The Present....

For Family Home Evening Monday night we had a potluck dinner. I was put in charge of the drinks…because well you all know how I cook..haha. anyway about 3:30 Hermana G. calls and she´s like “Em, I need your help! I have to go to the dentist can you come over and make my casserole, and then baby sit it?” well I arrived and she nervously left the kitchen under mine and Gabi´s hands. Well as you can see from my beautifully documented photos…I cooked! And after that I washed dishes!!!! (and I was happy about it), and as a side note…I didn´t gag! I also included pics of our FHE group, Herm G., the Ottosens, Josh and Melanie and Owen, and the Wards. (which I found out sister Wards real name is Lori Ann…how neat it that?) Josh is here as a doctor, he goes out to the remote villages to help, dragging Melanie and four month old Owen along. He´s on a fullbright scholarship, which pays for them to be here.
The other day I was chatting with Cynthia online through Gmail. She´s so cute and I miss the crap out of her but her new quote is: “Yesterday is History, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that´s why they call it the present…” I decided that was a good quote to use to start off my Happy New Year Blog. Although i´ll have plenty to write regarding however it is we celebrate the new year I decided to write this one in the mean time…
This time of the year often brings moments of reflection as we think about all that´s happened in the past year. We often reflect to New Years resolutions, accomplishments, trials and triumphs, family events, life changing decisions etc. etc. I hope as we sit here this New Years we look back with a smile, we see success and we see ourselves as better people than we were last January.
My year of 2008 sure brought a round of decisions, that as I look back I know they shaped the person I am today. Each month brought huge events and I look back and I think phew…glad 08´s over with, let´s bring on 09! I think back to March of this year, and I remember saying to my mom, Gol I just wish this year was done and over with, and now as I sit here heading into 2009, I can´t believe 08 is over!
We each make decisions each day that determine how our tomorrows will turn out, and not only do our decisions affect our lives, but they affect all those around us. And of course because we´re all blessed with agency other people´s decisions in return affect our lives. But it´s how we choose to react to the comings and goings of each day that determine who we are. And as I sit here writing this, I ask myself the question…how is the Emily of 2008, different from the Emily of 2007, and who do I want the Emily of 2009 to be?

The world is changing all around me, constantly. The 2007 Emily said goodbye in 08 to the familiar life of HighSchool, she hung up her cheer skirt, and flipped her tassel at graduation, had a rude awakening to the world of sin, felt peace in the power of repentance, watched friends get married and have babies, fell in love, and embraced her dreams.
It´s weird, sometimes we make decisions to follow our dreams, and they lead us places we expected to be more glamorous and easy-so at times we think “Hey I got jipped! This isn´t how it was supposed to be!” but when is life ever? I hope in December of 2009 I look back at this experience and I know that even though it wasn´t at all what I expected, it was exactly what I signed up for…an adventure, and the experience of a life time.
Speaking of adventures…so the people here always say the busses are a safe way of transportation, because they always go the same route….they will never change directions in the middle of the route. So yesterday Gabi and I were taking a bus to the missionaries house, we paid our 25 cents and we getting settled in when we realized that the bus was taking a mysterious wrong turn…we thought for a minute we´d gotten on the wrong bus, until every one else started freaking out at the bus driver…he just simply kept on a turning…and Gabi and I were like…what in the heck is going on? So we got off the bus, and went to catch another one…well we were a little nervous because now we know…the buses do just change directions when they want to…
Before I came here I fell in love with the card game Golf. (nine innings) I would play with Kendell and claim it was just a game of luck, he´d shake his head, try really hard to put on a thick western drawl and then he´d say “nope Em, ya gotta know when hold ´em and ya gotta know when to fold ´em.” That´s also a lesson i´ve had to learn here. Each day is like a round of Golf you start out with your cards, and you could hope really bad you´ll get lucky and just have a good day, or you can get up, realize you got dealt crappy cards but you can play them, make the best of them, and learn to upgrade. As the new year comes and goes I hope I learn to upgrade a little more, I learn to let go of the bad times, and learn to hold on to the good ones. As far as more new year´s resolutions go…well I hope to know the scriptures more. I read them, but I’d like to know them…be able to flip to references off the top of my head, account stories by knowing where they are found in the Book of Mormon, and be able to not stutter over my stories. I´d also like to once, before I leave here…be able to bear my testimony in Spanish at Fast and Testimony meeting. Also I refuse to surrender my size five pants.

Each day truly is a gift…a present. I hope we all remember to remember “yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that´s why they call it the present.” Hold on to your gifts, don´t wish them away. Remember, “ live in the moment, but plan for the future”. I wish all of you a prosperous new year! Celebrate it safely, here New Years is bigger than Christmas. They all wear costumes, and dress up as clowns. Whole entire streets are blocked off for dancing and partying…men dressed as women will pull you out of your cars and demand you dance with them, and won´t let you go until you pay them…at midnight large statues are burned of world rulers they don´t particularly like…etc.etc. in other words…I am terrified to celebrate new years here…wish me luck! Haha
I love you all! It´s been great to hear from you all at Christmas time. Enjoy the snow for me, and Happy New Year!
Love,
Em

A Merry Little Christmas in Ecuador

Some of you might find it odd that i am updating my blog on Christmas Morning….it´s 9:00 in the morning here, and the whole world is sleeping….(for a girl who is always the first one up and excited on Christmas Morning….it´s a little weird) so I decided the best time to write this blog post would be when it was all fresh on my mind….Christmas in Ecuador all takes place on Christmas Eve, late Christmas Eve….our party didn´t start until about 10:30-11:00. (I think I was already half asleep when we started. Everyone was in very nice clothes…I started out in a red shirt, looking all Christmassy…which is how I would have gone to Grandma Betty lou´s …but then my mom asked me to put something a little fancier on, because we wanted to look our best to welcome the baby Jesus into the world.

First we did the Novella, which is what we´ve done for the past 10 nights leading up to Christmas Eve. It´s really interesting…but I find it neat to have a tradition like that. My grandma is way into it. However it´s like a big long prayer to Mary, except for last night we got to put baby Jesus in the manger, and celebrate his being born. Then we sing, “Dulce Jesus Mio…..” with tambourines and whistles. After all this praying goes on, and Jesus is born, we pray to him. Everyone went around and expressed gratitude for the past year…and expressed desires for this new year. The first thing my mom said, was that she was grateful for me coming into their lives, also my grandpa prayed that I would never go back to the states. After the prayers, the sparklers are lit, and we wave them over the nativity symbolizing the Christmas star.

At exactly 12:00 on the dot, presents are opened. I honestly don´t know how they do it so fast, but presents are passed out and all opened with in seconds. I wasn´t expecting my aunts and grandparents to do anything for me. But grandpa remembered me, and I got a present from them too, my aunt Consuelo remembered me too. Patty gave me a gorgeous wool sweater…all bright colored. She said it reminded her of me. Then she said next winter when i´m walking through campus, i´ll be very warm, and it´s one of a kind…jaja. Heis gave me an awesome scarf…pink of course. And Kimberly replaced my homemade wallet that got stolen. For their presents…I did what my mom sent from the states, and I added a little something from me. I made a bracelet for Kim, for Heis I made a coupon for a dessert, and for Patty I framed a picture of us kids that I have. They all seemed very happy. My mom also sent Blink which is my Favorite card game, I spent a while teaching my cousins how to play….(thanks mom)

After presents…we ate. Yes we ate at like 12:30 at night. We had SO much food, it was delicious. I thought we would have turkey, because that´s the traditional Christmas meal here…but we decided to do turkey for New Years, so we had ham, and rice, and salads. After we got done eating, the table was cleared out of the way, and we danced. The party lasted well past 4:30, but that´s when I called it a night.
I missed my family soooooooooo much, but I also knew that I was surrounded by people who love me. I have a family here, and it´s such an awesome feeling. I missed our family traditions so much. But I was also able to participate in new ones. (maybe i´ll talk mom and dad into presents at midnight….) if i´ve learned anything here, it´s to go into things with an open mind and an open heart. You just go with the flow, and in the end you have a ton of memories to take with you.
I wish you all a very merry Christmas! I miss you all!
Feliz Navidad,
Emmy

It´s Begining To look alot like Christmas...well kinda

Christmas in Ecuador I have decided is going to be quite the experience. We´re all preparing and getting ready…just in a very very different way than I have ever experienced. Living in a country that is suddenly dominated by Catholicism I´ve learned some very different Christmas concepts.

