Two New Mission Calls in Our Family

We are the proud grandparents of two newly called missionaries:

Daniel Pettingill is going to the Marshall Islands and reports to the Provo MTC on June 3rd. This is his Facebook post: "I have been called as a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Marshall Islands Majuro mission as well as the Kiribati region mission. I will be speaking the Kiribati language. This is going to be the best two years."

 

A small tidbit about the Marshall Islands:

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) is about midway between Hawaii and Australia.

Weather is hot and humid throughout most of the year, with a consistent average daily high temperature right at 80º.

Rain falls throughout the year and is heaviest in the southern atolls where totals do approach 160 inches per year. In the north, 20 inches per year is the norm. The rainy season is from May to November.

Morgan Evans is going to Recife, Brazil. On Facebook she says, "I've been called to serve in the Brazil Recife mission speaking Portuguese:) I report to the São Paulo MTC June 25th and couldn't be more excited."

I have noticed two visuals of Brazil in the last week here in Ecuador. Brazil is spelled Brasil in Spanish:

We are so proud of our family missionaries and their desire to serve others. 

Grandma and Grandpa Pettingill

Here is everyone, so far...

 

Read About Elder Troy Snyder's Experiences

Troy had the wonderful idea of soliciting questions from his family. Here are the questions submitted and his answers. (The photo above is from when he was in the MTC in Accra, Ghana)

Grandma Snyder - Are there any animals close to you. Like elephants or zebras, or giraffes? -Nope! There is a zoo about 7 hours away in the other mission. Most of the animals we see on TV come from East Africa... Like Kenya. It's a bummer. I thought I would be going around on safaris teaching people.

What is your favorite activity to do on P-day?  Besides washing your clothes by hand:-).
Love, Dad - Well I have 2. Going to circle and buying cool African stuff. 'Circle' is a super busy market. imagine the Boise farmers market.. then subtract the 20 foot road and gaps in between the shops. Add about 400 more shops, people selling things on their head and grabbing your arms, and add a terrible stink. So we have to climb through tiny alleyways trying not to get robbed and lost. It's like a maze. Plus everyone see's 'white people' and triples the price. So much fun. Other than that I like to play volleyball! We have a net at our chapel. We played it today.. so much fun, even though I suck.

Have you been eating weird food or drinking weird drinks? Kyle Snyder - Weirdest food would have to be banku with palm nut soup and willy. It is a ball of mush that you dip into other mush. The banku is a soft ball of mashed corn that has been boiled and turned to mush. palm nut stew is mushed nuts deep fried in oil. Willy is cow skin. It's like rubber. So you grab some corn mush and dip it in nut oil mush and swallow it. You don't chew most foods here. Banku is really sour so if you did chew it you would most likely throw up. The weirdest drink is either Iced-kenkey or ginger lemon juice. The first one is Mashed corn meal.. like that Mexican "masa" stuff they use to make tortillas. They mix it with canned milk and put sugar in it. I about threw up after my 1st sip. I will never drink it again. The other was strait lemon juice with strait ginger. It literally burns your insides while drinking it. Both are terrible.. and I wouldn't recommend drinking them.

Rebecca: How do the people treat those with special needs? My mom found a video of a car driving along the streets of a town you mentioned in one of your letters. I couldn't imagine how I would get anywhere in my wheelchair. I hope they know that all of God's children are special because Jacey said that where they live the people with disabilities are treating like they committed some great sin and are cursed from God. - Well to be honest.. it's just like Jacey's place. I have seen some of the conditions and heard some stories and it makes me sick.  I don't want to describe them. I feel so bad. People treat them like their parents or the individual himself  have sinned against God. It's not right.

Thomas: Are you doing good on your mission? He also wants to know what the bugs are like? - Well it's going great! :D There are so many weird and different bugs here. 1st of all there are billions of mosquito's. They have giant ants. They have dung beetles. (those are fun to watch) They have giant flying beetles that have one horn on their heads. And they have a lot of spiders.. big ones.. that look like crabs.. run really fast.. and that are flat.

