On July 23, 2014 we enjoyed a Zone Conference in Loja with President and Sister Torres. We had a full morning of training, a nice catered lunch and then a fieldtrip. The Cuenca Zone Conference had the opportunity to go to an archeological site after their meetings. We were asked to see if we could find something similar for the missionaries in Loja. We couldn't match the previous experience but we did find something of interest that was much closer, indoors so we didn't have any weather problems and free. We were able to arrange for a professor to take us on a tour of this lovely museum located within the Universidad Technica Particular de Loja and we all learned quite a bit about the indigenous cultures of Ecuador.
Missionaries love photo opps and so we all took many photos. Before we left the meetinghouse we had to get a photo of all of the hermanas.
We all got on a chartered bus and headed up the hill to the University. It didn't take us very long to get there.
Here come the missionaries.
This is Pokey and Cari. They are the two youngest children of President and Sister Torres. They find themselves on a mission as well. (They must wait through a lot of meetings. During our morning meetings they loved spending time with "Dumb Ways to Die" on our iPad that Dan gave us.)
Below is Sister Torres with Cari.
Prominently displayed inside the entrance is one of the many costumes for the Reina del Cisne. She is a statue and very, very famous here. The pictures I have seen show her in a much more ornate costumes than this one. The Queen of Cisne, The Virgin of Cisne and other names are given to a particular statue which represents Mary, the mother of Jesus. She is said to have appeared in 1594 to some workers in a field where the city of Cisne is today, she helped them with their chores and blessed them. There are many variations of the story. There have been many statues. There is a huge Basilica in Cisne which is a very small town. The current statue was made in 1934. Every year in August she is taken from her home, put in a glass box on a litter and paraded for many miles and many days to all of the various churches. I read that 400,000 people participate annually and come from many countries in South American and from Spain as well. I have personally witnessed that she takes precedence over traffic. We waited for almost two hours in a bus from Santa Rosa to allow her and her followers to pass. I was told that some people follow on their knees for many miles to show their devotion and request blessings. Today is the day she arrived at the cathedral here in Loja. We went out for a long walk today and talked about how few people we saw. We found out later that everyone was downtown.
I thought the weaving display was very interesting. They use bright colors but I also like the black and white pattern below.
I enjoyed the figures of animals.
The building has a spiral walkway that goes for three levels. Much of it is glass and the university is on the side of the mountain. The views of the city were beautiful. Below are several crests that have historical significance. You can see the rays of the sunshine streaming in.
That is me above with Hermana Catmull and Hermana Herrera. Below are some cool things on display.
Above are seals that were used to stamp marks. I think that these oval dishes below were used to scrape the scales off of fish.
Below are some objects in human shapes.
This guy reminds me of the Pillsbury Dough Boy.
This one looks more modern than ancient to me. Perhaps it is.
We had a great day. We were exposed to lots of good things. I never dreamed I would have a chance to get to know Ecuador quite well and also many of the fine people who live here. The Gospel provides amazing opportunities to all of us. Don't miss the opportunities you have in front of you wherever you find yourself.
Love from Grandma and Grandpa Pettingill
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