Devin and Kim: Ecuador Day 35

Today was quite a few notches higher on the excitement chain than yesterday.

We started by going to a baptism at the church this morning. The missionaries called to invite us yesterday as they felt it would be good for Mishell to see (and I agree). The girl getting baptized was 16 years old, so neat for Mishell to see someone close(ish) to her age getting baptized. The baptism started late because they couldn't get the font water to work (oh, dear) so they had to fill it up with buckets.

While we waited, Jace entertained some of the ward members by telling them all the Spanish words he knows. He especially loves Pablo, the one who has been coming with the missionaries to teach Mishell. Pablo will come again tomorrow and then he leaves for his mission Tuesday. He will serve here in the other Quito mission until his visa comes and then he goes to Ogden, UT. Too bad our city is one away from the Ogden mission boundaries!

Anyway, at one point Jace announced to Pablo that he would like his picture with him. So there you go.

David Archuleta, I mean, Pablo.

While we were walking home, I asked Mishell what she thought about the baptism. She said that she really liked it. I asked what her favorite part was, and she said she liked it best when the girl went under the water. I was really surprised to hear her say this, as she usually says she likes the music best with anything church related. I asked her why she liked the part when the girl went under the water best and she said it was because it made her feel good. I asked her what she felt, and she said "peace." I helped her see that this is the Spirit of God communicating with her; and this is how the Spirit usually communicates with us- through feelings. So that was a really neat moment today.

After lunch, we walked down to two malls in order to find some entertainment. We first stopped at the Plaza Americas where there is a movie theater. I was hoping we could find Hotel Transylvania 2 in English, but they only have it in Spanish. Most movies are subtitled to Spanish, but not that one, of course. So we then walked on down to Quicentro mall to try to go bowling. That place was PACKED. The bowling alley had a good hour wait, so we opted out of that too. Instead we walked across the street to the Carolina Park and rode the clown car, as Jace has been wanting to do for a while. $1 a piece to ride around the edge of the park. It was really a bumpy and uncomfortable ride, but the kids loved it and that's what matters. We took a walk through the park trying to find some horses to ride, but instead found a bouncy house that Jace really wanted to play in, so we did that.

It looked like it was going to rain, so we found our way out of the park and to a restaurant that I thought I remembered from when I was a volunteer here. I remembered it to be a pizza place. The outside looked the same, but the inside was totally different. I think it's the same place? Anyway it was a lot fancier now than I remembered, so the kids were a little out of place and we may have been under dressed, but we had a good time. They had a nice patio area where we ate and the pizza was the best we've had in this city.

A little Jace-ism from dinner: After he ate most of his pizza, he said, "I am full. I have doors inside my body and when they close, that tells me I am full. The doors are closed now, so I better stop eating!" He then asked me if I have doors too. No, buddy, but I really should have some of those doors.