Spain 7th Week 2-8 June 2008

Spain 7th Week 2-8 June 2008

Well another busy week has come and gone. The weather here is still pretty mild, but we hear that it will soon be unbearable! Last Monday, we had the opportunity to go to the Palacio Real de Madrid. Home of the Spanish Royal Family (King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia), however, they now live in a slightly smaller home about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from this palace. On the way there Mom was serenaded by a guy playing an accordian...she was thrilled as she studied this when she was young. Also, we came to Opera area of Madrid and saw several of the famous theaters of Madrid.

The palace is huge and has 2,080 rooms on eight floors. It’s present condition was built from 1738 through 1764. They say they have tapestries from Spain and from other countries as gifts that would stretch 10 kilometers (6 miles), many of which were given as gifts to the Spanish Royal family during the decades from other leaders of the world. Many of the rooms that we visited were beyond description as you can see by these pictures. There are more that 120 clocks in the building, there is a dining table that can seat 140 persons at once, with each place setting having six wine glasses all placed neatly in a perfect row from number 1 through number 140-each having their own purpose. The center pieces were also very large and long, some would go for an estimated 40-50’ in length, in some instances you would not be able to see the person on the other side of the table. The floor is covered with hand made carpets and underneath the carpet is a similarly crafted marble floor, having almost the same design as the carpet. The palace is used for official functions, usually 3-5 times per month.
The throne room is indescribable! It has two large thrones that were hand made for King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia and are only used as a formal reception area. They are raised on a pedestal and surrounded by statues of lions. When all the lights are on in the palace, I would hate to pay the electric bill. There are something like 2,500 chandeliers throughout the palace and they are all cleaned (each piece) every month….how would you like this to be your job?

In one corner of the property is the armory (see above pictures) which has a display of the armor that was used by the Royal Family over the centuries, the picture doesn’t really show it, but there is full body armor for children as young as 6 years old and even for one of the king’s dogs. A lot of spears, jousting poles, swords, bows and arrows and even some black powder guns. There were a few black powder guns that were 10-12’ long that we actually mounted on kind of a cannon type mount (with wheels). The armor for the horses was fascinating and you wonder how they would ever move around, let alone the people on them. Some of the face shields had almost no slits for the person to see out of and at a gallop I sure would be almost impossible to keep sight of your oncoming enemy.

The other corner of the corner of the property there is the Farmacia (Pharmacy), it contained all of the fancy vases that were made with the Royal Family emblem and where there drugs were stored. The “worldy” beauty of this building is immense, but does not compare to the subtle beauty of the Celestial Room in the Temple. The grounds were also immense with the adjoining gardens, and the Casa de Campo that we visited a few weeks ago. All in all, the Royal Family has been treated like “Kings and Queens” (duh) for centuries.

Just as we were preparing to leave we noticed that there was no car traffic on the street, then we heard the hooves of horses. The army was coming to the Palace with three cannons and three artillery shell wagons. They entered the large grounds and performed some manuevers with the horses and wagons...I guess there was a formal event coming for which they were training.

There is also a large Catholic Church at the end of the Palace grounds that is large and is where the Royal Family has attended for centuries. The stained glass windows are much more modern in appearance, but is still large and spacious and very cold inside. The remainder of the week was spent in the Temple. People from southern Spain were in this week (Malaga, Sevilla, Cadiz and more cities). Those that came were very faithful and worked extremely hard in the Temple throughout the week. This is the second time that we had seen some of these people and some good friendships have formed over the couple of weeks.

We also had another “Temple Missionary” Family Home Evening. President and Sister Parras were in charge and they presented some fun scripture finding as we found clues to questions/relationships that they had developed. Of course, the treats that were prepared were outstanding! We celebrated the birthdays of President Parras (Spain) and Brother Anderton Santos (Brazil)whose birthdays will happen while the Temple is closed for cleaning and most of us will be traveling throughout Spain.

We went to dinner at a Chinese Restaurant with the Lunt’s for a late lunch, early dinner and had a great time. We also hosted a movie night in our apartment on Saturday night and had all of the missionary couples attend (about 19 people in our apartment). We watched “The Best Two Years” and everyone seemed to enjoy it as well as the treats that everyone brought.

Today, was Sunday, we attended church and invited the sister missionaries (Sister Jones-SLC, Rose Park and Sister Flanary-SLC) over for dinner. We had salad, taco soup, bread and some good dessert. We shared stories and they left a great message with us. President Howard asked me to teach the Gospel Doctrine class again next week-I thought that I had done a job last time that would keep me from being asked again…I guess you do it until you get it right? Sharon is doing a lot better with Spanish and I have memorized about ½ of what I was told to do so in Portuguese.

We also learned this week that Kristy and Miles are going to have a baby girl in October. Of course, Jenacee is thrilled beyond description, Porter knew it all along and Fischer doesn’t want it to happen. We are really excited for them and pray daily that all will go well with their final few months. We also look forward to the birth of Madeline Shaw (Paul & Kellie) in late July/early August and pray the same for them. I think Ms. Hallie Lou will have her bubble burst in just a short time?

We love each of you for what you mean to all of us. The gospel of Jesus Christ is true! We are engaged in the Lord’s work and have grown closer to Him for our service. We know we are His children and that He knows and loves each one of us. He is mindful of our circumstances and will allow us to learn by making some mistakes (I should have my PhD by now)! But He will not leave us alone and is monitoring us in every thing that we do. I know through study and personal revelation that He loves us and our family. We thank each of you for your prayers, love and support….we feel these things each and everyday that we are here. We love you with all of our hearts.