Random Items

My girls will be able to tell you what is going on here...except that the sun is up and there are no tying machines.


I read on a food blog that the writer is trying to get more organized in her meal planning but she is allowing herself one "Nuts and Berries" night a week. That is when the family has the opportunity to find and prepare for themselves whatever they would like to eat for dinner.



This is what milk looks like here in Ecuador. They sell the boxed milk that sits unrefrigerated on the shelf but this is how regular milk comes - in a bag. We found this little plastic box a month later and it almost works. You cut off a little corner of the bag and pour.

I took this from http://mormonlifehacker.com

Scripture Mastery MP3

At the CES website, they have all the scripture masteries on MP3 for free. If you’re more of an audio learner, this is a great idea for memorizing. Download them and put them in your play list today.

OSSO

There are often cute young women with blond hair in our Sacrament Meeting. They speak English and many of them are from Idaho. There is an organization created by a doctor who lives in Rexburg that provides support for orphanages in Ecuador. They have programs where individuals, groups and families can come and work with the children. Most of these girls stay for 2 or 3 months but they have people come for as little as one week and up to about 5 months. The girls are very enthused about what they are doing and loving it. I thought perhaps Jacey might like to write an article about this organization for the newspaper. Ariel is the girl on the right above. She said she would write to Jacey on Facebook and tell her about her experience. The name stands for orphanages support services organization but "osso" is bear in Spanish. Their logo is a teddy bear. The website is http://www.orphanagesupport.org/

Just for Fun

I made this at http://superherosquad.marvel.com/create_your_own_comic

What can you make?

Fun Saturday on Jan 8th

We took the Ecovia (the bus with its own lane) to the park just past our office and looked at all the stalls with things for sale. Most of the sales people are from Otovala. They sell blankets, tablecloths, purses, pan flute music, jackets, hats, finger puppets, jewelry, embroidered blouses, carvings of palm nuts that look like ivory, coin purses, dolls, paintings of every size and style, carved gourds of wood or stone in the shape of birds and owls and small animals. And lots more besides. Lewis gets bored easily but the women had a great time.
The park is also full of playground equipment and paved paths. They have pedal cars to rent that are very fun. Some of them are our USA plastic riding toys placed on a cart with sturdier wheels. But most of them are original creations and some are very imaginative. It cost about a dollar to rent for 20 minutes. There were little kids on bikes and some big ones as well. I didn't see anyone on skates. They sold fruit and drinks and pink cotton candy. There were lots of families and a big swing that could hold several kids. It had a metal ring and a rope bottom laces like a spider web. They had a zip line that kids could ride. There was a long line to ride down and then pull it back up for the next person. The park is filled with big old trees and grass and was a lovely place. So nice for kids that grow up in the city with no place to run and play in their apartments.

Cool playground equipment - the child in the pink top at the left
is about to ride the zip line.

This girl takes off...

This one is in the middle of her ride.

Little kids have fun rides too.

Cotton Candy

Delicious Cotton of Sugar

The kids loved the little vehicles to ride. I watched one little girl excitedly
try out three before she chose her favorite one to rent.

Afterward we went to Espani's for lunch. Lewis and I had arepas mixtas. It wasn't what we were expecting. In Spain arepas were a sandwich. Here it was a thick flat tortilla made of corn and spread with melted cheese, with a tomato sauce on one side and guacamole on the other. They had aji sauce that was sort of like pico de gallo and it was all very good. It cost $1.90. Two others had tamales wrapped in a big purple brown leaf. It had chicken and rice with vegetables and spices. Sister Naylor had soup and bread. Sister Geldmacher had a fried fish plate with salad and rice. We all enjoyed our lunch. Ecuador is the place to eat out. It is inexpensive by our standards and the food is good.

Arepas mixtas - "tortilla like" pancake with melted cheese, then sauce and mashed avocado


Aji - one version, another kind is smooth and orange


Our friends called this a tamale but the menu said Tamal and Mexico
would never recognize this as a tamale. My guess it that inside the leaf is rice cooked
with cornmeal and vegetables and meat. Strange and sort of good.