Lorena: What is school like for kids? - School here is called: Primary, JSS, and SSS. (elementary, middle school/junior high and high school) Each one has levels.. and if you don't pass you don't progress. There are older kids in the lower grades because of this.  Here you have to bring money and pay everyday to go to school. Most schools are like open rooms with desks and a chalk boards.  I guess anyone can be a teacher here.. so a lot of people just start their own schools to make money. We have a primary right next to our apartment. At about 7 am they start singing and playing drums. It is awesome studying while they are "learning" in school.

Alyssa: she wants to know who you've kissed and have you seen anyone that is possessed. - Oh yeah I forgot that I was supposed to tell you "before" I left. Darn that time has come and gone. :) - To answer your other question.. kinda. There are a lot of crazy people that do witchcraft stuff. It's pretty crazy looking. They walk around a curse things and people. I have heard that it is even more popular in the village areas. They do stuff like casting out devils and what not. A lot of black magic.

Randy: what is the grossest thing you think you will eat before you get home? Other than rotten food, it would have to be larva. An elder showed me a picture of what he ate out in the 'bush'. It was banku with larva soup. It had a handful of big larva's. he said they pop in your mouth and it was like Man v' Wild. So yeah that's going to be a tasty meal when I get to it.

Sarah: can you get me a gorilla? Really.. I just managed to catch an elephant. I will have to let it go and look for a gorilla now. At least a gorilla will take up less room in my suit cast unlike the elephant.

Rachel: what was the scariest house you went to.- Well most of the houses in my area are the size of an average bathroom in America.. so they are not that scary. There is however an area in my area that is super nice.. I call it Beverly Hills. There is huge mansions there. I guess I was a little bit scared contacting them because they actually have doors.. and huge walls with gates. Not knowing who was going to answer the door is kinda nerve racking. But we actually met this man last week who lives in a huge house. It's going well.

Lydia: how many times have you almost died and how? Well besides everyday on my bike riding through traffic probably only twice. The first time I almost died was when I was trying to sleep during light off  'power outage'. It was terrible. The second being when I was walking home one day after dark and we almost got killed by a gang of drunk men.  

Susan: what do the people there think of America? Are there  many white people where you are? - So most people here see America or the UK as paradise. There is a term they use here. "I need to get out" It's like everywhere else is the outside world. Every person we come in contact with wants us to take them to America. I now tell most people I'm from other countries. Scotland, Spain, Green land, etc. Most think that if they get to the US or UK they will be rich. Thinking that  jobs will fall from the sky and the government hands out money. Most American movies just show the rich fancy places in the US and UK and they think that everywhere and every city is heaven. - Actually there are a lot of Obrines (white people) here. Mostly UK. They live in the nice parts of town and drive really nice cars. We see a lot of 'them' in the mall. Basically if anyone moved here they would be rich. The US dollar and the UK pound go so far here. You can get a super nice Hummer 3 or Land Rover for 10,000 or 15,000 GH cedis About $5,000 to $8,000 dollars. It's weird.

Ryan: have you seen any really big scary creatures yet or anything pop out at you? Nope the scariest thing would have to be the crab looking spiders. They are pretty big and run really fast. They love sleeping under my bed and up in the corners of my room. There are a lot of cockroaches that live in my microwave. Like over 1,000! Every time I warm something up.. they usually end up in my food. Somehow they survive the microwave when it's on.

Kate: what food do you eat there? The main foods are Rice, Vegetables, and Fruits. They prepare them in many different ways. Most often you will find banku (mashed corn that ferments or molds for a couple  days. and they form it into a ball.) fufu (mashed yam and plantain) or rice balls. Each one of these they dip into nasty soups and stews [with fish or goat] and they swallow them. it's pretty awesome...

Cohen: is it scary over there? It's really not that bad here. It was intimidating at first but not so much anymore. Just the fact that  I am so far away from home. Like if there was some sort of war or crisis I feel like I would be stuck here forever. haha Its sometimes scary when people say they want to feed us missionaries and we don't know what is going to be put on our plate. That is always interesting.

