Surprise Road Trip!

 


Well, here in Spain we're doing the "fall back" daylight savings shift today. It was sure nice to get an extra hour of sleep because this has been kind of a crazy week. You know you're busy when you look up from your computer screen in the mid-morning and realize that it's like 3:30 and you didn't even get a chance to eat lunch. There were a couple of days like that. One of them was the day when we had the Mission Leadership Council. This is where all of the mission leadership travel to Barcelona for some training from the Heckmanns and coordinate the work. It was interesting because the Assistants to the President had put together all of the training presentation per the agenda, and when they were getting ready to go up and do the presentation, President Heckmann said "we're not doing that. The Lord wants me to focus more on the Book of Mormon, and so that is what we are going to train on!" The Lord takes care of His missionaries, and He does that by inspiring his mission leaders to do what He wants done. It's pretty amazing.

I had to play "The Heavy" this week. (I know, the bathroom scales say I don't have to "play" at that). When we get a package from outside the European Union, the Spanish government adds a value added tax to it. That must be paid by the receiving party. That is usually a cost that goes to the missionary. We also have to recoup costs for missed trains and airplanes. There is a file that we keep with a list of our missionaries who owe money. So, I had to pretend to be Guido "the knee-capper" Sarduchi. I don't make a very good loan-shark.

President and Hermana Heckmann are wonderful. They invited us up for lunch one day, and Hermana Heckmann had put together a delicious chicken and vegetable salad with flan for dessert. She said that she wanted to get us out of our "cave" on occasion. Very sweet. On another day she brought some delicious chilli down for us to eat. They're just the best!

On Friday, we got a phone call from a pair of missionaries in Vic which is a town about an hour away from Barcelona saying they went for a run, and forgot their keys. They were now locked out. We jumped in the car and went on an impromptu road trip to rescue them. We told them that if we had to come that far, we were going to also do a Piso Check without them being able to prepare for it! They were very grateful to get back into their Piso, and the inspection went better than I had expected. They had done a better job with no notice than a piso we did a few weeks ago where 6 sisters live, and they had plenty of time to prepare! We had a nice drive which provided a nice change of pace for us.

After we got home, I had to get ready for our Friday night with the YSAs. I was asked to teach an English institute class that night because the Senior Missionary who normally does that was out of town. It was on the first few chapters of Mark. I loved it, and I felt the Spirit testify of the power and the love of our Savior. YSA night is wild because they have some institute classes starting at 8:30 and then they feed them at 9:30. There are usually between 100 and 150 kids show up, and Friday was no different. 

Today in Priesthood meeting we discussed covenants and focused specifically on the Sacrament. The thought occurred to me that one of the many special things about the Sacrament is that it's more than just us renewing OUR covenants. It's also Heavenly Father renewing HIS covenant with us. It is an individual thing between each one of us, and our Heavenly Father, and as such, it is more sacred than we often give it credit. Overall, a pretty spiritual day. Tonight we are going to feed some Sister Missionaries, so Brenda is in full-on "grandma mode" baking cookies, and making a delicious meal for them.

I do have to do some "Dad-bragging" today. Adam and Alicia ran a half-marathon yesterday! This was Alicia's 5th and Adam's 1st. It did my heart good to know that they ran side-by-side encouraging each other all the way. My dad heart was so proud that I almost burst the buttons on my shirt! (maybe that was just lunch). I just wish I could have been there at the finish line to cheer them on. Anyway kudos to two of my wonderful kiddos!

We were able to talk with Elder and Sister Dillon via WhatsApp today and it was wonderful to compare notes of some of the mission office craziness that we experience from day to day. Overall, we all love the work, and we're grateful to be in our respective fields of labor. We thank you all for your prayers in our behalf. The power of your prayers is certainly felt. Without it, there are times when I would probably be curled up in the fetal position under my desk! So, thank you! It will be exciting to see what fun awaits us this week!

Love You All,

Elder and Hermana Musser

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