Post from the Galapagos!

Dear Friends and Family,

We are in the city of Puerto Ayora on the island of Santa Cruz which is one of the Galapagos Islands. It is very hot and humid. But we do have some air conditioning in our apartment. We have a lovely chapel and the members are very warm and welcoming. We are meeting with the missionaries in their district meetings and they made us promise to invite two non-members to attend church to view general conference before this evening.

We haven't had much time to get out and see things. But the airport is on a very small island next to Santa Cruz so we took a small boat to cross the channel. We saw huge pelicans, a sea lion sleeping on a bouy, and frigate birds. Then we got on a bus and drove for 45 minutes over a lovely green mountain to the populated area on the opposite side of the island. One evening we walked along the tourist part of town right next to the ocean. There is a small area where the fishermen in small boats bring in their catch. Two women cut the fish up right there on two big metal tables and pack it away in coolers. They are surrounded by pelicans and one big seal waiting for handouts. There was one bird that looked like a seagull but he is dark gray. In my experience, other countries do not have our California seagulls. We stopped at an ATM at the bank and there was a sleeping sea lion and a dozen or so marine iguanas on a ledge next to the water. Pelicans were flying about and crabs were walking on the ledge as well. People working in the bank could look out of the windows of their office and see the ocean and all of these animals. So cool.

We have found that it is impossible to get internet in our apartment. We do not know how long we will be here but we cannot stay longer than 3 months without leaving so I'm sure it will be less than that. There is slow internet wi-fi at the chapel. There is also air conditioning in the chapel. So I will be favoring frequent visits to the chapel with our computers. Downloading and uploading is problematic so I don't know how much I will be able to continue my usual blogging and birthday stuff during the time we are here. We will see how it goes.

We are very blessed.
We love you,
Elder y Hermana Pettingill