Morgan: How do the people treat missionaries there? - Missionaries here are really common. Most churches here have days set apart for evangelizing (missionary work). So most people are really accepting.. basically everyone will sit down and listen to us. Well there is a ton of Muslims though. (I am hopefully going to buy a Qur 'an) 90% of the people here will never say no to a discussion. Now, being white has its ups and downs. Everyone yells at us or calls us oBrunies (white man). We defiantly get people's attention but the problem is everyone wants a oBrunie friend. So most of the time they aren't interested in the teachings.

Hannah: What is your favorite/least favorite food? My favorite food would have to be jellof rice or fired rice. jellof rice is cooked with stew (tomato) and served with chicken. It's really good. My least would have to be banku.. I talk about banku somewhere else in here. haha But the pineapple here is to die for. So tasty and so cheap. I eat one a day.

Mallory: How are you liking your companion? My companion is a cool guy. He is from Fiji. He has been out for over a year now. He is teaching me some Fijian. We get along good. That is key to teaching people. Working together with your companion.

Nancy: Are the people in Ghana nice? Do they like having missionaries over? People here are so nice.. well the majority. Its uncommon to pass strangers on the street that don't greet you. If you pass anyone eating food.. they will invite you to eat. Everyone helps everyone. It's pretty cool. It's going to be weird going home and not greeting every living soul that passes by. - yeah most people like us for the most part. haha A lot of them think we are Jehovah Witnesses. The people that know we are LDS think we drink blood and sacrifice people. That's always fun to correct them.. But yeah most people are really accepting. It's nice.

David: What do the people in Ghana think about the temple there? Well the temple is in the main part of the city. Most people in my area have never seen it. But the people that have think it's the nicest building in the world and they want to go to church there. Some think that we do sacrifices in there. haha As of January it's been here for 10 years. We had a big celebration for that. A lot people saw the video that was playing and got interested about it. It was really cool.

Well that took forever to write.. I hope I answered your questions OK! -Elder Snyder

Elder Snyder, That was much better than OK. I vote for GREAT. Thanks! 

Love from Grandma and Grandpa Pettingill

Two missions for the price of one!

We went to our temple assignment as usual on Saturday and left at the end of the shift with a new assignment to serve in the Ecuador Guayaquil South Mission as a member and leadership support couple. Our first assignment is in on Santa Cruz in the Galapagos Islands beginning as soon as they get us a ticket. 

The back story is that a couple of months ago another senior couple was visiting here in the building where we live. They come once a month or so when they have meetings in Guayaquil. The husband has been serving in the Guayaquil South Mission Presidency. He was telling us that the mission president would like to send a couple to the Galapagos Islands but he doesn't have one to send. Grandpa said, "Send us. We would like to go!" You know how well he likes change and new adventures. I like nice safe routines and comfortable ruts, but it did sound exciting (even though the only people we know who have been there have told us how hot and dry and HOT it is). Nothing ever came of it.

A week ago President Groberg called us in and said that President Torres of the South Mission had talked with him and President Groberg felt that his need was greater than the temple's need. But it had to be approved by the Area Presidency and the SLC Temple Committee and would depend on what had been written on our original missionary application. So it still seemed like a very long shot. I figured that we couldn't lose. I loved being here in the temple and appreciated our lovely apartment and fast internet connection. President Torres didn't even know who we were. But, if for some reason they made a change - more variety in our duties and meeting more people and seeing more of this beautiful country would be a good thing.

So Saturday we went to work as usual and before the end of the day President Torres was there and asked to talk with us. He was in a hurry because he had just finished a session and a sealing and had a meeting to attend. He asked us to tell a little bit about our church experiences and bear our testimonies. We did so very briefly and he invited us to make the change. He asked if we had specific plans for after our mission. We said that we anticipated some weddings but had no dates at this moment. He said that he wanted a couple to live in the Galapagos Islands on Santa Cruz and assist the branch there. They do have a very nice chapel and the branch is large with about 150 in attendance at Sacrament Meeting. The president would like to divide it soon. He said they primarily need help with MLS, help in getting their family history center authorized and functioning and help with many prospective Elders. He anticipates that we will only be there for 2-3 months. There is a house that is currently occupied by the sisters. It has three bedrooms but no internet. (Can I survive?) He said that next he would like us to move to Loja and assist in getting that district ready to become a stake this year.  He said we should come to a Zone Conference at 8:00 AM Monday morning and he would get tickets to the Galapagos as soon as he could. He said he would tell us more on Monday.

