These are some pictures of my apartment! In case you were wondering!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Week 14
Proof that I am in fact in South America! Isn´t it great?
This is the view from my roof! Isn´t amazing?
Zona Norte- smallest in the whole mission (Elder Glass, Elder Lazalde, Elder Seguro, Elder McGary, Hermana Escobar, Elder Stieber, Hermana Sloan, Elder Hernandez, President Sloan, and Me!
My companion and I (I´m a bit taller...and wider).Hey Everybody-
I hope this finds you well!
Ecua-Fact: They have french fries everywhere! They cover them in this sauce that vaguely resembles fry sauce. If you get them to go, they come in a bag and they give you a spear to eat them with!
I´m doing really well! I forget to tell everybody about my transfer to Ibarra from Quito! It was pretty eventful (for me anyway). So Sorensen dropped me off at the terminal and I bought my ticket. I found my way to the bus and then my 3 hour bus ride (which has to only take about an hour in car) began. My Spanish not being great I had a little script written out so I could ask the bus monkey to tell me where to get off ( I didn´t want to end up in Colombia). Finally he told me we were at the Ibarra terminal and I got off! So I waited for Hermana Escobar to come and pick me up. Nothing. After about 45 minutes I finally got up the courage to ask somebody where the terminal was. I found out it was about 2 miles East! I quickly grabbed a taxi and went to the Terminal. When I got there I couldn´t see anybody. I was starting to panic a little now! They haved armed guards everywhere, and I asked one of them where the phones where so I could call the offices. He let me use his and then all of the sudden some Missionaries walked out. My companion with our Zone Leaders! I can´t even explain the relief. Changes are stressful!
We had Zone Conference this week, it was great as usual. President Sloan invites the members to attend. We set a record with 140 members in attendance. Most of them were from the Otavalo zone (combined Zone conferences). It was amazing to see. We also had district meeting like we do every week. What made it different was when we decided to do it in Tulcán. It´s two hours away and on the Colombia border, we have two Elders up there and our District Leader decided we should make the 4 hour bus trip at least once. It was beautiful, I can´t believe I didn´t have my camera! We´re going again though before the change is through! I have never been so carsick in my whole life. Passenger bus through the Andes mountains is now a pleasant ride!
We have some really great investigators right now. Cielo especially, she always comes to church which is great and she knows the Book of Mormon is true. She doesn´t feel quite ready for baptism yet but were hoping she will be soon. We also have Raul, he is from Colombia. He needs a bit of pushing but he also comes to church every week. We need some new investigators so I think we will be contacting this week! Scary! Wish me luck, I´ve never done it before!
We hiked the Waterfall above today for our P-day activity! It wasn´t too bad, and my ankle wasn´t a hinderance at all! I have a great zone/district!
Love and miss you all!
Hna. Whitney Tanner
Monday, February 23, 2009
Chao Santa Ana
Bishop Chinchin using the stove to dry off!
It really is so gorgeous here!
My District (L-R): Montgomery, Apaza, Sanchez, Gonzalez, Cevallos, Weatherhead, Hna. Sorensen, and me!
Luis and DianaVillota.
Digna Montenegro de Cartuchie, she takes really good care of Hermana Sorensen and I.
The Flores Family- One of my favorites!
Joao!
Pink Banana´s! They seriously have all sorts of Banana!
Proof that Ecuador is going socialist- these are everywhere. In every store!
Translation: Much Better if it´s made in Ecuador!
Isn´t Ecuador beautiful?
Isn´t Ecuador beautiful?Week 13
Practicing with Josue...I can´t believe somebody as terrible as me plays in Sacrament Meeting!
In the second largest city in Ecuador, llamas!
I know I´m not supposed to have a boyfriend right now, but I can´t help it, I love Joao! So adorable!
Jonathan Flores Montenegro!
Monica Jeanneth Villafuerte Cadena!
Hey Everybody-
As you can tell Sorensen and I had a pretty great week! Jonathan was baptized this Saturday. Not much of his family came (which is odd because they are all members), but the entire ward showed up. It was great and I, of course, cried! We were finally able to get an interview for Monica and she was baptized on Sunday. It was a great moment, especially because Edgar and Irene (her 2 children) were baptized last November, now the whole family are members. It was seriously a miracle, we hadn´t seen Monica in so long because of my ankle. Then one day we bumped into her getting off a bus. We decided that it was time for her to get baptized, because she was definitely ready. As you can see, it worked out!
Changes (transfers) are tonight and I know I will be leaving for Ibarra (about 45 miles Northeast of Quito) with my new companion Hermana Escobar. From what I can tell it is beautiful! It´s her last change in the mission and then she goes home. I guess this is when I start really learning Spanish! Apparently I need less hills for my ankle to fully recooperate! I don´t want to come home early! Sadly I´ll be leaving my companion and trainer, Sister Sorensen! I´m slightly terrified but also excited to go on to other things! Weird how transitory life on the mission is! Wish me luck!
Congratulations to my brother Matthew! He recieved his mission call to Portland, Oregon this week! He´s going to be the best Missionary!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Week 10
Carnival is coming up! That means a lot of silly string and squirt guns, just like this! Yikes.
Just a note from me!
I adopted this as my personal mission motto after I fell. Remember: "Come What May, and Love It"
Me ready to go to work!Ecua-Facts
1. Gas prices have been at $1.48 for about 2 years without changing so much as a cent.
2. They have shopping carts for inside and outside, if you use the outside ones a bag boy comes with you and you tip him.
3. There is no tipping at restaurants
4. You eat cereal in yogurt, they even sell personal sized portions.
5. Nobody owns real silver or gold, Sorensen and I always get asked if our earrings are real.
6. Movies cost $1.50 and are all pirated.
7. The only non-fruit soda they have is cola. They have Strawberry, Pineapple, Orange, Apple, and Lime.
8. They love popcorn and put it in soup, much like we do with crackers.
9. Pineapple is white here, if it is yellow it´s Hawiian Pineapple. They also have a Mora berry, it´s a mix of a blackberry and raspberry. Kinda weird but good.
10. Almost nobody has doorbells, you either bang really loudly on their gate or whistle.
Hey Everybody!
Thanks for all the Birthday wishes from everybody! I had a great mission birthday! I was sung to in 3 different languages including: English, Spanish, and Kichwa! It was all pretty cool. Sorensen and I were able to find an ice cream cake, the very kind I loved as a kid. It was all pretty awesome. Thanks again to everybody!
Things are going really well down here in Quito! Most of all because I´m back on my feet and sans one really bulky uncomfortable cast! We are able to go out and work much more effectively. I said good-bye to my crutches on Saturday, just counting down until I can lose the ace wrap as well.