Christmas in my family here, is focused and centered more around the Virgin Mary. We started nine days before Christmas with each night doing the Novella. We´ve rotated from house to house, starting at my Grandparent´s and then ours, and then my aunts. Every night at eight they start with about a ten minute prayer to Mary. Which to me it sounds like it´s the same words over and over and over again.

Then each night we read the Christmas story, and then focus on one of the Characters whether it be Joseph, or Mary or Jesus….The little wood burning stove that you can see is lit every night, along with a candle. It´s been really interesting for me, and then after words we always have bread and coffee, or for me, hot chocolate.

We set up our tree the second week in December, along with the Nativity below it. Our nativity is like a little village, with little houses lining the streets and then the stable hidden in the background. The houses resemble to me little Ecuadorian Pueblos. The star and the angel are found in the tree, my mom was very particular about that. The picture of the shiny lit up tree is my Grandpas. He´s actually way into the Christmas spirit. He has a whole room dedicated to his village.

I am excited to Celebrate Christmas with them though and I can´t wait to tell you all about how that goes. Christmas Eve here is the big celebration. We stay up all night eating, and dancing, and then at midnight we will exchange gifts. My mom´s mom died when she was 46 years old leaving my mom to take care and be the mom for her two sisters. So my mom Patty is really the older sister, the mom, and now the grandma. Our house will serve as the celebration house. I can´t wait to write my blog post about that one!
Being in a different culture is always challenging…but when you bring together the two cultures and try to make them work sometimes it creates some large problems. The Ecuadorian Culture isn´t like the Utah culture when it comes to Christmas spirit. The people here have been taught their whole lives to hold on to what they have, because if they give it away they´ll never get it back. I was recently put in charge of a “class Christmas service project” where I helped organize a fundraiser for a local orphanage. It was honestly one of the most stressful things of my life. All my class said they really wanted to help, but when it came down to it, the day I was supposed to deliver the things to the orphanage no one had brought anything. I know it´s pathetic, but I started to cry. I had been planning, and organizing for three weeks and when it came down to it, all I had to show for it were two grocery bags of things, and the six pairs of socks I donated. I came home in tears, and my mom asked me what was wrong. When I explained to her what happened she went around the house collecting things. She then sat me down and tried to help me see why her culture was this way. She then told me my intentions were good, and that I would get credit in heaven for trying….

Given mine and Gabi´s present financial state we decided to make home made Christmas gifts. Which is also kind of challenging…but we ended up making these awesome homemade frames…i´ve posted one of them so you can see how awesome they were. We made those for Sofi, Gloria and Angy. And also our missionary friends. Then we made homemade bracelets for people, and then I bought some Books of Mormon to give out as presents to my friends…which I wrote my testimony inside and I was so proud of my self! Sunday Gabs and I were craving Christmas treats, so we made some of our own…which didn´t turn out exactly like grandma´s sandies…but close enough. And our families loved them.
Although I am very far away from my family this Christmas, i´ve learned that Christmas is in the heart, and I can sit here and wallow because i´m not with them, or I can share my traditions, learn the Ecuadorian ones, and make the best of it. I only get this opportunity once, and i´m enjoying what I am learning….
You might be wondering what this next picture is…well you see we went to our ward party. Which was a talent show. When Gab´s and I showed up, the bishop asked us if we could please throw together a number to perform. Well we agreed, and we decided to first sing. Well those of you who know me really well know I can´t sing. But this is me, up on stage with Gabi, belting out Popular from Wicked. If that idea doesn´t make you laugh…I’m not sure what will. I also taught Gabi one of the cheer routines I remembered from last year and we shook it to Come on Over Baby! I´ll put some more on Facebook, so you can all enjoy us singing and dancing…it was great, we also “taught” them all how to dance like “Gringos”.
The talent show was awesome (minus us) they did some skits, and some awesome traditional dances. One of the members from our obispado played the guitar, and then one of the sweet little old ladies did a traditional dance. And then afterwards we all ate a turkey dinner. I felt so official because they asked me to bring a dessert. I made my cake…oh that has a story too! Ok so I made Skor cake for Turkey day but they don´t have skor bars here so I just put a chocolate bar on top, that tasted good. Well it became such a hit, i´ve been making it for everything here or there and it´s become known as “Emily´s Cake”. For the Christmas party they asked me to please make “Emily´s Cake”. I put M&M´s on top and made it look all pretty.

