MadridWaites: LEON, and Other News

There are not words to express how completely frustrated I am. I'm about ready to throw in the towel on blogging. I am so slow, and there are always so many problems that I am not equipped to handle. I spent at least four hours creating this blog on Leon, and other mission news. Then inexplicably everything I had done disappeared. I had saved every detail as I went along, and yet it still disappeared. I don't know if I have the heart to recreate it. So this will be an abbreviated version, most likely.

It has been quite awhile since I last posted. It is a combination of being very busy, or very tired, or very frustrated with technology. However, there has been a lot of news, and a lot of travel.

We have had a great group of temple visitors and workers lately. Last week we had so many outstanding people from Portugal. They worked so hard, and were so cheerful and helpful. I became close to a couple of the sisters, and they helped me tremendously with passing off ordinances in Portuguese. It has been way past due. I just needed the nudge from our Portuguese sisters.

Serving a mission has really pressed me to accomplish much more than I would have aspired to otherwise, or even thought possible. One example is that I am now a temple organist. I had only slight organ acquaintance some 45 or more years ago. However, The Lord needed an organist, and therefore He made me adequate. Its amazing how that works. Another example is that I have no skill for languages. And yet, I now can perform ordinances in three languages. My conversational skills are still lousy, but I am improving. I also never would have thought I could physically withstand the rigors of this mission. It requires a lot of stamina. In the past I haven't had much of that. But again, The Lord needed me to be strong, and He has blessed me with strength I never thought I had. I have been so blessed.

I think Spring has finally sprung in Madrid. It turned very cold about a month ago, and then just as suddenly, became warm again this past week. The trees are green or full of blossoms, and flowers are everywhere. I am so excited to see winter come to an end. It just makes my heart sing to have beautiful weather and beautiful surroundings. In spite of cold weather, it didn't slow us down in our efforts to see this beautiful country.

Spain is incredible. It has a fascinating history that shows in its villages, towns and cities. So many civilizations have influenced this country. The Celts, the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Christians, the Moors, and then the Christians again, all have their stamp across the country. In so many areas you can see all these civilizations side by side. It is fascinating to see. They have also been able to preserve so many amazing historical sites. We love to travel on the weekends and visit as many wonderful historical sites as possible. We will never run out cathedrals, castles, palaces, monasteries, convents, fortresses, museums, or national parks to visit. We recently visited the beautiful city of Leon, about 200 miles north of Madrid.

The Leon cathedral is its biggest attraction.

It is one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in Europe, and its 125 medieval
stained glass windows gave it the nickname of "The House of Light."

Entrance to the main chapel.

Carvings on the entrance to the main chapel.

They depict the birth of Christ.

The windows are magnificent.

One of the three rose windows.

The choir is always my favorite part.

The organ.

The baptistry.

The rose window is a reflection in the glass.

Exterior doors.

The cloisters. They were truly incredible, and turned
into a museum full of ancient statues and artifacts.

A small chapel off the cloisters.

The courtyard of the cloisters.

In every large city you have the buskers.

The Bishop's Palace designed by Gaudi.

St. George slaying the dragon.

This cute guy makes friends whereever he goes.
He especially likes the good listeners.

This is a bronze model of the city of Leon from different eras,
starting with the Romans.

The plaza in front of the basilica.

The basilica.

This is a fairly simple basilica. A cathedral is the home of a bishop, and a basilica is the home of a cardinal. You would think the cardinal would have fancier digs, but most of the basilicas that we have seen in Spain are far less elaborate than their cathedral counterparts.

The full facade of the basilica.

Spain is covered in stork nests.

Just happened upon these drag queens posing for pictures.

This bearded guy was not particularly attractive.

My little Lucy is very popular in this country. I think I see more
Maltese and Yorkies than any other breed of dog.

More friends.

You can see another stork next in this bell tower.
You wouldn't think it would a popular spot to raise young ones.

The highlight of this trip was staying in this awesome parador. It used to be a monastery, but the government has turned it into a hotel, called a parador. They buy historical buildings that are falling into disrepair and fix them up for the public to stay in. They have castles, monasteries, convents, palaces, fortresses, etc. They are really nice, and full of antiques and beautiful paintings. They are usually reasonable, but we are usually looking for cheap. They were having a sale on the internet and we were able to get a room for cheap so we could stay in this really great property. It was like staying in a great museum and having full run of it, like "Night at the Museum."

Our lovely room.

Our very own cloisters.

Every door handle was a work of art.

A view from the parador. An old bridge connecting

each side of the river that runs through Leon.

It is the Bernesga River and it was pretty low on water.

The breakfast room.

I'm a sucker for cradles. These looked like they belonged to twins.

You find these cool mailboxes all over Spain, but in Leon it is their symbol.

This statue is called The Pilgrim. It represents the many pilgrims that stayed in this monastery on their way to Santiago de Compostela. Santiago is Spanish for James. Don't ask me why. It is the main pilgrimage site in Spain. It is where the relics of James the Apostle are located.

This structure has had a varied and tumultuous past. It has served as a monastery, a hospital, a hostel, a school, government offices, cavalry barracks, and a concentration camp during the Civil War in the 1930s.