Serving in Quito North

 Family Home Evening is a unique and new activity for most families in El Oriente. The young missionaries planned an activity for the branch to introduce the concept to new members and friends investigating the Church of Jesus Christ. Here in our chapel in Lago Agrio we explain some fun options for activities. Luckily, missionaries were there to translate because our Spanish isn't good enough to describe much of anything. While studying Come Follow Me in 2 Corinthians, I came across I quote from President Eyring from April 2023 General Conference. "Yet there is reason for optimism: it is that the Light of Christ is placed in every newborn child. With that universal gift comes a sense of what is right, a desire to love and be loved. There is an inborn sense of justice and truth in every child of God as he or she comes into mortality." I thought of these two pictures of children. They do not see an artist's sculpture; they see a need. This little girl is trying to help

 We enjoyed traveling to Quito for a mission conference with Elders Godoy and Becerra. Elder and SIster Godoy grew up n Porto Alegre, Brazil, where Pam and Howard served their missions. Their English and Spanish seemed easy and carefree. Elder and Sister Becerra were mission leaders in Arcadia California and their Spanish was great. Currently, they are in the Area Presidency in South America Northwest, which is in Lima, Peru. We spent some time taking a picture, and then we spent several hours being trained and encouraged. I snuck a picture of Elder Godoy reading a scripture from Alma. Occasionally we'd catch a Portuguese word or two escape. I understood about half of what was said. We enjoyed a lunch together and then we all enjoyed chatting about La Paz, Lima, and Hong Kong. I learned a lot about other areas from the sisters. Sister Becerra was a joy to chat with and has visited many wonderful cities I want to see. Our hotel room had a beautiful view of the city. Although it was

 One of my favorite parts of living in the rural part of Ecuador is listening to the vender songs emanating from the street. This bread-seller song is so catchy, but the lyrics are so fast, I can't sing them. Here is the original for Tin Tan and another I caught from my local seller.

 While we walking I heard a little racket above me in the trees. I spotted this little monkey staring at me. Then we went out to lunch and splurged on some batidos. The restaurant was playing some superhero movie on the TV in the corner and Paul was trying to identify it. Definitely not Marvel, but pretending to be.

 I knew from my sons who all served in South America that stray dogs are a staple here. At first, I would think, "Who does this dog belong to?" Some do have homes, but not like Hong Kong. They wander on their own all day. Because trash is set out without trashcans, hungry dogs rip apart bags for food. This one figured he would take the whole thing back to his alley. This girl occasionally walks with us in the morning. One day we gave her a treat and it was all over. She walks almost 2 miles with us to the park and when we turn around, she does the same. She never fights with any other dog and gets growled at by many. We carry dog treats in the car to reward such behavior. She loves water. The heat is quite extreme and I know she needs to cool off. One time, I saw some water and picked up a rock to show her the splash, but she backed away, thinking I was going to throw it at her. That's pretty common here. I don't know what kind of melon this dog is guarding, but she&#