Week 63 from Quito Ecuador

We received word this last week that our replacements will be arriving the first part of June and they are a couple that Lynn and I know, Wayne and Karla (Johnson) Williamson.  Lynn and Karla went to high school together and her father, Dwayne Johnson, was Lynn’s bishop for a time.  Her brother, Mike Johnson, was also our bishop in the Granger West 4th Ward.  We are very excited for them to come.  Since we will be leaving on July 10th we will have nearing a month to help with their transition into the mission.

This was another fairly quiet week.  Since Friday was Good Friday and the church office building was closed, most of the seniors missionaries decided to go to the San Francisco Plaza in old town Quito to experience the “Jesús del Gran Poder” (Jesus of the Great Power) Procession. This procession is a part of the Holy Week celebration that depicts Christ carrying his cross to Calvary.  It started just before noon, the hour in which Pontius Pilot condemned Jesus to death, the procession began from the San Francisco Church, and returned 3 hours later, the hour in which Jesus was crucified. It’s touted as one of the largest Good Friday processions in the world, second only to Sevilla, Spain.  Some of the other seniors took the Ecovia but Lynn and I took a taxi.  At the point where our taxi could go no further since the street was block we got out and walked the rest of the way to the plaza.  At that point we came upon a depiction of Jesus’ hearing before Caiaphas.  

 

We were there about two hours before the procession was to begin.  Hundreds of people were gathering and finding advantages places to see the procession as it passed. As we watched the procession it consisted of mostly hundreds of people dressed in purpled robes with pointed hats and dozens and dozens of men carrying either crosses or beams across their backs.  Some men were seen giving themselves lashes on their backs with cords of rope or plant branches supposedly as a sign of repentance and worship.  Many were in bare feet on the hot asphalt. There were also several groups of musicians playing along the route.  Since most people were using umbrellas for shade it was like trying to look over a sea of umbrellas. Most of the time I was just raising my camera up and clicking, hoping to get some good pictures.

Link to more pictures of the procession

Lynn and I had lunch at the Juan Fogonero Restaurant, which was the same one we ate at the last time we attended a dance performance at the Palacio de Obispo plaza.  After we ordered the Greers, Segos and Sister Ghent came to eat at the same restaurant.  

We have a great view of the food court from our table.

This weekend, in addition to being Easter weekend, was also our Stake Conference or actually an Area conference.  I woke up not feeling well on Saturday morning so Lynn went to the Adult session without me.  I also stayed home for the Sunday session which was an Area broadcast as part of the conference.  In Elder Holland’s talk he predicted temples being built here in Ecuador.  That is exciting news for the members here to know that there will be other temples in addition to the Guayaquil Temple.

It’s Easter Sunday today.  My thoughts go back to many past Easters we have spent as a family coloring Easter eggs, our grandchildren’s Easter egg hunts in the snow or warm sunshine, and many family get-togethers.  This Easter our senior group had our monthly pot-luck dinner.  Since I was sick with a cold it ended up being in the Sisters apartment so I wouldn’t have to worry about hosting.  We had all kinds of salads for this lunch.  I listened to the Mormon Tabernacle Choirs Easter Concert of Handel’s Messiah this evening as streamed on their website.  That always brings much reflection and peace to listen to that magnificent music. At the end they showed a short video “Because of Him” that gave lots of food for thought.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter.