Days Go By....

If you don´t have your speakers turned up, turn them up now…the song I have playing right now fully goes along with this blog entry. The song “Days Go By” is always playing along in the back of my mind as the days I have here in Ecuador continue to fly by sooo very very fast! Once again, it seems like I just did this, but once again I am writing because tomorrow marks SIX MONTHS IN EcUaDoR!!! I can´t believe I only have four months left here! It seems like just yesterday I was celebrating one week down! But here I am wondering where in the world did all the time go?
Well for those of you in the states you might have celebrated Fat Tuesday this past Tuesday at the beginning of Lent. Well here in Ecuador we Celebrated the Carnaval. We had yet again another two days off of school. I went on Monday with the single adults in my ward to a place called Papallacta. It reminded me a lot of Lava Hot Springs. It was a little town build around these hot springs. It was so much fun! We would run to the cold river, and then run back into the hot pool. We were having so much fun I didn´t realize that I was getting fried! I got sooooooooo sun burned! I´ve been suffering ever since. But it was too much fun to regret it! Haha.

My mom woke me up every hour Monday night to rub aloe on my back, arms and chest. I was fried from head to toe. Because of her dedication by Tuesday night we had gotten most of the heat off of the burn, and prevented most blistering…luckily! I still didn´t go to school Wednesday though because putting on my uniform was way too painful. Thursday found me at school painfully enduring classes, but then as an answer to a prayer I swear, we got to leave after the second break! I was soooo grateful!!! Thursday night I went to Xplorer where we had to go through a strict lecture on the Do´s and Don´ts …again. It seems we´ve had some rule breakers…haha
Today, Friday February 27, 2009 is Flag Day here in Ecuador. We didn´t have classes we just had a huge Flag Presentation at the school. I decided to go to see what it was instead of sleeping in, and I am sooooo grateful I went! It brought tears to my eyes as I watched the most amazing work of art un fold in front of my eyes. The fourth course students marched in on opposite sides of the basketball court and presented the Yellow and Red flags of Ecuador, and also the Blue and Red flags representing Quito. And then the band marched in, followed by the Fifth course students.
Every student was in Uniform, with white gloves. Then in Marched my friends of the Sixth course. They looked so good, and so proud to be Ecuadorians. Then each sixth course student had to take a turn of kissing the flag. This presentation is a really big deal here, and I was so glad I drug myself out of bed to be a part of it. If you have Facebook i uploaded tons of pics on there under the album "Presentación de Las Banderas"
I also fully love my new calling in the Primary. It is so much fun, and I enjoy it so much! Today we had our second presidency meeting. The President told me a story that made me cry. Last Sunday I had the lesson in the HLJ¨S class..(CTR¨s) I also had Sharing time, and music time…and I felt like I just wasn´t ready. Well after I taught all of these things, I felt relived to be done, and I felt like I had done a fairly good job. Before my sharing time I talked with the primary kids about being reverent, and I didn´t just tell them to be reverent, but I told them why we needed to be reverent. Because we learn by the Spirit, and we can´t learn by the Spirit if we´re being too noisy to listen. I then presented my “reverence meter” which they seemed to just eat up, they loved it. And the other ladies in the primary, just stared in awe at what I had managed to accomplish. (but believe me, it wasn´t me, I had much help from up above!) well I guess after the lesson a cute little girl named Domanic went home and told her mom that she “knew the lesson in primary was true, because she felt the sprit just like Hermana Emily had taught her to do”. It´s moments like that, just one child at a time, that you are so grateful for. This sunday I will be teaching the HLJ´s, and i am preparing Singing time! at least no Sharing time this week...haha. I am sooooooooo grateful for the opportunity i have to serve in the primary. These children are truley children of God, and they are so amazing, and i learn so much from them. I just wish i had more time to be with them, but I plan to make every last moment last.
Tonight we had a dinner for the Ottosen´s. They leave to go home Monday! I can´t believe how fast time flies, and that it is already march and they are going home! I love them so much, and will forever be grateful for the way that they took me in, loved me, and because parents/grandparents/best friends here in Ecuador. They truly put meaning to the song line “because I knew you, I have been changed for Good.”

As I sit here, with only four months to go, I am amazed at how far i´ve come, and how far each of the students have come. We´ve all changed, and grown so much. And I know that all of the hard times had to be experienced to truly appreciate the good times. The first few months of living in a foreign country are kindof like a fight. A fight for the language, a fight to understand, a fight of homesickness, but then…after you overcome that fight it’s a remarkable thing…you fall in love. The little cultural “quirks” don´t bug you so much as you learn to look past it all and learn from it. You start to soak everything in, and you realize you are really enjoying it. That´s why I plan to make “every last moment last”. All the sudden one year doesn´t seem like a sufficient amount of time, and I am beginning to understand the phrase of “savor the moment”.
I love you all, thank you so much for all your love, support and prayers!!!!!! Four more months baby!!! We´re on the down hill slope…
¡HaStA LuEgO!
Emily Ann

Primaria....

Everyone Gathered in the van ready to go!



the junior primary waiting to go inside the museum!



everyone loved this drinking fountain...where they drank the water...right out of the toilet!!!



junior primary showing off their cute costumes!!!



Taking a hike....phew....



searching for butterflies...



drying in the sun after running through the fountains...



It was sure a fun day! When it was all said and done, of course we were all exhausted from keeping track of over 20 kids all day...but it was soooooooo much fun! and it´s sooo fun to watch the kids smile! These are such cute kids! i love having the oportunity to be involved with them!

Love, Emily

Nine Students...Nine Different Dreams...

Hey Everyone! Today I had a few minutes to spare for the first time all week so I entered two new blogs…so make sure you read this one, and the one below it. Wouldn´t want you to miss out on anything…but for our readers that have a short attention span I decided to make two entries to keep everyone´s attention on track. Haha. Jk.
This week was good. Kinda crazy and busy, but very rewarding…I know there is still one more day to this week but I wanted to blog now, before I lost the ideas that I have had swimming around in my head for a while.
This week once again I came down with an awful cold starting Sunday night I had a sore throat and into the week the symptoms progressed into just well…a clogged up head and stuffy nose. School flowed by quickly…and I honestly can´t believe that once again it is a Friday night. It feels nice to not have much going tonight, being so sick and tired it´s nice to relax and do one of the funnest things I know…blog…haha.
Thursday I had my first Primary Presidency Meeting. Through the week I had brainstormed ideas, I had sent urgent “help me” emails to many well experienced primary workers, and I had come up with some fairly genius ideas…haha jk. But some ideas that I felt like could greatly benefit our small but spiritual primary. As I presented each idea for reverence, or for motivating memorization of scriptures etc.etc. the Sisters ate it all up with enthusiasm. And after an hour we all felt much better about things. I came home with a design to make a “reverence meter” something that I remember being used in primary when I was little. I started off to work and just as I was beginning Brian came over and I put him to work helping me. By the end, we had created this masterpiece…!!! Hehe I am pumped can you tell? I am so very grateful for the opportunity to serve in the primary. When I was talking to the Primary President about how I was feeling a little inadequate for the job she told me about how when she put my name in for the bishop. She had seen me playing with some children after sacrament meeting the Sunday she had been called. And she knew right then that she wanted to work with me, except that she was new in the ward and didn´t even know my name, so when she talked to the bishop about me she had to describe me as the young north American girl…I laughed at that, and then she said, no Emily I know you are the one for this job, and the children will be blessed to have you for just the short amount that we have you. And so with new motivation I planned and prepared my sharing time and CTR lesson for Sunday. Tomorrow (Saturday) is my first primary activity…I am so excited!I was talking to Maggie today at school. She has kinda been having a rough go at it, and I just kindof started to talk about all nine of us. And how we are all here, in Ecuador, in the same program doing the same thing, and yet each of us will get off the plane in the states having learned different things and taken out of this different lessons. I talked about how though all of us came with one same motive “to learn Spanish” once we all got here we each realized we would be learning much more than just Spanish. We talked about each of our “bucket lists” so to say here in Ecuador, and how I know that when I get off the plane in SLC I want to have the sense and the feeling that I accomplished all that I needed to while I was here. I explained to her that this was the experience of a life time, and if you chose to, it could really change your life. Not only can it teach you independence but seeing and living some other culture´s life really opens your eyes and makes you appreciate and want your own culture.
My motive for coming here was to learn Spanish, and because I “just felt that it was right” and I know some people will sigh and roll their eyes at that, but, it´s true…I came out of pure inspiration and a goal in mind. But once I came here I realized that learning Spanish was just the beginning of the mission that I was expected to perform here. I realized once I came here that me teaching and being an example of the gospel not only to my fellow exchange students but also to almost everyone I came in contact with was not just pure fate, but divine intervention. And having that knowledge gives me the faith, and the courage to express how I feel and to find the right words to say. Each of us nine students, although here doing the same thing, are each performing different miracles and different dreams each day. And it´s incredible to me, how we each continue to bless each other´s lives…usually without knowledge to one or the other. I truly to believe that God´s hand was in the selection of the students, the selection of where each of us were put, and most importantly the selection of where I am right now in my life. I take full responsibility of knowing that I very well right now could be planting the seed of faith in the people that I meet each and every day. And although I know I won´t convert them before I leave in july, I only hope that in years down the road when they are confronted by the missionaries…they will listen.
My only prayer is that, as each of my nine new friends continue out their own separate dreams here in Ecuador, that they will be accomplishing everything that I know they are capable of doing.
I encourage each of you, whether they be big or small to go after your dreams…don´t just dream them, but make them happen. I know that we each can do what ever we set our minds to. To some, me coming to Ecuador was just another one of my un realistic goals…but I made It happen…and I am here. And that really just goes to show…that the impossible, is possible!
Thank you for all your love and support! Wish me luck on my primary activity…and Carnival this long weekend….as a side note, check out Hermana G´s blog…grandmacalledtoserve.blogspot.com, and learn about all the crazy stuff that´s going on here with the weather…it´s been raining so much all major roads are closed off, and basically all traffic out side of quito is shut down! It´s a mess…and knowing Ecuadorian time, who knows when things will be repaired!...haha…Carnival is this weekend and Monday and Tuesday…i´ll fill you in on how that goes! Thanks for all your love and support!
Emily Ann Zilles

