Jan 22, 2015

Well as of two days ago we have been on our mission one year. We entered the MTC January 20th of 2014. We have just six months to go and it feels like the time is slipping away too fast and this wonderful experience will end before we know it. 

Sunday was pretty typical with church, our Sunday School class, visiting, and the pancake night for investigators. We didn't have too many there but sometimes that is nice because it gives us a more of a chance to talk one on one and get to know people better.

The elders have had two miracles in a row. A man walked into the church building one Saturday night off the street and the elders happen to be there in the foyer and he told them he has been searching for God and he agreed to have a lesson right then. The next day he came to church and they have been teaching him regularly since then. Then the next week ,on Sunday night, another gentleman walked in off the street and the elders happened to be the ones to talk to him. Now he is having the lessons and has been to a few of our activities but so far hasn't attended church. Both events are certainly unusual and not at all the norm.

There is this lady of a different religion here in Vigo that is committed to setting the missionaries straight about the false church they belong to. She has been leaving letters, since we've been here, and  for quite a while before that, in front of the church doors, that talk about how the church is wrong and we're misguided and her church is right. I have actually never read one of the letters but they show up every so often. One day a lady came into the church when all six of us missionaries were there and she asked for a Doctrine and Covenants saying she had read the Book of Mormon and now wanted to read the Doctrine and Covenants. We were unable to give her one but she agreed to meet for a lesson with the elders. Well it turns out she is the Crazy lady that leaves the letters and the meeting was pretty much her just dissing the church. Then the next day she came to the church and the sisters were there giving a lesson and she just came in and sat down and wouldn't let up about how wrong the church was. She actually got a little hostile and insulting so the sisters had to firmly tell her she needed to leave. The sisters said they saw her on the street the other day and she waved and was friendly and told them they were good people but wrong. I guess the world is full of interesting people.

Monday started with making chicken soup and applesauce for two of our JAS that are sick and delivering that to them. They are brother and sister and their parents are in Peru for a month. There grandmother and grandfather live nearby so they aren't completely abandoned. After that we took the young missionaries to our favorite restaurant, Foster's Hollywood, for lunch then the sisters came home with us so I could alter some skirts for sister Bennett and they did all their e-mailing while they were here. I also did some mending for Elder McFarland who only had one pair of pants that wasn't ripped out in various places. I was able to borrow the Relief Society sewing machine or I couldn't have altered the skirts and the pants would have been a nightmare to repair.

We have a new district leader and one new missionary in our zone as of this past transfer. We were affected very little by the transfers. The next one I think there will be a change or two here in Vigo but you never know.

We went with the sisters to visit Mavick, a member of our branch from Angola that is very ill with kidney failure. We took him some soup and had a nice chat with him. We spent the last half hour of our visit just singing hymns with him which was such a sweet experience for all of us. He is a good man and I know he has a place in the Celestial Kingdom waiting for him. He is always at the train station to say goodbye whenever any Vigo missionary leaves for a new assignment or for home. He loves the missionaries.

We had the JAS olympics for our activity Tuesday night. We talked about the word of wisdom and listened to an excerpt from a conference talk about the importance of physical fitness as it relate to spiritual well being. Then we had several "olympic events" and awards for gold, silver, and bronze for each event. The kids had a riot and we loved watching their enthusiastic participation. We then had fruit skewers and apple oatmeal muffins for refreshments. It was a great evening. 

Today we caught up on laundry, cleaning, and grocery shopping. Once I get this e-mail sent I will consider it a good day. I hope all of you are well and happy. You are in our prayers and we love you.

Mom and Dad

Jan 16, 2015

I can't sleep so it's email time instead.  The weather has changed as of two days ago. We had a couple of rainstorms in October and then it has been sunny and dry up until recently, which is not at all normal for Vigo winters. It usually rains about 70% of the time during the fall and winter months. It has been so beautiful, cool to almost cold but with sunshine. We've been able to do lots of walking during the last months without worrying if it will rain. It looks like the rain has arrived and if it is anything like last year it will be steady until the end of March and then it will be less and less until mid June. I have thoroughly enjoyed the winter months so far and I still have a love for rain in my heart, after growing up in the desert where it was a rare event, so I actually don't mind the rain that much.The women of Vigo have been able to don their fur coats this winter where last winter I never noticed anyone in fur, I assume because of the last year's wetter weather. I have seen some gorgeous furs. 

There are camelia trees lining many Vigo streets and they have begun blossoming and it is a beautiful sight to behold as one travels the city. They brighten the city with their lovely colors and it is such a wonder to have trees flowering in January. They were all in bloom last year when we arrived and it was impressive to arrive at a city in February that was so colorful. In December they planted poinsettias all over the city in the street planter boxes, meridians, and roundabouts.. It was such a festive sight. Most of all them have being switched out now for shade flowers. Vigo does an excellent job keeping their streets groomed and full of colorful trees and flowers.

One of the Africana gentlemen the sisters and I have been teaching, well I've been at two of the discussions, committed to baptism and a date was set for it. He is so enthusiastic about the gospel and says he feels so happy to have found the church. The other African man we have been teaching is progressing but says he has not received an answer to his prayers about the Book of Mormon and baptism. I personally think he has but doesn't recognize that he has. He seems to want a more definite experience. The sisters gave an excellent lesson tonight about baptism and recognizing the subtleties of the spirit. He is very quiet and thoughtful so it may take him a bit longer to make his decision. He came to church Sunday and really liked all the meetings and that is great progress.

Just regular routine stuff going on. Monday and Tuesday I baked. We had JAS game night, district meeting, english class, FHE, and various visits and discussions with the young elders and sisters. One of the elders is sick with stomach flu so yesterday I made him chicken soup and applesauce. He didn't actually eat any until today and it was after your dad went to the pharmacy and got him some medication the mission president's wife recommended. He was at the church this evening, when I was there for a discussion, pale but unwilling to go home early and go back to bed. I hope none of the rest of us get what he had since he seemed pretty miserable for two days.

Wow I wrote this and never got it sent. That was Thursday and now it's Saturday. Not much new just a big district meeting here this morning from 11-1. The employment specialist for the church in all of Spain came to explain the new Self Sufficiency program to the district leaders and auxiliary heads. Larry was invited but I taught english instead and helped the sisters with a lesson they gave to a Chinese woman that is a recent contact.  Then we had lunch with the sisters and later drove them to a part of Vigo I had never seen to have a lesson with some less active members. Since then we have been home doing this and that and getting our Sunday School lesson ready for tomorrow.

Love to you all,

Mom and Dad

Jan 9, 2015

It's been a pretty typical and enjoyable week and this email is long overdue. We missed the branch New Years Ever party mainly because it didn't start until 11:30 and Larry was fast asleep by then and I was tired. And the fact that it lasted until 5 in the morning was just not something we were up for. As I have talked to various members of the branch they have said the party was fun and they danced and danced. Oh to be able to dance like a Latin. They definitely have a natural rhythm and the limberest of hips.

I have been able to help the sisters teach a gentleman from Ghana 4 discussions. It has been such a pleasure for me to be included in the teaching of this humble man that is searching for the truth. I hope he will listen to the spirit as he reads the Book of Mormon and prays.

Sunday Larry and I gave a Sunday School lesson to the JAS about the Book of Mormon and elaborated on the ideas that it is the keystone of our religion. Larry has been giving the Sunday lessons pretty much himself but we decided I need to help him so that the kids hear from me and know that I have a testimony of all that is being taught. We challenged them to read the Book of Mormon everyday this year. They need the power of the Book in their lives ,as we all do, but some of them have so many challenges besetting them.

Tuesday was Dia de los Magos here in Spain which is an equal, if not more celebrated, day as Christmas. All stores and businesses are closed and families give gifts again and have a big dinner. This time the gifts are from the three Kings instead of Santa. We could here our little neighbor boys open the door in the morning and excitedly yell "regalos regalos." Apparently the gifts are left outside the door since the tradition is to put straw in shoes and leave them outside and the the king's camels can eat the straw.

We had a JAS activity Tuesday night because it had been two weeks since having one and we didn't want to wait another week to get together. We only had about 4 people come because of the holiday. Although in addition we did have the sister missionaries there. It's so good to have them come because it really adds to the activity and they are setting a great example for our young adults.

Wednesday was zone conference in Santiago. Another great meeting taught by Elder Hendrix and Elder McFarland. The mainly talked about the need to avoid competing, comparing, and categorizing. A good reminder for everyone. Also we were reminded of the need to plan carefully to set and achieve goals, use our agendas effectively, and review our progress everyday. It was a helpful meeting, taught by two faithful missionaries, and we came away with some good practical ideas for being better servants of the Lord.

Our english class attendance has been less because of the holidays in fact twice there has only been one person in attendance. She got some good six on one attention. This past Wednesday the numbers were back up and we divided into two groups again.

