Aug 22, 2014

Hello dear family,

We hope all is well with you and yours and those of you with school age kids are back in the swing. We have 5 grandkids in school which is hard to even comprehend, one of which is in middle school. Even harder to comprehend. Oh and we can't forget about Beckham who will soon be starting preschool. 

Monday morning we left for A Caruna with the Jacksons to attend zone conference. After arriving checking in etc. the Jacksons met up with the elders at the chapel and took a bus with them out to the Torre de Hercules. We drove instead of taking the bus. The tower is the oldest functioning lighthouse in the world and Is quite majestic as it stands at the tip of a peninsula on the Atlantic ocean. We all had lunch together at a restaurant near the tower which was so so. Then all the elders played soccer at a soccer field they had reserved for an hour and a half. The Hermanas, Jacksons, Dad and I just watched the soccer game and chatted. Those elders really enjoyed their game time and played hard. Later on in the evening we went back to the church together and watched the movie "Ephraim's Rescue." Everyone enjoyed the movie and the treats that went along with it.

Next morning we were up early to be at the church by 9:30 for zone conference at 10. Zone conferences are one of my favorite mission events. There is a real spirit of unity when we meet all together and are taught by Pres. and Sister Jackson and the assistants. The messages were wonderful, timely and as always so up lifting.  We said goodbye to all the missionaries and the Jacksons after a lunch of pizza. The Jacksons and the assistants flew back to Madrid and the rest of the elders dispersed on trains back to their respective cities. We drove the hermanas home with us so they would be on time for an appointment they had set up.

Later that night we had our JAS activity which was well attended and a lot of fun. We talked about ways we could improve after solving a scripture puzzle about qualites we need in our lives. We played a game of clues and pantomime guessing famous people. We made some plans for a going away party for Andriv  who will leave on his mission the 16th of Sept. I don't know if I mentioned our trip to Madrid with him and Joshua, another JAS so he could get his visa for Mexico. We got him there with every document they had told him to bring but they weren't satisfied and wanted the identification papers of the person in the legal department for the church in Mexico that had arranged everything. We hope he can get everything settled with them this next week when he is in Madrid to receive his endowment. We are going to Madrid to attend his endowment session.

The sisters made contact with Teo (african gentleman) again. These are new sisters that haven't worked with him before. We had an appointment to meet with him last night but he didn't show. When they called him before the appt. to see if he was coming he said he would be there. Well an hour past so they called again and this time he said he couldn't meet with them until tomorrow. So supposedly we are meeting him tonight at 7. 

President and sister Bamio (district Pres.) had us and the elders over for lunch today. We had a delicious lunch of lasagna and great conversation. They are a family from Venezuela although Pres. Bamio's parents were born in Spain and migrated to Venezuela. (I think that's the story) We have met so many wonderful people here in this mission and that has been such a blessing to us to have new and rewarding friendships. It's funny how important all these people have become to us in 7 short months. We didn't know any of them before that. We make the sacfrifice of leaving family and friends behind and the Lord blesses us with an abundance of more new friends than we would ever have met staying put in Orem.

I better get ready just in case Teo does come to meet with us tonight (I need more faith) and after that is branch council so our day isn't over yet. 

Take care everyone and know we love you.

Mom and Dad

Aug 17, 2014

Hello to everyone,

We hope everyone is doing well, especially Liam since his surgery today. Sure hope the tubes help him overcome his ear infections. We miss you all and love talking to you via facetime. Thanks for keeping in touch.

Today was the first day of our Senior couples seminar, or as Larry named it "the retreat from the heat" since all the couples are coming from Madrid or other hot parts of Spain. We met together at 9 for some presentations, one by your dad about using the buildings as a missionary tool, and then from the Lopezes who are the couple in charge of housing for the mission. We also watched a video about the purpose of temples. We played a getting to know you game then had district meeting with the young missionaries when they arrived at 11:15. The Pontevedre Elders, Beuden and  Johnson  missed their bus to Vigo and since Elder Beuden is the district leader and in charge of the meeting he was a little panicked. They arrived at the bus stop a little early but the bus had already left or it didn't come at all because today is a national holiday and the bus schedules can change. Elder Beuden called your dad while he was just finishing the presentation and for some reason he handed me the phone to answer. After hearing the Elders plight and a plea for a ride I reassured them he'd come right away to pick them up. It's a twenty minute drive one way and they were only a half an hour late instead of hours if they'd had to wait for the next bus. We had an excellent meeting conducted by Elder Beuden with all of the young missionaries participating. Then we had a lunch of Dominoe's pizza, salad, and desserts.

