Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving,

We celebrated on Monday because that is our day off. It would be too rushed to try to have dinner ready and eat between shifts today. We enjoyed our lovely dinner that Sister Bottorff planned. She made the turkey and dressing and gravy and coordinated our fun feast. Everyone contributed and we were grateful for the food, our families and the chance to serve together in the Guayaquil Temple. Everyone wrote a favorite blessing they were grateful for. Grandpa wrote "eyes". In Spanish it looks like this: OjOs. Imagine a dot inside the center of each O and it looks like eyes separated by a nose. I wrote that I am thankful for the many patient Spanish speakers who take the time to communicate with me each day.

Sister Johnson made this cute turkey on her relish tray. 

This is the kitchen/dining room available for all the people who stay here while they are attending the temple. On Saturdays they also sell food here because the cafeteria is always overcrowded with the many faithful people who come. Grandpa wanted an ice cream bar out of the blue freezer you can see. Good thing none of us has a key. This is the table before the turkey was added.

We had lots of good food and there was another table full of desserts that I failed to get a photo of.

President Groberg is looking down at his hymnbook. Sister Groberg is leading our song.

The first couple is the Ripples from Nova Scotia, Canada. They served as temple missionaries here a couple of years ago and have returned for two months to serve as patrons in the temple and continue the remodel of the Valeros' home. The Ripples believe that the Valeros prayed them to Ecuador. Neither of the Ripples speak Spanish but Brother Ripple is an amazing builder with indefatigable energy. We wish they could stay for years but their family is happy that they will be returning.The Valerios are an amazing family. The father serves as a counselor in the bishopric currently and for many years he and his wife have come every Saturday to work in the baptistry. They both work out of town and sacrifice an incredible amount of time serving others. They are the only reason we survive Saturdays in the baptistry. They have it down to a science and can provide a wonderful experience for the hundreds of young people who are able to come every Saturday from all over Ecuador. We also have a couple of stakes in Peru and Columbia who attend our temple because it is closer to their homes than the temple located in their own countries. Yesterday we talked with two young adult sisters who live in Columbia. The older one just returned from her mission in Paraguay a week ago. They are delighted to come to Guayaquil because it is only a 14 hour bus ride. It takes 24 hours for them to get to the temple in Columbia.

Today seems like a just normal day here in Guayaquil. We hope that each of you is enjoying a special meal with people you love. It is good for us to remember that we have much to be grateful for. Know that you as individuals are on the top of our list of favorite blessings. Thank you for your good lives and the contributions you are making to improve this old world of ours. There are lots of problems but each of our children and grandchildren are bright spots of hope for the future.

Love, Grandma/Mom/Jeri

Happy Anniversary to Us

I promised a picture of the beautiful flowers here with Grandpa's hand in the photo so you could tell how large the blossoms are. The second flower is even larger. Are you impressed?

Look at what else lives on the temple grounds. These fellas were out for a stroll on our 23rd wedding anniversary, November 20th.

 I took a photo of this smaller guy below out our bedroom window. I was amazed at how long his tail is. It is much longer than you can see. We are on the third floor. Good thing he knows what he is doing. It would be a long drop to the ground. Usually they climb the trees with fruit. I can't imagine that an iguana could manage a coconut. He matched the colors in the tree very well. He was probably up there for the view.

 After working in the temple in the morning we went to lunch at Menestra del Negro to celebrate our anniversary. It is a chain of restaurants and we had seen one near the Malecon on our last bus ride. We often ate lunch at one near our office in Quito. We took Morgan and David to another location downtown on the Gran Plaza. Good traditional food and not expensive. Menestra is the style of the beans or you can choose lentils which is probably even more traditional. They also serve "Christianos y Moros" which is rice (white) and lentils (dark) mixed together. The round thing is a slice of plantain (big green banana) which as been smashed and fried.  I forgot to take a photo until after we had started eating.

Then we took a long walk on the Malecon which is along the Guayas River and finished up with an ice cream cone ($.75) at McDonalds overlooking the water.

The bus ride home was very crowded. I was worried we wouldn't be able to get to the front of the bus in order to get off but it worked out just fine. These people know how to squeeze on and let you squeeze off when you need to. We didn't jump off fast enough and the bus driver yelled at us. But I'm glad I do not have his job. We are getting a bit old and slow. But it suites me fine. I'm comfortable old and slow.

