Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Pictures from the Trip: France and Bilbao

Lunch with the Albi, France Branch

I should have mentioned the meal. Ham and hard boiled eggs. Couscous with spices, I'm not sure what. Rice, quinoa, cucumber, tomato salad with that yellow dressing that you saw in the picture. It has a lot of horse radish in it. Not that good. But what do you feed 4 hungry missionaries and random guests when you're on a budget?

Albi Branch Family

Albi Branch

Grandpa with the Dancing Girls

Dancing Girls

Dancing Girls

Guggenheim

Guggenheim

Guggenheim

Guggenheim

Guggenheim

France

France

France

France

France

France

France

France

France

France

France

France

Pictures from the Trip: Santillana and San Sebastian, Spain

San Sebastian

San Sebastian

San Sebastian Cathedral

San Sebastian Sunset

Santillana Beach

Lighthouse at Santillana

Santillana Beach

Santillana Beach

Santillana Church

Santillana

Santillana

Santillana

Santillana

Letter from the end of the Trip

Dear Family,
How are you all doing this week? We think about you often and hope you are all well. We have been home from our little jaunt for a few days now and are feeling like we have finally started to get some of our energy back. Tomorrow we are back at the temple. We are expecting saints by the bus load this week from several stakes here in Spain. We have one new couple here to help us replace the two who have left. They are very sweet and very excited to be here. The wife has quite a history. She is of Spanish decent. Her father was a member of the Spanish secret service before Franco came into power. So the man had to leave his family in the middle of the night and flee to Morocco. For nine years his wife would try to join him. The authorities would arrest her. After nine years she was finally successful in escaping to Morocco where this sister was born. After WW II they moved to France, Switzerland and finally the U.S. She was born with a small heart. She should have died before she was five years old. Her condition was discovered when she had the physical for their mission. They took one look at her heart and sent her to surgery. Six months later they are here. They have little money. Don't own their own home but could afford a mission here in Spain. They have sacrificed a lot to be here. She said that to live in her parents home country has always been a dream of hers and now her prayers have been answered against great odds. A sweet story.

Sunday I played for the Primary because they don't have a pianist right now. So fun. They played the same games in Spain that they play in the states. Just a testimony that the gospel is the same all over the world. Also in Sunday school our lesson was on the Last Supper. When the teacher talked about the washing of feet as a gesture of the Savior's love for the apostles, one young woman in the class raised her hand and said that she thought that there was more to it because the Prophet Joseph washed feet in the school of the prophets. Then another brother said that it was an ordinance and that is why the Savior did that. I was so impressed that these sweet Spanish saints knew so much about the gospel. Wow!

Well, how are you all doing? How are Taylor's preparations coming for his trip and mission? Abby, have you started your stuff for seminary council yet? So fun to read Sarah's letters. How is football practice, Pete? What is going on with the rest of you? Riley, Lizzy, Rachel, Emma, Liza, Kate, Carter, Meri, Andrew, Benji, Collin, Isabelle, Mason, Henry, Jane, Alan, and Maggie?
We love you all. Call. We would love to hear from you. The Gospel is true! The Savior lives. Grandpa and Grandma

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Northern Spain Vacation Pics!

A little town, Santillana Del Mar. Really cute.
Grandpa at the Beach
Our little hotel in Santillana
Another gorgeous beach on the northern coast of Spain.

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Message from Mom June 7th 2015

Message from Mom:
Dear Ones, Just a note to catch you up on our status. We have finished our third week in Spain. The temple is beautiful. Not always packed but the work is constant. A typical day will require us to communicate with saints who are speaking Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese, and English. They are coming through the front doors of the temple to remember the eternal covenants they have made with the Lord. They come at great sacrifice. They give up their vacations and stay for a week going to the temple all day long. Some are housed at temple housing but not all. Some stay at more expensive hotels in the city. We had two young women come the other day to receive their own endowments. The one's mother just passed away and so her escort was a neighbor lady--no family. They other came with a good friend as her escort, but no family. They have a testimony of these saving ordinances and come even though they have no loved ones to be with them. I am struggling to learn the language---So hard. Your Grandpa and I say every night before we go to bed, "We can do hard things." The work is difficult and we work hard every day, but we love it. We love being a part of the gospel in this country. Tomorrow we leave for our two week break while they clean the temple and make adjustments in our apartments. We will be going north and east. We will see some small villages along the coast of Spain. I bought two beach towels so we can sit and watch the waves roll in. We will go up to Bilbao to see the Gugenheim museum, and then up into Bordeaux, France. We have rented a car and expect to have some beautiful drives. We post some pictures. We love you all. The gospel is true.