March/April 2010

We owe a debt of gratitude to our wonderful area doctor, Elder Malouf and his dear wife. They have been a great support to us and our mission, during Dad's recovery.

Natalie and two of her best amigas, Mckenzie and Alexis.

I looked out the window and what did i see? Dad and a merry band of missionaries heading to our home for food of course!

Dad can't resist the opportunity to share the gospel with everyone we meet.

Our newest group of elders and hermanas enjoy the view on top of the Panecillo.

Natalie was a natural at flying through the amazonian jungle.

Mom overcame her fear of heights, and made it on all 12 of the ziplines in Mindo.

Dad was in his element as he swung through the trees, it was a great day.

Mom, Dad, and Natalie take a minute to pose. Stephanie was a good girl and went to school, because she had already been to Mindo twice.

Here we are with a group of awesome missionaries. Elder Squires, Samayoa and Dominguez, our assistants, Elder Law and Cloud, our office secretaries, and Hermana Groesbeck, our nurse, and her companion Hermana Sacalxot. We all enjoyed a wonderful P-day.

The life of an assistant is pretty rough, here is Elder Samayoa and Elder Squires, catching a cat nap on the way home from zone conference. They are two great assistants.

Always time for a little fun at zone conference. The game portion always includes scriptures and testing our knowledge of Preach my Gospel.

Just to get the wiggles out, Hermanas Rose and Groesbeck, our nurses, taught all the missionaries how great it feels to exercise, while singing "Called to Serve".

Always eating it seems, but here we are again for the farewell dinner of our dear Hermana Griesemer, on Tim's Left. She's left a big hole in the mission.

Hermana Sloan, surrounded by just a few of our darling hermanas, serving in Ambato/Riobamba area.

February 2010

A somber morning, as we bid farewell to our dear Hermana Griesemer aka " El corazon de la mision" (the heart of the mission). Her influence, creativity, and strong organizational skills has left a mark on Mission, Quito Ecuador. We love her and we will never forget her!

After zone conference, zona Otavalo left with their arms full of ironing boards, and clothes drying racks. They were all heading for the same bus, for the 2 1/2 hour ride back to Otavalo. We can only hope that they were able to get all their goods on the bus. They were thrilled with their treasures.

It was a beautiful night in Quito, to share dinner with our Assistants Elders Squires (USA) and Samayoa (Guatemala) and our outgoing Assistant Elder Ducuara (Colombia). We also had our two office secretaries Elder Cloud (USA), and Elder Law (USA). It was a night to bid farewell to Elder Ducuara and Elder Otero (Argentina), we will miss these two fine missionaries.

At Academia Cotopaxi, Stephanie is on the swim team. Here she is with her friend Maya who is from Israel. She speaks English, Spanish, and Hebrew.

As we have started our new round of zone conferences, it has been a delight to see all of our missionaries again. Here is Hermana Groesbeck and Hermana Rose, our two nurses, teaching a stress relieving exercise routine, performed to the tune "Called to Serve".

Christmas in Quito 2009

It has been a most joyous Christmas here in Quito. We are especially grateful that Tim is on the road to recovery after his surgery. We were able to get one snapshot by the tree in our living room, with our three girls.

Here we are with two of our wonderful Hermanas, Bojorge (Argentina) and Groesbeck (USA). They serve faithfully in our sector. We feel so blessed to have Hermana Groesbeck as a missionary and as the mission nurse. It is amazing to see her juggle both callings. She and her companion helped and supported us so much during Tim's illness.

During the Christmas break, one of our outings was to Teleférico. This ia a few miles away from our home, atop a mountain that stands 13,500 ft. It was a great way to get a little exercise and see the beautiful city of Quito.

Here is a view of downtown Quito with the beautiful snow-capped Cotopaxi in the background.

A breathtaking day in Quito. The temperature reached about 76 degrees this day. In the background is a different view of Quito with Antisana in the background.

Our second Christmas here in Quito, was especially festive. We even had a visit from St Nick. Back row, L to R: Sister Groesbeck (USA), Sister Bojorge (Argentina), Elder Cloud (USA), Elder Mar (Peru), Elder Vargas (Bolivia), Elder Ducuara (Colombia), Elder Rodriguez (Ecuador), Elder Segura (Costa Rica), Santa Claus was Elder Squires (USA), Elder Zapata (Panama), Elder Cumez (Guatemala), Elder Guadamuz (Nicaragua), Elder Arellana (Mexico). Bottom row, L to R, Elder Hilden (USA), Elder Herbas (Bolivia), Elder Rojas (Costa Rico), Elder Gibson (USA) and Elder Nole (Peru)

During the Christmas week we took a family hike to Peguche Falls in Otavalo.

Jessica's visit always makes Christmas seem more festive. Steph and Jessica enjoy a midnight snack.

We are so blessed to have wonderful senior couples here with us in Quito. Pictured from left: Hermana Dressen, Elder and Hermana Rose, Tim and Cindy, Elder and Hermana Curtis, and the famous Hermana Griesemer.

Taking a moment to snap a picture, L to R, Elder and Sister Curtis, Sister Griesemer and Cindy.

Los Chillos/Santa Ana zone, enjoying lunch at the Christmas open house in the mission home. Elder Melendez (Peru) and Sister Hermandez (Colombia) and Sister Hooker (Nicaragua) are closest to the tree.