We were able to find the stake center for the PEF fireside without trouble. The stake president turns out to be one of the coordinators at the Colon Institute so he knows everything about how PEF functions here and is fun and interesting to listen to. We were invited to speak for just a couple of minutes. He did more of an introductory class than the PEF fireside we used to do but it was perfect for his audience. There were lots of college age kids and also parents. Seems things are functioning well in this stake. A group of kids waited to walk with us down to the busy street to find a taxi. They were anxious that we get a taxi safely. Apparently it is not a good idea to be wandering around after dark. We finally found a taxi.

The wife of the taxi driver was in the car as well. Grandpa told them about what we are doing here and she promptly wanted to know all about it and how her 26 year old son could participate. Grandpa explained that the students must be members of our church for a year and she said that is no problem. She told us they are Catholic but she wants her son to go back to school. She asked for a card and said she would send her son to our office. If he comes we will take him to the Mission Office. I'm sure the missionaries would be happy to teach him the Gospel.

We got home about 8:00 and baked the bread Grandpa had mixed up early in the day. Brother Geldmacher had said during lunch, "Don't waste all of the dough on bread, make some cinnamon rolls." So Grandpa did and invited them down for a hot cinnamon roll and some to take home.

First week of 2011

Juan Carlos and the senior missionaries who attend the Colon Ward

Juan Carlos with Marcos Perez (our Gospel Principles teacher and ward mission leader) and his wife Patricia (who is an excellent teacher in Relief Society). They have only been married a couple of months.

Juan Carlos and Norma (who is a dentist)

1/1 The morning and afternoon were very frustrating. I got Blogger to accept my words but I couldn't upload any photos. I finally got a short blog posted to the Southworth Family Blog but couldn't get mine to work. Lewis tried everything and then suggested we just move my desk closer to the router. Wow! It seems to have done the trick. We are now back to back in one end of our bedroom and the internet is functioning fine. YEA! Let's hope this is the answer.

We went to Juan Carlo's baptism at 5:00PM at the Colon Ward. He phoned but didn't arrive until after 5:30. He had taken a nap and his alarm clock didn't go off. But it did begin and was a wonderful service. Two little boys from the Primary were practicing beforehand and they did a wonderful job of singing songs from memory while we waited for Juan Carlos and Elder Hakes to change after the baptism itself.

Juan Carlos arrived looking like a missionary. He was beaming and they changed into whites and the meeting began with the ward mission leader, Marco Perez conducting. Norma gave a talk. She is a recent convert from last summer and is a dentist. She apparently is the one who referred Juan Carlos to the missionaries. She gave a very simple talk but very personal and heartfelt. She told of her decision to join the church and obey all of the commandments that she had been taught. She said it was not easy but so very worth it to feel her faith and testimony grow as she continued to learn and obey the new truths she was learning. It was a great baptism talk. The senior missionaries sang together and then we went to the font. After we resumed Juan Carlos was asked to speak. He was surprised at the invitation but went to the pulpit and talked about how he was learning that he had many mountains to climb. He said he had just climbed the first one and thanked his guides who showed him the way. He said that he knows there is an Everest he must climb to reach his ultimate goal but is willing to climb whatever comes his way to follow the Savior and reach his goal. He said he is glad to have found true guides and expressed his willingness to continue to study and obey the scriptures and the prophet. Very impressive young man. Then the Bishop spoke and welcomed Juan Carlos into the brotherhood of the church. Definitely a testimony builder to watch a tiny part of of this man's desire to know truth become the beginning of a life long journey back his Heavenly Father. We pray that he will be willing to continue to climb mountains. The Lord doesn't seem to let any of us become what we need to be while relaxing in an easy chair.

After the baptism I got one blog post up and started on Rosario's birthday photos.

