Dec 19, 2014

Hey all,

We are in Madrid right now. We arrived last night and will leave in the morning. We came to pick up all the Christmas packages for the missionaries in our zone in the north since they wouldn't have received them for two more weeks. We did that this afternoon and then went to the temple to see the Christmas lights and the nativities. While we were there we ran into some missionaries that had been in the north previously and a sister that is from a branch in our district who is serving in Madrid. She has some health and family challenges so they are keeping her in this mission. She looked great and seemed so happy.

Christmas lights in Madrid

Christmas lights in Madrid

Last night we went downtown Madrid to see the Christmas lights which did not disappoint. However there does seem to be a fondness for the color blue as a major part of the Christmas decor. Some of the lights seem more of a patriotic genre  than Christmas but they are lovely here in Madrid and Vigo.

We did some shopping at the store, A Taste of America, and spent a lot of money on unnecessary items (except the brown sugar) but sometimes you just have to have a few things from home. What's ironic is I'll use most of what I bought to make food for the JAS but they rave about all the food I make so it's worth buying the overpriced American items. I was so excited to find candy canes and bought a couple of packages. There is no peppermint anything in all of Spain that I have been able to find. You need peppermint at Christmas.

We have been busy with all the usual things. I've been able to go on a few splits with the sisters and of course we make our weekly trip to G's(lady from Brazil) house outside of Vigo with the sisters. She did decide to move back to Brazil and leave her partner. I hope she will keep seeing the missionaries when she gets there. I doubt she'll be ready for baptism before she leaves. But maybe I need to be more positive.

Christmas party in English

Christmas party in English

You saw pictures of our Christmas party with our english class. It actually was fun (Cameron). I think everyone had a good time. Three of our beginning students are muslim so that was interesting. They told us some things about the Savior's birth that I was unaware of. We said to them that the Bible didn't mention those facts and they said well that the Koran did. Hmmmmmm.

Parque Castro in the middle of
Vigo.

Parque Castro in the middle of
Vigo.

Monday Larry took all four missionaries to see some of the sights in Vigo and then to lunch. I started my bake-a-thon to prepare for all the Christmas events. I made pumpkin bread, banana bread, ginger snickerdoodles, cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls and cupcakes with peppermint frosting (found some Hershey's peppermint bars at our American food store). Everything is in the freezer except the cupcakes and they were for the english class party and FHE right after. They got rave reviews. I still have some cheeseballs to make for zone devotional Monday and pretzels to dip and maybe some sugar cookies if I can find time before now and Christmas eve. Not to mention the rest of the food for Christmas eve and Christmas day.

The internet connection here (in our hotel room) is terrible. By the time I had finished writing this last night I had lost the connection so when I tried to send this email I couldn't. You all take care and we'll talk to you on Christmas day if not sooner. Love to all.

Mom and Dad