This Is Not Typical Weather, But It Is Ours Now

This is our weather lately, It is about 3:30 in the afternoon and as you can see, the clouds are rolling in over the mountains from the east. There is a valley on the other side of these mountains. We are also in a valley. Usually, by about 6 p.m. we are totally in the clouds, it is white all around us. Lately it has been very nice during the daytime, but in the late afternoon and night it is raining. Dang, it is the end of June already. Where are the warm, sunny days I am used to. Tuesday, Elder W. looked up the weather in Las Vegas and it was 117 degrees. Here it was about 55 degrees. Quite a difference.
I am very ready for some warm weather!

We have lots of building going on around Quito.

This is an example of how the construction is happening. The workers have these tension poles which are used between the floors. The workers put probably 40 to 50 poles to support the floor above so they can pour the concrete. The buildings are much more well built now then in the past, it would not surprise us if the government has passed "building codes" we are sure money in involved. Nevertheless, the buildings are very nice. The one in this picture is an apartment building. Some around the city are offices or stores on the two or three bottom floors then above that are the apartments or condos.

We have been very blessed to meet some wonderful people here in Quito. On the street, in the shops and in our aparment building intself. We have a neighbor who is the administrator of the office building across the hallway from our building. He speaks some English, better than what he thinks he does. We have not seen him lately so finally I asked the guard at the front desk, and he confirmed he had been in the hospital. We bought a get well card and gave it to his home-care nurse. Today, in the hallway about 8 a.m. he was walking and I was able to tell hime we hope he is better. He asked us to continue to pray for him because he knows God hears our prayers. How wonderful, he knows!

This is a picute of our "family wall." It is in our hallway, we pass it anytime we walk anywhere in our apartment. I have a copy of the same pictures in our office. Everyone loves to see them, they especially like the fact we have 21 grandchildren. It is wonderful to see faces of our families each day, although they are all older, taller and some have changed quite a bit. As I have said before, it is a sacrifice to serve a mission. We do miss our family and many friends in our home ward a lot.
It is a blessing to be able to communicate wth them over the internet. Some of our grandchildren write us the cutest e-mails. We love getting them. When we get homebwe do look forward to being able to attend gymnastics meets, soccer, t-ball, softball and football games; flute, piano and dance recitals and just being with our family. We do have a very busy family. This week our eldest son Richard and his family moved to Texas from the Las Vegas area. They were the last family we had in our area. Now they have all scattered around the country. We will miss seeing them at home. The funny thing is, after being together 24 hours each and every day as a missionary couple, we also miss having our alone time once in a while.

Our wonderful friends Don and Sharon McClelland have a daughter returning tomorrow from her Mission in Washington D.C. and will have her "homecoming" on Sunday, June 29th. We know she was a good, obedient Missionary who loved serving the Lord. We are happy for them that she is now home.

I was reading our "Preach My Gospel" manual today and I found this wonderful quote from Pres. Hinckley:
"Do you want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause. Lend your efforts to helping people....Stand high, lift those with feeble knees, hold up the arms of those that hang down. Live the gospel of Jesus Christ." I remember when he said that. An I believe that quote will all my heart! That is why we are here.

We love and miss you all.
Until I write again,
Hermana W.

A Typical Day

I have not written in a while, sorry. Tuesday we had the most beautiful day, warm and sunny. Then that night we had the most clear full moon. Occasionally a cloud would pass by, which made it more beautiful.

Some of you have asked what is a typical day? For us lately we arise about 7 am and of course the usual getting ready for the day. After a small breakfast we catch a taxi in front of our apartment (because we can't walk) to ride to the office. Elder W. goes to his office and begins recoring all the statistics for the week in the computer and checking the calls made the day before by our missionaries. They do such a wonderful job in our office.

I, in my cubicle, try to text message as many of the participants as I am able during the day. I remind them to make their payments and thank them for paying. I also send texts for their birthdays. It is as simple as keeping in touch with them. I enjoy this part of my job very much.

On our way to work we see many peculiar sights. The streets are full of vacationers now, we are amazed at how many "foreigners" are here. There are streets, areas really, we call "gringolandia"
where many of the tourists stay in hostels.

