Ken & Linda Whitney: Lima, Peru??!!

Sitting in General Conference Sunday morning, you could hear the low hum of approval when President Monson announced the new Quito, Equador temple. But when he said, Lima, Peru, our little crowd erupted into wild cheering. Tears were shed and hugs given as people marveled at this announcement...which begs the question, how many cities can brag having two temples? Well there's Provo, and now, Lima! For the second time we watched General Conference in a small classroom the Puente Virú chapel. It's neat because it's in English!!
However General Conference means District Conference in three weeks, and District Conference means choir....yikes! At our first practice two weeks ago....just Ken & me. At our second practice...again just Ken & me. We hoped to teach something with a counter melody in the men's part; however, with no participation the outlook was grim. We commiserated with the district president Friday as we sat together at the primary children's choir practice, also short participants. He shook his head sadly, and then his eyes lit up with a look of inspiration. The next night after Saturday's conference session, a multitude turned out for a baptism. President Blas quickly weeded out all the children and announced to us, It's time for the children's choir practice. I grabbed a new piano playing Elder out of the baptism, and away we went with "A Child's Prayer"....great rehearsal! As we wrapped things up, President Blas had another surprise for us. He had shanghaied the rest of the baptism audience for the adult choir. He looked at me and and said, Okay let's begin. Ken scrambled to find us some hymn books, I brought the piano player up to speed, and away we went with "The Lord is my Light." Sunday night we repeated this scenario. The choir's coming right along. We'll see how things go at practice Wednesday night.
Between Conference sessions Sunday, we invited the four elders from Chao for dinner. It's always tough finding a collectivo car to take us home after church because there's so many more people than cars, but today an empty Trujillo bus stopped and gave everyone a ride. It was like a magic bus for a fun church activity all the way home. So for dinner we made beef burritos with homemade tortillas, chili sauce and fried rice. For dessert I made a no bake cheesecake with mango topping. As we lavish in peak mango season, I keep looking for new ways to use them...maybe mango crêpes, or mango freezer jam since someone brought me pectin. Anyway, those young elders devoured everything with their youthful appetites. What fun!