It´s defiantly been weird, without snow, and cold…and all that. I mean when I went Christmas shopping I got sun burned on my feet from wearing sandals. And yet, I know that with or without snow Christmas is the same. And I know that Christmas is a time to remember and celebrate the birth of our Savior.

. It´s a time, where no matter where I am, I can find the spirit of Christmas, because even though all around me might be different and unfamiliar, the feeling of Christmas, is not.
I wish you all a very very merry Christmas!
Love,
Emily

A Big Blog of Zoe-isms

When I came to Ecuador, i didn´t quite know what to expect…but I for sure wasn´t expecting for my best friend to become a fifteen year old hyperactive liberal Chicagoan. Zoe and I met at the Chicago Airport, on our way to Quito. We knew we were destined to become friends from the second she said, “Hey you´re wearing my shirt…” we sat next to each other on the plane here, and we talked non-stop. We clicked from day one. Zoe and I have had many many memories while here. Zoe and I along with Gabi have embraced this dream of ours, and really reached for the stars. We´ve held eachother close when we´ve been sooo homesick we couldn´t stand it, we´ve laughed our heads off over silly silly things that will never make sense to any one else but us. We´ve accidently drank alcoholic beverages...
We´ve hopped on busses, not knowing where we´ll get off, and we´ve walked for hours looking for a mall that we just knew was around the next corner..or the next…or the next…We´ve dodged traffic, while holding hands and running across the road and screaming, and we´ve helped each other with homework…(that´s a long story….) we´ve made cookies at midnight, and stayed up late hours in to the night talking…all three crammed in one bed. We´ve ran around department stores trying to find the ugliest outfits in the mean time annoying the dressing room ladies, we´ve gone to the Cinemark three times to see one movie…(you really don´t want to know…). We´ve hiked up and down muddy hills, we´ve belted out Wicked songs at the top of our lungs, and we´ve been there for eachother through it all. Including getting robbed…four times. Zoe would always know when I was in a taxi, because i´d call and ramble about who knows what. And then there was always Gabi, who kept Zoe and I level headed. You see the three of us were like sisters from day one, and I think all of us thought that we would never be separated.

However like most things in life, all good things must come to an end. Zoe was only here for a semester program, and she left this past weekend. It was a weird feeling for Gabi and I, as we watched her pack up her two huge suitcases, and set off. In a way, I was nervous to let her go…my little Zoe out to face the world by her self, and then also it was like we all felt a piece of us go. And so in memory of Zoe, Gabi and I have created this blog post…

Zoe always said silly things…and we´ve decided to share them with all of you.
• “Emily, are you surepositive about that?”
• “Gabi I think I am going to go buy the High School Musical SoundtracT”
• “What do you mean Idaho doesn´t have Block parties?! How do you survive!?”
• “Um…Emily…I don´t know how to make Mac and Cheese…are you sure I don´t put all the ingredients in at once?”
• “um…I don´t feel like going to school today, so…i´m just not! What are they going to do about it…send me home?!”
"Gabi, fix it!"


• “oh, if I only had a brain….”
• “I´m pretty sure my lit teacher hates me, so I am going to stay far far away.”
• “Emily, I got off when I saw the budget sign…except for it think it was only a billboard….because I walked a good hour”
• “so…I got on a bus…and then, the craziest thing happened…a block later, I got off!”

• “I prefer my pizza with just tomatoes please….”
• “ya huh”, “nu uh”
• “Because we´re sisters, we stick together….”
• “if I were the king…of the forest….”
• “I just don´t understand…..”
• “what kind of country is this?!?!”