Larry and I were in charge of setting everything up for the meeting since we live here. We went over to the church last night and with the help of the Lopezes, who are staying with us, we got the tables set for lunch and chairs arranged for the meeting. Then we went and bought drinks and put them in the fridge at the church to be cold for lunch today. I came home and made salad dressing and cut up all the veggies for the salad.

Well it is now Sunday night and all of the Seniors have returned back to Madrid and other locals. Our Saturday meeting was  enriching and light hearted. The Arjonas from Madrid gave training for the JAS program and lots of good ideas, inspiration , and encouragement. They are over all of the JAS for all of Spain so they go train to all three missions. It was good to have some real direction and help with what can be less well defined than other church programs. They are both amazing people with some very good insights. President and Sister Jackson gave praise and instruction that was needed and helpful. After that was a talent show. Now that was fun and relaxing. Such cute ideas some of these couples came up with. Your dad had all the men come up and sing "Besame Mucho" to all the wives and it was a show stopper. At the end of the song all the wives ran up and kissed their husbands. I know cheesy but fun. President Jackson played the accordion and of course "Lady of Spain" was the chosen number. Great fun.

The afternoons and evenings of Friday and Saturday were free time so all the couples took advantage of seeing some of the beautiful sights in this area.  Some went to Portugal and others to SantiagoFriday. Saturday everyone went to La Toja, an island north of Vigo with a famous luxury hotel on it. A pretty exclusive island to be sure. Many wealthy Madrilenos go there to spend their vacations and escape the heat of Madrid. I do think one couple went to the beach here in Vigo rather than the island.

All the senior couples came to Church today and the people in the branch were so welcoming and glad to have all of them there. One couple sang a beautiful arrangement of "If the Savior Stood Beside Me", part in spanish and part in english. Both of them were Tabernacle choir members so that tells you the quality of their singing. Some couples left after sacrament meeting and others right after the block. The Jacksons stayed behind for zone conference Tuesday so we had them over for dinner. 

We visited a lovely elderly Cuban lady today along with the hermanas. She's pretty much homebound and the sisters have been working on arranging for priesthood brethren to bring her the sacrament. She's been in Spain for 20 years but lived in Cuba before that. She talked a lot about the devastation in her country and the hardships the people face because of the corrupt government and dictatorship of Fidel Castro. Never a day goes by here in our mission that I don't stop and realize all the blessings that I have enjoyed my entire life when so many others face such difficult hardships and challenges. We have been given much and it is our responsibility and blessing to give back.

There is so much more I could say but I am so exhausted that I am going to end now. We love you all and could use a few more facetime calls.

Love,

Mom and Dad

Aug 8, 2014

Dearest family,

Hello to all of you and we hope everyone is doing well. We started the day today after study etc. by going over to the church and setting up everything the way we want it to look for the open house next Tue. We actually were figuring out the most practical and appealing way to have everything situated so the day of the open house we know what we're doing. One of our JAS guys came and helped us because his mom has a library key and all of our stuff was in the library. It took longer than I thought it would but was well worth the time spent to be better prepared for Tuesday morning. We are hoping to have a lot of support from the branch, the JAS, and young missionaries. The open house has been talked about and announced quite a bit so we just need to have faith in the members and our prayers for the Lord's help. We treated Andriv (JAS) to lunch (lunch here is at 3), after he spent a few hours helping us.

Later this evening the hermanas came over with one of the YW and another girl whose parents are members but she isn't; however, she attends all the meetings and lives a "mormon" lifestyle. We watched the Joseph Smith Video and then the hermanas gave her a lesson about gaining a testimony and feeling the spirit. We had a wonderful discussion and shared personal experiences of gaining a testimony and the blessings of the gospel in our lives. I think she has a testimony already but just doesn't realize it yet. This young girl has an older sister JAS age, not a member either, that comes to Sacrament Meeting sometimes but rarely anything else. We have invited her many times to JAS activities with no luck whatsoever. 

