Happy New Year to All! As I have been preparing the Mission History for 2020, I've been amazed at the significant changes that we and the mission have experienced because of the global pandemic. In many ways, life seemed simpler 12 months ago. And yet, now older and maybe a little wiser, we are ready and eager for 2021.
Our daughter Staci, shared this 3:21 minute review of 2020 on Instagram. Consider it a child's perspective of our pandemic year. It's delightful to watch, and we hope that it brings to your mind and heart some of your 2020 blessings.
https://youtu.be/oIF-gBK22Rc
So many analogies can be drawn from this clip - changing seasons, holidays, birthdays, births, running in circles, and family time. But did you notice Emma's face plant at the end of the video followed by Jane getting up on all fours? I believe that most of us have experienced a "face plant" or two during 2020. But, like little Jane, we pulled ourselves up, rocked back and forth, and worked to move forward. We hope this New Year finds you taking some time to see life through the delight and innocence of a child's perspective. And, we pray that your year is filled with deserved blessings and happiness!
Last week, we welcomed 8 new missionaries - 5 Elders and 3 Sisters. Since October, missionaries have been arriving in the mission three weeks early to do their remote training. The early arrivals put more responsibility on the mission as we make temporary arrangements for housing, finances, phones, study rooms, etc., but it has been working out well for the missionaries and provides them with an environment that is more conducive to their preparation.
New missionaries arrived on December 29th. L-R: Elder Guerrero, Elder Quimi, Elder Espinosa, President Winters,
Hermana Aspiazu, Hermana Castro, Hermana Solorzano, Elder Luzardo, Elder Mejia.
New missionaries are eager to learn and ready to serve!
In mid-December, Ecuador curfews were reinstated for the holiday season, requiring everyone to be in by 10 PM. We spent New Year's Eve in the office and then had a quiet and early-to-bed evening in our apartment. On New Year's Day, we went to the office for a few hours so that I could work on the mission history. That evening, we had the 3 sisters living in the upstairs apartment and the 3 sisters in training come for dinner. It was great fun to have them. The sisters in training had to leave early for a devotional, but the other three sisters were able to stay and play games. We had a fun evening teaching them how to play 7's and a revised version of Mormon Bridge with Rook cards.
New Year's Day 2021 with the sister missionaries. Clockwise from 6 o'clock: Sister Solorzano, Sister Aspiazu,
Sister Yagual, Sister Arredondo, Sister Martinez, Sister Castro. Sister Arredondo was originally called to
the Ecuador Quito Mission. But, because of COVID, she was reassigned to her home country of Bolivia.
She served there for one year and will complete the last 6 months of her mission serving here.
Enjoying a casual dinner on New Year's Day with the sister missionaries.
Sister missionaries living in the upstairs apartment. L-R: Hermana Arredondo (new), myself,
Hermana Yagual, Hermana Martinez.
We love these wonderful sister missionaries! Sister Martinez has worked hard to learn English and
I've had the opportunity to test her on each module.
Hemana Yagual is also a dedicated missionary. She and I have experienced a lot of phone time
together as she worked faithfully to pass off English modules.
Sunday we invited our friends the Guerrero Family over for dinner. We have many Ecuadorian memories with the Guerrero's who befriended us shortly after we arrived. Dinner gave us the opportunity to express our appreciation to them for their friendship, our trip to their farm, making chocolate together, and other experiences.
Their oldest daughter Erika was planning to attend BYU-Idaho last May, but COVID prevented her from traveling to the States. She has been taking classes online at BYU-Idaho. If all goes well, she will be in the States and on campus in May. We feel pretty certain that our paths will cross again in the US.
This last Sunday, our weekly missionary devotional included testimonies from the missionaries who will be departing in January. There are ten of us that will be leaving. Elder Lewis and I prepared and shared our testimonies in Spanish. It was a sweet experience for us to share our feelings about the Savior, his gospel, and his missionaries in the Ecuador Quito Mission.
This week my replacement arrived in the office - Elder Puche. I will train him for the next two weeks to take over my responsibilities. Elder Lewis has been training Elder Rodriguez for the past two weeks and will continue to do so. We plan for all to be in order when we leave on January 26th.
We feel like things are starting to fall in place for our return. We have been blessed abundantly, and we are extremely grateful that we were able to stay in Quito and complete our 18-month assignment. We're look forward to reuniting with family and friends in the near future. Until then......
Love and Blessings to All!
Elder & Sister Lewis
