Week #1 in Madrid

I am so thankful for the opportunity that we had to serve in Gran Canaria for the past year.  We arrived on May 2nd, and we left on May 4th.  It was a wonderful opportunity to work with the missionaries and Young Single Adults.  We are very sad to leave behind the wonderful people from Las Palmas, Telde and Vecindario.  We have made many friendships that we will cherish forever. My happiest memories are of the activities that we had at the old mission home, when it was filled with these wonderful young people.  The house looked sad as we left it empty on Monday morning. 

Where are all the hungry people that ate at this table?

A sad, empty kitchen!

How many meals were cooked, cookies baked, and brownies iced?

Elder Larsen locking the door one last time.

This is the view of the drive down to the bottom of our street.

 And here we are with all of our luggage.

We appreciated President Deniz driving us to the airport.  He is a wonderful, dedicated servant of the Lord.  We enjoyed getting to know him and his family.

The skies were cloudy, so this was my last view of the island.

President Jackson picked us up at the airport.  We had dinner at the Jackson's with the Chapples.  We spent the week at the En Casa Hotel where we stayed when we got to Madrid last year.  They usually have internet in the lobby, but it was only working one of the nights that we were there.   

Tuesday morning, we started our training with the Elder and Hermana Chapple.  There is a lot to remember, and I was glad to have such a sweet, patient teacher.  I had worried about working in the office because I remember it being a mass of tan walls and cabinets.  But, I had forgotten that Hermana Chapple sits right by a huge window that has a very nice view out into a courtyard.  I love to see the green trees.

Elder and Hermana Lopez came up to the office on Wednesday to say goodbye to the Chapples. They have been over the missionary apartments for the past year.  Elder Lopez has been quite ill, so they have not been able to work for awhile.  Hermana Lopez gave Hermana Chapple these cute aprons. . . a flamenco dancer and a recipe for paella.

On Wednesday night, all 50 of the missionaries from the North and the Islands stayed in our hotel. We had the assignment to purchase and hand out food for their breakfast the next morning.  There are small kitchens in the hotel rooms, so we gave them sweet rolls, cereal bars, yogurt, a ham and cheese sandwich, fruit, and juice.  It was fun to see some of our missionaries that have been gone from the Islands for a very long time.

We had a wonderful training meeting with the entire mission.  This was the first time since 2011, when the Canary Islands became part of the the Spain, Madrid Mission, that the entire mission had been together at the same time.  Elder Dyches, from the Presidency of the Area, and Elder Allen, the Managing Director of the Missionary Department for the church, did the training.  The missionaries in our mission have been chosen as one of the test groups for using Ipads.  The meeting focused on the tools that the missionaries have to use in their work, and this will be one more tool.  They also talked about the importance of being obedient, and the blessings that come from obedience.

Afterwards we took a picture with a picture with all 200+ missionaries in front of the temple.

The Jacksons will be leaving in less than two months.  We will really miss them.

We really enjoyed seeing our missionaries.  

 Elder Poulson

Elder Bybee

                        Elder Wiltbank                                               Elders Guerra and Nash

                          Elders Rawson and Ruiz                                                 Elder Beuden

 Elders Mower, Dyer, Maxfield, Priest, and Hansen

 Elders McWhorter and Porritt

 Hermanas Marsh, Rossberg, and West

Las Palmas Missionaries with Elder Roka

We met Hermana and Elder Bake.  They have been here for two weeks.  They are serving at the Self-Reliance Center.  They are from Fruitland, Idaho.  He was the Ward Mission Leader there when Colby was living in Payette and serving in Payette and Fruitland.  Small world!

 We walked in the evenings in a huge park that was only a couple of blocks from our hotel. 

I just love this beautiful flower that grows in all of the fields. 

We checked out of our hotel on Sunday morning.  It was about a 30-40 minute drive from Alcobendas, where we will live and work, so we were happy to make that drive for the last time.  We went to church at the Alcobendas Ward.  Everyone was very friendly.  During the meeting, they asked us if we would share our testimonies.  How very different that experience was from my first time to do that a year ago in the Telde Branch.  I still have a lot to learn, but I certainly have improved.  Here we are with the Chapples and 8 of the 10 missionaries who serve in Alcobendas. We look forward to getting to know them better.

 Hermanas Larsen, Pavez, Staker, Chapple, Bingham, Clements,

Elders Ridd, Bohne, Larsen, Ecklund, Gentry, and Chapple

We spent the afternoon at the office and used the internet to talk to our children and their families and our parents.  It was nice to talk to our mothers on their special day.  We took a short break from phone calls and enjoyed chocolate cake and ice cream to celebrate Elder Chapple's birthday.  They spent their last night at the mission home, and we spent our first night in our new apartment.  A new chapter of our mission has officially begun!