A Grandma´s Prayer....

My Family in the states always continues to amaze me, almost every week I am surprised by a call from Xplorer informing me that yet another package has found its way to the office for me! Today´s trip to xplorer rewarded me with three packages! One from each of my amazing grandma´s and one from my mommy. Although each contained yummy goodies, fun surprises, and many valentine wishes,(and of course $$$$) the one from Grandma Norma touched me the most. Not that the messages held in the others didn´t affect me, but Grandma Norma stuck a letter in her card that moved me to tears. And I thought I would share it with you guys, as a sense of motivation.
When making choices in life…
Do not neglect to live
Look at what appears to be impossible
Then change your beliefs
Every obstacle is an opportunity
Each place along the way is somewhere you had to be, to be there
Live the live you imagined
The only limits we have
Are the limits we believe
There is no stress in the world
Only people thinking stressful thoughts
A ship in a harbor is safe, but that´s
Not why ships are built
What you have become is the result
Of what you have thought
Leap….and a net will appear
It is said that aerodynamically bees aren´t supposed to fly…
Fortunately no one told them
Smile if you want a smile from another face
There are no such things as strangers
Only friends you haven´t met yet
Is your time spent desiring
Or is your time spent taking steps toward desires?
If you think the world is a dark place
You are blind to the light
That may illuminate your life
In the context of eternity time doesn´t matter.
I don´t know where Grandma Norma found that, but it really touched me, (more that the money) and I realized that all of those statements are true…no matter what journey each of us our facing, I hope that we aren´t just “desiring” but that we are taking steps each day towards those desires.”

Continued....

Hey Everyone! I thought i would add these two new pictures, that go along with what i did with the rest of my Valentine’s day. The one picture is me in front of the Virgin Mary, on the panicillo hill. i went up there with my valentines date, and it was beautiful! i absolutely was blown away by its beauty. The second one is on Calle Ronda, one of the oldest historical streets in Quito. And the drink i am holding in a non alcoholic cider de Mora! haha.
Today was a rainy cold Sunday and very overwhelming. When i arrived at church today i was cornered by the Bishop, who asked if he could speak to me for a minute. When we were situated in his office, he asked me if i would be willing to accept the calling as the Second Counselor in the Primary Presidency. I was very surprised, but i said yes, and i was called and set apart today! Primary here is very different. There is about 20 kids in our primary and so they just divide them up into three classes. The members of the primary presidency are also the teachers of these classes. Also i am the only one who knows how to lead music, so i also became the music leader.
The presidency is awesome, but because i am a good 25 years younger than both of the other sisters i feel very inadequate. When the Bishop set me apart however he blessed me with the ability to not have a language barrier any more. That i will be able to teach, and love, and bless the children of the primary in the Spanish language with ease and understanding.
The primary children sang me the Welcome to Primary song, and they all gave me abundant hugs and kisses as welcome presents...they are beautiful children, and although i know this is a huge responsibility, i know that in the six months i have left here in Ecuador, and Colon ward i will love those kids so much.
i am still completely overwhelmed, but i know i am not alone. As I looked out over the children, I remembered all my primary memories, and how much I loved primary! And how when I graduated from primary I hated YW´s because I always wanted to be a primary kid. The children are the rising generation of the Gospel, and they are so brilliant and so excited to be at church and to learn, it´s a contagious spirit! However I still ask for your prayers and support as I start on this next part of my journey!
I love you guys…have a GREAT day!
Love, Emily

