With the widespread flooding and utter destruction taking place in Peru these past 8 days, I didn't expect to hear from Elder Scott this week, but miraculously not only did we hear from him via email, but we also go to hear his voice for a few minutes when he was given the opportunity to make a quick call home to let us know he was safe and doing well. What a miracle that cell towers and internet came back on just in time for us to hear from him during his normal p-day time, especially in the midst of very troubling circumstances. As of Sunday at least 115,000 homes were estimated to be destroyed, over 100 bridges washed out, and at least 72 people died as a result of the flooding and mudslides that resulted from the unexpected rains.
Here are a few excerpts from the journal entries Elder Scott sent home this week:
(Tuesday) "Moche
is currently flooding, like we’re having Florida intense rain. Trujillo
is basically in a state-of-emergency. It’s a problem here when there’s some slight
sprinkles, this though is devastating to people. People here don’t necessarily
have roofs or watertight walls and doors by any means. I made sure to go out and play
in the rain for a bit though, haha. Our dueña (landlady) freaked out when she
saw me and forced me to go back inside. It was fun while it lasted though, lol.
We currently have no lights which means no fun in our very hot garage, but
other people are having it a heck of a lot worse right now so I’ll live
with it, no complaints."
(Wednesday) "I’m
absolutely exhausted. We did service from 10:30 am up until 7:45 pm. It was
super awesome, but now I’m beyond tired to say the least. Last night’s
rain was absolutely devastating for so many people. Lots of homes filled with
water because it’s incredibly rare to even get light sprinkles, let alone an actual
heavy rain. They just weren’t prepared for it and it hit families hard. So we
worked all day doing service to help members and investigators."
(Friday) "We
got to go into Trujillo 2 different times. Everyone looked like they were
prepping for a hurricane. There were sandbags and sand piles just everywhere.
Trujillo has been having super bad problems with an overflowing river that wreaks
havoc on the center. The Plaza de Armas
is currently a pool. The Moche River overflowed Tuesday night, too, but that’s in
the farthest part of our area so thankfully it didn’t affect us."
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Trujillo Peru
Image by Reuters/Douglas |
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| Celsan/Roldan AFP images |
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Historic Center of Trujillo.
Photo courtesy of Celso Roldan: AFP/Getty Images |
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Collapse of the Viru Bridge
Photo courtesy of Celso Roldan: AFP/Getty Images |
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Huachipa District outside of Lima
Photo image by Ernesto Benavides: AFP/Getty Images |
(Sunday) "A
lot of houses have had the roofs leak, streets have had large puddles and buildings made out of mud bricks with mud mortar have fallen down so it’s bad, but there’s
so much worse going on in every other part of our mission. Viru, Casma,
Chimbote, everywhere, especially Trujillo. They have like rivers going in the
street and floods up the 1st floor. It’s horrible. The bridge to
Viru already broke. Literally no road to go south. The missionaries in Chao are
stuck in Choa. There’s no way to get them out. And now people are super worried
that the Moche Bridge is gonna go, too. It’s apparently severely injured after
all this rain.
People are also super worried that the
Moche River is gonna overflow and flood us like Trujillo and a bunch of other
areas have been this week by the other rivers. So we’ve been having to stay
with the Elder’s out of Moche 2 since they live on the 3rd floor and
we live on the 1st. Hence, why we weren’t in our beds last night and
tonight, too. But nonetheless, Moche is by far the best area to be in by far.
Nothing major has happened. They don’t put drains in the streets here and none
of the houses are built for rain because it never rains at all here. It’s super
rare to even get little sprinkles so the events this week have been absolutely devastating
to the areas of our mission.
Families have lost everything. Lots of prayers are
needed right now, not just for Trujillo, but for all of Perú because the
problems are widespread. It’s so sad."
Throughout all this, Elder Scott's love for the Peruvian people has grown even greater than before. His dad wrote him a question followed by a statement, "How much do you love the people of Peru?
We love them and we have not set a step on the country. I love them so much, that watching some of the videos I have seen makes me just weep. People's lives have totally changed the past couple of weeks. I pray the rains end, but I also hope this forever engraved a place in your heart and makes a difference in your life as Korea did mine.
One other thing that brings joy. Serving the Lord in the place you were called. For you it is Perú. For me it is Korea. The love and joy you feel for the people and the country is as strong as the gospel is true."
Elder Scott responded with the following, "I love them a lot! Especially after doing service and just going around to homes this week and feeling the love and care they have. Yes, they're preoccupied and worried about things. Rain never happens. Ever. So the events in the past week have honestly been catastrophic for families. All Moche has had is rain and some flooded streets basically. There's been so much worse in Trujillo. But, just in this lluvia (rain) alone, people have lost so many things. Walls have fallen down, houses are flooded with water, so many different things. It's sad, but none-the-less, they still look out and love each other and serve one another. Movistar (a huge cellphone company) last night changed the name of where it normally says their network name on cellphones to #UnaSolaFuerza (#ASingleForce) and honestly it's true. Peruvians look out for one another and it's so cool. It's incredibly sad to see everything going on, but it's amazing to see their strength. I love them so much."
I'm so grateful Elder Scott is in Perú, that he is willing and able to serve in whatever capacity is required, and that his love for our Savior and Heavenly Father continue to lead him in ways that help him grow and change so he can become more like them every day.
As you can see from the photos above, the residents of Perú continue to need our prayers and support. Thank you to all who continue to lend a hand in any way they can.
