March 2009

Elder and Sister Ottosen, from Kamas, Utah via Oklahoma, had served faithfully for 23 months in the Ecuador Quito Mission. Here we are with the other senior couples, celebrating the Ottosen's wonderful service. L to R, Elder and Sister Ward (Utah), Elder and Sister Curtis (Utah), the Ottosens, Emily, a high school student from Idaho, Sister Griesemer and Sister Rose. Elder Rose sitting to her left.

Once in a while we are able to capture a scene or landscape by camera that protrays the life of Ecuador. In Quito, while we were driving to the other side of the valley to pick up Stephanie at Campo Alegre, we saw this woman carrying this basket of prepared food, packaged for sale at a street intersection. We see sights like this often, but we usually do not have our camera.

Natalie decided to dress up as "Super Woman" for "Wacky Day"at school. With a lot of help from her big sister, Stephanie, she turned out to look pretty awesome! We think Natalie is "Super Woman" every day.

Because the mudslides and massive erosions on the roads connecting high mountains with the tropical rainforest region of the country, we had to fly from Quito to Esmeraldas. By car, winding through the Andes it takes roughly 5 hours to descend to Esmeraldas, a city on the northern coast. By plane, it took us one half hour! We could really get used to this kind of traveling.

Our Assistants would prefer this type of traveling, too, versus sitting in the back seat for five hours. On the left is Elder Padilla (Guatemala) and Elder Rivera (Nicaragua) is on the right. Area rules only permits Tim to drive the vehicle, so the Assistants get to enjoy our travels while Tim manages the crazy traffic and the big pot holes.

When we landed in Esmeraldas, the zone leaders had arranged for a van to pick us up and take us to the Esmeraldas stake center. L to R. Cindy, Sister Griesemer and Elder Cedeño (Ecuador), one of our zone leaders.

Riding in a van from the airport to Esmeraldas, we decided to take this picture. Seated L to R are our zone leaders, Elder Squires (Arizona), Elder Cedeño (Ecuador), Tim; back row, L to R, are our Assistants, Elder Rivera (Nicaragua) and Elder Padilla (Guatemala). The drive was very scenic. We had fun just being together.

This is where we live, Las Cumbres. Natalie and Stephanie are standing out front where they wait everyday for their school bus to take them to the Cotopaxi Academy. We live on the 5th floor on the left side. Our view of the city of Quito on the back side is amazing.

We decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. Cindy and the girls pause a moment to take a picture. The brown building in the background is where we live. The street on which we live, Alonso de Torres, is steeper than it looks!

Another pose for the camera while walking around the neighborhood. The streets were quiet then, but during rush hour this little intersection is quite busy. We live in the brown building behind us.

We have no idea who this statue represents, but it was a great place for a picture. Standing behind Tim and girls is the shopping mall and to the right you can see our brown apartment complex.

When we flew to Esmeraldas the skies were clear and the sun was bright. By chance we were able to capture this picture of our neighborhood where we live. This neighbor is called "El Bosque" named after the forest that lies behind us. The volcano "Pichincha" lies not far up over the green slope. Our apartment building is the brown complex right in the middle of the picture.

We held our March zone conference for the Otavalo and North zones in Ibarra. At this particular conference we had 110 members from various ward councils attend. Their involvement for a couple of hours in our zone conferences is building solidarity between the leaders and the missionaries.

Isa, Stephanie's good friend from Bolivia, and Stephanie decided to pose for a picture before taking a dip in the apartment indoor pool.

Natalie and Stephanie enjoy having their picture taken! Here they are sitting on the parallel bars in the play area behind our apartment complex.

Behind our apartment complex is this small, but quaint playground. There's a swing set, parallel bars and monkey bars to play on. Tim likes the monkey bars the most! There's also an area for volleyball where we've played kick for Family Home Evening.

Natalie and Stephanie, throwing kisses to their friends back in Lehi.

Here is a "sister" moment captured on film. There's a lot of kissing going on down here!

Family, People and Places of Interest

Our friends at the branch conference in Tena, located in the Amazonian region of Ecuador.

New members in Santo Domingo

A cathedral in Quito.

Everyday scene in the streets of Quito

Cindy accompanied the sister missionaries on a lesson to a wonderful family in Otavalo.

Every trip we take to the far reaches of the mission, we load the Ford Explorer with our luggage and food. It's always an adventure. Tim's two Assistants, Elders Katzenbach and Padilla are helping Tim put the duffle bags on top of the car.

Tim is taking a moment to introduce our children, Chad, Natalie, Jessica and Stephanie in one of our first zone conferences in the mission. This one is in Santo Domingo. All of the children told a little about themselves in Spanish!

Jessica, Natalie, Stephanie and Cindy are walking on Avenida Amazonas in downtown Quito.

A family picture with a few members of the Church who sell their goods in the Otavaleño market.

The governmental palace in downtown Quito.

A typical scene in Ecuador, people selling fruits and vegetables which are in great abundance at great prices.

This woman from the Riobamba area is walking with her baby on her back in a q'epi.

A family picture taken at the equator. The red line on the bottom is the exact location of the equator according to GPS readings.

A family picture taken in downtown Quito. L to R are Chad, Jessica, Natalie, Stephanie, Cindy, Tim and Jason.

Another view of the governmental palace. On this day there were a lot of protests in the plaza.

We met a little friend in Otavalo.

This is a home of a family whom we visited just moments before this picture was taken. As we were leaving, they waved good-bye to us through the window.

Otavalo is one of our favorite places to visit. Tim is visiting with an Otavaleño woman. Tim's knowledge of Quechua is helpful in forming friendships. Quichua a slightly different dialect from what Tim learned in Bolivia, but he manages to be understood.

A typical scene in the coastal region of the country. Eating outside along the street is a very typical sight as we drive through the various towns and cities.

A busy sidewalk in downtown Quito.

This is the central cathedral in downtown Ibarra. It is situated across the street from the chapel for the district.

Three Quiteños are enjoying a pleasant afternoon in front of their home.

We stayed in this hostel, on the left, along a river bank in the Amazon. This is Tena where we have a thriving branch of members.

Chad took this picture of some friends while in Santo Domingo.

A picture of the children in downtown Quito, sitting across the central plaza where the governmental palace is located.

At virtually every street intersection there are entrepreneurers selling fruits, vegetables and almost anything else that can be sold while the light is "red."

A small truck is a common mode of transportation for people to travel from their farms to the markets in the towns and cities.

This is the embassy from Spain where hundreds of people line up each day, waiting to obtain a visa. The aspirations of all is to obtain better work and send home money to loved ones.

A typical street in downtown Quito. Walking these streets is like going back in time five hundred years ago. It's all very quaint.

This is a view of downtown Ambato, taken from the Hotel Emperador where we stay when we come to Ambato for zone conferences.

A view of downtown Baños, located some three hours south of Quito.

We live on this street, Alonso de Torres, and the brown apartment building, called Las Cumbres, is our home. We live on the fifth floor on the north side.

A family from the surrounding area of Baños takes a moment to pose for a family photo in a plaza.