5 1/2 Months

I just realized it has been a month since I last posted.  Time just flies by so quickly.  I have had a couple of devastating events that really slowed me down this last month.  The first: My camera was trashed.  The second: My computer bit the dust. Both of them have been giving me trouble for months.  Greg dropped my camera a few months ago, and it died a slow miserable death.   We took it to a camera shop to be repaired. 200 euros later it worked, but not well at all.  It complained constantly of blurry vision, color blindness, and fatigue.  My lens was also not working right.  Greg finally decided he owed me a new camera, and "dragged me" to the camera shop once more where we negotiated a deal for a totally awesome camera and lens. I am so excited about this camera!  It is the Cannon 70D.  I will be learning how to use it over the rest of my life.  I have been watching videos on YouTube since the Manuel is in Spanish.  The lens is the Tamron 16-300. It really rocks!  

My computer was aged, but Steve Bishop gave it a pretty good overhaul before we left for our mission.  However, it didn't take me long to make a mess of it again,  so it was giving me all kinds of grief. I was having a really hard time loading my pictures onto it, as well as other miseries. Then one day it gave up the ghost. The motor was running, but nobody was home.  We took it to the Apple store and they pronounced it dead on arrival.  Fortunately, they had a few computers available for sale.  What else could we do?  I now have a new computer.

New camera, new computer .... New life!  Well, not quite. The Apple Store couldn't get my data off my old computer, so I'm working at a disadvantage. They said I might be able to take it to a repairman who can turn my hard drive into an external hard drive so I will have the data. I know no such person in Spain.  All my computer geniuses live across a big ocean. I will most likely just wait until I get home.

Anyway, mission life continues to go on.  The temple these days seems to be feast or famine. We are either overwhelmed with too much "business" or underwhelmed by too little. Recently it has been very very slow, leaving us to twiddle our thumbs all day.  However, Saturdays have been insane!  Last Saturday we had 5 bus loads of people come.  We had around 70 youth show up for baptisms. I was assigned the entrada for the first hour in the afternoon.  It was a complete zoo!  These numbers would probably be handled comfortably in many and maybe most temples in the U.S. But most temples have at least 5 times the ordinance workers we have. We definitely had our hands full, and we always seem to manage. We can certainly feel the help of angels in our very special temple where miracles are a regular occurrence. 

Thanksgiving Day was very uneventful.  In fact, we had to work overtime on that day, due to a large number of American missionaries in the MTC.  They come to the temple each Thursday, and the shift on duty only had 1 American couple. So a few of us from the afternoon shift had to come in for the morning as well.  The cook at the temple cafeteria gave a valiant attempt at serving a turkey dinner.  It was a little too Spanish and not enough American, which accounts for why there were mostly Spanish enjoying it.  We American senior couples decided to prepare our own turkey dinner on Monday (tomorrow) and make it in American fashion. It has not been as easy as you would think.  First of all, turkey is not that popular in Spain, and hard to find.  Cranberry sauce is unheard of, and canned pumpkin does not exist. A couple of the men found a market willing to order two turkeys for us.  They went to the market to pick them up last night.  I could not believe my eyes when I saw these turkeys.  Remember "The Christmas Carol," when Scrooge tells the little boy to go buy the big turkey in the store window, and he replys, "The one that's bigger than I am?"  We have sisters that work in the temple who are smaller than these turkeys.  They won't even fit in the oven.  They have to weigh 50 pounds each.  The part of town we live in is called Pavones.  That is Spanish for "big turkeys."  No kidding!  I'll post pictures. 

That brings me to my latest frustration.  Since I got my new computer and my new camera, I wanted to post pictures of our latest travels. I told everyone I was a complete dunce when it comes to computers, but I can prove it now.  I cannot find anyway to make a new post.  I tried finding an ap for that, and was unsuccessful.  No matter what I googled I could get the blog, but no place to make a new post.  It even appeared that I was logged in, but no option to make a post.  I finally gave up and used my iPad, but I can't get my pictures on my iPad.  So there you have it.  I have no technological skills whatsoever!  If I ever get it figured out I will post the beautiful pictures I got on my new camera of La Mancha, as well as our monster turkeys. 

