Every morning I’ve been waking up with a smile on my face. Since it is usually
somewhere between 7am and 8am, this is very unusual for me to wake up smiling so
early but I do. I don’t know if it’s because I know I am exactly where I want and need to
be, or because I am in Ecuador, one of the most beautiful countries I have seen yet, or
because I am surrounded by some of the most loving people I have ever met.
Today, I think I found joy in about a million things that kept my smile on my
face. Team Battlecry finally got to begin building the new Temple for the community we
are helping. Let me just say, if you don’t have a smile on your face, try asking three older
Ecuadorian men how to build using cement blocks…hilarious! I think even at once point,
Joseph told us a woman was pregnant so kept asking her how far along she was and
trying to congratulate her in Espanol. But, it turned out, he was “chiste” or “just
kidding” and she really wasn’t so we all looked like a bunch of fools. It was a great time.
As we were unloading cement blocks and laying down more cement for each
layer of the foundation, I couldn’t help but to just stare at the scenery around us. If you
walk out our front door, and down the street to where we are building the new Temple,
all you can see are mountains and volcanoes. The sky is crystal blue, speckled with some
of the puffiest clouds I have ever seen. Even though I am miles and miles away from my
home in Lancaster County, I am still constantly reminded of home when I took outside
and see cows standing right beside us and roosters crowing in the morning. As we were
working today, stray dogs would come up to us and stare at us too.
Milton, Joseph and Salvador, the men helping us were probably having a good
time as well trying to communicate with us. But you know what? The communication
barrier is not a problem. In fact, I am becoming a pro at Spanglish 😉 One of my goals is
to be fluent in Spanish by the end of these next three months. Well, if I am to be realistic,
maybe I’ll just learn enough to get by. Either way, I will see an improvement!
Let me just rewind back to yesterday, one of the longest, but most beautiful days I
have spent in Ecuador. Honestly, I cannot count how many times I was blessed yesterday.
Not just me, but our team. First of all, we did not have to carry our packs, which to put
into perspective for you, mine weighs between 50 and 60 pounds (almost half of my
wight) So, it was AWESOME that we did not have to hike with them on our backs again.
We didn’t have to do this because Gustavo, our contact, drove us from Quito to Conocoto
or Conocota, I’m still not sure how to spell it exactly but he drove us around for about 30
minutes. While we were in the truck, I just kept staring out the window to see mountains
upon mountains and infinite sky. When we got to our new home, we were immediately
introduced to the family we would stay with for the next month. There were three
women and the pastor and two girls. If you ever want a hug, go right to Karen but expect to be holding her for hours. They are both so adorable.
Then, we got escorted around to the grocery store, Ecudorian style…riding in the back of
an open truck…SOOOO COOL! It was a little chilly but it felt so good having the wind
blow in my face as we drove for what seemed like a couple minutes but probably was a
lot longer than that.
The grocery stores in Ecuador are BOSS! They have pool tables, furniture, food,
clothes, wine, bikes and cars…yea pretty much everything. So, our new family took us
shopping and I kept waking down the asiles with Karen asking her “Como se dise”
meaning “how do you say” and I learned a lot of words. I really can’t remember a lot of
them at the moment, but I learned them � We ended the night trying to form a
band…also put a smile on my face because it was hilarious! I attempted to play the
drums…and would like to say I killed it! I have high hopes for us as starving musicians!
Hasta Luego for now �
