One year down, but not counting....

The End of Our First Year

With Self Reliance Managers in Puembo, Ecuador

Starting a blog is easy.  Keeping it up is hard.  After returning from our Cusco, Peru assignment, we had a short rest before being sent to Puembo, Ecuador –- a short distance from Quito, Ecuador. We created and gave a PowerPoint presentation to the Self-Reliance managers, that they could give to the missionaries who are just ending their missions and returning home.  The presentation shows missionaries how they could continue to learn English, which would qualify them to enter the Pathway Program, run by BYU-Idaho, and offers them a college education from their home countries using Skype.

On one afternoon, we all bused to the Equator (both of them)!  One was Ecuador's historical monument, which they originally built. The 2nd was the authentic center circumference of the earth, which was identified after GPS technology was developed.

(Any excuse will do!) 

It was fascinating being able to balance an egg on the top of a nail, and seeing water drain in opposite directions - on each side of the Equator.

This is the brochure we created for the missionaries.  It is a combination of two brochures we had already created for use by Area staff members to learn English.

We then transferred to a hotel in delightful Quito where we gave presentations to missionaries returning home and met with President and Sister Christensen of the Quito Mission.  What an inspiring couple, serving in a beautiful city!  We had many wonderful experiences while there.  One afternoon we stopped at a group of art and craft booths. As we viewed some necklaces (Julene really loved one of them), I felt impressed that the artist needed an invitation to obtain a copy of the Book of Mormon.  When I asked her if she would accept our card, she smiled broadly and said "I'm a returned missionary!"  She had been looking in our faces and didn't notice our name badges.  It was a "tender mercy" moment, that confirmed that when we live the gospel there is a "light that is radiated".

The 2nd "tender mercy" was holding an impromptu meeting in our hotel room with a member of the Church, who is a Member of the National Assembly of Ecuador, and directs the Special Commission for Culture, Education, and Technology.  It is too long a story, but in brief, she proved to be the person in the government I needed to meet. Two weeks earlier, on assignment from the Area Presidency, I had prepared a proposal to bring some of the BYU performing groups (Ballroom Dancers, International Folk Dancers) to these countries.  The one venue location I was missing, was Quito.  She was excited to be the person who could help — especially after I showed her my TV commercials of the two groups.  The Lord is very much aware of, and involved in, the details of our lives.

More Presentations

Following our return to Lima, we made presentations to 4 more of the 5 missions in Lima and 400 returned missionaries in the north portion of Lima.  They are only part of all the native returned missionaries, since there are 500,000 members of the Church in Lima, alone.  With 15 million members worldwide, those numbers will continue to increase.

We then were sent on assignment again to Colombia and other cities in Ecuador, where we gave presentations to hundreds of missionaries and met with many mission presidents.  We were brought to tears on more than one occasion, as we were led and directed in events, over which we had had no control.  We are very grateful for "tender mercies".

Barranquilla, Colombia new temple site
overlooks the ocean and city.

Barranquilla Spanish-language missionaries learning a scripture in English.

From humid and warm Barranquilla we flew to cool and rainy Bogota for more meetings with mission presidents, presentations to missionaries, attending the Bogota Temple, and enjoying a Christmas celebration with many Stake Presidents and Bishops.  We especially were overjoyed at the opportunity to give a presentation to the 80+ missionaries who were in the Colombia Missionary Training Center, just before they traveled to their respective missions.  We even managed part of one day for a little sight-seeing.

Pres. Dyer and a few missionaries at the Bogota MTC

Artifacts at the Bogota Gold Museum

With Clarks at the Central Plaza in the original part of Bogota.

On to the Coast of Ecuador

We were wisked from the airport to a Sunday fireside with over 100 missionaries from the Guayquil West mission and Elder Calderon, an Area Seventy.  The next day we met with more returning missionaries from the Guayquil North and West missions.  The next day we taught Zone Leaders and brand new missionaries in the North mission, had a wonderful luncheon with the mission president and his wife, and attended the Guayquil Temple.  It and the Bogota Temple are two of the three largest temples outside the United States.  We were exhausted by the end of the presentation the next day to returning missionaries from the South Mission.

 Finally, just before we flew back to Lima Thursday evening, we managed a tour bus of Guayquil and a walking tour of the city's outstanding river/ocean front boardwalk.  It was a hot and humid tour of the city, but as I stood on the roof of the bus with the air blowing in my face, I was very glad we got to take a closer look at this beautiful city that has placed a strong emphasis on artwork to beautify the city, and traffic lights at every major intersection that bring order to the driving and fewer car horns.  I love the look of this city.  It's too bad it is soooo humid and hot.  All in all it was a very fulfilling 2 weeks.  We have been very blessed.  We'll end the trip with the pictures telling the story.

Stayed at the Courtyard Marriott

Guayquil Temple

We arrived back in Lima one week before Christmas.

We enjoyed 3 Christmas parties with the other senior missionaries, then snuggled all down for a Christmas Eve sleep, when out on the street their arose such a clatter, we sprung from our beds to see . . . that in Lima . . . the whole town celebrates Christmas Eve with fireworks!!!   These were literally right above our heads! And went on from 11 pm to 2am.

New Year's Eve was much the same with "Bombs bursting in air...". Our year went out quite literally with a BANG (actually more than one).