When Family Comes to Call
This week has been wonderful. Brenda's Sister Tammy and her husband Gerald came to visit as part of their European retirement trip. We picked them up at the Airport on Sunday night and put them on their cruise ship Saturday morning. In between, we tried to pack as much in as we possibly could while still trying to keep up in the office. Fortunately, the Romney's were willing to fill in for a day, and we were able to break away early on a couple of other days so we got to see a lot of Barcelona. Tammy and Gerald walked up to the office a few times and we were able to eat lunch a couple of times at a wonderful little Japanese restaurant that serves all-you-can eat sushi. (I'm going to have to be VERY careful to keep my visits here in moderation or they'll be wanting me to be a Sumo Wrestler) We also introduced them to milanesas at a little restaurant downtown which was wonderful. It was also fun to eat at a little outdoor restaurant that's a couple of blocks away from our apartment, where they served "tapas" which is basically different types of appetizers. It sits on a little square outside a Catholic church so it's kind of a fun atmosphere as well. (Leave it up to me to always start with the food!) We also had a lot of fun that didn't involve food.
On Tuesday after work we went to what's called the "Gothic Area" of Barcelona and walked the narrow streets seeing some of the amazing architecture there. It really gives one a sense of being in an old European city and it's kind of fun. On Wednesday, we took the whole day off and went on a full on tour of the city. They have a "Hop-on / Hop-off" bus system where you have double-decker busses with the top being open air. There's a running narration given over head-phones describing the sites, and if you want to explore one of them, you just hop off the bus, do your exploring, and then hop on the next one that comes. It's a great way to see a whole lot in one day. On Thursday we were able to get an appointment after work at "La Sagrada Familia" to wander through it. They also have an audio tour that goes with it. While we were going through the thought occurred to me that this is more than just another cathedral. This is someone putting the love of the Savior at the center of his life, and making his entire life's work to do his best to honor Him. Gaudi (the architect) knew that he would never be able to see the project completed (it still isn't done), but his attempt to capture the Savior's mission in architecture is pretty amazing.
On Friday before we got off work, we had to go and do some shopping in preparation for Zone Conferences this coming week. We had some "fun" with the car as it told us that one of the tires was low. We had just had the Elders take the car in and fill up one of the other tires a couple of days before, so I wasn't too happy about it. We stopped at a gas station, and I tried to get the air vending thing to work for me. It's weird because the system doesn't talk about PSI like we're used to. It talks about "bars". Anyway, you connect the hose to the tire, and the machine tells you when it's at the right pressure. Unfortunately I didn't know that you have to set what pressure it needs to take you to, and so in my exuberance to get all of the tires inflated correctly, I connected this thing to all four of them in turn. The result was that it took them all down to about 30 lbs (they're supposed to be at 36). As we drove away the car let me know that all of my tires are now low! So, after we did the shopping, we hit another gas station, and I was able to figure out how to find the right menu to set the tire pressure you want. Of course you have to pay to use the dumb thing, but we finally got all that straightened out. We're learning as we go here!
We stayed up way too late pretty much every night as we played cards, and just enjoyed being together. It was a really hard thing to drop them off at the port and have to say goodbye. However, I'm sure they are having a wonderful time on their cruise!
It was a real treat to have the chance to video conference with the kids via WhatsApp Saturday evening (their morning). I'm very thankful for the technology that allows us to feel almost like having them all in our little living room. This is worlds better than when I was a missionary in Uruguay as when I wanted to communicate with home, it was via letter that would take 2 weeks to get there, and another 2 weeks to get an answer! I'm amazed that I can have a face to face conversation with my loved ones from half-way around the world! What a blessing!
Brenda and I are learning more and more, and we're quickly coming up to the point of having to say goodbye to the Romney's. It will be a pretty frightening thing for me to have to "fly solo". However, I know that whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies and so I know that we'll be able to make things work with His help. I love being able to serve Him, and putting on that nametag every morning is an honor. I can't believe that we've already been on our mission for a month! We love you all, and wish the best for you.
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