Spain 51st Week 6-12 Apr 09

Spain 51st Week 6-12 April 2009

Dear Family, Feliz Pascua, Happy Easter to all of you. This has been a great week. On Monday we had a Home evening With the Temple Missionaries. Brother Thomas who was a professor in English Literature at BYU presented the lesson. His message was very interesting and he talked about poets and writers of the nineteenth century being companions and forerunners to the restoration of the gospel. President Lorenzo Snow in a special conference stated every advance of the nineteenth century whether in religion, philosophy, science, poetry, literature, music, transport, has resulted from the revelations of the Holy Spirit. Brigham Young stated I believe positively that there is nothing known except by the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, whether in theology, science, or art. William Wadsworth in 1807 wrote “Intimations of Immortality” which is still quoted today. “Our Birth is but a sleep and a forgetting The soul that rises with us , our life’s Star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar: Not in entire forgetfulness, and not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory do we come From God, who is our home. A lot of these great British thinkers of early nineteenth century would get together and share ideas. All involved were religion non-conformists who did not conform to the teachings or beliefs of the church of England. The Saint George Temple was the first Temple to really do work for the dead. In the revelation to Wilford Woodruff many of these important people appeared to him and asked to have their work done. Many of course, we have heard were the signers of the Declaration of Independence and some past United States Presidents. Also some of the people he told us about that night had appeared to him for their own work, of which William Wordsworth was one. So inspiration of a higher nature were prerequisites to the restoration of the Gospel.

Dad had heard that some people had had the opportunity to go up in the spire of the Spain Temple,

as close as you can get to the angel Moroni which is about one hundred and forty feet in height. So he had approached our Temple Recorder to see if there was a possibility of doing that. He said he had not done it either so he asked one of the security personnel if we could do it. He said yes and so on Monday night Tom, Berkley our friend and the Antonio Calderon (Temple Recorder) and I did it! I kept looking for the elevator which of course didn’t exist! We climbed metal ladders all the way up. I think I’m the only women who has done so which is quite a privilege for me. It was windy and raining, but what a beautiful sight it was. Right above us was Angel Moroni which is said to be about eleven feet tall. That’s as close as we have ever come to an Angel! We can’t tell anyone else because then many others may want to do it, so we feel very privileged.

We had a wonderful, busy week in the Temple. People who live here celebrate Semana Santa (Holy Week) for the entire week so many had vacation and came to the Temple. There were hundreds and hundreds of Baptisms, Endowments, Initiatories and Sealing ordinances done. It was a great feeling to see so many there.

On Wednesday we received a package which we had asked Jeff and Amanda to get together for us. Thank you so much! Even though we knew what we were getting it was fun to open it.

I had asked for some cheap cheater glasses and this is one of the pairs I got!

Thursday was our thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. We spent our last anniversary in the MTC. Both of us had forgotten until we had to write the date sown on a paper for our class! This year we did not forget and we spent half of the day in the Temple, what a wonderful way to celebrate.
Today of course is Easter.

We were thinking back of Easters past when our kids were young. Dying the Easter eggs and having the Easter bunny come and hide eggs and baskets to be found. We were always pretty sure that it was Paul’s goal to have all his candy eaten before going to church! Its fun now watching the grandkids and being apart of their Easter time. The Easter bunny came to our apartment and left us some candy. He even hid some eggs for us to find! What a great guy he is.

We were also invited to eat today at the Taggarts (these are the folks who have been on 10 missions). They also invited the Picard’s from France and who speak pretty good english. We had a wonderful dinner. They gave us hollow chocolate eggs with a little toy inside, they were really cute.