We had the most amazing Fast and Testimony meeting Sunday. It was the best meeting I've attended since being in Vigo. There were three babies blessed by their fathers and all three families are strong and active. One of the Fathers asked Larry to stand in the circle and help bless the baby. There hasn't been one single baby blessing since we arrived here in Vigo and then to have three precious little infants born so close together and blessed the same day was such a happy sweet event for this branch. There is another strong young family expecting a baby in 5 months so the branch is growing in more ways than just convert baptisms. There was such a feeling of joyousness Sunday at our meetings.

Speaking of convert baptisms, the hermanas had a sister baptized this past Saturday whom they had taught. This lady is a good friends with one of the women in our ward, which is always helpful when a member is involved in the teaching and fellowshipping. All of the new sister's children came to her baptism, which was exciting that she had so much support from her family. They also came Sunday to see her confirmation. The husband died a while back so it's just the mom and her kids who are all young adults. We took her home from church last week and had such a fun time talking on the ride  to  her home across the bay. She is from Venezuela and just full of the joy of life. Normally she takes a ferry to get to Vigo but they don't run on Sundays so we gave her a ride. It's 15 minutes by ferry and about 40 by car. Of course you have to get to and from the ferry.

Monday was transfers and elder Elder Hendrix, who was only here one transfer, was moved to A Caruna and is now one of our zone leaders. In his place came elder Daniels from ID just out of the Madrid MTC. His companion, Elder McAllister will be training him for the next six weeks.Larry was up early getting elders to the train station. Then around three we went to the bus station and picked up hermana Braithwait. Our hermana's companionship is now a trio with the addition of hermana Braithwait from ID. Sister Shouwman is going home mid transfer thus the trio for now, We lost both of our sisters in Pontevedre and they won't be replaced because a huge group of hermanas are going home and not as many are coming in so there is a shortage. Elder Beuden the elder from AZ is our new district leader and he did a great job with his first district meeting Wednesday. Larry likes him because he nixed wearing suits to district meeting.  

We had all of the elders and hermanas over for lunch Saturday not knowing elder Hendrix would be leaving so I am glad we all got to spend that time together. We had a request from a couple of our JAS to come to lunch on Sunday and bring a nonmember friend that is interested in the church. The girl interested in the church is from the Philipines and is here in Spain as a nanny to a Spanish family. I was a little panicked because I didn't see the message asking to have lunch with us the next day until after 9 Saturday night and by then all the stores were closed. Luckily I was able to come up with a fairly decent meal from what I had on hand but I was up pretty late getting things ready for lunch after our meetings the next day. Thank goodness for cake mixes that make an easy, quick, yummy dessert

It's been a good week and we are ever grateful to be here working with all the wonderful people we cross paths with. We learn so much each day and enjoy such glorious blessings being able to serve and have the influence of the spirit in our lives each day.We encourage all of you to live the best you can and take care of those wonderful grandkids of ours. You are all so blessed with wonderful children and meeting their needs and teaching them the gospel is your greatest responsibility. It's not an easy task and sometimes requires strength we may not have but when we bring children into the world it is up to us as their parents to see they get all that they need to grow and become happy functioning individuals.

Take care. We love you all so much. You are always in our prayers.

Mom and Dad

Jul 31, 2014

Hey dear Family,

We've talked to all of you today and feel caught up on the happenings in your busy lives. You all seem in good spirits and are pressing forward trying to live good lives. We are so thankful for each one of you and look forward to talking with you and the grands on a regular basis.

So as far as the past week goes there aren't a lot of new and exciting things to write about so I will attempt to make this as interesting as possible.

