Spain 32nd Week 24-30 Nov 08

Spain 32nd Week 24-30 Nov 2008

Well, spending Thanksgiving in Spain was a little bit different, we dearly missed being around family members, although we were with some very dear friends (Temple Missionaries) and we worked in the Temple. We had our Thanksgiving celebration of Monday, our Preparation Day and it was a wonderful feast! Sister Silvia, the Temple secretary arranged for us to buy some turkeys to cook….when we picked them up, they were fresh, but still had many parts of the feather and skin on them. We had to finish plucking and cleaning the birds off, but as you missionaries know, nothing will stop a hungry crew from doing whatever you have to do to eat some great food. We cooked the turkeys because there is a new law if you have any employee cook something other than what they are supposed to, you have to pay them overtime. We had been hoping that the cooks in the Missionary Training Center would do the job as they had done in previous years-but this was not the case this year. We had gone to the store “Taste of America” - a little hole in wall place, and had seen the oven cooking bags so we purchased a couple of boxes and used the old cooking bag formula-

you can never go wrong with this approach!

We also cooked and made mashed potatoes for 10 people (we fed a total of 30 people).

There were the typical trimmings; turkey dressing, sweet potatoes, various vegetables, rolls, and of course pumpkin pie. It turned out really good and the native missionaries (Spanish, Portuguese and French) loved every bit of it. Most of us overate and suffered a little bit during the first few days of the week.

On Tuesday, a stake from Setubal, Portugal came to the Temple, there were not too many of them until Friday when two more busloads showed up, then on Saturday another bus with 60 youth showed up for baptisms. The two busloads on Friday were sisters from the stake Relief Society, there were about 50 of them. They had scheduled three special Temple Sessions for themselves and seeing that the ordinance rooms only hold about 40 (without chairs), we split the session and one session started at the appointed time and another one about 25 minutes later. Of course, this upsets the published Temple schedule, but what a joy it was to have the Temple really busy. In one of the sessions the room was so hot that one sister passed out and this caused quite a stir, we were running around trying to revive her, get her some water, get her up and about and down to the Infirmary …but she refused to leave and said that she had to finish the work for the person that she was officiating for. The faith of some of the people is simply amazing!

On Saturday, the 60 youth came to the Temple to do baptisms and I had the opportunity to be the director of the Baptistery and it was really a challenge. They broke their group into two and sent one group at 8:00 am and the other one at 10:00am, they had to be complete by 12:30 pm because their bus was leaving at 1:00pm. Needless to say, this took some help from a lot of people, mainly the Lord. The kids had traveled one way, 7.5 hours to do the work, they wanted to perform enough baptisms that made the trip worthwhile and yet they had to be back on the road for another 7.5 hour trip home. They were amazing youth and if you ever wondered what the church will do in Portugal for leadership in the future you only had to be with these youth and feel of their spirit and the love they have for our Father in Heaven.

Jumping back to Wednesday, we (Moore’s, Thomas’s, Rust’s and us) went to the city of Alcala. This is about an hour ride each was (Metro and Train), we left at 2:30pm and arrived safely. This city is where Cervantes was born and spent most of his life. He wrote many books, but is perhaps best known for “Don Quixote-Man of LaMancha.”

By the way Brother Thomas and his wife were professors at BYU, he teaching in the English Literature field and so he was able to give us quite a bit of information concerning the book and the authors’ life. This work was very offensive to the Catholic Church/Spain and they would have done away with anyone who had made some of the accusations that he did in the book, but he was considered insane and this saved his life. We took pictures of many things, sitting by Don Quixote and Pablo, his sidekick, Cervantes home, Cervantes’s Plaza, the University of Alcala and much more. We even sat down to eat a Kabob at a corner restaurant. The city is very picturesque and we definitely want to return in the summer time. They claim to have had the oldest university in Europe (many cities claim this) but they had one that was moved to Madrid a couple of hundred years ago, because Madrid did not have one at that time. Since then they have started another university in the buildings that existed. It is a very beautiful city. We also visited what they call a "Palace" this was very beautiful and was a combination of Islamic/Arabic/Chiristian decor and finishings. In this building they had one of the first copies of the Bible as translated in Hebrew/Arabic/Islamic and another language, it was pretty impressive. They also had a first edition of the first illustrated Bible. We have two full-time Temple workers (both the recorder and assistant recorder) that live there, I am sure they would love to show us around when it is warmer.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and we had the privilege of working in the Temple with the saints from Setubal. It was a special day and really didn’t stop to think about all that we were missing because there is such a wonderful feeling in the house of the Lord. Sure we always think and pray about our family(s) and their welfare, but there was a real sense of peace and love that permeated our souls. We look forward to next Thanksgiving when we will be with our family, but for now we know that what we are doing is the RIGHT THING! Without our service we would not be receiving so many blessings and I am sure that our children/family would not be so blessed.