Feliz Dia De San Valentin

Good Morning! And Feliz Dia de San Valentin! Well I just couldn´t wait to blog all my fun stories, and I FINALLY HAVE A CAMERA! So I hope you guys enjoy all these fun pictures, make sure also to check out facebook if you have it because I uploaded tons on there too! I know the pics won´t really be in order, but…I will describe each one in detail so that you aren´t confused! Monday afternoon my Valentines package came from home, and inside it was a new camera!!! I was sooooooooo excited! They hid the camera in a tootsie roll package, which I must admit was a sneaky idea! I was sooo pumped. I couldn´t wait for an opportunity to take new pictures, and to show you guys… I really have missed uploading pictures on my blog…
Ok so as I mentioned before, I cut my hair and died it darker, this first picture is a long awaited demonstration of what it looks like now? What do we think? I think the next time I go in I will put a little more stack in the back, but it´s been fun and a nice change…as for the darkness…well let´s just say, I am a true blonde! And I miss it! haha
I finally went back to school this week, on Thursday! All I can say is, well…it´s about dang time! It was nice to be back in school…not that I just LOVE classes, but because it was nice to finally have something to do. Friday (yesterday) we had a big Valentines day program at school. We got out of classes at ten and had a three hour fiesta on the patio…there were games of all kinds, a talent show, booths to buy roses, and chocolates, a carcel de amor (jail of love) and my all time favorite a Matrimonio booth. (marriage) you could get married for 50 cents! Nick Spellburg asked me to marry him, it was quite romantic let me tell you, they had a judge, marriage certificates, and cute little plastic rings. We sealed it with a kiss on the cheek and some awesome pictures! So that was my first marriage, Mrs. Nick Spellburg on February 13, 2009.

After school I went to Mega Maxi to buy ingredients to make Valentine Sugar cookies. While wondering around the store aimlessly I ran into Luis and Gino. They shopped with me for a good hour as we tried to find all the crazy ingredients to make sugar cookies, it was so fun! They are such good friends. I came home and started to make some cookies, so that I didn´t have them all to make this morning, I made two different receipes, because well…once again I lost my moms so I had to search on line for another one and couldn´t decide which was better…one called for Baking soda, and the other called for baking powder…I still can´t tell what the difference is?! Haha.
Now for the next part of my valentine celebrations…there was an institute dance at the institute building last night, and I went! My first institute dance, and not to mention in Ecuador. When I left the house it was pouring rain, so by the time I got to the institute building I was freezing cold, and soaking wet! Well I met up with my friend Jackie who taught me how to dance, salsa, marengue, rigaton, etc.etc. well then they did this whole “marriage thing” and I was chosen to get married…again! So at 11:30 last night I got married for the second time in one day, this time to Señor Manolo Torres! It was great, but imagine his broken little heart when I broke it to him that I had already gotten married once already that same day! Haha. But he says that because we got married in institute our marriage is bound to be better…haha.
Now there is a story behind this. You see he´s always been in the institute building the same time as me, but he teaches the New Testament class so we aren´t in the same class, but he´s always super nice to me. And it was kinda because of him I decided to go to the institute dance in the first place, because I was like well at least there will be one nice guy, and I think he´s kinda handsome. Well i´ve been going to institute with my friend Jackie who lives with in walking distance of my house, and we just take the bus together…well she was planning on meeting me there and then we were going to go home together before the Ecovia was closed up for the night. Well I was dancing with Manolo and she came up to me and she was like we are just going to go home with my brother so that we can stay longer, and I was like ok no big deal. Well after she left Malolo was like, you do realize that Jackie is my Little sister?! And I just about died…here this whole time, i´ve become great friends with these two people and had NO idea they were related, let alone siblings!!!!
During the dance, I also danced with my other friend Fransico. And he asked me out on a date tonight, I was so excited! After the dance we all piled in Malolo´s car and decided that a true marriage celebration called for the finest dining in all of Quito…so we headed up to this famous hot dog stand. Jackie told me that people come from all over the city just to get these famous hot dogs at this all night hot dog stand! And it was true, cars and people lined the streets for miles just to wait in line to get hotdogs! However, they were pretty good, that´s for sure!
This morning I woke up early to finish my sugar cookies in true Lori Zilles style. I must admit they look like my mom did them, all pink and perfect. And not to mention I made cute little heart valentines to go along with each persons plate… Today in true valentine Emily fashion I have two dates, one in the morning and one tonight…(how does that happen!) haha…so I am sure this will be one of those blogs that is to be continued….
However I wish you all a fabulous beautiful and wonderful Valentine’s day!
Love
Emily!