Yesterday we went to a hospital to visit a branch member that has been very ill for a couple of weeks. He has actually had to be on kidney dialysis. He is one of the kindest men, so willing to serve, and devoted to the gospel. He is from Angola and has been here in Spain for a few years. He had actually been discharged from the hospital so we were unable to see him. After that we went to a hair salon owned by a Brazilian woman in our branch who is moving back to her country. The elders and sisters have been helping her pack up her entire salon to ship overseas to Brazil. We went to help with loading it into the truck but they had finished when we got there so we followed them to the shipping docks to help unload and reload into a shipping crate. When we got arrived the shipping crate she had scheduled was too small so she had to arrange for a larger one so instead her items were unloaded into a warehouse. Most of it was unloaded by forklift but the smaller items and the awkwardly shaped items we helped unload by hand. It was interesting to get so close to the shipping docks and see all that goes on there. I am so glad this young woman (she's in her early 30's) is moving back to Brazil where the church is so much larger there. She joined here about a year ago and has been very faithful but she wants to get married and have a family and there just isn't much opportunity here. I think it's such a smart move on her part.

Today has been kind of slow so we went for a long walk and took Larry's suit to the tailor to have new buttons put on the cuffs. We discovered after several broken buttons that as we closed the closet doors, because the closest aren't deep enough, the sleeves were getting hit by the doors and breaking the buttons on the suit sleeves. We had his other suit fixed a while back and just haven't bothered to take this one in. He wears his suits so seldom that one has been enough. But we might as well get it fixed especially since the tailor shop will do it for free. Easier than buying new buttons and me doing it. We came home and studied for a while and we'll go to get groceries in a while. We did run into a branch member while we were walking, that had just left the Doctor's office and was waiting for the bus. She has been in a lot of pain because of shoulder problems, an ongoing malady. She said a member of the Branch Presidency was coming to her house in the afternoon to give her a blessing. Larry offered to come and help if he didn't have anyone to assist. We'll see if he gets a call. 

I'll end for now and say goodbye until next week. You all take care. 

Love,

Mom and Dad

Dec 30, 2014

At the fortress in Baiona, where the pinta
returned from the Americas and informed
the old world about the new world.

The narrow streets of Valenca Portugal

Today your dad is taking all 4 of the young missionaries here in Vigo on his Portugal tour. He has it down to a science now and is pretty much in "Travel Larry" mode before and during said trip. He has it timed and the stops sequenced and well you know how it goes. It's actually kind of sweet that he insists on doing this for all new missionaries that are assigned here. So I am home alone doing my thing which isn't particularly glamorous but I enjoy the time doing homey things and just reading and whatever else I may fancy doing.

Last week was so busy starting with a Zone devotional in Santiago. We drove up in the afternoon and returned home around 9:30. The elders asked me to make refreshments so I brought banana bread, cinnamon rolls, and sugar cookies. That seemed to make them all very happy. The devotional was awesome. President Bamio, our District President, spoke about the Book of Mormon which the entire mission had just finished reading also the main reason for the devotional. One fascinating point he spoke about was examples of Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon and in the Bible. Chiasmus being the order of words in a first clause being inverted in the second. Alma Chapter 30  is a great example. Just another testimony the the Book of Mormon is an inspired Book written by prophets of old and translated through divine guidance by Joseph Smith.

JAS Christmas party

Tuesday we had our JAS Christmas party so the main activity was getting ready for that. I did get a chance to teach a lesson with the sisters to an African gentleman and then they came and rolled out and frosted sugar cookies for me. I made more food some of which had been made ahead and frozen.  Later some of the JAS came to the church and we decorated and set tables for eating and serving and made everything very festive for the party. We had a great turn out with 5 nonmembers in attendance. We ate pizza and typical dishes of countries the kids are from, that they brought to share. We sang, watched a Christmas video, played games, and danced. We finished about 11:00 and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Christmas eve day was devoted to pie making and preparing for dinner the next day and dinner that evening.

Christmas Eve group photo

Around 8 the elders and sisters came over to spend Christmas eve with us. We had soup, cheesy bread, and treats. We watched several Christmas videos produced by the church including a nativity. We gave the missionaries their santa bags we had filled with some gifts from the American import store that they seemed happy with and Larry drove them home. It was a fun, quiet in some respects, compared to family get togethers, Christmas eve celebration.

Gifts from the Sisters.

