Doug Earl Family

5 Brothers in Mazatlan

2012-02-17T06:10:00.000-08:00

This is the first time in a long time that we had all five brothers together, along with mom, all of Jeff's children and their spouses or special friends, Justin, Angelique, Dougie, Marion and Savana Jones, Grandma Jones...In short it was a real party. We loved it. Most played a lot of water volleyball. We all ate alot and enjoyed the best weather ever. I could get used to this retirement thinig.

BACK IN SLC

2012-01-15T19:02:00.000-08:00

We had all of our family except for Mike, Allie, Kyle and Justin, (plus Grandma Jones, Keith and Vickie) at the Salt Lake City Airport to see us come in back home. Nothing compares to coming home to family. All of these pictures are on Ashley's blog. Thank you family. We just finished the most wonderful church assignment we have had to date.

Interim President

2012-01-06T21:49:00.000-08:00

Calvin and Gayle Clegg have been approved by the first presidency to be the interim president of the MTC. He was a mission president in Portugal and she was a counselor in the general primary presidency of the Church for 6 years. They were missionaries here in Spain at the time of their call. We know them well. He was FBI for many years in South America and he was missionary companions with President Donald Tenney, our temple president and Charles Eberhard one of our temple missionaries. Small world. This is our final MTC post. Connie is a little trunky. I am a rock.

All About Eating

2012-01-01T21:43:00.000-08:00

Starting at the left: Jona Neidhard (teacher) can eat more than any human I have ever met. Sister Dremeaux is going to Paris, Miguel Motta is from Portugal but served in Paris and is a teacher. Christian Bruno is our other Italian teacher. ME: old, fat and tired. Elder Aldo Pauari from Tahiti gave me a necklace that I can just barely stand up under. When he hugged me the shells crashed into my chest and almost punctured my lungs. Elder Curzola is from the north of Italy on the border with Austria and goes to Rome. Christmas in the MTC is about letting the staff and cooks off and having Pres and Sister Earl do all the cooking, cleaning and all that other stuff. This is very nostalgic because that is what it is all about at home too. We did crepes for the 24th, and we did a full on turkey dinner for Sunday the day of Christmas (we invited the Ebys, Eberhards and Pres and Sister Tenney). For the New Years weekend we did Dominos pizza and then on Sunday Fetticini. We stayed up until midnight although it was hard to find things to do. One week left.
OH YES, go cougs.

Hot Fudge Tuesday

2011-12-20T06:33:00.000-08:00

Some of our teachers and leaders: Efrain Lopez, Manuel Arjona, Brian Pickup, Christian Bruno, Mikel Lizzaralde, Daniel Esposito, Eva Suarez, Soraya and Josefina Martinez, just some of our teachers receiving and enjoying a mug of hot fudge sauce for Christmas. We were going to Cadiz for a couple of days, but with the news from Isaac and Linh and just being overall a little tired, we decided to stay home and make something for the people here, thus the hot fudge. Last week Jeff, Lisa, Kevin and Chase Fairchild came to stay a day or two and we had a good time with them. We have less than 3 weeks left and we are ready to come home. We have just three missionaries here in the MTC and our classes are held in our apartment, as the big room is being remodeled. The classes are more like FHE (however without the treats and frequent trips to the restroom). We love our friends here and we love the missionaries but we have been away from home now for 4 years and hopefully someone will be glad to have us back in the States. To us, our dedication to the work of the mission of the church is bigger than anything else. Only our love and dedication to each other comes close to that. We trust in the plan. Otherwise Christmas makes no sense and has no purpose.

Many are Cold but few are Frozen

2011-12-05T12:59:00.001-08:00

We have 17 Russian/Ukranians, 5 Italians and l North American here and the Russians from Siberia say "many are cold but few are frozen." That just cracked me up. We have had 30 Russians thus far and I have found the 12 tribes of Israel. The scriptures say the 10 tribes will come out of the North, well 2 of these missionaries are from Zebulon, one from Issachar, 3 from Dan, 1 from Simeon, 2 from Manasseh, 2 from Ephraim, and have had Asher, Levi and Judah. The Lord does things in a very natural way. Love these kids.

Nortons & Nielsens

2011-11-29T05:12:00.000-08:00

Kylie & Eddie Norton and their friends Connor and Marielle Nielsen came from SLC to visit Madrid and then Rome/Florence on a fall trip. We know the Nortons from our Perpetual Education days in Lima, where they came to intern for the summer. We visited the normal places, Toledo and Segovia, plus Avila, Madrid and Manzanares el Real. We have 17 Russian missionaries, 5 Italian missionaries and l North American going to Spain that just happens to be good friends with the Nortons, so we took him with us to Manzanares. Still having a great time!!

Theodore Bunker Boice

2011-11-25T00:36:00.000-08:00

I wanted to add additional pictures so I could have my beautiful daughter looking beautiful, plus who can resist a bum shot and a big brother shot?

Theo was born on the 22nd of November 2011 at 4:16 pm in Orem Utah and came in at 4 pounds and 6 ozs. This is probably the most prayed over little one that has come and his is beautiful. Thank you to the cousins who fasted for Theo.

el Meson Candido- 500 years of Eating History

2011-11-12T05:03:00.000-08:00

We had a great visit with Jason, Britney, Jeff and Becky. They were off to see the South of Spain but we got to take them around to some of the places here in Madrid. We love our family. We spent a lot of money for marginal food at the Meson Candido because it is about 500 years old and we wanted to say that we had eaten here. Jeff, Connie and I had eaten there in 1978 but we had to accompany everyone else. Lots of atmosphere and excellent company.

Don Quixote and the Windmills

2011-11-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

The castle is located 30 miles south of Toledo and was on the ridge of the wheat plains of La Mancha where Cervantes found his inspiration for Don Quixote (or Don Quijote)

The windmill blades are covered in cloth and the blades are moved to face into the wind.

David, Peggy, Trevor & Kristy

2011-10-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

Connie and I at La Granja, the Palace of the French king who served in Spain and our matching coats from Magellan

Our whole group, teachers and Brian Pickups parents

Anything else need to be said?

I think I have been here before.

Nothing better than freson con nata. The great thing about having David as a guest is that he does not need to be entertained.

WHEN I'M 64

2011-10-17T07:04:00.000-07:00

Sister Moore and I have the same birthdate, the 17th of October. I vhad a great day with lots of cards, food, visitors, calls, emails and thoughts about getting older. Thank you all.

TAHITI NIGHT at the MTC- 7 Tahitians leave

2011-10-11T11:08:00.000-07:00

Jim and Pat Jewell and Connie and Doug Earl

When you have 7 tahitians in the MTC at the same time that means you have a talent show whether you said yes or no. Also, I must now have 40 pounds of shell necklaces and they are incredible. When I took them to the airport they had way too many suitcases and I ended up with hundreds of the necklaces that they could not take. I spent over $1,000 in excess baggage for just 7 of them. Can you imagine!!

16 French and3 Spain Missionaries

2011-10-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

I know this is boring but when you get a chance to train 16 missionaries going to the two missions of France and 3 going to Spain all in one shot you know that you will have a connection with those countries for the next two years. The missionaries send us letters and tell us what they are doing and then we know what is happening in those countries. We have these people now in Russia, Spain, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Italy, Romania and a couple of south American countries. Nine of these missionaries were born in the covenant, the rest converts. Two of these are italians assigned to France, a Romanian and New Zealander assigned to Spain, a Cambodian going to France, and several are Tahitians that are French speaking and have French passports. Elder Tromeur's parents (Father French and Mother italian) met at BYU and they decided to move to the country of the first one of them that got a job, i.e. they ended up in Italy where the Mom first found a job. Each missionary has a story. Two of these missionaries, L'Homel and Gouttin, from France have baby pictures taken of them together, although they have not lived close to each other for many years. (They also are 18 and are the first French missionaries called at 18 under our new guidelines over here). They come from 9 different countries. They all are here with a similar goal. We will really miss this association with these young people from all of these countries. When they come I look up their houses on google earth and we really see where they come from and try to talk about what their life was like. We get really close. On a less nostalgic note, I really like this picture because it really shows off my pink tie.

Valley of the Fallen

2011-09-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

The Grobergs and Earls at Segovia.

Joseph and Jeannie Groberg came to Madrid and visited us on their Spain vacation. They were the MTC presidents in Lima when we were there. He was also a mission president right before us and a missionary in the Andes mission before me. They are headed to Ecuador as a temple president. We visited the Valley of the Fallen outside Madrid with them. It has been closed the whole time we have been here. It is a gigantic cathedral inside the mountain. We had a good time with them.

