Our First Night Home After a Long Day

We arrived home on September 22 and this is our wonderful friend and apparently our driver for the evening. We have come home from our Mission and Don McClelland and his wife Sharon drove to the airport to pick us up. They are such good frinds. He acted the part of a limo driver (like from a Casino) with our name on a placard. Pretty cute! Jamie and her children came too. Grandma and Grandpa (Elder and Hermana Whitaker) with Jenna (right) and Madee (left) giving BIG hugs to us as we came down the escaltor. I waited for those hugs for a long time! They were very worth it too.

This is Tucker, he was only about 9 months old when we left. We did not know if he would recognize us, but Jamie and Brandon have photographs of us and they talked to the children about us quite a bit. Jamie said that the girls even talked about us in their Primary classes. They said they were proud of us for going to a far country. Tucker ran right into my arms with a huge grin on his face. It was great to know that we was not afraid of a "stranger."

This is what we looked like after many hours on planes and waiting in 2 different airport with little to eat, and not much sleep either; not to bad for the wear. Just glad to be back in Las Vegas. I am sure it will take a few days for it to settle in that we are really home. Richard (Elder) will have his appointment with the Dr. about his ankle in 2 days then we will schedule his surgery and he will be on his way to be whole again. It has taken quite a while, but it will be fine.

When we got back to our home, Jamie just wanted a photo with us. She has been such a help and support. All our children are wonderful about our service! Not that it is easy for them but they understand that they too are blessed as we serve. We are very grateful to all of them as well as many of our friends from Ward and Stake.

This is the home we were happy to came home to. Our front porch has this wonderful sign that says "an angel protects our home." We believe this. Angels of many sizes and ages cared for our home. Members of our family, ward members and the "Angels" who watch over the Lord's Missionaries. They all watched over our home with love and care, we are grateful for them. We came home to things we had forgotten we had; carpets, furniture and belongings in great condition, almost better than when we left our home. It is hard to leave the full time the Mission, where you are in service of the Lord and many others, but I must admit it is good to be home. The most difficult part is that we had to leave the Mission so quickly and just one week after we arrived home, Elder W. had his ankle surgery. It was very successful, but HE IS NOT good at recovery. He is having a very hard time being STILL, especially after being so busy for so long. But he will mend and be better then ever (watch out everyone.)

Many changes have taken place since we left in July of 2007. Our son Richard and his family have moved to Texas. They are very happy there and that is a wonderful thing, his work is good, the family is happy, the schools for the children are good. Many blessings.

Our Stake realigned the boundries AGAIN, so we came home to a new Ward, Anthem Ward. We don't know many members of our new ward, but WE WILL. It won't take long.

Although we are happy to be back in our own home and I can work in my garden (which is my love), we look forward to again serve when and where the Lord needs us. We pray our family will understand that we realize all we can do is give of ourselves in return for the blessings given to us through the gift and blessing of our Savior Jesus Christ. All we have comes from the Father, all we have to give in return is our service and love to others.

Love to you all, until I write again,

Hermana Whitaker

The Final Chapter of Our Mission Blog

This was the last dinner we had with the Mission Office Staff. The office Elders with Elder and Hermana Ward, Hermana Griesemer and myself went to a wonderful resturant "Crepes and Waffles." They have a great many food dishes, but even better many choices in ice cream selections for desert! We had a wonderful evening with each other. I miss them tons. This is a young man who shined shoes on the street of Amazonas. He never asked for money
and Elder W. always shined our own shoes, but Elder W. each month gave he and another older gentleman, who also shined shoes, $5. The both had families and were very grateful for the help. The young man in the picture always told us his Mother thanked us for the help of her family.