We had a great service project this week with our Ward. The Bishop wanted us to clean some stairs. Sounds weird I know, but here they are about 13 flights (seriously) and covered in weeds and garbage. Still on crutches at this point I had to hobble to the top, but we had a great time. I even got to use a machete on some of the weeds. That´s a lifelong goal I can cross of my list: I think we can all agree that machete´s are awesome! It was a great service project because we had a lot of curious by-standers. Perfect for Sorensen and I to go and contact later this week! The stairs also look awesome now!
We also have a investigator with a baptizmal date! It´s not until March but Sorensen and I are very excited for Elena Iza! She is a really great person and really has a lot of potential!
Love and miss you all! Chow
Monday, February 2, 2009
Week 9
Hey Everybody!
Ecua-facts:
1. Nobody has car seats for toddlers and infants.
2. Nor is it illegal to have an entire family on a motorcycle, including infants.
3. Sometimes on the hills that are particularly steep, natives walk them zig zag style. Like you would on a hike. I tried it once, didn’t seem to help the breathless panting much.
4. Making 10 dollars a day is a decent living.
5. This is really more of a mission fact but they have their own lingo: To machete is to lecture.
6. Garbage day is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. You just leave it on the street, in some places they pick it up every day.
7. They don’t think there is any poverty at all in the United States.
8. They also think that North Americans are really racist too my companion always has to tell them that her sister is married to a black man. They are actually a lot more prejudice.
9. They aren’t big fans of flavor in anything, not just spicy. They don’t like too much of anything sweet, sour, spicy, salty. You name it! I just miss me some flavor!
10. All the pre-made Superbowl memorabilia for the Cardinals will be sold down here! Anybody want a Cardinals Champs T-shirt? Hehehehehe.
My cast is off finally! I’m am however, still on the crutches, but only until Friday, I’m very excited to get back to work! A broken ankle isn’t very much fun when you have work to do!
I’m not having any companion problems don’t worry, except I do feel bad that Sorensen is basically my glorified babysitter. That has got to be wearing on her. We still aren’t doing as much as we would like and were able to get out yesterday. There is a woman at the Cabina’s, like pay phones, and she has had a really difficult life. An abusive husband, major health problems, and her mother is dying. We taught her about a month ago but she kept standing us up after that. We had kind of given up on her as an investigator. However, the other day we were making some calls and she had her bible out and asked us what the verses were that we had shared with her. We were so excited and explained that they were in the Book of Mormon. Yesterday we were able to drop one off to her and tell her a bit more. Angel and Norma are some recent converts that are having some hard times, and we got to drop off their triples too! They were so excited! Triples down here are a little uncommon. Interesting fact for you- They don’t have the King James Bible down here so every member has a different version of the bible. The church is retranslating the Book of Mormon into Spanish right now and working on making a quad, which doesn’t exist in Spanish either. I also carried on a 3 hour conversation in Spanish with a member. My companion and I did splits so she could get some more work done. Our numbers aren’t great, it is still really hard and expensive for me to get around, I feel like I’m just blowing through money. Not really a great feeling!
We had zone conference this past week, they are so long, but always good. This one was all about how we had to have more faith in this mission so the Lord can work miracles. They also teach us how to make some sort of food every conference. I think that portion is mostly for the Elders, but we always get to sample. Cooking is hard down here because nobody has ovens, they don’t even have microwaves so we can’t live off of hot pockets! Just kidding, eww. We really do eat a lot of Raman noodles, we have some pretty creative ways of cooking them though. Then we get some training from the Assistants from Preach My Gospel. The best part is when you go to President’s class full of doctrine. Then there is always some sort of activity. Last month is was tug-o-war, this month we played red light, green light. Then they sing Happy Birthday to all the people who have Birthdays this change, I tried so hard to get out of that but I didn’t succeed. At least I got some Peanut Butter M&M’s out of it! Then a Testimony meeting, then we get to close at around 5 o’clock, it takes so long!
Ecua-facts:
1. Nobody has car seats for toddlers and infants.
2. Nor is it illegal to have an entire family on a motorcycle, including infants.
3. Sometimes on the hills that are particularly steep, natives walk them zig zag style. Like you would on a hike. I tried it once, didn’t seem to help the breathless panting much.
4. Making 10 dollars a day is a decent living.
5. This is really more of a mission fact but they have their own lingo: To machete is to lecture.
6. Garbage day is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. You just leave it on the street, in some places they pick it up every day.
7. They don’t think there is any poverty at all in the United States.
8. They also think that North Americans are really racist too my companion always has to tell them that her sister is married to a black man. They are actually a lot more prejudice.
9. They aren’t big fans of flavor in anything, not just spicy. They don’t like too much of anything sweet, sour, spicy, salty. You name it! I just miss me some flavor!
10. All the pre-made Superbowl memorabilia for the Cardinals will be sold down here! Anybody want a Cardinals Champs T-shirt? Hehehehehe.
My cast is off finally! I’m am however, still on the crutches, but only until Friday, I’m very excited to get back to work! A broken ankle isn’t very much fun when you have work to do!
I’m not having any companion problems don’t worry, except I do feel bad that Sorensen is basically my glorified babysitter. That has got to be wearing on her. We still aren’t doing as much as we would like and were able to get out yesterday. There is a woman at the Cabina’s, like pay phones, and she has had a really difficult life. An abusive husband, major health problems, and her mother is dying. We taught her about a month ago but she kept standing us up after that. We had kind of given up on her as an investigator. However, the other day we were making some calls and she had her bible out and asked us what the verses were that we had shared with her. We were so excited and explained that they were in the Book of Mormon. Yesterday we were able to drop one off to her and tell her a bit more. Angel and Norma are some recent converts that are having some hard times, and we got to drop off their triples too! They were so excited! Triples down here are a little uncommon. Interesting fact for you- They don’t have the King James Bible down here so every member has a different version of the bible. The church is retranslating the Book of Mormon into Spanish right now and working on making a quad, which doesn’t exist in Spanish either. I also carried on a 3 hour conversation in Spanish with a member. My companion and I did splits so she could get some more work done. Our numbers aren’t great, it is still really hard and expensive for me to get around, I feel like I’m just blowing through money. Not really a great feeling!
We had zone conference this past week, they are so long, but always good. This one was all about how we had to have more faith in this mission so the Lord can work miracles. They also teach us how to make some sort of food every conference. I think that portion is mostly for the Elders, but we always get to sample. Cooking is hard down here because nobody has ovens, they don’t even have microwaves so we can’t live off of hot pockets! Just kidding, eww. We really do eat a lot of Raman noodles, we have some pretty creative ways of cooking them though. Then we get some training from the Assistants from Preach My Gospel. The best part is when you go to President’s class full of doctrine. Then there is always some sort of activity. Last month is was tug-o-war, this month we played red light, green light. Then they sing Happy Birthday to all the people who have Birthdays this change, I tried so hard to get out of that but I didn’t succeed. At least I got some Peanut Butter M&M’s out of it! Then a Testimony meeting, then we get to close at around 5 o’clock, it takes so long!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Week 8
I attempted to Bowl. I think I ended with a score of 40, I know your jealous!