Off with my Russians, Ukranians, Bulgarians

2011-09-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

This group goes off to Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Romania in the morning. Their sign says BE DILIGENT!! This includes the two teachers Brian Pickup and Olga.

Another Copenhagen

2011-09-14T01:40:00.000-07:00

I wanted to add a little about Copenhagen. Two of our Roylance ancesters, specifically Valentine Valentinsen (Wallenstin Wallenstinsen and Margathe Kofoed) were from the Island of Tingsted Denmark and were baptized in 1851, l year after the Church was introduced in Denmark. Danish was the second language that the Book of Mormon was translated into and there were about 20,000 Saints that came to Utah. The Christus (1839) was the work of Bertel Thorvaldsen who died the same year as Joseph Smith (1844) The Carl Bloch paintings of Christ are found in the Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerod Denmark. The castle was erected in 1560. The KRISTINA statute by Dennis Smith from Alpine Utah was unveiled in 2000 by Elder Russell M. Nelson and it represents the saints that came out of Denmark and looked towards the West for their new home. Finally the Denmark Temple was dedicated in 2004 by Pres. Hinckley and was made from an existing church. There is much more temple below the street level than above it.

Copenhagen

2011-09-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

You will recognize the Cristus and it is everything that we thought it would be. The 12 apostles are on either side of the church and we were told that the visitor's center at the Italy temple will have an exact reproduction of these same 12. Copenhagen is incredible. Everyone speaks English and we stayed in a Marriott on the wharf. We went out to the King's summer palace to see the Carl Bloch paintings. We also had a canal tour, ate on the 25th floor of the Radison. Our Area Presidency were wonderful hosts, speakers and gave us much. Elder Bednar and his wife spent part of the day with us and we were well motiviated and fed. I did not put that this was a mission thing because it gets picked up on the news.

FIRST RUSSIANS TO MTC

2011-09-03T06:10:00.000-07:00

For the first time, Russians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Albanians and Baltic missionaries have a place to go for their MTC experience. Previous to this they would go directly to the mission field. Some, those that were fluent in English and could get a visa to the U.S. were allowed to go to Provo, but most did not. This is our first group. They represent several countries and they all speak Russian. They also represent the tribes of Dan, Asher, Neptali, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Joseph. We are finding the lost ten tribes. They are delightful. In our second picture, we have an Albanian going to Italy (he learned Italian watching TV) and two Italians that were born in the Church. Elder Visintine's grandparents were members and his mom was born in the Church. they are going to Italy. We also have two North Americans in this group going to Spain. Today they went to Retiro Park to contact people. They started to sing in Russian and the first four people that they stopped to talk to spoke Russian. This is historic. Our next group in 3 weeks are 10 North Americans going to Spain, 10 French going to France and 4 Italians going to France. Our meetings and classes are interesting.

Greers and Barcelona

2011-08-27T05:41:00.000-07:00

Gil and Pam are on their way to spend a month in Europe and so we spent 4 days with them in Barcelona. We celebrated Pam's birthday and our 42nd wedding anniversary. We also got to meet with Pres. Hinckley and his Barcelona missionaries. Barcelona was full of tourists and for good reason. What a beautiful city.

Elder CA

2011-08-13T01:51:00.001-07:00

I have not blogged for awhile. Yesterday I was listening to the conversation story of Elder Ca, born in Senegal and from some country called Guinea Bissau. He had come to the MTC with a suitcase the size of a carry on. Because of having to get a passport, having to get a visa and a number of other things, it had taken him 9-10 to get here after getting his mission call to Portugal from Cape Verde. He has been a member for two years, is 22 and was the elder's quorum president there in Cape Verde. He was explaining to me how he finally got his papers and was then given a couple of days to report to Lisbon to start his mission. He was so happy and he was having his farewell with the family with whom he was living. They each were hugging him and asking for a picture or something to remember him by. He said, the young boy who was a priest and who was preparing to go on a mission is doing so good. I had two suits so I gave him one of mine. The other young boy is such a good boy and I gave him a suit and tie. I knew Elder Ca had been in the mission for 7 weeks (and he has baptized every single week during that 7 week period-- 28 baptisms so far in his short mission) He had to come to the MTC to learn to baptize...I don't think we have anything to teach him about that. But he also needed to go through the temple and we can teach him a little doctrine. No wonder he did not have a suitcase. We will get him some stuff here for when he goes back to Portugal in 2 more weeks. The missionaries come from the states with so much stuff.

Michael & Allie

2011-07-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

On July 7th, Mike and Allie were married in the Portland Oregon temple. They had a reception that night and then another in Moses Lake on Friday. As you can see from the picture, the family fully supported this marriage they were out in force.

Allie's two sisters and brother.

Their very first kiss ever?

Oregon and Washington, perfect.

What is more beautiful than the Portland temple?

When a missionary comes to the MTC and her name is Abish you know she was born in the Church. We have two French sisters there on the front row and the rest are North Americans going to Spain. We have been receiving bigger groups and more on time.

Connie Caught Up with Me Again

2011-06-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

Sixty three big ones. This means that we have known each other for 42 years as of June 20th. When you are in the MTC you don't have to cook your own birthday dinner, nor your own cake. Connie did not even try it as she was going for the $500 bucks I so stupidly said I would give her if he hit her weight goal. How was I to know that she was serious about that? Anyway, she is a young 63 and continues to be the love of my life. Missions are pretty cool if you like your companion.

Madrid Temple

2011-06-20T01:49:00.000-07:00

The temple is close to the community center of Moratalaz and so when they have festivals, their fireworks are shot off from right behind the temple. A couple of the missionaries saved me the trouble of taking pictures last night with these two shots. The other is a shot of the temple during the summer with the flowers. The temple president and temple missionaries get two weeks off twice a year for temple maintenance. We are the only ones around for the second week in a row.

Service Project

2011-06-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

My missionaries are planting flowers at the temple. Elder Ellis, Carlson, Sister Perez, Elder Walters, Cuevas, McGarry, Casillas and Sister Piedad. We have 3 Italians, 3 Spanish and 21 North Americans going to Spain. Great group. Ernie and Sylvia gave a great fireside Sunday, plus Elder Teixeira gave us one on Friday and Elder Pepi Reina one on last Monday. Lot's of great people moving the work along.

April and May Big Groups

2011-06-05T00:15:00.000-07:00

I know you have no interest in seeing our groups of missionaries but the last two have been big. The top one is the Americans to Spain and the Portuguese to Portugal group. The bottom one is the Americans to Spain and the Spanish to Spain. That was my biggest group of Spanish missionaries that reported at one time. The visas are coming on time and I have most of these missionaries for 6 weeks. The latest picture also includes our new helpers, Jim and Pat Jewell. They are temple missionaries and will serve with us until November 1st. They have been in the Madrid Mission in the office and working the Segovia Branch for almost a year and a half.

Lanzarote II

2011-06-02T06:21:00.000-07:00

From the house of artist Manrique shown behind us to the Cactus garden designed by Manrique, to the playa of Playa Blanca to the views from Mirador, we travelled from one end of this tip of a volcano to the other tip. We saw red beaches, white beaches, and black beaches, but all of it was volcanic. Daniel Exposito and his two sons Benjamin and Samuel were with us most of the time and were great hosts.

The Canary Islands- Lanzarote

2011-05-24T23:34:00.003-07:00

Daniel Exposito, our assistant director of the MTC is from the Canary Islands and he is so proud of the Islands and wanted us to come down. We finally arranged three firesides down here and came. He wore us out yesterday seeing this volcanic island. Here we have Daniel, Benjamin 8 and Samuel 11-- and the camels.

Yes they got me on a camel ride. It was the first time I have agreed to do that in all my travels and I kind of liked it. I am not sure the camel felt the same way.

The ground is productive but there is no water and lots of wind so they build shelters for the grapes, hand water them and produce a very famous wine

There are lot's of battlements on the shore to defend against Pirates. There are 7 main islands in the Canaries. This is where Columbus stopped on his way to get provisions and they are located just off the coast from Morocco in Africa.

Before I knew it

2011-04-25T05:32:00.001-07:00

So Elders Moo and Harevaa were coming out of the temple with me and said that they wanted a picture. We lined up to take it and all of a sudden I was in the air. Total surprize. The tahitians are a kick.