• “Izquierda…I mean derecha…I mean…I DON´T KNOW….!?”
• “when I get back to the states...”
• “and then i´d sit, and think some more….”
• “but…i´m only 15…”
• “Emily, for your wedding….please wait till I can drive there….”
• “Because I knew you, I have been changed…for good.”
• “….so….yeah”

Of course there are many many more, however Gab´s and I just can´t think of them right now. Although we miss her, we´re both truly grateful for the influence Zoe had on both of our lives. We´re already planning a transcontinental reunion, and we can´t wait to all be together again. We love you Zoe, and good luck with everything….ps we haven´t heard from you! “What is that!”
Love,
Emily and Gabi

I love to see the Temple....

Growing up in Idaho, and only thirty minutes from the Utah border I was always blessed with the opportunity to only be a maximum of thirty minutes away from the temple. I could see the Logan temple out my bedroom window, and just in the past few years two more temples had been added to Idaho. The Rexburg and the Twin Falls. I have never had to live somewhere where the temple wasn´t staring me in the face, reminding me of the things I wanted in life. I once said, “you know, you honestly can´t do anything bad in Logan, because everywhere you turn the lights of the temple are there…reminding you of who you want to become”
So when I moved to Ecuador, I instantly missed the constant presence of the temple. I missed looking out my window and seeing it´s magnificent lights beckoning to me. When our bishop announced a ward temple trip I was ecstatic! I immediately sent for my records in Utah, and started the process to get a temple recommend so that I could go. Well it took about a month to get my records here…everything runs on latin American time, and then after that it took a few tries to get an interview with the bishop. Finally with recommend in hand I paid my 12 dollars to ride the bus to Guayaquil.



However I feel like to fully tell my temple trip story I need to tell about what happened the day before I was heading out. I´ve heard stories about people who are preparing to go to the temple, and how Satan always tries to make it so that they don´t go, or so that they are distracted if they do make it. Thursday morning as I was getting ready to go to school, I threw in my wallet, knowing that I needed to go to the bank before I left to Guayaquil. Also Zoe wanted to go tell the missionaries goodbye before she leaves this week, and right by the mission office there is a Market with things I knew I might want to buy for my family for Christmas. So I had my wallet, and my debit card. I also un packed my mp3 from my temple bag and threw it in my backpack just in case. Well I went to school where my backpack stays with me through out the day, except recreo breaks. After school I caught the Ecovia, where I was riding it to the mission office to meet zoe. Now the ecovia is Full of people, so when I boarded my back pack was behind me, but only for a matter of about two minutes, and in those two minutes I was walking towards the middle of the Ecovia. Once I got situated I turned my bag around to the front of me. We went to the Mission office, told Elder and Hermana Ward good bye, and HErmana G. After our goodbyes, I walked down to the distribution center to buy a Spanish bible. I have a BOM but I wanted a Bible…to read the Christmas Story and things. Well when I reached in my bag to pay for my bible I realized that everything was gone. My mp3, my debit card, my wallet, my Ecuadorian ID, my makeup, and some other things… I panicked.
I immediately called my dad in the states, and had him close my card, while in the mean time I called my mom here and cried to her. Being worried about me she took off work early and met me before I left to the temple. Also my sister here (Kimberly) called me, to make sure I was ok. I knew that I was safe, and that everything that was stolen from me was just material items but I couldn´t help but feel violated. Knowing that who ever took it was probably someone from my class, and that I trusted them all and they were my friends. I was devastated, but I knew that I couldn´t let it affect my temple trip. So I put it out of my mind…and I left to the temple.

Our trip was 8 hours. We pulled out of Quito at about 9:30 on Thursday night, and we arrived at the temple at about 7 the next morning. Everyone who knows me really well knows that sleeping in the car is something that is easy for me. As long as I have my pillow I can easily curl up and sleep the whole eight hours. However I was not prepared for the hot humidity..i woke up drenched in sweat, and wondering where in the heck I was. However I woke up just in time to look out the window and see the temple, big and bold and beautiful on top of the hill. It was an incredible feeling, and it gave me Goosebumps. We pulled into the temple grounds about seven, and the first temple session started at nine, so the adults headed straight in to get ready to go to the session. We stayed at a hotel right on the temple grounds, which was pretty neat. We ate our meals inside the cafeteria at the temple.


