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

Flowers, Dinosaurs, Enchiladas and Kisses

 

Dear Family and Friends,

The hibiscus flowers that grow on the temple grounds are huge. Next time I'll get Lewis to put his hand in the photo so you can see how large they are. They are beautiful.

We went on a fun adventure. There is an exhibit of dinosaurs in the botanical garden on the Malecon that runs along the river downtown in Guayaquil. These dinosaurs move and make noise. It was a fun walk through this lovely setting. We really needed some small grandchildren with us to be appropriately impressed with the large creatures that moved and made loud, unfriendly noises.

The last two are not dinosaurs but rather, patient husbands waiting for their wives to take photos to send home to their grandchildren.

We had brought a large package of corn tortillas from Costco. We also brought dried chili peppers from WalMart. Lewis made enchilada sauce and we made a whole lot of enchiladas, both chicken and cheese. We invited everyone on our floor to come for dinner. The USA missionaries were delighted to have some Mexican food. Sister Chiza ate them but I think she liked the rice and beans and salad better. The others brought a table and chairs, dishes, salad, jello and a pie and all 9 of us enjoyed ourselves.

I want to give you an example of how sweet and loving these Ecuadorian saints are. There is a mother and daughter who work in the temple on Fridays. The husband of the mother works also. The dad is a good man, large and tall. The mother and daughter are particularly beautiful. They are both so kind and sweet and encouraging. I find it amazing. It seems a bit "over the top" from my perspective but not at all insincere or unnatural for them. Last Friday, the daughter happened to walk by me as I was sitting on a bench at "punto uno" in front of the office in the temple. She lightly ran her fingers under my chin and made a tiny kissing noise as she passed. Wish I could demonstrate my love and affection for my children and grandchildren half as well as they do to everyone in the temple. It is both their culture and their talent. I need to work on developing a bit of what they do so gracefully and naturally. They remind me of the love our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for us - so freely and generously given. We also need to learn to be more open to receive it.

Love, Jeri/Mom/Grandma

Introductions

I would like to introduce you to the wonderful people here in Guayaquil who are our new best friends. We are lucky enough to have a built-in peer group that has welcomed us so warmly. We joined three other senior couples from the USA: the Martins, the Johnsons and the Bottorffs. There are also four senior couples who are native Spanish speakers: the Estrellas, the Zunigas, the Campos and the Chamoros. The first Monday we were here we were invited to a game night with the English speakers.  Sister Bottorff, Brother Martin and Brother Bottorff are in the photo below. (Brother Bottorff went to the emergency room that night in severe pain and later had his gall bladder removed. He had not had any previous pain but it was very badly infected. Scary experience for him and his wife but he is recovering very well and will resume his temple service soon.)

 Sister Martin and Sister Johnson

 Grandpa and Brother Johnson

Sister Chiza came to join us less than two weeks ago. It is our same Sister Chiza from the PEF Service Center in Quito on our last mission. She had been traveling by bus to serve in the temple part time. Now she is a full time missionary and living in one of the apartments here. There is another single sister who will come and share the apartment with her who will arrive later this month. Anibal and Lucia Morales came to the temple! They are the couple who also worked with us for an entire year in Quito. We were so happy to have a reunion. We didn't know they were coming and were gone part of the first day they were here but we did get a visit before our shift. They came and had breakfast with us the next morning before they went to another session and then returned home. They hope to get their affairs in order soon and come and serve full time here. (They had a house built and the builder has not finished several important things. They need to be there to see that he completes the job as agreed.)

The Morales and Sister Chiza

We have a monthly Family Home Evening with all of the senior couples, President and his wife and the couple who manage the building where we live along with their two young adult daughters. Our first one included a fun getting to know you game and a tribute to the Campos who will end their service here this week. The are from Otavalo (Remember going there, Morgan?) and have the long hair they wear in a single braid down their back. Their young men can serve missions without cutting their hair. They speak Quichua. Brother Campo speaks Spanish but Sister Campo only speaks Spanish about as well as I do. She has never learned to read or write so it is difficult for her to do some of the jobs in the temple. But no one has as sweet a smile as she does. She is very small, the mother of 10 children and 36 grandchildren. All of their children are married in the temple and their grandchildren are beginning to serve missions just like ours are. Some of their children live in the USA and in other countries. They are as proud of their family as we are of ours.They will be missed here in the temple. Brother Campo is always ready to go home after their temple shift before Sister Campo comes out of the sister's dressing room. He says, "I am hungry" in English and complains that she takes too much time painting her face in Spanish. I think he is really very proud of her. And I don't think she paints her face.