We are still inspecting apartments so last Thursday we went to Pontevedre to inspect the elder's apartment. Of course while we were there we took them and the hermanas that live in Pontevedre to lunch. We had previously inspected the hermana's apartment so it wasn't necessary to do that again. We went to a Chinese buffet that was actually not so bad as far as buffets go and we had a good time getting to know these four young missionaries better. One elder is from Mesa, AZ so we feel a little more connected with him already, the other elder comes from MT, one hermana from CA and the other is from the south of Spain. Elder Saunders is tall with red hair and hermana Snelson is somewhat tall with red hair and they say sometimes when they meet the same people at different times in the city the people will tell them they have already talked with their brother or sister. Do all red heads look alike? After lunch we were able to meet with a young man JAS age that the hermanas were having their first lesson with, so they asked us to stay while they gave him the lesson. He is such a delightful young man who is so full of enthusiasm and already knows so much about the church. We were supposed to meet again Monday but he cancelled. This happens a lot with investigators and is always a bit of a disappointment but the missionaries just keep on trying and working with patience and faith. I hope the hermanas will continue to invite us to come to his lessons. Larry went with the Vigo Elders later that same evening to help teach an investigator that wasn't there so again patience and faith.

We spent Monday doing some more exploring around Vigo for the upcoming Senior conference in August. We went to a large park in the city and visited a mansion located there that is now an art museum with nice gardens behind it. Since it was Monday the museum was closed. I'm not sure how much the couples would enjoy this since they are coming from Madrid that has the National Palace and its much grander gardens. We did go to the local beach Monday night to walk along the promenade and enjoy the coolness and beautiful sunset over the ocean. We spent about two hours there just enjoying the stroll and people watching. We also ran into two families from the branch and had fun talking to them for a while. 

Our JAS activity last night went really well. Some of our kids are at the Spain Conference for JAS so we weren't sure we'd get too many attending but we had a fair number show up. We had two kids come that hadn't attended for a while so that was nice. From face book and instagram you know we played JENGA and it was a riot. Of course I would be the one who knocked the first tower down but in my defense I had never played before and I was so  nervous that my hands shook a little. (YIKES) We also had a brief practice directing music. Larry started teaching them that while I was gone. We had lots of fun and some good food. We served brownies, lemon bars, veggies and Ranch dip, crackers and a cheese ball. I try to make enough treats to stretch to district meeting the next morning and branch FHE the next evening. I spend a lot of time shopping and in the kitchen but I really love making food for everyone. At FHE tonight several people raved about the ranch dip and said it was so good, how did I make it, and they'd never tasted anything like it before.  The young American missionaries always love it when I bring out the ranch. Maybe we should say as "American as ranch dip" instead of apple pie.

Today after district meeting we took the Ourense Elders home so we could inspect their apt. It's a one hour drive to get there and after the apt. check we went to lunch and had a great chat with these two wonderful Elders, one from CA and the other from Camaroon. These lunches are one of our favorite things to do with the missionaries to help us to get to know them and develop a camaraderie with them. We also get opportunities to teach with them from time to time and really enjoy that aspect of our association with the young missionaries. They usually do the teaching and we share our feelings and testimony plus we're always good for an opening or closing prayer.

Like I said not much new to share with you all but we are still happy and busy serving here in Vigo. Love to you all.

Mom and Dad

Jul 24, 2014

Hi all in UT, WA, and CA,

I have been back in Vigo one week so it's time to start writing again to all of you back home. I spent a glorious two weeks with Mallory, Mark, and baby Griffin and felt so happy to be able to do that. I was glad to see all of you kids and grands. Thanks to the CA family and Wa family for making the trek to UT while I was there. It was great to spend the fourth with all of you and the extended Arnetts and a few extended Mortensens. It's been a while since we were all together on the 4th. Of course we missed Larry and Danny so I guess technically we weren't all together on the 4th. There is nothing better than spending time with family especially darling grandchildren. It was a smidge harder to come back and get in the swing than I had anticipated but one week later I feel adjusted back to missionary life.

I arrived in Madrid Wed. afternoon and it was so hot. Not much hotter than UT but it just seemed hotter. More humidity I think. There is a lot to be said for "dry heat." We had a hotel for the night near my old Residencia during my semester abroad days so we did some visiting of old haunts. After a short nap we went to dinner then took off walking to see all the old familiar places we could make it to in one evening. It was such a lot of fun to remember younger days and be glad for where we are in life now. 

