Thursday, April 24, 2014

Apr 24, 2014

Hola a todos!

We had a busy weekend with the district JAS campout. I must say it was a roaring success. We had about 23 kids come from all over the district but only 17 spent the night. Some had to get home for work the next day. But we were glad for those that made it no matter for how long.

We left Vigo about 12pm and arrived  in Carral around 2. The drive there was breathtaking. We seriously live in one of the most beautiful areas on this earth. We found the farmhouse with a little help from the owner who came and found us and led us there. There were two cars from Vigo. Some of the kids were already there and another group arrived shortly thereafter. We had another group come later in the evening and they had to leave when the others went to bed. One group of kids from Lugo really tried to get there but couldn't. They missed their bus and then they found someone to drive them but the car started acting up at the beginning of the trip so they never got there. So sad for them. We're going to visit their branch Sunday and just let them know we care about them and appreciate their effort.

The first activity was an Easter egg hunt where the kids found some eggs with scripture having to do with the Easter story taped  to them. Right after the easter egg hunt the district President gave an Easter devotional using the scriptures from the eggs the kids found. He did a really great job and involved the kids in the discussion as they read the scriptures.
After that we went  to a nearby area that is like a rainforest with trails for hiking. Another place that is so gorgeous. We spent about an hour hiking then we played some games in a clearing. We went back to the farmhouse/camp sight and played more games. Then we a had dinner of hot dogs, pasta salad, chips and drinks. We then built a big bonfire and when it died down we made s'mores but we used Nutella instead of Hershey bars and cookies instead of graham crackers (which they don't have here). So an original version of s'mores. Larry then had a discussion with the group about how they can serve the Lord in this part of the world and he referenced Elder Ballard's talk from a European JAS devotional. Larry mostly focused on the fact that the Young Single Adults are an important part of the future of the church in Europe and they need to be prepared to serve missions, be temple worthy, and help seek out the less actives in their groups.

They had a few campfire activities and games and then went to bed around 11pm. Larry and I stayed in a hotel for the night which was amazing. I know the next morning the kids said they got so cold during the night. We had a breakfast of hot chocolate, bacon cheese muffins, and banana bread. Then we did a couple of service projects around the farmhouse. The boys dug out a couple of tree stumps and the girls cleaned up part of the yard that was over grown. That took a few  hours.

Then we had an amazing BBQ of ribs with great bread that is unique to that part of Galicia. It came straight from the bakery nice and fresh and hot. We had a brief closing and a few testimonies and that was the end. We really felt like our time and effort was worth the time for these kids to have a chance to all be together and strengthen one another. It's not so easy being mormon in this part of the world for young single adults. They just don't have the numbers that we do in the states and other areas. They are such great kids and so happy to have someone here to take an interest in them. We got back in Vigo about 5 Sat evening.
Sunday was pretty normal although I helped out in the nursery the last hour. And Larry spent the Sunday School hour with three of our JAS young men. They don't like the adult Sunday School so they just sat in the Foyer. We would like to have a Sunday School class for them but we need to see what the branch Pres. says. We're not here every Sunday so they would need another teacher. Institute was cancelled because it was Easter so we didn't have that Sun. evening. The Elders came over after church and fixed us dinner. They prepared a spanish tortilla which is basically an omelet with potatoes and onions.
They did a good job and it was nice to have a role reversal.

Monday was so quiet mainly because  neither of us felt good. We both had raging allergies. Tuesday we did our weekly shopping and then came home and made treats for our JAS activity that evening. We had a brief FHE message and then the kids played soccer on the xbox. They had such a blast. They are  now planning on having a big tournament on a Saturday so they can get more kids there. They didn't leave until 10 and it started at 7 plus we had more kids than ever  before come to this activity.

Yesterday we had district meeting and Larry gave a talk about eternal families along with some other messages by two other elders. The focus was on teaching investigators the importance of families in the church and helping them have gospel centered homes. I made brownies for the group. We found a decent Mexican restaurant and ate lunch there after the meeting. Later we had english class and then branch FHE. We had really good groups at both of those meetings.
Today we Elder sat for a while waiting for a companion to return on the train after an exchange. Since one of the Vigo elders is the district leader he does an exchange every week after district meeting and spends a day in another city with one of the elders from that city and that elders companion stays here. It's nice because we get to know the elders better that aren't in Vigo. Other than that we are having kind of a day of down time which is nice.

We love facetime with all of you call us anytime except late night to early morning!! Take care of the precious grands. We love you all.

Mom and Dad

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