Madrid MTC Missionaries Sing on July 28, 2013

Every Sunday evening, the Madrid MTC missionaries sing hymns on the steps leading to the Madrid Temple. Here are some photos and a video of their singing "Called to Serve" on July 28, 2013.

The missionaries of the MTC, under the direction of Elder Bruce Sullivan and accompanied by Sister Vivienne Sullivan, with President Jay Sitterud (MTC president) recording a movie with his iPad:

A closer-up photo showing the sister missionaries and Sister Sullivan at the keyboard:

The entire MTC missionary group with the Madrid Temple in the background:

This is Elder Stephen Ward, who was injured in the terrible train wreck in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, four days earlier. Elder Ward was sent here to the MTC to recuperate from his injuries:

This is a closeup of some of the missionaries. Elder Elder Ben Adamson is in the middle. His grandfather married Scott's mother after Scott's father passed away, so Ben is almost like family. Sister Sitterud is to the far right in this picture:

Here is a video of the missionaries singing "Called to Serve":

We enjoy listening to the MTC missionaries sing and we love meeting them when they come to the Madrid Temple each week.

Altarpiece at the El Paular Monastery (The Life of Jesus Christ)

Earlier this week we visited the Monasterio de Santa María de El Paular, a functioning 14th-century Benedictine monastery in the town of Rascafría, about 90 minutes north of Madrid at the base of the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains.

Guadarama mountains near Rascafría:

The monastery  where eight monks currently reside:

Beverly with Elder Joe and Sister Jean Riggs, who are employment missionaries in Madrid (Joe was a missionary with Scott in the Andes Mission nearly 50 years ago):

Father Martin, a Benedictine monk and our charming guide, with Beverly:

One of the highlights of the monastery was the altarpiece in the main chapel. It consisted of high-relief sculptures (of colored alabaster) that depicted the birth and death of Jesus:

Here are closeup photos of 14 of the 16 panels.

The angel Gabriel appears to Mary and announces that she will be the mother of Jesus:

Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth:

The birth of Elizabeth's son John, known as John the Baptist:

The birth of Jesus:

The Three Kings visit the baby Jesus:

 Jesus is presented to the high priest:

John baptizes Jesus. (Note: The altarpiece depicts the Catholic manner of baptism---by sprinkling---rather than by immersion.):

The Last Supper:

The Romans take Jesus into custody: 

Jesus carries the cross to Calgary:

Jesus is crucified:

Jesus is taken down from the cross:

Jesus is resurrected and comes forth from the tomb:

The resurrection of the dead at the time of Christ's resurrection:

We were glad the Riggs invited us to go on an excursion with them and that we visited this amazing monastery.

May and July Madrid Temple Missionary Conferences

As mentioned in earlier blog posts, we are in charge of the dinner and decorations for the monthly Madrid Temple Missionary Conference. We suggest a theme to President Tenney, and then after he approves the theme we create table decorations based on it.

The theme for May 2013 was "Gifts of the Spirit." We made a "gift box" centerpiece for each of the tables. The gift tag said "Buscad diligentemente los mejores dones" (Seek ye earnestly the best gifts) D&C 46:8.

We decorated the six dinner tables as shown here:

At our table, we enjoyed the company of Sister López and of Elder and Sister Riggs, new employment missionaries in Madrid:

Left to right: Beverly, Sister Riggs, Elder Riggs, and Sister López

Elder Riggs was a missionary with Scott in the Andes Mission, almost 50 years ago. They recognized each other when the Riggs came to the temple and Scott happened to be at the recommend desk. The Riggs are a wonderful addition to the Madrid Spain Mission. (Elder Riggs worked with Sister Felícita Álvarez in San Martín de Porres, Lima, Peru, for a period of seven months, during which time Sister Álvarez supplied references to him that let to 39 baptisms. Scott had the privilege, several months before that, of teaching and baptizing Sister Álvarez.)

There was no conference in June because the temple was closed for two weeks during that month. For July, the theme of the missionary conference was "Putting On the Full Armor of God."  We made a gingerbread castle for each table. (The castles were emblematic of the many Spanish castles we have seen during our travels.) On the walls of each castle, we "painted" (in frosting) a picture of a soldier in armor. This picture which we placed on each plate explained the parts of the armor, as given in D&C 17:15-18
:

This is one of the castles:

And this is what each of the tables looked like after we set everything up:

It was a lot of work finding the ingredients for gingerbread here in Spain. For example, we couldn't find molasses so we made our own, from honey and brown sugar. We also had to go to a special American store to purchase powdered sugar.

We have a wonderful time making decorations for the tables and feel that the decorations add to the spirit of the missionary conferences.

Madrid Temple Missionaries by the Temple

After our missionary conference on July 8, 2013, we had our pictures taken as a group of Madrid Temple missionaries. (The photo also includes the Sullivans, Young Single Adult missionaries and counselors in the Madrid MTC presidency, and the Gutiérrez family, missionaries at the temple hostel.) Click the picture to enlarge it.

Front row, l. to r.: Sister López, Elder Sullivan, Sister Sullivan, Sister Tenney (temple matron), President Tenney (temple president), President Paya (second counselor, temple presidency), Sister Paya (assistant to the matron), Sister Smalley. Second row, l. to r.: Elder Grieve, Sister Grieve, Sister de Schweinitz, Elder Salas, Sister Salas, Elder López, Sister López, Elder Jones, Sister Jones, Elder Lloyd, Sister Lloyd, Sister Núñez. Back row, l. to r.: Elder (Daniel) Gutiérrez (son), Elder (José) Gutiérrez (father), Sister Gutiérrez, Elder McDougal, Sister McDougal, Elder Schellenberger, Sister Schellenberger, Elder Duarte, Sister Duarte, Sister Rol, Sister Zimmerman, Elder Zimmerman.

We love all of these missionaries and enjoy serving in the temple with them.

Madrid MTC Choir on 3 June 2013

On Sunday, June 3, 2013, the missionaries of the Madrid MTC performed on the steps of the entrance to the Madrid Temple Square. The following are pictures of the missionaries and a link to the YouTube video of their performance of "How Wondrous and Great" and "We Thank Thee, Oh God, For a Prophet," directed by Elder Bruce Sullivan and accompanied by Sister Vivienne Sullivan, senior missionaries in Madrid. Elder Sullivan is first counselor in the MTC presidency.

Disclaimer: Because of the harsh sun and the deep shadows from the trees, the photo and video quality is poor. Below Scott presents two versions of the photos, one with minimal editing and the other highly edited in an attempt to show all of the missionaries. None of the pictures came out well.

The missionaries pose before they sing (Note: You can click on any picture to enlarge it on your computer screen):

To view and hear the missionaries sing, click the following links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFgXFLDW-As

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhsCaykfNWA

If one of your missionaries is in this group, you should be proud of him or her. These are all wonderful young people dedicated to serving the Lord.

Madrid MTC Missionaries Sing on 12 May 2013

On Sunday, May 12, 2013, the missionaries of the Madrid MTC performed on the steps of the entrance to the Madrid Temple Square. The following are pictures of the missionaries and a link to the YouTube video of their performance of "We'll Bring the World His Truth (Army of Helaman)."

The missionaries pose before they sing (Note: You can click on any picture to enlarge it on your computer screen):

Elders and Sisters of the Madrid MTC, with Pres. Sullivan (counselor in the MTC presidency and choir director, at right) and Sister Sullivan (accompanist, partly obscured behind Pres. Sullivan).

As Pres. Sullivan directs, the regular sister missionaries from the Madrid Mission (seated by the fence) and non-member passers-by (standing by the gate) listen to the music:

Closeup of some of the MTC sister missionaries:

The missionaries pose after their performance:

To hear the choir sing, click the following link (there is no sound at the beginning of the video, so be patient):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe41fLHv2wo

Sisters Hansen and Smith in Madrid

Earlier we posted a picture of us with Sister Smith, who was then a new missionary at the Madrid MTC. Since then, Sister Smith has received her assignment in the Spain Madrid Mission. And to our surprise, she was assigned to the Madrid 6th ward, which we attend! Her new companion is Sister Hansen, from Norway, who speaks English like a life-long resident of the United States, in addition to speaking Norwegian and Spanish.

Sunday evening, May 5, we invited these sisters for a Mexican dinner at our apartment. We had a chicken fajita buffet, with homemade refried beans, cheese, jalapeño peppers, a Spanish version of sour cream, homemade guacamole, lettuce and tomatoes. Here are Sisters Hansen and Smith at the "buffet":

 After the meal we posed for a picture: Scott, Sister Hansen, Sister Smith, and Beverly:

The sisters then shared a spiritual thought about having faith in our Heavenly Father. We love these wonderful sisters!