Royal Family Times: Sunday in Chachapoyas (July 18, 2010)

Maralea and David on the streets of Chachapoyas

Maralea and I woke up Sunday morning in plenty of time to get ready for church. The shower in our bathroom was an American personal injury lawyer’s dream: slick tile flooring that was more slippery than ice when wet (tile and water just really do not mix well). No bath mats. Nada. I was not focused on the safety hazard initially and nearly ended up with a couple of broken hips. (Oh, speaking of potential lawsuits, we did witness a rear end accident just outside our hotel. I am surprised we have not seen more similar vehicular collisions.) David seemed to have had a rather rough night, with coughing, tossing and turning, so we let him sleep. We had been dressed a while, and David was moving slowly. He had a bit of fever. We gave him some things and suggested he drink plenty of filtered water. David was not ready at 8:50 a.m. and Maralea said in a panic: “David, church starts in ten minutes. We’ve got to hurry.” David said: “No Mom, believe me, no one will be there in ten minutes. It won’t start for another thirty or so minutes. I promise.” We hurried anyway, arriving by 9:00 a.m., and David was right. The place was almost empty. We met the branch president and a counselor. Elder Elias and I took David upstairs and I got to give him a blessing. That was just such a precious moment. I felt so much love for our son as we placed our hands on his head and spoke the words in my heart. Elder Elias did not understand much English, but he certainly felt what I had spoken. Maralea was sitting by in tears. It was one of many sweet memories to follow. The sacrament service began at about 9:25 a.m., with an opening song (without musical accompaniment as there was no piano or like instrument), and the missionaries administered the sacrament. Maralea had and I had been rather freaked out about drinking the local water, drinking only from sealed containers or through a filter. As the water came to us, it dawned on me that it was neither filtered or from a bottle. It was from the tap. I whispered to Maralea: “Do you think it’s okay to drink that?” She said: “It’s blessed. I think we’ll be okay.” I looked up at David and mouthed the words: “Is this okay to drink?” He gave a nod of his head, and so we took our little leap of faith. There was a youth talk given by the young sister who served as chorister for every event. She was followed by one of the brothers in the ward. One of the missionaries, then David, then the branch president. I had asked David to translate during the service, but his throat hurt and I did not want to make him speak more than he had to.

Maralea and Hermana Luz Marina who wrote her a special message in ENGLISH

Outside the chapel in Chachapoyas with Elder Elias and David fka Elder Royal

We were mentioned by many of the speakers, as I picked up words like “padres” followed by the small congregation of about 20 turn their heads in our direction while smiling. We went with David to the Gospel Principles class, taught by Elder Elias. David sat with us in the back row. He was still not feeling well, and was dozing. Maralea and I were fighting sleep as well. We were all pretty tired. Since David was not up to translating, we sat through the class taught by Elder Elias without understanding much - other than it was on the subject of repentance. I have to say that I was so impressed with Elder Elias’ self confidence and his ability to speak to people. He is really seasoned for a missionary out only two months. During priesthood meeting, David was more up to some minor translation. The meeting was held in the branch president’s office, young and old men. The leaders praised David for serving a mission, being dedicated to their branch, and thanked me as his father for raising him to become such a great young man. It was quite humbling. I gave the closing prayer in English - without any translation. As we exited the room, I was shaking hands with many, giving hugs, expressing appreciation. We exited into the small cultural hall where the women had Relief Society and there was a big sign that read: “I love you mother” written by Hermana Marina. We took pictures around the impromptu sign. Members of the branch stayed with us long after church for more handshakes and hugs. We took pictures of branch members outside the church and plans were made to gather one last time together at the home of Hermana Marina.

Most members of the Chachapoyas Branch who we caught after church for a picture

We returned to our hotel room to get some more rest. We napped for a while and David called his mission president for some counsel on how to care for himself. Sister Chipman gave David some pointers, and we stopped at the pharmacy to get some things for him. We got our things together, then went to David’s missionary apartment so he could change, finish packing, and get ready to depart Chachapoyas. Hermana Marina made a wonderful dinner. David was unable to eat much, having lost his appetite. He went upstairs to take care of some last minute things while Maralea and I visited with members of the * family, other ward members, and Elder Elias. None of them speak English, but we were able to communicate relatively well. I gave Elder Elias my BYU Alumni pin, but only if he promised to always be a loyal Cougar fan. (David later had to explain that a cougar is like a puma.) Promise made - and another BYU Cougar fan was born! (Elder Elias gave me a flag of Peru in return. Viva Peru!) We went through our cameras showing pictures of our family, including David in his pre-mission state. They all enjoyed that a lot. Once we got all our bags and things together, David took us on a little walk through downtown Chachapoyas to introduce us to some people he was presently teaching. It was nice putting a face to a name, as David had written of these people in his letters home. Hermana Sheyla owns a small store in town and had recently been cutting the missionaries’ hair.

