Elder Adril Garcia Perez

Elder Adril Garcia Perez

One of the dearest children at the Sunflower (but they are ALL dear!) is Adril.  Each of those children have a special place in my heart, but Adril and his cousin Wilfredo, well, they have their own room.  Everytime I would go to visit them, Adril would remind me that he wanted to come to the US to live with me and go to school and that he wanted to go on a mission for our church. 

Tony and I tried to bring him here, but we were obviously unsuccessful.  So we turned our efforts to helping him serve an LDS mission.  It took several years and just as many miracles, but he is now Elder Adril Garcia Perez, a missionary in the Lima West Mission.  There are so many people who have helped us with this process and monetarily.  We are definitely not the only ones who have helped him.  I would love to call him "my missionary" like any other missionary mother out there, but I am well aware that he is not mine.

But can I just say that he does call me mama?  Now, there are several women who volunteer at the Sunflower who are Mama to the kids, but everytime he calls me mama, it absolutely melts my heart.  And the best part of it is he called us on Mother's Day.  We spent about an hour on Skype and it felt like I was talking to my own son.  I am so incredibly proud of him.  He has overcome so many obstacles and has had to fight tooth and nail to be the person he is today and to be serving a mission.

Let me back up just a bit...there is another boy from the Sunflower, Hilario, who came to the US as well and is living with a family that is just about 2 miles from us.  How amazing is that.  He hasn't been here very long and we hadn't been able to see him yet.  So Hilario came over to our house so he could talk to Adril.  BUT, Adril didn't know he would be here.  The video wasn't working when we first started the call so I had Hilario just say a few words without identifying himself.  Adril paused for a few seconds and then he yelled "HILARIO!" with such excitement and happiness in his voice.  It truly was priceless. 

So back to Adril, he is SO happy as a missionary.  He has a companion from Ogden - I failed to get his name (shame on me especially since that good Elder translated my terrible Spanish for Adril).  He feels so grateful to all the people who have helped him over the years.

He told me about how his Papi Leonidas saw him off at the airport when he left for his mission.  He told me how Leonidas told him he was proud of him and how much he loved him.  That really meant a lot to him.  Papi Leonidas and Mami Eunice take care of the kids at the Sunflower and they are truly wonderful people.

He specifically asked me to thank Dr. Gary Chambers who is the doctor who operated on Adril's feet several years ago.  Adril was born with 6 toes on each foot and Dr. Chambers removed the extra toes.  Adril asked me to tell Dr. Chambers that if it weren't for him, he would still have to buy shoes that were much too large for his feet to make room for that extra toe.  As a missionary, with all the traveling on foot, he was sure it would have been a problem.

Adril in his wheelbarrow after his foot surgery in December 2007.

So to each and every one of you who have helped Adril over the years, thank you from Adril.  When I asked him if he needed anything, he replied "letters!" (and a backpack and a watch).  But if we take care of the backpack and watch, will you write him a letter?  His maill address is:  adril.garcia@myldsmail.net and his mailing address is (hint, hint, EVERY missionary LOVES getting mail!):

Elder Adril Garcia Perez
Mision Peru - Lima Oeste
carlos salarerry #3664-los olivos
casilla de correo 39-054
lima 39
perú