Tour de France!
Wow! It's really here! I can't believe it. Our time in Spain will end on Friday. Once again, there have been lots of "lasts" this past week. It all seems like a blur, but there were lots of sweet moments too. Many of the missionaries can't believe that we are actually going home. I guess they are just used to us being a part of the office. It's sweet to see the outpouring of love from them. We have also experienced a lot of that from the members as well. On Friday night, we attended our last institute class. They pulled us aside and had the kids sing "God be with you 'til we meet again. They gave us some turron and it was really sweet. One of the youth had a cheap little electronic drum set, and they had fun watching the old guy try to get his hands and feet to remember how to do something from their youth.
Today at Church my sweet Brenda wanted to bear her testimony so we went up together. She did a wonderful job, and I was super proud of her. It may have had some English mixed in, but the Spirit was undeniable. I really did marry over my head! After church several of the members came up and thanked us for being there. A few of them actually had tears in their eyes. They love my dear Brenda, and I am just glad to get pulled into it by association. It was also a good chance for me to bear testimony of the Gospel, and to thank these wonderful people for the influence they have had on us. After the 5th ward meetings, we were planning on going home. However, the executive secretary of the 2nd ward came up to me and said that their music leader wasn't there, and asked if I would stay and lead the music. It is kind of ironic because we have been going to both meetings because they needed Brenda's magic fingers on the piano. Now they needed me. Anyway, it was neat to be able to stay for that meeting as well. Once again, it gave me the chance to bear one last testimony and to tell these sweet people how special they have been to us. After church Brenda invited Luisa to come over so that she could give her one of her dresses. Luisa was really appreciative. It really has been sweet to witness the change that has taken pace with Luisa over the last year and a half. The Lord works miracles in our lives when we allow Him to. Luisa is living proof of that. She is nothing like the person that the Elders first invited me to meet with almost 2 years ago. She is positive, she is cheerful, and she is focussed on improving, and on taking care of the obstacles she faces to get her daughters over here to be with them.
On Saturday, we were going to just hang out at the piso and pack. However, the Johnsons reminded us that the Tour de France was starting in Barcelona. So, we took the metro to where they were going to come by. It was a day of "time trials" and so they sent them by teams. It didn't take them long to traverse the 15K to get to where we were watching. They just flew by. I am including several video snippets in the photos. It was all pretty exciting. We then wanted to do a no kidding 4th of July bar-b-que. The only problem was that we didn't have anywhere in Barcelona that we knew of that had a grill. So, we drove up to Terrassa to the church there, where they have one. Burgers, dogs, macaroni salad, watermelon, and all the trimmings. We got home a little late, but it was fun.
We have been fasting for Religious Freedom as the Prophet asked us to. It is kind of frightening to see our freedoms being eroded. The Prophets, Seers, and Revelators obviously are very concerned over the way the world is going. I am incredibly grateful for a Prophet on the Earth today. So long as I can stay true to my covenants, and follow the Prophet, I will be able to weather whatever storms are on the horizon.
This coming week will be a wild ride. Monday will be our going away luncheon with the senior missionaries who can come. Yes, we are going to eat SUSHI! Yay! Tuesday morning, we will have to finish moving out of our piso over to the Johnson's. The Lamberts fly in on Tuesday morning as well. The salientes (missionaries who are leaving) will be hitting the office for their final interviews, and their farewell dinner with the Newitts. Not sure if we will be invited to that, but we might be. On Wednesday, we take the salientes to the airport, and pick up the 7 new inbound missionaries and do the whole tradition of welcoming them and getting them with their trainers. It will be our last transfer day, and it is one of the things that I will miss the most of our time here in Spain. It was always very special for us. On Friday morning we head on home to much anticipated hugs amid our tears of joy at being with our loved ones again.
We do not know what the Lord will have in store for us after this adventure. We will have to see. In the short term, we will be reconnecting with family and friends. However, we have learned that we want to continue to go wherever the Lord wants to lead us.
Next week will probably be the last blog entry for me. Thank you for keeping up with us over the last 2 years. We love you BILLIONS!
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