September-October 2010

The mission presidents seminar this year in Peru was a grand event. We learned so much from our Area Presidency and other mission presidents. We have already started using this new knowlege to help our missionaries. One memorable day of the seminar was spent at Machu Picchu. Here we have pictured all 23 mission presidents and wives, and the Area Presidency of South America North West.

Here we are with three other misssion presidents and wives, we all were in the provo MTC together in June of 2008. We are so grateful to still be standing and smiling.

Elder and Sister Nash are great friends and examples to us. We appreciate so much their leadership in our area presidency.

It was a breath-taking view looking down on the ruins of Machu Pichu. What a marvelous day we had with all of the mission presidents in our area.

Tim and Cindy taking a moment to pose during the mission presidents seminar in Peru. We stayed in the beautiful hotel Arwana.

Lunch Time!

A few of our happy elders.

Sometimes the elders just need to let off a little steam-here we are in a friendly game of tug-o-war. No one was hurt, but a few blisters may have shown up the next day on their hands.

In mission Ecuador Quito we have the greatest missionaries and senior couples.

When it comes to eating, the Sisters are never shy. But they are a little more classy about it than the Elders!

Our biggest group of missionaries arrived in September- there were 28 in all, what a great day! We always feel so privileged to be part of this marvelous work.

Chad Had a great time with us in Coca- here he is with a newly baptized family.

It is always a joy to visit the branch in Coca. Since the branch was formed a year ago, the branch has more than tripled. We stand in awe of these faithful saints.

Little kids always seem to flock to Hermana Sloan, maybe because she keeps a large stash of candy in her purse for all of the missionaries and cute Ecuadorian kids.

Having a great time in the pool with lots of our little friends, steph and nat fit right in.

A memorable birthday for Tim and Cindy, our mission presidency and some stake presidents and their families joined us for a pool party in the apartment pool.

Another great trip down to the coast- no worries- just a little flat tire. Luckily for us we had our two faithful assistants Elder Morales and Elder Hakes with us to do the dirty work.

Missionaries and food always seem to go together!

In Riobamba we have a new District presidency, President Naranjo, President Luna, and President Reynolds. They are a strong Presidency dedicated to building and strengthening this District that is so close to becoming a Stake. President and Sister Vallejo, of the Mission Presidency, are on the right. They have been a great force for good in this Riobamba district.

In september we had a reunion and training for all of the beautiful Hermanas in our mission. What a great feeling we had in the mission home that day. We love all of these Hermanas, and we are so grateful to have them here with us in the mission. They bring a great maturity and spirit to this work- We always need more Hermanas!

Another sad farewell dinner and testimony meeting. We love all of these wonderful missionaries, and we wish them well in the next phase of their lives.

It was a joy to welcome home Elder Sloan after two years! We loved having him here with us for a few days in Ecuador.

Chad had a wonderful mission in Spain! He can never forget the smiles on the faces of those who were baptized, and came to know of the truthfulness of the Gospel.

Zone Conferences in August 2010

After the stake conference in Chillogallo, we met with all of our wonderful missionaries for a few minutes of the Chillogallo Zone. L to R front row: Hermana Pakay (Guatemala), Sister Pakay (Philippines), Stephanie, Natalie, Cindy, Tim, Elder Pereira (Costa Rica), Elder Arellano (Mexico), Elder Wallace (USA), Elder Messer (USA), Elder Mann (USA); second row, L to R: Elder Pomalaza (Peru), Elder Sotomayor (Ecuador), Elder Corado (Guatemala), Elder Woods (USA), Elder Whitlock (USA), Elder Resendiz (Mexico); third row, L to R: Elder Guadamuz (Nicaragua), Elder Parrish (USA), Elder Briggs (USA).

Elder and Sister Curtis perform some humorous but serious role playing for the need to maintain apartments clean and orderly. We will miss them very much for the many contributions they have made to the mission.

Tim routinely meets with the stake presidents in the mission, usually the night before zone conferences or other training meetings to discuss missionary work and the progress being made in their stakes. Here in Otavalo Tim met with President Camp (left) from the Otavalo Stake and with President Arellano from the Imbabura stake. These are wonderful leaders and we feel honored to serve them.

In zone conferences and in all kinds of meetings we always do role-playing. Here is Tim as an investigator "demonstrating" with a pair of Zone Leaders in the Iñaquito chapel in Quito.

Sometimes Zone Conferences can be little boring, especially around the sixth time for the girls. They are real troopers who endure long rides all over the country. Stephanie and Natalie can fall asleep just about any where, especially sitting in the back of the SUV. Here they are sleeping in the Santo Domingo stake center.

