A VIEW OF QUITO

A couple of views of the city.






Giving up on reading we prepared to leave.



Elder Di Natale, Elder Arellano, Pres. and Sister Sloan reading the story of the dedication of Ecuador for the preaching of the gospel.



Statue of the Virgin Mary, it is made of over 7,000 pieces of aluminum.

Tuesday January 4, 2011

The new missionaries arrived today and there were only 4 of them, two Sisters and two Elders so we asked if we could go with them to the "El Panecillo Mirador". This is a hill at the south end of Quito with a statue of the Virgin Mary or the Virgin of Quito. This is the only statue of the Virgin that has wings. We got a taxi from the office and were to met Pres. and Sister Sloan and the missionaries there. They come to this hill with a beautiful view of the city and read the story of Pres. Kimball dedicating the land for the preaching of the gospel. It started to rain as we arrived, and soon it was pouring. The Sister missionaries were trying huddled under one umbrella, we gave the Elders one of our umbrellas and we shared the other. The rain beating on the umbrellas became so loud we could not hear the reading. Finally, we gave up ran for the van. There was not room for us so we caught a taxi and returned home to change and warm up. The missionaries returned to the mission home for pizza.

Desks for more children in Ecuador

Elder and Hermana Yost, Grimaneza Chávez Núñez and Fernando



Many students sit two to a desk, in desks that are too small.


This young lady is a member of the church and attends the school.



New desks



Elder Yost signing the delivey receipt



Many of the students had no desks and were not to excited about having their picture taken

January 4, 2010

Today we had the privilege of delivering 250 more desks. This time it was to the Colegio National in Quito. It is such a delight to do these projects. Many of the students have not had any desks and others share desks that are too small. The school is for students ages 11 to 17. They also teach adult education classes in the evenings and the desks will be used for these students as well. We were given a tour of the school. Every classroom we entered the students stood, they were very respectful. After the project was explained to them in their best English they said "Thank you". I only wish we could do more.

Starting the New Year Right

Elders with Juan Carlos



Senior missionaries with Juan Carlos

January 1, 2011

The first day of the New Year the Elders had a baptism. He is a golden contact and a very nice young man. The Senior Missionaries were asked to sing "Come Follow Me". We did the first verse in English and everyone smiled, then we did the next 3 verses in Spanish and everyone really smiled. It was a wonderful way to start the New Year.

Burning the old year! Good-bye 2010.

The New Year in Ecuador! from Brenda Yost on Vimeo.

Faliz Año Nuevo! 2011 in Ecuador

The day after, there are burned areas everywhere, good-bye old year and old troubles.



There were life size effigies everywhere Friday morning.



The Senior Missionaries - eating again-



Everyone was in a festive mood.



One of the displays along Amazonas.



Mom with Woody!



Dad with Buzz, this is by a little video store close to our office



After the burning.



Office Elders just before the burning.



Elder Vomocil with our offices effigie.

Well, The New Year celebration in Ecuador is an exciting experience. Maybe next year we will venture out of our apartment for a closer look. There are several traditions that are interesting and different. First off between Christmas and New Years many take vacations so we really didn´t accomplish much this week but we came into the office every day. Just so you know we are working. One tradition is to make effigies or mannequins, some are of people but others represent difficulties or problems from the old year that you don´t want to continue into the New Year. These were all over and some were very cute. We saw them tied to the front of cars and on motorcycles as well as sitting in front of offices and homes. At midnight on New Year’s eve these are set on fire and burned up. Everyone has fireworks and just before midnight they start setting them off. It is not an organized fireworks display but hundreds of firecrackers, roman candles and other fireworks start going off, it sounds like you are on the front lines of a war zone. It was so loud it woke us up, (we were trying to stay awake to watch it all but we are old and tired). The main street that is close to our office was completely closed to traffic and all sorts of vendors and large paper mache displays were set up. There were tons of people already gathered when we walked home about 2 p.m. Many were dressed in costumes or wore wigs or hats, witches hats were very popular. It reminded me of Halloween. Kind of Halloween meets the New Year. Another tradition I found interesting was if you desire to travel in the New Year, you walk around the block carrying a suitcase on New Years eve. Sister Sloan said there we lots of people on New Years Eve walking on her street with a suitcase in hand. Guess everyone wants to travel.

WHAT HAS BLUE FEET AND FLIES?

Sorry this is taken through a window and there is lots of reflection, but you can get the idea.

O.K., here is a challenge for the grandkids and anyone else who wants to play. As we walk to work in the mornings we pass several shops that sell T-shirts. I have noticed one that talks about a "blue footed booby", I thought it was some kind of joke that I didn´t understand. Then one day I noticed on a travel poster that had a picture of a bird with blue webbed feet, he looked rather odd. So, I decided to Google "blue footed booby". Surprise, there really is such a bird, and he is really kind of cute. So here is your challenge. Google "blue footed booby" and look at the pictures of this interesting bird, then see if you can locate the Cornell site and listen to his call (it really isn´t a song), then see if you can locate a book about these birds (hint the birds name is Bobby), and see if you can locate a video of their mating dance, and last discover how he got the name booby. As you are looking at these interesting birds see if you can find another type of bird, animal or reptile that you did not know about before. Leave me a comment or email me with your discovery and we can learn more together. Happy Goggling!
Love,
Grandma

P.S. Wouldn´t it be fun to visit the Galapagos Islands and see some of these animals up close?

Papa Noel visits Elder and Hermana Yost!

I should have posted these pictures in a different order, start from the bottom and go up to see things as they really were.

Nativity scene in Ibarra, notice no baby Jesus, he is placed in the manger on Christmas Eve.


At the end of Christmas Day, there is still some fudge left.



Dad singing his rendition of "The Restroom Door said Gentleman". I should have done a video!



Christmas dinner at our apartment.




We had breakfast with the office Elders. Elder Hakes cooking omlets.



Dad in his new poncho.



Papa Noel visited us!!



Everyone loved the calendars.



We ate, played games and had a little gift exchange, it was a nice evening.



Preparing food Christmas Eve, we are eating our way through this mission.

Christmas dawned rather gray and wet but the day later actually got sunny and warm. We had a nice Christmas. We purchased several items we had decided to get for souvenirs. Dad got a new poncho and a T-shirt. I got a beautiful decorated box and a carved humming bird. These carvings are made from Tugua nuts and are very beautiful. It is known as South American Ivory. Trent and Vi had sent us a puzzle and we got it done Christmas Day. The package Trudy sent arrived just in time and so we had calendars to give to each of the senior missionaries. They loved them! I have missed having pictures of Christ in our home, I love these calendars. Thanks Trudy and Viona!

We had breakfast with the Elders and the Senior Missionaries. Elder Hakes cooked omelets and we had French toast. Later that day we had dinner at our apartment with the office Elders and the mission nurse, Hna. Rogers and her companion Hna. Nelson. I cooked a turkey and some ham and everyone else brought different dishes to round out the meal. We seem to be eating our way through this mission. On Christmas Eve the Senior Missionaries got together, you guessed it, to eat and play games. It has been a nice holiday. We were able to Skype most of the kids and it was fun to see each of you.

A few traditions from Ecuador that I learned this year: The infant Jesus is not placed in nativity scenes until Christmas Eve. There are no shepherds in most of the nativity scenes here. It is Papa Noel that visits the children and leaves toys. There is usually a procession through the streets to the Church for midnight mass. We are not out at night so did not get to witness this tradition.

We hope you all had a Very Merry Christmas and will have a most Joyous New Year!