But most importantly we celebrated our Savior’s Resurrection. The talk the Elder Holland gave at conference was so touching and powerful about Christ. This perfect plan for Salvation was certainly the ultimate sacrifice and plan of his redeeming love. We know that our Savior lives and loves each and every one of us. Our ultimate goal is to see and have His image in our countenance. He has blessed our lives in so many ways we will never be able to repay him. The greatest gift we can give is to live worthily enough to be able to return and live with Him again. We love you all dearly and you are always on our minds. Please feel our arms wrapped around you.
Love Mom & Dad / Nan & Papa / Elder y Hermana Shaw

Spain 50th Week 30 Mar-5 Apr 09

Spain 50th Week 30 March-5 April 2009

Well, another wonderful week capped off by General Conference! The weather in Spain is absolutely gorgeous, the temperature at 1:30 pm following the rebroadcast of the Priesthood Session is about 64 degrees Fahrenheit.

As you can see, several of the stake members are eating and waiting for the rebroadcast of the Saturday afternoon session today at 2:00 pm (SDT). We were able to watch it on KBYU television last night from 10:00-12:00 midnight. The same schedule goes for today (Sunday) 6:00 pm and 10:00 pm (SDT). It is such a wonderful blessing to be able to watch all of conference sessions from our apartment.

The conference talks have been wonderful as usual and you can really feel the spirit of the messages. The messages never get old and continue to inspire us to be better people and to love the Lord with all of our hearts, minds, might and strength. Many of the messages have focused on provident living and to put our faith and trust in the Lord. The crisis that we are now in has continually been repeated throughout history and will likely be repeated again in the secular world - the Old and New Testaments and the Book of Mormon all tell of this cycle: people being blessed by the Lord by obedience of the people, followed by a loss of faith because of riches, followed by divisions between people (classes) forgetting to care for the poor and the sharing of their substance, followed by greed, pride, and loss of morality which leads to spiritual darkness and then loss of precious worldly things and freedoms, hopefully then and only then, the people turn back to God because of their forced humility or they will be totally destroyed. We are somewhere in the last part of the cycle - obviously we (the world) have not learned from history. But the great thing is that there is hope, for we have the promise of a loving Father and His Son Jesus Christ that we can be saved from total destruction, if we but turn from the wicked ways and return to following the commandments.

The message to return to the Temple was inspiring to help us better understand the principles taught there and to strengthen our relationship with God and Christ.The comment made sense, and we have seen it here, that often it is easier for those living farther from the Temple to be faithful in attending than those that live close-by. When were are farther away we have to plan for the trip and we set goals, but when we live in the shadows of the Temple we often think that we can and will go whenever we want….the only problem with that is that Satan puts all sorts of challenges in our lives and frequently we let everything else come between our Temple worship and our precious time. It is our hope and prayer that we have learned that there is a time and a season for everything and that we need to set in priority our responsibility to worship in the House of the Lord and to work other things around this opportunity. The Temple covenants we have made do bring us power to cope with all of the trials and tribulations that we are now facing.

The growth of the Church is mind boggling. As they read the report it was interesting to see how far has come since 1830; 2,800 stakes, 28,000 wards and branches, and more than a quarter of a million new converts during 2008.

During this past week we met a family that comes faithfully to the Temple. We heard their story during this week and it makes me reflect on what I have continually taken for granted. They live in a small town, they are the only members of the church and the closest church is several miles away (too far to walk). They joined the Church a few years ago and wanted to be active in the ward. They take a bus every Saturday night to the city where their ward is located, pack their meals for the night and next day, rent a hotel room so they will be there in time for the meetings and then attend the next day and return home later that day. This has happened every week since they were baptized. They are just common, ordinary people doing extraordinary things to show the Lord that they love Him. They hold positions in the ward and are some of the most faithful people that we have ever met. They come to the Temple about every three months and spend the entire week doing five to six sessions a day.

This past week the Temple President and his wife finished the Job Descriptions that we have been putting together as training documents. They sent them off to Frankfurt, Germany for translation into French and Italian-we had prepared them in English and translated them into Spanish locally. It is good to have this behind us, hopefully, the translations will come back quickly and we can start to train everyone using the same procedures.