This is how Amazonas (that main East-West street) looked on August 30. They said it would be totally finished in 40 days. It was amazing, they came very close to the timeline. All the work was done by many, many workers. All the work was done by hand, brick by brick. It was amazing each day to see the progress that was made. It was such a mess, the congestion on the surrounding streets was horrible. Walking at this time with Elder W.'s ankle pain became almost impossible. It was at this time we started taking taxi's almost everywhere. The taxi drivers loved to talk with us about the problem. They loved the fact that we spoke Spanish with them. We were interested in their lives and families. I must admit; many times, Elder W.'s left knee could have been very bruised because I would be squeezing it so hard. The drivers drive as if you were their last fare. There are few speed limits, if there is one, they don't pay much attention to it. Many of our taxi rides, (for those of you old enough to remember) was an E ticket ride. It is something very hard to describe, one must experience it!

Love to all, until I write again,
Hermana Whtaker

Many Things Coming To An End

Several weeks ago I posted a photo of how they are changing the main street "Amazonas". They have been taking it apart brick by brick, literally. This is just one example. All over the entire 3 mile area it is all being done by hand. They do use front loaders to remove all the debris, but the main part of the work is all being done my many, many men hand by hand.

During this same time many small business have had to close because of all the dust and dirt and mess. It has been very, very hard on the families trying to make a small living.

This is how all the telephone lines look around our city of Quito. I have no doubt that in other towns

they look very similar.We have NO IDEA how

the workers know what goes to what. This is the post in front of our office builing.
Several times during the last few weeks we have lost power to the building while we are working.

telephones, computers all is just gone in a flash. In looking at this "crosswork puzzle" of lines it is no wonder. We think at this time while working on this street, they are trying to figure out how to put the lines underground, they have made the spaces for them, but we are not sure if that is what it is for.

Elder Whitaker and I have each had several pairs of boots "hand made" by this very kind couple. He has been a bootmaker for over 30 years. His son now operates a second store not to far from this one we go to.

The name of the store is"El Palacio de Las Botas Espanolas" the palace of Spanish boots. He makes "cowboy" type boots mens, womens, casual and formal types. They are very fairly priced. He makes a model of your foot and literally makes the boots exactly to your foot. They fit like a glove.

Another wonderful thing Elder has done, is have several custom made suits by a tailer named Luis. He does great work. He has worked with another senior couple also. He does very good work and is a perfectionist. Like Elder W. doesn't like that!

I wish I had a photo of the corner of his workspace, it is the oldest iron I have ever personally seen. It sits on a huge flat rock all day. Of course it is not a steam iron. He has a cloth and a spray bottle for that. Like the bootmaker he has been in the same location for many years, which for here, is a very good endorsement.

After we had the fitting for the suit, we went to the "Park Ejido" a park very close to the office. The indiginous indians sell their works in this park. You can find jewelry, clothing, hats, ponchos, sweaters, tablecloths, baby clothes and musical instruments also. You name it, they have it. It is so much fun just to walk through the maze of walkways. With our "placas" nametags, denoting we are missionaries, we have lots of wonderful conversations. Many of these vendors are from Otovalo and members of the Church.

This photo is of some Otovalan men who play their instruments and make and sell their CD's. I have several. Their music is very Indian and some is melodic others are very "up-beat". I love to hear their music.

We will be taking some pictures tomorrow of Amazonas, it is almost finished. We are just AMAZED at how quickly and hard they have worked to get the job done as quickly as possible. It has been quite a disruption, but it is beautiful now. Why they did the job, no one can tell us.

As I have said it has been very hard on the small shopowners, hopefully they will recover their business and money quickly.

It is hard to think about leaving so soon. In my heart, I am not ready, but with Elder W's. pain we do need to go. During the last week, it is interesting, my left knee has also been giving me lots of pain. I have NO IDEA what I have done. Walking in this city is very difficult. the streets are not even with many "slopes" usually drivways. Therefore we are both "gimping around". We look like to invalids, actually, we are. Hopefully visits to the Dr. when we get home, we will be as good as new, (really good as old).

Thank you for your love and support, I will write one more time before we leave on the 22nd.

Hopefully, we can serve again in the future! We have loved working with these wonderful people in a wonderful program, Perpetual Education Fund. Hopefully we have made a difference here in Quito.

Until I write again,

Hermana W.