1/2 Sunday in the Cólon Ward. It was fast Sunday and the first day of the new year. Juan Carlos was confirmed a member of the church and received the Holy Ghost. There was a steady stream of people wanting to bear their testimonies. I could understand most of them. All except for one elderly man, they were fairly simple statements of what they believed and how it had made changes in their lives. The children did not all say the same things. They did a better job of bearing testimony that our kids often do. I suppose they have not heard the standard pattern that our children so often use. And perhaps they are older than they look. People are very small here compared to Americans that eat cheeseburgers. The senior sisters tell me that it is hard to find clothes that fit them here.
The Gospel Principles class was good as always. Juan Carlos introduced himself as a member proudly when we went around the room. There was also another couple that are fairly new investigators. The wife is Estella and I sat next to her in Relief Society. The lesson was on Visiting Teaching so I tried to explain briefly what that is. I think she was impressed with the goal of caring about one another and trying to help each other. She told me she has a 15 year old son and she has a 2 year old daughter who is adorable. She came in from nursery with a jar of candy that had a removable 3D paper doll to cover it. She loved the doll but was even more intrigued with the candy inside. Her mother held up one finger and the child took just one piece of candy. It made me think of each of you. You would have done the exact same thing to quietly communicate with your child in a meeting.

In the afternoon I was finally able to get my blog posts up. I did four and got the story told until Christmas Day. I probably put up way too much information but I want to remember that much. When we get into a routine I will cut way back. I also got one photo done for Rosario´s birthday which is on Jan 10th. I need to hustle! Khristine said she would like a calendar for the year. Maybe I could get one done before the end of January.

We got Rosario set up on Skype so we can video chat for free. We talked with Jennifer who is all recovered from her flu. They have a new laptop so they can set up video calls on Skype too. We hope that all of you who have a video camera (or not) on your computer can get set up to talk with us on Skype. Its free for everyone if we are calling computer to computer. Our Skype address is "lewis.pettingill".

1/3 Monday morning and off to the office. Lewis printed out a five page list of students in Ecuador with unconfirmed school status. Their expected date of graduation had past without an update. Lewis called all day and I sent emails and we each completed a little more than one page. I´ll get on it again tomorrow. At noon we were invited down to the Mission Office for lunch. Apparently this is a monthly affair. We enjoyed seeing President and Sister Sloan and their two girls who were enjoying the last day of their Christmas vacation. They had meetings all day in the mission office and everyone contributed to the lunch. We enjoyed chili and taco soup, chips and fruit and cinnamon bread and cookies for dessert. It was a nice break but I also gained a new appreciation for our nice quiet office with only five people on our floor. They were still in meetings at noon and only Brother Yost was not involved in the meetings. Sister Yost was participating as a nurse. So Brother Yost was trying to hold down the front desk. There were about 10 missionaries there wanted to pick up mail and buy supplies. I tried to help. The missionaries taught me what to do to help them. There was also a landlady who wanted to be paid for an old electricity bill on an apartment that was no longer being used by the missionaries. She had to wait until the meeting broke up but eventually she got her check. It was a bit wild but fun to interact with the missionaries who are such great young men and women.

It was Family Home Evening at Sister Dresen´s apartment. She was making macaroni and cheese to try it out because they are making it to feed the zone and district leaders on Wednesday and Thursday. This is transfer week. I had the lesson and showed the movie, Prophetic Promises. No one else had seen it before and they liked it a lot. Hopefully we can arrange to speak to the Quito missionaries before they return home to the countries that have PEF available. The macaroni and cheese was good. We will help them assemble two huge pans and make stew tomorrow night.

1/4 Today is the day we were invited to go to the Panecillo with the newly arriving missionaries. There are only four coming so it should work well except for the cloudy condition of the weather. The time kept being pushed back but at about 2:00 we found a taxi with the Yosts and went to the Panecillo to meet the President and his wife and the assistants and the four new missionaries. It took a long time to get there. It is on a very high place at the south of the city. It was raining. There is a very large statue of a lady with wings overlooking the city. There is an amazing view but we couldn't see much with the clouds and the rain. We joined the missionaries who were under not enough umbrellas and the sisters did not have sweaters let alone coats. They were reading the story of the dedication of the country for missionary work by President Kimball at this spot. The rain was coming down harder and we could not hear the words over the sound of the raindrops pounding our umbrellas. Finally they gave up and we all ran back to the cars. The rest of them had a big van and fortunately for us there was an empty taxi waiting as well. Our papers (with the story about President Kimball) were soaked so we need a new copy to finish reading it. I´m not sure the sisters were thrilled with their first experience in Quito. I never did see their faces. They were going to the mission home next for pizza so I´m sure that things improved. We went home and changed clothes.