Elders Montgomery (my D.L.), Gonzalez, and unfortunately I don´t remember the Last ones name!
Elder Green was trying to hide because he lost to a gimp! I think he ended somewhere in the twenties.
So Stylish, can´t stand it.
Ecua-facts
1.Not many people have waffle irons, if they do they use them for sandwiches.
2. They collect figurines, if you give somebody one they will probably treasure it forever.
3. They play Ecua-ball. It´s their own version of volleyball. They play with a soccer ball and honestly it´s kinda wussy.
4. They strongly believe in public urination. EVEN THE WOMEN. Awkward.
5.They don´t know how to hold babies, you wouldn´t believe the amount of times I´ve seen them get dropped.
6. Chickens walk through people´s houses, even in the second largest city in Ecuador.
7. Almost nobody has kitchen cabinets, they have shelves. The majority of people also don´t have ovens. If they do, they´ve no idea how to use it. The Bishop put his wet jacket into the one at church to dry...
8. A lot of people don´t actually have addresses, I think that´s why they paint their houses such bright colors.
9. You can´t buy cocoa that doesn´t already have sugar in it. Flour also comes with baking powder already mixed in. Makes it really hard to convert recipies.
10. Everybody hangs pictures right below the celling, granted they don´t have tall cellings but they aren´t a tall people either. You sure have to crane your neck a lot!
The rain is definitely hitting! It makes it hard because I´m already a bit of a clutz! What can you do though? My ankle is okay, we are starting to be able to work again, which is really nice because I was going out of my mind!
I just hate Obama, being in Ecuador with a broken ankle is better than having to see what good old Obama is doing to my country. The President here is making some pretty radical changes. Everything imported will now be seriously and heavily taxed. He doesn´t want any outside anything. The problem with that is that Ecuador doesn´t make anything. Nada, zip, zilch. I have no idea how they are going to keep everybody happy here. They are already complaining about how much the cost of food has gone up here. It is actually pretty noticible, especially on imports! Ecuador has never been very stable in the Political arena though.
I´ll talk to you again soon! Chow! Love you all!
Elders Montgomery (my D.L.), Gonzalez, and unfortunately I don´t remember the Last ones name!
Elder Green was trying to hide because he lost to a gimp! I think he ended somewhere in the twenties.
So Stylish, can´t stand it.
Ecua-facts
1.Not many people have waffle irons, if they do they use them for sandwiches.
2. They collect figurines, if you give somebody one they will probably treasure it forever.
3. They play Ecua-ball. It´s their own version of volleyball. They play with a soccer ball and honestly it´s kinda wussy.
4. They strongly believe in public urination. EVEN THE WOMEN. Awkward.
5.They don´t know how to hold babies, you wouldn´t believe the amount of times I´ve seen them get dropped.
6. Chickens walk through people´s houses, even in the second largest city in Ecuador.
7. Almost nobody has kitchen cabinets, they have shelves. The majority of people also don´t have ovens. If they do, they´ve no idea how to use it. The Bishop put his wet jacket into the one at church to dry...
8. A lot of people don´t actually have addresses, I think that´s why they paint their houses such bright colors.
9. You can´t buy cocoa that doesn´t already have sugar in it. Flour also comes with baking powder already mixed in. Makes it really hard to convert recipies.
10. Everybody hangs pictures right below the celling, granted they don´t have tall cellings but they aren´t a tall people either. You sure have to crane your neck a lot!
The rain is definitely hitting! It makes it hard because I´m already a bit of a clutz! What can you do though? My ankle is okay, we are starting to be able to work again, which is really nice because I was going out of my mind!
I just hate Obama, being in Ecuador with a broken ankle is better than having to see what good old Obama is doing to my country. The President here is making some pretty radical changes. Everything imported will now be seriously and heavily taxed. He doesn´t want any outside anything. The problem with that is that Ecuador doesn´t make anything. Nada, zip, zilch. I have no idea how they are going to keep everybody happy here. They are already complaining about how much the cost of food has gone up here. It is actually pretty noticible, especially on imports! Ecuador has never been very stable in the Political arena though.
I´ll talk to you again soon! Chow! Love you all!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Hermana Hop Along Part II
Anyway there isn´t much to say, lately I´ve not been up to much! Unfortunately...I´m pretty much stuck!
Don´t my legs look great? I do a lot of falling here in Ecuador, those aren´t all from the same incident!
After the soft cast came off just today...Still pretty swollen.
After they put my cast on I had to have everybody sign it! President Sloan was one of the first- he even did the smiley face!
Don´t my legs look great? I do a lot of falling here in Ecuador, those aren´t all from the same incident!
After the soft cast came off just today...Still pretty swollen.
After they put my cast on I had to have everybody sign it! President Sloan was one of the first- he even did the smiley face!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Just Call Me Hermana Hop Along
Just remember that the H is silent in Spanish, but it still has a really nice ring to it don´t you think?
In case you haven´t heard, I had a little disagreement with some stairs yesterday and the stairs won, my ankle is broken! Stupid stairs. My companion reminded me that this was my 5th fall in Ecuador, seems my balance issues are going to be a problem here. Blast.
This is me at CCI (mall) with my Zone Leader Elder Cedeño. The Elders seemed to really enjoy my crutches. Unfortunately they are far more skilled with them than I.
My at the Clinica Pinchicha, one of the nicer hospitals in Quito. I think my being white made the process go quite a bit faster!
Pre-cast, it swelled up like that instantly, totally wicked.
Me and my big fat cast, I think I get the real thing next week...this is just a soft cast that is open on top.
In case you haven´t heard, I had a little disagreement with some stairs yesterday and the stairs won, my ankle is broken! Stupid stairs. My companion reminded me that this was my 5th fall in Ecuador, seems my balance issues are going to be a problem here. Blast.
This is me at CCI (mall) with my Zone Leader Elder Cedeño. The Elders seemed to really enjoy my crutches. Unfortunately they are far more skilled with them than I.
My at the Clinica Pinchicha, one of the nicer hospitals in Quito. I think my being white made the process go quite a bit faster!
Pre-cast, it swelled up like that instantly, totally wicked.
Me and my big fat cast, I think I get the real thing next week...this is just a soft cast that is open on top.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Week 5
Ecua- Facts!
1. Everybody wears yellow underwear on New Years. No idea why.
2. They also eat grapes on New Years , 12, one a minute till the New Year
3. They are confused and think flavored marshmallows are candy
4. They aren´t legally allowed to name their children more than one American name, if they even do one it´s really, super expensive
5. They don´t know how to use Drinking Fountains, they look like they are going to be attacked when they try. Most of them just use the communal cup they leave. Talk about unsanitary. They also stare at us when we use the proper way trying to figure it out.