We headed back to Vigo Thursday morning and made two stops to visit the cities of Avila and Salamanca. Another hot day and we were out in the heat so much. Avila is the sight of an old Romanesque wall, built  in Medieval  times as a protection for the city. Avila is also filled with Gothic and Romanesque churches. It is one of Spain's several World Heritage Cities.I had been there back in "73" and I do remember the wall but nothing else seemed at all familiar to me. The next stop was Salamanca that boasts Spain's oldest University. Nothing about this city seemed familiar from my visit 41 years ago. As a side note I was jet lagged and very hot, so I wasn't that excited to be there but Larry enjoyed seeing everything and I think we'll need to go back and spend more time there in the fall, when it is cooler.

Thursday I crashed and burned trying to get over jet lag. I don't even remember doing much except restocking the fridge and cupboards with food from the grocery store. Friday Larry's cousin's daughter (Maddi Moffat) came to stay the night from Leon where she had been studying Spanish with a group from ASU. She was on her way to Portugal to meet her brother and do some backpacking through a few other European countries. We picked her up at the train station during a rain storm and then took her home for dinner and chatting. She left the next morning around 9. We got a call from her as the train was pulling out that she had left one of her phones here with some of her stuff she had asked us to mail home for her. It was her European phone so she needed it. Larry made a last minute trip to Porto Portugal to meet her train and give her the phone. Good times!!!

It was so great to see everyone in the branch again Sunday morning at church. It is amazing how attached I feel to the members here in Vigo. Larry and I taught the YMYW /JAS Sunday School class. All together we probably had about 14 kids from ages 12 to 20 something. Interesting dynamic. Later that afternoon President Jakson's wife and 2 sons arrived in Vigo while Pres Jackson was with the District President at a meeting in another city. We had them all except President over for dinner then we took them out to see some of the gorgeous views around Vigo, to visit old town, and then to see the beach. Around 7 Pres Jackson was at our building doing temple recommend interviews and we ( the missionaries) were doing "pancake night" for members to bring their nonmember friends to eat pancakes and watch a church video. We had an awesome crowd that night because of all the people there for interviews. 

Monday we spent with the Jackson's taking them to Valenca in Portugal, Porto in Spain and then ending up in Baiona for lunch where we parted ways so they could have some time at the beach and then head to the airport and back to Madrid. We had such a good time with them and their sons. They are lovely people so dedicated to the missionary work here in Spain.
Tuesday I had to get back in the food making swing for JAS that night and district meeting the next day. I baked 6 dozen snickerdoodles and made cheese balls for these activities. Everyone said how much they missed me as they were chowing down on the refreshments. Hmmmmm! For JAS  we watched the movie the "Saratov Approach." We have several young men mission age that I hope were moved a little bit by the movie. There are some very powerful moments during the telling of the story of the missionaries'  kidnapping. 

District meeting was a shot in the arm that I was in need of. It was a timely reminder of the importance of this work we are here in Spain to do on behalf of the Lord. It was also great to get back together with the young elders and sisters. FHE was well attended last night as was english class. Not to be redundant, but I do feel back in the swing.

Today was a fun day for us. President Jackson asked us to find things for the senior couples to do in Vigo while they are here in August for a special two day conference. So we took the tour bus around the city to see what that was like so we could recommend it as a worthwhile activity. Even though it's a mission conference there will be a fair amount of free time to fill for relaxation and sightseeing. There were two cruise ships in port today so the bus was full of cruise ship tourists, mostly older couples (like us). However we were the only missionaries. 

We just got back from taking the hermanas home for the night and then we're going to bed ourselves. We were up so early this morning that bedtime sounds really good to us.

Take Care and know we love you all.

Mom and Dad

Jun 27, 2014

Hi to all the fam,

Well my mind is blank as to what we did last week but I am thinking. I do remember we had missionary movie night at the church last Friday. It was an activity designed to get people to bring their nonmember and less active friends for a relaxing evening. We showed the move "Ephraim's Rescue" which I had never seen. It's really well done and I enjoyed it so much. We had a pretty decent turnout, served popcorn and drinks to make it feel like a real movie event.

