You would think that only excitement would surface when you get an unexpected opportunity to return to the area of your mission. In my case, surprisingly, one of the first emotions if felt was fear.

Yes, I worry about my ability to speak and understand the language after 25 years; but I do not fear it.

As a person terrified of flying, I worried about how I would react to two days of flight time but, amazingly, I do not fear it.

I worried about the rural location where we will be going to—wondering if terrorists would be a problem like they were 25 years ago; but I do not fear the area.

I worried about protecting those in my group from pickpockets and other petty criminals; but, again, I do not fear criminals.

My biggest concern struck me as unusual.

I voiced my fear to my husband. “What if, when I return, I find that some of the members I knew and loved are no longer active? Worse, what if I find out some of them have apostatized?”

I did not fear the language, airplanes, terrorists or crime. My biggest fear was to discover a weakening in someone’s testimony. How I understood Alma when he was reunited with the sons of Mosiah after years of separation. “Therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth” (Alma 17:2).

My husband, who is blessed with the ‘gift of tongues’, the ability to say the right thing at the right time, responded that I should not fear seeing any who are inactive. Instead, I should realize that my going down there and seeing them again may be exactly what they need to return. I may be blessed to share my testimony with them again.

So I have been pleading with the Lord that He will loose my tongue and fill my soul with His Spirit that I can, once again, share the gospel with those I come in contact with—be they old friends or new.

OUR GROUP GOALS:
The village we will be going to is one of the oldest in the Andean area, established shortly after the Inca Empire nearly 400 years ago. They are a small rural, agricultural community of only about 50 people. They have no electricity, no toilets, no heat. They sleep on adobe beds–raised mud platforms–with sheep skins for padding and blankets. They raise a few meager crops and some lean range cattle for their income.

While there we will be constructing a fence around their crops and, if time permits, an irrigation system. I am in contact with an LDS member in Peru who is helping us make necessary arrangements. He commented to me on the cycle of poverty they experience. The cattle are dual-purpose. They are raised for meat and milk but the people are too poor to improve their small herd and the cattle do not produce enough meat and milk to allow them enough financial profit to purchase new animals for herd improvement. This keeps them locked into economic difficulty. If they could improve their herd, over time they could improve their economic situation.

I have been contacting ranchers, agricultural associations and semen salesmen in an effort to see about bringing in some Brown Swiss bull semen for A.I. of five to six cows. (My Peruvian contact tells me Brown Swiss cross well with the native breeds and do well at that altitude.)

Since then I have been trying to track down shipping/importing regulations for Peru and I keep getting negative responses from international salesmen. “It’s not worth the effort,” they tell me for so few doses. Most shipping is done in lots of 300 or more.

So, to my readers, I am asking if any of you have a Brown Swiss operation that uses A.I. and would you be willing to donate five or six straws of semen?

Do any of you know the shipping regulations for Peru and how I can expedite the paperwork?

While five or six calves may not seem worth the effort to a large American cattle operation, it may be all the difference in the world to a tiny, impoverished group of people high in the Andes Mountains.

If you have any knowledge that may be able to assist me, or if you know of someone I can contact, please e-mail me through this site. Thank you so much.