January 2011 Happy New Year!

Natalie and a few girls from our Stake, were the chorus for New Beginnings.
They sang beautifully!

Puyo, Ecuador- Love the view of the Volcano with snow on top.

The charming little hotel we stay in when we are in Puyo

January 4, we received four new missionaries Hermana Reid (USA) Hermana Flores (USA) Elder Pineda (Honduras) Elder Vasquez (Guatemala)



What a wonderful lady, Lenora in front of her cute blue house in Puyo. After our visit with her, we invited her to come with us to find the home of another sister in the branch that is suffering with cancer. It took her about two seconds to jump- up from her chair, and change into a fresh outfit. The next picture shows the trail she took us on to find the ill sister.

It was quite a hike- but we did find the home of the ill sister. The young man in the photo was a real gentleman. He helped us descend the muddy path, and then climb up and over the giant cement pipes, waiting to sometime be buried so the people of the jungle don't have to walk through the swamp to get to their homes. Visiting teaching has taken on a new meaning . Next time I will wear my boots!

Puyo is known as the "City of Cinnamon," located in the Amazon region of the country. We visited Puyo for a branch conference. We also made a change in the branch presidency. L to R:

Tim, Hermano Lescano (1st counselor), President Cambal, Hermano Escobar (2nd counselor), Hermano Calle (former president of the Puyo branch that was released), Hermano Pinduizaca (former second counselor) and President Vallejo, Tim's wonderful counselor.





Stephanie and a few of her friends in the Quito airport - all ready to hit Europe for " Model United Nations" Held at Den Hague in Holland.

Steph and gang at the Versailles Palace in France- they had a whirlwind tour after the 5 day conference. They hit most of the major tourist sights in France and Holland.

Stephanie and great friend Isabel in front of the famous Eiffel Tower-

Lucky ducks!

Christmas 2010

Finally all together for a family pose- we are so grateful to have had this Christmas in Ecuador. We are so happy that all of our children have been able to experience life in Mission Ecuador Quito! This Christmas will never be forgotten.

Dad and Chad all tied up and ready for a bungee jump just down the canyon from Baños.

An exhilirating jump for Dad and Chad in Baños -both came through without a scratch!

Tim and Cindy in the main plaza of Quito- "La Plaza Grande"

With all the family here for Christmas, we took a quick trip to Banos. The live Volcano gave us all a fright when it let off a loud explosion in the night!

Our newlyweds Jason and Emily were so fun to have with us. Here they are with Natalie.

A little break in Baños- Chad, Natalie, Stephanie, Jason and Emily

Everyone all suited up for the ziplines in Mindo -We all survived!

A walk down the oldest street in Quito "La Ronda"

Great food always to be had at the Beautiful Luna RunTun in Baños

Christmas morning with all of the kids in Quito. So great! Just being together was the best gift we could ever have.

Our four girls- Natalie, Jessica, Emily, and Steph on a short carriage ride around old town Quito - It was a beautiful night.

Old town Quito is so charming and fun to walk around with it's colonial architecture

Mom had the great privilege of singing with the fabulous Los Chillos choir for the Christmas fireside. This Choir is a great example of sacrifice - every sunday they practice for at least 3 hours! They love sharing their talents. Mom can be seen in the center, just look for the only blonde in the choir.

How fun to have some time to enjoy the market of Otavalo- we always find lots of treasures , and meet great people!






We had the most delicious seafood lunch after Stake conference in Esmeraldas. The sisters on the Coast really know how to cook!


Dad with the Stake Presidency of Esmeraldas Stake, and Elder Cabrera .We always look forward to our visits to the coast


Missionaries from the Calderon zone and the Los Chillos zone who came to enjoy the specialized training in the mission home and to enjoy some Christmas cheer.

This December after a morning of specialized training, we had all of the missionaries come to the Mission Home for a Christmas lunch , message, and caroling. It was a great experience to have all the missionaries pass through the Mission Home during this joyous season!


Quito, Chillogallo and Atahualpa Zones

Ibarra, Imbabura, and Santo Domingo Zones






Ofelia, Santa Ana and Otavalo Zones






Esmeraldas , and San Rafael Zones


Ambato, Riobamba, and Oriente Zones



Hermana Sloan has a seemingly endless supply of food for the missionaries

Merry Christmas!





Tim and Cindy take a second to enjoy "Papa Noel" Aka Elder Arellano

Everyone seemed content and grateful for the Christmas lunch



Our wonderful office Elders delivered a small treat to all- from left Elder Duarte, Papa Noel (Elder Morales), Elder Vomocil, and Elder Hakes

Lots of Elders=tons of food Just a few of our beautiful Hermanas enjoying the Christmas lunch

A small group of our missionaries serving in Esmeraldas, after a marvelous Stake Conference

Tim overlooking the beautiful view on the Beach of Esmeraldas

December Zone Leader council

Just before christmas we lost a great group of missionaries, from left Elder Zambrano (Ecuador) , Elder Gonzalez(Colombia), Hermana Groesbeck( our fantastic nurse and missionary (USA),Elder Duarte(Colombia) , Elder Law (USA) , and Elder Morales(Ecuador).They will all be so missed!

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.