Día Tres

Today we visited a few wards where Jon served. They buildings are cement and surrounded by locked tall iron fences. In the U.S. the buildings say "Visitors Welcome," but in Ecuador they do not! Most have recently had air conditioning added.


So many people remembered Jon. Here is the first ward we went to. After sacrament meeting several of them sang to us--the same song the had sung when Jon left that area.

One brother showed Jon the triple combination Jon had given him years ago, along with Jon's testimony written inside. The brother was baptized and had gone through the temple, and he had written both dates below Jon's letter.


In all the buildings was this poster of the church building "mascot" telling everyone to keep the building clean and put away chairs.



After church we visited so many families. It was interesting to talk to them and see how they lived. Most lived in little parts of buildings built with cinder blocks. Everything was under construction. Couches usually didn't have cushons but were covered with sheets. At every house we were offered drinks and food. They are so humble and sweet and loved having visitors.





Sunday night stayed at the Hilton Colon in Guyaquil. We had a great view of the temple from our room.

Día Dos

The lovely Iguanazú Hostel. We are the best at picking living quarters. The owner asked us how we found them or why we decided to stay there. We told here because of the website. "You can judge a book by its cover."

We ate at the Parrilla del Ñatos. It is an Argintine/Uraguayan steak house. The food was so good. Jon had a double filet minion with bacon and mushroom sauce, and Carrie of course ate the pasta alfredo. We had leftovers for later that night.

You know it's June in Ecuador when there is a giant aluminum Christmas tree in the street!

Us in front of the San Francisco Church.

This is especially for Carrie's sister Vanessa. They are proud of their store name!

Another Shameless Shot from a Shameless Snigger.

Good thing we had the best tour guides in town.

Just after we almost killed ourselves climbing 444 steps in hot humid weather.

The crown jewel of Malecon 2000. The faro of the Rio Guayas

Día Uno

Day one started with the Sniders landing in Guayaquil at 1am. The plane took off late in Houston so we were about 45 minutes behind. Of course the customs took another hour to get through. But when we walked out of customs, we heard whistles blowing saw balloons and a sign that said "Bienvenidos Carri y Jon."

We got to Luis and Eva's home, to stay the night, at about 3:30. We woke up at 10:30am and needless to say even though we were hot and clamy, it was a good nights rest. Eva served us up some fried eggs, hotdog wieners and some pan with queso.

It was great to be back in my first mission area. A lot has changed, but it's still the 'burbs of Guayaquil. The houses have been added onto and there is more construction, but it is still the best place in the city. We visited my first chapel and had lunch at Luis' parents home.

Later on we went back to the airport to pick up our rental car. They did not have the truck that we had reserved, so we got "stuck" with a brand new Toyota Landcruiser. It is awesome and I love to drive around like a loco en la cuidad. We saw a big parrot on the side of the road, too!

We stopped at temple to take some pictures and then went back to the Vera's home to have dinner. Eva made us Arroz con Menestra, the Ecuadorian specialty. Rice and beans, but the best rice and beans ever, with carne azada. Carrie and I were both full.

At around 8:30 we left to 'burbs with Eva and Luis to find our hostel. It took us a while, but when we found it, it was worth it. We have a beautiful suite, air conditioning, jucuzzi tub, breakfast nook, and the best view of the city...you can even see Angel Moroni peaking out from the other side of the hill. Tomorrow we will go swimming in the pool. Buenas noches de Guayaquil.

Ecuador, here we come!!!

Adios! The Sniders are leaving for Ecuador Thursday very, very early. We'll be received in the Guayaquil airport at midnight by some locals Jon still keeps in contact with. We can't wait!!!

Dallin will actually be staying behind in Vancouver-- maybe he can come next trip.

We'll be staying a few nights in Guay, then Banos, then Quito. We'll be back on June 14th. See ya!! This is going to be great! We'll make sure to take a ton of pictures and blog a day-by-day summary later.

May 2007

Jon's mom was in town, so we spent the weekend with the Snider family. We went to the Selah parade, ate lots of food, walked from our house to the ice cream stand, went to a baby blessing, and hung out at Aunt Beth's. We had a great time!

We also went to a wedding at the Columbia River Temple (Lisa Blair). It was a beautiful day!