MORNING WALK TO RED MOUNTAIN

We have walked most mornings from our Hotel.  We had to cross over this roundabout in front of our hotel to get to some places to walk.  This roundabout has a constant stream of cars day and night.  It amazes me how many cars go around this.  We can see it from our balcony and the noise is quite irritating.  Notice Red Mountain in the distance.

 We learned from the young Elders that you can hike around here and even to the top of Red Mountain, which you can see from our balcony.  Tenerife Sur (South) has a huge volcano and the terrain here is moon like volcanic.   The vegetation is very much like a desert.  We haven't hiked to the top yet but around the cliffs by the beach.

 Rock art

At the base of Red Mountain by the beach

 The view of  Medano  (We are staying in San Isidro) from Red Mt. trails

 

 Mike on the Beach

Rock art on these beaches is mostly in the form of walls not cairns like we do in the states.

ON TO THE CANARIES

 Another Saturday at Retiro Park for the Missionaries

 President  of the Madrid MTC, Elder Sitterud and his wife,  They are Awesome and it turns out Jay Sitterud and I attended CEU at the same time.  He was a basketball player for the school team but we didn't know each other.

 View of Madrid from Retiro Park

 The Elders making a contact and Elder Sitterud

We finally received our residency on Monday and flew to the Canaries on Tuesday evening.  The Santa Cruz Elders gave us their car for a couple of weeks and then we are getting a new one.  The Sr. Missionaries in Santa Cruz, the Altmans, let us stay with them on Tuesday night and we had a nice visit with them on Wednesday, had lunch with the Elders and the Altmans and then drove to the Hotel we had scheduled, while we look for an apartment in South Teneriffe.  This hotel ended up to be a bust with terrible internet and a cramped smelly room.  We moved down the street to a better place with internet that is allowing me to post this.

 A view from Altman's terrace in Santa Cruz (ocean in the distance)

They are about an hour from us and it is the biggest city on the Island.

 Los Altmans on their P-day - Awesome Missionaries serving with the young adults.

Someone from the branch had arranged for us to see an apartment.  It was very nice except the kitchen was so small two people would be cramped in it.  I just couldn't take it.  Mike has spent hours on the internet looking for a larger kitchen, which it rare here.  Finding these places was going to be a trial.  We left messages on the internet so we could make arrangements to see some pisos.  This morning one of the agents called us and we went to see an apartment in the one place we knew how to find.  It turned out to be awesome.  We are very excited.  It is in a new complex with a very nice kitchen, a dishwasher (rare) A washer with a dryer (rare)  The place is almost new and an amazingly good price.  It has a view of the ocean, a swimming pool but we won't find out until Monday for sure but we don't see any hangups.  I will post pictures when I can.  We are feeling more comfortable tonight.

MADRID MTC

 Hermano and Hermana Diaz

This newly married couple met in Portugal and come to teach at the MTC for 3 weeks.  They know at least 3 languages and have both served missions.  Their spirit and commitment to the church is wonderful.  Hermana Diaz has been a model and has a law degree and Bro. Diaz has his own business.  She has a fun conversion story. 

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This has been a good week.  We have been busy but not stressed.  We found some great walking paths in a close park, which we have walked most mornings in a jacket.  Madrid has St. George weather.  We study Spanish when there is nothing else to do.  We talked in church on Sunday, in English, with a lot of translating going on as there is French, Portuguese and Spanish being taught here now.  Most of the instructors are bi-lingual.  Most of them come in for 3 week stints.  They are amazing young people.  We attend most of the meetings and firesides that the young missionaries attend.  Sunday was nonstop. 

 

This is not Provo MTC food.  They have one or two choices at lunch, which is the big meal and then a very light fare at dinner.  It is marginal at the best but mostly edible.  They have very little in desserts, just a few pudding cups, which are only replenished every few days and ice cream cups on Sunday.  There is no pop or sugar drinks.  Only water is served, but not enough vegetables.   

There is a foyer outside our room facing the temple where I can photograph the temple.  Every night there has been a beautiful sunset.

RETIRO PARK IN MADRID

When we arrived here five days ago I was wishing that we could move on quickly instead of staying here to wait for our residency permit.  We have a dorm room in the Madrid MTC with a view of the lovely Madrid Temple from a close foyer.  But being here with the young sisters and teachers has been wonderful.  They are quite amazing and it gives me hope for the church in Europe.  There are missionaries from Cape Verde, which is off the coast of Africa, not far from the Canaries, including one sister.  They speak Portuguese.  Then we have some sisters and elders from Tahiti, who speak French and will be serving in France.  An elder from England, who is happy to have someone speak English to him. And there is a boy from Italy.  Both of them will be serving in Spain along with and Swedish sister who speaks fluent English.  Most of the language tutors come in for three weeks to help with the language.  They are amazing young people. 

 Someone willing to listen to 2 young men who speak Portuguese

Every Saturday the missionaries go to Retiro Park in downtown Madrid to practice their missionary skills for 2 hours.  They take Books of Mormon and pass them out.  They gave away 30 on this day.  Mike and I went with the MTC mission president to "observe" the proceedings.  Some of these missionaries have only learned a little Spanish but they went to meet people anyway.  It was a joy to see them in action.  At the end of 2 hours they meet to sing hymns.  Everyone sings in their own language.  I am glad we were able to be here.  If we are here next week we will go again and maybe get into the action.

Singing Hymns in the Park

A very fun puppet show.  This is Elvis singing and dancing.  This is clever enough to be lucrative for those in the 50% young adult unemployment group.

Music Performers

One of the lions on the lake

It is fun to watch the kids chase the huge bubbles

 

Elder and Sister Diaz from Portugal.  A recently married returned missionary couple.  They are language tutors in 3 week stints at the Madrid MTC, coming from their home in Portugal.  They are multi-lingual, awesome young people.  Members like them will change the world. 

