Our First week in the temple August 22nd through August 28th

Monday: We took an Uber into Quito to meet up with Elder and Sister Cameron for lunch.  It is about a 20 minute drive.  They are the mission office couple for President Winters.  Monday is the P-Day for all the missionaries, except the office missionaries.  Many of the missionaries that have P-Day on Monday drop by the office for supplies and to pickup things they need.  We ran into the grandson of one of our temple workers, Sister Amado, in Guatemala.  We took  a picture together  and he will send it to her with our "saludos".  The Camerons love their assignment and only have about 6 months left.  So we will go home about the same time.  We went to a Mexican resturant a few blocks from the mission office.  

                  Elder and Sister Cameron

      Elder Rojas is the grandson of Gloria Amado, a faithful member in Guatemala.

 Quito is on the other side of the ridge that the tall buildings are on.  None of these buildings were here 51 years ago when we were missionaries.

Coming back down into Cumbaya.  The city has spread out in all directions.

Tuesday through Friday we went to the temple from 8am to noon and then in the afternoon from 4pm to 8pm.  All the temple workers assigned to each shift were expected to come for training.  President Aguirre, his wife, and the Recorder, Brother Vallejo, trained in the morning and President Mino, his wife, and the assistant recorder, Brother Lema, trained in the afternoon.  President Perez and his wife did interviews all afternoon.  We maned the recommend desk and helped everyone who needed clothing and then find the dressing rooms.  We sat in on all the training.  The training this week was on the purpose of the temple, what was expected of the workers, the admistration of the temple, and how we should treat the patrons that come to the temple.  The church has produced about 10 short training videos that teach about the patron experience.  They are very heartfelt and touching.  Friday was a bit different because Elder Anderson from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came by the temple.  I was at the recommend desk when he came with Elder Zeballos and Elder Pino and a few other people I did not recognize. I got to shake his hand and welcome him to the temple.  Chris was in the "roperia", clothing issue and only saw them pass by.  He was here for leadership training.  Saturday:  We went to the temple at 6am and got done about noon.  President Aguirre went to the leadership training with all the stake presidents (37), mission presidents (6), and a few district presidents.  About 10am we got a call from the assistant recorder, Brother Lema, who is also a stake president from Otavalo, telling us that everyone in the leadership training would be coming to the temple in about 30 minutes.  I was at the recommend desk again and Chris was in the foyer in front of the recommend desk.  This was a huge group of men.  This time Elder Zeballos recognized me.  He gave me a big hug. He served in the area presidency in Guatemala for part of the time we were serving there.  One of the brothers from Salt Lake said, "You are in the same place as you were yesterday" and then he asked me if I had been a sealer in the Bountiful temple.  I said," Yes, until I became a missionary here in Quito".  He said that after their visit yesterday, his wife had commented that she thought I was a sealer in the Bountiful temple. He said he would tell her that she was right.  Such a small world in the church. As the group was leaving, I said to Elder Anderson,  "When I served here 51 years ago as a missionary, there were no chapels, no wards or stakes, and to see all these stake presidents today is for me a miracle." He replied, "Yes, the Lord performs many miracles, it just takes a few years".  What a tender mercy to be here for his visit to the temple two days in a row.  I was able to share the photos of Brother Tabango with two of his grandsons on Saturday. In the afternoon, we walked to a new grocery store.  The only problem is we had to walk on the edge of a highway.  It was only about a half a mile away, but we won't be walking that way again.

       Mom thought this plant was interesting.

  What do you think of the size of the cabbage?

              Carrots are an interesting shape.

            We cook with catus leaves all the time.

    Inca cola brought back a lot of memories because it was a favorite drink when we were young missionaries.  It is from Peru and has a very distinctive flavor.

This is the highway we walked along.  Looking east.

 This is looking west back towards Quito. 

Sunday: Gabriel Molina, the son-in-law of President Aguirre, picked us up for church. On Wednesday, the shift coordinator is Bryon Meza.  We were introduced to everyone on each shift during the training last week.  Brother Meza indicated to us that he grew up Ambato and was a child when Chris was serving there in 1972.  He now lives in the ward we will attend and we exchanged some pictures. 

The Meza family with the missionary who taught the family.  Bryon is the boy on the right with his hand on his hip.