You Never Know What To Expect

Today as we were walking to the office, this is what greeted us on our way. It is very hard to explain, but this street, "Amazonas", is the main street running North and South. It is a one way street. In December of last year we heard the direction of traffic would reverse and drive in the opposite direction. It happened in February of this year.

Then in April, the sidewalk on the opposte side of the street was torn up and red brick replaced part of the concrete to create a "bike" lane.

As we continued to walk about two or three blocks into the "construction zone" we see the next sign.

This sign says "a thousand pardons, we are working" what a revelation. All you have to do is look around, it is very obvious. There is no sidewalk left to walk on. But they don't put it at the beginning of the construction, it's in the middle.

It just amazing to us, there is so much money being spent on the walkway and street, it is very sad that they don't see the great need to spend the money on the "street children" who really need the money to better their lives. Each day just on Amazonas alone, there are about 25 to 30 young children with their shoe shine boxes, begging to let them shine your shoes. They are the one's who need the money spent on them, so they can go to school instead of work at such a young age.

This is "my little David." Each day that we see he and his Mother (she is in the background) he runs to me. I give him a stick of sugarless gum. He now gives me hugs and kisses. When we first got here, he did not talk at all, now he talks to us each day. He is adorable. His mother sells golves, scarves, sweaters, handbag, larger bags, many different items. There are many, many places like hers that sell these same items. They have become our good friends. His grandfather sells luggage directly across the street in a "kiosko"(kiosk) which they rent from the city. He is a very sweet man who asks God to bless us each time he sees and talks to us. We are very blessed to have some wonderful people in our lives here in Quito. They appreciate our time and efforts, sometimes more than the members. He is a good Catholic man and is very religous. He is grateful too, that we love his grandson.

This is our new Mission President's wife,
Hermana Sloan. They are from Utah and arrived about three weeks ago. I have written about them in past blogs so I won't go on to much.

She is a wonderful woman. She is a very positive, energetic, mom who is desirous of doing a good job serving with her husband in the time they will be here.

She is trying to keep her three children occupied during their summer. Their son Chad will be leaving for his mission to Madrid Spain toward the end of the year. He is very excited and goes almost every day with missionaries to "citas" or appointments with investigators. He will be seasoned by the time he enters the MTC in Provo. They are a great family and good friends.

We are so blessed to be here and having such success. The Lord has guided and promted us all along the way. We are also grateful to have such good volunteers to work with us. In our office it is definitly a team effort.

This is President Sloan with Elder W. We met him in 2001 when we served here in Employment Resources. He has worked for the Church for some time. He worked in the Employment and Perpetual Education Fund because they both belong to the welfare portion of the Church. President Sloan is concerned about his missionaries working hard finding those whose lives will be changed by the Gospel. He aleady loves the missionaries and will work with them to have an obedient mission in that way the missionaries will be able to have the companship of the Spirit and FIND those who are seeking the truth.

I found this scripture in an article in the Ensign. "Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you. (John 6: 26-27). It reminds me of what the missionaries do they share that "meat."

President Sloan with his connections, has already sent e-mails to his brethren in Salt Lake asking them to look hard to find a couple to replace us when we leave. We do not want to have the program fall apart, it would literally break my heart.

So things are good with us. We love and miss all our family and our friends.

Until I write again,

Hermana W.

The Time They Are A Changing

What a surprise I had this week! I know it is really not really a big deal, and it is not like Elder W. is not able to do whatever is needed, but he has never gone to the laundry to drop off or pick up his shirts. I have always done it, it seems to be part of "my job." We are very lucky to have a laundry right in our building. For just 40 cents each Lola washes and irons Elder W. white shirts. On Tuesday I was at the supermarket with just a few more minutes before the laundry closed at 5 pm. I rushed in the door to get the receipt for the 4 shirts and Elder W. had already picked them up for me. I almost passed out. This is a picture of the shirts hanging in the closet, all four of them.

This next picture is of one of our students in the Perpetual Education Fund. They are brother and sister Quito, he is the

participant. They are VERY faithful in making his payments.

They are also in our ward, it is called "barrio" in Spanish. They call the office each month and make sure their payment was recorded. They are very sweet people, and are faithful to the program; good examples to other students. What is happening more often now, each month more and more payments are being made than the months before.

This next picture is of Elder W. and I with our new Mission President, President Sloan. He and his wife and three children got here about two weeks ago. Their son, Chad, is leaving on his mission to Madrid, Spain in October. They also have two daughters 10 and 13. They are adorable.

The mission office staff is very excited that the change has occured. To quote Elder W, there is a "new Sheriff in Dodge."

