Another glorious week in Madrid, Spain has come to an end. The Madrid Temple is now closed for its semi-annual cleaning until the 30th of June. They say there will be some pretty major replacement projects during this time. The hallway carpet will be changed out (it is now ten years old and really needs to be replaced) and some of the furniture will be replaced also. I don’t know if you remember our blog about the cost of handmade carpet…the factory we visited about 10 months ago sold a fairly simple pattern carpet for about $1,000 USD per square meter (yard)…when I asked them what I could get for $50 they gave me a scrap of yarn off of the floor. I’m sure these changes will keep the Temple in its correct image – the House of the Lord!
The Portuguese (Porto North) Stake was here this week and they did a wonderful work. We were busy all week and it was good to renew our friendships, but again harder to see them leave on Friday night and Saturday morning knowing that we may never see some of them again. On Saturday there was a busload (54) of sisters come from Valencia-they left home at 1:00 am, arrived at 7:30 am, attended three sessions and then left for home at 3:00 pm. What a wonderful blessing to have so many beautiful sisters in the Temple and to feel of their spirits. It will be hard to not go to the Temple for the next two weeks…it is such a beautiful place and the spirit always makes you feel loved and removes any doubt about the love our Heavenly Father has for each and every one of us!
We had a wonderful opportunity this week of having Ima Jean and Harold Oaks (Sharon’s cousin) come from Frankfurt, Germany to visit us. They are missionaries in the Area Office and received permission to come to the Temple and to visit for a couple of days.
It was wonderful to see them and to feel of their love for the Lord. They came to the Temple on Thursday morning, and then we ate lunch and departed on the Metro for downtown Madrid. We visited El Parque Retiro (similar to Central Park in NYC); this was the private gardens/park of the Royal family up until the early 1900s when they opened it up to the public. The flowers and other attractions were very nice and we walked and talked and walked and talked. It was wonderful to hear about the Oak’s experience in Frankfurt and to catch up on family happenings. We then walked to the Prado Museum and went in and saw the permanent exhibition.The next day while we were in the Temple, Ima Jean and Harold caught the sightseeing bus and saw the sights of Historic Madrid, passing by the many old buildings, structures, parks, museums, etc along the way. We later met at the McDonald’s in Plaza Sol (central point of ‘Happenings’ in Madrid). We ate a scrumptious burger and then proceeded to walk around the plaza, visited Plaza Mayor and then caught the Metro to Las Ventas and visited the Plaza de Toros (bullring).
They did not have a bullfight that night but were preparing for a revival of some type later that night. There were signs and lots or loud people. By the way, the temperature these two days was out of this world 100+ degrees in June (what will it be in July/August?). We then rode the Metro to Banco of Espana and went to a couple of Lladro and souvenirs shops. With the extreme temperature we then parted ways, they went to their hotel and we returned to our apartment. We want to thank Ima Jean and Harold for coming to visit us and to share in our mission…we would love to visit them excepting that Frankfurt is out of our Temple District.Last Monday, we were invited by the Clemente’s (Victor & Asuncion)
to lunch with the Santos’s (Aderson & Dolores) 
to eat Rabo de Toro (bull’s tail). Needless to say, it was the first time for either Sharon or me to eat such a delicacy! In the city where the Clemente’s live (Alicante) this is the second most expensive meat that you can buy…next to loin. It tasted like beef, but was a bit more grisly. The interesting thing was that the bone in the middle of the meat was kind of shaped like a bull’s head.
He gave me two helpings, of course they were the two biggest pieces that they had and to be a polite invitee I had to eat both of them. It was definitely an experience that we will not soon forget.Yesterday and today Antonio & Gloria Iglesias (San Sebastian),
Michel & Juliette Picard (Boudreaux, France),
and Victor & Asuncion Clemente (Alicante) all left for home. They have completed their short missions, but at least two of them, Picard’s and Clemente’s will be back in September. The Picard’s are going to Kansas City to visit family for a month and the Clemente’s are going home to be with great grandchildren while their granddaughter has a baby. It is hard to say goodbye but it will be good to see two of them again before we leave.Today at church, mom noticed an American all alone so she invited him to dinner.
Steve Every from Spokane, Washington was in town to attend the Temple yesterday and had stayed over. He works for Hewlett Packard and had been in Barcelona for a week, but wanted to come attend the Temple. We had a good visit with him and found out about his family back in Washington-he will be going home on Wednesday.We are also relieved to hear that all of our children and grandchildren returned safely from a week at the condo in Mesquite, Nevada (This is the mandatory every trip picture).
It sounds like they had a wonderful time and we really missed being with them. They have sent some pictures that really brought back some wonderful times that have been shared by all.
We look forward to being with them the next time.The gospel of Jesus Christ is TRUE! God lives and Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer. The Book of Mormon is TRUE and was written by prophets of old for our time! As I read daily from the pages I truly feel the spirit of the Lord testifying to me that these things are TRUE! We can become closer to God by reading this book more than by any other. We pray daily for the well being, safety, and protection for each and every one of you. We are so proud to serve our Heavenly Father, Christ, our Prophet, the people of Europe, and our family in the Madrid Temple. May the Lord bless you with every needful thing. Love Mom & Dad / Nana & Papa / Elder y Hermana Shaw
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