The evening activity was peeling potatoes and carrots and chopping them and onions and celery and meat for stew. We did so for about an hour or so and then came back when the rest of the missionaries returned and finished up the job. We filled five crock pots with stew. They cooked overnight and they are taking the stew in zip lock bags to Hermana Sloan to warm up. Then part of them will make macaroni and cheese and fruit salad today and take that over as well. All this schlepping is done by taxi. Sister Dresen was tired just planning it all and she said she woke up at 4:00 AM this morning. I think she loves it but it is stressful to work all day and be fully involved with all these meals as well. Sister Sloan believes that a well fed missionary is a happy missionary and I am sure she is right but there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes. I think they miss Sister Rose who loved and excelled at all this food planning and preparation.

Saw this on the way to work. This bench is sitting in front of a shop which is not yet open but there is no padding. There are the nails or maybe they are screws poking up through the seat. DO NOT SIT HERE.

1/5 We finished up the list of unconfirmed graduations. We are also working on a list of responsibilities and questions for our training next week. For lunch we each got a quiche at Spicy´s and a Coke. Lewis said that the Cokes were $2 each but the total was $6.

At home I downloaded my photos and got them tagged. It took a very long time because the first transfer said that it failed so I downloaded them again and wrote captions and rated and tagged. Then when I figured out that I had two copies of each one, I deleted the duplicates. Then I had to redo all the work and reconnect the files. Oh well.

We talked with Rosario on Skype. She has a good chance of getting a scholarship that requires that she take a 6 credit class in the evenings. In order to survive she can´t take 12 credit hours of hard classes at UVU because she needs to work as well. So we spent 2 1/2 hours helping her go through the schedule and find classes to change her schedule. It didn't go well. All of the classes she would have preferred were closed or had a waiting list. She wanted to take dance or exercise or even first aid but all that was open was a Spanish class. That still will be easier than her math class. Hopefully she will get everything straightened out and will also get the scholarship. That would be a wonderful blessing.

1/6 We went to the Institute building before going to the office. (See photos below) We met the secretary, Ana Rivera. She is very nice and helped us understand more of how things work here. She said we are close to several universities. The big university that is government run is avoided by most of the LDS students because it is so political and inefficient that it takes years longer to complete a program. But she says there are others that are good schools and they offer a variety of good programs. The Institute building is big and set way back on a busy street. You don't notice that it is there. They have a soccer field with beautiful grass and the place is nicely landscaped. A green oasis in the busy city. We had wanted to meet the local service missionary couple, the Roceros but they were not there because their daughter is sick. But we found out that they only have one computer available for the both of them.. The Yosts went today to a school and donated the two computers that were replaced in our office. The school was thrilled. We are sad that we don't have enough computers! They took one away from the Mission office as well and they are unhappy too. The Yosts offered to write up a project to donate computers to PEF. I wish.They painted the ceiling in our office. It smells of paint but there are no black marks anymore. I had 6 birthdays and about 6 replies to deal with. We started in on the students that have automatic debit set up. There are 575 of them. And 85 worked correctly this month. We have our work cut out for us. Some didn't have funds in their account and others have errors we must track down. That will keep us busy.

1/7 It's Friday. We received an email invitation to a training meeting for volunteers at the Service Center for Jan 19th. The people in Lima planned it. So we took applications and the invitation around the building and talked to all of the bishops we could find. We asked them to think of older women who might have time to volunteer in our Service Center. They seemed receptive and I hope something develops from this. We worked on all of the participants whose auto debit failed on Jan 5th. I finished my list but it was much shorter than Lewis'. We get replies but not enough. We need help with people who can call and get direct answers and can both understand explain procedures well enough to solve problems.

After work we went for a long walk looking for the tie store. Never did find it but found a big Chinese dollar store and Lewis bought 5 ties for $10.00. We bought some rolls at a bakery because we were getting hypoglycemic but we made it home and then ate them. Had left-over fried potatoes with bacon and onion and peppers that was delicious too. It is my favorite meal to make here here in Ecuador, so far.