One woman, Hermana Lucero, seemed rather disinterested at speaking with us. We were at her door only briefly, before returning to the home of Hermana Marina, where a number of branch members had been gathering. By the time we returned, the numbers had grown to 20 or so. About 30 minutes later, Hermana Lucero arrived. David looked at me and gave me the thumbs up sign. He was pretty excited about that.

With Hermana Sheyla in her store, where she made David herbal tea to help relieve his cold symptoms

Kiara and Carmen - so cute!

Hermana Luz Marina made another poster welcoming us into her family home

Elder Elias had the group sing a hymn, asked me to give the opening prayer, and then he apparently instructed the group that each was to give a testimony starting with Luz Marina, then each person thereafter in counterclockwise fashion. Luz Marina giggled as she began, put her head down into her arms, and then just broke down in tears as she expressed her love and appreciation to David. We had no idea what she was saying, but only knew that it was all good and beautiful. That was obvious from how we felt, and in David’s reaction, as he cried with her. That same kind of exchange repeated itself with every other person in the room, one by one they would begin sharing their testimony, followed by deep expressions of love and gratitude for David. Per David’s later translation, at my request (because I wanted to ensure we could read it in English and remember it for years to come), he related some of the highlights (a few days later) as follows:

Hermana Luz Marina expressed her love for David, the love of her family, stating he is like a son to her (“I have twenty new sons now with all the missionaries”) and I will really miss you. You have been a great blessing to our home, family and our branch. I love that you are sweet, kind and humble, and that you never complained about eating my food. ;) We wish you could stay, but know you have bigger things to do. We will always remember you.

Hermana Maria (sister to President Grobert, branch president), said: “You have been a great missionary here. We are going to miss you. Thank you for helping me with my English homework.”

Hermana Carmela said: Thank you for your humility, for teaching us and for becoming our friend.

Hermana Madalene (second pension) said: I am glad we were able to know you and to have you eat in my home. You are a very good person, very simple, humble, easy going, humorous, never caused us any problems, and we are very happy about the time we had with you.

A great group of Chachapoyas hermanas who shared their friendship with us before our departure

Hermana Blanca (young choir director) said: We love your sweet personality, your happiness. I will never forget when you and Elder Elias came to our house when it was pouring rain, you were soaking wet, and yet you were both still telling jokes and were so happy. Thank you for visiting here and sharing the gospel with us.

Hermana Julia then said: Thank you for your humility and patience. Sometimes I did not always have your clothes ready on time, which was embarrassing, but you were always kind and patient with me. Thank you for helping us. I will always remember when you and the other Americans did that service project up on the mountain for Hermana Gloriosa when you were shoveling rock and dirt. You all come from a country so well developed, then being willing to come here and work for us is just wonderful. My husband and President Grobert are both going to miss you a lot. They thank you for your work here and wish you the best in everything you do.

Hermana Cecilia, who David taught and baptized, with her daughter Tayra at her side, went from laughing to crying in less than 10 seconds as she expressed her love for David and all he had brought to her family by sharing the gospel. In summary, she said: Well, you know you are someone very special for us. You’ve known me and have seen how I have changed since the first time you taught me. Thank you for always listening to me and helping me. You know what kind of problems I have been going through. Thank you for being patient for listening and helping. We will miss you a lot and will always love you. And don’t get married unless you come back and marry a Peruvian girl!

David and Elder Elias with Cecilia and her two children: Matias and Tayra

Christian (Luz Marina’s 17 year old son) said: Thank you for everything , Elder Royal, especially the music. Thank you for building a friendship with me. It was cool to be able to come home and be able to talk with you. I got used to you being here, so I will miss you a lot. You have become a great friend to me. I am now more determined to serve a mission after seeing what a difference they can make in the lives of others.

David and Christian became very close friends

Elder Caballero (from Lima, Peru) said: I first got to know Elder Royal when I was in the hospital for my tooth and he had to come pay the bills when he was the financial secretary. I have known him for about a year now, but got to know him much better here in Chachapoyas. He has been a great missionary. There are a lot of missionaries that do not work from start to finish, but Elder Royal has been one that we can say has worked hard from start to finish.

Elder Viteri (from Columbia) said: Thank you, Elder Royal, for being a good example to us here in Chachapoyas - especially since I am a new missionary. What an honor it must be and how happy you must feel to have completed your two years as honorably as you did. I know you were always a great missionary.