Here is the Santo Domingo Zone of whom we are very grateful for their hard work and dedication: L to R: Elder Redd (USA), Sister Jaramillo (Ecuador), Sister Herrera (Guatemala), to Tim's left is Elder Marín (Bolivia), Elder Nole (Peru); back row L to R: Elder Kearns (USA), Elder Olguin (Bolivia), Elder Wright (USA) and behind him, Elder Fuentes (Chile), Elder Vogl (USA), Elder Noe (USA), Elder Mendoza (Mexico) and Elder Cujilan (Ecuador). Tim, Cindy, Stephanie and Natalie are in front center.
We love to recognize the accomplishments of our missionaries! These are hard-to-earn certificates that missionaries receive when they memorize scriptures listed in Preach My Gospel and organize their Area Book with perfection! L to R: Sister Figueroa (Chile), Sister Sandoval (Guatemala), Elder Cevallos (Ecuador), Elder Moreyra (Bolivia) and Elder Larrea (Ecuador)

After zone conference in which zones from the San Rafael Zone and Esmeraldas Zone joined together, we took a moment to take a picture of our wonderful sisters. L to R: Sister Perez (Guatemala), Sister Sandoval (Guatemala), Stephanie, Tim, Cindy, Sister Figueroa (Chile), Natalie and Sister Mateo (Guatemala).

This is the Esmeraldas Zone with great missionaries. L to R: Elder Smith (USA), Elder Gallego (Colombia), Sister Figueroa (Chile), Elder Merrill (USA), Sister Sandoval (Guatemala), Elder Garcia (USA), Cindy, Natalie, Stephanie, Tim, Elder Segura (Costa Rica), Elder Hendrickson (USA), Elder Cevallos (Ecuador), Elder Moreyra (Bolivia), Elder Larrea (Ecuador).

This is the San Rafael Zone serving in Esmeraldas. These are great missionaries! L to R: Elder Hymas (USA), Elder Cauhuana (Ecuador), Sister Perez (Guatemala), Elder Vergara (Chile), Sister Mateo (Guatemala), Elder Diaz (Guatemala), Cindy, Stephanie, Elder Steiber (USA), Natalie, Tim, Elder Pincay (Ecuador), Elder Pinchana (Peru), Elder Ariaga (Guatemala), Elder Caballero (Peru), Elder Visca (Argentina)

The Orient Zone which covers the isolated branches in the mission which are located in the Amazon region. L to R: Elder Dávila (Peru), Elder Farinango (Ecuador-Otavalo), Sister Chu (Peru), Sister CujCuj (Guatemala), Cindy, Natalie, Tim, Stephanie, Elder Vomocil (USA), Elder Eliason, also known as President Eliason who presides over the Tena branch, Elder Cumez (Guatemala) and Elder De Hoyos (Colombia).
The Ambato Zone of missionaries who have worked hard to help the Ambato stake grow. L to R: Elder Mercado (Bolivia), Elder Lopez (Ecuador), Sister Alava (Ecuador), Elder Alarcón (Ecuador), Sister Nicolas (Bolivia), Elder Garcia (Nicaragua), Cindy, Elder Ward (USA), Natalie, Tim, Stephanie, Elder Matsen (USA), Elder Benavidez (Mexico), Elder Coc (Guatemala)

Natalie loves to ride her little scooter around the chapels when we hold zone conferences or specialized training for the missionaries. Here she is in the Imbabura stake chapel outdoor basketball court (Otavalo).

August 2010

When we travel to Tena or Coca we cross many one-lane bridges like this one. So far the bridges have held up!

We were driving along the ridge of the mountains on our way to Quito from Tena, at about 11,000 ft. when we came to this landside which had just happened moments before. It was a river of mud that was about 100 ft. across the road. The current of mud carried small logs and rocks down the cliff on the left. There is never a dull moment traveling through the Andes.

When we came to the mudslide, we didn't have a lot of options. To turn back would mean that we would not arrive home until about 24 hours later with a detour through another route in the Andes. L to R: Natalie, Tim, President Espinozo's two sons, Elder Dominguez (Mexico); in the back, L to R: President Espinosa, Tim's second counselor, and Elder Morales (Ecuador).

This man entertained us all with a little shock and horror as he walked from one end to the other. He is just inches away from a ledge that dropped down hundreds of feet!

Finally, a big bus decided to trudge through the one foot thick of mud and debris. The bus started to slide towards the edge, but the driver made it across, giving us all hope that we could do the same. The Ecuadorian bus drivers are fearless.