6. My ward in Santa Ana burned our Bishop (ChinChin) for New Years.
7. I have yet to meet a Lopez or Garcia. I have met Almachi´s, Chinchin´s, and ECT.
8. They all wear masks for New Years.
9. I only saw two Tyrannies’. :(
10. They have holidays that last forever….The kids are still out of school. And their parents let them run wild, seriously I go to bed earlier I swear.
Soooo…This last couple of weeks has been pretty uneventful; nobody wants religion at Christmas unfortunately. Things are just starting to pick up again which is really nice. Since we are not allowed to contact in our sector it´s been a lot of walking to see who else we could possibly visit. We have a lot of appointments set up for this week, and I´m excited to be doing something again. We have a few new references that we will be contacting. Monica´s baptism is still on hold for now, but probably some time in January.
New Years was pretty much Awesome, although it took some convincing to wake me up. Midnight is awfully late whilst you´re serving a mission. Although I did go to bed and then they woke me up 10 minutes to midnight. It was amazing- all of Ecuador was alight with fire and fireworks. Later smoke, but that was all clear by morning time. No firework laws in Ecuador, so cool the fireworks came out. We also had a lot of fun lighting our effigy. New Years in the States just doesn´t compare to the massive party it is here in Ecuador.
We couldn´t leave on New Years day so the Mission decided it was a perfect opportunity for us to clean our apartments, we actually had a ton of fun. Sorensen, Larsen, and I decided it was time we painted our apartment finally. It looks worlds better. I had a picture for proof but I decided it was just too unflattering to post. Yuck. Now only our bedroom looks sketchy still. We have to get more paint from the offices to finish the job up. I was sore for a couple of days, painting is a long, long process.
We lost Larsen this week; she had to go back to her own sector when the assistants found her a mini-missionary to work with. Sad day, Lars cooks and is really funny.
1. Everybody wears yellow underwear on New Years. No idea why.
2. They also eat grapes on New Years , 12, one a minute till the New Year
3. They are confused and think flavored marshmallows are candy
4. They aren´t legally allowed to name their children more than one American name, if they even do one it´s really, super expensive
5. They don´t know how to use Drinking Fountains, they look like they are going to be attacked when they try. Most of them just use the communal cup they leave. Talk about unsanitary. They also stare at us when we use the proper way trying to figure it out.
6. My ward in Santa Ana burned our Bishop (ChinChin) for New Years.
7. I have yet to meet a Lopez or Garcia. I have met Almachi´s, Chinchin´s, and ECT.
8. They all wear masks for New Years.
9. I only saw two Tyrannies’. :(
10. They have holidays that last forever….The kids are still out of school. And their parents let them run wild, seriously I go to bed earlier I swear.
Soooo…This last couple of weeks has been pretty uneventful; nobody wants religion at Christmas unfortunately. Things are just starting to pick up again which is really nice. Since we are not allowed to contact in our sector it´s been a lot of walking to see who else we could possibly visit. We have a lot of appointments set up for this week, and I´m excited to be doing something again. We have a few new references that we will be contacting. Monica´s baptism is still on hold for now, but probably some time in January.
New Years was pretty much Awesome, although it took some convincing to wake me up. Midnight is awfully late whilst you´re serving a mission. Although I did go to bed and then they woke me up 10 minutes to midnight. It was amazing- all of Ecuador was alight with fire and fireworks. Later smoke, but that was all clear by morning time. No firework laws in Ecuador, so cool the fireworks came out. We also had a lot of fun lighting our effigy. New Years in the States just doesn´t compare to the massive party it is here in Ecuador.
We couldn´t leave on New Years day so the Mission decided it was a perfect opportunity for us to clean our apartments, we actually had a ton of fun. Sorensen, Larsen, and I decided it was time we painted our apartment finally. It looks worlds better. I had a picture for proof but I decided it was just too unflattering to post. Yuck. Now only our bedroom looks sketchy still. We have to get more paint from the offices to finish the job up. I was sore for a couple of days, painting is a long, long process.
We lost Larsen this week; she had to go back to her own sector when the assistants found her a mini-missionary to work with. Sad day, Lars cooks and is really funny.
Me and My Ecua New Years
I can´t believe I´m posting this. I´ve some serious bed head and I´m sans make-up. I thought I would tell you some more...
New Years
This is Larsen lighting our Ecua-man, we had a little trouble. And yes that is a Liahona, but an old issue.
You´ll have to forgive my no makeup. I was super tired. Hehe.
My very first effigy!
These are me with Larsen, and Sorensen! I´m the skull and Sori is the Clown. Fitting no?
You´ll have to forgive my no makeup. I was super tired. Hehe.
My very first effigy!
These are me with Larsen, and Sorensen! I´m the skull and Sori is the Clown. Fitting no?
Monday, December 29, 2008
Week 4
Hello Everybody!
Ecua-facts-
1. I was really confused as to why so many men were getting nose jobs...not women. Turns out they have to because of all the bar fights they get into.
2. On New Years they burn dolls.
3. On New Years the men dress as women. Weird.
4. Only really, super weathy people have carpet
5. The stake center is about one third the size of ours in Utah.
6. Its guava season, completely different here. White and cottony and you suck it off big black seeds.
7. The bus costs .25 cents to ride. That is the most in all of Ecuador.
8. My hair cut cost 5.00, cheapest ever. I also was completely ripped off.
9. They do have Malls, but they are pretty insignificant compared to ours in the States. However, they are only frequented by the wealthy.
10. Canned peaches are a desert. They love them down here. That was our Christmas desert.
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! My Ecua-Christmas was pretty dang great! Always fun to talk to my family and friends! We spent our Christmas with Digna (a member here) She even made turkey, which they don´t eat here ever. Then we had a nice ecua-salad consisting of cauliflower, peas, carrots, and potatoes covered in mayo. It was one of the better ones I’ve had.
For Christmas we wanted to do something, there are so many poor people here! So my companions and I decided to buy a bunch of happy meals and give them away to some of the homeless kids on the streets. McDonald’s wouldn’t sell us the happy meals, so we decided to go to Burger King and get Magic Boxes for them instead. Besides they came with a crown. It was really pretty sad. Some of those kids shine shoes on the streets for money. They were pretty dejected looking. We really do have so much in United States.
I’m now in a threesome, for the rest of the change (transfer). Sister Larsen is my new trainer. We are 3 of six gringas in the whole mission and come June, I might just be the only one left. She is tons of fun and a good worker. So far this threesome is awesome! Not at all like my MTC experience in a threesome…good.
My Spanish is coming along...slowly, but the members tell me that I’m doing okay and I understand a lot. I have to give a talk next Sunday, so I guess I’ll see then. Yikes.
I did take a nasty trip (twice) on the escalator, they don’t always work properly, and now I’m a little bruised. Darn my craving for American ice cream on Christmas! I’ve had to wear flip flops a couple of days because my foot is too swollen for my shoes! That´s really weird, going without my nylons!