He is a very kind, loving diligent servant of our Father in Heaven. He has worked for the Church in various capacities for some time. His wife is adorable and will be a wonderful "Mission Mom." It will be fun to be able to be included in some of the mission activities.

On Friday, Elder W. and I had a Temple recommend interview since our recomends expired at the end of June. President Sloan was really cute, he traslated (from Spanish of course) to ask us the questions in English. I was his first interview in his new assignment. Our recomend only has one signature. As a missionary the only signature needed is the president of the mission. So it will be interesting when we go to the Temple and the brother at the recommend desk tell us we need another signature. We shall see!

Another week has flown by and it is hard to believe that Wednesday July 16th we will have been missionaries for ONE YEAR ! The time has gone even faster this mission than our last. We thank all of our wonderful family and friends that have written, called and supported us in many ways. We miss you all and think of you constantly, we also keep you in our prayers.

I guess that is about all now.

Until I write again,

Hermana W.

Our Quito

This is a picture of "The Panacilla." It is where President David O. McKay dedicated the country of Ecuador for missionary work to begin. We took this picture from our bedroom window. This was a very clear day. It is a very tall statue of "the Virgin", because of course, this is a Catholic country. The Mission President takes the new Missionaries from the airport, to their apartment for a nice breakfast, then they go to the Panacilla.

They read the actual dedicatory prayer, then some scriptures and then sing the Mission Song. Rain or shine that is the beginning of the Mission for the Elders and Sisters. I do wish it was a closer photo so you could see how tall the figure really is.

This next photo is of the Volcano "Cotopaxi" which is 19,342 feet. It is still an active volcano, but
has not erupted in many years. You can see in this photo, there is always snow at the top of this beautiful volcano. This is the "one" Greg, our son-in-law wants to climb. We took this from our bedroom window also. The volcano which is closest to us, "Pinchincha", which is about 30 miles to the West of us and it is acitve also. In 2000 it erupted about 6 months before we got here for our first mission. A new turist attraction in the city is a tram to the top of Pinchincha. We have not used the tram to this point, it has been much too cold. But we plan in the very near future to "go to the top."

In my past blogs I have shown the clouds which close in to us at about 4 pm, but finally Summer has arrived, and we are very happy about that.We have not had rain for about five days now, what a relief! We have had beautiful sunny days with chilly nights. It is very evident that the climate change is around the world. The last time we served here in Quito, it was not nearly as cold and winter did not last as long. Many people are talking about how different it has been this year.

This is a picture of President and Sister Sloan, he is our new Mission President in the Quito mission. We were invited to their apartment for a "misson staff" dinner. We are really not involed with the mission, he said since we are Senior Missionaries in His Mission we will be invited. We had met Brother Sloan when we served here last time in the Employment Resource Center. He is an employee of the Church in the welfare department. He visited our office in 2001, we enjoyed meeting him then and again in his new assignment now. He will be a wonderful President and Sister Sloan will be a great "Mission Mom." She was a wonderful hostess. They have three children with them here. A son, Chad, who will leave in October for his mission in Madrid, Spain. He will be going on "contacts" with some of the missionaries, especially the Assistants to the President. They also brought two younger daughters, 10 and 13, both were adorable and very excited to be here. They will attend a school, which I believe is an American School. They do have the summer, just like at home.

Their apartment is owned by the Church and was used by the last President and his family. In two weeks before the Sloans arrived, the Church contractors completed "gutted" the apartment and re-decorated with ALL new appliances, furniture, and everything. We have been told by other missionaries that it is quite amazing, the difference between the old and new. I have mentioned before that the mission office was also rebuilt. It was definately in need. They will have a great time here, because they are willing to accept callings and seve when and how they are needed.

We love our mission! We love the people of Ecuador, on the whole they are kind people who appreciate others who come here to help their people. As we are taking taxi's now, we make small talk with many of the drivers, and they are always very polite to us. Many of the drivers know exactly where to take us, because there are three coulples in our building and we all work in the same office building.

Some of our family had a family reunion this 4th of July in Utah at Jamie's and Tracy's homes. It is good to know they are together and having a good time. Richard and his family have moved to McKinney, Texas so they could not attend but they have written and said Texas knows how to celebrate. Scott and Corinna in Spokane Valley could not attend either, they went to Coeur d' Alene, Id. for the celebrations. I'm sure they all had a good time. We watched many displays on TV. The Boston Pops is always our favorite.

We know our Father loves all his children and wants the best for all of them. We are very grateful to be a part of our Savior's work, helping in whatever way we can wherever we are needed.

Lots of love to you all, until I write again.

Hermana W.