160 days, 05 hrs, 07 min, 56 sec

Good Morning Everyone! Today is a very special day, you see today marks my exactly half way done mark! So Happy February Fifth everyone! Yippee! There are exactly 160 days, 05 hrs, 07 min, 56 sec until I touch down on the Salt Lake city run way…I cannot believe I have been here so long, and that there is such a short time left to go! I´ve been here long enough to see fashion styles leave and new ones come in, I’ve been here so long I don´t know the new movie titles in English, and I’ve certainly been here long enough to feel like this is home, and that when I close my eyes I can no longer see a clear picture of Weston. It´s like I have said before, time is very tricky….when you look forward it seems to DRAAAAG on, but when you look back it will always catch you off guard!
My last blog entry wasn´t very up beat and positive…I was really struggling with the thought of still being here, of not being able to get out, and sometimes that leaves you feeling a little claustrophobic. I felt like the next few months were going to drag on, and that nothing was going right. Well after a few days of just straight tears my parents in the states broke down and called me. It was so awesome to talk to them, (it´s been since Christmas) I love hearing my daddy´s voice, and Quinton´s voice is soo deep now, and Cynthia just keeps getting bigger and older! My mom and I have this very strong connection, and even though we are billions of miles away from eachother she always knows when I am sad, when I need an extra boost, or just when I need to talk. And so we talked, and I think it was the first time since I came here five months ago that I cried and cried to her. But I got off the phone with a new determination, and some solutions to the many problems I felt that I was going through.
Sunday brought a beautiful day as I headed off to church. After the meetings I caught my bishop and asked him if maybe I could talk to him for a second. He said sure, and as he closed his office door, I fell apart, I explained everything I felt like I was going through, from language, to feeling friendless…he listened with a caring and loving expression on his face. Then he called in his two counselors and they gave me a beautiful blessing, and I understood it all! (The spirit speaks the same language). We then read some scriptures like D&C 58:2-6. We talked about how even though things are hard that all of these “experiences” really are for my own good, and that even though I can´t behold with my eyes everything that they mean, we talked about how they are turning me into the person that God wants me to be. We talked about how many friends I have in the ward, and how really the next few months will go sooo fast, and before I know it, the ward will be the one´s crying because I will be leaving.
I left the bishops office feeling so great! I came home and I read an article in the ensign called “Achieving your Full Potential” it really was written just for me, and I have made a lot of new changes in my daily schedule in order to make sure that I am doing the things that Elder Staheli suggests in his talk. And it seems like since I changed my frame of mind things have really started to look up.
This week has been so crazy! I haven´t had much time to sit and feel sorry for myself. Monday I went and cut my hair…(yes I cut I all off again!) you all know me, I get too bored too fast, so it´s all short again. Also Monday I spent about three hours at the post office getting a package from the Birky´s which was great! Suzy our maid went with me, and we talked a lot, and it was so much fun! Tuesday at Institute I made a new friend, and we talked a lot. I asked her what the youth and young members of the church do here for fun on the weekends…she explained to me that there are always activities planned for Friday or Saturday nights to give the members of the church something safe and fun to do on the weekend nights, she said that she would make sure I knew about them from now on. There´s a valentines dance on valentines day, who knows maybe I will go?! Yesterday was such a fun day! I went with Gaby Mora, her adorable little girl Anabel, and David Gaby´s brother. They took me down to the old town. (I love it down there!) Gaby majored in tourism, and David is a history buff, so I think I learned all of Ecuador´s history in one afternoon. We went into a ton of old beautiful churches, one is full of pure gold on the inside, every inch of the walls are beautifully crafted with pure pure gold. It was spectacular. They pointed out some of the world´s oldest architecture, and explained to me old myth´s and important things to know about Quito´s history. We then went up to the Panicillo. The HUGE statue of the Virgin Mary that sits up on top of the hill. The view from up there was fantastic! I can´t wait to go back and take pictures…also up there on top of the hill there is a big fire place which is where in the ancient times the Indians would stand up and send smoke signals…you can stand up on that hill and almost imagine what it would have been like clear back then. The Panicillo sits in the middle of Quito, so stretching out to one side is the north, then to the south. It´s almost like two whole different countries. The difference between the north and south is incredible…but just in the one afternoon I found five new LDS church houses…its incredible!
Today I am going out with Maritza, and then tonight it is institute again! Yeah! So as you can see, life really is looking up. I have only five months left here, I have to live it up! The time to live is today, right now! Not tomorrow or next week…so as I embrace everything here I try to remember that!
I hope you are all doing well! Thank you for all your love, support and prayers!
Love Emmy Ann