Friday we invited the sister missionaries for lunch (Sisters Layton, Davenport and Miller) and had a wonderful time.

It is a blessing to have the missionaries in our home and to feel of their spirits and to be taught by them. Sister Layton will be returning home in a couple of weeks and we wanted her to know how much we love her. She had to serve in Atlanta for almost six months waiting for her visa. We have heard other horror stories about Spain visas, so we know for sure that us getting our visas in less than two months really was a miracle/blessing.

We also put up our Christmas Tree and some other decorations. The tree this year is in a color that is near and dear to us. We really look forward to the Christmas holiday and pray the Lord's choicest blessing to be with each of you as you prepare for this Holy Holiday.

We usually don’t write much about our Temple experiences because of the sacredness of them, but yesterday (Saturday) I had a wonderful experience in the Baptistery. Brother Reina (about 45 years old, 6’ 5” tall, 280 lbs) who served as a Stake President when he was 34 years old and who at present is a volunteer Recorder in the Temple and a counselor in the Presidency of the Madrid Spain Mission, plus he holds a full-time job. He came to the Baptistery with his son and wife, he wanted to do the work (baptism and confirmation) of his father-he had died exactly one year before. He was so humbled and excited, he brought a real special feeling/spirit with him. I quickly worked him into the process, he and his son (who was representing his grandfather) entered the font and got in position. He raised his arm to the square and then paused, fighting back the emotion of the occasion. He finally performed the prayer with great dignity and when he brought his son up out of the water they just hugged each other for about 30 seconds. He then confirmed his son (representing his father) at the edge of the font a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was simply holding the card with the father’s name on, it was again a very special moment and he was again taken by emotion. I put my arm around him and he completed the ordinance with great dignity. When he finished, by the way both him and his son were still wet from the baptismal font, but they were warm with the spirit. I felt the spirit (more strongly on this occasion) and the presence of his father that it was something that I will never forget. Both Brother Reina, his son and wife that was watching from the rear of the Baptistery all felt that his father’s spirit was there and that he had accepted the opportunity to join the Church. Later in the day he completed the other ordinances and to complete the process had his father sealed to his mother and then he was sealed to them for time and all eternity. Other people that saw this family through the day knew that something special was occurring because of the strong, strong spirit that was radiating from them. This is what it is all about, FAMILIES TOGETHER FOREVER!

We love our family very, very much and can only express our love for you through emails, letters and webcams. We are dying to put our arms around you and give you all a big squeeze…the time will come, sooner than we think, and the joy that will fill our hearts will be indescribable. May the Lord bless each and everyone of you with all of your righteous desires….this can and will happen as you qualify for them by obedience to His commandments.

Today in Sunday School class we received this wonderful quote from Elder F. Enzio Busche. “ There is a simple lesson we each have the opportunity to learn in life. It is that in each of us is the potential for two opposing situations. A person can experience feelings of joy that become almost unbearable. Or a person can experience unhappiness to the extent that there seems to be no way out….Some individuals reach such a state of depression -- or become so empty and hollow -- that they want this life to come to an end. Both extremes are within our reach and both extremes seem to be based on circumstance. Many who have not come to a state of spiritual awakening, may in fact, believe that circumstances are the deciding factor in happiness…[We must] follow the longing of our souls and search for the Living God…[We must] spend all our waking hours under the influence of the Light that emanates from Him…We alone decide where it is that we stand on the continuum between total frustration and completed fullness of joy.” (Yearning for the Living God)

May the Lord bless each of us with His spirit and may we live worth of His many wonderful blessings. Love Mom & Dad