Christmas day dinner

Christmas day was a typical turkey dinner around one o'clock with the elders and sisters. Another fun day of eating, watching Ephraim's rescue and playing Jenga and 42. The elders and sisters each called home while at our house so the two that weren't talking to family played 42 and then we switched. One sister got hooked real fast and didn't want to quit. She also loved bidding and had no fear of failure. Fun day. The young missionaries had until about 6:30 in the evening then it was business as usual for them. Larry and I collapsed and fell asleep for a while. I think I was actually the one who said We would call after the missionaries left so your dad is off the hook. I just fell asleep and forgot. My apologies.

Today has been quiet, (it is now Tuesday) the young missionaries haven't needed us so we are catching up on studies and going out for a walk soon. Love to all of you and we know this new year will be full of happiness and blessings for all.

Love,

Mom and Dad

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

Dec 10, 2014

I have really neglected my writing and let almost three weeks slip by. I'm not sure I can remember all that we've done but I'll catch up as best I can.

Thanksgiving day 2014 Vigo Spain

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with all the trimmings. We picked up the turkey the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and it was so big. We gave an approximate weight when we ordered it and it was bigger than we asked for but turkeys are not sold like in the states so we were glad to have it. I brined it and roasted it without an oven bag which I haven't done in years. It turned out absolutely delicious. It took me three days to get ready for Thanksgiving. Since I was making everything and given the size of my kitchen oven etc. I did a lot ahead of time. One day I spent making rolls and froze them. We only needed a couple of dozen so I used the rest of the dough for cinnamon rolls for district meeting and JAS treats. The next day I made pies although the sisters did come and help peel and slice the apples for 1 of the pies. I made four different pies because we love a varied pie selection. I also made the sweet potatoes and green beans the night before to be heated up while the turkey was resting. And yes I found Stove Top stuffing at the import store and use that instead of making stuffing from scratch.The young elders and sisters here in Vigo shared the day with us and we had a wonderful time. They were only allowed their regular two hour lunch time so it wasn't really the whole day.

There was a young man baptized a couple of weeks ago that is JAS age and we are so thrilled to have him as part of our group. He was friends with Andriv the young man that went to Mexico on a mission in Sept. He came to Andriv's goodbye FHE party and said he loved how he felt when he was there. After that the missionaries started teaching him. He immediately felt good about what he was being taught but felt like he should wait to join the church until he had finished at the university and wasn't so busy. The elders continued working with him and he kept coming to meetings and finally decided to be baptized. He is a Spaniard which is unusual because the majority of the members in Spain are Latin American so it is good to have a native Spaniard join the church.

We went with the sisters again to see the lady from the cruise ship that I previously incorrectly said was Portuguese. She is actually from Brazil. She is struggling in her life especially with her living situation and at one point was going to quit having the lessons so she could figure out what to do. One of the members here met with her along with the sisters and talked to her about how the gospel has helped her through many difficult times in her life and how the power of prayer has helped her  resolve problems and making decisions. So she met with us again and we read the book of Enos with her and talked a lot about prayer and receiving guidance from the Lord for our life choices. She seemed troubled but hopeful.

There was a big family history fair here in Vigo last Saturday. The FH reps for all of Spain came and brought their equipment and we met and had time to learn indexing, utilizing Family Search and other pertinent things. The JAS were in charge of a display about memories. We basically had old family photos displayed in some large antiqued frames we made and other photos clothes pinned to jute around the room. Then we made a really large frame that people could stand behind to take photos of them holding a heart with D&C 110:15 and the name of family member past or present they cared about. I think everyone really enjoyed our room as just a nice place to see photos and chat.

Sister Nydegger and Elder Daniels prior to Departure

This past weekend was transfers. One sister left to go home and an elder was transferred. Their train left just an hour and a half after the block on Sunday so they said their goodbyes at the branch came here to eat a quick lunch and then we took them to the train. The remaining elder went to Pontevedre until his companion arrived yesterday and sister Bennett came and stayed with us. Everyone arrived in Vigo Monday around 1:30 and came here for lunch and emailing since it was a holiday and all the stores with computers for public use were closed. We finally got them all delivered to their apts. around 5:30.

Sister Hillman (in green) and Elder McFarland (in the Sweater)
are the new arrivals. The holdovers are Sister Bennett and
Elder Rawson.

Yesterday was pretty much our P-day and we just grocery shopped and went to the import store to get items for the missionaries Christmas stockings. I also did some baking for the week. And we just studied and did odds and ends. It was nice to have a quiet day.