President Groberg gave me an assignment to give a 10 minute talk on happiness at a temple missionary training meeting...in Spanish of course. I was stressed preparing it but it made me happy thinking of all the things that improve my happiness. My family is at the top of the list. Thank you for being such wonderful people, every single one of you. You make it easy to feel happy every single day.

Love you lots, Grandma/Mom/Jeri

Two Months

Today marks two months in Guayaquil. We have learned many things and feel comfortable here and glad to be one of the temple missionary couples and among the many workers in the Guayaquil Temple. As full time temple missionaries we have a monthly training session with President and Sister Groberg during the early afternoon when the temple is closed. Training consists of actually performing the ordinances and it is another chance to do family names. Our first one was in the baptistry and President Groberg was the one baptized. Our second was the initiatory ordinances and we participated as patrons and ordinance workers. It is a lovely experience to have together as a group. Next month we will have a special endowment session and the temple employees will be invited to participate as well.

I was working in the baptistry one busy Saturday morning and they needed me upstairs for an English speaking patron. I was nervous because I had not done anything in English as a temple worker for a very long time. But I found that the English was still there, just buried a bit under a lot of Spanish I have been using recently.

Last month I had a chance to go with Sister Chiza to a PEF/Employment event held in our chapel. Ever since we left Quito Sister Chiza has been helping both PEF and Employment as a volunteer. She took a long trip to Argentina after her term as a service missionary was over but when she returned she went back and helped out daily wherever they most needed her. The Segos are the current couple in charge of PEF and Sister Chize knew about the Exposition that was scheduled here in Guayaquil. It was a joint project with Employment and brought together many trade schools as well as PEF and BYU-I to explain their offerings to everyone who was interested. There was a lot of interest in the culinary school that was serving freshly made appetizers and desserts. I enjoyed those as well but was excited to learn that BYU-I has a Pathway program that is functioning both in Guayaquil and Quito (as well as many places in the world) that combines online classes with a weekly class held in a church building with a local teacher.  All students must qualify to take classes in English and have a temple recommend. In Ecuador there are two majors offered: Web Design and Business Marketing. As I understood it, the students earn a BYU-I degree that is respected world wide through this distance learning option and it is very inexpensive. I spoke to a current student who said it is very hard work but he is almost finished and very happy to have been able to participate.

PEF is undergoing major changes. I didn't have time to learn very much but Employment will take additional responsibility and self-reliance is becoming even more prominently the focus. I got a chance to talk with Sister Sego for a few minutes. She came with no Spanish skills and I know that it is a challenge when your ability to communicate is limited. She is doing very well and has learned a lot of Spanish in one year.  I looked on LDS.org and it says: The charter of the Perpetual Education Fund has been broadened into a self-reliance initiative for international members, ages 18 – 65+. The purpose is to teach doctrines and principles and provide tools and services to help lift our members in need move from poverty to spiritual and economic self-reliance and greater conversion. The tools and services include the successful PEF student loan program in 55 countries, in addition to many new resources and training programs targeted at self-employment, employment, and career development.

I am grateful that our current mission involves communication one on one and I do not have any responsibility for making phone calls.  I had difficulty understanding people over the phone and I would often mix up phone numbers when taking messages. My incompetence was painful for me and for others. Phone numbers are longer here and I had to repeat each number individually in order to get it right.

The big news is that we are so proud of all of our family missionaries we could just burst our buttons. 

Colby Snyder is in southern California. He was our first and will return in April of 2014.

Jacey Preisler is in the Dominican Republic assigned to the very same mission that we were assigned to in 2008.

Jacob Pettingill is in the southern part of France where his mother, Khristine, served her mission. 

 Katie Pettingill, is in northern France.

Troy Snyder is in Accra, Ghana and wins the prize for the best attitude under the most severe cultural shock. If you do not have access to their letters and would like to read them, contact their parents. Two more grandchildren are waiting in the wings with plans to send in papers soon.

We love our family and hope to set a good example for them. This mortal life is not the easiest thing we have ever had to do, but it is joyful and so very important. Be good and serve others.

We love you, Grandma and Grandpa Pettingill