Time, money, things, and ...happiness

Many of us suspect that money can't buy happiness. Yet, we still would like more money to buy more things only to discover that the happiness that it brings is short-lived. Would we be better off not to have so much money? Or so many "things"? Our experience here has opened our eyes to the possibility that "more" is not always better. More things or more money do not necessarily give us more happiness. With an average monthly income of between $300 and $500, people in Ecuador obviously lack some of the niceties of life that we are so accustomed to. Such as, lots of clothes, toys, boats, sporting goods and equipment, a large home, an automobile, appliances, and medical/dental care. Yet, they seem to be happy. It may be that everyone is in the same boat. This is the way life is here and the majority accept it because that is the way it is. They need to make do with what they have. We have never seen motor homes here, nor many bicycles, nor boats or other sporting goods. The only sport of note here is soccer (futbol). Many of the other sports are unknown. The majority of the people here were unaware that the olympics were going on. Few people have cable television or a computer, or an internet connection. Most people have a TV set and are able to view local channels including the news but few people read newspapers, magazines or books other what is available in school. There is a public library in the centro of the city but I don't think that people go there often. In short, life is much simpler here. But this isn't all bad. People have time to do more mundane things like talk with their kids, go to church and to attend the temple. This morning, (Saturday) there is a group of eighty people scheduled for the baptistry at 7:00 AM. Since that is beyond the capacity of the facility, they will be divided into two or three groups and some will wait outside of the temple. There they can visit with their friends and enjoy the peace and serenity of the temple grounds. We wonder if they had more money, what would they be doing? Would they be at a lake with their boat? Would they be visiting some of the tourist sites, or working to increase the size of their house? Perhaps dad would be playing golf or mom would be going shopping with her friends. It causes us to wonder, if maybe a lot of these activities are simply distractions. Things that keep us from focusing on the really important things in life...
We are humbled and impressed by the people who come to the temple. As has been mentioned before, families come together to the temple. The young children come dressed in Sunday best to visit the temple grounds and enjoy the view and the ambience. The young people participate in the baptistry with their friends as the mothers and fathers participate where ever they need to in the temple. As they board their bus for the return trip home, they all seem to be happy and fulfilled by their experience at the temple. They will be back again. We can't help but wonder if they are better off not being encumbered by the many things in life that might prevent them from attending the temple...