Our district has shrunk once again as they closed the city of Ourense and we lost two more elders. When we first arrived we had fourteen missionaries in our district and now we are down to eight. Two cities have been closed Vilagarcia and Ourense as mentioned before and the sisters taken from Pontevedre. I miss having the larger group of missionaries to meet with once a week and really miss having two more sisters in our district. Such is missionary life I am finding out.

David Archuleta is coming to Madrid the 21st to give a Christmas concert for the missionaries and some of their investigators. Unfortunately it is only for the missionaries in or near Madrid so we will miss out but I know I will survive although it would have been a nice evening. The rumor is the mission President in Paris knows him and got him to come and do at least two concerts in the Europe area that we have heard about. Madrid and Paris.

JAS Gratitude night

Our last few JAS activities have been well attended. Some come every week and others when they can but we are getting fairly large groups consistently and feel like we are helping to build some camaraderie among these kids and hopefully helping their testimonies of the gospel grow stronger. We love them so much and just want the very best for them. They are great kids with so much potential. Being able to teach them each week in Sunday School has been a real blessing for us and them. We get to talk about gospel subjects in greater depth than we could at a weekly activity.

Well I had better send this off so I'll say good bye for now.

Love to you all.

Mom and Dad

Nov 20, 2014

Hello dear family,

It's Thursday evening and another week in the mission  has come and gone. It's been a good week as always. I was sick for a couple of days but other than that it has been business as usual. We did miss a few visiting appointments because I was out of commission for a bit. Of course the greatest news of the week is the birth of our 11th grandchild Cruze. How we love each new member of our family and welcome each addition. I know Devry, Quinn, Asher and Beckham are even more excited to have this new brother in their home. Life is good.

Last Friday we and the sisters met with G again (Portuguese lady) and had a good lesson with her. She said she had been praying but hadn't felt anything spiritual. We read the introduction to the Book of Mormon with her and talked about the importance of reading and praying sincerely everyday so that the Lord knows we have a true desire to know the truth. She had said she was busy and didn't have time to read. The sister's reminded her that we have to make an effort to  receive the blessings or answers we're looking for. We talked for a while and she was willing to pray at the end of the meeting after I prayed first as an example. She then gave a really beautiful prayer. She agreed to come to church, read, and pray. She didn't make it to church but we see her again tomorrow so we'll see about the rest.

Not something the Priesthood
 brethren would do.

Saturday I was home all day sick while Larry went to teach english. He pretty much was home with me the rest of the day. I was determined to go to church Sunday since it was the Primary Program and I am glad I did. The program was wonderful, the kids sang so beautifully, said their parts so sweetly, and in general presented a program to be proud of. The Primary leaders had obviously worked with them and it showed. They had little red, yellow, and blue pom poms they would hold up and shake during the song "Our Primary Colors".  Along the hallway that leads into the chapel pictures the children had drawn, about families, were hung. That was a nice touch. Christ had a special love for little children and every year when I see the Primary Sacrament Meeting presentation I feel a small portion of what his great love must be for the little ones of the world.

At Monte Alba - Missionaries love photos of themselves
while they jump in the air.  Senior Missionaries not so much.

Monday I stayed home trying to get over my stomach troubles. Larry took the young elders and sisters to lunch for P-day then drove them outside of town to Monte Alba. From this mountain there are amazing views of Vigo, the Bay, the islands and the beaches. We had been up there in March soon after we got here so Larry thought the missionaries would like it and they did.

I baked all day Tuesday for district meeting, FHE and our JAS activity. Wed was a great district meeting focusing on being diligent as missionaries. It was a good reminder of the  need for consistency in all aspects of our lives but especially as missionaries doing this great work. Since arriving in Vigo there have been about 35 different elders and sisters in this zone of 10 and I can honestly say I have found them all to be diligent, hardworking, willing and just great missionaries. I have enjoyed knowing each of these young men and women so much.

Pizza dough

JAS origami

We had our JAS activity tonight
(Thu. instead of Tue.) trying to include three people that can't come Tuesday. One came for about 15 minutes and then left for work because they have changed his schedule and the other two didn't show up but we still had a pretty good turn out with two nonmembers there. One of them has a baptismal date so that is exciting. The sister missionaries taught  how to make pizza dough and then we later made pizzas and another girl taught some Origami and that was fun. It was a great  night with good conversation and shared talents. I feel like I've know these kids forever and love being with them and watching them interact, grow stronger in the gospel, make good choices and live their lives and prepare for the future. We can get a little frustrated now and then but we are all just doing the best we can and they're young and we have been around the block so we hopefully can be understanding and encouraging when they need it.

Love to you all,

Mom and Dad