The adults never quit, they went to all the sessions offered through out the two days were were there. I was amazed, they only stopped to eat lunch, and then on Saturday morning they headed back in and did two more sessions before we left. I had to wait till six Friday night to go in. We didn´t have very many youth on our trip, and the ones that were there brought family names to do. So when it came time to do baptisms the temple had a large stack of names ready to do. And I ended up doing them all. After ten names I thought I was done, but then we just kept going and going and going. It was incredible. And then I was confirmed for my same names. We had two families sealed together while we were there, and I saw the cutest wedding party come out. Just the bride, her parents, and the groom and his parents. And then they drove off into the night in their taxi.
I spent Friday walking around the temple, taking pictures, and feeling the spirit. It is a feeling I will never forget, and a feeling that I will hold on to during the hard times. There the temple was, in the middle of this huge city, and yet up on the hill, you couldn´t even hear the sounds of the city…it was literally it´s own little world. I didn´t want to return to Quito, far away from the feelings that I had felt…


The Lord takes times like this to show to us his tender mercies. To show to us that life isn´t that bad. He gives us opportunities to be filled with so much love we feel like we will just about burst! And if we take these opportunities we will be changed forever. I don´t know if I’ll ever have the opportunity to return to the Guayaquil temple, but I know that that sacred place will always have a place in my heart. I do love to see the temple, and I can´t wait till the day that I can actually go inside!
I love you all, thank you for your prayers and support in this crazy dream of mine. I miss you all each day. I hope you´re having an amazing Holiday Season. May your live´s be enriched by his spirit and love, and know that someone all the way in Ecuador is praying for you.
Hasta Luego,
Emily

VIVA QUITO!

The Day of December 5th dawned bright and beautiful. The city of Quito was hustling and bustling with preparation for the Festivities...you see this year marked the 474 birthday of the beautiful city of Quito!



The festivities have really been going on for a week now. Starting with the parades and the crowining of the Reina De Quito. However the most important two days of the Ecuadorian Calendar lie with in the 5th and 6th of December. There´s even a street named 6 de Diciembre! The streets are full of VIVA QUITO banners and red and blue flags...(not USA haha, but the colors of Quito). It was an event i was SO excited to take part in.



For me the celebrations started at school, on friday, at seven in the morning. We started by decorating our balconies. Each Class had a competition to see who could decorate the best balcony. Then we all gathered down on tha patio, where there were various yummy treats served, and a band. The band was playing fantastic cultural music and everyone was dancing! it was sooo much fun. However...Zoe and I had no idea how to dance...so we just danced the "Gringo" dance. It was intense...especially since we didn´t really even know how to do that...haha. I think alot of people were curious to see how us foreigners would react to their festivities but when we just went with the flow and even added some of our own taste to it...they seemed to think it was pretty neat! A class mate of zoe´s actually filmed us dancing...it was great! Then we told everyone that next year when the exchange students don´t know what to do...they can show them the dance...and say this is how Gringo´s dance! it was great!

At night the city is alive. We went down to the Old City. Where it was decorated and made to look like the olden days. there was singing, and dancing...and little shops that sold authentic Ecuadorian cosas. This all took place beneath the huge nativity scene that is set up on the hill. The Virgin Mary is up on the hill all the time, but through the festivities they add a huge lit up nativity scene. As you can see behind me and zoe in the pic from my other blog. It was gorgeous. However during the fiestas de Quito, baby Jesus gets replaced by a huge VIVA QUITO sign...

(sorry...my lack of computer skills makes it so that i can´t figure out how to turn this around...whoops...hehe)But behind us is the street Ronda, a street that was decorated for the Festivities!And that is my sister Kimberly and my mom Paty...

Now Comes the funny story...
So part of the festivites and around this time of year the people of Ecuador like to enjoy the cold evenings with a hot cider. It has apple, orange, and other citrusy fruits...it´s served warm, and it smelled really wierd. Anyway...my mom told zoe and I that we just HAD to try it! so we did...well after a few drinks I kept thinking...this tastes really different but...out of respect we kept drinking. Well as we were walking my mom said, "after a few of those, you´ll be so tipsy you won´t know what happened to you..." That´s when we realized...this wierd cider we were drinking...was full of alcohol! Well after that Zoe and I were a giggly mess...and we decided either we´re both really cheep drunks...or it´s a placebo affect...either way it was pretty funny! however when i talked to my mom (in the states) i asked... am i in trouble that i accidently drank alcohol? haha...I learned my lesson, and it was gross!



