Home * News * Pictures August 14, 2009 (Friday)   6 months home! We have had a wonderful 6 months home from Ecuador. First of all we arrived home with a small snow storm. A bit different from living on the Equator to say the least! Our home was almost void of furniture but our kids managed to blow up our camp bed and make it for us in our master bedroom! It was good to be home. Our flight home was uneventful. As soon as we got to Miami I had my first hot dog in 18 months in the airport! I must admit the signs looked different and people had a different way of talking. No Spanish! WE stayed home for a few days and then flew to Virginia and met Evan and Tyler and helped them find an apartment. Then we went to see Evan graduate from Med Tech school. We were so proud of his accomplishments and he even got an award as the best sailor with the best work ethic! Way to go son! Then we saw Williamsburg and then headed to Boston to see my sister and husband and go to Salem to learn about the witch trials! Very interesting. We saw a panorama that explained the trials and then had a “real witch” explain they were not about pumpkins and brooms and black hats but about peace and nature and then were introduced into their gift shop that was full of Halloween stuff complete with black cats and hats! We got home in time for me and my daughters to attend a fun wedding shower for Tyler. She was beautiful and we had lots of fun celebrating! She was a beautiful bride. They drove cross country in her car and a van and got settled in Hampton Virginia with Ty’s 2 cats. We were waiting for Amy’s new baby to arrive in May and then in March Amy began to bleed and gave premature birth by C section 7 weeks early a darling girl named Eden Louise Elizabeth! She was in the CCU at the hospital 3 weeks but is perfect in every way and just a doll! Dark hair and blue eyes! Just like her Mommy! Lydia came to visit the end of July for a week and stayed at our house. It was wonderful to be able to see the 5 kids and have fun. We drove to the coast with Amy and family, went and got Teralynn and Ethan’s birthday presents and swam in our backyard kiddy pool! We all were thankful for air-conditioning. Next event was the wedding of Joseph and Chelsea. John, Nathan and I drove to Chelsea’s Aunt’s home for a lovely shower the weekend before the wedding. We went skipping rocks at Cougar Creek by our home and went to an eagle court of honor for my nephew where my nephew gave Steven his Tenderfoot scout badge! Joey’s wedding was wonderful in spite of the rain! They are off on a honeymoon and Dave and I will drive them and their “junk” to Utah in a week! Life is good. We anxiously await the birth of a new addition in late February. Evan and Tyler will be parents! It has been a busy 6 months. We are now dealing with some dry rot in our foundation so the excitement never ends! We love you all and look forward to the next 6 months! March 31, 2009 (Tuesday)   THE SACRED VALLEY Part 2[Tnhanks to Marvia I got this second diary of our trip! W Note:Dave and I visited Peru on our way back to the United States after serving 18 months in Ecuador. See our photos. Machu Pichu is said to be one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world! We believe it after our visit! The picture above was taken after our tour. The cute girl in the front row, right is Maricel. She worked for our travel agency and accompanied us everywhere to make sure all was well. We were up at 3:00 AM to ride in the van for an hour and a half to Ollantaytambo where we barely caught the train (by 3 minutes!) to Machu Pichu. We were starved by the time we arrived at Aguas Calientes, the little town with the road to Machu Pichu, and so we delayed our bus trip up the mountain so we could have breakfast! We were supposed to meet our guide at 8:30, but we missed him. We would have been in a group of 22, but they began the tour without us. Ernesto said he would guide our group of 8. It was a wonderful tour. We could tell he loved the Inca people and this sacred site. After the tour he told us he was a practicing Inca and spoke Quecha as his first language. Everything we learned about this site is speculation, but I’ll share what Ernesto believes. This site was the spiritual center of the Incas. Their scholars and priests and priestesses lived here to educate the noble men’s sons, study the stars and memorize the oral history. Also there were probably agricultural experiments going on. The Spaniards knew the city existed but never found it. Since it was not plundered by the Spanish when they conquered the Incas, it is especially important as a cultural site because so many artifacts were found there. One of the beliefs is that the Incas were warned the Spaniards were coming and so they took all the records and left to live in the Amazon jungle. The city was overgrown by the jungle plants but the local Indians always knew it was there. In 1911, Hyrum Bingham paid the Indians who lived at the bottom of the mountain to lead him to the “lost city of gold” and so re-discovered Machupichu. Ernesto explained the Inca method of construction (which can be found on our blog, Part 1) and added that the doors and windows are trapezoidal and tilt inward from bottom to top, corners usually are rounded, inside corners often incline slightly into the rooms. Many of the steps were made out of one stone. There was a stone quarry above the city where they could easily obtain these huge stones. They used “three” a lot. Sun, moon, stars or earth, sky, water or puma, condor, and the snake. He showed us examples of all of these as we walked through the ruins. They would chisel images into the huge rocks. These images could only be seen when the shadows made by the sun are just right (One was a panther). They also would arrange the stones to look like an animal (condor for example). They had the Intihuatana (”sun-tier”) believed to have been designed as an astronomic clock or calendar by the Incas. Their ritual stones are arranged to point directly at the sun during the winter solstice. Intihuatana also is called “The Hitching Point of the Sun” because it was believed to hold the sun in its place along its annual path in the sky. At midday on March 21 and September 21, the equinoxes, the sun stands almost above the pillar—casting no shadow at all. The legend is that they “felt” it was a sacred spot. It has been shown that that there is a lot of electromagnetic energy under the sacred altar. Compasses don’t work here! I (Marvia) had trouble with the heights. Machupichu is built on the very top of a very steep mountain. It was a long way down in many places! The first time we were here I just couldn’t imagine children growing up here and not falling off the mountain. Our guide this time told us there were not any children’s bones found here, just adults in almost equal numbers of men and women. They mummified the elite here and actually had a place where they placed the mummies and gave them food etc. like a scene from a theater. He said the workers came, did their jobs and went back home to their families. Anyway, it made me feel better to know children were probably not raised here. It definitely was worth visiting. We took the bus down the mountain and had a “Mexican” lunch. I put that in quotes because it “looked” like Mexican food but it wasn’t. After wandering their Inka market and buying some souvenirs, we played “scum” in the train station and returned to Ollantaytambo for the van ride back to the hotel. Another long day, but so worth it. Dave and I were so appreciative of my sister and her husband for being our guides for this Peru adventure. Most certainly a never to be forgotten experience! February 18, 2009 (Wednesday)   THE SACRED VALLEY PERU Part 1 We were excited to visit in Lima, Peru Terrie’s sister Marvia and Terry her husband who are on a mission in Peru after sharing Guayaquil with Gary Terrie's brother and Lorena his wife, and John and Becky. We finished our 18 months as temple missionaries in the Guayaquil, Ecuador temple and had taken 2 days to show Off the temple and to see Guayaquil before heading to Peru. The weather in GUayaquil was really rainy but we manages to show them the Malecon Water Front, go on a Pirate cruise up the river for a hour and a share with them the crusine of Ecuador. Our trip to Lima was wonderful. the Drakes met us at the airport in Lima, stayed in a hotel very close to the airport for our 6:00 am departure to Cusco and our first day of touring in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Cusco was the Administrative capital of the Inca Civilization and the Sacred Valley was their breadbasket and had many temples for worship. First stop: A tourist market where we bought a few souvenirs for family left at home. There was an alpaca and llama and we got an explanation of the difference. {Check out photos} I still think it’s easier to just look at the ears… Llama’s are up, Alpaca’s are smaller and down. (Can you tell? There’s 2 llamas and 1 alpaca above) We heard mucicians Play the countries music and we knew it was just for tourists Second stop: {Check Photos}Pisaq This was an agricultural community. The little boy above had a hat for money on the trail as he played above us. We saw the different terraces which made for different climates, they call micro climates and so they could grow many different kinds of crops. We saw their sun temple and other ruins at the top! It was our first taste of hiking! They did not warn us we would be hiking up and down mountains and many flights of stairs. We were proud of Lorena, who just had hip surgery. She used good judgment and did not go all the way with us when she saw how high we were going. I was glad for all the walking in the temple up and down the stairs! I was out of breath – that was because of the altitude almost 9800 ft. here. We made it to the top! We bought our ponchos here. We needed them on and off on this hike and for most of the next day too. It’s rainy season.{see photo} Third stop: Ollantaytambo This is a very good size city with old cobblestone streets to bounce over. We went to the fort here. We hiked to the top 9350 feet and saw the temples. It was pretty high up, but not as high as the last climb. There were steps the whole way. There was a battle here between the Spaniards and the Incas and so the walls and area was pretty much destroyed. The huge rocks for this area were brought from across the valley and up a mountain on the other side. They were rolled up a long road on the side this mountain with logs… just like the Egyptians. Our guide couldn’t really explain why they were similar. The Incas did not use any mortar. They carved the stones so that they fit perfectly together. Many junctions in the central city are so perfect that it is said not even a knife blade fits between the stones. Peru is a highly seismic land, and the mortar-free construction was more earthquake-resistant than using mortar. The stones of the dry-stone walls built by the Incas can move slightly and resettle without the walls collapsing.The archaeologists can tell exactly which buildings were from the Incas. It is amazing how many angles we saw in the ruins both here and at Machupichu to make the stones fit. Here there were six massive rocks called monoliths. These stones formed part of the Sun Temple. Fourth stop: Buffet luncheon with lots of typical Peruvian dishes.