Helen Cummings Grandson

2011-04-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

I had Elder Tanner Grossman one week here in the MTC while he got his visa renewed for the Moscow West Mission. He was a fine young man and we were close. I took him out to the airport instead of sending him on the metro because we had kind of bonded. The other missionaries here in the MTC all mentioned him in their letter to me this week. They loved him too. I sent this picture to his mother telling her about him. So she wrote back the following: "But I have to share something that will knock your socks off. I was sharing this letter with my mother and happened to read your name at closing and my mom about freaked out. She kept repeating your name and then said: 'Don't you know who that is?' I said no. She said: "He was instrumental in getting Terry (Cummings) to join the church and baptized him." My mom is Helen Cummings. She is just beside herself. I sent the picture of you and Tanner to her." Another small Mormon world. Victor Merrell and I were home teachers and Ward missionaries and we visited Helen and Terry Cummings for some time. They were wonderful. I remember when we taught them about tithing and they immediately accepted that commandment without a question. It was a thrill to baptize Terry. Helen is one of the kind, gentle people of this world. She is an artist and they are a great couple. Their whole back yard was a beautiful flower garden. Just after I got this letter from Elder Grossman's mom, I got a letter from Helen saying that they had moved to South Carolina, after having lived in Butte for 5 years. What a fine memory for us to have of them and now of their grandson.

Freson con Nata

2011-04-16T01:16:00.000-07:00

In life one must take every opportunity to have strawberries and cream. Steve and Michelle Cain finished a mission to the Navajo in Arizona and were on their way to see Isaac and his family in Tel Aviv. They stopped and visited with us and we took them to Aranjuez, Segovia and downtown Madrid over the course of 4 days. They will return from this 3 week trip and extend their mission for 6 more months with the Navajo. On a lighter note, spring is here and the weather is beautiful. We are getting missionaries more on time with the visa issue and we are loving life. KaeLynn is expecting and Michael is finishing up the semester, and he still has a girlfriend. Life is still good.

Two new Polynesians

2011-04-05T00:43:00.000-07:00

We picked up two new Tahiti missionaries going to France that had been travelling for 48 hours and had no money to eat. They were tired and hungry, but had great smiles. They always bring these incredible necklaces that they give to everyone. Here we see Doug, Connie, Elder Temanaha and Harevaa, Kirkham, Hunt, our French teacher Luc Finaise and Elder Wilkinson from England. Got to love 19 year olds.

Another Missionary, Victor Acedo

2011-03-28T23:13:00.000-07:00

One of my Peruvian missionaries came to visit with his wife Maria Isabel. He is from Peru but has a 6 man advertizing firm in Santa Cruz Bolivia. She is a doctor from Granada Spain and they have been married two years and have a 7 month old son, Hugo. They are here visiting her family and trying to get her medical degree in a position to transfer it to Bolivia. I have not seen Victor for 22 years. They are doing great. Sometimes you have to come to Spain to see one of your missionaries from Peru living in Bolivia.

Cordoba Spain

2011-03-23T02:06:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day and a beautiful place. Here Columbus met to arrange the financing for his trip. Here the Moslems built a house of prayer that could accomodate 40,000 worshippers at the same time. Here the Jews maintained the right to worship long after the same was discontinued in other places.

The streets are narrow and very old. Connie found a purse that I talked her into buying. She loves these kinds of purses.

The Mezquita is enormous. It was started around 650 AD and now is a Catholic Cathredal, but about half of it's life it was a Moslem mosque.

We took the AVE, 200 mph train and were there in 2 hours. We came back the same day. Notice please the new hat.

Another Doug Story

2011-03-17T05:54:00.000-07:00

This is our latest group of Italians going to Italy. They are sisters Laratro, Modugno, Elders Pedreira, teacher Bruno, Botalla, Kafel, Romeo, Squarcia, and Sisters Silva and Giordano. Sister Silva was baptized in Lima Peru by my missionaries Elders Patrick Brannelly and Todd Christensen in 1989. Twenty two years later she is now 32 and going on a mission. She is the second lady missionary that we have trained that was baptized by my missionaries, the other being sister Guerra from Huancayo who is serving in Spain. The world of the Church is tightly related.

Jorgensen and Jorgensen

2011-03-05T00:56:00.001-08:00

Ken and Marilynne Jorgensen just finished their mission to Ghana and are on their way home via Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey. They really were not expecting Spain to be so European and we loved showing them our beautiful MTC, temple grounds, City of Madrid and as shown here Segovia. Spain is filled with castles, cathedrals, forts, quaint streets and shopping areas and we love it. They were so positve and easy to be around. The look on their face as they had a green salad (the first in 18 months) and were able to eat some of the good food that we have here, was picture worthy. They were loving Spain and even the cold. Each day we bought one more piece of clothing so that they could keep warm. They are getting back to normal but will be forever changed by having served in Africa. Ken said to me: "I like to see people with a little color. All of us look so washed out." They were only here from Monday to Friday morning but we really loved having them here. The last picture is a picture of Elder Tavares and Brito from Cape Verde. When Steve and Barbara were here, Ben left his very nice and warm coat. They called over and rather than sending it to them, they asked me to give it to a needy missionary. I waited until the Cape Verde missionaries came and I gave it to Elder Brito on the left. However, he knew that elder Tavares was much poorer than he was and was in much more need of the coat and like a good district leader watching over his little flock, he immediately gave it to Elder Tavares. Tavares wears it everywhere and loves it. Thank you Jorgensens (both couples for the kind of people that you are.)

Rest of the Story

2011-02-24T02:31:00.000-08:00

After I made the post from Brother Carlos Alfredo Arana, he wrote the following to me:
"This story my mother told us impressed me much and touched my heart deeply. It was my father´s faith to be in jail-- no matter how hard or how long-- he had enough faith to put his life or reputation in risk-- it doesn´t matter what now, it matters what he did in pressing times--for the true gospel and in defending the integrity of the angels of the Lord (the missionaries). With this kind of faith and even more strong spiritual experiences, I have lived in my life, since that age I never doubted the truthfulness of the gospel Our Lord Jesus Christ taught us. My eldest two brothers Jorge and Ricardo, me, my sister Carmela and another brother who came after us, Samuel, my brother Jorge´s sons Aaron and Ezra and my own precious sons Mahonri and Scott have served as missionaries to the lord. My brother jorge´s daughter has a son who is growing up in the testimony of the gospel making four generations with the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I pay tribute to my father Jorge Arana Rizabal who left us this great heritage of faith and to the Angels like you are who Our Lord in his tender mercies had sent to our lives to make up our mind and remind us of our eternal destiny." The picture is the Arana family in Ayacucho in 1966 when they were baptized by Elder Valera and Lewis.

Another Ayacucho Tender Mercy

2011-02-22T12:40:00.000-08:00

Recently on facebook Carlos Arana Araujo found me. He was 4 when I was a missionary in Ayacucho where I closed down the branch in January of 1968. As a result his family moved to Lima so they could be active. He and a couple of brothers went on missions and the family of 8 children (Sister Ana is on the right) are all members. So this man who was 4 then and whose father died in 1992 told me the following story. He asked me: you are the famous missionary KIRK DOUGLAS, right? I saw yes. (they could not say Earl and so I was elder Douglas. Kirk Douglas was big in those days and so I often said my name was Elder Kirk Douglas) He said (and I went back and read the account in my diary-- a story I had forgotten) that when we were moving from one branch building to another in Ayacucho, the police came and told us we had to have papers to be able to move. We did not have them. They asked me my name and I said KIRK DOUGLAS. Everyone got a chuckle out of that. Then they asked me for my address and I told them I slept in the Park. With that they had had it and they hauled me off to the police station. His dad was a radio announcer (and a member) and the news came in that the police had arrested a North American. He knew it must be the missionaries so he went down to the police station and stood up for us. They released me and his father stayed there in the jail for a few hours to satisfy the demands of justice. I had completely forgotten this story but he had been raised on it and had wanted to meet me for many years. He is now living here in Madrid and working to get his wife and family here. He has 5 children, but they only the 13 and 10 year old are still at home with their mother. She is a returned missionary too. They came up and we had dinner together. The Lord keeps giving me Ayacucho stories because I have always felt so bad that I closed that place down to missionary work.

Granada and Sevilla

2011-02-17T13:23:00.000-08:00

President Richard and Anne Clegg were our hosts in the Malaga Mission. They started as the mission presidents of the Bilboa Mission until it was incorporated into the other 3 missions here in Spain. They are young and energetic people. He was a dentist in Bountiful and their mission is doing great.

Sevilla is an incredible city with the 3rd largest cathedral in the world. This is it.

This cathedral is so big that it has gardens in it.

Then there is the Alhambra in Granada, incredible.

It has been a military fort and a gigantic muslim

These are Malaga missionaries at a zone conference that we attended in Granada. It was great to visit with them.

The quaint beauty of Sevilla.

