Visitors from the States

 We saw some wonderful young men and women at the temple tonight. After chatting with them for awhile we found out they were with a charity that sends youth out for a few weeks for volunteer work. I was impressed by their enthusiasm and testimonies. They all wanted to return to Ecuador for missionary work.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reuniting with Missionaries

Image
 When we were serving in the Guayaquil Temple, we enjoyed associating with the young pre-missionaries who served for two weeks prior to their assignments. I did secretly hope I would find some of these special friends on our return trip to Ecuador. Today that prayer was answered. Carla saw me after church and ran up and asked, "Do you remember me?" Of course! I ran to grab my phone for a quick photo. Since those two weeks in January 2020, she has served a mission, lived through the pandemic, and gotten married. The Ibarra Ward is blessed to have her and her husband. I felt a little like Ammon and Alma the Younger, meeting up on the road out of town.
Read more

What's Going on in Town?

Image
 We were surprised to see lychee here in Coca, but shouldn't have been, since it is a tropical fruit. Before we saw them for sale, we began to see the peels littering the sidewalks. You can peel them open with your fingernail. Inside is a white fruit the size of a green grape and inside that is a large black seed. We have started to see these trees in bloom along the roads. The pink blossoms aren't what you think. This is the form of the "flower." If ever there were pink pine needles, they would qualify. Some parts of the street are covered in pink. English class in Shushufindi has been growing lately. There's Elder Brown who substitutes for me when we are gone. I have never heard him complain about a single thing. Definitely one of my favorite missionaries. Driving home I saw this scene straight out of a movie. I know this is a tough ride because the roads are quite bumpy. This is how I tore my shoulder in Hong Kong while I was riding a packed bus.
Read more

Living in a Low-Trust Society

Image
 I've seen some disturbing videos from the United States showing mass shoplifting and lotting. It is depressing to see society disintegrate from afar. Eventually, this leads to a low-trust society. Here is how Ecuador sets up its businesses. Most purchases are done through a hole in a gate. You tell the cashier what you would like and they serve you through the gate. I've purchased sodas through the opening on the right, but if you were to purchase a propane bottle, there is a locked gate on the left that swings open. Homes have walls/fences surrounding all sides. Some with high walls have shards of glass cemented into the top of prevent climbing. Construction workers add door gates and window bars even on second stories. This week we accidentally locked ourselves out and in. We left the keys on the table as we shut the door. But we couldn't get out of the gate around the building. So we were stuck. We had to call the landlord who came home from work to let us out.
Read more