them speak at least three languages—Spanish, Quechua, and Aymara.
The president of the Puno District, Raul Manrique Lozada, a member of the Peruvian Coast Guard assigned to patrol the waters of Lake Titicaca, first heard of the Mormons when he was a young boy living near Arequipa. One day his father punished him for having a Mormon tract in his possession; out of curiosity, he had picked it up at a neighbor’s house. His father immediately destroyed the tract and warned his son to not pay attention to such evil literature.
President Manrique did not hear of the Latter-day Saints again until he was married and had two children. Five years ago, while on vacation, as he was walking along the shore of the lake he saw two tall North American missionaries. He asked them if they happened to be Mormons. When they replied that they were, and asked if he would like to know more about them, he invited them to his home for more information about their “forbidden” religion.
Two months later he agreed to be baptized if the missionaries could prove to him that Joseph Smith actually did have a vision of the Father and Son, and that the Angel Moroni did in fact appear to him. Undaunted, they replied, “Fine,” and proceeded to teach him how to pray. They told him to pray on his knees every day for a week, and promised they would also pray for him. As he prayed, a change came over him and his wife. They lost all desire to criticize and to find fault, and began to feel happier and more tranquil than ever before. President Manrique soon came to know personally that Joseph Smithhad indeed been visited by the Father and the Son. A few days later he and his wife were baptized in Lake Titicaca.
His developing testimony received a boost shortly after his baptismwhen his daughter became critically ill with typhoid fever. Two missionaries gave her a blessing before she went to the hospital. Later that night as she lay in her bed, struggling to survive, Raul Manrique, who had recently received the Melchizedek Priesthood, laid his own hands on her head, blessed his daughter, and promised her she would live. Her quick recovery strengthened her father’s testimony immeasurably.
Brother Miguel Angel Vallenas Frisancho, an accountant at the Banco Internacional and counselor in the district presidency, resisted the missionaries’ message as long as he could. When Elders Elmer Zegarra and Jaime Santillan came to teach him and his wife, he excused himself; he suddenly “had some work to do at the bank.” He got into his automobile (Brother Vallenas is the only member of the Church in Puno to own a car) and drove around town for an hour in order to avoid listening to the missionaries. But, to his surprise, when he returned they were patiently waiting. Three weeks later, he and hisfamily were baptized. They in turn have been responsible for bringing many other fine people of Puno into the Church, including Sister Vallena’s cousin, Inés Cardenas de Mendoza.
Sister Mendoza had studied and prayed diligently about the gospel, despite family opposition. Her final decision came as a direct result of two events: a dream in which she was prompted to be baptized, and an interview with a clergyman who tried to persuade her to reject LDS beliefs. Her inspired responses to all of his comments, plus his inability to answer any of the penetrating questions she put to him, convinced her that the gospel taught by the Latter-day Saint missionaries was true.
Miguel Luque Cutipa has taught two generations of youth in Puno. He is trilingual—fluent in Aymara, Quechua, and Spanish. Many times he has had to teach his pupils Spanish before they could read the textbooks so he could teach them mathematics, physics, and other sciences. Even before he retired from the Colegio del Estado, he was elected president (sub-mayor) of the Barrio 4 de Noviembre (an area of the city of Puno). He still serves in that capacity.
In spite of Miguel Luque’s great ability and reputation as a teacher and civic leader, he was, like many residents of the altiplano, a slave to alcohol. This weakness brought great suffering to him and his family, and contributed to the alcoholism of one of his sons.
The abrupt change in Brother Luque’s attitude and life-style when he embraced the gospel had a profound effect on the rest of his family. His son, Miguel Angel Luque Salas, followed his father in giving up alcohol; soon, he too began receiving the missionary discussions and was eventually baptized, along with his younger brother and sister. Finally, the oldest son, Marcelino Luque Salas, seeing the dramatic change in his father and younger brothers, also listened to the missionaries. He and his wife were baptized just three months after his father and mother joined the Church. Today, Miguel is a member of the district presidency, Marcelino is a leader in the Manco Capac Branch, and Miguel Angel is a priesthood leader. A more faithful and loyal family would be hard to find.
So grows the work of the Lord in this area of Peru and Bolivia, changing lives and fulfilling the promises contained in the Book of Mormon. These brief vignettes could be multiplied many times, telling for example, of Nazario Alvarez Meza, a professional photographer who had been active in an extremist military group in Cuzco. Now Brother Alvarez is active in the Huascar Branch, a law-abiding, contributing member of his community. Or there is Pedro Aurelio Nunez Mamani, a humble teacher and one-time entertainer who, when he was converted, brought all of his close relatives into the Church. He is former president of the Altiplano District.
And there is Pedro Barraza Yucra, captain of the freight ship Inca,which carries cargo on Lake Titicaca between Peru and Bolivia. Citizens of Puno know Inca Cona, of the Titicaca Branch, and his wife; the Conas sell mouth-watering pastries, including their specialty, cookie clusters with orange blossom honey. Bonifacio Apaza has his own tailor shop and teaches sewing to the Relief Society sisters of his branch. And young Sister Norma Nayut Lazo Vallenas, a leader in her high school and president of her class, has made the name Latter-day Saint familiar and respected among many teenagers of Puno.
These remarkable people, and hundreds more like them from the varied cultures surrounding Lake Titicaca, are united through the gospel. They share the distinction of having made their covenants with God in what must be the highest and coldest melting pot in the world.

by De Lamar Jensen, a professor of history and dean of the Honors Program at Brigham Young University, teaches a Gospel Doctrine class in his Provo, Utah, ward.