OUR TRIP TO QUITO, ECUADOR!

     We attended the Mission Presidents Conference on October 29th -November 1st  and stayed at the lovely Marriott Hotel where we had the conference sessions.

This is looking out our hotel room.  Quito has hills, green mountains, trees, and rain.  We felt we were  back in Seattle again, almost!

You can actually see rain on the windows of our bus.  It never rains in Lima, so this was well worth traveling 2 hours by plane to come to Quito!

We had a terrific dinner show from this native tribe that lives high in the mountains of Ecuador.  Their men wear a single braid and is a sign of their manhood.  The missionaries from this tribe are allowed to keep their braids while they serve.  The dancers were great and the band used all their traditional instruments!

The area presidency got their pictures with the dancers and band members.

I love their colorful costumes and their dancing was most enchanting! 

The next day we visited the center of the earth (El Mitod del Mundo) the Equator, and had a great tour and new understanding about gravitational pulls in this area.

This sweet lady weaves these beautiful bags, runners and wall hangings.  Yes, I just had to buy a wall hanging from her. 

This dancer performed for us and invited us to join him!

This was the tower entrance!

We walked thru this original Inca hut and marveled at their lifestyle, their pots and dishes, weapons,  and tools.

These pet guinea pigs added life to this casa!

I loved the native pots, gourds, art, and costumes!

Avery old drum!

This mural shows the method of shrinking a head.  Only a shaman( a spiritual leader) can have his head shrunk and preserved!

Gordon, check out this ancient Marimba!

The long boat was their mode of transportation and for fishing.

Which one should I bring home?  Of course, the cutest one!

Tom Cavanaugh is the area executive secretary and helped plan our trip.

I loved seeing all the gourds. pottery, and statues.

This was an Inca burial tomb for the ruler and was big enough for his wife to join him, dead or alive! 

We are standing on both sides of the equator!

Our guide explains the gravitational pulls and how to tell time and to read the calendar.

This was a replica of an Inca Pyramid.

This was the first place thought to be El Mitod de Mundo and this huge tower was built by the French to commemorate this location.  A GPS, finally showed the original location, as shown above!

This is a tagua plant with large pods with seeds that are used to make wonderful jewelry.  They are polished, sliced, shaped, and dyed in all sorts of awesome colors, or they are kept in their natural off-white color.

It's amazing to me that you can take these colorless, spiky, ugly pods and create something beautiful that is a treasure!  I bet that is exactly how Heavenly Father sees us.  We are like rough pods that over time, trials, and experiences we can become polished and beautiful and acceptable to Him!

This was a talented jewelry maker and we all bought some of her lovely designs.  It was great to talk to her and let her know we appreciated her talent.

 We traveled up to the mountains and had lunch at this restaurant next to one of the dormant volcanoes!  The mist was rolling up out of the crater and it was hard to see the bottom of it.

Steve found a new friend!

That night we took a city tour in an open double-deck bus and it was amazing!

Spencer W. Kimball dedicated Ecuador for missionary service on the top of this mountain, overlooking all of Quito.

The architecture of the cathedrals and government buildings was so dramatic at night.

In the distance you can see a hill with a statue on it and that is our destination!

 This whole part of Quito is very historical, beautiful, and ornate.  We felt like we were in another time period.

This door is very ornate and tall, at least 14 feet tall!

We're all standing up in the bus to take pictures and going down a very steep hill.

This was Halloween night and we could see all the children in their costumes looking for treats.

This angel statue is lit up so all of Quito can see her.  About 100 yards away is the place where  Elder Spencer W. Kimball dedicated Quito for missionary work.

We have enjoyed getting to meet the mission presidents and their wives and to plan our visits to each of their missions.

Look how young this mission president couple are!

Pres. and Sister Cardon (CCM), Bro. Steve Allen (head of the missionary department, and Pres. and Sister Dyer, from Cochabamba, Bolivia.   We all were taught by the Area Presidency on our duties as missionaries and they really focused on teaching the Doctrine of Christ.  It was a very rewarding and enlarging experience.