We are so happy serving here in Madrid, Spain and, hopefully, our simple little efforts will be helping move the work along. We have been richly blessed and have felt the Lord direct our actions as we have tried to serve with an eye single to His glory. Have we been without illnesses and trials, no, but we have been blessed beyond our wildest dreams. Has everything gone as planned, no, but we have been inspired to adjust a little here a little there and things have proceeded better than our original plans would have done. It is amazing what can be done if we trust in the Lord, listen to His whisperings and recognize what He is trying to tell us and then do it. We know He lives, He hears and answers our prayers and He is mindful of us as individuals.

Thank you for all of your faithfulness and example. We are better people for having known each of you. We sincerely thank you for your love, support and prayers not only for us but for each other. There is nothing more glorious than feeling the sweet comfort of the Holy Ghost that we have all been given. May God be with you and your families throughout this week and forever.
Love Mom & Dad / Nana and Papa / Elder y Hermana Shaw

Spain 49th Week 23-29 Mar 09

Spain 49th Week 23-29 March 2009

Hola to all! Today, we finally went to Daylight Savings Time, a couple of weeks after the USA did so. Happy Birthday to Ethan today, his fifth Birthday, we love you. It was also Scott’s and Jeanne’s Birthday on the 23rd of this month. We called both of them but did not get to talk to Scott, so we had to leave our wonderful rendition of Happy Birthday on the answering machine. We did get to talk to Dad and Jeanne though and that was great! We love to hear your voices every so often.

On Monday we had a Family Home Evening with the Temple Missionaries. The Parra’s who are in the Presidency of the Temple gave their conversion story. They lived in San Fernando, which is about six miles from Cadiz (southern Spain). President Parra was approached on the street by some elders who wanted to teach him.

He gave them his address which they thought was a brush off because others had done the same and made sure they weren’t home when they came. Sister Parra had been studying with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, President Parra did not like them. Sister Parra’s sister and Brother Parra’s brother were there when the Missionaries came to teach them (they were also married). In just a few weeks these four and one other were baptized. These were the first Baptisms in the Cadiz area. They said that it seemed logically correct but they didn’t have real testimonies and didn’t know how to pray for one.

The chapel was in Cadiz and they did not have a car at the time to get to church. As a result they did not become real active until four years later which was 1976. In their confirmations they were told that they would be the key to the Missionary work in that area. They became very active and would take eleven people to church with them every week in their five seater car!

They would invite people into their home for dinner and following dinner the Missionaries would give discussions around their kitchen table. Hundreds of people heard the discussions in their home around this kitchen table, they purchased the table in 1972. They still have it because it has so many fond memories. That was a daily occurrence for some time. They figure there were over one hundred people that accepted the gospel through their efforts. Many of those have sent missionaries sons and daughters…thus, they are probably responsible for hundreds, if not thousands, of members. Ever since they learned how to ask and received a testimony of the church, they have been different people and the work has moved forward at an accelerated pace.

The small city of San Fernando has produced many leaders of the church in Spain and continues to have one of the highest activity levels in Spain. They (Parra's) have been counselors and assistants to all four Temple Presidents, for eight years and counting. They will continue to serve as long as the Lord would have them serve. What an inspiration they are to us.

We had a busier week at the Temple, especially towards the end of the week. We had one hundred and sixty women come from the stake of Elche (eastern Spain). They came on the bus which left at one o’clock in the morning to spend the day in the temple and then go back home in the afternoon. We also had the a stake from Portugal come all week. We added several sessions for them and actually had endowment sessions every half hour instead of the normal hour. Also, they accomplished over 2,000 ordinances during their short stay. At the end of the day every worker was tired but overwhelmed at the love of these sisters to travel so far and to work so hard for such a short period of time.

Yesterday we went to have a Kabob with the Picards, the new couple serving from France. He is Iranian and she is Armenian. They both can speak English so communication was good. It was nice to get to know them better.

On Thursday we went to the Botanical gardens in downtwon Madrid. It is a beautiful area right next to the Prado Museum. The weather was fantastic, about 80 degrees.We had heard a lot about it and wanted to see for ourselves.We knew there were going to be tulips. There were some out but not as many as we had hoped. This is a beautiful little pond with the goldfish swimming all around. It was a little early for some of the flowering bushes as well. There were a few lingering daffodils also. It was very peaceful and quiet inside. We might need to go back in a few weeks to get the full affect.