{See photo} Fifth Stop: Chincero. Here we visited a colonial Catholic church built in the 1600’s. The paintings on the wall had a very interesting mix of Inca and Catholic motifs. For instance, a painting of Christ had the sun behind him because the Incas worshiped the Sun. Many places on the walls still had the glimmer of the gold paint they originally used. It was beautiful. Back to the hotel for a light supper and bed. LONG DAY! The hotel in Cusco was beautiful! I was excited for the next day when we would see Machu Pichu! More to come..... December 16, 2008 (Tuesday)   Dear Family and friends: !Feliz Navidad! “Hark the Herald Angels sing, Glory to the new born King”. Our experiences here in Ecuador have indeed been worth many “heralds” to our Heavenly Father for the many blessing Dave and I have received while here in Ecuador. At first when we came I looked at the calendar and said to myself, “Wow, What have we gotten ourselves into? We are thousands of miles away from our kids and family and have committed to 18 months here and do not understand Spanish!” In retrospect it has been a wonderful. We have learned and experienced things that we never even thought of. We have seen miracles and even been part of a few and our family has had many! Warren: Found a new job that will allow him to pursue his studies for a CPA and has been given a beautiful new baby boy. He now has five children. Lydia and Warren live in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Jennie: Has been offered a new position in a Heart Unit at the hospital where she has been a “Stroke Nurse” and is so excited for the extra training and really loves the people she will work with. Some of the nurses in the new unit went to school with her. Rob and the 4 kids are doing great. They bought a home a few miles from us in Vancouver. Amy: Had her oldest start Kindergarten and she and Marcus bought a home down the street from Jennie while we were gone and now we are thrilled to have the 2 girls nearby. Marcus and Amy have #3 due in May. John: He and Becky were blessed with a new baby boy, Matthew, who is 7 months old now. He has been nicknamed, “Buddy” and is all smiles! They are coming to Ecuador to pick us up and his other grandparents will baby sit! Nathan: He and Emily had a new baby boy this past year. His work with Amazon is a challenge and they live in Seattle. Now they have 2 boys. Evan: Is wonderfully happy and graduates in February with a degree as a Lab Technician in the Navy and is getting married in March. He and Tyler will be living in Virginia. Joey: Is at BYU and still into drumming and Japanese and he has decided to make a try for the BYU Business School. He is the last one of the 7 who is single! He will be home for Christmas and spend it with his sisters. So… if you were counting that gives us 15 grandkids and one on the way. We are thankful for all the support our kids have given us here. We discovered SKYPE and have kept tabs on them all. It has been glorious! As this season Christmas season approaches, Dave and I are so thankful for the Savior and his gospel. As we look at the skies here at night and know that the special star is among them we indeed feel the immensity of the angel’s message, “Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth Peace good will toward men.” We have felt his love and have given and received love from the Ecuadorian people and have felt the miracles for our family this past year and we are full of gratitude to Our Heavenly Father who sent us here to serve 18 months in Ecuador in His Holy Temple.At his time of the year may we all have the opportunity to honor the Savior’s birth and try each day in the coming year to have the determination to serve and love one another and not doubt that anytime we serve one another we are becoming more like the Savior and are feeling the peace that true happiness brings. We love you all and pray you all have a joyous holiday season. Dave and Terrie November 23, 2008 (Sunday)   nother day, and 2 more experiences that have taught me again. When we first arrived in Ecuador and entered the temple there was a wonderful couple we met that were already serving here. She was just about my age and he was about 12 years older. They were from a southern town of Ecuador and had a daughter living around the corner from the temple. Their last name was Espinoza. She was a wonderful helper for me in the temple when we first got here and helped me with pronunciation of words and trained me in some of the many duties I would be asked to do. I remember her so fondly because of the sparkle in her eyes when she talked and how willing she always was to fold in the laundry or help anyone who has that , “I do not know where to go” look. Her husband was frail looking and walked very slowly. I could see on his face that he was not feeling well and later found out he had cancer. As our time here passed I could see him get progressively worse. He had a lot of faith and wanted to serve and there were days when I could see that for him to raise his arms the least bit was painful. He would smile and shake your hand but behind that smile was something else. They finished their mission and returned home in May. Today I heard that he died yesterday. I know it will be hard for his wife. She has nursed and loved him for 40 years. I remember watching her gingerly help him walk from the temple to the apartment building. I couldn’t help but notice how she adored him and was so willing to serve him. As I sit here and write and think of this man and his determination to serve no matter what and think of her love for him, I am so thankful that I saw it. True devotion and unbridled service. Even though they are separated in death they will never be separated in life. Life is eternal, love is eternal and the promises of the temple will bring them together on the other side when her time comes. And as I stood to welcome people into the temple today, I thought of them and how wonderful they were. But then my next assignment reminded me that there are other experiences in life that influence our feelings besides death. I was waiting to go to the Nursery to attend to two little girls, ages 1 and 3, as their parents were instructed in the temple. After the instruction we were to dress the girls in white and take them to the waiting arms of their parents to be sealed as a Forever Family. The 3 year old had a bright smile and a trusting way about her as I took her little hand in mine and led her to the elevator. Another temple worker took the 1 year old who promptly began to scream like she was in pain and did so for half an hour until we figured out that if we put her in a stroller and pushed it back and forth she would stop! This was a new place for the girls and to be frightened was to be expected and after a while the girls were happy playing with the toys. So young! My assignment changed, but I saw the family later and escorted them to the dining room. The little one was asleep in her Aunt’s arms and the little smiling 3 year old was still wide eyed and smiling! Such a joy! Our Heavenly Father loves us all. We all experience birth, childhood, marriage and death. Today I felt the influence of both in my life. As I stood in the hall after putting this family on the elevator up to the main floor to exit the temple I had this thought: In life just when God has shut a window by allowing separation in death; He opens the doors of the temple and promises us that if we are faithful, the earthly separation is short and we can be together forever. Love Terrie November 14, 2008 (Friday)   Three Otavalan People A large white van pulled into the temple parking lot Tuesday morning. It was full of the people of Otavalo. From a distance when I looked into the windows of the empty van I could not help but think of what faith it took for them to travel over 8 hours in that old van. I had an experience with one woman, whom I knew was a passenger. I will share this memorable meeting. I know a lot of you have been camping at least once I your life. In the evening it is always fun to build a large bon fire and cook hot dogs on a stick and then roast marshmallows. You have such a great time that you do not realize what the fire does to your new sweatshirt until you get home and unpack. It carries the distinct smell of the outdoors and smoke. There are times in the temple where I teach the participants. I whisper words of truth and individually they receive my words. As I stood near her to help this memorable woman I was reminded of family campfires long ago. She was not over 4 feet tall and seemed to be about 60 years old. She was frail looking but as I looked at her hands. They were small and the fingers were bony. They were stained with what I thought look just like my hands after I have peeled many pears for canning. Stained a dark green next to the finger nails and a bit cracked down the sides. Her hair had been brushed carefully and woven into a tight braid at the base of her brown skinned neck. I could see her perfect teeth as she smiled broadly but there was one small difference that told me that even though those hands revealed that she knew how to work, she had enough money to pay for two perfectly formed gold stars placed in the center of her two front teeth. She had such a warm smile and when we parted she smiled and I saw a sparkle in her large brown eyes. I saw her once more before she left the temple. She was leaving to join her husband who I saw waiting in the foyer. Those cute tiny people dressed in traditional Otvalan clothes. She in her fancy blouse, black wrap around skirt and neck covered in small strands of gold and he in his white pants and shirt wearing a dark blue poncho and carrying a fedora hat. Both sharing with me a memory of their wide smiles and humility. I will never smell smoked clothes from a campfire again with out thinking of them. In the first months here it was a real challenge for me to give the introduction talk to the young girls in baptistery. Until I felt comfortable giving it sometimes I would have a youth read the message I was given to speak. Besides the printed talk I would add