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Catedral huancayo/ Huancayo Cathedral

   As in most Latin American towns, the cathedral in the square is a focal point.  Thought I would share what the one in Huancayo is like.  It really gives the feeling of the older aspect of the city.  It goes back centuries, but part of it is very modern too.

      Universidad el Centro de Peru Huancayo

    This view shows a little of the more modern side of the city.  Quite the contrast!

Huancayo Coat of Arms

  Coat of arms of Huancayo, given by King Phillip of Spain, 18 March 1562.  It was given in gratitude to the Wankas for their collaboration in the defeat of the Quechua Incas.

   Escudo de Huancayo.  Dado por el Rey Felipe II de Espana (sorry, no correct punctuation) el 18 de marzo de 1562 en Barcelona.  Fue dado en agradecimiento a los huancas por su colaboracion e la derrota de los Incas del Cusco.    

   This is such a colorful coat of arms!

Peruvian Baptism

  Saturday, after General Conference, we attended our first Peruvian baptism!  Santiago moved here a few months ago to marry Kendall in January.  He had been learning about the Church when he was in Peru, then in an effort to get to know more members, tried the LDS Singles site and met Kendall.  It took a long time, but they finally were able to arrange to have him move from Peru to Kansas!  He had been meeting with the missionaries here and decided to be baptized on the special day of April 6th.  He was baptized by his father-in-law, John Goodman.  Congratulations!  We spent a delightful evening with the family last week, learning about Peru--good food, good buys, weather--and having an opportunity to practice Spanish!  He was very encouraging!  He told me that Peruvian chocolate is absolutely the best in the world!  I knew there was a reason I should go there.  He thinks gold should be a good buy in Huancayo--hmmmm!  I liked the dessert recommendations--arroz de leche (rice pudding) and tres leches cake (3 milks).

There will still be work to do!

   An article appeared in LDS Living that talked about exactly what our mission will be--records preservation.  I would like to include a few excerpts from it.   To quote Karla Tomlinson, the lady we first talked to when considering possibilities of what we could do on a mission, who was quoted in the article,
      “Many of the missionaries have expressed wonderful and unique experiences while capturing images of records,” she said. “Many of these records have been buried in archives for hundreds of years."...
      Since the Church started making digital records in 1938 (who knew?), there have been 3.2 billion images captured.  Plenty of work remains, however. By Ron DiGiulio’s [vice-president of the Global Records Division of Familysearch International] analysis, the 3.2 billion documented images represent about 6 percent of “top priority records.” Given the current capture rate, it will take 140 to 160 years to make all of those records available. Consequently, the Church is making it a priority to increase the rate at which they are making those records available.
     Wow! When we spoke to Elder Lowe, who is in Huancayo now working on the records, I asked if there would still be work to do when we get there since he seems to be accomplishing a lot.  He said he thought the project there would take maybe two or three years, so I guess there will be work.  He told us that they would be putting another camera there for us to use and he is currently working with the archives to figure out a nook in the library there where they can put us.