Ashtyn you asked us a while back what the Spain flag looked like. Here is a picture of one. We want you all to know that we love the Lord and that we know he is blessing all of us. It is so great to be a part of the great work that takes place in the Temple. It’s hard to imagine how many life’s are changed because of the wonderful plan of the redemption of the dead. Also, the change that takes place in the living and the happiness and joy they receive. We love you and we are anxious as you are for General Conference next week. Love Mom and Dad / Nana and Papa

Spain 48th Week 16-22 Mar 09

Spain 48th Week 16-22 March 2009

Spring has definitely Sprung in Spain and we are now waiting for the rain that falls mainly in the plain! The weather has been fantastic for the past three weeks, we are just waiting for another cold blast from the north….because it seems too nice to last.

This has been an exciting week, the Temple was busier than usual. The stake from Valencia was here and a lot of them came on Thursday through Saturday. We had extra large sessions, having to divide a couple of them and then on Saturday there were over 140 young people from Valencia and Logrono (north). The had a minimum of a five hour bus ride one way, yet they came and did baptisms and returned home again late Saturday night. They had the sweetest spirits and you could tell that they all really enjoyed being together and feeling the spirit. We saw some of our good friends again (Vina’s, Veronica and her family, and others that we have become very attached to) and it is always hard to say goodbye because we may not see some of them again before we leave.

We also have a new missionary couple from France (Michel and Juliette Picard) they both speak pretty good English and they are delightful people.

He is actually Iranian and she is Armenian and have lived in France for the last twenty + years. He was involved in the government schooling of those young people that were selected to represent France in sports and she worked in the private sector. They are great people and we look forward to getting to know them better in the coming months.

Elder Roger and Sister Randi Rich (Taylorsville, Utah) in Abu, Nigeria also visited us this weekend. Their temple is closed for cleaning for a couple of weeks so they have permission to travel about and they are making the most of it. We listened to their stories and we really know how blessed we are to be here in Madrid. They are in lock down in a seven acre compound-they can only leave on occasion and that is with basically a bodyguard. They have to send Nigerians out to purchase their food and it sounds like it is a real trying place. Everything they bring food wise into their apartment has to be washed with soap and water (including things like cabbage leaves) then dipped in a Clorox solution before they can eat it. Needless to say they were in heaven here and could not believe the freedoms that we enjoy. They had been in Amsterdam, Spain for a week, then on to France before returning to Nigeria until September when they complete their mission. They have a wonderful love for the people and the work and are honored to be serving there. They were told by the Area Presidency that at any given time on Sunday that there are more Nigerians in church than the rest of Europe put together. Nigeria has five missions and is the fastest growing area in the world. Of course, the church is relatively new there are everyone is learning how to officiate in whatever capacity they are responsible.Their temple is the smaller model with everything being on one floor, they were amazed that we had three floors in our Temple. Roger is an architect that is in business with a partner and consequently he is on leave from his job and will return to work when they go home. His partner had gone the two years prior to them coming…that is a pretty neat setup where you can go and return to the company.

We showed the Rich’s around Madrid and ate at a couple of restaurants (Burger King and TGI Fridays) of their choice. Today we had them to dinner before seeing them off to the airport and served roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls and strawberry shortcake….they ate and ate and loved every bite. We look forward to getting with them after we both return from our missions. They went to school with our Bishop, Jerry Bennion, so we had someone in common to talk about.

This coming week we have another big weekend scheduled, there are 128 sisters that will be coming from eastern Spain on Friday night to work all day in the Temple on Saturday. We really hope that some brethren will accompany them so we can meet all of their needs.