The work has been a little slow here lately. Hopefully it will pick up again after New Years!
Ecua-facts-
1. I was really confused as to why so many men were getting nose jobs...not women. Turns out they have to because of all the bar fights they get into.
2. On New Years they burn dolls.
3. On New Years the men dress as women. Weird.
4. Only really, super weathy people have carpet
5. The stake center is about one third the size of ours in Utah.
6. Its guava season, completely different here. White and cottony and you suck it off big black seeds.
7. The bus costs .25 cents to ride. That is the most in all of Ecuador.
8. My hair cut cost 5.00, cheapest ever. I also was completely ripped off.
9. They do have Malls, but they are pretty insignificant compared to ours in the States. However, they are only frequented by the wealthy.
10. Canned peaches are a desert. They love them down here. That was our Christmas desert.
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! My Ecua-Christmas was pretty dang great! Always fun to talk to my family and friends! We spent our Christmas with Digna (a member here) She even made turkey, which they don´t eat here ever. Then we had a nice ecua-salad consisting of cauliflower, peas, carrots, and potatoes covered in mayo. It was one of the better ones I’ve had.
For Christmas we wanted to do something, there are so many poor people here! So my companions and I decided to buy a bunch of happy meals and give them away to some of the homeless kids on the streets. McDonald’s wouldn’t sell us the happy meals, so we decided to go to Burger King and get Magic Boxes for them instead. Besides they came with a crown. It was really pretty sad. Some of those kids shine shoes on the streets for money. They were pretty dejected looking. We really do have so much in United States.
I’m now in a threesome, for the rest of the change (transfer). Sister Larsen is my new trainer. We are 3 of six gringas in the whole mission and come June, I might just be the only one left. She is tons of fun and a good worker. So far this threesome is awesome! Not at all like my MTC experience in a threesome…good.
My Spanish is coming along...slowly, but the members tell me that I’m doing okay and I understand a lot. I have to give a talk next Sunday, so I guess I’ll see then. Yikes.
I did take a nasty trip (twice) on the escalator, they don’t always work properly, and now I’m a little bruised. Darn my craving for American ice cream on Christmas! I’ve had to wear flip flops a couple of days because my foot is too swollen for my shoes! That´s really weird, going without my nylons!
The work has been a little slow here lately. Hopefully it will pick up again after New Years!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Oh, Yeah.
Don´t be mad Mom, but I chopped my hair again. I just like it short. It only cost me 5 bucks too, definitely my cheapest, fastest hair cut ever. I totally love it too. Nobody give me a hard time. I´m just a short hair gal, I think it gives me an edge.
Week 3
Ecua-facts.
1. The richest person I know in Ecuador pays $170 dollars in rent for an apartment bigger than mine at home, and I payed $300 and had to share it with 3 other people.
2. The only hot water is in the shower. Not in the faucets.
3. If any of you send me money don´t send anything bigger than a $20 dollar bill. That is hard enough to break. They didn´t believe my hundred dollar bill was real. Fives and Tens would be much appreciated.
4. I´m the best piano player in the Ward. Scary thought.
5. The cheese is super nasty. It´s soft, tangy, and that´s pretty much the only kind they´ve got. You can find swiss but it´s super expensive.
6.They use military time. That one is odd.
7.La Liga lost to Manchester United 1-0. Ecuador is still number 2 in the world!
8.For lunch I had a sandwhich, fresh pineapple juice, and a bowl of fresh fruit for $2.70. It was soooo good.
Well not a whole lot happened this week, I´ve been a little sick with the flu, no biggie. Not a parasite just a little asprin needed! I didn´t even throw up. Just a little achy and had a small fever. All of our appointments are falling through because it is right before Christmas. Monica didn´t end up getting baptized this week. She missed her mission president interview. So we are shooting for next week. December is a hard mission month because nobody wants to meet with us. Or we get stood up. We had one day when every appointment stood us up. We did a whole lot of walking that day. Boring!
I did have to play piano for sacrament meeting yesterday. That was horrible, they can´t read music so half notes became quarter notes and I had to play to keep up. They just sing it how they want to. Good news is that the piano kept them on tune more often. I hope this isn´t a weekly occurence. I think I picked the easiest hymns in the book, Silent Night, Come Follow Me, and Green Hill Far Away. Nice and simple.
We did get a new investigator who is pretty promising. Her name is Elena and one of her kids is already a member. She also completes all the committments we give her and always has a ton of questions for us. A very good sign. She also doesn´t try to feed us when we go over there, which is fabulous because everybody tries to feed us. The food is seriously nasty. I think I´m going to come home loving herbal tea. EWW. I also be able to make juice though and the juice is really good here. They have amazing fruit.
I also ate fish. I know, it´s a miracle. I actually liked it better than the chicken. Fish is a lot better down here, not so fishy. The bad news is that I had to eat it off the bone. They don´t de-bone the fish here. That was a little nasty. My pickyness will also probably disappear by the time I come home.
1. The richest person I know in Ecuador pays $170 dollars in rent for an apartment bigger than mine at home, and I payed $300 and had to share it with 3 other people.
2. The only hot water is in the shower. Not in the faucets.
3. If any of you send me money don´t send anything bigger than a $20 dollar bill. That is hard enough to break. They didn´t believe my hundred dollar bill was real. Fives and Tens would be much appreciated.
4. I´m the best piano player in the Ward. Scary thought.
5. The cheese is super nasty. It´s soft, tangy, and that´s pretty much the only kind they´ve got. You can find swiss but it´s super expensive.
6.They use military time. That one is odd.
7.La Liga lost to Manchester United 1-0. Ecuador is still number 2 in the world!
8.For lunch I had a sandwhich, fresh pineapple juice, and a bowl of fresh fruit for $2.70. It was soooo good.
Well not a whole lot happened this week, I´ve been a little sick with the flu, no biggie. Not a parasite just a little asprin needed! I didn´t even throw up. Just a little achy and had a small fever. All of our appointments are falling through because it is right before Christmas. Monica didn´t end up getting baptized this week. She missed her mission president interview. So we are shooting for next week. December is a hard mission month because nobody wants to meet with us. Or we get stood up. We had one day when every appointment stood us up. We did a whole lot of walking that day. Boring!
I did have to play piano for sacrament meeting yesterday. That was horrible, they can´t read music so half notes became quarter notes and I had to play to keep up. They just sing it how they want to. Good news is that the piano kept them on tune more often. I hope this isn´t a weekly occurence. I think I picked the easiest hymns in the book, Silent Night, Come Follow Me, and Green Hill Far Away. Nice and simple.
We did get a new investigator who is pretty promising. Her name is Elena and one of her kids is already a member. She also completes all the committments we give her and always has a ton of questions for us. A very good sign. She also doesn´t try to feed us when we go over there, which is fabulous because everybody tries to feed us. The food is seriously nasty. I think I´m going to come home loving herbal tea. EWW. I also be able to make juice though and the juice is really good here. They have amazing fruit.
