Flowers, Dinosaurs, Enchiladas and Kisses

 

Dear Family and Friends,

The hibiscus flowers that grow on the temple grounds are huge. Next time I'll get Lewis to put his hand in the photo so you can see how large they are. They are beautiful.

We went on a fun adventure. There is an exhibit of dinosaurs in the botanical garden on the Malecon that runs along the river downtown in Guayaquil. These dinosaurs move and make noise. It was a fun walk through this lovely setting. We really needed some small grandchildren with us to be appropriately impressed with the large creatures that moved and made loud, unfriendly noises.

The last two are not dinosaurs but rather, patient husbands waiting for their wives to take photos to send home to their grandchildren.

We had brought a large package of corn tortillas from Costco. We also brought dried chili peppers from WalMart. Lewis made enchilada sauce and we made a whole lot of enchiladas, both chicken and cheese. We invited everyone on our floor to come for dinner. The USA missionaries were delighted to have some Mexican food. Sister Chiza ate them but I think she liked the rice and beans and salad better. The others brought a table and chairs, dishes, salad, jello and a pie and all 9 of us enjoyed ourselves.

I want to give you an example of how sweet and loving these Ecuadorian saints are. There is a mother and daughter who work in the temple on Fridays. The husband of the mother works also. The dad is a good man, large and tall. The mother and daughter are particularly beautiful. They are both so kind and sweet and encouraging. I find it amazing. It seems a bit "over the top" from my perspective but not at all insincere or unnatural for them. Last Friday, the daughter happened to walk by me as I was sitting on a bench at "punto uno" in front of the office in the temple. She lightly ran her fingers under my chin and made a tiny kissing noise as she passed. Wish I could demonstrate my love and affection for my children and grandchildren half as well as they do to everyone in the temple. It is both their culture and their talent. I need to work on developing a bit of what they do so gracefully and naturally. They remind me of the love our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for us - so freely and generously given. We also need to learn to be more open to receive it.

Love, Jeri/Mom/Grandma

Introductions

I would like to introduce you to the wonderful people here in Guayaquil who are our new best friends. We are lucky enough to have a built-in peer group that has welcomed us so warmly. We joined three other senior couples from the USA: the Martins, the Johnsons and the Bottorffs. There are also four senior couples who are native Spanish speakers: the Estrellas, the Zunigas, the Campos and the Chamoros. The first Monday we were here we were invited to a game night with the English speakers.  Sister Bottorff, Brother Martin and Brother Bottorff are in the photo below. (Brother Bottorff went to the emergency room that night in severe pain and later had his gall bladder removed. He had not had any previous pain but it was very badly infected. Scary experience for him and his wife but he is recovering very well and will resume his temple service soon.)

 Sister Martin and Sister Johnson

 Grandpa and Brother Johnson

Sister Chiza came to join us less than two weeks ago. It is our same Sister Chiza from the PEF Service Center in Quito on our last mission. She had been traveling by bus to serve in the temple part time. Now she is a full time missionary and living in one of the apartments here. There is another single sister who will come and share the apartment with her who will arrive later this month. Anibal and Lucia Morales came to the temple! They are the couple who also worked with us for an entire year in Quito. We were so happy to have a reunion. We didn't know they were coming and were gone part of the first day they were here but we did get a visit before our shift. They came and had breakfast with us the next morning before they went to another session and then returned home. They hope to get their affairs in order soon and come and serve full time here. (They had a house built and the builder has not finished several important things. They need to be there to see that he completes the job as agreed.)

The Morales and Sister Chiza

We have a monthly Family Home Evening with all of the senior couples, President and his wife and the couple who manage the building where we live along with their two young adult daughters. Our first one included a fun getting to know you game and a tribute to the Campos who will end their service here this week. The are from Otavalo (Remember going there, Morgan?) and have the long hair they wear in a single braid down their back. Their young men can serve missions without cutting their hair. They speak Quichua. Brother Campo speaks Spanish but Sister Campo only speaks Spanish about as well as I do. She has never learned to read or write so it is difficult for her to do some of the jobs in the temple. But no one has as sweet a smile as she does. She is very small, the mother of 10 children and 36 grandchildren. All of their children are married in the temple and their grandchildren are beginning to serve missions just like ours are. Some of their children live in the USA and in other countries. They are as proud of their family as we are of ours.They will be missed here in the temple. Brother Campo is always ready to go home after their temple shift before Sister Campo comes out of the sister's dressing room. He says, "I am hungry" in English and complains that she takes too much time painting her face in Spanish. I think he is really very proud of her. And I don't think she paints her face.

Thank you for living good lives and caring about other people and being the kind of individuals that we can't help but be proud of.
Love, Grandma Pettingill

The Prologue

Before we are completely immersed in Ecuador I would like to report our happy experiences just before we left the USA. We enjoyed our last meal at our favorite restaurant, El Gallo Giro. Most Spanish speakers do not care for Mexican food. They don't like spicy.

We were set apart by our stake president, President Jensen, surrounded by our Idaho family members. Leiann told me years ago that he reminded her of my Dad somewhat and I agree. He is at the end of his 10 year service and will be released the Sunday after we leave.

We had the opportunity to go to the temple in Boise with Troy for the first time. He reports to the Ghana, Accra MTC the first of next month.

We moved out of our house so a tenant could move in on September 1st. Susan and her family welcomed us into their household. We loved spending time with them, attending vollyball games, reading scriptures and the most unique experience -- a stuffed animal wedding and reception, meticulously planned and carried out by Sarah and Lydia and involving many neighborhood friends. The young man in the suit coat played "The Entertainer" as the bride entered the room and went down the aisle you see here.

We spent several days with Nancy and her family (more volleyball, soccer, football and scripture reading) and were able to spend time with Rosie as well. We saw Morgan, the BYU student, on Saturday only because she doesn't live at home anymore. It was a treat that Scott was in town for the weekend to help Katy celebrate her birthday. We were able to spend time with them and also Jeremy and Kasey. Nancy's children thought that if Katy was at their house, Holly should be there too. But it is a little harder to stop by when she lives in VA now. Time with family is a treasure.

David Evans took us on Sunday afternoon to go to our hotel. Heather and Ronin and her dad, David arrived on Monday to pick up our car. (We hope it is behaving well back in California. Before we owned it, it belonged to Jennifer and Aaron who took very good care of it. Jennifer tells me that her name is Harriet.) David (my brother) was kind enough to drive to Salt Lake to visit with us one evening after our training in the Salt Lake Temple to take us to the store to buy an electric razor and visit for a while. We were taking him to dinner when Lewis stepped out at just the right time for David to pay! Thanks, David. We enjoyed a little one on one time. Morris family events usually involve large groups of people, which we love, but smaller groups allow for more conversation. Ecuador is more special to me because my brother went there on his mission.

It was a wonderful experience for us to be in the Salt Lake Temple for our training. I assume this change is because there is no room for anyone but the young people who need to have the MTC experience in Provo. Our group of about 25 couples was heading out to serve in temples all over the world. Amazing. We spent most of our time in a chapel inside the temple as well as participating in ordinances. We were also privileged to go to the fifth floor assembly hall where the temple was dedicated and the general authorities meet before every general conference. There Elder Walker of the Temple Department talked to us as we sat in vintage perforated metal folding seats on the Aaronic Priesthood side of the room. It was a wonderful three days we spent there in that amazing building that was so lovingly crafted for 40 years by our pioneer ancestors. We go out to serve the members all over the world who are pioneering in their own ways and continuing a strong tradition of faith and love and hard work also.