Missionaries at the Sevilla zone conference and later Connie at the Sevilla Cathedral.

MARION EARL

2011-02-10T08:03:00.001-08:00

Marion Earl was born Feb. 9th 2011 at 11:54 p.m. She was 19 1/2 inches long, weighing 7 pounds and 11 onzes. She is the second child and first daughter of Justin and Angelique Earl. We are grandparents again and it is better every single time. Thank you kids for having the faith and courage to bring another child into yours and our family. Her pictures with clothes on are all girl and hopefully she will be as beautiful and nice as her mother. Justin was pretty emotional when he called and we felt his extreme happiness in having her here safely. Mom got right on the internet and sent her something to wear. Welcome to earth dear one. Because this is my diary I have stolen Justin's pictures-- it's easy, I want them in my book.

Hugo Chavez Rebaza

2011-01-20T22:16:00.001-08:00

This is the Hugo Chavez family. His wife Pepi was baptized as a youth. She is a spaniard. She went on a mission, came home and married a return missionary who did not last long in the church. They were divorced. She married Hugo, a Peruvian that was here working and they had these two children. She has been faithfully going to church with her children for many years. At the beginning of the year, Hugo and her got in a big fight and she was going to kick him out. He came to Brother Arjona, our director and they talked for a long time. Brother Arjona said he had a Peruvian friend that could talk to him. That Peruvian friend was me. We met and visited about stuff for a long time one day. We kind of hit it off. They invited us to dinner and we visited there. They were back together and doing fine because he was finally starting to go to Church with his family and he was doing the things that he needed to do to keep his family. His wife very much loved him. Over the year we have communicated a number of times and last Saturday, the 15th of January, Hugo was baptized. I confirmed him on Sunday the 16th of January 2011. They have become a very happy family over the last several months. For Christmas, knowing he was peruvian, Connie and I sent him a paneton. That turned out to be a big deal to him. Sometimes it is just little simple acts that help people get through the day.

Gibraltar

2011-01-15T13:12:00.000-08:00

Connie and I took 2 1/2 days and took the 200 mph tren to Malaga, then a bus to Marbella. We met up with Ken & Ruthie Skousen, Chuck and Diane Eberhart and Dick and Sandy Merrill at the Marriott at Marbella (Jeff you can trade RCI for this place). We got there late Thursday. Friday we spent the day at the rock of Gibraltar, an English country that is 1 mile by 3 miles and it is one gigantic rock. They have like 36 miles of tunnels in the rock from WWII. It is 15 miles from Morocco. Africa and Spain are just across the strait from each other. Incredible. Connie had fish and chips and it was really English. We loved it. From Malaga in both directions aong the Southern coast of Spain it is one big resort. It is like seeing 300 miles of Mazatlan. The buildings were very similar and of course Connie had to go put her feet in the ocean and watch the sun go down. It had everything but the good MAZ food!!!

New Year's Eve

2011-01-01T00:57:00.000-08:00

Yes, here we are with the missionaries staying up until midnight so that they can eat 12 grapes (one on each ding of the 12 bells) and then go up on the roof of the MTC to watch the fireworks. We ordered $280 worth of Dominos pizzas but I let Daniel order them and so they had corn and all manner of weird stuff on them. The missionaries still ate them but all and all it was a long afternoon and night. Mike has had a good time here and we will probably want to do this again. We have 15 missionaries right now. HAPPY NEW YEAR to all our friends and family.

And the WINNER IS....

2010-12-29T08:24:00.000-08:00

So these are the 4 entries in the 2010 give dad a tie for Christmas annual event. The theme of this year's contest was paisley. With that in mind, we have to eliminate the grey tie with little clovers (although I wore it today with my new grey pants and got a lot of comments. One comment I can remember is: "Look the president is wearing a tie he has not spilled on!") Now you have to remember that I have no idea who gave me what tie. Since there are 4 ties and I have 7 children, I am guessing that a couple of the kids went together to sponsor a certain entry. With this in mind, I know I have to reveal which one I wore first. So now we are down to three. An the winner is....The purple one!

Is that what I was supposed to say Isaac?

Just kiddin...I love them all. I also got annual slippers from Grandma Jones. Life is good.

CHRISTMAS DAY

2010-12-25T02:36:00.001-08:00

You really cannot get the real feel for this picture because it isn't a movie and you can't see my flashing stars on my hat. We are fixing three meals for the missionaries today as I gave the cooks the day off. For breakfast we did pancakes, eggs, bacon etc., for lunch turkey and all the fixings, and for dinner (because we have Italians), pasta fetticini and spagetti. It is going to be great. I got ties and aprons (which in my case are about the same--each catches the food that falls off my mouth). We are livin' the life. Merry Christmas to all.
Mike is doing great. It is so good to have him here.

Raul after 43 Years-- another Doug Story

2010-12-16T08:46:00.000-08:00

In 1967 Gil Greer and I were mission comps in Barrios Altos, Lima Peru. A couple of days after their big Independence Day celebration we went by the house of our investigators to see if anyone was going to be baptized. We had taught some of the family but the holidays took it's toll and when we arrived at the house, two little kids were waiting out on the street with their change of clothes in hand to be baptized. They were, Raul Anchante and Maria Anchante, 12 and 10 years old. They were baptized on the 30th of July 1967 by me. I left the area to Elder Greer and Ward shortly thereafter. This last week I received an email and facebook entry which said: "Es un gusto encontrarle por este medio. Yo siquiera saber si usted es el que me bautizo en Julio 1967 en la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias, Gracias." Basically, I am happy to find you on facebook. I want to know if you baptized me in July 1967 in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Thank." I immediately got up and looked in my diary and found Raul Anchante and Maria Anchante, their story and everything. I wrote back. We are now in communication. Raul lives in New Jersey. He is an industrial engineer and his work brought him here. He has three children and 3 grandchildren and one of his daughters lives in the United States. He has only been active the last couple of years but he says that the missionaries that he goes out with helped him to find my name on facebook. He could remember my name and that is a miracle in and of itself. He has found the Church again and is happy to be active. We are so excited to get in touch after 43 years. I took Raul's picture off of facebook and I included a picture of Gil Greer and I as missionaries together as shown above. You never know.

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas

2010-12-09T23:55:00.001-08:00

The MTC is officially decorated with two big trees, lights and we have a party today with the Area leaders and Saturday with the temple. Connie bought a red sweater and luckily had a number of red scarfs, so she is set. We are awaiting the arrival of Michael, 4 Italian missionaries and at least 5 new North Americans, so all is well here.

I did have one experience with my Mexico condo that was enlightening. Every week I pay Rosa to take care of the place and every December I give her money for Christmas (everyone does that for their employees and there is a formula for how much you are to give which is an extra monthly payment) I did not give much thought to it this year as the condo was only used two weeks this year so there was not much maintenance. Last year I sent Rosa double what is normal for the Christmas bonus.

This year I got a note from Rosa's daughter asking for a 3 week advance so Rosa could be gone for awhile to visit her dad. I wrote to El Cid and told them to give her the three weeks pay for the weeks she would be gone, plus the extra monthly Christmas payment. I got back a note from the daughter asking why I had not given her the double bonus like last year. She said that they were planning on it and needed it. Of course I sent a note to El Cid to double it and explained that it was only an oversite on my part.

This experience got me to thinking about human nature. And it got me to thinking about the expectations of our children at birthdays and Christmas. I think all of you kids do a good job with your children and I do not think you get too carried away at Christmas. Just remember that when it comes to giving and receiving, we may think we are doing something good, but it might not really be that good for the child. Also, sometimes when we give, we put a strain on family finances that cause January and February to be very stressful. Give your children your love. Give your children your time. Make memories with them like you try to do every year with these family outings. Take pictures, talk about Jesus and help them to feel that we give presents to each other because we love our family and want to be together forever.

Don't get too carried away with what Santa does and does not do. Remember, he is not real and if you try to sell him too much, your children may not be able to trust you when you talk about the Savior, who really does actually give us something.

The truth is, as far as your parents are concerned--we love you and we would do anything for you, but we are not always sure what we should actually do. The Christmas present that we gave you this year was prompted by a feeling that we both had in the temple a week or so ago. We hope it was the right thing to do this year. We want you to know that we will always try to help, but we are not always sure when we are actually helping. Have a good Christmas.

