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| Maralea waited a long time for this!!!! |
We arrived at the center of Chachapoyas and parked the car. Hermano Hernandez got in touch with David and advised of our location. David and his companion made their way to meet us. I needed to make a quick run to the banjos. Maralea warned: “Can’t you wait? You know you are going to miss him.” I figured as much, but an amigo’s gotta do what an amigo’s gotta do. Hermano Ramirez and I exited the establishment and I looked across the street to see Maralea standing by the car with Jorge. She was looking our way with a huge (and I do mean HUGE) smile on her face. Now, Maralea had been suffering with me all day in the back seat of the 1980 something Toyota Corolla and I knew she was not smiling just because she missed me. Something was up. As we turned left and walked on the sidewalk across the street from our vehicle, I saw David and his companion trying to be inconspicuous, about 10 feet in front of us to the left, just inside a store. We embraced immediately. THAT was one memorable hug. David’s companion, Elder Elias introduced himself in very broken English. He is from Guatemala, two months out in the mission field, and speaks only Spanish. David looked great! Elder Elias said of David: “He is my father.” (New missionaries in the field often refer to their first companions, who serve as their trainer, as their father.) David accompanied us to our hotel to check our bags. It turned out that when we did not show up by oh say 3:00 p.m., they rented the room to someone else. The owner of the establishment immediately solved the problem, finding us a room at a hotel just down the street. We also got a room for our drivers - costing a combined total of about 110 soles ($35.00). We dropped off our bags and I finally got to change out of my shorts into some long pants and a long sleeved shirt. David and Elder Elias then escorted us to the church for the branch activity.
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| We were all smiles in Chacha! |
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David was hiding in the store behind where we are standing to surprise me . . .
but I caught him first!
From left: Hermano Ramirez, Mike (me), David aka Elder Royal, Maralea and Elder Elias |
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| Maralea is NOT LETTING GO this time! |
The Chachapoyas branch is a rather humble structure found near the center of downtown Chachapoyas. There are two sets of missionaries serving here. We entered the building to an area of about 20x20 that served as a cultural hall. The missionaries had set up the area with streamers and balloons for a little party. David had mentioned that the missionaries serve as the virtual activities committee for the branch. There was a group of about 20 present, with a mixture of some very cute young children, a few older youth, some young adults, and some of the more mature category (like us). The elders had planned for some party games, one which actually included throwing water in the face of a person sitting in a circle if they, for example, correctly guest the name of a land animal written on a list by the elders. And it did not matter if it was a child or an adult - if you guessed correctly, you got wet. We played other games like Gato y Raton (Cat and Mouse) one person in a circle takes a tie (the mouse) and wraps it around their neck twice, followed by two claps, then passes it to the next person. Meanwhile, another tie is started about six people back preceding the first tie (the cat) where the person wraps the tie around the neck with one loop, claps twice when completed, and passes it along in the same direction. The idea is to keep the mouse tie ahead of the cat tie. As the cat tie would catch up, everyone in the room would begin screaming with excitement and anticipation. I got quite the applause when I ended up the one eaten by the cat during one round. It was really fun. After some other games, the missionaries put on a skit that I recognized from one of the Boy Scout camps David attended, all done in Spanish (of course), and involved an investigator (one of three present for the evening) who David and Elder Elias were teaching. (I actually digitally recorded that.) David sang a duet with Elder Elias (“I Heard Him Come’), with David accompanying on the guitar. It was just unbelievable to be sitting there in that small setting, in a very far away place, in a room filled by people who clearly so loved our son. David choked back tears as he sang.
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| David and the missionaries were the life of the party in the Chachapoyas Branch Saturday night |
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| A little demonstration provided here before the first game was played. |
At the conclusion of the evening, Hermana Luz Marina, David’s pensionistta, presented him with a poster she made expressing her family’s love for Elder Royal. We took some pictures of the group with the poster, said our goodbyes, then stayed behind with David to help clean up.
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| Hermana Luz Marina with Elder Elias on the left and David the right |
David stayed with us in our hotel room. He had been ill for several days, so it was nice that he had his mother to help him. We went for a late dinner at a pizza place in Chachapoyas where we ordered . . . lasagna. (We just ordered what David ordered.) It was so cheesy and good! Neither David nor Maralea could finish their dinner, so I got a lot more than I bargained for. Loved it! We washed it down with some kind of fruity drink concoction that was awesome. We got to play some catch up during the 45 or so minutes we had over dinner. That was really fun. It was interesting walking the streets of Chachapoyas in the evening with David. He knew his way around and in every way walked, talked and acted like one of the locals. When we needed something, we would ask David about the cost, give him the money, put the deal making in his hands, and would be on our way. We spent the first 19 years of David’s life showing him the way, leading him, teaching him, making decisions for him or at least gently leading him to choose the right. But at this time, David was the leader. We were so grateful to have him with us, and felt such confidence in him and his ability to lead and guide us through Peru. We made our way past a drunk hanging just outside the hotel door, which was locked and required us to knock for the innkeeper to let us in. He did, and then had to fight off the older intoxicated gentleman. We just made our way into our room, and crashed. It was really good to see a bed, even though it was one of the strangest rooms we have stayed in. David forgot to bring anything with him from his apartment, but he was fine just putting his head on a pillow. He was so fatigued. It was our first time seeing a bed in nearly two days. We knelt down to pray with David for the first time since he left on his mission, prayed, then put our hands in the middle as we have for David’s entire life, and said: “Go Royal als! Go forth to serve well. Return with honor!” David got a little smile on his face and said: “Oh yeah. I remember doing that. I really kinda missed it.” We went to sleep after one of the most grueling stretch of traveling hours we have ever spent: 11 hours to Lima, followed by the five hour layover, the one hour flight to Chiclayo, and then the . . . (ahem) . . . 10 hour drive in the back seat of a Toyota that was in dire need of a new set of shocks. But, our evening with the saints of Chachapoyas on Saturday evening was absolutely priceless. It was worth every sole, every bump in the road, every headache, backache, neck ache, stomachache and/or toothache. We had found our son in the other side of the world - and he was happy, loved and doing well. You just cannot put a price on that. It was worth it all, and much, much more!
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| The Chacha party Saturday night was rockin´! |
Below is the video to David´s reunion with Maralea in Chachapoyas, shot by Elder Elias.
Below is a short video clip of the opening hymn sung by the Chachapoyas Branch to begin the Saturday evening party.
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