The last week of 2010

The tagua nut from a variety of palm tree that grows in Northen South American is used to make jewelry and small sculptures. It is referred to as vegetable ivory and is quite beautiful. This was purchased by the Yosts and shows the process used to create the bird.

12/26 We were in the Cólon ward and I thought Sacrament meeting was especially good. Two women spoke. The first about gratitude and the importance of recognizing our blessings rather than focusing on what else we wish we had. The second woman spoke about ¨President Benson's 14 points about the role of a prophet. They both spoke clearly and slowly enough that I could follow almost everything they said. Yea, it only takes three missions to begin to understand.

Again our Gospel Principles class was excellent. I was worried because I didn't see Juan Carlos in Sacrament meeting but he was there all along and sat next to us in class. He gave us a map of Quito with some postcard sized photos inside. How nice of him. All of the senior missionaries came into our class that morning. Lewis said, "We either need more chairs or fewer missionaries." Everybody laughed and they got more chairs. When we went around the room and made introductions he said, "I am in investigator but I count myself one of you." At the end of the meeting Juan Carlos told us that he had had his baptism interview and he will be baptized on New Year's Day. How wonderful! He is an intelligent and thoughtful young man. I hope this is the beginning of his lifelong appreciation for and living the Gospel.

In the elevator Lewis said our Sunday tradition is grilled cheese sandwiches and invited everyone to come have a sandwich. Only Sister Naylor came but we enjoyed her company and took her photo in front of our Christmas tree wearing her Christmas scarf so she can sent it to her family.

12/27 Went to the office. We expected that at 10:00AM or so they would move our desk configuration two feet closer to the window so they could put a dividing wall between us and two stations for the call center. Paola and I are practically back to back now. Good because I am supposed to keep close supervision but bad if we are all trying to talk on the phone at the same time. So we figured it was a great time to go to the Otavalan market that is only about a block away from the office. It is spoken of often by the sisters but I hadn't been there. The Yosts didn't have anything pressing, so they took us. The men petered out after a couple of rows of stalls but Sister Yost and I wanted to see it all. She says she likes to go often and has a monthly budget to spend there. There are about 150 stalls that are crowded together under a roof with narrow aisles between. There is an open space with benches in the middle and that is where the men ended up. It is delightful. There are a million things, many of them beautiful and they are inexpensive - at least compared to what you would pay for a similar item in our country. I didn't try to take photos this time. It is probably not a good idea to flash a camera around. Some of the women are dressed in dark skirts with white blouses embroidered in bright colors with colorful belts that tie around their waists. There was a very cute little girl with her mom and I did ask if I could take her photo. I wanted both of them but she said just her daughter. If you like bags, jewelry, shawls, ponchos, sweaters, blankets, tablecloths, figurines that are made of nuts and look like ivory, leather goods. You name it they have many versions. I did buy a big purse/bag. I like the pattern and the colors and it holds my small umbrella and my purse that Dan and Jenny gave me that has my camera in it and there is an inside pocket for my translator. Lewis bought a tablecloth because our table is covered with glass and he doesn´t like it. We paid $10.00 for my purse and $12.00 for the tablecloth and napkins. Sister Yost and I will be going again. We can't find a set of dominoes anywhere though!

We went back to work and no one had come to move our desks so I worked on my birthday emails and recording the replies I had previously received. At lunch time we went out with the Yosts to a restaurant that we are happy to know about. For $3.00 I got a big piece of very thin beef (tough but tasted good) plus lots of rice and beans. They have a sauce called Ají that looks like thin watery pico de gallo but I liked it a lot and so did Lewis. Lewis got a plate similar to mine but with the addition of two fried eggs. He didn't enjoy the beef much but really liked the rest. His cost $4.00 and we each got a drink as well. We can't afford to eat out every day but at these prices it is hard to complain. After lunch we went to a tall commercial building that the Yosts had never been in. It was very unique in that you enter and you either spiral up or spiral down. There is a ramp that takes you past every store. There is an elevator but the line was long. I thought it was very clever. Every store gets lots of traffic to pass by their window unless they are at the end of the line.

