Welfare Open House in Quito

Last night we participated in an Open House or a Welfare Fair held in the Quito Stake Center. All the leaders and members of the six stakes in Quito were invited and our turnout was quite good. There were more than 200 people present by my estimation. The sign below is a brief explanation of the Welfare program of the church.


I had not even noticed but Sister Yost pointed out to me that if I would but turn around I could see a snow covered volcano from this area right in front of the door. Quito is surrounded by volcanoes and this one is often covered with snow.


Autosuficiencia is self reliance. An important concept that we all need to understand and practice. It can feel so comfortable to have someone else take care of us, but that is not the Lord's way. We are responsible to care for ourselves and our family to the fullest extent that we possibly can. After that, we can call on extended family and then the church to lend a hand to help us improve our own self-reliance.


The first booth (called a stand in Spanish) was about the Bishop's storehouse.

Mercedes below on the left works in the Bishop's Storehouse which is on the first floor of our building. She and her daughters have helped us in the PEF Service Center when they were on vacation from school and work. She is a very sweet lady and last week she gave me three tiny felt ladies with a gold safety pin sewn to the back to wear as a lapel pin. She told me I should wear one to the Feria and I remembered to do so.


This sign is for LDS Social Services. I do not think there is a lot of help available in this area but there is some.

The Trujillos from the Colon ward were helping in this booth.


This announces the Services of Resources of Employment

There was a lady with 72 hour backpacks and they set up a tent (which the children loved) and showed how to make a homemade sleeping bag. (Sew together waterproof material with a blanket and a sheet inside.) That would work just fine where the temperatures are not below freezing. We did have a little earthquake that we felt in our apartment on Saturday morning. I am hoping it was just a little stress reliever and not a precursor of something larger. Emergency preparedness is something we need to do before the emergency. I'm reminding myself, as well as you readers.

The Yosts have been traveling so they had to scramble to get everything ready ahead of time. They had a very interesting display showing all of the projects they have participated in here in Ecuador - quite a variety of type and location.

All of the ladies were fascinated by the fleece blankets that Sister Yost has been making between their projects. The Ecuadorians have never seen the fun edge treatments Sister Yost has been doing on the baby blankets.

Most members were not aware of the scope of the humanitarian projects in Ecuador.


Here is the one we were involved with.

Grandpa is ready.

Elder and Sister Morales came to assist us in answering questions and explaining how the PEF program works here in Ecuador. We met several students and prospective students and lots of interested parents and leaders.

My favorite section was this one:

They demonstrated square foot gardening.

There was lots of interest in how to store grains and other dry food in soda pop bottles.

They taught that eating a variety of colors of fruits and vegetables improves nutrition.

My favorite part was the chicken coop. These chickens came to teach us about lots of possibilities of improving our health by eating nutritious foods and even producing our own food.


It was a productive evening!

The Open House was well organized by Fernando Aguirre, who is in charge of all of the facets of welfare in Ecuador. He even provided sandwiches and juice for all of us that presented material during the evening. I think that everyone who came was glad they attended and left with greater knowledge of how to improve their own welfare and an increased desire to contribute to the welfare of others.

October Birthdays

Saige Walker was born on the 3rd of October.

Sam was born on the 4th










Jessica was the fourth grandchild born in 1994.










Rebecca was born on October 13th










Next birthday in October is Alyssa










Lorena follows










Then Emily










Beth was born on the very last day in October









October is a good month for Pettingill family members. But then so is every month of the year!

Saturday Morning Tourists

We have a new senior sister who has come to Quito. She is replacing Sister Naylor who is going home in two weeks. Elder Geldmacher found an English speaking tour guide that took all of us in a small bus downtown to the oldest part of Quito and accompanied us as we toured several churches, the Presidential Palace and what was the first jail and now is a museum. The weather was sunny and warm and we had a wonderful morning.

Our first stop is the new Basilica. It is new because it was begun only 100 years ago and is still not finished.
Below is the newest portion. It is built of lighter stone and is in a European style. Notice the gargoyles - they have wings and look like dragons.

The older part has gargoyles but they are all Ecuadorian animals. I love that. They took an old tradition and made it their own.

We passed these ladies as we got off the bus. They are awaiting our return in hope of a sale. They have lovely scarves. They offered them as 2 for $5. (But we know they can be purchased for $2 each if you go to the mercado.)


The Basilica is a huge building with two towers. Here is one of them.

Here are some iguanas carved from stone.

These are turtles.

Inside the building the stained glass is absolutely beautiful. See the streaks of color from the other windows?


My favorite was this depiction of the Good Samaritan.


Sister Naylor and Sister Thomas each bought a scarf for $2. Isn't it amazing how this woman is wearing her baby. All of the indigenous women tie their babies to their backs.

Now we are on the Grand Plaza where the Presidential Palace is located and looking back at the Basilica.

We were able to go into the Presidential Palace and have a tour. A photographer took our photo (we did it as a group) and they gave the photo to us as a gift from the president. I thought it was a nice touch (although it might also help with security). There is a sign on the front of the building that marks the place that one president was assassinated. Below is the room where the cabinet members meet with the president.

We love the traditional interior patios of Spanish buildings. We also saw the banquet room and the many beautiful gifts that have been given to Ecuador by other countries displayed in glass cabinets. The President and his family live in a portion of the building. Every Saturday, the president travels to one of the cities of Ecuador in order to be accessible to the people.

Here are the senior missionary females standing on the balcony where we saw the President when we came for the changing of the guard. Sister Yost, Sister Thomas, Sister Geldmacher, Sister Naylor and Sister Pettingill.

As we left we passed these guards. There is one on each side of the doorway. We learned that they stand there for two hours at a time. It was a good photo op and they did not seem to mind.




Inside the building that was once a jail are a series of wax figures that display the history of Ecuador. Their independence from Spanish conquest was a long struggle. They are very proud of those who felt that the indigenous people (those who lived here before the Spanish came) were not inferior to the Spanish people who came to claim the land as their own and ruled as they saw fit. This little scene shows the men who came to Ecuador from France to determine exactly where the equator is located. Ecuador is the only place in the world where the equator passes over high altitudes.



This is a small portion of one column on the face of the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus. Our guide told us that all of the churches we visited are Catholic but each was built by a different order within the church and there was a great deal of competition. Each successive church wanted to outshine the existing ones. This one certainly takes the prize. The entire chapel area inside is covered with gold with an incredible amount of ornamentation on every surface. All of this was done when there were no power tools (build between 1605 and 1765). Can you imagine the amount of patient work that went into building these amazing churches? No photos are allowed inside so you have to just imagine all of the gold.


The last church we visited is one of the first built in Quito. There is a very, very large space in front of the church for large crowds. This church needs some tender loving care and a lot of restoration. This statue of a boy carrying a Bible is at the base of some steps leading up to where a priest can speak to the large congregation.

We enjoyed our tour and learned quite a bit from our guide. Ecuador is such an amazing country with so much variety in the landscape and the people and the animal and plant life. I wish we could spend more time experiencing all that Ecuador has to offer. But we are very grateful that our time is spent helping the wonderful young people of Ecuador to have an opportunity to obtain better jobs and therefore be able to build strong and happy families.