Zoe and I called it a night a good 6 hours before everyone else...but laying in my bed last night as i listened to the partying going on around me...i didn´t really have a problem with it. This morning as I headed to an activity with my ward the City was so eery...and silent. In a freaky sort of way. I decided I participated in enough of the celebrations and i was glad that at ten this morning my head was clear and i was up and going...tonight the parties are still going on...but for now all i can say is VIVA QUITO, and I am so glad i am here...

Love,
Emily

My Address!!!!

So my address has been requested by a few people...so i am putting this on not as a hint...or a sly suggestion...just to please a few people ( aka...aunt cindy...and pickle...hehe)how ever pictures and letters are always welcome... anyway...this is my address...it gets sent to an office, my program office and then they let me know when i have mail!

Xplorer
C/O Emily Ann Zilles
Calle Ultimas Noticias N39-101 y El Universo
Quito-Ecuador, SA

I have lots to tell about the fiestas de Quito...which i will fill you all in soon...i just will have to do it when i have more time! i love you all, and miss you tons and tons!
love Emily

The Simple Secret....

"The Way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life..."




"If we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be times of greatest growth, which in turn can lead toward times of greatest happiness..."


"The First thing we can do is learn to laugh...."

"The next time your tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead, it will extend your life, and make the lives of those around you more enjoyable..."


"...learning to endure times of disappointment, suffering, and sorrow is part of our on-the-job training...these experiences, while often difficult to bear at the time are precisely the kinds of experiences that stretch our understanding, build our character, and increase our compassion for others...

"We experience hard things so that we too may have increased compassion and understanding for others..."



"My Son, Peace be unto thy soul, thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment..."

" and then, if thou endure it well...God shall exalt thee on high, thou shalt triumph over all thy foes..."



"The simple secret is this: put your trust in the Lord, do your best, then leave the rest to him."






I received an email from my mom this morning informing me that Elder Wirthlin had passed away. it caught me off guard and i got a little choked up. Elder Wirthlin, although in his later years became a little hard to understand was always one of my favorites. especially his talk this past conference. it has become one of my greatest motivations, and i cling to his words when i am going through my hard times. he was a marvelous example, and his words will never fail to touch my heart...
Love,
Emily
(All Quotes taken from "Come What May and Love it", October General Conference, 2008)

Thanksgiving Pics

These are Some more pics from Thanksgiving...for those of you who don´t have Facebook!
love em

Come What May and Love it!