I spent the afternoon going through old files. There were many versions of training and I kept the ones that looked useful and sorted them and threw out the ones that are way outdated. Lots of work has gone into creating things that don't reflect the current state of the program. I hate to throw out stacks of hard work but I'm sure that is what the missionary couple did in our office when we left the Dominican Republic. We all do things in our own way and processes change. I hope we can learn what is most helpful here. We look forward to our training scheduled for January 10th. We are trying to get a handle on the info here and make sure we have the info that the Area wants us to use.

Monday evening is Family Home Evening. It was my turn to give the Spanish lesson and I used some of the info I prepared for our old ESL class in Melba.

12/28 In the office we finally realized that the messages we were getting when we try to call cell phone numbers couldn´t be right. It turns out that there is some error in our office phone system and the people who could fix it are on vacation. So we sent lots of emails but that is not what will get us good marks in SLC. Oh well, I guess we can improve next month. We went out to lunch with the Geldmachers and the Yosts. For three dollars we got a pork chop, lots of lentils and rice with a piece of fried plantain, preceded by a soup with yucca and some meat and vegetables, a juice drink (I liked mine (called maricopa or something like that), the others got juice of tree tomatoes) and chocolate cake for dessert. Oh and there was ají (a creamy orange sauce this time) and a small bowl of popcorn on the table too. Quite a meal for $2.90! I think we liked the previous day´s meal a little bit better because we liked the beans better than the lentils and I liked their ají sauce better.

12/29 Went to work and did birthday emails and Lewis and I went through the priority call lists and he called and I sent emails to those we couldn't reach. The numbers won't look very good but we are making a difference for a few. Lewis got several calls back and I received reply emails. We solved a few problems and made a few friends.

They finished up our office by moving everything closer to the window. Now there is a five foot padded divider between the two of us and the two service center stations. Hopefully that will allow us to supervise and be aware of what is going on but not get lost in the babble of too many conversations at once.

So, oh darn, we had to go home early. We walked to the office store with Yosts. She wanted tissue paper to wrap her nativity set in. It was a kick to explain what we wanted. They brought out bathroom tissue before we found the kind of paper she was looking for. We bought a compass for less than $2.00. Maybe we will get less lost. We had wanted to buy a set of dominoes. We thought that should be easy enough but we can't find any except very tiny ones. The Yosts took us on the Ecovia to Quicentro because there are some toy stores there. The Ecovia is cool. It is often very crowded and pickpockets are a real danger. Elder Vomocil lost his wallet yesterday and didn't even know it until a couple of hours later. They are like two regular buses connected by an accordion folded section that travel in a special lane reserved for them. When they stop at a platform in the middle of the street, the platform doors open and metal flaps come out of the buses to enter on. It costs a quarter to get on and you can go as far as you want. We went six stops to Quicentro. We found the Imaginarium store which is great fun and they did have a set of dominoes but they were all curved so you end up building snake trails and there were no doubles. The regular toy store didn't have any at all. So we failed in finding dominoes but I was very impressed with this mall. It put Boise to shame. Very high end shops and beautifully done. More like the ones in Hawaii on the beach. The food court is open and airy with a translucent roof and on two levels with a TV screen at least 60 feet wide and 15 feet high. Mostly it showed advertising for the stores but we were impressed. We ate at Taco Bell which I'm not anxious to do again but the cost was reasonable. It is a cool place. I want to go back to Quicentro.

At home I got caught up on my computer. My Google Reader is down to zero unread posts for the first time since we left the USA. No more excuses, it is time to get blogging.

This big open area is surrounded by restaurants and stores. They say it is very lively at night and we should stay away after dark but at 7:30 in the morning it is very quiet.

12/30 Now we are legal. We met the missionaries at 8:00 to get our Certificado de Empadronamiento. It is called a Censo. They needed to go to the office first so we waited at home and then went with them to the government office that issues them. We had to go next door to a little gift shop that also provides the needed photos. The lady took the photos, printed them and even put glue on the back so they could be stuck to the big envelope that held all of our documentation. I spend about 5 minutes with an officer while he looked it all over and stamped everything and printed out a card for me. I needed to go to another desk where it was laminated and copied for the missionaries. I didn't have 60 cents on me so a very nice man who was standing there and chatting paid my 60 cents for me. Lewis was being interviewed at the time. We were chatting because one of the officers was explaining that he was a missionary in Quito and used to take others through this process when he worked in the mission office. He told me that Elder Daniel Johnson was his mission president! I explained that he was our Area President in our last mission. Small world. The man who paid for me was another American who was getting his Censo too.