Thank you for living good lives and caring about other people and being the kind of individuals that we can't help but be proud of.
Love, Grandma Pettingill

The Prologue

Before we are completely immersed in Ecuador I would like to report our happy experiences just before we left the USA. We enjoyed our last meal at our favorite restaurant, El Gallo Giro. Most Spanish speakers do not care for Mexican food. They don't like spicy.

We were set apart by our stake president, President Jensen, surrounded by our Idaho family members. Leiann told me years ago that he reminded her of my Dad somewhat and I agree. He is at the end of his 10 year service and will be released the Sunday after we leave.

We had the opportunity to go to the temple in Boise with Troy for the first time. He reports to the Ghana, Accra MTC the first of next month.

We moved out of our house so a tenant could move in on September 1st. Susan and her family welcomed us into their household. We loved spending time with them, attending vollyball games, reading scriptures and the most unique experience -- a stuffed animal wedding and reception, meticulously planned and carried out by Sarah and Lydia and involving many neighborhood friends. The young man in the suit coat played "The Entertainer" as the bride entered the room and went down the aisle you see here.

We spent several days with Nancy and her family (more volleyball, soccer, football and scripture reading) and were able to spend time with Rosie as well. We saw Morgan, the BYU student, on Saturday only because she doesn't live at home anymore. It was a treat that Scott was in town for the weekend to help Katy celebrate her birthday. We were able to spend time with them and also Jeremy and Kasey. Nancy's children thought that if Katy was at their house, Holly should be there too. But it is a little harder to stop by when she lives in VA now. Time with family is a treasure.

David Evans took us on Sunday afternoon to go to our hotel. Heather and Ronin and her dad, David arrived on Monday to pick up our car. (We hope it is behaving well back in California. Before we owned it, it belonged to Jennifer and Aaron who took very good care of it. Jennifer tells me that her name is Harriet.) David (my brother) was kind enough to drive to Salt Lake to visit with us one evening after our training in the Salt Lake Temple to take us to the store to buy an electric razor and visit for a while. We were taking him to dinner when Lewis stepped out at just the right time for David to pay! Thanks, David. We enjoyed a little one on one time. Morris family events usually involve large groups of people, which we love, but smaller groups allow for more conversation. Ecuador is more special to me because my brother went there on his mission.

It was a wonderful experience for us to be in the Salt Lake Temple for our training. I assume this change is because there is no room for anyone but the young people who need to have the MTC experience in Provo. Our group of about 25 couples was heading out to serve in temples all over the world. Amazing. We spent most of our time in a chapel inside the temple as well as participating in ordinances. We were also privileged to go to the fifth floor assembly hall where the temple was dedicated and the general authorities meet before every general conference. There Elder Walker of the Temple Department talked to us as we sat in vintage perforated metal folding seats on the Aaronic Priesthood side of the room. It was a wonderful three days we spent there in that amazing building that was so lovingly crafted for 40 years by our pioneer ancestors. We go out to serve the members all over the world who are pioneering in their own ways and continuing a strong tradition of faith and love and hard work also.

Arrival in Guayaquil, Ecuador

Dear Family and Friends,

Lewis and I are happily settled in our apartment on the temple grounds in Guayaquil, Ecuador. We arrived at night on September 19th and started working in the temple the next day. President Groberg and his wife picked us up at the airport, brought us to our apartment and made us feel very welcome. They and the other senior missionaries provided us with enough food to be comfortable. The apartment is lovely and we feel quite spoiled. Another senior couple, the Martins, have been taking great care of us. They took us shopping and have been instructing us in the life of a temple worker here. We have found that eating at the food court in the malls here is a traditional activity and we have happily participated a couple of times.

There are three other senior couples from the USA and four native Spanish speaking couples living here with us in the alojamiento. In the building called the alojamiento, we also have a Church Distribution store, a Family History Library, overnight apartments for the temple patrons who must travel a long distance, as well as a big kitchen/dining room for the visiting patrons. The children especially love the elevator.

I have not yet taken photos and will add them when I do. I took the photo above in 2011. We do not have a working telephone but will have both a landline when the system repairs are completed in this building and a cell phone when we get to the right place to purchase a new chip for our cell phone. Our computers work well. We read emails daily and can Skype. If you would like us to call you, just shoot us an email and we can call you inexpensively.

We have found ourselves very busy getting settled and learning new things. Lewis is at a meeting this afternoon in the temple for new male coordinators and missionaries. We went with the Martins this morning to another ward to see a family history presentation they gave to both the youth and the adults of the ward. We have seen lots of youth and a surprising number of adults in the baptistry with their own family names. It is exciting that the work is being done not only for names that have been "extracted" from institutional records but also for so many direct ancestors of the members here in Ecuador. The youth (with their computer knowledge and enthusiasm) are helping the older generations to be effective in their family history research.