SOUTH MISSION TRIP TO AYACUCHO

     We traveled with President and Sister Douglas to Ayacucho, which is a high mountain city at 9000 feet above sea level.  It has a population of 40,000 and is the favorite place of the missionaries in the Lima South Mission.  It is surrounded by mountains and the air is fresh and clean!  We attended a zone conference, visited clinics, and did apartment checks.  It is always a joy to see the missionaries from our branch at the CCM and to see them happy and speaking great Spanish.

Waiting for our plane is the perfect time for Pres. Douglas and Elder Hartvigson to share the Gospel!

 Getting ready to board.

This was a new twin engine plane!

Look at how the camera catches the weird props.  Below you can see some Andes mountain lakes and a fresh snowfall.

 As we get close to Ayacucho, you can see the patchwork fields!

 We landed on a high plateau and now we're ready to work!

 The airport was very colorful and welcoming!

 

 A parade was going on near the chapel and can be seen in the picture below.

 The parade went around this nice park.

This home is built right into the mountain side,

This is the main plaza and cathedral for Ayacucho.  The cross and the hanging tower, to the left, are remnants of the Spanish Inquisition!  The city is called "City of Cathedrals"!  There are 36 catholic cathedrals here and most of the people attend church.  

This is our hotel and the best in Ayacucho and is right next to the main plaza!  Look at the Moorish box windows above the entrance!

This is the lobby and many craft displays.

You can see the narrow streets, the Spanish architecture, and how the mountains surround this city.

This is the first clinic/hospital we visited and were impressed by the cleanliness and services offered.  We will encourage the mission to use this clinic.

Steve and Elder Hartvigson, who is the Lima South Health Elder, are asking to meet with the administrator for a tour.

There are many services offered at this clinic!

We enjoyed our visit with the administrator and the tour she gave us.  Below is a great view of the mountains!

This is the entrance to the government clinic, which we do not recommend the missionaries to use.

We love seeing all the motor taxis!

There are lots of hills in Ayacucho!

This is a nice clinic/hospital that we do recommend our missionaries to use.

This was our driver and his sweet daughter.  He is the Elders Quorum President.  Steve was checking out a foot problem she was having!

The traditional hat is black or brown with a cylinder shape top and flat rimmed!

This is the new Stake Center in Ayacucho!

The chapel is almost completed.  The dedication will be in two weeks!

Elder Hartvigson is the Health Elder for the South Mission and Ayacucho was his first area.  Like most of the elders, they all love serving here in this pretty mountain valley.  He was very moved by the growth that has happened here, since he left a year ago.  Then, this space was a very small building and not enough space for the whole Sunday school class to fit.  He and his companian had to stand outside the window to listen to the lesson.  He became very emotional, when he saw this beautiful new Stake Center and that he and the other missionaries helped in it's creation!

These hermanas were sitting across from the church!