Someone shared this scripture this week, and I have continued to think about it, Joshua 3:5,

And Joshua said unto the people,  "Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you."

I pray that will be the case as we embark on this new assignment.

Goodbye to the Island!

Today I am so grateful for the opportunity that we have had to serve here in Gran Canaria.  We arrived on the island on May 2nd.  We thought we would be here for our entire mission, but plans have changed.  We have been so blessed to get to know so many wonderful people while we have been here.  We have seen the love and devotion that these people have for the Lord.  We have been enriched by seeing the dedicated service they give.  We will miss them dearly.  How grateful we are for modern technology that we have today, that makes it so much easier to stay in touch.  A part of our hearts will always be here in on the island.

Monday we were busy trying to get things organized to leave.  We seem to have accumulated a few things in the year that we have been here.

Tuesday, I taught my last piano lessons.  What a good opportunity it has been to work with these young women and with Luciano.  I love to share the gift of music and to see how it can bring joy to people's lives.  I just hope they will all keep practicing.  We also hope that another couple comes behind us soon, who can also teach piano lessons!

The sisters taught our last Home Evening Lesson.  That started out by giving everyone an Oreo cookie.  I was very blessed that they were one short, and didn't give me one, because we were supposed to put the cookie on our forehead and try to get it into our mouths without using our hands. I did get some fun photos.

And the winner is Elder Priest!

And of course there was a point to this activity.  Trying to get the cookie in our mouths represented our journey here in this life.  Without the use of our hands, getting the cookie in our mouths was very difficult, and for some, impossible.  Then they let us eat the cookie by using our hands.   Easy, right? Our hands represent pray, scripture reading, prophets, personal revelation from God.   If we use these tools that the Lord has given us, our lives are so much easier.

Afterwards, we played a group game that was actually pretty fun.  We were line up in two rows. We all held hands.  Everyone, but the first person in line, on each team, closed their eyes.  A coin was flipped, and if it landed on heads, then the first people squeezed the hand of the person next to them and so on down the line.  The last person in the line then grabbed for a water bottle that was on the chair at the end.  

 Here we have Felix winning one of the rounds.

But, by far, the funniest part of the evening was watching how uncomfortable the missionaries were as they were holding hands.  It was just too much for Hermana Marsh.

 Here are just a few of the people that we are going to miss when we go to Madrid.

Cynthia, Juan Carlos, Victor, Luciano, John, Felix, Elders Bartholomew, Priest, Hermana Larsen, Rossberg, Ximena, Elder Ruiz, (Row 2) Elder Rawson, Antonio, Christiani, Hermana Marsh

Afterwards, we celebrated Elder Rawson's birthday with a cake that the hermanas made for him.

And I also made him brownies, that he was kind enough to share with his companions.

After Home Evening, the hermanas showed me the gifts they received from one of their investigators.  Pretty sure Hermana Marsh will use hers for pajama pants.

For our last district meeting, the two districts decided to have a joint meeting.  We enjoyed, Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Burritos, Mexican Black Beans, Cilantro Rice, Texas Caviar, and Brownies.  Yum, yum! What a great group of missionaries we have been able to serve with.

Thursday we had our last English classes.  It's hard to believe that we have been teaching for a year. Afterwards, I was able to teach a lesson with the hermanas to Yamilka.  She is such a very special lady.  I love having the opportunity to share my beliefs with her and to share my testimony of Jesus Christ.

Friday morning, this great group of young women, from Telde, came to the house for a two day conference.  It gave us an excuse to drive down to the south one more time.

A couple of photos of the view from our hotel balcony!

We enjoyed resting and relaxing before we start our adventures in Madrid.

This is a modern statue of the Canarian dog.  These dogs were native to the islands.  The Canary Islands get their name from the Latin word for dog, "canis."

Saturday night, we were able to attend the baptism for Jessica.  

It was also Jonathon's first opportunity to baptize someone, so that was special as well.  

When we got to church this morning, we had a powerful looking group of missionaries 

wearing their red ties.  Quite a handsome group!

It was nice to attend our meetings in the Las Palmas Ward where we started a year ago.  I was able to get a few photos of some of the friends that we have made here.  I wish I had been able to get a photos of everyone.  These people will always hold a very special place in our hearts.  I am so glad that many of them will be in Madrid this summer to go to the temple, so we will be able to see them again.

 Here we are a year ago, just beginning our adventure!

And here we are a year later, still happy, and still grateful for the opportunity to serve!  I am wearing my flower pin, and Cody has on his tie.  We count Fast Sundays, the first Sunday if each month, to mark how much time we have left on our mission.  All of our family members have flower pins and ties.  We love the support we feel from our families.