Saturday we drove up to A Caruna to check two sets of elder's apartments. I'm glad I'm not a young missionary and I'll leave it at that. We took the elder's out to lunch after the apt checks to a little neighborhood restaurant, which are typical here in the north. There are one or more of this style of restaurant on every city block. They have similar menus, they're fairly inexpensive, and most serve a decent hamburger so what is not to like. After lunch we attended the baptism for a father whose wife and kids are already members and have been recently reactivated. The missionaries love a baptism that completes a family's membership so it was a wonderful event for everyone. After the baptism we had an activity with the JAS in the A Caruna branch. We showed a video about the atonement, the elder's bore their testimonies, we played games, and then ate hot dogs, chips, cookies and brownies. We had a nice turnout and got better acquainted with the kids in that branch. Their was a young women there that is getting baptized next Wed. evening and I am so sad I won't be here to go to the baptism. But more happy that I'll be in UT with Mallory and Griffin.

Sunday night we took Hermana Giler to the bus station to catch a midnight bus to Madrid. She flew home to Barcelona on Tuesday. We had a few problems getting her on the bus because the office elders overlooked the detail that she needed a ticket and not just a confirmation number. We got her on the bus but she had to buy another ticket. We are sad to see her go but happy for her to start another phase of her life. Hermana Seastrand spent the night with us and we had to have her at the train station Monday at 7:30 along with Elder Sargent because they were both transferred to new areas. We got them off and two missionaries came from Pontevedre, Sister Snelson to spent the day with us and Elder Saunders to be with Elder McAllister until their new companions arrived. I fixed what Larry has named our "babysitting breakfast" which is scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and OJ. The missionaries all seem to really enjoy having this typical American breakfast even if they aren't American.

Around  1:30 we all went back to the train station to meet all the incoming transfers. Sister Nydegger, Sister Shoaman, and Elder Hendrix who will all be serving here in Vigo. We went to our apt. and fed them lunch and then made a few trips to deliver luggage, sisters, and elders. It was a long day. 

Tuesday we had the weekly JAS FHE. Larry and I are going to teach a lesson from Preach My Gospel every week. He taught the Plan of Salvation this week. These kids know there stuff and we had really good participation. I have loved studying  Preach My Gospel on a daily basis with Larry. That's been a wonderful blessing for us. After the less we (okay Larry) taught the kids to play 42. They caught on pretty quickly and we had a fun night. I made cinnamon and white chocolate popcorn and cheesy popcorn for treats. I took the same popcorn to branch FHE Wed. night and it was a hit there also.

Thanks to our talented Mallory,who designed them for us, we got all our visuals to a printer yesterday and hopefully they'll be ready by Monday. We are having 7 posters made that we will be using for weekly open houses at the church. The subjects they depict are The B of M, Temples, and Family History. We hope to involve the JAS and other branch members with the open houses. There is so much foot traffic that passes our building on a daily basis that we are hoping to attract a few interested people. People are always stopping to look at the sign with the church's name and at the posters in the window so who knows. 

We shopped earlier today to prepare for lunch after Sunday. We have invited all the JAS to come over and eat and just have some good conversation. I am making Italian food and can't find Italian sausage for the spaghetti sauce so I found all the spices and I made my own. It has to sit for 12 or more hours before it can be cooked . I hope it's good. I am trying to make as much ahead as I can so tomorrow I'll be in the kitchen most of the day.

We just got home from branch council after a two week break because the entire branch presidency has been out of town and the executive secretary is in the hospital. Sunday a member of the district presidency presided and conducted sacrament meeting. The poor executive secretary has the same problem your dad had only much worse. We visited him yesterday and he looked good but is in so much pain and told us he is unable to walk. He will probably end up having surgery. He is in the same hospital Larry was so they commiserated a bit.

I will be home Tuesday night as we booked my ticket today a few hours before Mallory went into labor so I most likely won't be there when she comes home from the hospital. I feel so bad about that but it I'll be there soon after. Can't wait to meet baby Griffin and see all of you again for two weeks. I love it here but there's no place like home and no people better than family.

