Well, another week has passed and it’s August – where has the summer gone? This was a tremendously busy week at the Temple with the saints from the Oeiras Stake, Portugal in town. They came in two big buses on Monday and another one arrived on Friday morning loaded to the gills. The kids are out of school and so 60 young people came 4 different times to the Temple each day to perform Baptism as for the Dead, while their parents/adults performed all of the other ordinances. The spirit that they brought was magnificent and they truly taught us how to worship in the Temple.
There was one brother who had a difficult time walking and could not kneel yet he performed 4-5 sessions per day, one day he was asked to be the witness in the Endowment Session. We set a chair up for him to sit on instead of kneeling and his eyes were filled with tears during the entire session with gratitude for the opportunity of serving in the House of the Lord. Again, it was hard to say goodbye to many wonderful friends because they will not be back until after we leave and you never know when you will see them again?
On Monday, we have been assigned to be in charge of the special events for the Temple Missionaries, we had a “Bienvenidos”/”Despedidas” (Welcome & Going Away) party for some of the Temple Missionaries. “Welcoming:” The Chasseriaud’s (France), the Perez’s (Valencia) and the Ugalde’s (Valencia) and “Thank You:” The Lunt’s (Arizona),
the Rust’s (Vernal, Utah),
Sister Linares (Kearns, Utah) and the Ugalde’s (Valencia).
We assigned certain dishes but it was called a ‘Pot Luck’ and the food was wonderful, the main course was Arabian Chicken and everyone had a wonderful time reminiscing and looking to the future. We used some beautiful decorations that had been left by the Lymans’s.Friday evening we had our last supper with the Lunt’s as they headed home on Saturday. Prior to eating we went to the house of Pablo and Naomi Vera.
They are members of our ward and dear friends; she was the one that I did the countdown for her marriage day and later for the birth of their daughter. She gave birth Tuesday (she is on 6 month maternity leave from the Temple) and came home Friday. They were really excited and she is a beautiful baby girl (Julianna)…it made us homesick again for our two new granddaughters (Maddie and Phoebe). It was about 100 degrees in their apartment, so we hope that all went well for them the first night? Naomi is one of the secretaries in the Temple office.Saturday, we loaded up the Lunt’s and their luggage and sent them on their way (President & Sister Moore) took them to the airport and all of us shed a few tears as they are the first of the American Missionaries to leave from our original group.
It is hard to believe that within the next three months almost all of us from the original group will be home.Today, we were invited to dinner with the Santos’s (Aderson & Dolores-Sau Paulo, Brazil). They had also invited a sister, her husband and daughter from the Temple that we work with a couple of times a week (Carlos Somoza, Rosario Garcia and Marta).
He was the Stake President when the Temple was completed and dedicated and had many stories to tell about time spent with the King and Queen of Spain, Presidents Hinckley, Monson and Elders Holland and Uchtdorf. They are wonderful people with great testimonies, their daughter Sarah is married to the Bishop of our Ward (Oscar Ovejeros). Sarah is also expecting a baby in the next couple of weeks; so needless to say, Carlos and Rosario are on cloud nine.We went down and listened to the missionaries sing tonight, this group really has a lot of talented singers and the concerts are wonderful.
Right now there are about 25 missionaries in the MTC, but seven of them leave this Tuesday and most of the others are here for another three weeks. We have the opportunity to speak to them again in two weeks and look forward to that opportunity.We are grateful for the many blessings that we have received while serving here in Madrid.
They are too numerous to count, we know our family has also been blessed beyond measure and we will forever be grateful to a loving Heavenly Father for His patience with us and our minimal efforts. We know that we are involved in the true work of the Lord; there is no doubt in our minds and hearts. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God and by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. We love each and every one of you with all of our hearts. May God be with you til we meet again.Love Mom & Dad / Nana & Papa / Elder y Hermana Shaw
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