Shopping

2010-12-07T00:50:00.000-08:00

Well Connie finally got out of the MTC to do a little shopping. The Jones (to the right) talked us into going to the Plaza Mayor for their annual christmas exhibit and sale. Connie just got her hair cut and it was crisp and nice to be out. The streets were so crowded that it was hard to get around, but she was loving it. Watch for a Christmas present in the mail (Jason, Justin, Cali, Ashley, Samantha and Isaac--and spouses), except for Mike (his Christmas will be Spain). You can open it early if you like. We have not found anything here to buy so we will celebrate Christmas this year by thinking of each of you and recognizing the incredible life we have together as a family, the blessings we have always received by living the gospel and the hope we have for all of you to be together forever.

Thanksgiving in the MTC

2010-11-26T06:18:00.001-08:00

This is our group for Thanksgiving dinner. The cooks did a great job of cooking sweet potatoes, turkey, gravy and something close to a pumpkin pie. I got up and gave the history of thanksgiving for my 15 spanish and 5 north americans. The MTC teachers and leaders were all there. We went to the temple in the morning and had a good session. HOWEVER, during the temple session I got very sick. When I went through the veil our Area President was there on a temple review visit. I was supposed to work the veil but I was about ready to pass out so I just looked at him and said, I am very sick. I got up to the apartment (that is the nice thing about living 3 minutes from the temple) and I immediately went to bed. Manuel, Daniel and Efrain came and gave me a blessing around noon and at l:00 I was up for about 30 minutes to give this speech. When I smelled the turkey, that was it. I was sick. I went to bed and went 36 hours before I even tried to eat a pear. This is the first Thanksgiving that I did not eat a single thing. Still haven't and it is Fridayafternoon. I am feeling a little better. I drove the group up to Segovia today and slept in the car while they went around the city. We wish you all a wonderful weekend.

Tammy, Savana and Ryan

2010-11-26T06:12:00.000-08:00

Tammy Jones, Savana and Ryan Buffington came to visit us here in Madrid last Monday morning. They are leaving Sunday morning. We did all the normal visit places but they have spent a lot of time down town in Madrid at the museums. Ryan is an artist and Savana is a photographer and artist too. They have really loved it.

Brief Visit, Huge Payload

2010-11-24T03:44:00.000-08:00

Steve, Barbara, Ben and Rachael Jorgensen stopped in overnight on their way to see Rachael's mission field. She was a missionary in Barcelona about 18 months ago and is back to show her parents her places of service. They were just here Saturday and Sunday so we were able to go to Segovia but that is about it. They brought 60 pounds of walnuts, choc chips, brown sugar and 4 pairs of pants for me. What a wonderful service they have done for us. They are preparing for future and further humanitarian work in either Fiji or Cape Verde. Great people.

Two Faces

2010-11-24T03:25:00.000-08:00

Not too much needs to be said. Two pictures from the same vantage point.

(Tom's House)

Chillin with the Dougie

2010-11-04T22:50:00.000-07:00

Such a good time.

So Justin, Angelique and Dougie have been here for a few days. We have gone a lot of places and seen a lot of things, but mostly Dougie just likes running. So we go somewhere and chase him all over the place. When we are at the bus stop we have to stick around really close because he is willing to run in the streets. Here we are at Aranjuez, the King's summer palace and they are in the palace and Connie is following Dougie all over the place.

He loves the sunglasses.

He also likes the dogs.

Dresden

2010-10-23T03:49:00.001-07:00

This is the rebuilt cathredal that was destroyed at the end of WWII. They are rebuilding all the major buildings and thus the streets look like Disneyland, in the style but brand new.

Connie in front of the new one with the statute of Martin Luther.

In 1975 Pres. Thomas S. Monson came to this hill above the Elbe River outside Dresden East Germany and dedicated the land. In that blessing he promised the saints that they would have all the blessings of membership which includes the ability to go to the temple. He promised missionaries, recognition and other great blessings. This land was behind the iron curtin. Before that curtin came down in 1989, the Saints had a temple, 2 stakes and missionaries were allowed to leave the country to serve. Elder Schutte, who was a teacher, stake president and many other things during that time is in his second stint as a 70 and showed us around the sites. The family of Elder Kopischke, our Area President, had just escaped East Germany to the West 3 weeks before he was born in a miracle escape. It is to this place that all of us went to be instructed for 4 days. What an incredible experience. I realized once again that we can do better. I love the way the prophesies come about. It reminded me of an occasion when I was a missionary in Lima and Elder Spencer Kimball visited us. About 16 of us were in a meeting with Elder Kimball when he allowed us to ask questions. Of course I raised my hand, and because I felt like I knew him a little (he had been in our house two times during my senior year), I said: "Elder Kimball, we only have rented buildings, we have very few members (about 2,000) in Peru, we seem to be kind of wasting our time here." He told me that Peru was a gold mine. 40 years later we have 45 stakes in that city alone with 150 chapels. Well, Europe produced 70% of the early members of the Church and we are baptizing people over here.

At the place of dedication with Elder Kopischke, Elder Kevin Pearson (who set us apart)

It was German cold but what a wonderfully beautiful place.

This was our 5 star hotel and the famous Dresden cathedral.

Monastery of Rock

2010-10-23T03:47:00.000-07:00

I am going to put in some cool pictures when we get them and I wanted to have this space open for some pix. Will update.

63 and STILL STANDING

2010-10-17T07:50:00.001-07:00

Thank you for all those that have sent a note for my 63rd birthday. It is good to be remembered. We get to go to Dresden Germany (in the old East Germany) on Tuesday for a 4 day mission seminar with 37 mission presidents, 2 MTC presidents, the Area presidency and other 70's. We love Spain, the missionaries, the senior couples and the opportunity to teach and give classes. We are thankful for those that come to visit. We are in good health, although we have gained weight. We eat in a cafeteria and it is much like growing up where we felt like we had to eat what we put on our plate. Here they are putting stuff on the plate and even though Connie and I only take one plate between us, they still try to put alot on it. Anyway, we are fine and we are happy.

Melquiedes & Ana Vilchez family

2010-10-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

In 1967 Max Julian and I baptized the Vilchez in Barrios Altos, la Victoria, Lima Peru. We baptized the father and mother, plus the two oldes kids Jose (Pepe) 9 and Carlos (Beto) 8. Edison and China were under 8. Forty Three years have passed and we have seen them many times over the years. We attended the sealing of Jose and later Carlos when they married in 1988 and we visited and saw missionaries leave for the field when we served in Lima with PEF. We visited with them when Gil and Pam Greer came down. Gil was there just after the baptism and helped in the fellowshipping. Bro. Vilchez was the first executive secretary in the first stake in Peru. He was a bishop 4 or 5 times, was a sealer in the temple. Pepe is now the bishop of their Ward and Karina is married to the Stake President. Beto has sent three boys on missions with 2 waiting. Edison has sent two on missions and has been a bishop twice. All the children are active as are all the grandchildren with 6 either on missions or having a mission call in the hand. Four baptisms have turned into a multitude. We love these people. They are a part of my family. This is a picture of those that could make the conference weekend at the chapel and dinner at Mama Vilchez's apartment afterwards. They skyped me while at the dinner and we had a good visit.

Coombs & Castle COCA

2010-10-09T03:35:00.001-07:00

Steve, Renee, Doug and Connie at COCA.
This castle is now a forestry college on the inside. It was built as a part of the Roman defense line. Now it is out in the middle of nowhere.

This is another castle called taregona. We are seeing all kinds of Spain sights and Coombs have about had it. The Jewells came with us. It has been 42 years since we were companions. We have been friends with Steve and Renee a long time. The most fun we have is just sitting around and talking. I hesitate visiting around the missionaries as their is that deal "loud laughter."

Elder BARET and PERICLE

2010-09-27T12:15:00.000-07:00

Elder Baret serving in France said that JONATHAN had been looking for the true church and had attended many churches. A few weeks ago he was sitting on a bench in the park and was praying about the subject. When he quit praying he noticed a Book of Mormon next to him on the bench that someone had left. He picked it up and started reading it. The next day Elder Baret came in contact with JONATHAN and he was baptized very shortly thereafter. JONATHAN invited his neighbor to the baptism and 3 weeks later JONATHAN baptized his neighbor himself. This was in France

Elder PERICLE was sent out to Barcelona. The first day he was there (which was the first day in the field), he contacted this man on the street. He challenged him to be baptized that day. The man said no. The next day the man called him and said yes. He was baptized 3 weeks after Eler Pericle first contacted him.

Teachers and 5 Languages

2010-09-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

Felicias Dias from Portugal served her mission at temple square and then Texas. She speaks Portuguese, Spanish and English. Anna Nalbandyan is Amenian and speaks English, Spanish and Amenian. She served in Spain. These two sisters are awesome. We have 5 languages right now and so we are speaking mostly in English and doing a whole lot of translating. Connie and I are going to Dresden Germany for 4 days in 3 weeks and in l week, Steve and Renee Coombs are coming. Yea!!