I also ate fish. I know, it´s a miracle. I actually liked it better than the chicken. Fish is a lot better down here, not so fishy. The bad news is that I had to eat it off the bone. They don´t de-bone the fish here. That was a little nasty. My pickyness will also probably disappear by the time I come home.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Week 2
Okay some more Ecua-facts:
1. They are obsessed with Avon. Tres chic here in Ecuador.
2. New Years is a bigger holiday than Christmas.
3. I ate mushrooms and almost threw up at the table. My companion had to start talking to cover up my gagging. I’m lame.
4. My apartment overlooks the Panacillo- massive angel on a hill.
5. They don’t refridgerate eggs and milk comes in a box.
6. Quito is not hot, it’s freezing. Send me chocolate. Hehe.
7. Electric Showers.
8. They hate spicy food. Hate.
9. Only poor people drink water, they always try to serve juice (way good) or pop. They have a lot of fruits here that aren’t available in the States
10. You can buy 2 dozen roses for a dollar fifty. Pretty much any kind of flower, actually.
11. You need a key to get in and out of your apartment.
Okay, can you believe that I ate mushrooms? Neither can I. You think I’d be able to just get over it considering some of the things I’ve had to eat lately. Nope. I think you would all be impressed by what I can stomach though! I think ginea pig might be coming up soon...hmmmmmmmmmmm.
Monica is getting baptized this Saturday. We are trying to find her a job so she can stop selling things on buses. She also works at the courts (volleyball) you have to put money on the games and they also charge you to use the bathroom. Not really a great enviornment. She has a really sad story, but every woman here does. Seriously fidelity is not on people’s list of important things. I don’t think I’ll come home with an Ecuadorian.
Intresting tidbit for you: Did you know that Ecuador’s soccer team pretty much rocks ? Go Liga! They won the championship last year. I’m bursting with Ecuadorian pride!
Nobody worry, my companion is pretty awesome. We get along really well, and she thinks I’m pretty funny, which is good because people ususally just look at me funny when I make a joke. I must have a strange sense of humor. One of the first things she said to me was: “Your so clean.” Yeah, she’s been here awhile. I also cleaned our apartment up it was pretty dirty and me being ocd just couldn’t handle it so I went to work. It’s now decent. She also has taught me to make Rapidito which is the latin version of Top Ramen. Only here you cover it in hot sauce because you miss spice and flavor. I feel like I’m eating more than I ever have but I am still dropping weight, I feel like I’m going to need some new clothes really soon. Fortunately my companion had a similar experience so I’ll probably just get some Mission hand me downs! Rad.
What more...oh yeah, Ecuador is cold! At least in my area. It rains every day. The great news is that you can all send me chocolate now, because American chocolate is really hard to find. Don’t worry you don’t really have to send me anything! Seriously I’m 9,000 feet up in the air and it is chilly. I already had to buy a sweatshirt!
Missions are awesome but definitely hard! I’d still recommend it!
Chow!
1. They are obsessed with Avon. Tres chic here in Ecuador.
2. New Years is a bigger holiday than Christmas.
3. I ate mushrooms and almost threw up at the table. My companion had to start talking to cover up my gagging. I’m lame.
4. My apartment overlooks the Panacillo- massive angel on a hill.
5. They don’t refridgerate eggs and milk comes in a box.
6. Quito is not hot, it’s freezing. Send me chocolate. Hehe.
7. Electric Showers.
8. They hate spicy food. Hate.
9. Only poor people drink water, they always try to serve juice (way good) or pop. They have a lot of fruits here that aren’t available in the States
10. You can buy 2 dozen roses for a dollar fifty. Pretty much any kind of flower, actually.
11. You need a key to get in and out of your apartment.
Okay, can you believe that I ate mushrooms? Neither can I. You think I’d be able to just get over it considering some of the things I’ve had to eat lately. Nope. I think you would all be impressed by what I can stomach though! I think ginea pig might be coming up soon...hmmmmmmmmmmm.
Monica is getting baptized this Saturday. We are trying to find her a job so she can stop selling things on buses. She also works at the courts (volleyball) you have to put money on the games and they also charge you to use the bathroom. Not really a great enviornment. She has a really sad story, but every woman here does. Seriously fidelity is not on people’s list of important things. I don’t think I’ll come home with an Ecuadorian.
Intresting tidbit for you: Did you know that Ecuador’s soccer team pretty much rocks ? Go Liga! They won the championship last year. I’m bursting with Ecuadorian pride!
Nobody worry, my companion is pretty awesome. We get along really well, and she thinks I’m pretty funny, which is good because people ususally just look at me funny when I make a joke. I must have a strange sense of humor. One of the first things she said to me was: “Your so clean.” Yeah, she’s been here awhile. I also cleaned our apartment up it was pretty dirty and me being ocd just couldn’t handle it so I went to work. It’s now decent. She also has taught me to make Rapidito which is the latin version of Top Ramen. Only here you cover it in hot sauce because you miss spice and flavor. I feel like I’m eating more than I ever have but I am still dropping weight, I feel like I’m going to need some new clothes really soon. Fortunately my companion had a similar experience so I’ll probably just get some Mission hand me downs! Rad.
What more...oh yeah, Ecuador is cold! At least in my area. It rains every day. The great news is that you can all send me chocolate now, because American chocolate is really hard to find. Don’t worry you don’t really have to send me anything! Seriously I’m 9,000 feet up in the air and it is chilly. I already had to buy a sweatshirt!
Missions are awesome but definitely hard! I’d still recommend it!
Chow!
Week 1&2 Photos
My companion, Sister Sorenson, and I.
The Young Women and Young Men at a Ward activity. They put on a traditional Ecuadorian dance!
The Greenies with President Sloan and his wife!
My Desk Area, Kinda Scary!
My room.
Crazy Sorta Closet.
Kitchen. Also sorta.
View from the top of my building.
The Young Women and Young Men at a Ward activity. They put on a traditional Ecuadorian dance!
The Greenies with President Sloan and his wife!
My Desk Area, Kinda Scary!
My room.
Crazy Sorta Closet.
Kitchen. Also sorta.
View from the top of my building.
Week 1
Okay Ecuador is pretty cool, some interesting Ecua- facts:
I´m going to have to kill tarantula´s with a machete. Massive ones.
Ecuador uses scented toilet paper-wanna know why? Because you can´t flush it.
Jam, Ketchup, shampoo all come in bags.
They put glass on top of fences to keep theives out.
You have to use a key to get in and out of your house.
Ecuador is cold and I have to use an umbrella everyday.
You put your bag and backpacks in lockers at the grocery store to decrease theft.
Most people don´t have ovens so everything is fried.
McDonald´s is where the rich people eat.
They consider cough drops candy.
Bottled water is only a quarter.
