As we sit in here on a Mission in Quito, Ecuador, our daughter tried to get us to do this a time back. Our friends Steve and Marian Shipley recently received a call to Ghana, Africa. Steve will be the Executive Secretary to the Area Presidency. They will do a wonderful job. Marion had started a blog, and it is such fun to read, we decided to give it a try. I am not the writer my husband is, but I will do my best. Their experience in the MTC brought back some wonderful and common memories. We also met some wonderful new friends who are serving in Brazil, Samoa, Peru, Columbia and many other places in our wonderful world. The Church needs more Senior Missionaries (I use this reluctantly) to help the Church move forward. There are so many diverse assignments to be had.Our assignment here is with the Perpetual Education Fund. We have been given (at this time) almost 300 students. Our primary concern is here is Quito and several outlying areas as well. We also have another couple in small city (Riobamba) which is south of us. They did not have enough to do in their original assignment (Family History) so we recruited them. They love it! They do both assignments each day, and are happy being busy.During the past 7 months we have accomplished quite a bit, I think. We are extremely organized, and thus it is much easier to get more done. We also are very blessed to have a dear friend, Patricio, serve with us as a Service Missionary. We met and worked with Patricio during our last mission here in 2000. Recently he lost his job, fortuitous for us, not for his family. With much assistance, from wonderful friends, we have been able to help he and his family a little. He makes our phone calls to our students who are delinquent in their repayments to the Fund. Each student, while they are in school, pay just $4.00 each month. After they graduate, the payment goes up, it depends on how much they borrow as to how much the payment is. He is wonderful, he knows so many people in the Church here, he is a great resource.Up to this time our health has been good, little things now and them, but right now ElderWhitaker has been a little under the weather for a few days with a chest cold, so he has had some additional home time, as per the Mission nurse, Sister Wallace, and he does not like it.I will do a better job of updating this weekly so we can all keep in touch.