Senior Missionary Conference in Madrid
This past week was a wonderful blessing for us. All of the senior missionaries got to go to Madrid for a senior missionary conference. We stayed in the Temple patron housing, and were able to spend a lot of time together in the Temple. We were able to ride the bullet train from Barcelona to Madrid. It reaches speeds of up to 300 kilometers/hour yet is as smooth as can be. We got to ride right next to the Heckmanns and so were able to visit with them the whole way (when he wasn't doing Zoom meetings on his computer).
We got there on Monday afternoon. We couldn't get into our rooms until after 3:00 so we took all of our luggage up to the conference room that was reserved for us in the building that houses the Madrid missions and the patron housing. We had an Area 70, Elder Gomez, and President Heckmann address us. After that we had a little free time to get settled in our room. Then had some Tony Roma's through Uber Eats. Unfortunately, the order didn't actually get to the restaurant until way late, and when we finally got the food it was almost 10 PM. No worries though.
Tuesday morning we all went to the Temple to do a session. It was really fun to have the session full of our dear friends. We all wanted to just hang out in the Celestial room afterward. What a special preview to how it will be when we step through the actual veil and are able to be there with all of our loved ones and friends. We then had some free time before lunch and Hermana Heckmann's address. Then we went back to the Temple to do some sealings. It was great, but the sealer must have been an auctioneer by trade as he was very hard to follow. He kindly provided the ordinance card for Brenda to follow along. That night we went to a great restaurant that was willing to close to everyone else just to feed us. It was awesome, and we had a wonderful time.
Wednesday morning we were up early again to get breakfast and go to another session. Once again, it was a spiritual feast that we dearly enjoyed. After the Temple we went to do a little sightseeing in Madrid. A group of us decided to go tour the Royal Palace. It was amazing and as luck would have it, we got there on the one day of the month where they have the "changing of the guard" ceremony complete with full military parade. It was pretty cool. The opulence of the palace was very "over the top". I now know what the Spaniards did with all of that Inca gold that they sent home from the Americas. It was one breathtaking room after another, where each king wanted to leave his mark with some insanely elaborate room devoted to his narcissism. We then went to the royal museum for more of the same.
We then decided to go to a very interesting place. There is a convent in Madrid where the nuns are all sequestered. They have cut themselves off from the outside world. They sell cookies to raise the funds to run their convent. However, since they can't see you face to face, you have to go into a side door of their convent, down to a little lazy susan type turnstyle. You call out your order, put the money in the turnstyle. They then turn it into them, and put your cookies and change on the turnstyle and turn it back out to you. We called it the "Secret Cookie" door. Kind of fun and unique. After we got back to the Temple housing we had some time to visit before the testimony meeting and pizza dinner. It was a wonderful evening.
Thursday morning we got to do another session before lunch and then head back home. A wonderful break, and probably the last time we will get to go to the Madrid Temple while we are on our mission barring some special event. It was a great time.
However, in the spirit of "no good vacation goes unpunished" Friday was brutal trying to get a week's worth of work into one day. We didn't make it, so we had to go in for a couple of hours on P-day as well. Still not caught up, but we can at least see the surface from where we are, and will have a long enough snorkel to breathe with until we can get all the way caught up.
The big take away from all of this is simple. We saw the most that the world has to offer. Fame, riches, and political power. That was in stark contrast to the Temple and the riches of eternity. Every one of those kings died without being able to "take it with him". The Temple and the ordinances thereof promise the greatest blessing of all, Eternal Life with Heavenly Father and our families. Put those two things side-by-side, and it is no contest. I will take my family every time. As we head into this Easter Season, I hope that we can all appreciate our Savior and what He has given us. I love Him, and hope that I can hold fast to the covenants that I have made with Him which provide and anchor to the soul during these insane times we live in. My prayer is that I can prepare my heart to receive the Spirit and the direction that await in General Conference this year. I hope that you can all do the same. We love you all!
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