"Wow! That doesn't taste like vomit!"

We had the honor of visiting the Ecuador Quito Mission with President and Sister Ghent this week, and came away having learned more than we taught.
One of the things we learned is why it is a good idea to wash your produce well in Ecuador.  That's about a half ton of big beautiful carrots being washed in a stream draining a cow pasture.

We were also reminded about why you need to overestimate the amount of food needed for the missionaries.

We learned a lot from President Ghent's lessons to the young Elders and Sisters.

We learned that it is indeed possible to go swimming in Quito, which is at 9,250 feet, as long as you have a well-heated pool.  Indoors.

I learned that it's a bad idea to not sunscreen your head in Quito.

We learned that you have to add 15 minutes (minimum) to meetings with the missionaries for Picture Time.

We learned that Ecuador was dedicated for missionary work in October 1965 by Elder Spencer W. Kimball. The first converts were the taxi drivers who took Elder Kimball and others to the Panecillo Hill for the dedication. He was impressed to invite them to listen to the prayer, and they were touched by the Spirit.  The great big ginormous statue of the Virgin was added later.

Sister Ghent learned how to make juice from curuba ('taxo' in Ecuador, I found out) and maracuya.

Her previous experience with the concoction had not been good, but this time she delightedly exclaimed, "Wow!  This doesn't taste like vomit!"

I learned that you could see three snow-covered volcanoes from the Ghent's apartment, but I'll be durned if I could learn their Quichua-derived names (or pronounce them, for that matter).

All in all, an instructive trip.  We were sad to see the tip of the last volcano slip behind the wing of the airplane as it stuck up through the clouds.
We hope you learned a lot this week also.
Dave & Paula