After we finished we went to the office and I finished the sorting and filing. We got as many of the priority calling and contacting done as we could.

We had packed a lunch but going to Kentucky Fried Chicken with the Yosts sounded more appealing. We went to a big two story new KFC. It was busy but there were lots of tables on the second floor with a good view of the busy street below. The chicken was very good and it only cost us $6.00 for the two of us. Too much grease but the chicken strips, french fries, soda and a cookie tasted good. We walked back through a cool park. There was a huge arch with sculptured figures in relief at the top. There was lots of playground equipment that looked more interesting than our parks. The kids had four wheel bikes that looked like cars. Moms could push from behind and the kids could propel themselves as well. There was a row of maybe 50 stalls selling handicrafts. Lewis chatted with one man who explained that he was a member in Otavala and ended up selling Grandpa a red wool jacket with llamas woven in the pattern. It is big enough (which is difficult to find) and cost $22.00. Now we both have something Ecuadorian. I saw some owls painted on small gourds that looked intriguing but it was time to go back to work. Much of their work is very beautiful.

After work we stayed to watch the New Year's tradition. The people make effigies of people to burn. It symbolizes getting rid of old problems and beginning fresh and new again I'm told. But it is a bit startling to watch what looks like a person go up in flames. They made one to represent Efrain - he works in the building and is one of the counselors in the ward we are attending. He looked pleased. I guess it is an honor to be burned to ash. They stuff clothes and put on a mask. It even had very small shoes. They doused it with several cups of gasoline and put a match to it. The missionaries all gathered around. All of the senior missionaries wanted to watch and there were many workers and some older boys as well. We all watched as it looked like a bonfire and then burned down to not very much ash and two charred shoes. They tell me that New Year's day will have black spots all over after the New Years Eve fires. The office is closed tomorrow so that is why this one was early. There are masks for sale at many street corners and whole "people" in some places. All ready to burn. When we got home to our apartment building there is one at the doorway holding a box with a slit in it thanking people for their "colaboracion." They are thanking people for putting money in the box to pay for the effigy. Seems a little gruesome to me but I guess it is one way of "getting a fresh start".

Elder Arellano with the effigy

The man it represents pouring gasoline over the effigy

The missionaries always love a photo op

Lots of us watching in the parking lot.

It burns.

It really burns!

12/31 The office is closed today. Some of the missionaries went in for a few hours but I wanted to work on my computer and get my blog up and running. It was a day of frustration. The internet connection kept falling off and I couldn't even get the blog to accept a photo or the PEF site to bring up the pop up to record my contacts. Bah! I've run all of the spam and anti virus programs and Lewis has changed the settings and nothing has improved. The other missionaries walked around town to see the sights and took lots of photos. We should have gone with them. The blog is still pending.

We went to the New Year's Eve party at the Yosts. We took cornbread to go with the ham and potato soup Sister Yost made and vegetables and dip. Sister Yost also made home made pumpkin pie with squash she bought at the store downstairs. It was delicious. We enjoyed lots of good food again and played Buzz Words. This time the girls won. Elder Hakes was with us because he became ill on Thursday and has been at the Geldmachers since then so he wouldn't share his illness with his three roommates. We also played Blink and dominoes. After our trips to all the stores we could think of to buy dominoes, Sister Yost mentioned our quest to Sister Geldmacher who said they had dominoes in their apartment that they never used and we could have them. Elder Hakes was very good at Blink and Sister Geldmacher won the domino game. We left about 10:00 and the noise of the fireworks woke me up at midnight but only very briefly. We heard reports later that Sister Dresen and Naylor watched until 12:30 or so and Elder Gelmacher had the best view but I enjoyed sleeping.

Elder Geldmacher wearing a mask he bought on the street. Now we know where all the left over Halloween masks go.