Spain 19th Week 25-31 August 2008

Spain 19th Week 25-31 August 2008

This has been a fun, busy week. We started off Monday with a day trip. Twelve of the missionaries went to Consuegra.

We went on a bus which took about two and a half hours to get there, the buses we go on are very nice like a greyhound bus with cushioned seats and most importantly air conditioning! This first picture is of the main town square. The two things we wanted to see there were a castle and several windmills. The castles’ origin goes way back to King Alfonso VIII. He gave it to the order of Saint John of Jerusalem. In 1813 the castle was ruined by the Nopoleonic troops. At present, parts of the fortress have been restored (including a battle royal between Tom and Bob Sproul) allowing the visit to several rooms aljibes reservesfor waters, the east, west, and south towers, the archive room, the meeting room or the chapel. Of course, we needed to eat-picture in the garden area of the castle.

Next to the castle the windmills conform the unique silhouette of the mount Calderico.

There are eleven mills remaining out of the original thirteen. Of these the Sancho, Bolero, Espartero and Rucio retain the complete machinery. The windmills were used for grinding wheat-the blades were turned into the wind, covered with fabric and then they would start to turn. Of course when they were completed with their grinding the fabric was removed and they stopped turning. These are part of the story of Don Quixote (a mixed up and mental type of man) who thought he was fighting knights but it was actually these windmills. The first windmill that you come to has a little store with drinks and souvenirs and a man to sale them who was a hoot. He was quite the salesman and fun to talk to.

On Tuesday afternoon we had the Sister Missionaries (Sister Lester and Sister Layton), assigned to our ward, come for lunch. They are always so great and so full of energy. They were so excited because they were going to get to move into a new apartment. They have not had air conditioning and the new one does so you can imagine their Joy!

On Thursday we had the opportunity to lead the Missionary Session, there were about 36 in this session along with about eight other Spaniards. The session was in English, but I offered the prayer (prayer circle) in Spanish, because the Spaniards came forward to participate-the missionaries are unable to do so. These are the Missionaries from the MTC. That is so great to get to see every so often. The room is always full and the spirit is fantastically unbelievable. The MTC Missionaries come to the Temple every Thursday morning.

On Saturday we went to a Chinese restaurant for the birthday of Sister Eleanor Rust one of our Temple Missionaries.

There were 19 of us, the food was great and we all enjoyed each others’ company. This restaurant is run by a family who are so nice. We have been there before and it’s a great place to eat. Sister Rust is the caretaker of our group, she is always so concerned about everyone, and so thoughtful and helpful. She plans many of the excursions that we go on. We went with her, her husband and Sister Linares on our trip during the closedown of the Temple last June.

Saturday evening we had a webcam with Paul’s family and Jeff’s family. How we love the webcam! Sometimes you have better reception than others, but the last couple of times has been quite clear. The kids never know quite what to make of it. It is so fun to talk to them and also be able to see them. The grandkids love to pull faces and look at themselves on the screen! In fact that’s all Jenacee would do at first when we had some webcams with them! We happened to mention that to Ashtyn Whitney and Ethan, so they had to try it out! We just discovered last week that we can take some pretty good pictures off of the screen which has been fun. How great it is to see all of them.

Today, the Temple Missionaries had the opportunity to sing a special number in Sacrament Meeting. We sang “I Need Thee Every Hour” in Spanish. It was a great experience, some of the Missionaries had probably never sang in a choir before. The spirit was very strong as we sang those special words. “Senor te necesito , si te nicesito. Bendice me oh Cristo vendre a ti.” Beautiful words which are so true. “I need thee oh I need thee, every hour I need thee, oh bless me now my Savior I come to thee.”

We also said goodbye to a neat girl we have become aquainted with who is leaving tomorrow. She has been here on an internship for cancer research. She plans to continue her schooling which will take up to seven to ten more years of school to complete. That’s not including the bachelors degree she already has. Her parents were able to come this week to spend some time with her and to see some of the sights of Spain. We meet so many wonderful people who are here for short periods of time. They really touch your life. I forgot to mention the best part of all her names is Malia. We knew the moment we heard her name that we would like her!

Temple work is marvelous and the people in Spain, Portugal, and parts of France are so grateful for this beautiful temple, as are we. We see many faithful saints come and spend their whole vacation time here to do temple work and cry when it is time to go home. It reminds us how much for granted we take the many Temples in Utah. There is work to be done in all of them and no excuse not to do it and bring all of our ancestors the same blessings that we have. We love the Lord, we are so grateful for his glorious gospel plan, and we are so grateful for all of you. You are our heroes and we are so grateful for your examples to us. A big Hug and Kiss to all of you. Love Mom and Dad!