Russell M. Nelson 1924 - 2025
This week has been pretty exciting. Gerald and Tammy were here again, and we put them to work. Monday, they came into the office to help us. We were grateful to have them finally get to meet President and Sister Heckmann, and then, of course, go with us to eat Sushi! We ended up staying kind of late getting everything ready to go to the zone conferences which is always a chore. Tuesday and Wednesday were zone conferences here in Barcelona and they graciously jumped right in to help us make them successful. They claim to have enjoyed themselves, and we are very grateful for their selfless service. On Tuesday after the Zone Conferences, we went down to the Rambla where there was a surprise parade that went on. It was really fun to watch complete with fireworks, human tower people, and huge puppets. I would include a bunch of videos in the blog, but my Google account doesn't have the space.
Ever since we arrived in the mission field we have been told that a mini-van was coming to us as a mission car. We even named it the "Mini-MAV: (Mission Assault Vehicle) We have been told many times in that time that its arrival was going to be within a few days. So you can imagine how jaded I have become. On Wednesday I joked with Elder Jacox, our car coordinator, that I knew where the Mini-MAV is. It is out in a field somewhere surrounded by unicorns! Well, the very next day we got a call from Sister Jacox informing us that Unicorns must actually exist because the Mini-MAV was ready to be picked up!
On Thursday, Tammy and Gerald came in again and cooked lunch for us and the office elders. Stayed late again that night while getting caught up on work. We did get a chance to eat some gelato which is always fun. I also confirmed the existence of Unicorns as the Mini-MAV really was ready to pick up. So On Friday Gerald and I rode the metros for about an hour to get out to where the dealership was to pick it up! It was an adventure as one of the addresses that we had was wrong (of course, that was the one I used in the GPS). We got to a used car place, and told them we were there to pick up the van. They looked at us as if we were aliens with a third arm sticking out of our foreheads. Once we realized the problem, we looked back at the messages that I had received and saw the other address. Fortunately, it was only an 18 minute walk away. We got there at the exact instant that the lady at the dealership drove the van into the lot. It was pretty funny because she was being regaled with a chorus of "UNKOWN DRIVER!" every 5 seconds from the TIWI. She said that the mechanics couldn't figure out why this stupid car was talking to them in English. We had a good laugh after that. We then drove the Mini-MAV back to the office. Once the Elders knew we were close, they ran out to see it. It was pretty fun. That night I started coming down with a pretty solid cold, so we skipped Institute.
On Saturday we took Tammy and Gerald up to Montserrat which is a monastery way up in the mountains. The last time we had gone the Elders didn't want to pay for parking, and so we parked a couple of miles down the mountain and hiked there. This time, I did NOT want to hike so we tried to pay for parking, but were sad as we drove around trying to find a spot, that there just plain wasn't one to be had. Several people had even "invented" spots and were impeding traffic a little. We ended up going down the mountain and parking a little further down the road even from where we had parked with the Elders. The hike was rough as it went down for a while, and then up. By the time we got there, I was about dead. We spent some time there as there was a big festival happening and some of the same type stuff we saw in the parade earlier. It was kind of fun. We didn't get to enter the chapel, as they required tickets, and the earliest time we could schedule would have been that night. So, we bought a little "Cheese and Honey" that they are famous for, and then put on our hiking shoes again. Since the last part of the hike getting there was uphill, the first part of the hike back was going down. I was still pretty tired, but then it started going back uphill. That's when I started having to start chanting to myself "your muscles are lying to you, do not believe them!" Once we made it back to the van, I was beyond spent. We drove back to the piso and crashed HARD. After I was rested a little we went to dinner.
That brings us to today. We heard the news about President Nelson before going to church. That put me into a very contemplative mood. I tried to look at the Sacrament in light of his passing, and what it means for us as disciples of Christ. I am so very grateful for the plan of salvation that lets us have hope in our Savior. This afternoon we went to a baptism. The assistants have been teaching a lady named Veronica. I had the privilege of sitting in on a couple of the discussions. She is from Angola and her primary language is Portuguese. When she commited to baptism, she said that she wanted me to baptize her. It was a challenge, because the missionaries wanted to do the baptism in Portuguese. I had to practice the baptismal prayer over and over again to try to get it right. It came off pretty well, so it was fun.
President Nelson's passing is hard for me. He is the only prophet that I have had the honor of knowing on a personal level. I may have been trying to assist him while he assigned missionaries, but he very much was ministering to me all along. I will always remember him with love because he is solidly woven into the very fabric of my testimony. I have experienced miracles in my own life because of him and his influence as he "ministered to the one" with me. I know that he was, and is, a prophet of God. I am confident that as President Oaks takes over, that the Spirit will be confirming to my soul as the mantel of a prophet settles on him. That is how it has been for me with all of the other Presidents of the Church. It is so amazing that there will be no politicking, no positioning for power, no voting, no "black smoke", and no drama. President Oaks is now the senior most living Apostle, period. It is amazing to watch how God has prepared each of His mouthpieces to align with the specific times that they serve in. General Conference next week will certainly be something to behold. I think we should all pray not only for President Nelson's family, but certainly for President Oaks and the other Brethren, as the natural process unfolds before our very eyes. Present Nelson urged us to prepare for the 2nd coming. Elder Oaks will have to be the the one to continue on in that light. I love the fact that God loves us enough to provide Prophets, Seers, and Revelators.
Have a great week!
P.S. Happy Birthday Alicia!
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