Bienvenidos de Espana! Another beautiful week in Madrid has come and gone. The temperature is getting pretty warm….approaching 90 degrees already-they say this summer will be a scorcher? Things already appear to be a bit on the brown side here (fields, weeds, etc).
This week was a good one in the Temple, the saints from Porto, Norte (Portugal) were our guests and they always bring a lot of enthusiasm and spirit. We accomplished a little bit of everything as far as Temple work goes and all seemed to be very satisfied with what they were able to accomplish. It was probably the last time that we will see most of these people as their next scheduled Temple date is after we depart for home. It really is true that it is/will be harder to leave the mission field than our family at home…because we know that you will be returning home at some time to see family, but we may never see the people of Spain, Portugal and France again. It is really amazing how you can love people so much and it really saddens you to know that you may have seen them for the last time.
On Wednesday night we took opportunity to go to the Prado Museum.
Neither one of us is really into art work, so we spent our obligatory 45 minutes in the museum and decided that we had seen enough. I’m sure that we will get back there some time to spend another few minutes as they say it is the third most famous museum in the world?
It really is a gigantic place and world renown for many pieces of it’s collection. But for now we are happy that we have been there and now have the T shirt.Last Sunday night they had the final wrap-up fireside of the celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Church in Spain. They have put together a short (15 minute) video of old photographs of people, buildings, Temple and much more. It was impressive to see the early roots of the Church and then see what it has become today. Unfortunately, there were many people in the video that are now inactive for some reason or another – at the same time it was really heartwarming to recognize people in their younger days with whom you work closely with today. The spirit of the meeting was fantastic and they invited about 10 people to come forward and in three minutes share their thoughts of the gospel and what had attracted them to the Church. All of them stated it was the spirit that they felt as they read, prayed, attended meetings and participated in callings. The spirit bore witness to me during that meeting that the Lord is pleased with the progress of the Church here and for the people that have stayed close to the Lord. All have made great sacrifices, but have become leaders not only in the Church but in their jobs, communities and their families. We have truly been privileged to serve in such a wonderful country with such wonderful saints. We are humbled when we see and hear the circumstances which brought them to the truthfulness of the gospel and how they continue to live their lives through all of their adversities.
Today, Sunday, we were invited again to eat dinner at the Picard’s (Michel and Juliette-Boudreaux France) along with the Rust’s (David and Eleanor-Vernal, Utah), Sister Lorraine Linares (Kearns, Utah) and Sister Herminia Martins (Portugal). The food was superb, a 4-5 course meal that was truly French (1-sliced meats, vegetables, bread 2-pork roast, potatoes, squash, eggplant, broccoli with mushrooms, and drink of choice 3-salad and cheeses with bread 4-dessert cake and ice cream. It was really good and the company was better as we were able to get to know each other a little bit better. The Picard’s are going home in two weeks during the Temple closure (they then will go to Kansas for the birth of a granddaughter) then return to the Temple in September of this year, so we will get to see them again before we leave.
Today in Church we had a combined Priesthood and Relief Society lesson and the Bishopric talked about the unity, harmony, and agreement that we all need to have in our lives. They started by talking about the unity of the Godhead, the Church, the Family, our jobs, and basically everything in our lives and how important it is that we are all pulling in the same direction. When we pull against each other things start going crazy and we are never able to progress. I reflected upon times in my life when I have not been in harmony with those around me and I can honestly say that I have lost ground in my pursuit of happiness. It is only when I recognized this that I was able to make corrections and come back into line that I was able to see my way ahead. I must be accountable for my actions and how it not only affects me, but my family, my friends, my co-workers and everyone around me. When, not if, I need to make corrections I need to make sure that I know which way to go and how I need to act or react in certain conditions, for if I continue to do the same things and expect different results I will be looking for a long time because nothing will change.
Oh, Repentance, what a wonderful blessing. What a loving Savior that paid the price for us if we will but change our actions and walk in His footsteps.
