Lima, Peru- solita!

So, I had a day in Peru before Savannah arrived- just enough time to explore a little and go to the Lima, Peru temple!


Pathway to the beach.


So green! So pretty!


The path I took to get to the beach. It was a little steep on the way back up...


The ocean! Such high waves!


And of course, the surfers! They were really quite amazing!


The skyline in Miraflores (the area in Lima I was staying at). Lima was SO cloudy! I was told that it's only sunny in Lima in the summer...


Then on to the temple! It looked a bit like the Las Vegas, NV temple.


Moroni!

My new little friend and I outside the temple. I asked his mother to take a picture of me in front of the picture. He was super shy, but he had his mom ask if I would take a picture of just him in front of the temple and then take one with him. So cute!

On another fun note, everyone at the temple thought I was crazy walking around not wearing a coat (note: I'm holding my coat. It was misting, but only 75 degrees! Totally not cold enough for a jacket :o) Also, a lot of people stopped me to make sure I had a safe taxi (I got that the mission home uses) and a place to stay (I was at a safe hostel in Miraflores. Note, I did not say nice, but safe. It was definitely run by males... and a little stinky... but the workers and the other patrons were super kind and helpful. Never felt not safe. :o)

For me, Lima was a very different experience. It was a HUGE, strange city with lots of dangers. I've been to large cities before, but none with the great safety risks of being an American (thank you Taken for putting such fears into my heart... :o). It took a lot of courage for me to go around Lima by myself, even with the precautions I took to be safe. I prayed a lot, took a lot of deep breaths, and kept moving forward. It was only 24 hours by myself, but I changed a lot during that time. Sometimes I wish I was braver, but it's good to know I can keep moving even when the fear threatens to overcome my faith.