August 29th through September 4th

 Monday:  Chris cut my hair and we went to a new area of Cumbaya, San Francisco.  It is an area around the best university in Ecuador.  We did our weekly shoping there and then spent the rest of the afternoon taking a nap, doing laundry, and cleaning.  Tuesday through Friday:  We went to the temple both morning and evening for the training of the workers on each shift.  We have been so impressed with the faithful members who come to the training, some who have to travel several hours or more.  On Tuesday evening, we had 180 missionaries from the Quito Ecuador mission come  to visit the temple.  The previous week, when Elder Neil L  Anderson was here, he had invited all the missionaries to come to the temple so that they could see the beauty of the temple and feel the spirit that is there.  It is a good way to remember the purpose of the gospel and what they are inviting their investigators to see and hopefully feel.  Chris was in the evening training session, but I helped get the missionaries into the temple.  We had the missionaries come in groups of 30 into the lobby in front of the recommend desk and then someone from the temple staff would lead them on a walk around the temple, passing the baptistry, sealing rooms, ordinance rooms, and finally the celestial room.  Then as they were leaving, the sister missionaries were invited into the waiting room.  We collected all the sister missionaries from each group of 30 missionaries and then at the end, the sister missionaries went back in to see the brides room.  On the wall behind the recommend desk, is a 10 foot painting of Christ standing in the jungle with two 7 or 8 year old children standing on either side of the Savior. Each of the children are clutching his robe and you get the impression they do not want to leave His side.  As one group of missionaries were leaving, I was standing in front of the recommend desk watching the missionaries walk back towards the front door. I glanced up at this painting of Christ and I felt the Spirit say to me, "These are my servants."   I had to wipe the tears from my eyes for a minute or two.  It was a very special experience.  

   Missionaries from the Quito Ecuador Mission

Wednesday and Thursday we had about 90 missionaries each evening come and see the temple from the Quito North Ecuador mission. 

Missionaries from the Quito North Ecuador Mission Wednesday evening

      Missionaries from the Quito North Ecuador Mission on Thursday evening

Friday: After our morning shift we had our weekly start-up committee meeting on Zoom. Last Sunday we found out that starting September 5th, today, the temple would be closed for a month to accomodate some repair work that needs to be done before the one year warranty period is up.  In our meeting, we discussed what we were going to do for the next month and how we were going to get the ordianance workers trained. It was decided that the special projects department at the church would try and negociate a shorter shut down period or perhaps letting us train part of each day, either in the morning or in the evening.  Now we will just have to wait and see if there can be some kind of accomadation. Saturday we went to the temple at 6:00 am and were the first ones there.  The doors were open, but I had to turn on all the lights.  We had a nice day helping with the 2 sessions of training.  In the afternoon, we went exploring.  We found a bakery and bought a chocolate cake for Sunday dinner.  We had it delivered to the guard house at the temple.  We had a late lunch at a new resturant we found and then finished up the afternoon with some grocery shopping. 

Waiting for our lunch

Sunday, we took an Uber into Quito and went to the Colon ward.  Mom had learned from Maureen Ludlow, a friend from her temple shift in Bountiful, about a woman who was the first missionary to serve from Ecuador, Martha Viteri.   Martha is the mother of her daughter-in-law and lives in the Colon ward and we wanted to meet her.  She left on her mission to Columbia at the same time we were serving in Ecuador.  Martha's father was a counselor to President Latimer, our mission president in 1971. We learned that members of  the Trujillo family also lived in this ward.  The Trujillo family were early members when we here 51 years ago and Mom had visited in their home several times.  Mom found Sister Martha Viteri de Ceballos, and we sat with her.  I bore my testimony and got a bit emontional as I talked about how it felt to be back in Quito after so many years.  After the meeting we met Guillermo and Pedro Trujillo who were children in the Trujillo family.  

Sister Martha Viteri de Ceballos and her husband, Frank Ceballos.

Three generations of the Trujillo family:  Left to right, Emily Tonato, grand-daughter, Sandra Trujillo de Tonato, daughter, mom, Marceleno Trujillo, father, Santiago Tonato, son-in-law, Mateo Tonato, grandson, me.

Pedro Trujillo and his wife

We got back to the temple and called president Aguirre.  He came and picked us up and we went to his home for dinner.  It was delicious.  First, we had Honey Walnut Chicken on a bed of lettuce.  Then talapia baked in butter and cream with rice and veggies.  We brought our chocolate cake and some ice cream for desert.  It was a feast for sure. I played Rummikub with President Aguirre, his son-in-law, Gabriel and and his 8 year old son, Gabriel Jr.  Mom played Barbie with their grand daughter, Eduarda.  We spent most of the afternoon there.

Honey Walnut Shrimp--yum!

We really enjoy the Aguirres

President Aguirre, his son-in-law, Gabriel, and his grandson Gabriel, Jr.

Edu made a friendship card for Mom.  

On the way home, we spotted Cotipaxi, an active volcano, covered in snow. It last erupted in 2015.  Most of the time you can't see it because of cloud cover.

We enjoy the Aguirres and feel like they have been our friends for years.  They are so kind to us. It is wonderful to feel like we have "family" here.  We got to catch up with some of our kids that evening on Facetime and everyone seems to be doing well.