We left the temple two hours later feeling a bit sad because we had just finished our experience as Guayaquil Temple Missionaries and we were wondering what the weight limits are for missionary luggage in-country. The new adventure begins. We get two missions for the price of one!

Stay tuned for more exciting details as they become available. I expect more exciting photo opportunities in our future. We will be a bit harder to reach with uncertain internet. Send us emails and we will respond when we can get them. I hope we will not be actually leaving for at least another two days.  We were anticipating a two week vacation. I guess we get the "vacation" of a lifetime instead.

Love to all of you, Grandma and Grandpa Pettingill in Ecuador

A Lovely Celebration of the Martin's Mission in Guayaquil

The Martins wanted to take several local couples out for lunch at the Granchef buffet to thank them for their help and friendship during their mission. They also invited several senior missionary couples to accompany them. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and an even better time all together as friends. You can see Tim Martin standing above. Below are several shots of the food.

Here are Nancy and Tim Martin below...

The Martins pose with the Torals. President Toral is the Kennedy Stake President and also a member of the ward we attend. His wife is a temple worker. President Toral's job is to be one of the engineers in the Temple.

You know this couple. We are happy to be here in the temple and with these great people.

The Martins are with the Estrellas. Victor and Katy are senior missionaries from Quito serving here in the Guayaquil Temple.

The Martins with the Veras. He is the first counselor in our bishopric. He is a taxi driver and often takes senior missionaries on outings when it fits in with his other commitments. His wife, Emy, is a temple worker and so is Brother Vera.

The Martins with Alfonso Valero. He is the second counselor in our bishopric. His wife, Mariana, was not able to take off from work. She works as the principal and a teacher in a school for special needs children in another city. They both work every Saturday morning in the baptistry. We all get a chance to work with them. They are marvelous and we always have very, very busy Saturday mornings with several stakes and their youth coming each week.

The Martins with the Calderons. Consuelo and Juan live in our building and Juan is an employee responsible for the building and all of the people who come to stay overnight and attend the temple. He is so kind and attentive to everyone. Consuelo has cancer. Her faith is incredible. She is back working in the temple. They have two daughters, both are returned missionaries. One was married last week in the temple and the other is engaged. She has a bottle in her scarf that is dripping into her intravenously but she is always beautiful and happy and doing well.

The Martins with the Bottorffs. Dolores and Clare are on their fourth mission. They served a proselyting mission in Loja in the south of Ecuador. They were temple missionaries here several years ago. Then went to the Family History Library in Salt Lake and now have returned here. Wonderful people. She has many musical skills and Clare is a great photographer. They are from Ohio.

Martins with the Johnsons. Byron and Nova are here for the second time. The first time they worked in the baptistry most every day and Nova went home in a wheelchair because of her back. They wanted to come back and are making it all happen. Byron broke his hip on Christmas Eve but his bone is healed and he is working his way back to full mobility. He just has a cane for balance at this point and is doing great. Nova taught Spanish in high school. They are from California and live in Oregon now. 

When we saw these I had to have one. They made it for me while I watched. Delicious! It has some chocolate and caramel sauce inside as well. Hurrah for crepes.

The Latin couples conspired with the waiter and they brought this little cake to the Martins. Nancy and Tim had revealed that it was their 46th Wedding Anniversary. The waiter asked Grandpa to write out "Happy Anniversary" in English for them. The other couples insisted that they conform to Ecuadorian tradition and take the first bite of the cake together. They did.

It is a privilege to get to know such wonderful people.

Jeri and Lewis Pettingill