May Transfer Week
Transfer week is always hectic, and this week was no exception. What made this one different was that we sent home two of the missionaries that we have grown close to working in the office. Elder Gwilliam was the travel secretary, and Elder Peery was one of the APs. We also had an AP, Elder Spilsbury, and our travel secretary, Elder Baxter (our wonderful Brit) go back out into the field. One of the reasons that we wanted to serve in the office was to be around the missionaries all the time. The problem with that is that we grow to love them like our kids and then we have to ship them off to other areas, or worse, send them home! Next transfer will see 3 missionaries who served as APs in the office go home. I know that they all get replaced, and we get the chance to love some more wonderful missionaries, but this is hard! I am certain that there will be many pieces of my heart get ripped out as these wonderful young people move on to the next stage in their lives. It's just how it is, but we will always be grateful for the privilege of getting to know them, and work with them.
Elder Gwilliam got permission from President Heckmann to stay with us one night rather than crash in some other elder's piso. It was fun to play a game of cribbage with him one last time. We are looking forward to tuning into his homecoming talk via Zoom from Canada in a little while. A great young man.
Tuesday was filled with getting all of the missionaries who are going home through their final interviews and arranging for them to crash with the other missionaries before getting them to the airport early Wednesday morning. Then Wednesday was totally dedicated to getting all of the new missionaries from the airport, getting their welcoming paperwork, photos, interviews, lunch with the President, and training (that one is always interesting because they are jet-lagged out of their minds, and don't remember a thing). It is always so much fun introducing the new missionaries to their new companions, and letting them know where they are going to serve. Even jet-lagged the light of testimony and enthusiasm shines through.
Thursday and Friday are normally a day to catch our breath and get caught up. However, this week brought a new stress. We have a new couple coming to the mission next week, and Brenda and I have been feverishly working with the property management people to get a new place for them to live in Zaragoza which is about 3 hours away from Barcelona. We finally found a place, but we have been trying to get the contract signed, and get the keys. We had hoped to have had it done on Friday, but we still aren't there. That becomes a problem for us because the apartment is unfurnished, and we will have to completely furnish it (yay IKEA!) after we get the keys. We are hoping against hope that the contract will be signed first thing tomorrow morning so that we can drive to Zaragoza and get that done Monday and Tuesday.
There is an important reason for us to want to have it all buttoned up by Tuesday night because we will NOT be available the rest of the week! That is because our Sweet Alicia is coming with her family to visit us! We are super excited to have them here, and we have already warned them that their rib-cages better be able to withstand bone-crushing hugs! They will be here until Saturday when we will put them on a cruise ship and then get them back a week later for a couple of days before they go home. Very little time, but we will enjoy every minute of it.
This afternoon we decided to take a long walk. The ramblas here make walking a pleasant experience. We were a little surprised when we saw a street that had been completely barricaded at both ends, and people were just walking in the middle of the street. There was no hint as to why they did it, but we wandered down that street and then had fun trying to find our way back home without having to resort to Google Maps. I came close a few times to pulling out my phone, but we did it. We saw a lot of people out wandering around. There was even a stage set up in the park close to our house with music and dancing. Kind of a fun atmosphere for a Sunday afternoon walk.
This week also brought sad news to our family. Our sweet Heather, Adam's Sweetheart, lost her mother Linda Van Dolzer suddenly. It was a shock to all of us, and our hearts and prayers go out to her and her family. It caused me to focus a little more on the Plan of Salvation this week. I am grateful to know that I will be able to see my loved ones again.
One of the great things that I learned this week was in our Sunday School class. We were talking about the Gifts of the Spirit from Come Follow Me, and the teacher encouraged us to all go home and re-read our patriarchal blessing specifically looking for the gifts that the Lord has blessed us with as individuals. That is a great exercise that I would encourage you all to do. It certainly opened my eyes to things in my blessing that I hadn't really seen before.
Well, that's it for this week. We love and miss you all!
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