I am one of 6 white sister missionaries, guess they thought I could tough it out. We get called barbie a lot and everybody and their dog flirts with us. It's kinda sad, they honk if they are alone or flash their lights if a girlfriend or wife and kids are with them. They aren't real big on fidelity.
Alright, so Ecuador is so cool. Sometimes when I can´t flush toilet paper I just remind myself that I wanted an adventure!
The first time I saw my apartment I thought wow- this is a third world country, but then I saw our investigator´s (Monica). She lives in a room, just a room with a queen bed and a bunk bed for her two children ages 14 and 8, and a tiny section seperated by sheets for a make-shift kitchen. NO BATHROOM. I´m just grateful for my blue toilet, blue sink, and blue shower at this point! Monica´s entire room is smaller than my room at home and looks quite a bit like uncle Craig´s storage unit. The richest people here could probably not even be considered middle class in the United States.
We have lunch appointments everyday with members. Wow the food is bad. It´s awesome! I´ve had a fried banana at every meal. I´ll have to make them for you some time. They aren´t that bad if you like banana´s, I almost cried at our Sunday appointment because they give you so much food and you have to finish it or else they are offended. I actually think I did cry... It´s a ton of food. Yesterday it consisted of a chicken wing and a dinner plate (like those massive white ones we have) full of rice, 4 tomato slices, with potatoe and squash soup. I was thrilled when I saw cauliflower. I took a huge heaping fork full and just as I put it in my mouth my companion said : It has lime juice! Turns out that they serve it cold with lime juice squeezed on top. Just about the nastiest thing ever! I´m sure I gagged a few times, but I finished everything but the rice. People feed you everywhere here. It´s ususally an aguita and bread. An aguita is like herbal tea- water, cinnamon, and sugar. Not to brillant but edible. The bread is pretty good. Sometimes they have empanada´s! The milk here is way good too, I don´t know what people are talking about, they even have caramel milk.
Okay so my area or sector as they call it here! I´m in Santa Anna, that is in South of Quito. Quito is massive way bigger than you think! It takes about 3 hours. Massive. We take the bus most of the time but we also take an occasional taxi. Travel takes a lot of time! My companion is Sister Sorensen from Arizona. She is really cool. Her favorite companion was her last companion so I face some tough competition. She has been out for 13 months. We have a lot of fun and success together though. We will have 3 baptisms this month! Cool!
Monica- the one who lives in one room with her two children, Irene, prounounced ear-n-yay and edgar who looks like a latin Harry Potter. Irene has a friend, Nellie, who will also be baptized this month. The last one doesn't really cound because the Bishop just wanted higher numbers so he "forgot" to baptize this kid when he was 8. Now that he is 9 we have to teach him a couple times and he's in. Weird.
Unfortunately for me, it looks like I will either be the Ward Pianist or direct the music. Yikes. I decided to practice since it looked inevitable, and all the sudden I was swarmed by little kids. One woman even asked me to teach her children. Another thing that surprised me is that they cannot sing. The Latin people here are like 80 percent tone deaf. It's so depressing when you sing hymns.
My first week was kinda weird. It's been Quito Days all week long, kinda like the fourth of July but they do it by city here. It's basically one big drinking festival. There are people passed out on the street drunk everywhere! My companion and I have had to be in at 7:30 every night, but our norm is 8:00 or 8:30 so it wasn't too much earlier.
I love it though. Ecuador is awesome. If you come to pick me up you have to stay at the Marriott because that is the only place that will let you flush the toilet paper. Seriously.
Love ya,
Hermana Whitney Tanner
I´m going to have to kill tarantula´s with a machete. Massive ones.
Ecuador uses scented toilet paper-wanna know why? Because you can´t flush it.
Jam, Ketchup, shampoo all come in bags.
They put glass on top of fences to keep theives out.
You have to use a key to get in and out of your house.
Ecuador is cold and I have to use an umbrella everyday.
You put your bag and backpacks in lockers at the grocery store to decrease theft.
Most people don´t have ovens so everything is fried.
McDonald´s is where the rich people eat.
They consider cough drops candy.
Bottled water is only a quarter.
I am one of 6 white sister missionaries, guess they thought I could tough it out. We get called barbie a lot and everybody and their dog flirts with us. It's kinda sad, they honk if they are alone or flash their lights if a girlfriend or wife and kids are with them. They aren't real big on fidelity.
Alright, so Ecuador is so cool. Sometimes when I can´t flush toilet paper I just remind myself that I wanted an adventure!
The first time I saw my apartment I thought wow- this is a third world country, but then I saw our investigator´s (Monica). She lives in a room, just a room with a queen bed and a bunk bed for her two children ages 14 and 8, and a tiny section seperated by sheets for a make-shift kitchen. NO BATHROOM. I´m just grateful for my blue toilet, blue sink, and blue shower at this point! Monica´s entire room is smaller than my room at home and looks quite a bit like uncle Craig´s storage unit. The richest people here could probably not even be considered middle class in the United States.
We have lunch appointments everyday with members. Wow the food is bad. It´s awesome! I´ve had a fried banana at every meal. I´ll have to make them for you some time. They aren´t that bad if you like banana´s, I almost cried at our Sunday appointment because they give you so much food and you have to finish it or else they are offended. I actually think I did cry... It´s a ton of food. Yesterday it consisted of a chicken wing and a dinner plate (like those massive white ones we have) full of rice, 4 tomato slices, with potatoe and squash soup. I was thrilled when I saw cauliflower. I took a huge heaping fork full and just as I put it in my mouth my companion said : It has lime juice! Turns out that they serve it cold with lime juice squeezed on top. Just about the nastiest thing ever! I´m sure I gagged a few times, but I finished everything but the rice. People feed you everywhere here. It´s ususally an aguita and bread. An aguita is like herbal tea- water, cinnamon, and sugar. Not to brillant but edible. The bread is pretty good. Sometimes they have empanada´s! The milk here is way good too, I don´t know what people are talking about, they even have caramel milk.
Okay so my area or sector as they call it here! I´m in Santa Anna, that is in South of Quito. Quito is massive way bigger than you think! It takes about 3 hours. Massive. We take the bus most of the time but we also take an occasional taxi. Travel takes a lot of time! My companion is Sister Sorensen from Arizona. She is really cool. Her favorite companion was her last companion so I face some tough competition. She has been out for 13 months. We have a lot of fun and success together though. We will have 3 baptisms this month! Cool!
Monica- the one who lives in one room with her two children, Irene, prounounced ear-n-yay and edgar who looks like a latin Harry Potter. Irene has a friend, Nellie, who will also be baptized this month. The last one doesn't really cound because the Bishop just wanted higher numbers so he "forgot" to baptize this kid when he was 8. Now that he is 9 we have to teach him a couple times and he's in. Weird.
