Last Week With Training Wheels
It's hard to believe that this is our 5th Sunday here! Time seems to fly by which is surprising to me. I was certain that there would be a lot of home-sickness that would make the time crawl by. Not so. Yes, we miss our family terribly, but we know that we signed up to serve the Lord, and that's what we're determined to do. We had a few new experiences this week to keep things interesting. I guess the biggest one was that this week was zone conferences. Tuesday and Wednesday were the conferences to cover the four zones in Barcelona. Thursday the Heckmanns and the assistants went to Valencia, and then on Friday, they went to the islands. Our job during conferences on Tuesday and Wednesday was to support all of the logistics of the conferences to include food preparation. We got to sneak into the conferences themselves a few times when we were able to get everything else done. In one of these, the leaders wanted to introduce us to the missionaries. It touched our hearts when they jumped to their feet to give us a standing ovation (also a little embarrassing). One thing that is really fun is that they have a "mission song" that they sing at every zone conference. It's amazing to feel the spirit of love and excitement from these wonderful young people!
On Monday for lunch one of the assistants decided to cook for all of the office staff including the seniors. It was this amazing baked rice dish that is similar to what they call Paella here. It was delicious. That night the senior missionaries in Barcelona got together with a couple who went home the next day for dinner. Hermana Heckmann had us go to a restaurant in the Gothic Area of the city which was really nice. Afterward we went to a place called the Royal Plaza which is a huge plaza where people just like to congregate. It's surrounded by beautiful architecture and is just a really fun atmosphere. I took a little video of that to give you a feel for it.
The biggest issue for us this week was the fact that it was the last week that the Romney's were in the office with us. As of tomorrow, we're going to have to ride without "training wheels". So, when you hear about broke, homeless missionaries in Spain, you'll know why. We will miss them a lot, but we're glad that they're still in the country and are only a phone call away. I have already been experiencing some wonderful "Tender Mercies" as I've gotten stuck on a few things. When I have to stop and ask for The Lord's help, He has helped me figure things out and get through the tough spots. It's also fun to watch Brenda work through some pretty complex issues with obvious "Heavenly Help".
Driving in Barcelona is still my big stressor. You try to follow the GPS directions, but often traffic won't let you, and when you pass that turn-off you're off on a whole new adventure. The other day we needed to drive a car to the dealership to get serviced. The office elders drove the mission van to pick us up. Because we missed a turn, and were delayed, the elders ended up having to circle the block several times because there was nowhere to park (typical for Barcelona).
Yesterday was p-day and we ended up having two of the office elders over to play games and Brenda made some home-made pizza for us. It was really fun. The mission secretary, Elder Gwilliam, is from Canada, and is a great young man. He found out that I know how to play cribbage and so he brought his cribbage board over and wanted to play. He also found out that we like to play Rook. His family rules are significantly different from how we play, and so it was like playing a completely different game. It was actually pretty fun. His companion, Elder Firstbrook is from the U.K. and had never played either game. We taught him how to play, and he ended up winning both of them. "Beginners luck" is a real thing!
We did have a little excitement on Saturday when the elevator stopped working. We had gone out and bought a bunch of groceries and had to lug them all up 7 flights of stairs (17 steps each...I counted). Quite the work-out. My legs are feeling it today. Thankfully they got it working again. We usually skip the elevator going down anyway, but we rarely try to go up them. It was a frightening thought that if that thing is broken for any length of time that I'd have to contend with all of those stairs every time I want to get back home.
This coming week the President will interview all of the missionaries which will again require him to travel the entire mission. I don't know how he does it! Of course there is only one way he can, and that is with help from above.
The Spanish is still quite rusty, but I can feel it getting better. I'm hoping that by the time I come home, I'll actually be able to communicate with these wonderful people. It's wonderful to be here, and I'm sure it will just keep getting better and better! We love you all.
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