President & Sister Winters Arrive!

   President & Sister Winters, and two of their 6 children arrived yesterday.  Today we had an introductory Zoom meeting  to welcome the Winters and to say farewell to President & Sister Baquerizo.  We are glad the Winters are here and we look forward to working and serving with them.  We are also grateful for President & Sister Baquerizo. Their 3+ weeks of service have been amazing!  

   At the close of our Zoom meeting, the missionaries unrolled the welcome banner that the mission had made for the Winters.  Both President & Sister Winters were moved to tears by that small gesture.  The power of love and acceptance was felt through technology.  

   I'm sure the past 3+ week have been challenging for them as they have managed Visa delays and additional Covid requirements for foreign travel. The Winters will be in quarantine for the next two weeks. President Winters will be presiding over the mission and managing mission affairs through technology.  

   We have had a great week!  The mission held 3 zone conferences via Zoom.  This is the first, somewhat normal, zone conference we've had since last September.  Zone conferences were canceled in October - November because of the transportation strike.  In December, Elder Held visited the mission and there was a mission-wide conference.  In January, Elder Holland visited the area and held a combined meeting of the Ecuador Quito and the Ecuador Quito North Missions.  In March, the mission went into quarantine. There has been one Zoom zone conference since March.

   The big change with the zone conferences this past week was that missionaries could meet as districts in a chapel near them and enjoy a pizza lunch together after the conference.  It was nice to see them together and to feel of their camaraderie. 

La Colon Zone Conference on Tuesday, July 21.  Starting left around the table - Elder Duran (AP), Elder Fueres (AP), Hermana Quena, Herman Cabrera, Hermana Vargas, Elder Sarango, Elder Caicedo, Elder Chepe (office),
Elder Ramirez (office).

L-R:  Elder Ramirez, Elder Piraquive, Elder Lewis, and Elder Chepe.  Elder Piraquive finished his mission in June, but due to COVID he could not return to his home country of Columbia until this last Thursday.  

This week a missionary came in and said that the taxi driver would not accept his $10 bill because it was counterfeit. Can you tell which bill is real and which one is counterfeit?  (See the answer at the end of this post.)

   On Monday, I took an Uber out to the mall to pick up some more rubber chair tips for the repurposed chairs that we got from the old office.  I was also going to buy a shelf stand as well.  But when I realized how heavy it was and that the box it came in when unassembled would be 6 feet long, I decided to wait until Max was able to help me.  

   So, after the mall I walked to Megamaxi to pick up a few items that we’d missed on Saturday.  When the Uber driver came to pick me up, he was driving a pick-up truck!  I almost asked him to take me back to the mall to buy the shelf, but decided against it. 

   On Tuesday, Max and I did go back out to the mall and we bought the shelf.  When the Uber came to pick us up, he was driving a little, and I mean little, Chevrolet Spark.  I climbed in the back seat, Max slid the heavy box in through the window where it sat on my lap.  He climbed in and shut the car door leaving 2 feet of the box sticking out the window as we drove back to the apartment.  Max held his end up the entire ride so that the weight of the box wouldn’t rest on the window glass and cause problems. 

Elder Lewis holding up his end of the shelf as we drive through
5 PM traffic in Quito.

   When we got back to the apartment, we assembled the shelf and put it on the wall that you see when you walk into the apartment.  It looks really nice and gives us a little more shelf space.

   On Wednesday morning I went to the old office to pick up some missionaries materials that we are still storing there.  While walking back to the new office, I passed an elderly woman who was pushing a cart and collecting "valuable" trash.  As I passed her I said, "Hola, buenos dias."  She responded with with, "Buenos dias, usted es que bonita!"  With a compliment like that I couldn't just walk on.  So, I stopped and said, "Gracias."  I then asked her if she believed in Jesus Christ.  She said that she did and I gave her a pass-along card with information about the Church.  She was appreciative and then in perfect English, with a slight accent, asked if I had any spare change.  We talked about the pass along card and I asked how she'd learned to speak such good English.  After our brief conversation, I dug in my small purse and found a $1 coin that I gave her as I wished her well.  

   There were several times this week that I didn’t have access to my computer.  The Assistants used my computer for 3 zone conferences and then again to do some transfer work.  When that happens, I have to find other things to keep me busy.  This week, I was successful finding “other things” to keep me busy. One of which was passing off English language modules with missionaries.  I think I passed off 15+ modules this week with 8 different missionaries.  It’s exciting to see them make progress and I enjoy the association.  It’s also time consuming.  Passing off one module takes anywhere from 30-60 minutes depending on the difficulty of the module and the preparation of the missionary.

   I also started working on arrival and departure packets for this next transfer.  In August, we’re expecting 6 missionaries to depart and 6 new missionaries to arrive.  .  

   Yesterday we went on a hiking excursion with the office missionaries, Ruben (mission apartment repair man), and his wife Tatiana.  We were exhausted when we returned, but the weather was beautiful, we enjoyed the association, and we were able to see more of the beautiful country of Ecuador.