that I was a new missionary from America and just learning Spanish. After being here this long I no longer need it. The next girl I will remember I met the first week I was working in the baptistery. After the girls changed clothes I had the opportunity to try my Spanish on one of them. She had such a bright smile and large round dark brown eyes. It was the first youth I had seen dressed traditionally and I even described this girl in a past letter. She has come about 4 times in the 16 months we have been here and each time I see her she hugs me and remembers me. And I remember her. About 2 months ago we were working the baptistery and she came in but this time not to be a participant but to help the youth. She was recently married in the temple. What I thought was a 14 year old girl was a 22 year old! It was s thrill to be able now to converse with her in Spanish and have her help me. Last Saturday I saw her again. This time she was leaving the dining room in the basement of the temple down the hall from the Baptistery. Honestly, I have never been welcomed with such a wonderful hug! I told her we would soon leave and she wanted to keeping touch. She will be a forever friend. I only hope my writing skills in Spanish improve so I can write and read and understand what she writes. Perhaps our Spanish/English dictionary will be another memorable friend! That last sister I want to talk about is a worker here. Last night she gave me a pink slip of paper and said it was an important family member. Would I make sure that the baptism was done so she could do the rest of the work last night. We had no group scheduled for the baptistery but I told her to hold the card and if some people came we would get the card. Well as fate would have it 2 groups turned out and we would help her. In the temple and in life the ordinances are done step by step. We performed the baptism and then took the card to the preliminary ordinance area. There should have been women waiting there to help but they were all assigned to other places so she asked me to please do them and help her. I knew I was due back at the baptistery to help Dave but I knew this was important to her and I am here to serve so I agreed. I found a companion to help me who was standing nearby and the two of us gave her the necessary instruction and helped her and then got her on to the next part of the temple experience. I returned to the baptistery. After the people in the baptistery I was assigned to the locker room to assist the patrons find their lockers and to guide them to the exit of the temple as they left. I saw her. Instantly she gave me a hug and as tears streamed down her face she told me about the name on the card. It was her husband’s beloved mother. Families are important. People are important. As a Missionary here in Guayaquil I have learned the importance to look into a person’s heart and see the beauty that lies there. Looks are not as important. Background is not important. Kindness, Patience and love are. I am so grateful for this experience to serve the people here. Forever grateful. October 27, 2008 (Monday)   October 23, 2008 There are times in everyone’s life when the joy of the moment brings tears to ones eyes and one is given the reminder that gifts of the heart are worth much more than all the gold in the world. Saturday night Dave and I experienced a bit of this part of heaven. Our mission president and his wife, [Bob and Marian Marriott] have come to the close of their service here as leaders in temple work and they were honored with an unforgettable celebration. They have served here on two different missions a total of 5 years and are known by many people all over Ecuador. The cultural hall was filled to capacity and the back room dividers were opened for overflow. I would estimate over 300 people came to honor them. A letter unbeknown to them was sent out to all the church leaders in the temple district [the whole country of Ecuador] telling them of the ending of their mission and asking if they wanted to participate in the celebration of love and gratitude for the service of these wonderful people. The letter was invitation to send someone to represent them at this celebration. And what a wonderful celebration it was. The beginning of the evening was spent with a few messages given to express love for the Marriott’s and they were presented with a leather tooled picture of the temple. The Marriott’s and one of his counselors that will also leave were given a minute to express their love and gratitude for their Ecuador experience. Then the missionaries that work in the temple sang “God Be With You Till We Meet Again” with a verse by the audience. As I sang my heart was so full of love for them and all they did for Dave and I that I felt tears of gratitude and deep love freely fall from my eyes. Then the real celebration began. The response to the letter was overwhelming. What was planned as a hour went from 7 to 10:30pm. Dancers performed traditional dances from the Sierra, the Coast, the Andes Mountains and the town of Otavalo and even “The Mexican Hat Dance”!. People sang songs in between the dancers and there were stories and skits. And a wonderful ballet number by 4 teenage girls! And live music and even some temple workers performed. Young Women dancers appeared dressed in bright colors and skirts that were so full that when they held their skirts at the sides and waved them to the front of their bodies and behind them they still could touch their heads with the fabric and the extra folds of the material still flowed to their feet! The men dressed in matching colors and in one dance each young man waved a handkerchief as the girls twirled and swayed to the rhythm of the music. The beat was mesmerizing and on occasion the audience clapped to the music matching the fast steps of the dancer’s feet. One older woman came on stage and recited a story with such expression and was so entertaining that some people stood and applauded her as she took her bow. A funny dance was when 4 of the employees of the temple came onstage dressed like Otavalo men. Complete with white pants, white sandals, large navy blue ponchos and Fedoras and they danced. It was meant to be comical and they were awesome and got a standing ovation from some in the audience! A grandmother sang a duet with her grandson that was heartwarming. Lots of the Spanish I understood and other words went “over my head” but the excitement of the music and the reaction of the audience made me feel that it was not important. I felt that just to be “in the moment” was all I needed! I could tell that one man who entered the stage to sing was beloved because when he entered the stage all the people clapped. He sang a favorite Ecuadorian song and he was so well received that he reentered and sang again! He would sing one phrase and then the audience would sing and answer. Amazing! There was such a spirit of brotherhood I was in awe and the question crossed my mind, “This is such goodness I wish everyone in the world could experience this feeling of love and gratitude. One memorable part of the evening for me was when 3 young men entered the stage dressed in white with long thick black braids down their backs. They carried in their hands 3 traditional instrument of the people of Otavalo. One had a “double” flute made of different sized of reeds and fastened together with brightly colored yarn, anther had a single reed flute about 15 inches long with holes that his hands covered as he blew to give different tones and the last had what looked like a mess of yarn with wooden balls and hollow gourds with seeds that when he shook them gave the rhythm to the flutes as their tunes carried across the air and into special microphones places in front of the musicians. It was authentic and I fell in love with the music as they played. They also got a standing ovation and as a result I was pleased to hear them play an additional song. The whole evening was a gift of gratitude and love given to the Marriott’s from many parts of the country who have seen them in the temple give service to them in the most humble and sacred places on earth. I was sorry when the evening ended and surprised that it had lasted so long. I was a night of appreciation, good feelings and love that for me will be something I will remember for a lifetime! Dave and I are so grateful for this experience with the Marriott’s and hope they know we love them too. [We will add pictures when we get them. David's camera's batteries died. So we will borrow some pictures from the Marriott's and post them later] October 15, 2008 (Wednesday)   October 15, 2008 Our time here in Ecuador is winding down we have 3 months left before we return to our home in Vancouver. Today was one of the great days of surprises for me. We were told that there may be 2 buses come to the temple today but there were more and the temple was full to over flowing! As I stood in the reception area inside the temple early this morning I watched the faces of the people as they entered and they all had big smiles in anticipation of their forthcoming experience inside The House of the Lord. Here in our temple there are large dressing rooms that look much like a locker room at a spa. The walls are painted white and accented with dark cherry wood. There are large mirrors, beautiful lockers and flowers on counters that welcome each patron who enters. There were so many participants today that all the lockers were used and as some women changed into white dresses they had to neatly fold their street clothes and put them on top of lockers! After I worked in the locker room I was changed to be a receptionist in the entry of the temple. The assignment there is to aid the man at the front desk and help others as they pass him and enter into the temple. One family in particular caught my eye. It was a Mom and Dad and 2 darling little daughters. One was 4 and the other 2 ½. I could tell that their parents had prepared them for one of the most special experiences of their little lives. Each little girl was dressed in a lovely white lace dress and had white satin ribbons in their hair. The Mom and Dad looked so young to me but at my age now EVERYONE looks young! Or younger! Or much younger! What joy for that family. Another family had 3 children. One 4, one 10 and one 13. The ten year old was shaking with fear of the unknown as she sat in the reception area waiting to enter the temple. I approached and as I spoke to her softly of the joy of the day. She began to respond. I told her how she would not be alone once inside and that there were wonderful women in the children’s waiting room who would love her and help her dress in white and prepare to meet her parents for the ordinance that would unite her