Love to you all,

Mom and Dad

Jun 19, 2014

Hi dearest family.

The past few days in Vigo have been warm and we now know our apt can double as a giant oven. The sun pours in from the north and the east all morning until early afternoon, about 2 when it finally is past our windows. Our mornings begin cool because thankfully the nights are cool. We close up the blinds and windows as soon as the sun begins to shine through the glass and the coolness lasts a bit longer. But when the sun is directly on all the windows it heats up our metal blinds which in turns raises the temperature in our apartment until it is uncomfortable even with fans blowing constantly. Today we are having a respite from the heat with much cooler temps, slight cloudiness, and a mild breeze. It feels like heaven. 

Last Friday we spent our day with the elders and sisters painting a bedroom for a family in our branch. They are expecting a new baby in a week or so and the sisters volunteered to help with the painting so we all decided to join in. You know how much your dad likes painting?!! But he does know how to do it and he got us all organized after sending some of us to the store to get the right materials, and back again and again. He had us taping, draping and cutting in the edges before we knew it. We actually got three coats of paint on the walls and it looked very nice. It took us from 11-5 which included a lunch break at Domino's Pizza, while the elders went to lunch at a members house. The elders also scrubbed the mold off of the ceilings and walls in the bedroom we painted and two other bedrooms. Mold is a huge problem in this part of the world and so unhealthy especially for a new baby. The family seemed so appreciative of our help.

Saturday was the beginning of our District Conference. We had a visiting Area Authority Seventy, Elder Donaldson, from Wales. What an incredible man he is and what an impression he left here in just two short days. Larry had a two hour Priesthood Leadership meeting starting at 4 and then there was a special meeting for the JAS and YMYW with Elder Donaldson at 6pm. He came and sat down by us in the chapel before the meeting and chatted for a few minutes. He and Larry know some of the same people so it was fun to get to know him a bit. During the meeting he spoke with the young people in such a personal gentle way that involved humor and participation. It was a great meeting and I think everyone fell in love with him that night. Then we had the adult session at 8 and his approach was again so personal and engaging that anyone there couldn't help but feel the spirit and the strength of his message to bring our lost friends and family back to the fold. Sunday we drove up to Santiago for the Sunday session that took place in a large rented auditorium. As choir members we had to be there an hour early. This meeting was very powerful also hearing from Pres. Bamio, A counselor in the mission Presidency (forgot his name), Sister Rodrigues ( wife of a counselor in the district Presidency).  We also enjoyed testimonies from two YA preparing to serve missions. Brother Donaldson did not disappoint once again. He shared some very moving personal experiences, shared scriptures and likened them to our life and our experiences as parents, youth, and members who are trying to live the gospel each day, serve, and flourish in a world that in which it is difficult to live. He is a very kind and understanding man that speaks from his heart through the Spirit.

The sisters came over and made gourmet hamburgers for my birthday Monday and the elders made Skor bar cake for dessert. Everything was delicious and very enjoyable. Later that night some of the JAS came over and surprised me with roses and more cake to eat. Again lots of fun.

Tuesday we pretty much got ready for our JAS activity which was a Photo scavenger hunt. I was busy part of the day making refreshments for the activity and District meeting the next morning. I made mini fruit pizzas and cheesy pull apart bread and both seemed well liked by both groups.
Wed. was district meeting and after that we went to visit a ward member in the hospital that had just had her baby. It made me really antsy to get home and be with Mallory and her new baby. Later that day I made finger sandwiches for Branch FHE which doubled as a going away for Hermana Giler who will leave Vigo Sunday for Madrid and fly home to Barcelona Tuesday. We are going to miss her so much she is an excellent missionary and has been a joy to work with. Today we took her out to lunch for a more personal farewell.

Larry just left for guitar lessons. He is going to be doing that every Thursday at the church for anyone that is interested. We know one of our JAS is interested. He has a guitar and has had a couple of informal lessons with Larry so this will just be more formal and consistent. I better close for now so I can go to the store and pick up items to make dinner for the new mom just home from the hospital.

You all  take care.

We love you.

Mom and Dad