Serving in Quito North

 Our landlord asked if we could hold discussions with him on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to improve his English. We just sit around and chat about local news and international events. He brought us a box full of fruit from his farm. On the top are some small chirimoyas. The rest are variations of limes. The tiniest ones are used most often here. I took many of them and made lemon bars. They were fantastic. I delivered them to my piano lesson families and back to the landlord. It was like I was a food processor. Healthy limes turned into a sugary sweet dessert. Here is the chirimoya opened up. It's so sweet and delicious.

 While many in the US are feeling the effects of inflation, we are slipping by with a few dollars here and there. Young coconuts are $1 a few streets away. It's fun to watch the vendor with his machete hacking up a coconut. When I poured out the coconut water it measured 32 ounces! If we want a fresh pineapple and some strawberries, we walk a few blocks north to a cute little lady who has a stand full of fruits and vegetables. We spent $2 on this haul. Since everything grows every day here, all fruits and vegetables are always available. This cantaloupe was $2 and was so ripe that I could eat all the way to the rind. If we want to head out for lunch, we stop by Papo's and have lunch for $3. We took our local missionaries out for July 4th lunch.  Since it was Independence Day, I knew they would be missing home, thinking about their family barbecues, fireworks, and homemade ice cream. I made some strawberry cupcakes with lime and coconut frosting. There were lots leftover so I t...

 We arrived at the new mission office to meet with President and Sister Román who are on their way to Mexico and meet President and Sister Bradshaw. I feel so much for them. It is a tough assignment, but I'm sure they will be wonderful. The Románs also welcomed President and Sister Del Carpio and their children. They spend only 24 hours together to transfer all the information. I hope the Románs do well in the transition to Salt Lake. I gave her several tips on getting rid of the majority of household goods. It's a tough job, but you feel better afterwards. Like exercise.

Every time we go for a walk we discover more amazing sights. Since the trail is over 25 kilometers, we have a lot of opportunities to see new spots. The smells of eucalyptus and oleander remind me of my childhood. An old train used to pass overhead above the trail. It has a date marker of 1918 and has been tagged by recent pedestrians. There's Elder Willard up there. It's a cool 70 degrees and this will be a 10K hike. We were being watched from a safe distance.

 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.

Our presence has been requested in Quito for the mission president switch. So we drove to the temple and began our regular schedule. Sessions in the morning and evening, walking and lunch in the afternoon while the temple is closed. On Monday we hit our favorite Mexican restaurant for some tacos. Behind Paul is the Cumbayá reservoir. It's fun to walk the trails there. On Tuesday we walked our regular trail to a Colombian restaurant and enjoyed arepas. After a little while, we realized we were not alone. The trail is just gorgeous and the weather is always perfect. Sometimes we have to stop to get the rocks out of our shoes.  On Wednesday I heard the terrible news that my sister Jerri had been t-boned in Provo on the way to a hospice patient. She is in serious condition in the hospital. The whole family is praying for her.

 I've never lived in a country where the power went out in the entire country. On Wednesday, we had just enjoyed lunch with the sister missionaries in Coca and dropped them off to work when we returned home to no electricity. We didn't think too much of it until we saw on X that the entire country was out. On Friday it happened again. They are really having a tough time keeping the power on. Here is Elder Willard enjoying the evening. Our landlord installed a light that turns on when the power goes out so we don't have to sit in the dark. It lasts for about 3 hours.