We went to the other ward today with the Rich’s because they have sacrament meeting first and the Rich’s needed to head to the airport by 2:00pm. We saw two couples that looked like they were Americans so I walked up to them, introduced myself and asked them what they were doing here? Well, to my surprise the one young sister told me that she had served a mission in Malaga and wanted to come back to the temple with her husband and his parents. I told her that our son-in-law served in Malaga until just before the Temple was dedicated and she said that is when she was here. I asked her if she knew Miles Jensen and she said “yes.” Well, I was pleasantly surprised, her name is/was Sister Liz Irion, she was companions with Hermana Williams and she finished her mission in Sevilla (she said she was in Miles’s district)…what a small world. She sends her best to Miles, Kristy and wow, their four kids!

Now, even weirder was the fact that her in-laws were sitting there and I asked them where they were from and they told me Murray, Utah. I asked what part and they said East Murray (Erickson Dairy) and I asked if they knew Drew and Cathie Pearson, they said “yes.” They were old neighbors of Drew and Cathie (Fred and Christie Olsen), but have moved about 11 years ago. Wow, what a small world. We talked about Traci, Tim and Jibs, their kids and it was great to hear that they really appreciated the time they spent in the neighborhood….in spite of the Red Color of the Pearson’s!

Well, the work is true, God lives and Jesus is the Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. We love serving in the beautiful Madrid Spain Temple. We are blessed beyond measure in every way that you look. We have a wonderful families (Shaw’s, Pearson’s, Erickson’s, Hill’s, Randall’s, Dickinson’s) and are very blessed to have faithful sons and daughters (Jeff, Amanda, Miles, Kristy, Scott, Malia, Paul and Kellie) and the cutest dang grandkids in the world (Ashtyn, Whitney, Jenacee, Ryan, Ethan, Porter, Hallie, Fischer, Madelynne and Phoebe). We love each of you and hope that you can feel of our love and appreciation for all you mean to us. We can certainly feel of your love, support and prayers each and everyday. Love Mom & Dad / Nana & Papa

Spain 47th Week 9-15 Mar 09

Spain 47th Week 9-15 Mar 2009

On Sundays from five to nine o’clock there are a set of sister Missionaries who give tours of the Temple grounds. They usually start at the chapel and explain things there. They compare it to a high school. Then as they come back out they talk about the Temple being a higher place of learning such as a university. So since we have been here almost a year we decided to take the tour! The sisters there that night were Sister Balden and Sister Jensen.

It just so happens that this was the last day of Sister Jensen’s mission. Sister Balden asked if we wanted the tour in Spanish or English.. We said English. She started out saying I am Hermana Balden and this is my companion Hermana Jensen. To which I responded, you both have the same first name ? It had sounded to me like they had said Ramona Balden and Ramona Jensen. They laughed thinking I meant Hermana being the same which I should have left it at that but of course I had to say is both your first names Ramona. You can all imagine the look I caught from Dad ! Anyway they took us to the statue of the Mom and Dad with out stretched arms and the little girl walking from one to the other. It is called the circle of safety. They mentioned that the Lord always has his arms outstretched to us. He wants to help and guide us. They then moved on to one of the fir trees. Where if you stand behind it you cannot see the Temple. They said there are temptations and Satan who try to block our path-just as this particular tree blocked out the beautiful Temple. Then we went to a corner of the grounds where you can look out and see the busy, noisy street, the other buildings and a running track all symbolizing the World. Then as you turn back in and walk a few steps the feeling is totally different. You feel peace and tranquility there by the fountain. They then both bore their testimonies about the church and the joy that we can receive from it. About the importance of the family and the true gospel. They asked if we wanted to share our thoughts as well. As we have mentioned so many times these grounds are so beautiful and peaceful. I’m sure it has touched many, many people who have been here.

The Temple was slower this week. Of course we just happened to have more workers show up than the norm! It seems that the weeks that are the busiest is when we have fewer workers! The weather for about the last three weeks has been amazing. It has been in the seventies and so beautiful. We keep thinking that it will be like Utah and turn around and be winter again! We have taken advantage of spending time outdoors and taking walks.

