Suggested Clothing
When you look up the weather in Arequipa on the internet, it seems like it is perfect here. It usually is, if you like 70 degrees and sunny! However, the altitude of the mission fluctuates from sea level to well over 15,000 ft or 4500 meters, therefore the temperature fluctuates too! The missionaries can get very hot on the coast during the summers and those assigned to the mountains can see temperatures below freezing - even on the same day. It is important that you follow the packet of information given to you with your call, but you probably want to add a coat (like a light weight puffy jacket) and 3-4 sweaters for layering. The evenings are cool and there is no central heat or AC in the buildings. It rains a lot during the rainy season (June - August), so you may want an umbrella, rain jacket, and rain boots.
The most important thing is to have well-fitting shoes with lots of support. We care more about durability and comfort over styles. Our missionaries have a lot of foot problems and their shoes are usually to blame. Please keep this in mind. Also, gringos have a hard time finding their larger sizes here, so plan accordingly. Hermanas only need one pair of nice dress shoes for Sundays, and they may want 3-4 pairs of comfortable shoes for the rest of the week.
Hermana’s are allowed to wear dress pants during their regular days and may prefer them to protect them from cold, insect bites, or the sun. Dresses are required for Sunday meetings, zone conferences and leadership conferences.
The sun is very intense here because of our high altitudes (Arequipa is 8,000 ft) and sunny weather. So plan to buy a wide brim hat once you get here. Another problem is that many of the suits the Elders bring from the United States become very sun bleached. The notoriously worst suit is a blue one that is obviously purchased from one of the stores that cater especially to missionaries because there are so many of them in the mission on the Americans. These suits always fade out. The first picture below is the suit on the first day in the mission. The second is the brand tag on the inside of the coat, and the last two pictures are the examples of how bad they look after some months in the field. I recommend that if you want a suit that lasts, stay away from this one.
Peru is hard on luggage because of the dirt roads and the lack of sidewalks, so if you want it to last your mission, bring something durable.
You may want to bring a conservative colored backpack rather than a shoulder bag. Most of our missionaries (including the hermanas) prefer them because it is easier on their backs and it just makes sense in our mission.
Lastly, elders often like to trade ties so they may want to pack a few extra less expensive ties for this missionary tradition.