Cute Story, Franco and Reis

2010-09-21T22:29:00.001-07:00

So I am having my interview with Sister Reis from Portugal (orginally Angola), and I ask her how many kids in the family and she tells me 17-- Her dad has two wives. Then I ask her how long she has been a member and she tells me 10 years. Then I ask her if she left a boyfriend at home. She says, well I have a boyfriend and we are getting married, but I did not leave him at home. I said well where is he then? She says, he is here in the MTC. I said what? She said "my fiancee is Elder Franco" This is a picture of him. He has been a member for several years and his family was originally from Angola too. They both are from Portugal, and they both speak excellent English. They learned English going out with the missionaries. They are going to different missions but they just happen to be assigned to come to the MTC at the same time. They have behaved themselves, are very committed and very mature in their service. They both have fantastic smiles.

Richards & Thurmans

2010-09-17T05:39:00.001-07:00

Bill and Sue Thurman, Barry and Margo Richards, and Connie at El Escorial.

Barry and Margo Richards are friends of ours from SLC that lived above us in Lima. They were on a temple mission and served in the presidency of the MTC in Lima. They came with Bill and Susan Thurman, Margo's brother. Just happens that Bill is the chief and presiding federal district judge of Utah AND we graduated together at the U of U from law school. They live in the avenues and know all my old law school people, plus most of the leaders of the Church. They are delightful and it has been wonderful getting to know them. They left this morning for Paris for a few days and when they come back I will post some of their pictures.

BYU 23 Washington 17

2010-09-05T00:06:00.000-07:00

I had to edit my post to include these wonderful game day activities by several of the families. The first is Joey & Cali, Cort & Ash and the kids going to the game day breakfast.

Then we have GG with the face paint

Then Kate with the toe paint
Then Dougie saying GO COUGS

With my computer set on it's slingbox setting, resting on my lap and with another computer set on another slingbox on the t.v. monitor, my counselor Richard Merrell (he is his pajamas and me in my blue) settled in to watch BYU and it's freshmen hold on to defeat the Washington Huskies. We were up from l:00 am to 4:35 am in the morning, but it was worth it. I knew most of you were there too and the weather looked hot and wonderful. The crowd was vintage BYU. I could imagine the hot dogs, I could see the people streaming in and I could see the 7 all-american quarterbacks there (Carter, Wilson, McMahan, Detmer, Young, Bosco-- Sarkisian). I was there right in the middle of it in my mind, and with the advantage of t.v. I could study the players as they came into the game and I tried to memorize their numbers. There are a lot of new numbers to memorize. Fall is finally here-my favorite time of the year. I talked to mom in the morning for over an hour and all is good with her as well as here. We have 21 missionaries right now and all leave on Tuesday and Wednesday going to Spain when we get 7 Portuguese, 3 French and 1 North American (going to Portugal, France, Switzerland and Spain). Go Cougs!!

Kiev Ukraine Temple Dedication

2010-08-31T05:38:00.000-07:00

The Kiev Temple was finally dedicated, 12 years after it's announcement on August 29th, 2010. This is the first temple in the old Soviet Union. Brant Leavitt, originally from Leavitt Canada, and a relative, was there and then came here for 3 days to do a piece for Mormon radio on the temples.

We will be a part of that temple broadcast. Satan's power is greatly diminished by a temple. This gives us the first oasis in Russia.
The temple comes with 3 acres of mission, patron housing and other offices

The ring road around Kiev leaves locals sitting in traffic for 4-5 hours of stop and go traffic where they are forced to see this temple every day.

Elodie and Sebastian Sealing

2010-08-27T03:38:00.000-07:00

Our wonderful teacher Elodie Detholet and Sebastian were sealed on the 24th of August. Sebantian's dad and I (Doug) were the witnesses. We had reception in the MTC afterwards and it was nice and well attended by the senior missionaries and teachers. Daniel took a lot of pictures that he gave to them as a present. We hope she will come teach in the future our French missionaries. They have an apartment in Lon France. The chapel is across the street from their apartment.

41st Wedding Anniversary

2010-08-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

We have been married 41 years today. We have had such a great life together. We have 8 children and 16 grandchildren. We have the hope for additional grandchildren. We come from great parents and have wonderful brothers and sisters. We have alreadys had the benefit of great love in our home, our relationship and with our friends and family. We have never felt alone or without hope. We have been helped and served by many. We have had the opportunity to serve others and thus become friends and family with them too. We feel a little old only because we get tired easier, and not because we feel like we cannot still contribute. We are thankful for our testimonies and for our friends and family.
Doug and Connie

Tehaai from Tahiti

2010-08-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

Elder Tehaai is from tahiti, speaks French, English and Tahiti.
He also knows how to do the Hakka. It is really loud in real life.

My missionaries going to Switzerland wanted to make a street stand for their Saturday contacting.

French group

2010-08-12T05:43:00.000-07:00

Connie and I are waiting around for the missionaries to take their picture after our temple session.

Back: De Molder from Germany going to Switzerland, Corbitt from Bellevue, Johnson from Sandy going to Barcelona, Tehaai from Tahiti going to Paris, Coral going to Madrid, Hamilton going to Malaga, Plante from France going to Switzerland, front Perez from France going to Switzerland with Hallermeyer. Elder Fagersten from Iowa goes to Malaga and Middleton from London goes to Barcelona. Great group.

2nd Day Asturias Cangas, Oviedo, Lastre

2010-08-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

Here at Cangas de Onis, the tourists from Spanish were out. It is kind of like Seattle, when it is Sunny, everyone is in the street.
Connie had the kindle going and the trains were terrific.

Lastre is a fishing village along the northern Spain coast. Very much like an Italian village.

Aviles is the home of Manuel Arjona our director. This is a beautiful city.

Day 1 Asturias Cantabrico Sea

2010-08-06T13:03:00.000-07:00

Gijon beach in Asturias with Manuel Arjona, our MTC director. They take about 3 weeks off and we went to visit. They were incredible with us taking us everywhere.
Covadongo is a wonderful santuary where Pelayo, the Celt who held the North against the invasion of the Moors is buried and where this incredible cathedral is built.

Manuel and Anna Arjona, she from Gijon and he from Aviles, sister cities here in the North. This the lookout where to their front are the Picos (peaks) de Europa and to their backs, the North Atlantic.

We took a train up and was going like 140 miles per hour, comfortable, spacious and always a great view. We had wonderful weather and this was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

VALENCIA and more

2010-07-27T08:19:00.000-07:00

Connie and I spoke at a Young Adult Conference in Valencia, one of Jeff's old cities.

As part of the conference the kids were taken to the biggest museum in the area. The weather was incredibly hot but the place where we gave the talks was a senate like conference center with all the amenities.

We had a Hawaiian feast with the Senior missionaries. Sis Smith sang and we all ate.

I had to post a picture of my biggest group that just left this morning. Five went to Italy and 19 went to Spain. Antensen, Vane, Mattice, Talbot, Pastano, Earls, Stokes, Tinoco, Parrish, Marino, 2nd Rasmussen, Hanson, Stowell, Lloyd, Harris, Masterson, Anderson, Booher, Martherus, Pratt, Holub, Morrison, Rhead, Croese and Armenise

My girlfriend is getting back into it...

2010-07-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

Mom is back at work. You guys must have not let her sleep even a minute. She can make it a few minutes and she is out. We have music practice in a few minutes and it is close to the end of a long Sunday. Monday is going to be easier.

HOME AGAIN

2010-07-09T00:39:00.000-07:00

Connie got back on Thursday after a very long ride on the plane and immediately was back at work. I really missed her and it is so good to have her here. We have 24 missionaries here right now, with most coming during this week. We have 5 from Italy going to Italy. The other day I said out loud that I would rather hear from the IRS than a certain party in SLC. I heard from both. Life can be cruel and Satan is always listening.

Mom is gone

2010-07-04T00:33:00.001-07:00

Connie left on the 29th of June to visit Samantha and all the others that are showing up in L.A. This group leaves before she comes home as well as the Portuguese shown below. These are Marchello, Ferguson, Bell and Bennett.
These missionaries are here for 3 more weeks. Martherus, Lloyd, Mattice, Booher, Rhead, Anstensen and Stokes.

De Sousa, de Pina and Silva go to Lisbon this week

While Connie has been gone I have had a number of MTC tours with youth groups, I travelled out 120 kilometers to talk to 80 young men in a camping situation and have taken Gil and Pam to the temple and airport.

Joslyn Miller

2010-06-29T08:32:00.000-07:00

Joslyn (spelling not sure) Miller
Yes I am aware that these pictures are on Samantha's blog. However, as I am making books of each year's blogs, I have to report that on June 26th, 2010 Joslyn Miller (I think that will be the name, the spelling of which is unsure at this point) was born. She came c-section, which was a blessing as the trauma of natural birth could have had an extremely unfortunate outcome for her, due to a blood condition. She was 7 pounds 2 ozs and 20.5 inches. Forty one years ago today, Connie told me she loved me to which I asked: "Does this mean we can get married?" She said yes and I said: "when?" She said, anytime. We were married Aug. 26th, 1969. Connie is on a plane on her way to Newbury Park as I write this to see the Millers and several others that are making their way towards Samantha's house. We love you all--children, spouses, grandchildren and in fact--family everywhere.

Merida with the Jewells

2010-06-26T03:15:00.001-07:00

En route to Merida, a castle on several hills as you travel along. These are the real things with a church, a castle and a walled city.

Trujillo, the square, but we could not get a good picture of the castle.

Merida was a big Roman presence from the time of Christ and for 800 years. This is the theater and they had an amphitheater too. It was about 3 hours away and we went out with the Jewells, office missionaries in the Madrid mission.

The Princess Diana, the Mother God, the same type of cult associated with the harlot Isabel in the Book of Mormon

Gil and Pam Greer

2010-06-22T14:20:00.001-07:00

Meson de Candido, very famous restaurant in Segovia. Mom, Dad, Jeff, Connie and I ate here in 1978 when we picked up Jeff. This is where you get roasted piglet. Very good stuff.

This is our first visit to LA GRANJA the palace of French King Phillip V turned Spanish king. He wanted this house to resemble his place in France.
Lots of water here so lots of fountains.

The back of the palace reminds one of the back of Hampton Court in England.

More gardens. Good friends, good food, visits, lots of sunshine, the church is true--how much better does it get?

Happy Birthday Connie

2010-06-18T05:14:00.001-07:00

We are now the same age again and it is the first year that one is eligible for social security benefits. This is good news for the grandchildren as grandma is much more generous than grandpa. The staff got Connie a scarf (because she had gone 3 days since she bought her last one) and some bathroom soaps and creams. They were lovely. This is our 3 Portguese and 5 North Americans--with 6 more coming on Wedesday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR.

Cramers and Kents

2010-06-16T07:41:00.000-07:00

Aren't they cute? Kris Cramer and Connie at Segovia.

Phil and Kris came to visit us at the end of their 3 week trip to Europe to check out their mission assignment in Switzerland in October. We had such a good visit. What wonderful members of our family.
I always like to visit this castle where Ferdinand and Isabella la Catolica put the country of Spain together. I want to bring home a suit of armour but I have not convinced anyone it is a good idea.

Barry and Holly Kent and their boys came to visit Spain and stayed with us just one day but they were having a good time visiting Pres. Watkins at the Madrid mission. The Watkins were their friends in California. Aubrey is married and Victoria gets married this summer.

May group

2010-06-10T05:10:00.000-07:00

I know this is boring but this group is ready to go out and amongst them are 7 native Spanish that are going to be church leaders some day in Spain. The Americans are Bickley, Bennion, Earls, Merrills, Emily Long, Elders White, Thurston, Nielsen and Swenson. The natives are Sister Ruz from Elche, Da Silva from Angola, Birnbaumer and Soliz from Bolivia, Martin de la Sierra, Rivera and De Haro from Elche also. We will start over with a new group on Wednesday. Kris and Phil Cramer are coming on Sunday and the temple is closed for two weeks so everyone is out of here for a couple of weeks. Also in two weeks Gil and Pam Greer come and then after they leave, Mom going to L.A. to see Sam and the others. We continue here in the bubble, 1/4th done and having a good time.

Presidents Hinckley and Clegg

2010-06-05T03:51:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the first four missionaries sent from Argentina to open Spain in 1969.

We had a great devotional this morning with Pres. Hinckley and President Clegg. President Clegg is from Bountiful and has been out a year. He was Clark's dentist in Utah and they both were excellent, as were their wives Kathleen Hinckley and Anne Clegg. The senior temple missionaries came up too and we had a nice visit. Clegg served in Bolivia 72-74 and Hinckley was a Richard G. Scott missionary in Argentina until he was transferred to Madrid to be one of the first four missionaries here in Spain.
My missionaries here are Sister Bickley, Sister Bennion, Earls, Hinckleys, Cleggs, Sister Long, Sister Ruz and then on the back row Elders Birnbaumer, Da Silva, Soliz, Swenson, Nielsen, Thurston, White, De Haro, Martin de la Sierra and Rivera.

Family and Tami

2010-05-26T05:11:00.000-07:00

I wanted to put in a couple of pictures of my children, parents and siblings as I have been thinking about them, and especially Tami at this time of the year. We teach that families are forever and that the greatest joys are being with family, children, grandchildren and friends in the worlds to come. AND we believe it because it is true.

Here is Pat, David all dressed up, Jeff, Tom, Tami and I when we were younger.

I wanted to include my talk at Tami's funeral to remember it and to keep it.
TALK

Man is most afraid of death and public speaking. I get to combine both fears today as I humbly represent the family as we try to make some sense out of the death of a younger sister.

EVERYTHING IS ABOUT CONTEXT or THE BIGGER PICTURE

It is said by Apostle Maxwell: “So much of life’s curriculum consists of efforts by the Lord to get and keep our attention. Ironically, the stimuli He uses are often that which is seen by us as something to endure.”

There is no immunity from these stimuli that we call AFFLICTIONS. There cannot be. There cannot be immunity from all afflictions. Whether the afflictions come from our own acts and deeds or whether they are of the divine Tutorial type, it matters not.

To understand afflictions, WE MUST PLACE THEM IN A LARGER CONTEXT.

The Larger Context begins in the pre earth life

To that end, I will tell you that we have come from the presence of our heavenly parents, where we lived, learned, had faith, thrived, experienced and exercised free will and choice. We developed talents, developed likes and dislikes, and we grew grace by grace.

BABIES EXAMPLE

(the evidence of this is found in each child that has come to you. They are not blank slates as PLATO said that can be molded into exactly what you desire to do with them)

Even at birth they are complex little bundles of likes, dispositions, attitudes, aptitudes and spirit.) We lived with our Heavenly Parents for eons of time before we came to this earth and we accomplished our First Estate. As it says in Abraham 3:24-26
24…We will go down, …and we will take of these materials and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell.

25. And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do

all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command

them.

26. And they who keep their first estate (which we all have

already accomplished) shall be added upon…

That ADDING OCCURS HERE IN THIS TEST WE CALL LIFE

COME TO EARTH and SHOUTED FOR JOY

At some point in that FIRST ESTATE, the prospects of an earth life were presented to us and WE SHOUTED FOR JOY. “Granted there may be days here and now when we might wonder what all the shouting was about there and then.” Back to the Story.

SECOND ESTATE

So we have come to EARTH, our SECOND ESTATE, to experience life’s common circumstances, plus those thrust upon us by a loving and tutoring Father in Heaven. As the phrase in the scriptures say (Peter and Mosiah) who “seeth fit to inflict certain things upon us because he loves us.”
We call this the REFINING FIRE.

What are the tools of REFINEMENT?

1. By the sweat of thy brow shall be earn your bread all the days of your life. WORK

2. The search for light and truth. JESUS CHRIST is the light of this world. D & C 50:24 says:

That which is of God is light; and he that received light

And continueth in God, receiveth more light; and

That light growth brighter and brighter until the perfect day

3. Our physical bodies refine us.

4. Our Spouses and our CHILDREN. Someone jokingly said: “the greatest trials and tribulations we have in life we either marry or give birth to.”

5. Wealth/Poverty, Sickness, Natural Disasters, Place of birth

THE TRIALS OF JOB—a list of all the things that REFINE.

TO WHAT END DO WE ENDURE?

1. We have come to earth to know god, to seek truth, to do good deeds and to find our way back to his presence.

And thus we see, that there was a time granted unto man

To repent, yea a probationary time, a time to repent and

Serve god. Alma 42:4

2. Tami is too young to die?

“Life is not LINEAR. It is experiential. It is not chronological, though we use clocks and calendars to define it. IT is experiential. What do I mean by that?

We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;

In feelings, not in figures on a dial.

We should count time by heart-throbs.

