Four Boys and a Girl: December 2024

In August, I was assigned to go to Peru and Ecuador for 11 days for the Church News.

I flew into Lima and thought a lot about my parents flying all those little kids to that same airport in the 1980s, handling passports and visas and luggage. I only fly with a carry-on for any of my 11-day assignments, so at least I didn't have to deal with too much (Our staff has that rule because on one trip, luggage got lost, and never caught up to the people because we move through countries and cities so fast).

From Lima, we flew up to Huancayo, Peru, where the altitude was rough -- like, I took one flight of stairs at the hotel and my heart was thudding so fast. But the market and the streets were full of things to see.

I also had my first Ceviche at the hotel and fell in love. It's a lemony fish dish with avocados. I had it in every city on the trip and it was different in each place and delicious in each place.

One of the meetings was with the missionaries, which I really love, because of having my own missionary and because they are just so full of life and faith.

Another meeting was with members of all ages and the kids get all dressed in their fanciest dresses.

We flew in and out of Jauja (pronounced How'-ha), an hour or so from Huancayo (pronounced Juan-ki'-yo), which was a teeny airport where the tarmac was right by the parking lot. You could be in your seat on the plane and remotely lock your car if needed.

This is the media group -- left to right, Cristofer, from the South America Northwest Area communications office, Josh runs social media, Isaac is a videographer, Leslie the photographer, Doug in public relations, Dale from public relations/Newsroom, and me from Church News.

Here is my article from the three days in Huancayo: https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2024/08/26/huancayo-peru-elder-david-a-bednar-ministry-message-of-faith-repentance/

For a look at how busy the weekend was, here is the social media post: https://www.instagram.com/p/C_lA9StOVqV/

Then we were in Lima for a day and a night.

At a spot by the hotel for dinner, I tried my Spanish and asked the man what something on the menu was. I thought he said, "The chicken is inside," so I thought that meant a wrap. No, he was saying, "The inside of the chicken." These are chicken hearts. Which, thankfully, I loved. Also Inca Cola is quite sweet soda.

This is a picture Doug took of the media crew working on deadline the next day.

Here is my story from Lima: https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2024/08/29/elder-david-a-bednar-discipleship-el-roble-foundation-seminario-sudamericano-lima-peru/

Then we flew to Cusco. This was an even higher elevation than Huancayo, and I would walk a block and be short of breath and have a headache. The hotel had altitude sickness pills that I took that helped a little. I thought a lot about Max, just one country east of me with a high elevation and similar cultures and traditional clothing. I felt like I was getting a tiny taste of what he had experienced when he first got to Bolivia.

The media crew at the Cusco airport.

We went right to a chapel after landing for a meeting with missionaries.

The drive to the hotel in Urubamba was long and windy, going up and down mountains. I got carsick and we stopped to let me out for some fresh air and for the others to take in the view. But then, at the hotel, there was this llama! Or alpaca? They tried to tell me the difference. One of them only lives at really high elevations.

The devotional that night was beautiful -- it is a small chapel but overflowed with people in every room.

Here is my story from Cusco/Urubamba: https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2024/08/30/elder-david-a-bednar-cusco-urubamba-peru-devotional-missionaries-strength-through-covenants/

Early early the next morning, we on the media team went to Machu Picchu. We knew we would have the morning off, so we got tickets ahead of time -- the place has so many tourists that you have to book one of three circuits well in advance, and book the train ticket and the bus ticket. The train ride was an hour or two. Dale and I were assigned seats next to each other and Leslie took this photo of Dale commenting on the hotel's orange juice.

This is Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of the mountain where Machu Picchu is located. This is where you catch your assigned bus to the top. The busses pass each other on the windy narrow road and you just close your eyes.

Here we are in the lower part of Machu Picchu.

The whole time I wished JB was with me. He would have loved it. He probably would have hiked to the top and been just fine. I also thought of my parents touring there in the 1980s with my baby brother Peter in a backpack.

When we were back waiting for the train again, I wandered this market.

Here's my tired hotel picture as we then traveled to our next stop, Guayaquil, Ecuador. I always fly in dresses because I'm either coming from a church meeting or going to one as soon as I land.

I took pictures of the steps on and off the planes to show my children.

Guayaquil was beautiful! This is the view from my hotel window of the temple at night.

This is goat in gravy for room service while working. I got some heartburn trouble from this, or from the empanada from a stand at the Cusco airport, not going to lie. I usually am a little more careful when eating on trips!

The Guayaquil missionaries and members were extraordinary. But I did not go wandering outside the hotel -- for one, I did not have time, and secondly, they told me it wasn't safe for me to do so. All four missions in Guayaquil met together and sang "Called to Serve" and I almost cried, it was so powerful.

I took this picture outside the chapel on Saturday, Aug. 30, to show I was wearing blue for BYU's first football game.

Here is my article from Ecuador: https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2024/09/01/elder-david-a-bednar-guayaquil-ecuador-joy-in-the-gospel/

After I got back, I had to write about my miracle of finding this missionary at random (out of 700+ missionaries in the meeting) who knew Max. He was serving at the time in her home ward in Bolivia. Here's where I wrote about that: https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2024/09/14/mary-richards-seeing-miracles-in-how-heavenly-father-works-one-by-one/

Now on to Wyoming! Thanks for still reading...

My next travel assignment was at the end of November to cover the dedication of the Casper Wyoming Temple. It was super windy when we got there Friday and again on Saturday. Then on Sunday, it snowed.

I was with my coworker Kaitlyn to train her on covering a temple dedication by herself, and our photographer Scott.

On Saturday, we went to some spots where the Pioneers had been, to see if we could get any pictures for our coverage. This is the Platte River, where Brigham Young directed the building of a ferry to get more wagons across.