Change in Plans -  Week of Feb. 10

When we began our camera training yesterday here in Salt Lake we had a big surprise.  We were told there had been a change in our mission assignment. We will be going to the Perú Lima West Mission in northern Perú and working in the government archives in Huaraz (wa-rás). There were two factors that made this change necessary. The Peruvian government would not grant permission to record (camera capture) additional records in Cusco; and the Church determined that the records were of a lesser priority, meaning they were probably not vital records but rather land or other types of records.

We are a little disappointed since many of you were planning to visit us in Cusco and nearby Machu Picchu. Of course you can still do this but you won't have a free local guide nor free accommodations (assuming we would of had a two bedroom apartment there). However, we have been told that Huaraz is the Alps of South America and a great place to visit as well.  So maybe you can visit two great places instead of one.

Our flight to Lima took 10 hours with a plane change in Dallas. We arrived in Lima at 1:00 a.m. and sailed through Customs with our 6 suitcases without a problem. We finally got to bed at 3:30 a.m. in a small hotel near the Area Office.  We were up and ready for church at 8 a.m.--short night.

Arrival at the Lima International Airport  (1am)

Welcome to Lima!  Sign across for the airport.

The Hotel Yeyas - Our home in Lima for a week.

We received training for three days in the cramped basement work space in the Justice Building (seen here at left) where the archives for Lima are located. The following four photos were taken in these archives. When we say "filmed", we mean recorded by digital cameras.

Julio (background standing at camera table) and David, our supervisor at work.  They wear masks and sometimes use gloves because of the dust and decay in the books.

At the second camera. Marilyn has a visor to cut the glare from the lights. Note the concrete beam above my head. Tight quarters!

Julio standing in one of the many passageways in the archives.  The books with the little yellow stickers have already been done but there are many, many more to do.

Some of the string-bound bundles waiting to be filmed.