Unfortunately for me, it looks like I will either be the Ward Pianist or direct the music. Yikes. I decided to practice since it looked inevitable, and all the sudden I was swarmed by little kids. One woman even asked me to teach her children. Another thing that surprised me is that they cannot sing. The Latin people here are like 80 percent tone deaf. It's so depressing when you sing hymns.
My first week was kinda weird. It's been Quito Days all week long, kinda like the fourth of July but they do it by city here. It's basically one big drinking festival. There are people passed out on the street drunk everywhere! My companion and I have had to be in at 7:30 every night, but our norm is 8:00 or 8:30 so it wasn't too much earlier.
I love it though. Ecuador is awesome. If you come to pick me up you have to stay at the Marriott because that is the only place that will let you flush the toilet paper. Seriously.
Love ya,
Hermana Whitney Tanner
Thursday, December 4, 2008
I'm in Ecuador!
Family! I got into Ecuador last night about 11:19pm, so about 9:19pm your time. It was pouring! You should see it here it is so beautiful, it is a lot like Bermuda only not quite as tropical. I also gave somebody a Book of Mormon we met at the airport. It was pretty awesome! My spanish seemed okay and she spoke English so when I was completely unintelligible she could understand me still! We were loaded off the plane outside and when we entered the Airport we looked up and saw our Mission President and his wife and a couple of Elders! It was all very cool! Customs didn't even check our bags, so we got through pretty quickly!
We dropped off the Elders (don't know what I'll do with out my Elders!) at their apartment. It did look a little third world...but clean. I stayed at the Mission President's apartment with his family. It looks nothing like the Elders apartment. They live in the same building as the Vice President of Ecuador. I'll send you some pictures soon! My room has a massive window about 20X7 and it opens like a screen door. This morning I opened it and took a ton of pictures! So pretty. It's chilly here but nothing like Utah! I love the humidity, I don't know why people dislike it!
My mission Presdent seems very nice as does his wife. He told me a little about the Mission (btw-haven't met my companion yet!) It sounds like he is very aware of the Sisters mom, so don't worry. I'm convinced I won't be going to all those scary places I wanted to go...sad. But you should be happy. The good news is that I may still get to the Amazons!!! President Sloan let us sleep in, but I was too excited and got up at 6:00, or 4:00am your time! The toilets do in fact flush the opposite way. Weird.
I really don't know very much yet, we haven't even had an official meeting. We have one in about 20 minutes. I just wanted you to know that I made it saftely and I love it. It's pretty amazing that I am finally here!
It was a long ride and they asked us to not watch in flight movies, which was particularly hard because they had those personal screens where you can choose! They had The Dark Knight! I obstained and played a trivia game for about 4 hours of the flight! I now had the high record on the plane until Elder Cloud finally beat me! Anyway, this is not interesting in the least, I'm sure, so I'll let you go now! I miss you and love you all!
Be happy, I'm happy,
Whitney
Hermana Whitney Tanner
We dropped off the Elders (don't know what I'll do with out my Elders!) at their apartment. It did look a little third world...but clean. I stayed at the Mission President's apartment with his family. It looks nothing like the Elders apartment. They live in the same building as the Vice President of Ecuador. I'll send you some pictures soon! My room has a massive window about 20X7 and it opens like a screen door. This morning I opened it and took a ton of pictures! So pretty. It's chilly here but nothing like Utah! I love the humidity, I don't know why people dislike it!
My mission Presdent seems very nice as does his wife. He told me a little about the Mission (btw-haven't met my companion yet!) It sounds like he is very aware of the Sisters mom, so don't worry. I'm convinced I won't be going to all those scary places I wanted to go...sad. But you should be happy. The good news is that I may still get to the Amazons!!! President Sloan let us sleep in, but I was too excited and got up at 6:00, or 4:00am your time! The toilets do in fact flush the opposite way. Weird.
I really don't know very much yet, we haven't even had an official meeting. We have one in about 20 minutes. I just wanted you to know that I made it saftely and I love it. It's pretty amazing that I am finally here!
It was a long ride and they asked us to not watch in flight movies, which was particularly hard because they had those personal screens where you can choose! They had The Dark Knight! I obstained and played a trivia game for about 4 hours of the flight! I now had the high record on the plane until Elder Cloud finally beat me! Anyway, this is not interesting in the least, I'm sure, so I'll let you go now! I miss you and love you all!
Be happy, I'm happy,
Whitney
Hermana Whitney Tanner
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The latest!!
Hey Everyone! How are you all?
I'm doing really well here in the MTC even better is that my District gets flight plans next Friday! That's right only 3 weeks left in the MTC and I'll be in Ecuador finally! Which is good, I'm so ready to be out and teaching!
My spanish is okay but I have a feeling it will really come along when I'm in the Country and with the natives!
Sister Dunoskovic has been ill, but thanks to Dr. McLane ( who is the same Doctor who did Dramanda's stitches) she seems to be doing much better. Although I have my suspicions that that is just the oxycodone talking... and giggling a lot!
Sorry! The only thing on my mind is flight plans, flight plans, flight plans! I can hardly wait to get to work!
Thanks also to everyone who answered my Brad and Angie question. I think all of you answered! I wouldn't normally care, but any news is news in this 10 acre place!
I'm currently sitting in the sweatshop (laundry room) writing out my weekly email, but nothing has happened. I'm probably just distracted and really nothing new happens after 6 weeks. When I get to teach I'm sure I'll have some real news to share!
Sooooooo.........Obama won. Not surprised really, yet still disappointed. The best thing about going on a mission though is that I can be true to my word now and acutally move to another country when somebody I don't like is elected president. MAYBE, just maybe I'll move back to the USA in April of 2010, but I make no promises!
Love you,
Hermana Whitney Tanner
I'm doing really well here in the MTC even better is that my District gets flight plans next Friday! That's right only 3 weeks left in the MTC and I'll be in Ecuador finally! Which is good, I'm so ready to be out and teaching!
My spanish is okay but I have a feeling it will really come along when I'm in the Country and with the natives!
Sister Dunoskovic has been ill, but thanks to Dr. McLane ( who is the same Doctor who did Dramanda's stitches) she seems to be doing much better. Although I have my suspicions that that is just the oxycodone talking... and giggling a lot!
Sorry! The only thing on my mind is flight plans, flight plans, flight plans! I can hardly wait to get to work!
Thanks also to everyone who answered my Brad and Angie question. I think all of you answered! I wouldn't normally care, but any news is news in this 10 acre place!
I'm currently sitting in the sweatshop (laundry room) writing out my weekly email, but nothing has happened. I'm probably just distracted and really nothing new happens after 6 weeks. When I get to teach I'm sure I'll have some real news to share!
Sooooooo.........Obama won. Not surprised really, yet still disappointed. The best thing about going on a mission though is that I can be true to my word now and acutally move to another country when somebody I don't like is elected president. MAYBE, just maybe I'll move back to the USA in April of 2010, but I make no promises!
Love you,
Hermana Whitney Tanner
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)