MADRID TEMPLE

 With President Jackson and his wife

The Madrid Temple at sunset from our MTC room.  Our digs while we wait for a residency permit.

NEW DOORS - FINALLY

 We are leaving this....

 for this!
(Thanks to Elder Scott Zimmerman, serving in the Madrid temple, for this photo he took on Tenerife recently.) 

We are flying off day after tomorrow.  We are 10 days short of 1 year since our first call to Scotland.  Our Canary Island call came 5 weeks later.  It has been so long that I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that we are actually going.  I am scared and excited at the same time.  Right now we shuffle stuff in suitcases trying to keep them in the 50 lb. weight limit.  The vitamins I am taking weigh a lot.  

Our friend Linda Hoffman, serving in the Monterey Mexico temple, sent me the following and I believe it describes our journey.  We are looking forward to what is on the other side of the NEW DOOR!  And forgetting life on the other side of the door is probably good.

This explains it all--
Ever walk into a room with some purpose in mind, only to completely forget what that purpose was?
Turns out, doors themselves are to blame for these strange memory lapses.
Psychologists at the University of Notre Dame have discovered that passing through a doorway triggers what's known as an event boundary in the mind, separating one set of thoughts and memories from the next.
Your brain files away the thoughts you had in the previous room and prepares a blank slate for the new locale.
It's not aging, it's the damn door! Thank goodness for studies like this.

MTC EXPERIENCE

MTC November 26, 2012

Did I have expectations of this day so long anticipated? We are bunking in the Marriot Hotel in a lovely room. I didn’t expect that for sure. This was a record day for MTC Senior Missionaries, 126 of us, breaking the old record of 121. We passed a microphone around the room and introduced ourselves, told where we will serve, where we are from and how many previous missions we have been on. There were a surprising number of Idahoans compared to Utahans. A few had served previous missions, one or two couples on their 4th. There were many exotic destinations, including the Canary Islands. We were kidded that maybe we are going on vacation there.

The first day was rules and regulations day. I started to doze off in the afternoon after a big lunch. Mike arrived drugged to the hilt with various cough and cold aids. He made it through without embarrassing himself by hacking out of control. He went to insta care on Saturday to get a stock of meds to see him through. He is quite a mess as his cold has moved to his chest and his old perpetual cough has arrived.

There was a large devotional with senior and junior missionaries on Tuesday evening. There were 1000 plus missionaries there…what a beautiful sight they were. My soul was swollen to tears as we all sang “Called to Serve” with power and joy.

 The food was plentiful and OK, with enough variety of fruits, salads and French fries galore that anyone can be happy. The seniors eat at the same Cafeteria as the young elders and wow, those young elders pile on the food, but I noticed a fair amount was thrown away…eyes bigger than bellies, I believe. Wednesdays and Sunday’s are ice cream day for lunch and dinner with mega toppings and the best hot fudge ever. I skipped breakfast entirely every day…too much food for me.

 The days consisted of morning devotionals, classes in the morning, where we talk about principles from “Preach My Gospel.” We role play the concepts on each other. Our group leader is a young returned Elder in the morning and a sister in the afternoon. They are impressive and good. We have four couples in our group and they will all be wonderful senior missionaries.

On Wednesday we were taken to small rooms to practice teach someone who has volunteered to play investigator. We taught The Restoration to a sweet elderly lady who played her part well. We had prepared adequately and all went well.

On Thursday morning, at the beginning of class, I looked over at Mike and he was white and hyperventilating a little. He went into the hall and called me out a bit later. He took cough syrup with codeine that morning for the first time and it made him nauseous. We eventually returned to the Marriott where he rested. As long as he was down he was OK. We were scheduled to teach the “Plan of Salvation” but Mike just wasn’t up to going. We returned for lunch but Mike couldn’t eat and threw up in a plastic bag on our way back to the hotel. I got permission to go to class without him in the afternoon. He was better by dinner and ate a little but was still queasy. We went to our Spanish class from 6:00-8:00 PM. Mike managed to survive on half his pistons. He dropped into bed at 9:00 PM. The cough syrup worked, he didn’t cough all day, but the nausea was a very bad trade off.

Friday was a better day for Mike but not 100%. This week has many wonderful spiritual elements but the days are long for us who are doing language every night for 2 hours. It is all good hard work. We became very attached to the four couples in our district, such impressive spirits!

On Friday night, as part of our language training, we split into two groups and had a testimony meeting to testify in our language of study. There was German, Spanish, French, Finish, Norwegian and Polish being studied. Some of the men had served previously in these countries. Our trainer encouraged us to bear a testimony early so I got up first…and I didn’t pass out. I was glad I had been working on my testimony at home. I already had it memorized when we arrived at the MTC. Mike did a great job and recited a few of his 70 verses of memorized Spanish scriptures as part of his testimony. Our week will be the last of the night Spanish instruction during the senior MTC weeks. The seniors are going to be moved out of the MTC into the church down the street in preparation for the influx of new young missionaries.

The second week was CES training and we liked it better than the first week. It would have been good for all the seniors to be there as there were some great ideas for developing a lesson. My favorite parts of both weeks were the senior missionaries who came back to tell us of their experiences...amazing people.

When the senior missionaries convened for the week on Monday and stood to introduce themselves I was a little surprised at how old we all looked and out of shape. I wondered how we were going to preform our Missionary responsibilities in the far flung areas of the world in which we would be serving. But by Friday these missionaries all looked younger to me and there was so much enthusiasm, humor, vibrancy, and spirituality in the group it spilled over to my soul in a very sweet way. I felt energized by them. The spirit is the best elixir of youthfulness, I am convinced.