Leoncio (Luz Marina’s husband) stated: Elder Royal, as I have told you before, you are a great missionary and we are so happy that you have been here with us. We love your sense of humor, your humility, your charisma, and the easy way you make people feel comfortable. Thank you for the love and friendship you have given to my boys. The love we have developed with you as a family will never die. We will miss having you here - and all the noise you make here at the table.

Hermana Lucero (present investigator) stated: Ever since you came to our house the first time you have been a great friend to our family. I thank you for bringing the true word of God into my home. I love this Church, I love the members, even though I haven’t been able to make myself a part of it yet. I have explained to you and other members of the ward my difficulties with that, but I thank you for your patience with us, your dedication to us, and for continuing to teach and love our family.

Elder Elias (David’s companion, from Guatemala): To me, Elder Royal, you will always be three things - and I am going to say this in English so your parents can understand. One: my father; two: my companion; and three: my friend. It has been difficult for me to adapt to the mission, but Elder Royal has been very patient with me. I have learned a lot from him and feel I have improved a lot. On our first day together, after we taught, I asked him for a score on my teaching and it was pretty low. But I asked him again earlier this week and it was higher. He has helped me a lot and we have been able to be very good friends. There might be a few things that we disagreed on, but we got along very well. Thank you, Elder Royal, for being my companion and helping me get started on my mission.

With Hermano Leoncio and his wife Hermana Luz Marina

I took occasion to express our love to everyone, with David translating. (He had offered to translate what everyone else was saying earlier, which I would have loved, but felt it would have perhaps interrupted a great moment for David. We were fine.) Just over two years ago we were sitting in the sealing room of the Las Vegas Temple, sharing the room with a woman (among others) who was from Peru. When she learned David had been called to serve in Peru she looked at him with loving eyes and said: “In Peru, we see all the missionaries as angels.” Sunday night in a small room of a humble abode of Luz Marina, I found that to be very true. David had been an angel to these people. He had obviously served well, loved them, and they loved him in return. And they were angels to us in ministering to and loving our son. The moment was so beautiful and wonderful that I did not want it to end. However, we had a bus to catch and we did not want to take a chance that the one thing on time in Chachapoyas is the bus. We had 15 minutes to exchange gifts. Actually, we had a limited number of gifts and were not expecting such a crowd. David I think had hoped for a more intimate, quite moment with Luz Marina and her family at the very end, but just instructed Maralea: “Just make sure everyone gets something.” I ran with the other missionaries to get the luggage downstairs, while David went to hail a taxi, leaving Maralea to deal with all the gift exchanging. We got a taxi, somehow crammed all our stuff in (well, except one bag they threw on top which was held in place only by my left arm). We left in such a hurry that I panicked that we have left something. (I had already left my passport at a gate in the Lima airport, and a taxi cab in Chachapoyas - each time recovered - so I knew it was only a matter of time before disaster actually struck.) We drove past the home of Luz Marina with everyone standing outside waving goodbye, then raced for the bus station. We had just exited the taxi cab when Hermana Cecilia came up and said: “Vamanos” and instructed us in Spanish with hand motions to get to the other side of the bus. We raced over with all our bags, got them on board, then I noticed that not only was everyone present at the preceding gathering at Luz Marina’s home, but others who were at church earlier or who where not at church but who were at the party Saturday night. Everyone was there. We went through all the hugging again, all the goodbyes, etc. I was so taken in by it all that I did not notice that the bus was starting to drive away. I raced to the front of the bus and began banging on the door. The driver stopped (whew) and the three of us were the last ones on the bus. As we settled in quickly, our Chachapoyas friends remained outside waving, some banging on the windows to get our attention. As we drove up the street, they had lined up along the sidewalk, waving at us. It was just so much to take in. What great people! How they loved our son!! And how close we felt to them after being among them for a mere 24 hours, while rendered unable to communicate with them. There is in the gospel but one language: Love. And that message was easily and freely communicated during this trip. I had jokingly written on one of David’s pictures in his last email sent home: “Don’t Cry For Me Chachapoyas.” Well, we will be crying for Chachapoyas - missing the wonderful people we left behind. Truly, to have taken in all that in the short time we were there, as the parents of Elder Royal, being treated like royalty just because he was our son, well you just cannot begin to put a price tag on that. Our trip could have ended there, and I would have felt it was all worth it - at any cost. We love Chachapoyas, even though we were there only a day. As we sat on the bus in a quiet moment, driving away in the darkness, I told David I never had an experience quite like that as a missionary. That was very, very sweet - a moment he will treasure for eternity. So will we.