Yesterday, we had our movie night and showed “Amazing Grace“. It was centered around England in a time when slavery was rampid and how they tried to change that law. A man who had been a slave ship owner had brought slaves from Jamaica. In the course of doing so he knew what a horrible thing it was to do. So he sold his ship and became a preacher. He is the one who wrote the words to the song Amazing Grace. It was a great show.

Today we had two girls over for dinner who were here yesterday to do baptisms at the Temple. One, Camille Kalkman (Idaho) is studying Spanish in Spain and the other one, Ashley Swensen (Taylorsville)was visiting her for a week.

They both attend Utah State and met there three years ago. We happened to be assigned to the baptistery yesterday and so we met them there. They stayed with a family in our ward last night and came to church with them. So we met up with them at church again and asked them to come to lunch. We had a great time getting better acquainted. Ashley was going back home tomorrow and Camille was taking a bus back to where she is studying later today. These girls are a lot braver than I would be traveling around but they have done great!

Last Sunday we had our first beef roast, the beef here in Spain has a funny taste to it, so we hadn’t tried on before then. We used some Lipton Onion soup mix and slow cooked it….it was wonderful, it was just like we were at our house with all of you. Mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, fresh bread and of course, dessert. It really made us think of home and remembering some great times together.

All of you back home have so much going. We pray that everything you are planning and accomplishing goes well. We love to hear from you and keep in touch. Our life here is a lot less busy so I’m sure we should be drinking it all in, because it will change back to the fast pace life when we return. How fortunate we all are to have the gospel the center of our lives. What would we do with out that knowledge? I’m so thankful for the plan of salvation and for the knowledge that we can be together forever. We love all of you and are concerned for all of you. We hope you feel of our love daily. Love Mom and Dad / Nana and Papa

Spain 46th Week 2-8 Mar 09

Spain 46th Week 2-8 March 2009

Well, here we are again, another week has come and gone! It is amazing how fast the time goes when you are busy and involved in a good cause. Even though there were fewer people in the Temple this week it was a joy to serve and to learn more about our Father in Heaven, His Son, Jesus Christ and more about what we are doing in the Temple.

Speaking of the Temple itself, we had a wonderful Family Home Evening on Monday. Brother Bonifacio Lopez (the Temple Recorder) came and spoke to us as a group. His story of the construction of the Madrid Spain Temple was very touching and everyone felt the spirit of what a Temple can do for a country.

In 1982 he was working in the Physical Facilities department of the Church in Copenhagen and he was told back then to start looking for a good piece of property for a “special” building in Spain. This he did for one year as he traveled to the area for other responsibilities, then in 1983, the mission president in Amsterdam passed away and his boss who had told him to look for the property was called as mission president and so the plan was put on hold.

Again, in 1992 the Madrid Stake had been formed (Faustino Lopez was called as Stake President). Elder Marvin J. Ashton told him to find property for a stake center, later that year they bought property near LIDL’s (a grocery store not far from present Temple site). Later in 1992 President Hinckley came to Spain for a Regional Conference and he looked at the sites that had been proposed for the stake center as well as a piece of land for a “special” building (until that time Brothers Lopez) were looking for an area on a hill surrounded by trees. They found one in Alcala and President Hinckley visited the site, but said that it was too difficult to get to for the majority of the people and that it should be located in a more central area. They continued looking at the proposed sites and the last one they took him too (it being their least favorite-on the outskirts of Madrid and kind of a flat and uneven piece of property). President Hinckley, Elder Ballard and President Serrano pondered and prayed about the property and selected this little piece of land as where the Temple would be built.

At that point Bonifacio was put in charge of the Madrid Spain Temple project (he was an engineer). In 1993, they were finally able to get through all of red tape of city, county, community and they bought the land.

