HE IS RISEN!



What a week! Zone conferences are always exciting, but this time the President decided that instead of typical zone conferences he was going to set up hikes for the missionaries. Each zone conference hike was geared toward the area where the missionaries were serving. Before each zone conference hike, the missionaries met together to put sandwiches together to take with them for their lunches. Brenda and I went on the first hike which was for the Barcelona area zones. It went up to a place called Tibidabu which overlooks the city. The hike was pretty challenging but we made it. It really was a beautiful experience. Once we got to the top, we held a testimony meeting. It was wonderful to hear the touching testimonies of these sweet missionaries. We have really grown to love them. I was also very touched to see my sweetheart get up and bravely bear her testimony in Spanish. I am very proud of her. The hike was tough enough that we decided to stay in the office the second day! I have to take my hat off to President and Sister Heckmann. They bravely did all four hikes. They are amazing. 

One of the things that they like to do in our mission is a series of concerts put on by the missionaries. There are a few extremely talented missionaries who travel around the mission, and enlist the local missionaries to sing with them. There was a concert in the Barcelona stake on Friday, and they asked us to be a part of it. It was special because of the fact that it was on Good Friday. We also enlisted some local talent which included a couple who are professional musicians who have retired to a local unit just north of Barcelona. He was the director of the Orchestra on Temple Square for years, and she was a principle violinist for the conservatory of Barcelona. They played a stunning duet. All I could think of was that poem about "The Master's Touch" where an old violin was going to be sold at auction for about a dollar, until a master came forward, picked it up, and played a beautiful piece of music. The violin then sells for thousands of dollars. The Spirit was certainly there, and the concert came off quite well. 

Yesterday, we had a ward activity that was really fun. Our ward is made up of people from all kinds of places. There are a lot of Latinos who have immigrated to Spain. So the activity was to share some type of food from your home country and some people were willing to share some cultural presentations from their homelands. We had Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Spain, and the US represented. I have attached some snippets of the cultural dances. The food was really great, and it was a lot of fun. 

Throughout the week, we have been following a study guide from the Gospel Library for each day of Holy Week. It has been a sweet experience for me, and I have felt the Spirit as we have focussed on the Savior and what He went through for us, and what the significance of the Empty Tomb is in our lives. It has been a testimony building experience for me. I do know that my Redeemer lives! What joy it is to know that because of Him, the plan of Salvation is available to us. Because of Him, I can look forward to return home to Father's presence. Because of Him, I can look forward to being part of an eternal family. Because of Him I get to repent and start fresh each day. Without Him all hope would be lost. The good news of the Gospel is that we can be with our loved ones on the other side of the veil again, and can enjoy that relationship throughout eternity. I have often said that Heaven without my Sweetheart by my side would NOT be Heaven, and the Lord makes it possible for me to look forward to that wonderful relationship extending throughout the eternities. It has been even more poignant for me as my sweet little niece is on Heaven's doorstep as we speak. The Plan of Salvation is certainly very real at a time like this.

I hope that you can feel the joy that comes from the words "HE IS RISEN!"

We love you all.

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