I can tell you that we made a trip to La Mancha, and had a fabulous time with the Hawkins.  Everyone knows that La Mancha is the home of Don Quijote, and that he fought windmills. I understand the story much better now.  This part of the country is littered with windmills, and they are beautiful. Of course it is also abundant with castles and churches, lakes, waterfalls and lots of charm. Spain has such beauty and history and charm.  I had no idea.  I don't think most people do.  It is such a great part of the world.  We are so fortunate to be on a mission that is so unique and gives us the opportunity to travel and see the whole of this beautiful country.  It is also one of the very most economical countries in Europe. So travel here is very affordable. Most missionary couples travel with another couple in order to split the expense of a car and gas.  Gas is high in Europe. Many times we will take a train or bus if we are only going to one city that is walkable.  But if you really want to see the towns and villages, and visit out of the way castles or national parks, you need a car.  I have my 2100 photos narrowed down to 600 for this trip.  So brace yourselves!

Well, this is turning into a very long post.  That's what happens when you don't keep on top of things.  I just have to say how grateful I am for the gospel in my life. How grateful I am to be serving a mission, and especially in Spain.  I had no idea how truly special it would be. I was particularly surprised by the bonds that would be forged.  I'm constantly struck by how easy it is to love the people we serve.  It is a really special love that I didn't expect.  I also didn't expect to get so close to those we work with.  We have made friends for life with people we have only known for a few short months.  We are bound by the gospel, the temple, life in Spain, missing our families, and by the trials we share.  We stand by each other and find ways to comfort one another in sickness, loneliness, sadness and frustration.  We rejoice with good news from home, and pray for one another's families when there is bad news.  We cover for each other when one of us is unable to work, and help each other with every difficulty. We feel like we know each person's family, and even feel like family ourselves. The mission life is not always easy.  It is constant.  We work long days, especially for a bunch of old people.  We are on our feet a lot, and our backs get tired, and our feet ache. We miss our families, and the special events in their lives.  We miss the holidays, our homes, and our traditions.  Sometimes we feel down and frustrated when things are not going well at home.  Sometimes we get tired of being in a foreign country.  Sometimes we just get tired of being tired. But we wouldn't give up this opportunity for anything.  

Last night we went downtown to have dinner together. The Christmas lights had just been turned on.  It was spectacular!  Plaza del Sol (the main plaza of Madrid) has a gold Christmas tree over 100 ft tall.  All the streets of Madrid originate from Sol Plaza and fan out. Every street had beautiful decorations. Something about the beauty of it all really touched my soul, and rejuvenated me.  I knew I would make it through the holidays and could find the joy even though we are so far from family.  Our family here will sustain us.  But that doesn't mean we couldn't really use letters and calls from home.  We love you all so much and hope that you are enjoying this holiday season.  Have lots of fun, but think of us.  We will be thinking of you.

Asturias

We took a wonderful trip to the north coast of Spain this last weekend.  All of Spain that I have seen has been dry, rocky and brown.  Not so on the north coast.  I have found my new favorite place, the region of Asturias.  It was an area of outstanding beauty, and reminded me of Switzerland.  It was so green and lush.  There were great mountains, little valleys, darling villages, and towns, lakes and rivers.  There were several places I loved, but Covadonga has to be my favorite.  I'm posting pictures of the whole region.

Cangas de Onis.
It is a darling town that I would have liked to have spent more time in.  This is a tiny little chapel.

This bridge crossed a rather dry river.  Spain has been very dry this year, I'm told,
but it is also late in the season, and the rain hasn't started yet.

Cute well.

Now this is interesting.  This little house on stilts is one of many, everywhere you look.  Every home seems to have one.  Here Greg is talking to some locals to see what's up with the stilts.  We were told that everyone stores their vegetables, fruits etc. in these little buildings, and the stilts with the stones on top keep the mice and rats away.  Sounds good to me.

Greg finds friends where ever he goes.

