When my husband and I served our missions as young adults in Guatemala and Uruguay, we noticed that there were not many active families. We prayed for families to teach, and we taught about the importance of families to our Heavenly Father and His Plan. But there weren’t many examples to point to. Now that we are a family, we can be one of those families! This is something young missionaries and senior couples can’t do.

We’ve got a while left before we can be senior missionaries, but we already have years of all sorts of callings under our belts. The first time we lived in Cajamarca, Peru, we found our small ward very eager for what experience we could offer. We also found ward members eager to offer us friendship, camaraderie, and support. We were grateful to feel cared for and inspired by them, as well as needed.

The need seemed so great, that after we came home, we planned to return, and to stay longer and do better. Our first priority is to do whatever the Church asks of us. So far, this has been to go ahead with our plan. We will return to the Cajamarca Stake, Baños del Inca Ward in Peru. Before we go, we will be in touch with local leadership and the mission president. While we are there, we would like to establish a place of residence that can be maintained so that when we leave, another family can take our place. And another family after them. After a few more years, with several families taking turns, we would like to return again to continue to build the kingdom in that corner.

While living in the Baños del Inca Ward, there are several ways we hope to be of service. Primarily, we will participate in the ward as an active family. My husband will continue to work full time online and our children will homeschool (attending a local school would also be an awesome experience, but they are not willing to do so at this point, and there is the issue of the school year in Peru being from March to December). This way we can also fill a unique role for missionaries by doing our best to be an example of living the gospel during “normal” life, rather than just on a full time mission.

If Church leadership supports the idea, we could also strengthen branches that are further from the city, such as Celendín, by visiting or even establishing our Family Mission Home there. We would like to contribute to humanitarian projects, such as the current efforts of Eagle Condor Humanitarian in the small town of Jesús. I am interested in promoting education and literacy, particularly teaching mothers to read to their small children, and I hope to find ways to support this cause. We would love to serve with the Church’s Pathway and self-reliance programs, provide Leader and Member support, or whatever is needed.

We want to gather Israel on both sides of the veil. Supporting the full time missionaries and looking for opportunities to share the gospel would be a part of our mission. We would love to help families and individuals prepare to go to the temple and do their own family history work. We dream of making the seven hour bus trip with members from the Cajamarca area, down the Andes, to the new Trujillo Temple near the coast, to spend a few days with them doing temple work for themselves and their ancestors.

The first time we served in Peru, we did it with the help of Eagle Condor Humanitarian. Even though we had both served missions in South America, we felt we needed someone to “show us the way”–where to live, how to get around, who to turn to when needs arose. Now that we know the answers to those questions, we would love to serve again and also help other families in their desire to serve. After we have our Family Mission Home established and have finished our mission, would you like to follow us? Following families would help avoid a vacuum of support when the previous family leaves and also allow for an investment in equipping a home, making such a service opportunity viable and more comfortable for the families who come after.

As you ponder this possibility, visit the other pages on this site, particularly Pro’s and Con’s and  How?,  and contact us if you would like more information.