Enjoying the Christmas luncheon in the mission home, L to R, Elder Contreras (Ecuador), Elder Robles (Bolivia), Elder Castañeda (Mexico), Elder Hailstone (USA), Elder Olaveson (USA), Elder Benavides (Mexico), Elder Hirschi (USA), Elder Quijada (Chile) and Elder Castro (Mexico).

Here we are pictured with the Ofelia/Calderon zone, after a little singing and christmas message. L to R, Front row, Elder Vera (Ecuador), Elder Farinango (Ecuador), Elder Pisco (Ecuador), Elder Perez (Bolivia); Second row, Sister Castillo (Guatemala), Tim, Cindy, Sister Figueroa (Chile); Back row, L to R, Elder Williams (USA), Elder Warr (USA), Elder Huarahuara (Peru), Elder Brugiati (Panama), Elder Harding (USA), Elder Tripp (USA), Elder Barros (Ecuador), Elder Duarte (Colombia), Elder Martin (USA), Elder Zamudio (Mexico), Elder Tirado (Ecuador), Elder Lopez (Ecuador) and Elder Mora (Peru).

We lost a group of hardworking missionaries on this night. We will miss them!

A few days later, we received one of our largest groups of missionaries, our mission continues to grow with 19o missionaries.

Happenings in the mission!

Here is the latest from our son Chad serving in Madrid Spain. He loves Spain, and the wonderful people he is serving.

In true Chad form- he makes fun happen anywhere. It looks as if his district is in great shape!

Chad always finds a way to express his joy, wherever he is.

Our second visit to the little Branch in Tena was a sweet experience. It was so great to find the Branch moving along in the right direction.

Saying goodbye is never easy to do- but to these three giants of the mission it was especially hard. Elder Cedeno, Elder Squires, both assistants, helped us bid farewell to Elder Rivera, Elder Padilla, and Elder Scott.

The arrival of new missionaries always seems a little like Christmas morning!

We are definitely growing older and hopefully a little wiser on our mission . We all surprised Tim with a cake and party blowers on his special day. Recently we visited beautiful Tulcan for a Branch conference. We were welcomed with a fabulous dance festival, with amazing costumes and talent.



The children here, we think are the cutest in the world- always smiling

The Children of Tulcan wait to wow us with their dancing skills.

September 2009

The wonderful choir in the Riobamba District. It was an inspiring conference we held.

Another volcano, one of many along the "Volcano Alley" that runs between Quito and Riobamba.

This is a volcano called El Altar. Surrounding the city of Riobamba are several beautiful volcanoes.

This is a southern view of Cotopaxi, the volcano that overlooks the city of Quito

From our hotel, Rio Marquez in Riobamba, we woke up to see this beautiful site of Chomborazo, the highest peak in Ecuador, sitting at over 20,000 ft.

The time has finally come for the people of Coca to be an official Branch of the Church! What an exciting day.We had the honor of being present on this historic day in Coca as a new Branch of the church was formed.

It was a hot, sunny day in Coca where we were thrilled to be a part of the first official primary held in the newly formed Branch of the Church. We were deep in the Amazon jungle, outside under a thatched hut style roof with twenty children who had lots of energy-we felt a deep appreciation for the new primary president who accepted the call eventhough she was just weeks away from delivering her third child! What an example for us all.

Natalie and Stephanie alongside the river in Tena. what great girls we have- they seem to make the best out of every situation.

While our husbands were at the church calling the new leaders of the branch in Coca, us gals had a nice visit. From left: Sister Vasquez, Stephanie, Natalie, Cindy, Sister Montoya, Sister Griesemer, and little Valeria.

A few of the branch members wanted to stay and linger, and savor the moment of now being an official branch of the church. Our hearts are tender as we think of the Gospel being taken to all people everywhere- even in the jungle!

Here we are with a woman in her home in Coca. Her husband was called as one of the counselors in the branch presidency. She was very humble and willing to serve any way she could.

We had a little bit of a hike to get to the river, where we had two baptisms. We don't remember a time when we were this sweaty- the heat was incredible!

We all had to cross the river to have the best view of the baptisms. A couple members of the branch volunteered to get in the water to help us across. Here is Sister Vasquez and Sister Griesemer making it safely across to the other side. As we crossed the log we all prayed we would not fall in with the snakes, or whatever else was hiding in the murky waters.

Here is Dad with the newly called priesthood leaders of the new branch in Coca Fransisco de Orellana. Presidente Villavicencio is standing in the middle, kneeling in front are two of our great Elders Wortley, and Triado.

The first official primary sharing time in Coca! Natalie and Sister Griesemer are teaching the children how to sing a favorite primary song. It was a joyous day, one we will never forget. It's wonderful to see how the gospel changes lives , no matter where you are in the world.
Here is the home that was donated for the church use in Coca, and some of the branch members after the conference. The beautiful chapel, permanent missionaries, and a radio announcement telling of the formation of the new Branch, has stirred much excitement in the Area. All of this joy came in large part because two of our wonderful missionaries, Elder Katzenbach and Elder Padilla, went out to Coca to see if a branch was possible. It was their recomendation to move ahead that got the ball rolling- Thanks for your hard work elders!

We had the opportunity of having a testimony meeting after two new members of the branch were baptized. It was wonderful to hear their sweet testimonies and experiences.
A perfect day for a baptism. We all felt so blessed to have had the privilege of being in attendence on this special day. Tim was honored to baptize one of the newest members of the Coca branch in the nearby river.

Dad and Elder Wortley with the husband and wife about to be baptized.

What an honor for Dad to baptize this wonderful new brother into the church.