with her family forever. Her frown changed to a wide smile and I was overjoyed for her! We only have 3 more months until our 18 month service here is over. I think one of the things I will miss the most is to stand in the reception area and watch families enter with joy and anticipation as they exercise their faith in the Lord and enter to be sealed as eternal families and make the reality of the Lord’s Plan a reality for them. Life is wonderful!We love you all! August 01, 2008 (Friday)   July 23,2008 day 3 of Banjos trip During our drive to Banjos Marian kept saying, “Wow, what an adventure we are having”…well let me tell you that the drive home was the biggest adventure of all! It was so hard to get out of bed the day we left. It was cold in our room. We had one small coil heater in a corner that reminded me of the ones we had at my grandmother’s house when I was a small girl. As I lay in bed I could see white painted walls with decorations of green vines and flowers. There were massive high dark brown rafters and 2 huge picture windows opposite each other and they were covered with drapes full of pastel flowers that gave a feeling that you were in a Swiss chalet in the middle of spring. The floor was made of large red clay tiles and by the bedside on the floor were straw mats so that after a warm night’s sleep under a down cover you could exit the bed without having an “ice” freeze on your feet. It was kind of dark outside and rain was falling lightly. I think because we were staying high on the mountain we were actually within a wet cloud! We met the Marriott’s for breakfast and checked out and got in the car. We decided to take a different route home on our adventure. The road conditions were horrible coming and we hoped they would be better going another way and Bob was right. The were smooth. What a sight! Once again the hillsides were cover in farms and if you looked carefully on the quilted mountainsides could see small homes perched on small flat areas with one or two cows grazing along side. Bob commented that it was no wonder that at the angle they were standing they didn’t have 2 short legs so they would not roll down the mountain! With no water I can imagine them carrying water in buckets up to their homes very gingerly so as not to spill one drop! Worth more than gold![see photos] Some farms were covered with what looked like long tents and we supposed they housed tomatoes or flowers. We took a turn off the main road we were on 2 days before and started driving around mountainsides and up and down and through small villages. Our first and only stop of the day was at a place where there were roadside stalls of wonderful things to buy. Wall hangings of scenery, jewelry and coats like the ones we bought the day before and small bamboo drums and clay whistles. The salesman demonstrated a whistle in hopes we would buy. One stall had two Otavalan women carding wool and spinning it into the yarn used for the wall hangings [see photos]. They were so cute all dress up in traditional clothes and representing their culture so well! We gave them $1 for our photos. As we drove I could tell that the people of this area were not “rich” like some of the people we had seen around Banjos. Colorful cement homes with satellite antennas, cars locked up behind iron gates and clean children dressed in school uniforms were not longer a part of the landscape. Instead there were older cement houses. Where once brightly painted homes stood proudly and framed the road we now saw homes with chipped and faded cement exteriors. There were old benches of bleached wood in front of glassless windows with men and women who sat and watched us as we passed by. There were BBQ’s by the roadside with women working to hard to roast corn and sell to any one they could. Men, wearing heavy ponchos and fedoras and rows of children with wide eyes and smiling faces who peered out from behind old chain link fences of tattered schoolhouses. Once in a while we would see stands of fresh fruit for sale or tables by the side of the road with artifacts to sell, clay figurines, hammocks or carved wooden toys. For those people who could not afford cement homes, we could see dotted within the cement, huts made of bamboo. No window panes. Standing the doorways you could see women holding babies or men smoking that looked like they were just waiting for something exciting to happen at any moment! There were many food stands called “Cantinas” that were decorated with flags advertising “Phifier” beer and homeless dogs circling white plastic chairs around customer’s legs hoping to catch some table scraps. After winding for quite some time the landscape changed. It looked like we were in “high desert” country. As where once there were trees and mountains we now saw rolling hills and no trees at all. The mountains became smooth like maybe harsh winds had carved away the rough edges of rock. The clouds began to break and then we saw it….the mountain top of Mt Chimborazo [see picture]. We were about 8,000 feet high. And it was chilly. This inactive volcano was a beautiful sight. Very few people get the chance to see its top as it is covered with clouds most of the time. The white snow caped mountain was a perfect backdrop for the llama that grazed near our car. We continued our “our Adventure” we began the descent down and around other small mountains. We could see the drop off by the side of the road that reminded us of how high we had driven and Marian commented, “I wonder how a person would feel if they drove off and went down” and the comment was made, “Those at the bottom would know how they felt!”. Now the road began to be wet with moisture from the fog we began to drive in. The air was thick and you could smell the wetness of the plants as some lay rotting by the side of the road. We were still very high. It began to be difficult to see the road ahead and what was an enjoyable smooth ride on good road now became gravel and many, many potholes. Bob was an incredible driver as he dodged and swerved slowly up and down the road to keep us safe. Buses drove quickly and fearlessly by and honked as they passed. We were indeed driving in the Andes Mountains. The roadsides were full of Boston ferns and tropical plants and once in a while we could see the remains of old abandon homes. We saw Air ferns hanging from power lines, a mother and child walking 3 pigs on ropes and people hanging laundry to dry. DRY, in that dampness? And just as I was thinking, “We are not in Kansas anymore”. Bob put in a CD and the first song we heard was John Denver singing, “Take me Home”! Ironic huh? As we drove out of the clouds, I cannot even begin to describe what I saw. Up above us were lush green mountains thick with vegetation and below us we could see the clouds we had been driving in! It was as though we were flying and managed to go up through the clouds and were looking down on the earth. Large puffs of white and grey hugged the mountainsides and I felt that if I could just put my hand out of the window, I could help the storm along its way. The roadbed improved and we began to descend down and down into the valley below alongside the clouds without wetness on the road anymore or obstructive views. It was beginning to get dark and we realized we had been driving for over 8 hours! We were very thankful that as we reached a road that led to Guayaquil we were not in the clouds dodging things in the dark. We began to look for a mileage sign and found one that was most peculiar. It read: Guayaquil 100+10km. We questioned why it did not say 110 kilometers? Welcome to Ecuador! We now had rejoined up with the familiar road we traveled on a few days before and welcomed the smooth ride. Dave and I had a wonderful two weeks of travel and learning about the people that live in the country in which we serve. It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to understand better about how they live. To talk with some, see their living conditions and to appreciate what sacrifices they make to be able to afford the trip to the temple in Guayaquil and to have their own adventure to come here to the “House of the Lord”. To be sealed as families forever and to experience the love their Father in Heaven has for all His children. As we reached the safety of the temple gates I was thankful for this experience. This trip did turn out to be one of sights, sound and smells we never had imagined. It was a wonderful “Adventure” with two people Dave and I love very much! Our next big travel adventure will be when we travel to see my sister and her husband on a mission in Peru on our way home to the United States in 6 months! July 28, 2008 (Monday)   July 22, 2008 Day 1 and 2 Trip with Marriott’s to Banjos, Ecuador. Have you ever had free time to wonder about things and ponder why you were blessed enough to live in America? Why sometimes you forget the everyday pleasures we have and concentrate on important things like, “What shall I wear out to dinner”, or “My car is so messed up I need a new one now”, or “She has it why shouldn’t I”? or even, “You mean I have to walk?” Well, I had the time this past week as I sat in the car with my brother in law, sister in law and Dave while traveling to Banjos to think about things. We left on Monday at 6am with high hopes and full suitcases bound for a 3 day getaway in the mountains. Our hotel in Banjos was advertised as a Spa and we were excited to be able to go. While on this mission you would think that because we work in the same temple we would see my sister in law and brother in law a lot. But that is not true. They work a different shift, or they travel for speaking assignments or they are really busy with responsibilities and sometimes we go 2 weeks before we get to visit at all. This trip was to be our first [and last] time to be solely with the Marriott’s before they leave in October. [We leave in January.] Dave and I were excited! As Bob drove I looked out the window I was amazed at what I saw. In America if you want prime land for your home you buy a lot on a mountain side for the view. And most people who are well off do that. In Ecuador the well off build homes in the cities and the “other” people get land on the mountains and farm. We were in the Central Andes mountains. The sight was unbelievable. The mountainsides looked like old pioneer quilts. Big patches in hues of greens and browns all tied together with zig-zag paths where the farmers trotted to bring priceless water from wells below to their mountain side homes.