Good times...

Not having a kitchen means being creative

or inviting yourself to lunch

 Ajiaco with Lulu Juice

Ajiaco is one of my favorite Colombian dishes.

It is a potato soup with shredded chicken and mazorca...

top it off with avocado and cream...

YUM!!

(What is Lulu you ask?  A Colombian fruit...I have never seen in the US)

Carne with Rice, Potatoes, and Salad

It is typical to have rice AND potatoes together at every meal.

Here we are with our assistants and secretaries

at the home of Oliva and Andres

What made these lunches special was the people we shared it with.

Will I miss the food here?  NO

        Will I miss the people?      FOREVER

(well...maybe I will miss the Ajiaco, too!)

What's cooking...

In the kitchen of the mission home...

...absolutely nothing is cooking!

We are now at the one month mark of living without a kitchen.
Here is a visual update of how the kitchen remodeling job is going...

We tried to plastic off the doorway and seal it,

but the house was covered with a fine layer of white dust.

can you see the footprints down the hall???

I feel like I am breathing and covered with dust!

 

Our makeshift kitchen in the back bedroom and bathroom.
We have eaten too many sandwiches in the panini press!

In the hills outside our window things are cooking...
It has been VERY hot and VERY dry.
About once a week a fire starts up in the foothills.

Often the balcony is covered with ash that blows in from the fires.
The heat has us cooking here in Cali, but not in the kitchen.

Pasto...Ipiales...it is complicated!

On Thursday, August 16 we headed to Pasto.
The flights to Pasto are always a bit more complicated.
We rushed to the airport to get our flight changed as all flights had been delayed.
We flew into Bogota and then to Pasto, arriving a bit later than planned.

Interviews and Dinner with the Zone Leaders and then check into the hotel.
Pasto is COLD....Ipiales is COLDER...
It just doesn't seem right to have the sun shining and to feel so cold in the summer.
But it is beautiful on the drive...

The Torgerson's flew south with us to work on the missionaries apartments.

Elder Torgerson likes the cold...it must be more like Idaho!!

but I thought you flew south to get warm...wrong!

 Zona Pasto

Elders Menendez and Camacho (front)

Elders Amado, Heredia, Gavilla, Cha, Banks, Baez, Lopez, Inga (back)

  Zona Ipiales

Elders Fuentealba and M. Jensen (front)
Elders Perez, Allauja, Saavedra, Ramos, Duque, Solórzano, Rázuri, Delgadillo (back)

Happy Birthday to you...
those who have birthdays in June, July, & August

Elders Rázuri, Solórzano, Inga, Baez, and Duque
(and yes...I kept my coat and scarf on during all the conference except for zone photos
...there is NO heating in the chapels)

Game time and medal winners

Searching the scriptures

        

Zona Pasto

GOLD - Elder Heredia

SILVER - Elder Lopez

BRONZE - Elder Menendez

Zona Ipiales
GOLD - Elder Duque
SILVER - Elder Ramos
BRONZE - Elder Rázuri

 

 

Finishing up and making commitments

We attended church at the Mariluz chapel in Pasto

 Elder Camacho trying to measure up to Elder Stutz'stature

The Torgerson's and Elder Menedez

 President and Elder Almendares

The Torgersons with the Volcano Galera of Pasto in the background.

Headed home ...finally!

Did I mention that getting to Pasto was complicated?

Leaving Pasto is complicated as well.

We arrived at the airport at 1pm for a 3:45 flight.

If the wind is blowing wrong the planes can not land on this mesa...

The plane could not land and therefore we could not leave

We waited...

At 6:30 pm we were finally, HAPPILY, boarding our flight.

Elders Almendares and Stutz...happy to be headed home.

Pasto and Ipiales are complicated....but the church is growing,

the missionaries are happy,

and we will be going back!

Why not TRI-CALI?.....

In Cali we have 3 zones

Calima, Villa Colombia, and San Fernando

When we have them all together for zone conference

we have about 56 missionaries gathered.

The energy is contagious.

The activities and lunch take more time.

The spirit is strong...why not TRI-CALI???

Zona Calima

Hermanas Villacis and Perdomo - Elders Tauaese and Avalos (front)

Elder and Hermana Torgerson, Elders Lipe, Separovic, Matos, Caja, Belnap, Welling, Jara, Peek, Chirinos, Rojas, Loro, Rivera, Patino, Llerna (back)

Zona San Fernando

Elder and Hermana Oliver - Hermanas Fuentealba and Bautista (front)

Elders Holden, Canari, Casas, Chavez, Stucki, Riepl, Toledo, Cordova, Rivadeneira, Almendares (middle)

Elders Borg, Brodowski, Ruiz, Stutz, Silva, Novoa (back)

Zona Villa Colombia

Elders Candia, Checo, Walton, and Paez (front)

Elders Suarez, Somoza, E.Ramos, Zambrano, Olguin, Williams, Edwards, M.Ruiz, Rogche, Gonzalez (back)

The Office

The Olivers and The Torgersons (front)

Elders Rivadeneira, Novoa, Stutz, Silva, and Almendares (back)

Happy Day

The day of zone conference...Aug 15 was Elder Patino's birthday

those who celebrated birthdays in June, July, and August

Zona Calima

 Elders Chirinos, Rojas, Separovic, Patino

Zona San Fernando

Elders Brodowski and Holden, Hermana Bautista, Elders Novoa and Rivadeneira

Zona Villa Colombia

Elder Checo

The Games

and the medal winners

 Zona Calima:

Gold - Elder Patino (Colombia)

Silver - Elder Rivera (Peru)

Bronze - Elder Belnap (USA)

 Zona San Fernando:

Gold - Hermana Bautista (Peru)

Silver - Hermana Fuentealba (Chile)

Bronze - Elder Riepl (USA)

Zona Villa Colombia:

Gold - Elder Paez (Argentina)

Silver - Elder Olguin (Mexico)

Bronze - Elder Walton (USA)

Finishing up, Making Commitments, and Saying Good-bye

         

You ought to give Cali a TRI...it is 3 times the fun...3 times the missionaries...3 times the love...

3 times the spirit!!