They also began looking for an architect and Brother Cluff (Temple architect for the Church) came to Madrid to help plan Temple and the surrounding buildings. All of these decisions took about two and a half years, including planning for the growth of the Church in the area. They then looked for a local contractor (they eliminated large companies from bidding on the project). They had months and months of trouble trying to get the Title to the land (all entities were doing battle). A building permit was finally given in 1996 following fifteen months of challenges. The building permit cost $800,000.00 (based on local estimates for cost of buildings) and Brother Lopez didn’t have this kind of money. Well, the ground breaking ceremony had been set and President Hinckley, Elder Oaks and Elder Vinas were coming for the event. About a week before the ceremony Brother Lopez received a letter from the First Presidency naming him as the Chairman of the Madrid, Spain Temple and a charge to build a “perfect” temple. Along with this letter came the approval to write a check to cover the building permit. Brother Lopez stated that the day the check was paid, the US dollar shot way up in value with the Spanish peseta, the very next day it went back down to where it had been for months.

On June 1st, the construction team visited the Timpanogas Temple during the “final” inspection and the construction team got a feel for the type of craftsmanship that was required in the House of the Lord. An interesting note, the architect was not and is not a member of the LDS Church, but was bilingual and had a very good reputation. The architecture team visited the chapel that had been built in Alcala to see how the building functioned (for the chapel building on the Temple complex). The Church architect came to Spain to review the plans and noticed that the local architect had proposed very dark, exquisite colors for the celestial room. The Church architect took out the Bible and reviewed Temples in the Old and New Testaments, showing the people needed light and resplendor. The architect immediately changed the color scheme to light and clearer with an abundance of windows. The architect knew this was a special building and therefore he demanded “top quality” from all contractors (perfection)…and at first everyone wanted to do their very best. The workers could not smoke on the site, so many left not being able to control their urge. As the project continued it was a constant battle to ensure and demand and pay for “top quality.” Also, it being the House of the Lord, there were people hired just to clean up after the workers on an hourly basis. It is said that the Temple is the best built building in all of Spain! The architect used to say that the building code and law for this building was The Book of Mormon. The Church hired quality control people in the quarry in Italy (exterior marble) and Spain (interior marble) to ensure that only the best was used. They would have power to say which marble slabs were to be shipped and in what order they were to be put together. As construction neared completion the demands became too great for the general contractor and the Church was forced to try and work it out, not wanting to go to the courts for fear it would be tied up for years (as it was the project was delayed about one year). On final inspection the Church architect came with a white glove (this had been specified in the original documents), but it was not clean!

The Open House and Dedication dates had been set and there was yet much to be done. We were told that there were daily challenges with the contractor and his final costs far exceeded the bid amount in order to provide what he had originally agreed to provide and finish. The project (Temple and surrounding buildings were finally completed in thirty months-about a year longer than estimated). The day the Church took ownership of the buildings, they paid off his shortfall and forgave him of some of the faults of his company. During the Open House all Spanish dignitaries came and marveled at the beauty of the Temple and other buildings, even the King asked why a building of this excellence had not been built for him? The contractor spoke then, and still does today, about the great building it is and how well the Church had done by him and made up his debt. As all the authorities of the Church came for the Open House they stayed in the Hostal, where we are staying. That created another project….that of feeding them each day, three meals a day. The city of Madrid loudly proclaimed that they had never seen such preparation, organization, order, security and everything else that happened during the month long open house…it was a model for all to emulate!

A couple of other interesting things. The exterior marble is not attached directly to the concrete walls (if it had been when it got wet it would have stayed damp almost forever and mold would have started to grow), it hangs about an inch from concrete walls. Therefore, it quickly gets wet and shows the moisture, but immediately dries out. The Church has estimated that there would be about 65,000 people come to the Open House. Through three weeks they had had about 50,000 people go through, by the way-the weather was terrible, but he Church had erected tents to protect the people once they got on the Church property. There was about a two hour wait most days to get into the Temple. The leaders of the local church thought they could surpass the 65,000 total; in a twenty-four hour period they printed off 100,000 pamphlets and distributed them through missionaries and members to the entire city of Madrid. The last week of the Open House brought another 50,000 people thus bringing the total number to 100,000. Since the dedication of the Temple (remember it was originally built on the outskirts (southeast) of Madrid), the city has grown and the Temple is now getting closer to being in the center of the city, metro lines have grown, stores have been built and bus routes rearranged to meet the demands of the city.