   We left our apartment at 7:15 AM to take an Uber to Sangolqui, which was a 20 minute ride.  Once we were there, we waited for the missionaries, Ruben, and Tatiana to arrive.  We were expecting them at 8 AM, but everyone finally arrived at 8:45 AM.  

While we were waiting for an Uber, we heard something hit about one foot behind us.
We turned around and this is what we found, a pigeon had flown or fallen to its death. 
It felt just a little too close for us.

   We know that promptness is not as important here in Ecuador as it is in the States, but we were still surprised that everyone arrived 45 minutes late.  Especially because the missionaries has told us before we left the office on Friday, that it was important for us to be at our Sangolqui meeting spot by 8 AM.  I guess it was important for US to be there;)!

Speaking of birds....this was our meeting place in Sangolqui - El Colibrí.
The hummingbird mosaic. 

We've been in Quito for almost a year and we've never had a clear view of the volcano Cotopaxi until Saturday.
It is impressive!

   After everyone arrived in Sangolqui, we boarded a yellow and black van with school information on the side....basically a school bus that is also used to transport  paying customers when not transporting students, and drove about 1 hour to La Gran Cascada del Pita.  It’s a  conservation park with hiking trails, zip-lines, swinging bridges, camping, and water falls. 

   We were dropped off at the base of a trail where we hiked 1 mile uphill to the entrance.  At the entrance, we were given some brief instructions by a guide, one of which was to wear your mask, and then we hiked further up the trail and met another guide who explained (in Spanish) some of the features of the park.  We also made our lunch choice and paid for it.  The guide then escorted us to an air trolley that we boarded and rode through the trees to the head of the hiking path that would take us to the falls.

Air trolley to begin our hike to La Gran Cascada Del Pita.

   I’m estimating, but I think the hike to the falls was about 5 miles in through heavy foliage, on an up and down narrow rocky path, that required you to ford streams on rocks, and cross old rickety bridges.   We stopped along the way to take photos and enjoy the beauty of the area.  I would classify it as a moderately strenuous hike.

Elder & Sister Lewis at the small Cascada Falls.

Proceed with caution on one of the rickety bridges.

"Drinking water gives us life, but becoming aware will give us water."

Elder & Sister Lewis arrived at the La Gran Cascada del Pita.

   Lunch was good and we were hungry.  Max and I realize that cleanliness standards are a little different here.  We wear masks all the time to prevent spreading coronavirus.  Masks were even deemed obligatory in the park.  However, when it came to refilling our drink, the man waiting on us took three of the missionaries glasses to the kitchen, refilled them, and passed them out again.  No one knew whose cup was whose, and it didn’t seem to matter to anyone, except for Max and I. 

   When I wanted to refill my glass, I went directly to the kitchen.  The waiter took my glass, filled it, and started to bring it back to me.  He must have thought he’d overfilled it because he stopped, returned to the pitcher with the drink in it, and poured about 1/3 of my drink back into the pitcher.  I was a little reluctant to drink my refill after that because I was wondering how many times he’d done that before and whose germs I was getting.  Life in Ecuador!  You have to take the normal with the abnormal, and the good with the bad.

   After lunch, Max and I just sat and talked while the missionaries played some soccer.  A little while later we went over and joined the soccer game until it was time to leave around 2:45 PM.  

   We had to walk about a mile back to the drop off point.  The transport picked us up and we drove the hour back to Sangolqui where we said goodbye to the missionaries, Ruben, and Tatiana.  We caught an Uber back to our apartment and were home before 5 PM.  

   This week, I was invited by the Research Division of the Church's Correlation Executive Committee to complete an online survey.  The survey was asking about home church and worship during this pandemic season of COVID.  Perhaps some of you were also invited to participate in the survey.  Completing the survey gave me an opportunity to reflect again on our home church experience since being quarantined in March.  My reflections included how much I miss the association and interaction that comes with church meetings.  I also miss the comments and insights of others when discussing a gospel topic. I miss playing the organ and participating in congregational singing.  However, I have LOVED home church, whether its a meeting with just Max and I, or a meeting with us and the sister missionaries who live in the apartment upstairs.  I love the small group interaction and the spirit that comes into our apartment when holding a sacrament service.  I also love the in depth and uninterrupted discussions we have from our study of Come, Follow Me.  Home church has given us the opportunity to shared thoughts, feelings, experiences, and testimony in ways that we would never share in a more public setting.  For me, home church has been a great blessing.  

   The COVID pandemic has reminded me that individually and globally speaking, life can unravel very quickly.  When it does, there are great blessings coupled with a sense of peace that comes when our foundation is built on the "rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God."   We share our testimonies that He lives and that He is the Savior of the world.

Blessings to all,

Elder & Sister Lewis

ANSWER to which $10 bill is real......Both bills are real.  The top bill was not accepted by the taxi driver, because it thought it was counterfeit.  However, to a collector it is worth $23 or more.