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!

MTC Elders and Madrid Sister Missionaries

On a recent missionary preparation day, we (Scott, Beverly, and Elder and Sister Jones, fellow temple missionaries) happened upon four MTC elders in the local metro station. They were on their way to Domino's Pizza (yes, there is one near here in Madrid!). We enjoyed talking with them for a few minutes.

From left to right: Beverly, Sister Jones, and Elder Jones; Elder Anderson from Boise, Idaho; Elder Smith from Springville, Utah; Elder Cluff from St. George, Utah; and Elder Wiley from Seattle, Washington:

These elders can also be seen on two videos that Scott uploaded to YouTube. The links to the two videos are https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuBwBJtyao0 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMwFs0VKgOY.


The next Sunday, Scott and Beverly invited two sister missionaries to dinner. They currently live just around the corner from us, but will be moving soon to be closer to their assigned area.

From left to right: Scott; Sister Rebekah Seastrand from Holladay, Utah; Sister Allly Frandsen from San Bernadino, California; and Beverly:

After our dinner of chicken fajitas and fruit salad, these Sisters each shared a favorite scripture and bore their testimony. It was touching to feel their spirit, hear of their wonderful investigators, and know of their dedication to the work in Madrid.

We love the young missionaries, whether they are just passing through Madrid during their short stay at the MTC or working here as part of the Spain Madrid Mission.

Young Missionaries at the Madrid MTC

Scott and Beverly spoke at the Centro de Capacitación de Madrid (Madrid MTC) today (April 21, 2013). We enjoyed being with the large number of young missionaries currently living here, just above us in the same building. The number of missionaries has more than doubled over the past few months, with more sister missionaries arriving than elders.

Here we are with Sister McKinsey Jo Smith. We corresponded with her sister, Kelly Bunn, before Sister Smith arrived here. It was great to meet Sister Smith in the temple after she first arrived and to see her again today. What a wonderful, special missionary!

As we were giving our talks, we saw a missionary sitting on the front row with the name of Vogel. He looked just like President Eric Vogel, counselor in our home (Orem, Utah) stake presidency. As we surmised, Elder Peter Vogel is Pres. Vogel's son. What a great Elder! Here we pose together in the MTC cafeteria:

Later in the day, all the missionaries at the MTC assembled on the stairs by the temple and sang church hymns:

This view of the choir shows Elder Vogel in the upper left corner and Sister Smith in the middle of the front row:

And here are closeup shots of Elder Vogel and Sister Smith:

To view the YouTube video of these missionaries, go to LDS Madrid Missionaries Sing by the Temple

It's always wonderful to be with the young missionaries as they prepare to become ambassadors of the Lord here in Spain!

Russ and Erin at La Alhambra

Our son Russ and his wife Erin took a two-week trip to Europe, spending the second week with us in Spain. They arrived in Madrid on Saturday, March 23, 2013, and on that same day, the four of us took a train to Granada to visit La Alhambra and other interesting places in the city.

Our first stop at the Alhambra was the Alcazaba, the Moorish fortress:

The Alcazaba on the western edge of the Alhambra complex

Inside the Alcazaba:

Russ and Erin in the Alcazaba of La Alhambra:

Erin and Russ in the Alcazaba, with a view of the Albaicín area of Granada in the background

Scott and Beverly in the Alcazaba, with its walls and towers in the background on the left and the city of Granada on the right

We then went into the Nazrid Palaces (Palacios Nazaríes):

Palacios Nazaríes, with the Church of Santa María de la Alhambra in the center behind the palacios and the Palacio de Carlos V (the large rectagle building with many windows) behind the Palacios Nazaríes on the right

Russ and Erin in the Court of the Golden Room (Patio del Cuarto Dorado):

Erin and Russ in the Patio del Cuarto Dorado, with intricate designs on the upper walls and patterned tile on the lower wallls.

