Sweet Family Aftermath


 This week was bitter-sweet. We got to have a little more time with Sarah and her family. On Monday we went to Park Guell and then to the office. Then it was lunch at our favorite sushi place, then to the Gothic quarter for some churros and chocolate.  Lots of fun but all good things have to come to an end as we had to put them on an airplane on Tuesday. It was sad to say goodbye to them. We had to take the MAV because we were also going to pick up a new missionary at the same time. We got delayed a couple of minutes because of the logistics of trading the Mini-MAV for the MAV. We also had to take her new companion with us to the airport. By the time we got there the new sister was already there. We left her with her new companion while we took Sarah and family up to the departure area. We wiped a few tears away, and then drove the sisters to the office. Just a few hours later we got a call from Sarah saying that they had missed their connecting flight in Madrid. "Cue Panic Mode!" The airline ended up putting them in a hotel, and giving them some food vouchers. We wanted to somehow fly out there to make it right, but there was nothing we could do except pray, which we did plenty of. They were able to catch another flight the next day, and got home late, but safe. 

I think it must be written in the Doctrine and Covenants somewhere that "no good vacation goes unpunished". Maybe not. However, it is still a true principle. We had a ton of stuff that was waiting for us to get done. We did have another adventure though. They took the MAV in for some body repair (too common with that beast being driven by teenagers). We had it arranged like we were supposed to, and on Friday got word that it was done. We took the elders to the garage and dropped them off. By the time we got back to the office, we were told that they couldn't pick it up because the car people at the Area had not yet paid for it like they were supposed to. They rode the metro back to the office. So, we had to do a bank transfer so the elders then had to ride the metro back and pick it up. There is always some weird thing to deal with. 

Yesterday was a solid deep cleaning on the Piso and some shopping. Brenda decided that we needed to feed the missionaries on Sunday for Easter, even though we were a week late. We ended up with 11 elders and sisters coming to dinner in our tiny apartment. It was a sweet experience for them as Brenda found a ham and did a full dinner complete with ham, funeral potatoes, deviled eggs, fruit salad, and all the trimmings. It was a good time, and felt like home for the missionaries. Two of them are going home this week, and so it was kind of like a little send off for them as well. 

Today was wonderful to get back to church after missing a week for General Conference (which was wonderful by the way!). I love being able to worship with the Saints. It was wonderful to take the Sacrament after having had Easter last week to remind us of the Savior's love for us, and what He has done for us. I know He lives, and it has been an honor for us to do our little part to serve Him here in Spain. The calendar tells me that we only have 3 months left, and that does not seem like much time, especially when we consider all the stuff we need to do to prepare for the new couple coming into the mission! 

Well, this coming week will be transfers and we will be getting a boatload of new missionaries again! Batten down the hatches, and full-speed ahead! The Church is true! We'll talk again next week.

 

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