[pictures of all this letter are on the family site.] the area of the country is called the “Sierra” but it is almost treeless unlike the Sierras of home. Some of the roads were wonderful and smooth but for the most part they were rough and full of potholes. One part of the drive was spent crossing through a construction zone because our regular route was ruined form a recent volcano eruption. If you can believe this, we got directions to use this alternate road but after traveling a mile it became all torn up and blocked. A small truck in front of us filled with workers got out and moved debris so we could go on. No detour signs, nothing. What should have been a 5 hour drive turned out to be 8! The Luna Runtun Hostel was incredible! Much like a mountain chalet you see in James Bond films! Complete with a mountainside coffee shop that had panoramic view of the active volcano nearby and 3 jetted spas heated thermally by the volcano. Our hotel was on the side of a mountain and took 15 of winding up to find it! The TUNGURAHUA volcano is famous in Ecuador. The town of Banjos is considered the gateway to the Ecuadorian Amazon. For years Banjos has been the place for which Ecuadorians make pilgrimages to honor “Our Lady of the Holy Water”. The walls of the towns Basilica are lined with massive paintings depicting miracles that are credited to the towns virgin. We explored the grounds of the hotel and enjoyed it’s beauty had a wonderful dinner and went to bed so we could be up early for our Banjos adventure the next day. We really had only 1 day to explore the area and then sleep and drive beck home. In the night Dave was awaken by 3 large explosions from the volcano. I slept through it! After breakfast we visited another hotel and Dave took a photo of all the famous waterfalls near Banjos. We went to visit the largest church in Banjos I mentioned before and it was massive. We saw large pillars that had painting on them depicting 12 important events in the life of Jesus and are called Stations of the Cross”. Very impressive. It was freezing cold and we were unprepared for that so we all bought alpaca jackets with hoods. The air was thick with moisture and at times it rained. We then got back in the car and headed to see the beautiful waterfalls. We had been to Banjos once before in January so Dave became the Marriott’s guide. We went to the cable car that goes right next to Manto de la Novio Falls. It is a small car and goes fast but the driver stopped the car long enough for us to get wonder pictures of the falls [on the site] and we got off at the other side of the Negro River. We hiked to the over look. We had to cross a “rickety homemade plank bridge”[see pictures]and pay $.25 to go to the overlook near a shack that sold fried bananas with cheese. We then headed back to see if we could see the volcano. Its top was covered with clouds but there was a road that went past our hotel up around the mountain that brought us closer to the adjoining volcano so off we went. We saw green houses full of roses and some with tomatoes hugging the vertical mountainside. We ended up on a narrow dirt road. After an hour of looking and driving Bob turned around and headed back. Then in the road we saw a man talking to 2 people on a 4 wheeler. As we past he waved his arms to stop us. Told us to turn around! The clouds had parted enough for us to see the volcano erupt[ see pictures]. Amazing! After a wonderful day we went back to the hotel and soaked in a hot water spa for a long time, had a relaxing late dinner and went to bed. As I lay awake I couldn’t help thinking of those people living on the mountain and what it must be like for them to live in an area like this. Most of them do not have TV. They definitely do not have running water or bathrooms but they want the same things for their families that I do. They have love, they know hard work, they have families and they have their faith. What an amazing day! Day 3 about our return drive will be sent tomorrow. It was unbelievable! Love Dave and Terrie July 26, 2008 (Saturday)   July 16 and 17, 2008 Day 2 The second day of our adventure was one I will never forget! We got up and showered and had a nice breakfast. Dave and I put on our tennis shoes and sun screen because this was the day we were going to go whale watching and hike to see Blue Footed Boobies. [see our website as the pictures are not enhanced but real blue feet!] I was still full from dinner the night before. Because we were staying near the ocean I ordered boiled giant shrimp and they were huge and were served complete with heads! Dave cleaned them for me and they were so fresh they tasted like lobster! As we left the dining room the hotel manager said she was moving us to a smaller more private room. I think she wanted our larger room for a family. We would see our new room when we got back. We found our van driver and drove to the beach. It was almost like in a movie. Dark black sand wet from the regressing tide. Small fishing boats that had worked into the early hours till day break had been beached and were unloading their catches. Fish venders were selling fresh fish. Large brown pelicans and other sea birds circled overhead in hope of stealing what ever they could. Children were playing hide and seek among the boxes and crates and venders were trying to get us to buy their catches. We were met by our guide and followed him onto the sand. I looked down and saw that the wet sand was full of holes about 1 inch in diameter. I asked the guide what they were for and he said if I look in the distance behind us I would find out. Slowly I turned to see small red crabs emerging from the once vacant holes we had past and now were running quickly over the wet sand! Our instructions were give to take off our shoes, roll up our pants and wade into the water to the boat what was about 10 feet ahead of us. The water was warmer than I thought. Our shoes were taken and placed in a large water proof bag to be carried onto the island later. We were the last to board so we were seated in the front of the boat. I was glad to be in the front as we would have a better view. The engines started and Dave and I held fast to a rope that had been strung alongside the raining on the bow to the back of the boat. As the boat progressed I felt a thrill of the wind in my face and it took me back to when I was a small girl and my father had a boat. We talked to a young woman sitting next to Dave who was counting and photographing the whales for study. We all kept looking toward the horizon for spouting of water. Once we saw the first spouts the boat stopped and we sat and waited for more. We could see the hump backs of 2 whales as they swam in the water. They would then dive down and would disappear. The engines would then restart and be off again. We continued doing this until we approached the island of “Isla de la Pata”. Many years ago the people who saw this island from a distance said as the sun hit the island it looked like it was made of silver. Actually it was the sun shinning on the poop of millions of birds. A man once tried to build a hotel on the island but found that it was impossible to get fresh water so the house he built was used as the drop off point for the hikes. The island is now a bird refuge and people only come for day hikes and have to leave. We looked at a map of the 2 hiking routes and we were to pick the one we wanted. I asked how far we would hike and our guide said 3 miles complete. “Ok ,I can handle 3 miles I said to myself. No biggie!” Both hikes began with the same 121 stairs going up. The hand rail was made of cut 2 inch branches and a 3 inch support trunk. I was sure that anyone who would trip and need the rail would be disappointed! Each step on the trail was supported with a 2 inch board you had to step over that kept the dirt firm that you walked on and protected the trail from erosion during the rainy season. I was glad when we got to the trail head and the stairs stopped. The plants were amazing! We stopped and were shown a plant that had white clusters of berries that tasted sweet and called “glue berries”. Eat 1 and you have a sore throat cured, eat 2 and you have a laxative and eat 3 and you would be in health trouble. They were so sticky that children use them for glue at school! We sampled and ate wild tomatoes the size of a little fingernail. They were tiny but good. We saw flowers heard the call of wild birds up above and experienced the wonder of nature untouched. It was not an easy walk for me. I was reminded of hikes with the young girls I took many years ago. I learned a clue for a successful hike. Always be in the front because if you let yourself fall behind you have to hike hard to catch up and when you do catch up to the rest spot everyone else has waited for you and rested and they are ready to move on…..so you never rest! On this hike I told Dave I would make it my priority to stay in front! We saw blue footed Boobies. This bird looks like a pelican. They lay their eggs on the dirt. No nest. Their webbed feet are blue because they eat mackerel and draw the color from the fish and it goes to their feet! We saw red footed boobies too that eat shrimp! The darker the foot color the older the bird! We also saw masked boobies that had beautiful white feathers and black masks of black and black wings. Spectacular! We also saw frigate birds. The males have bright red chests and fill them with air to impress the females. They live on tree branches and we saw them by the hundreds nesting on bare tree branches. Towards the end of the hike we were going up back towards the stairs and I looked back over a cliff towards the ocean and I saw an incredible site. Dave and one other hiker were behind me and I had allowed myself to be a “last hiker”. A HUGE whale had jumped out of the water and came diving back! I yelled Dave look, He saw the tail. I said “Wow”. The other hiker saw the splash. It must have been a monster in size because I saw it out in the ocean from the cliff in the distance. I was told some whales can be over The hike was long. What I was told was to be 3 miles turned out to be over 6! We got to the stairs and descended back. We started the hike at 11am and finished at 4pm.It was a hard long hike but worth the experience of seeing the birds and that large whale. The trip back to the beach was wonderful. We saw more small whales swimming but nothing that compared to the one I saw. At the beach there were small children with jugs of water waiting to wash the sane off our feet and to help us put back on our shoes for $.25 cents. Our new room was a welcome sight and it had a beautiful view. We had a great dinner and both Dave and I looked forward to a good night’s rest. As I closed my eyes for the night in our new hotel room I thought of the hike. I thought of the small colorful birds, the wild tomatoes, the flowers and the wonderful massive whales and all creations I saw that day of our Heavenly Father. This world is amazing and I am so grateful to be able