We hope and pray that each of you will continue to walk in His path and be instruments in His hands as He brings to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. We love each and every one of you with all of our hearts.Love Mom & Dad / Nana & Papa / Elder y Hermana Shaw
There is so much to learn within those walls. We love the gospel for the knowledge it gives us that families can be together forever. We love all of you Mom and Dad / Nana and Papa / Elder y Hermana Shaw
Sharon, Ron Bradshaw and I went to a bullfight during this week during the month long San Isidro celebration. During this time they have bullfight about four nights a week but beginning in June they revert back to their “Sunday Only” schedule so we thought we had better take advantage and experience this tradition of Spain. Sharon said it wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. The pageantry and the pomp and ceremony were interesting to watch. To start with all of the matadors, picadors, banderilleros, horses that drag the bull out and others all enter the ring and parade around to the applause of the crowd. I have copied some of the information off of the web site to give a better understanding of the event: 
The Las Ventas Bullring (holds probably 10-12,000 people) 
Madrid's main bullring is called La Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas del Espíritu Santo, or more simply, 
Built in mudejan style, this impressive building is formed of red brick and ceramic tiles. The construction, designed by José Espelius and Muñóz Monasterio, was terminated in 1929, although the ring itself wasn't inaugurated until 1931. Today the ring is also used for rock concerts and political meetings. They sell seats according to where they are located (distance from the ring and also Sun seating (in the sun for the entire time-we bought these seats),
Sun/Shade seating (part time sun/part time shade), or Shade seating (entire time in shade-most expensive). 
San Isidro
The bull's courage can be discovered by his willingness to approach the horse and lance. Secondly, the banderilleros stab brightly-colored barbed sticks or banderillas into the bull's back.
The matador receives the bull alone in the third and final section of the faena, perhaps the most interesting for aficionados. 
Holding a small red cape now, he attempts to pass the bull as close to his body as possible in an artistic and varied manner. After effecting these passes, he will take a real, sharpened sword to attempt to kill the bull by bringing it on to him with its head lowered so he can thrust the sword between the bull's shoulder blades. 
Following this the horses come in and drag the bull out of the arena and another fight starts immediately.
For the more experienced bullfighters the bulls must be between 4-6 years old and weigh a minimum of 1,100 pounds (most are much larger, but extremely agile) for the less experienced bullfighters their bulls must be between 3-4 years old and not weigh more than 1,200 pounds. 
He ended up face down on the ground about 5-6 feet from the bull…we are sure the bull could have finished off the job, but the other matadors, banderilleros came running with their capes and the bull kind of froze, thus saving serious injury. His shoes were knocked off and he had blood on his forehead, chest and leg. After a couple of minutes the matador righted himself and begin again to fight the bull, eventually he finished him off to the delight of the crowd…although the bull was also applauded. It was an interesting evening and an experience one should not miss if in Spain.
They are great missionaries and we had met Elder Sperry when he served in the office when we were obtaining our Residency Cards. Elder Sperry goes home at the end of the month.
Tenisha had served in the Madrid Mission but was only able to serve for 10 months due to severe feet problems that had come on during her mission. They had just completed a 14 day cruise in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, they were here for 4 days for her to show her parents her mission and then return home to be married in June. They also have twin sons serving in Peru missions. It had been a while since we had seen them but both Sharon and Jeanne recognized each other about the same time in Relief Society. We invited them to dinner and then we all went to Retiro Park in downtown Madrid and walked around. Here we saw the memorial that had been built to the victims of the terrorist attack at the Atocha Transportation Center in 2003. 
There are 191 trees representing each person killed in the attack (juniper or olive tree). It is a sobering memorial, but beautiful. 
Thanks for the many cards and emails I have received-I love you all, and consider myself the most fortunate person on the earth to be a Mother and a Nana.
Chinese restaurants are all over in Spain. We just wish that they also had Mexican restaurants, they have a few but not like we are used to!
First we had a plate with hors’doeuvres. We then had the main dish which was pork chops and rice with pineapple. We had bread with each serving as well. Then we had cheese and crackers and a green salad next. We then had dessert; heaven knows where we put it all! They are such delightful people! Sister Picard told us that she didn’t really want to come, but her Bishop her husband and children encouraged her. Now she is very glad that they are here. They leave in June to travel to Kansas to be with their daughter when she has her baby, but will come back in September to the Temple.
the Ramos (Salvador and Dolores from Malaga), and the Thomas’s (Gordon and Kathryn from Provo, Ut) are going home and the Picard’s (Michel and Juliette from Bordeaux France) have been here for about a month and will be here for another two months, then they are going to Kansas to visit their daughter and family and then will return for a few more months. The party was great, the food wonderful and the company entertaining. 
It is always amazing to see what kind of food you get at a pot luck dinner. We all ate too much, but the afternoon passed really quickly.
They have had some wonderful experiences in their lives from being professors at BYU Hawaii, BYU, Mission President, Area Welfare Missionaries, Area Executive Secretary in Mexico and missionaries in the Canary Islands. Their lives have been ones of service…they will be greatly missed; hopefully, we will run into them at some of the BYU football games.
These are some of the finest people that we have ever had the privilege of serving with.
We have the opportunity of returning to live with Him and our Savior Jesus Christ if we but obey His commandments. We love all of you and you are constantly in our prayers. Love Mom & Dad / Nan & Papa / Elder y Hermana Shaw