One of the other different things we see, is the way in which the telephone lines are connected to the businesses, homes, apartments etc. The ladder is just leaning against the other wires already connected and working. We don't know what would happen if the ladder slipped or a car ran into him or something else tragic. We see this all around the city. You have seen in previous blogs how "wonderfully" constructed the streets and sidwalks are, so when I see this, I just cringe. I can't even walk close to it. Maybe it has something to do with the time I had the responsibility to hold the ladder one the wood floor in our big house when Elder W. was hanging a very large painting on our very tall wall in the livingroom. I let go of the ladder and stepped back to see if the painting was "straight", of course the ladder slipped and Elder W. fell a good 15 ft. to the floor. I don't do ladders well! Thankfully, he was not hurt badly, just a few bruises.

At the end of our workday, we return from the office to do the usual things. I cook dinner, Elder W. checks the computer for new correspondence. After a small meal (usually) we settle in for the night. I do the dishes in boiling water with Clorox to kill the stomach problems. Some nights I have laundry to do, others I iron all the while he is on the computer.

It is mid June and we are still having rain in the evenings, gratefully, it is not every night. Some days, yesterday for example, the clouds rolled in about 5 pm. Usually the clouds are very airy, very light and wispy. Today was no exception. We then had quite a lightening and thunder storm for about one hour, now just hard rain, it will stop in a little while.

Bedtime is about 9:30 or so. It is really hard to fall asleep. Quito has the loudest, most constant alarms in the world. Every car, every business has an alarm and no one pays any attentions to them at all, they go off all night long. You just have to get used to it, or not! That is our typical day. Not much different (except the alarms) than when we are at home and working. Just a different location.

We are so grateful to be here walking around ladders, amid thunderstorms, being cold, and helping our Father's children reap the blessings of keeping their commitments. We have been so blesssed, along with our family, by serving our Missions. We are grateful for the support of our family and friends it is a tremendous load off MY mind knowing that our family is being "watched over" while we are away. We love and miss you all.
Until I write again,
Hermana W.

Precious Children

We are missing our granchildren quite a bit. Our oldest grandson Ry, graduated from High School this last week. We have missed many birthdays, baptisms, ordinations and other graduations from grammer and junior high schools. Several of our children have moved from one place to another. All of this, of course goes on as we think about and continue to pray for each member of our family daily. This is a picture of the daughter of our good friend and service missionary Particio Alvarez. Her name is Noami. She is almost three years old. The caption says "to my grandparents Richard and Cheryle with love, Noami". We have known their family since our last mission in the Employment Resourse Center here in Quito. Since that time, 7 years ago, Patricio has served as Bishop and has taught computers in a school to students from first to seventh grade.
Several weeks before Christmas, the school terminated his employment. Along with several of our wonderful friends we were able to help their family through the holidays. His wife is working, and he is still looking for gainful employment, but while he is interviewing, he is serving with us. He knows many of the members and leaders in and around the Quito area, quite a blessing for us.
In my last blog, I had a picture of some of the young ladies who work in one of the orphanges in Quito. They attend our ward. We talked to several again today. Elder W. asked them if they had maybe decided not to have children, of course he was joking, and they answered that they could not wait to marry and have children. They also added that it would be lots easier, because, at this point in time they have 32 children UNDER two years old. There about a dozen of these young ladies, they work in shifts and have days off, just like a real job. The cute thing was, they told us on their days off, they miss the children. One of the girls we were talking to is a quadruplet. Just this last week they received two brand new babies just several days old. One was found in a garden (in a blanket), the other baby was brought to the orphanage by the mother, she said she could not take care of her, so they could. The girls take care of them until they are 2, then they go to a Convent and Nuns take care of them until they are 18; then they are out on the street.
Precious children from our Father in Heaven. When we are walking the streets each day, we see many small children, we talk to them, play with them a little and even give them candy. Many Sundays the girls bring one or two children to Church. Most of the time, the children do not get adopted. It is very hard to adopt here in Ecuador. We have one couple here now trying to adopt. They have to "live" here for a short period of time (six months) before they can leave with the child.
On another note, we are having a visitor this coming week. Shelley, the sister of our son-in-law Greg, will be here on Thursday, and will be able to see some sights until Sunday. We will see her several times and hopefully she will enjoy her visit.
We are also VERY excited to be receiving a new Mission President on June 30th. He will have lots of work on his hands, that's what happens when "there's a new Pharaoh in Egypt"
Our work is moving along quite nicely. Many more participants are paying in a more timely manner, which is a blessing in their lives. Also, in our communications with them, many have shared with us that they have returned to church and their lives have improved in many ways.
We then share with them, that is because they are keeping their covenants and they are being more faithful.
It is a pleasure to be serving our Savior, teaching valuable priesthood lessons that we know to be true. It is a more difficult life here in Ecuador, but we press on.
We love and miss you all, until I write again.
Hermana W.