Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa is about five hours north of Loja by bus. President Torres has asked us to visit there twice so far. We went to a Priesthood Conference and later to a District Conference. Lewis spoke at both. He is practiced and always does well. I was surprised that I was asked to speak at the District Conference. It was a good thing I was paying attention because I was in the congregation quite a ways back. There were several hundred people there. I never talk for very long but one of the missionaries said later that I did a good job. He is a native speaker so he must have been able to understand me. The first time we went we found that it was the anniversary of the founding of the city. We saw part of their parade but we had to stay an extra day because there were no more bus tickets available to get home.

It didn't match Melba's 4th of July parade but they did have horses.

 

 

 

This very nice family invited us to go to lunch with them. They had another mother and her children join us. It was lovely to enjoy a meal and learn more about their lives and church experiences. They were so kind to include us.

These are some photos of the central square.

 

 

After the district conference was over I took a few photos. These three children were sitting behind me. During the meeting they were definitely awake but by the end of the meeting they had all fallen asleep. I asked if I could take a photo and was told I should take the photo and please send it to President Parrales from the temple. The woman on the right is his mother. I did and he was pleased.

The District had a choir for the Sunday meeting. They had obviously been practicing because they sounded very good. They were happy to have had this opportunity to sing and had fun with photos after the meeting. This young man is a member of the family we went to lunch with previously. He sang a solo and did an impressive job.

 

 

Good job Santa Rosa.