Tomorrow will be one month since we left home. It's hard to believe. We have been in Madrid for over 3 weeks, and we are so blessed to be here. We are enjoying our time here very much. We do miss home, and family, though, and wish we could hear more from you.
This week started out with a temple missionary conference. It was great to see everyone together. Since we have two shifts we seldom see our "other half." We had a great lunch together and received a wonderful message and some training from our Temple President. President Tenney is a wonderful man and we love him and his wife dearly. They will be going home in October, and it will be hard to say good-bye. President Somoza (President Tenney's counselor) will become the new president. He and his wife are Spaniards, and speak very little English. That makes me a little nervous, but they are such great people and I know the temple and the workers will be in good hands. We have also come to love the Payas. He is the other counselor right now. He and his wife are from France, and I came with a certain amount of prejudice towards the French. The Payas have changed my wicked mind. They are absolutely delightful, and loving people. They speak English well, and are so great to work with. The Payas are actually our next door neighbors.
We had a small tragedy on Monday night. We spent a nice evening out with most of the other missionaries. Zella Grieve was celebrating her birthday at TGI Friday's. Afterwards we and the Grieves went on a little adventure to find the Taste of America store. We found it and were able to find a few things we can't find anywhere else, such as: Pam, root beer, cups and measuring spoons. Apparently the spaniards don't seem to use these things. It was getting late and we got on the metro. The moment we stepped onto the train, Greg got his pocket picked. He had a bag in both hands, and was a perfect target. We weren't sure if it was someone getting on the train with us, or someone getting off the train. Anyway, it was frustrating. He only had about 10 Euros in his wallet, but he lost his credit cards and drivers license, and the Coach wallet Elvira had given him for his birthday, which he loved. We hurried right home and canceled the cards. I have duplicates of our two debit cards (with different numbers), but not the credit card. That could pose a problem down the road. He was most upset about the license. We will be wanting to rent a car a few times, and he won't be able to drive. All and all, I think we got away pretty lucky. No money, except the 10 euros, was lost. Greg had his temple recommend at home so that was fine. It also taught us a good lesson which we won't forget anytime soon. We would like to find some very cheap wallets to carry around, absolutely empty except for a note reading "SUCKER!" What would be better is some of those explosive paints that they have in banks to catch the thieves. We would ride around in the subways just waiting for someone to make a score. Its fun to think about.
We did a little more exploring this week. We found a bus that takes us to the largest mall in Madrid. It is awesome! It feels a lot like home there. They have an IKEA there and we were able to find some things we really needed. I first have to tell you about some of the idiosyncrasies of Spain. There bedding is quite different. The pillowcases are open at both ends. It took a couple of tries to figure out the trick to getting the pillow in without it falling through the end. Their mattress pads are rubberized, and when they wrinkle up, which they always do, it can be painful to sleep on. Then, they don't have fitted sheets. So between the sheets coming loose, the painful mattress pad, and the lumpy pillows that fall out of their cases, we were not sleeping well. Then IKEA came to the rescue. We found a good american-like mattress pad, a fitted sheet, a decent pillow and a different kind of pillow case. It opens strangely as well, but at least it only has one side open (the long side.) We have been sleeping much better now. We also found another awesome store called Carrefour. Someone said it was a French store. It is a huge grocery store, and everything else you could want (except for fitted sheets and mattress pads that aren't lined in rubber.) Anyway, we are looking forward to going there with our faithful cart and doing some shopping.
We went back to the great mall last night for a little date night out. The bus was so full, I didn't think any more people could possibly get on, but they did. It reminded me of our subway experience in Mexico City. There was one large group of people who got on at one stop, and they were all dressed to the nines. They were apparently going to a party or wedding or something. It struck me as so strange for them to get so dressed up and then board a crowded public bus to get where they were going. We are all so used to having our cars to get around. I also noticed that none of these people have houses. Everyone lives in high-rise apartment buildings that, for the most part, all look alike. The only houses that I have seen since we arrived are the ones that the tour bus takes us to. They are a real novelty around here. We don't live downtown, but a ways out, where you might expect to see some houses. But we are completely surrounded by apartment buildings, and have traveled around quite a bit without ever seeing one single house. Anyway, when we got to the mall it was packed like nothing I have ever seen in an American mall. Not even at Christmas time. And everyone was there with their whole families. They rent very cute electric cars, and darling big stuffed animals with wheels and electric motors for the kids to ride through the mall on. It is the cutest thing, and would probably help business pick up in American malls. On Saturday nights the mall is open until midnight, and they actually stay that late with their families. We ate dinner at Mels Diner. It was so good! We had the best milkshakes, and the best onion rings I have ever had. I even got an egg salad sandwich that was awesome. On the ride home we met the sweetest lady. She looked to be about the age of Mom, and she was out with her very nice daughter-in-law. We chatted, or Greg chatted and they chatted, and I tried to listen, most of the way home. I was so touched by their sweetness and kindness. It was a great night out.
We have had some great experiences going out into the crowded world. It is fun to meet the local people, who are very friendly and, for the most part, very kind. I can't help but love them. I am also starting to like this custom of being kissed and hugged by everyone I meet. It is especially prevalent in the Temple. If I am sitting in the entrada where people first come into the Temple, almost everyone who walks by hugs and kisses me. I can't help but feel loved and happy by the end of the day.
Tomorrow we are heading out on our first out of town trip. We are going to the city of Salamanca. It is supposed to be quite spectacular and historical. We are taking a train for about 2 hours there and 2 hours back. A group of us missionaries are going together. It should be quite wonderful and I am very excited to go. I'm very anxious to see more of this country. I'll let you know how it was next week.
I have some pictures of our conference and few of the city to post, but I have been having trouble getting them loaded. So look for them in a later post.
I want to leave you with a few thoughts I have been thinking. I have been reading the Book of Mormon a lot these past couple of weeks. I am so impressed with these sacred writings. The more I read, the stronger my belief in its truthfulness. I love the scriptures so much. I love to read about the great and faithful people who teach the word of God regardless of the consequences to themselves. Standing for something is so important. Standing for righteousness is of upmost importance. There are people in the world who would try their best to convince me that these scriptures are not true. They claim that science is greater than faith, and that righteousness is a thing of the past. They are no different than those in the Book of Mormon who also claimed the prophets were false, and there is no God. I know there is a God, and I know these scriptures are the word of God. I know that by obedience to the principles taught we can experience great happiness. Truth does not become old fashioned. Truth is always truth.
I love you, my posterity! I miss you, and I pray for you daily. We pray for our parents, and our brothers and sisters. We hope you are all doing well, staying safe, and finding joy. Hasta luego!
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