This is the draw to Cangas.  It is a Roman bridge crossing the river.  I'm not sure how much is original and how much is like the axe that crossed the plains.

I like these guys.  I'm not sure what the story is on them.

The Roman bridge.  You can see how dry the river is.

There is a cross hanging from the center of the bridge.

This is Kim Leatham standing on the bridge.  All these
uneven stones are really hard to walk on.

All this region is colorful and well kept.

This is an iron ring on the bridge where people put their locks to symbolize their committed love.  There is a bridge over the Seine River in Paris that is famous for that tradition.

The river that runs under the bridge.

These pictures are taken from on top of the bridge.

Greg with Dan Leatham.  The Leathams arrived at the same time we did.  They are great people.  This was our first trip together.  We were supposed to take this trip back in September with them, but Greg had a heart attack instead.  So we finally got to do it.

Dan and Kim Leatham from Pleasant Grove, UT.

Downtown Cangas de Onis.

A cool church in Cangas.

Now we come to Covadonga.

This is a chapel in Covedonga that was built in the mouth of a cave in 722 AD.  
 There are 100 steps up to it.

Covadonga was the site of the beginning battle of the reconquest from the Moors.  
This chapel was built to honor the place where Don Pelayo and other soldiers 
sought refuge.  His tomb is in the cave.

Now if this was spring, you would see a fantastic waterfall running underneath the church into this pond below.  You can see two tiny figures to the bottom left of the picture. There is a little spring that legend says, those who drink from this spring will have success in love and marriage.  People were drinking, and others filling bottles.  Greg and I have already found success in love and marriage, so we didn't make the trip to the spring.

I love this place so much!

This is a shot inside the cave, and you can see the basilica in the back ground to the left.

Once we were inside the cave we discovered there 
was a much easier entrance with no stairs.
These are candles that people have lit.

The Basilica.

To the left of the basilica there is a building that houses the boys 
who sing in the choir for the basilica.  They are Spain's answer to the
Vienna Boys Choir.

This is the fantastic old hotel we stayed in.  Our rooms
were the three windows you see on the third floor. We got two beautiful bedrooms, two gorgeous bathrooms, and a very nice living room for 50 euros per couple.  Its hard to get a Motel 6 for that! An incredible buffet breakfast was included.

This is Don Pelayo.  I think he looks like Helaman.  He has a headband,
breast plate and sword, with a dramatic cape over his shoulders.

This is the Great Bell of Covadonga.
It weighs 11,000 pounds.

The door of the basilica.

This is the Sanctuary that houses the nuns from the basilica and boys school.

You can see the convent on the right with the Chapel in the center, and Kim below.

This is one of the views from our room.


This is another view.

And this is another view, the boys choir school.

This was our night view.

Then we took a drive into the Picos de Europa (Peaks of Europe.)
They are really magnificent, and my pictures do not do them justice.

Sheep grazing.

Cows were roaming free, and climb like mountain goats.

The cows wear bells, and we found these two by following the sound.
Their bells sound like wind chimes.

This is a beautiful lake in the Picos de Europa.

With the sun in my face, I could not get a good picture of this gorgeous spot.

We then headed to the beach.  

This beautiful old home on the boardwalk has been turned into a hotel.  I would love to stay here.

All along the beachfront were beautiful homes.  Kind of like a Spanish mini Newport RI.

The tide was really low, and left a very interesting beach

 covered in colorful stones.

We had a good time picking up pretty stones on the beach.  

Kim and Dan have their hands full.

This cute guy loves any photo op.

Tunnels are everywhere in all of Asturias.  I liked the cows grazing on top of this one.

Our last stop in Asturias was a cute fishing village named Cudillero.

Fishing nets. While fishing is the industry here, at one
time this town had the reputation of being a pirate cove.

Greg gets a rest while I head out to capture the character of this cute town.

The town is built vertical against the hills.  Everyone I saw was in pretty good shape.

Although this area is supposed to have many lighthouses, this is the only I spotted.

This is inside a cute church in Cudillero.

Note the vegetation on the roofs.

I cannot wait to get back to Asturias!