Scott and Beverly at the same location:

Beverly and Scott in the Patio del Cuarto Dorado

Russ and Erin in the Court of the Myrtles (Patio de Arrayanes);

Russ and Erin in the Court of the Myrtles

Scott taking a picture of a wall in the Court of the Myrtles

Erin, Russ, and Beverly pause for a picture in the Carlos V Palace:

Erin, Russ, and Beverly at Carlos V Palace of La Alhambra

Possibly the most famous spot in La Alhambra, the Court of the Lions (Patio de los Leones):

Patio de los Leones

Russ takes a photo in the palace of Generalife:

Russ the Photographer

Scott also takes a picture in Generalife; his jacket testifies that most of the day was cold and wet):

Scott the Photographer

Erin and Russ pose for a photo in the green archway that leads from Generalife and eventually to the Alhambra exit:

Erin and Russ leaving Generalife

Scott and Beverly at the same location, at the end of our visit to La Alhambra:

Scott and Beverly leaving Generalife

We loved Alhambra, but we especially loved going there with Russ and Erin. We had such a great time.

For more photos, click here.

Bandera de Sión (High on a Mountain Top)

For our monthly Temple Missionary Conference in March 2013, we selected the theme of "High on a Mountain Top," a hymn that is called Bandera de Sión (Banner of Zion) in Spanish. The temples in Spain and elsewhere are the banners or ensigns to the nations of the world.

We made the following invitations for the temple missionaries and, in addition, for the full-time Senior  missionaries serving near the temple:

Then for the centerpieces of the dinner tables, we made these "mountains" with a banner of Zion showing pictures of the Madrid temple:

The decorated tables continued the yellow and blue color theme, some with blue table cloths ...

... and some with yellow table cloths:

We enjoyed a great meal together. At this table are (clockwise from the left) Sister and Brother Sullivan, Young Single Adult missionaries; Elder and Sister Jones, temple missionaries; and Sister and Brother Rodríguez, employment missionaries:

President Tenney gave a wonderful talk on the growth of the church since the first Banner of Zion was flown on Ensign Peak above Salt Lake City in 1847. He showed this video on the growth of the church by the number of temples. It was a great temple missionary conference.

Our Madrid MTC Fireside Presentation

About every three months, President Sitterud of the Madrid MTC invites us to speak at Sacrament Meeting or to give a special presentation to the young missionaries. We enjoy this opportunity to associate with the young Elders and Sisters and to preach the gospel. Here are summaries of our recent fireside with selected slides from the PowerPoint presentations that we utilized.

"Studying the Scriptures" by Beverly

Beverly began by relating some of her personal experiences in studying the scriptures, especially completing her goal to read all the standard works and to look up every footnote for every scripture. During this project, she discovered the internal consistence of the scriptures and had her testimony of the modern scriptures strengthened. She then explained the benefits of regular scripture study, using the following summary slide:

Her presentation included key quotes from Preach My Gospel and from our modern-day prophets and apostles. For example, one of her slides shows this quote from Elder Bruce R. McConkie on hearing the voice of the Lord through the scriptures:

This quote from President Monson expresses the value of the scriptures and the joy of studying them:

She ended with this quote to show how the prophets love the scriptures and to also express her own love for the scriptures:

"My Biggest Mistakes as a Young Missionary" by Scott

Scott began by listing some of the things he did do right as a young missionary (kept mission rules, studied the scriptures and the language, worked hard, and stayed focused on spiritual things), but then he discussed things he could have done better. For example, he mentioned that he made mistakes in goal setting and he presented this list what constitutes the best kind of goals for missionaries:

For example, one of Scott's biggest mistakes as a young missionary was to focus too much on his own personal improvement and not enough on the needs of his investigators:

Another mistake Scott and other young missionaries make is shown in this slide, with a page from Preach My Gospel on goal setting:

Scott ended by telling how he overcame some of his mistakes, applied proper goal-setting principles, and had success with the baptism of the Álvarez family, shown here in 1965:

The MTC missionaries were receptive and responsive our messages, and we look forward to future opportunities to speak at the MTC.