to have the opportunity to have this experience. What a blessing! Third Day: We got up for the long drive back. I thought there would be nothing new to see but ther were some things I noticed. I had had 2 nights in a clean beautiful hotel. Outside as we drove I saw small shanties made of cement. Some look like they had been at one time painted bright colors of blue, yellow, orange or tan but now they were faded and full of mold. I figure the mold was because of the dampness of the sea. Homes so different from mine. I was in awe of what I saw. I was humbled by the circumstances of these great people. They all seem so happy. This experience has given me a greater appreciation for my blessings and made me want to be better a person. Life is wonderful and so is this world!Next week the temple is still closed for repairs so we are heading off to the city of Banjos with David's sister and husband so there is more to come! July 19, 2008 (Saturday)   July 15, 2008- Day 1 The temple is closed for repairs and the missionaries are encouraged to go and visit the different areas of the country. It helps us to better understand all the effort it takes for some of these humble wonderful people to come to the temple to learn more of Heavenly Father and to become families forever. We have 2 weeks.There are photos to match the days in the picture section of our blog. Occasionally one is reminded of how small they are in comparison to the world’s size and reminded of how blessed they are with the material things of life. My experiences these past 3 days have brought to my mind feelings that are dramatic and memorable. So you can understand why I feel this way, I will write about each day’s experiences as we toured a few coastal towns in Ecuador and visited one of it’s islands. This is day 1. I will write the days separately. We were picked up Monday morning the 15th of July at 9am in front of the apartment. We had paid a driver to be our guide for the 3 days and I immediately recognized him. He was the same driver we had for a trip almost a year ago. We were traveling with the new missionary couple from Arizona named Johnson’s. We left Guayaquil and headed east for the coastal town of Salinas but first had a stop in a town called SANTA ELANA. Like all small towns in Ecuador they are built around a center park with a Catholic cathedral bordering one side. Most churches in the small towns are built of cement and look like they were built centuries ago. Paint peeling from walls, Stain glass windows in beautiful archways, large wooden front doors and on the outside walls you can see frescoes of Christ and Saints performing miracles. This one was amazing and different. It was massive in size and built totally of planks of wood stained a red brown. No stain glass. It had a steeple made of wood with a bell tower and a weather vane with a cross on top. As we headed back to the highway we saw small cement homes that lacked glass window panes. Curtains of cloth were blowing through the open space and touching some people sitting on benches. The benches were made of two upside down plastic tubs with a board on top. We could see the emptiness of the homes and I compared them to ones I have seen in other places in Ecuador. In the doorways you could see into one side of the home wooden tables filled with foodstuffs and people holding babies. You could see hammocks. Some people were sitting in front of their homes in large plastic molded chairs just like the white plastic ones from Wal-Mart we have in our back yard for BBQ’s! Kids happily ran barefooted nearby. Some homes were painted on the outside with advertising of some type of beer or Penguino Ice Cream! There were lots of “Cantinas” with people selling food and open air dining rooms decorated with red, yellow and black plastic flag banners supplied by the “Pilfer” Beer Company. They were like the red, white and blue ones we put up for the 4th of July. We got back in the van and headed for Salinas. SALINAS: We had seen this beach 5 months before when the Marriott’s took us there to celebrate David’s birthday! There was a cloudy overcast but the beach was still full of families and merchants trying to sell you souvenirs. Dave and I had our photos taken in front of an amazing sand castle and left some change in the glass jar sitting on the wooden bench by us. Then we got in the van and headed for BALLEITA for lunch at the Mariner’s Museum Bar and Grill where we had been for Dave’s birthday lunch previously. The place is packed with old maritime sea stuff and centers around a galleon called “Farallon Dillon” that sunk in the 1600’s off the coast where we were. The restaurant had a sea trunk full of things brought up when the ship was found in the 1970’s. It has a map of the coast is carved on the inside chest lid and in the trunk you can see articles brought up from the ocean bottom like a teacup and saucer, a belt buckle and cannon balls. There are lots of old nautical things like spyglasses, ships in large bottles, compasses and wooden carvings all over the restaurant. It even has a life size carving of the United Stated Navy Sailor memorial! The food was excellent. The owner’s granddaughter about 4 was sitting cross-legged on a large compass of tile and brass on the porch floor near where we ate. The compass is called a “compass rose’. That means that the points of the compass are pointing to their true direction. What a wonderful smiling little girl! She was visiting from Spain. She had messy hair, fake peeling kiddy tattoos of red and violet on her forearms, wore a crumpled cotton dress and held gingerly to a bald, tattered, naked, old, worn out doll. Reminded me of ELOUISE, my favorite children’s book character from my childhood! We got a photo of her. Then we were off north again. The road was like the ones we were on our last trip. Some places beautiful and others full of potholes and were gravel. I saw fences made of sticks tied together with wire, burros, chickens, wild dogs and cats. The biggest sow [mother pig] I have ever seen walking next to the road! Wash drying on lines strung between homes attached to fences and outside walls of homes. Homes made entirely of bamboo built on stilts and under them shady places where people sat and visited and dogs and kids ran freely and played. Mothers washing dishes or cooking on tables outside their homes in dirt yards full of trash, old tools and animals. The next stop was a in a town called VALDIVIA where we were going to see a small aquarium. It was called the “Valdivia Aquarium”. As we left the van a group of kids came near and a man ran up to them and said some fast Spanish [I did not get it but the kids ran fast away] and nodded to me. We paid our entrance fee and walked through an old weathered gray wooden fence into a large yard of packed dirt and gravel. Very primitive. Our guide was an orphan boy who earns money for schooling by being a guide. I saw to the left a large circle cement tank. Forward I could see 2 sets of plastic tarps set end on end like the ones we use in America for boat, picnic or trailer covers. There were large skinny slabs of cement just big enough to set 6, 20 gallon fish tanks end on end. Across of them 6 more tanks. And that was repeated under the second tarp beyond and the two tarps next to them. They were so old and weathered from the sea elements that minerals had collected up and down the sides of the tanks on the edges. Each sea animal’s name was on the side of the glass. There were sea Urchins, Sea Slugs, Blue crabs, sea snakes, coral, shrimps of different kinds and blue crabs. As we walked our guide explained in Spanish about the habits of each.[I was flabber gasted that I actually understood him and was thankful we were not doing this a year ago when Spanish sounded like one long word!] We also saw a large whale skeleton that had been found and assembled in the sand and one spine piece had been hit and was out of place so our guide picked it up put it back! We found out this was not only an aquarium but a rescue lab as rustic as it was. One of the large tanks was about 4 feet high and had a wide edge and a sea lion was lying on the side resting. The sea lion was ill and they had her there 3 months. She was about 8 years old and they had plans to release her when she got well. The other tank had a small viewing window where we saw fish. It had no sew weed, no coral, no sand on the bottom. Just water inside of cement and fish. It had a ramp that connected to a chicken wire 3 foot fence where we saw a brown Ecuadorian land penguin named “Oscar”. One keeper reached down to pet the bird and that bird snuggled to his hand and shook all over with what looked like delight! I know things for him must be hard as I know they are social animals and he was all alone. It looked like sometimes he is allowed to swim in the tank. There were also 2 large pelicans and 3 ill blue footed boobies. I will tell you about these birds in another letter. There was also a large snake exhibit under another tent that I cannot tell you about because I decided that was not what I wanted to see. As we got ready to leave a man approached us with some clay figure relics to sell. He had a back pack full of them and demonstrated how they could whistle. He said they were only $5 but if we really wanted authentic ones he could show us some real expensive and valuable ones and out of his pack he brought some small ones wrapped in dirty tissue paper. Dave made the comment that made me laugh. “Yeah…authentic and really old, just dug up after a year in his yard!” In such a poor town I could see that the people in that rescue center were trying to do their best. It was humbling. As we followed the coast to where we would spend the night we saw rich homes and bamboo homes. Good roads and poor. But the one thing I always saw was happy people. When we arrived at our hotel called “Manaraya” I was glad. We were greeted by the owner and served deep fried bananas and a fresh tropical fruit drink. It was an opportunity to rest and reflect on what I had seen and felt that day and be happy and grateful for the conviences and comforts and blessings I have. We had a great dinner in the restaurant at the hotel and I am so excited as tomorrow we will go whale watching! July 08, 2008 (Tuesday)   July 8, 2008- Sometimes life gets so busy that everyday communication responsibilities seem overwhelming. Sometimes words come smoothly like the operation of a watch. This week I have had time to sit and think about both times while here. It has been a slow week here. There were the South American Football [soccer] championships and the people here are big on their football, hence a quiet week in the temple. It was a good week for me as it gave me lots of time to reflect on the past year