Hola Everyone!
It was so good to talk to all those that i could on Thanksgiving! it made me a little less homesick just to hear all those that i love on the other end of the phone. despite the crazy connections i was able to talk to so many people! and it was great! Thanksgiving day here was great! i am not going to lie it was dang hard to be so far away from everyone on such a special day, but my mom reminded me "em you´ll have many holidays here with us, but you only have one in Ecuador..." so with that thought in my mind, i put on my strong Ecuador smile...i can honestly say i had a great thanksgiving!
we had a big party at Xplorer with all the exchange students, and our families. We ate a makeshift thanksgiving dinner, the students put on a short silly play, and Zoe and Gabi sang a song from Wicked. The best part however was when sofy surprised me with a pumpkin pie!! i know...it was totally a miracle! i guess she had a friend coming in from the states...and when she knew i would be missing pumpkin pie so much...well she had her bring some from the states, and i actually had pumpkin pie! in Ecuador! also...we all had a dessert contest...well i know this may come as a big surprise to all of you, but i made the winning dessert! i made a Skor cake, and it actually turned out really awesome! i was just as shocked as i am sure most of you are right now...haha.
Today is December first, and the beginning of my fourth month here! i can´t believe how fast time is flying! when i think back to my first weeks here...i can´t imagine how fast time has flown! it´s incredible. December will come and go...and then January...and before we know it we´ll be half way through!
i´ve just added a new gadget to my blog, so make sure that your speakers are on when you open up my blog...because i added some songs...including Defying Gravity! it´s so awesome...(Haley Nelson let me in on that little secret...)
Life is going along as normal now...it´s so weird to me, as i look out over the city, that this is really where i live. That i live in Quito Ecuador! I’ve never lived in a big city before but i am getting used to it.
Today was a good day, i always judge my days by the beginnings. Starting with if i get a seat on the bus. Well let me describe the busses here...they are PACKED...we´re talking sometimes when i get on i am standing on the last stair of the bus and my backpack is flying out in the wind as i hang on for dear life, knowing that if i fell out the driver wouldn´t even stop. well today was formal uniform day, so i was in my heels and i got a seat on the bus! i don´t know how it happened...but i decided right there that today was going to be a great day! And it was...haha!
My day´s come and go...and before i know it weeks have gone by. I had a great experience this last week helping in the hospital. I helped take care of a little Baby named Johnothan. His mom brought him in and then just left him. well for one beautiful week i got to be his mommy, i held him, walked with him, sang to him, loved him, and gave him what he didn´t have. well this Friday when i went into take care of him he was gone. his mom had come back for him. i was devastated...i had really grown to love that little baby, and then his mom just came and took him! how dare she! especially when she had a tendency to just leave him places...but i learned a lot of lessons from Johnothan. I started to think maybe i wanted to go into the medical field when i get home, and maybe be a nurse...but i don´t know if that career would be for me either...but mostly from Johnothan i learned the power of innocent love. As i looked into his eyes, i could see not only the innocence of a child but also a child who was so wise. i know those two things contradict each other but it´s true. I so wanted to know at times what he was thinking…and ask him questions…because at times I felt like he knew all the answers that I needed to know. But all I could do was love him, and I hope that my week of love gave him just a small taste of what he needed.
Institute is going good. My first week there I won a Triple Combination, because of my amazing scripture mastery skills…(ha there brother winward! Haha) I love having a place to go like that. Where I can practice my Spanish, and also be with people with the same values and beliefs as me. It feels nice. They kinda get a kick out of me, because I have my English scriptures, my Spanish set, my dictionary, and then a notebook to take notes…sometimes it´s a little overwhelming…and I just sit there and let the spirit teach me.
Today being the first day of December marks the beginning of the Festivities of Quito. Originally these festivities are because of the founding of the city of Quito. But they just so happen to be so close to Christmas the celebrations kinda get thrown together. The whole city is all lit up, it´s beautiful. The huge Cathedral is all lit up, and so is the statue of Mary and baby Jesus. The city is covered in lights…and the old town is absolutely magical. I know I will miss my family so much this holiday season, but I am really excited to celebrate here! I am getting in the spirit of Christmas, and getting excited! However I am truly dreaming of a white Christmas…maybe i´ll cut out some snow flakes or something…haha
I´ve recently been reading some of the Conference talks from this past conference and one of my favorite ones is Elder Wirthlin´s. It´s titled “Come What May and Love it!¨ There are many parts that I love about this talk, but one in particular I would like to share, he says, “...every life has peaks and shadows and times it seems like the birds don´t sing and bells don´t ring. Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result.” He also reminds us to learn how to laugh. When I ended high school, I thought I had seen it all, dealt with it all and that anything else that came my way would be a piece of chocolate cake, well…coming here has taught me that I was wrong. This has been a very hard thing in my life, I left everything familiar behind me, I left those that I love, and the comfort of the home i´ve known my whole life. And it´s been scary…but I also know the power of smiling, and laughing. And when I make a mistake, or a feel like I can´t go on…I find those things that make me happy…and even though this is tough, and scary by finding the silver lining through all this has brought out the good in every situation…(I still haven´t found the good in the three times I got robbed….but i´m over it so I guess that´s good…haha)
I love you all! And Once again thank you for your love, support, and encouragement…and as Elder Wirthlin says, “as we look for humor, seek for the eternal perspective,…., and draw near to our Heavenly Father, we can endure hardship and trial…we can say…come what may, and love it!”
Chau Chau! Love Emmy Ann