One of the most amazing facts was that after the property was purchased, the US Embassy called the First Presidency and told them that they should not spend one dime on this piece of property because it was located in the highest crime area of Madrid! Well, the construction went forward, by the word of a Prophet, and for the last six years this area has had the lowest amount of crime in all of Madrid. Wow, I wished you could have all been there.

On Wednesday through Saturday, twice daily, we have had a small group of people (5) here from one of the outlying areas to perform baptisms for the dead. One was a tiny, old and very short sister who really turned out to be a giant. Her great granddaughter and grandson came with her. When she stood in the font the water came to her armpits and she was there everyday wanting to perform all of the baptisms that she could, what an inspiration to me.

On Saturday, mom made me take her to McDonald’s to buy a hamburger (two combo meals run about $17.oo US Dollars) prior to us going in on the afternoon shift (this was tricky with the bus schedule). Later she went to the local ward’s Relief Society Birthday Party and then we hosted the weekly Movie night. It was a great week.

We love our mission and know that we are doing what the Lord would have us do at this time of our lives. We dearly love and miss each of you, but want you all to know that we know these things are true! We are members of the only true and living Church on the face of the earth. Take good care of yourselves and thank you for your love, support and prayers.
We love you, Mom & Dad / Nana & Papa

Spain 45th Week 23 Feb - 1 Mar 09

Spain 45th Week 23 Feb - 1 Mar 09

March 1st, Happy seventh anniversary Scott and Malia!

February flew by so fast! We have almost been here one year. We had a great week. On Monday we had a party for the Fourtina’s who are leaving tomorrow. They have been here for three months and we have grown to love them so much. They will not be coming back to the Temple before we leave so we may never see them again. They are so humble and have served the Lord on many other missions. They will be greatly missed.

On Wednesday we were invited to go to a farewell party for a girl (Karin) who has been in our ward and is now going back to Brazil. We had her to dinner one week and she has always been so friendly and sweet to us. She had a power point that she had put together with her and different friends. She put a picture of us with her in which meant a lot to us. She had refreshments and Linda, the girl from Venezuela, made arrepa’s which we had at her home when we picked Scott up from his Mission. They were great and brought back some fun memories. There were mainly young adults at the party so we were the old folks there!

This entire week the French Stake has been here. They always bring many Temple workers. Many times three different languages were being spoken in the different ordinances. I love it when the French people, who are the patrons, want English instead of Spanish. It gives me an opportunity to remember the ordinances in English. Many of the French people can speak English as well. The French people who come have a special spirit about them and we enjoy being around them and hearing their beautiful language.

This week was also special in the Temple because the full time Missionaries in Madrid came after their Zone conferences to do a session. There were three different sessions in the week that they attended. I had the opportunity to be the Temple worker assigned for two of the sessions. They also had a chapel meeting before each of them which their Mission President, his wife, and the Temple President spoke. The spirit was strong there. To sit at the front of the session and look down at all of the Missionaries in white is quite a sight. They also do the session in English which is great to here every once in a while. Many of them we recognize who we met while they were in the MTC here. They carry such a great spirit with them.

Today, Sunday, we had Doris Roa, who is originally from Peru and Linda Lovera, the girl from Venezuela that Scott knows to lunch. Doris has had us to her apartment for dinner before. She is in our ward and has always been very nice to us. Especially to me because she can speak English! She is divorced and has one daughter who lives in the states. She faithfully attends the Temple. We also watched The Testaments with them and The Restoration which we played in Spanish. They had never seen them before and they were very touched. You need to notice in our pictures that I have made my apron more modest by adding lace in the appropiate place!

We have met so many choice people here who have touched our lives in so many ways. The spirit is a great communicator even when there is a language barrier. We are so blessed in this wonderful church. We have received blessings unmeasured as well as our family. We so appreciate your love, prayers and example. We know we have a loving Father who cares for us all and never gives up on us. He has blessed us with all of you and for that we will be forever indebted to him. We love you all, Mom and Dad/Nana and Papa