here and what I have accomplished and learned in Spanish. When Dave and I first spoke about coming here we knew that it would not be easy. We would have to give up being with family, walk and not drive everywhere, experience strange foods, adjust to a different climate, immerse ourselves in a different culture and way of life and also have unexpected experiences never dreamed about. But the hardest challenge we knew would be to learn to communicate. I remember the day I began my experience here and just the simple Spanish greetings the people gave to welcome me and show love would cause my brain to say, “What are they saying?” or “Will I ever be able to say the proper response?” and “How can I even answer if I can’t understand the question?” It was suggested to me to get a small pocket sized notebook and when ever anyone spoke a word I did not understand write it down, later look it up and then memorize it. What a blessing and stress reducer that little book has been. By writing down the familiar words I hear in the temple I have been able to work better and follow the assignments and converse with the women. I have learned their common ways of greetings, learned to ask simple questions and even at times tease and express gratitude. I decided that instead of stressing out and worrying about communication I would treat it as a challenge game and learning has begun to be fun. The joy I have begun to feel as I know they understand me has turned the frustration and doubt if I could EVER do this into pure joy and appreciation. The people here are so overjoyed when I just try….What a blessing for me. I am not saying that I have mastered the language. Take yesterday for example. It was our preparation day. Time to change the sheets on the bed. Simple thing to do right? I thought so. As I removed the bottom sheet I noticed that it was thread bare to the point that I could put my finger through the holes. [the sheets are almost 10 years old]. I decided to call the service desk and ask for a replacement. I got out the dictionary and put together my oration. I must secretly confess I was proud of what I wrote. Boy was I wrong. When I made the call I gave them the mistaken idea that our bedding had “Bugs” not holes! When Estella come to my rescue and saw the holes and not bugs she laughed and then kindly corrected my carefully prepared request! I thought I had mastered a lot of words. After reviewing everything in my book and counting all the carefully memorized Spanish, I decided that just as a little child learns to communicate slowly and masters communication after years I too have a long way to go. I am still in the Baby talk stage but know that I have been blessed with a gift here. The gift of a love for these faithful loving people and a great opportunity to have stressed upon me that no matter where in the world I go I can accomplish anything with the help of my Heavenly Father and a willing heart. I can honestly say that this has been a wonderful year and I look forward to the next 6 months with excitement and gratitude. Dave is also doinmg great and we both love you all and express gratitude for your love and support as we live here and serve the wonderful peole of Ecuador. Love Terrie and Dave June 13, 2008 (Friday)   June 13, 2008 Dear Family and friends: Looking back on this experience of serving in Ecuador I can see what a wonderful opportunity I have had to learn more about this world and to watch people and to have quiet times of reflection and realize that no matter where I go in the world people are the same. There are lessons to be learned. I watched a new bride come for her marriage a few weeks ago. I watched as her mother gingerly guided her where she needed to go. Sat with her and tenderly hugged her after the ceremony. I watched her father with tears in his eyes hug his daughter and wish her well. I watched as some women in her family helped her prepare to leave the temple fuss over her dress so that she looked perfect. After the wedding, my place of assignment changed and I was assigned to the reception area. I stood by the front door and saw the groom anxiously wait near me. I saw the happiness in his face as he saw her come down the hall to leave with him and join the many people who were waiting outside to join them in celebration. I remembered how I felt that same day when my turn arrived. I remember well having the same feelings as she did. I took an interest in this couple because I had met the groom in our apartment twice before. You see, our computer died and we needed a technician to come fix it. We had been without a computer. We got what Dave said was the “blue screed of death”. This young man came to fix it. Funny thing was that in order to get tested to find out the problem he had to use Spanish programs. The memory was totally wiped! And then we had to wait for Amy to send us the installment discs. It would only play “hearts” in large font and in Spanish! So we were really into the language. Then we had to wait for the groom to get home from his honeymoon to get our computer going again! This computer technician was the groom I saw in the temple! Dave and I are so thankful to “be connected”. And speaking of brides, this next week we will celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary. It has been a long road. We have lived in, Los Angeles, San Diego, Monterey, San Francisco, Virginia, Guam, Idaho Falls, Maryland, Washington, South Africa and Ecuador. Many experiences have influenced Dave and me. For every joy we have experienced we have been thankful and for every heart ache we have pained together. But I can honestly say that they have taught us about life and helped to make us better people. They have given us a better marriage and appreciation for each other. With every experience our attitude has had to be one of, “What can I learn from this?” and “How will this make be stronger”. At this moment and we are so far from our children and grandchildren we feel our love for them intensify as we communicate with them and observe that our 7 children have begun to rely more on each other and help each other. What happiness that has brought to us to see that mutual love and support. [When they were younger I wondered if some of the would ever like each other, you all know how that goes!]We are not a perfect family but I know I will be forever grateful for them all. I will also be thankful for the opportunity to come here and to understand the language better and realize that life experiences no matter where a person lives, or language he speaks brings families together and helps love grow! June 06, 2008 (Friday)   June 5, 2008 Dear family and friends: Our computer died and we have been without one for a while but just got it fixed. We have learned that even thought Ecuador has heavy rainfall in the monsoon season they do not have good drainage systems and even with a fixed computer we lost internet for weeks also. We are happy that it is the end of the rainy season! Here is an update. As of June 16 we will be on this mission for 11 months! The time has flown by and our studying has blessed us so that most of the time now we understand what we hear. We have found out that reading Spanish is a bit easier than speaking. We have been blessed with 2 more grandsons this past few months. Nathan had a son in February and named him Oliver and John had a son born Morher's day and named him Matthew! Warren will have a son in late August so our family is growing lots! Amy is taking good care of our house and har husband Marcus the yard! The boys are taking care of the family dog, Ivory. A generous present from their Uncle Evan who is in the east in the Navy. We were invited to dinner at the home of one of the temple workers. It was a cement block home. Very little furniture. The walls were cement and painted a bright green. Large heavy wood wall units covered one wall and in the center of the room was a large table with bottled soda and a plate full of Empanadas. They are like a turnover pastry that is deep fried. There were two types. One had a motzerlla type cheese filling and the other and had interesting filling: ground meat,walnuts,chopped egg,brown sugar,cooked onions,green oives with pimento,some tomato sauce and some diferent spices. Different than an apple turnover! As I sat and was served I remembered what I had been told about this family. Their income was making and selling these pastries from the back of their motor scooter for $1.25 each. There were 10 missionaries being served and there was at least 40 turnovers on the table. We were eating what they usually sold! It would be an insult for us to pay them because they were showing their love for the missionaires. What a lesson to me of humility and service.I will post on our picture site the meal.Our experience here is teaching us humility, hard work and appreciation! Truly we are loving this expeience! January 27, 2008 (Sunday)   The temple here in Guayaquil closed for 2 weeks for maintenance. We were encouraged to mingle with the people.[See Day 1 photos in our site] Day 1 Jan 16,2008 We were supposed to fly to Loja but the plane was canceled so we had to fly to Cuenca and meet our bus there and backtrack to Loja. We met in the lobby of our apartment building at 5:45 AM. The group was: us, a missionary couple the Hess’s and a single widow Beverly Mayer and our tour guide Doug and his driver.The plane was new and we were served a juice box and a small ham sandwich! Great breakfast! We got our luggage and went to the front of the airport to meet our bus driver.The bus was supposed to be a small van but the owner/driver turned in his van for a mid sized 30 passenger new bus and so it was just the 6 of us traveling on that big bus! The totally red bus was so streamlined that the rear view mirrors of molded red plastic came out the two front top edges of the bus. If you looked at the bus head on it looked like a large red ant with the feelers sticking [the rear mirrors] out and the almond shaped headlamps look like eyes! We boarded the bus and were told the drive to our hotel through Loja would be about 5 hours. The road started out nice. The city looked like Guayaquil. [see day 1 photos]Small shops and lots of pick up trucks. People coming and going. Some wearing the traditional wear of the area. Women with hats and full heavy wool skirts and ruddy brown faces and big toothy smiles and children strapped to their backs or large baskets full of things. I found it odd that men always walked with them but never carried anything! We were told that these people were from LaPaz, Boliva and had moved and established this area as their home. The climate and soil was like Bolivia’s in every way so it was perfect for them. They did not adapt to Ecuadorian ways but remained Bolivian. Some homes were all of cement with corrugated tin roofs and there were lots of dogs running wild everywhere. We also saw homes made of clap board and on stilts. There was wash hanging out on lines and even fresh fruit stands along the road or even an occasional upside down pig for sale, dead and hanging by back legs by a door step with a butcher ready to sell all or part of it what he could. The road then changed to a winding gravel, pot holed and bumpy mess. It seemed that many times where the paved road had been, a land slide occurred and they just used a plow and moved the dirt to clear the way and didn’t care if it also took up the road! Mile after mile of winding uneven jolts. The driver many times had to slow down to a crawl to miss holes or squeeze between 2 piles of dirt that shared both ways only to have to move over again and then to squeeze again a few minutes later. No stress at all for him but a bit worrisome to me! He was very cautious. We drove through LOJA and then headed west on a small road for 2 hours to get to our hotel. We arrived at VILCABAMA. What we thought would be a 5 hour ride turned out to be a total of 8 because of the road! We turned off onto a small dirt road and in my mind I was thinking, “Oh my, what have we committed to?”. The road was narrow and there were small bamboo,wood or cement homes on either side. Wild dogs, cows tied to fences eating grass and chickens every where!As we finished about the fifth turn was I surprised. [see Day 1 photos]What was a dry colorless area turned into a lush green paradise! It was near dusk. The hotel was waiting for us with a sweet herbal drink and a promise of a tasty dinner in an hour. It was built on a small hill, rooms on tiered places with tropical plants and flowers blooming. Each room had stairs and looked like a hide away you would see in Hawaii! Our room was a huge and full of fresh flowers with a bed that had an orange mosquito net. The bathroom toilet was black! The shower was all mosaic in broken pieces of tiles set in cement. We had a small balcony that overlooked the mountain below where you could see other rooms. Quite a hike to get to your room. The hotel owner was named Carol and she was a “back to nature” wonderful, friendly woman with a full head of long frizzy white hair.She had a wide smile and wore black and had long dangling rhinestone and wood earrings. She said she was 64![see day 2 photos] She claimed to have seen flying saucers in the valley below and talked of herbal healing and the force she had felt in Vilcabama. Part of what she said was true as the valley where we were had many people living there who were well over 100 years old! The dinner was wonderful and it was good to stretch out that night and not be on that bus! I was excited as the next day after breakfast we were going on a horse ride through the area. I felt like I was sleeping in heaven! January 06, 2008 (Sunday)   January 2008 Happy New Year! Dave and I find ourselves busy working in the beautiful country of Ecuador. We are on a mission for our Church and are Official Missionaries assigned to give service in the Guayaquil, Ecuador Temple. We live on the third floor of a beautiful building and are working hard to master Spanish. Please check out our picture part of our site and we will share a bit of this experience with you! November 18, 2007 (Sunday)   Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Ecuador doesn't have this holiday but the missionaries will meet in between shifts to have a dinner and then we will get back to work! Dave and I will be working the evening shift so we begin work Thursday at 4pm and will finish at 10pm.Dave is going to cook potatoes for 18! We are communicating better each day in Spanish and are so thankful for the people who are patient with us. They LOVE to practice English with us! When I meet some of the people we work with they say," HELLO MADAME". Each letter is pronounced. For the Christmas program I have been asked along with my sister-in-law Marian to dance "The dance of the Sun" a traditional Inca dance. Should be interesting. We will get photos!Dave is doing great with his Spanish and understands and talks more each day! We are well and happy. 1/4 of our mission is over and we have lots of wonderful experiences to look forward to! October 30, 2007 (Tuesday)   Happy Halloween to you all. We just added pictures of our trip to the ruins. Check them out! October 14, 2007 (Sunday)   Hola! Dave and Terrie have been on another mission. This time we are in Guayaquil, Ecuador. We were called to work in the temple here and are now immersed in spanish 24 hours a day. It has been a challenge. I decided to make two “Top Ten” lists from Ecuador: Top Ten Things That Make Ecuador Different 1. Toilet paper that is only 6 inches wide [less to flush] 2. A toaster that has 1 gigantic slot. When you put toast into it ,it makes a loud noise and the walls begin to move onto the toast and it seems to look like a metal crusher from a junk yard![Makes good toast though!] 3. Greeting each other with a touching cheek to cheek and a kissing of the air next to your ear. [a wonderful feeling to experience to feel the love of these great people though] 4. Going shopping and seeing familiar foods from the states but labels are different.[example is white bread with the name “Bimbo”. Good bread!] 5. No sidewalks-just dirt in neighborhoods and iron bars on windows 6. Milk sold in bags and giant size juice boxes! 7. Pastries that look incredibly beautiful, almost like they are made from plastic but in fact also taste like plastic! [I think the sugar ratio is different] 8. Two way streets that are divided by very long center islands so that a driver has to go blocks out of his way to find a place to do a u-turn just to go back to the street he wanted to turn left onto in the first place. 9. Children unsupervised in the streets late at night 10. Time Zone here from Vancouver Top Ten Things That Make Ecuador The Same 1. The Temple 2. A pillow-top mattress 3. Nectarines with “Grown in California” stickers 4. Opening the drawer of your new apartment and finding the same pattern on the silverware you have at home 5. Family pictures on my refrigerator 6. Other American missionaries that struggled with Spanish like we are who now communicate after being here 8 months. [There is hope!] 7. Holding hands and Goodnight kisses 8. Quaker Oats and raisins 9. Loving Family to care for us and to love. Hermana and Elder Marriott. 10. Spanish words that when spoken sound as English words do! Life is wonderful where ever you go if you look for the good! the people here are wonderful! November 26, 2006 (Sunday)   Last summer Terrie and a friend, Carol Lytle, were “surfing’ the net” and found an awesome deal on a cruise. It actually turned out not quite as awesome as they first thought because they thought air fare was included which it wasn’t. But it was still a good deal so they bought it. So the first week of November we went on a cruise with our friends the Lytles. We joined the ship, the Norwegian Sun, in New Orleans. Our original flight was canceled so we had to go a day early and stay overnight in New Orleans. In New Orleans we went out to a nice restaurant, the Commander’s Palace, in the garden district for dinner and then went to Preservation Hall to hear some jazz. Preservation Hall was crowded and smoky so we did not go in. Instead we just strolled down the middle of Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. We did hear some very nice jazz at an outdoor courtyard that is dedicated to preservation of New Orleans jazz. The courtyard had statues of Al Hurt, Pete Fountain and others in it. Bourbon street itself, however, is really sleazy with bars and porn places. Would not go there again. Sunday afternoon we boarded the ship and “Let the Eating Begin!” Sunday night and half of Monday the ship was in a rain storm with 8 to 10 foot seas. Our rooms were on only the fourth deck and right up in the front of the ship, so every time the ship hit a big swell just right we could really hear it and a big wave and splash would go by our porthole. I liked it, but some people got a little queasy. Monday was at sea all day. We just lazed around and ate and read books and played games etc. Tuesday was Cozumel, Mexico. Cozumel is an island off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. We took a boat in to the coast (Playa De Carmen) where we took a tour to some Mayan ruins on the coast South of Cancun. The area was called Tulum. Not as many ruins nor as intricate as Chichenitza, but being on the coast it was cooler and very beautiful. Wednesday was Belize City, Belize (formerly British Honduras). We took a tour bus to a jungle preserve that had some wonderful waterfalls. We swam around in the river pools for a couple of hours and then took a fast walk on the jungle trail. At first we were told that the jungle trail part was not open to us because they had overbooked, but later in the trip we went on the hike and saw beautiful jungle and much larger waterfalls. Because of the mix up – the ship refunded the cost of the tour for us. Thursday was Puerto Santo Tomas De Castilla, Guatemala. Guatemala was the one place that had beautiful mountains coming right down to the sea. We went into the mountains to a place where a river has carved through the limestone of the mountains and made caves. We hiked about ¾ mile through the jungle carrying big inner tubes and then tubed down a river and through a cave about a mile long. We had headlamps on our heads so we could see. Friday was Costa Maya, Mexico on the Yucatan Peninsula. Costa Maya is one of those places where the cruise lines have said “Build a pier and we will come.” Almost nothing there except a few shops to purchase things (Diamonds International was on the ship and in every port we called at, for instance) and along the beach a small village or two and a bunch of bars. Beautiful white coral sand beaches and the second largest coral reef in the world (The Great Barrier Reef is largest). So we decided that this would be our day to be at the beach and snorkel. I had brought an underwater camera so we took some underwater pictures. Saturday was again all day at sea on the way back to New Orleans. The ship has 2 swimming pools, 4 hot tubs, and lots of activities going on all the time. So we were not bored. Sunday we came back home to the rain. It was a wonderful trip. Eighty five to ninety degrees every day and lots of sun – hard to come home to the rain. We did eat a lot, but I only gained 4 pounds – not bad. I’m pretty sure all of that was gained at the midnight chocolate buffet! Take a look at some of the pictures that I have posted.

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