(Philip James Bailey)

TAMI COUNTED TIME BY the heart

FRIENDS, LETTERS, BIRTHDAYS, TRIPS, CALLS, TALKS

3. Enduring: James l:12 “Blessed is the man that

endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall

receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath

promised to them that love him."

COMMON ENDURING PITFALLS

1. Patience:

Shakespeare wrote:

For there was never yet a philosopher that could endure the toothache patiently.

It is one thing to preach a sermon, but when it is done you must walk the walk. A toothache is still a toothache. LIFE HAS PAIN

SOME DAYS IT IS GOING TO HURT A LOT.

2. Perspective: Emerson had something to say about this:

Some of your hurts you have cured,

And the sharpest you still have survived

But what torments of grief you endured

From evils which never arrived

EXAMPLES:

1. Zachary potty trained 2. Tami retirement

Remember what I said before: “So much of life’s curriculum consists of efforts by the Lord to get and keep our attention. Ironically, the stimuli He uses are often that which is seen by us as something to endure.”

3. The Fairness Issue:

We often hear IT ISN’T FAIR. My children after a while never said that in our home because I would routinely go off on a rant about how it was in PERU and other third world places.

Another way to look at it is expressed in this statement: “If it’s fair, it isn’t a trial.” Christ suffered unfairness.

4. Timing of death: Paul said in Cor. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

When would you choose to die?

a. On the path

b. With a Testimony

c. Able to go to the temple

d. After you have had your children close to you

e. After you have taken care and known your grandchildren

Staying on the path—“if you are on the path when you die, you shall never fall off of it. McConkie

HOW DO YOU FEEL? You have to COME TO KNOW DEATH

FINAL CONTEXT

1. We die

2. We are resurrected. No weight problems

3. We live again with a body and spirit

4. We are together. We continue what we started in our pre-earth life. There is life after death, Jesus was resurrected and lives today. Because of him, we all will be resurrected too.

WE JUST HAVE TO SEE THINGS IN THE LARGER CONTEXT and NOT JUST THINK ABOUT the HERE and NOW.

TAMI will be missed. Carson you have to tell the grandchildren about your grandmother. That is your job. We will help you as we all loved her too.

Manzanares el Real El Cid

2010-05-25T01:43:00.000-07:00

The Merrills and us went out to the castle Manzanares where the movie El Cid was filmed in 1961. This castle is about 30 miles north of Madrid and was the home of a Duke in the 1600's. It has been restored and is absolutely beautiful, overlooking a lake. Spain is filled with Roman, Gothic, Moorish and Jewish cultural buildings, palaces, castles, walls etc. We try to get out and drive around about once a week. We just had 20 missionaries leave this morning. It was the biggest group we have had.

More TOM

2010-05-23T22:46:00.000-07:00

Tom and Gail are home but I really liked this picture that Tom took of the temple and I wanted to tell them both how special that they are to us. It is such a nice treat to be able to have family that you like and look forward to seeing. As I get older it occurs to me that the great blessings come in form of family, siblings, parents, children, grandchildren and others that become family even though they are friends.

In the temple when they say you shall joy and rejoicing in your posterity. They refer to all of us as a united group and that really is where joy comes. You have all heard me say that many of the trials and tribulations of this life come either because of marriage or childbirth. That is true but that applies equally to the joys of life. Thank you one and all.

Pablo Albarracin and Family

2010-05-18T04:28:00.001-07:00

You can all remember the story of Pablo Albarracin. This is his son, also named Pablo. Forty two years ago, Elder Ray McCrite and I baptized some of the Albarracin family. Elder Noble replaced me and baptized some of them too. One of them was a young 9 year old boy Pablo Albarracin. Twenty years later when I was a mission president, Pablo called my office without knowing it was me and directed me to his house to baptize the rest of his family. Over the period of a couple of weeks I realized who had called and Jason and I visited that family (who lived in the North Mission) and the rest of the family that we had not baptized in 1968 because they were too young, were also baptized. As a perpetual Education Missionary, Connie and I finally met Pablo Albarracin as we were leaving. He told us that his son, Pablo, lived in Madrid. We were finally able to hook up yesterday and they came and ate with us. The baby, Lucia, belongs to Pablo. The others are his step children. He married a Lima Peru native that had 3 children. She and the children have joined the church and he is the ward clerk in Torrejon, Madrid. What a wonderful experience to meet the third generation of someone you have baptized. We baptized his grandparents, his dad and now he has a child.

Avila and the Bullfight

2010-05-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

This the longest inhabited and biggest walled fortress in Europe. It is called Avila.
Look at this thing. It just goes on for ever and ever.

Then we have the bullfight at Madrid's premier rink VENTAS. Arturo Macias fought brilliantly.

Dan and Jessica Nielsen Lloyd came to Madrid with their 3 children, Liz, Dan and Steve to see Steve's old mission.

Tom and Gail

2010-05-10T22:13:00.001-07:00

Tom and Gail got here ok and we are off doing the Madrid Spain stuff that you have to do. We had great meetings for Mothers Day and the missionaries all called home. We went with the senior temple missionaries to tour a college town close by where 25,000 students study and today we are off to Segovia and Avila. All is well here.

Missionaries

2010-05-04T00:43:00.000-07:00

This is our latest find. Is this cool or what? Lladro missionaries. They are working on the Angel Moroni. They have so many north american families and missionaries that come here and make purchases. I have this on my desk. The missionaries love it. We get 15 new ones in the morning. 8 left this morning and 8 have remained so we will have 23 for the next 3 weeks. We get 4 going to France so we will have French, English and Spanish. We just had an Italian sister leave and we communicated in pretty well with her speaking Italian and me speaking Spanish.

Toledo and Segovia

2010-05-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

We had a great time in Toledo here at the Cardenal Hotel--the summer palace of the Cardenal. Toledo was the capital of Spain before Madrid and what a place it is. We dropped some money on Lladro here. Jeff bought a couple of nice Tapistries.

This is the cathedral of Segovia. What a beautiful place at night.

These are the aqueducts of Segovia. These go back 2000 years.

These are the ancient walls of Avila, the longest walls of castle in the world.

This is Jeff with his favorite thing (next to Becky)--strawberries and cream.

Richard, Jane, Jeff & Becky

2010-04-28T22:04:00.000-07:00

Jeff and Becky were here at the same time as Elder Richard Hinckley for the annual review. They got off brillantly. Here we are in Avila, the longest walled city in the world and below after the picture of Elder Richard and Jane Hinckley is a picture of Connie and I at the temple. Jeff and Becky are on their way to England and we cannot wait for their return next year. We went to Aranjuez, the king's summer palace, Alcala de Henares, the birthplace of Cervantes, Segovia with the Roman ruins and a couple of other cool places like Toledo where we bought Lladro and Tapistries. All and all a "good time was had by all."

Getting Crowded

2010-04-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

We got a group of missionaries in from the states, a sister from Italy and one from Spain so we are really starting to look filled up. It is great. New week Jeff, Beck, Tom and Gail come, plus we have a visit from Elder Richard Hinckley for our annual report.

Old Group

2010-04-12T13:32:00.000-07:00

Half of these missionaries are leaving in the morning. We get about 11 north Americans Wednesday. My four missionaries from Portugal are going back to serve there and 3 Americans go to Bilboa and Barcelona in the morning. You get really close to these young people when you are with them day and night. These missionaries are Pyne, Estrada, Cabral, Almeida, Merrells, Earls, Oliviera, Moulton, Waters, back row Taylor, Egan, Correia, Parry, moss and Waite. This is the temple. This post is just to remember these good young people.

Sabina Rocio Lazaro

2010-04-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

Sister Lazaro was one of my missionaries in Peru, as was her brother who is in a stake presidency in Trujillo right now. She married a Peruvian a few years ago and he just was released as the Bishop here in the madrid 2nd Ward. They are both highly educated, well employed and heading to live in Italy. They just got back from a visit to Trujillo and stopped in to see us on the way. We will visit them in Italy sometime in the future. Her husband's name is Frank. We invited them to lunch here in the MTC. This is so cool to see my missionaries.

Bishop Marcial Arcos

2010-04-02T05:30:00.000-07:00

Today we stepped out of the elevator on the way to the temple and saw one of my missionaries, Marcial Arcos, from Barcelona, a bishop for 6 years and a Spaniard for 18 years, married to a Spanish RM and parent of 2. It was great to see them and eat lunch with them in the MTC. It was wonderful to see the years of service. I love my missionaries.

Devotional

2010-03-29T03:22:00.000-07:00

Elder David R. Stone and his wife Rosalie came to visit his sister, Lorena Smith and so we had them speak at the devotional today. He was released as a 2nd Quorum 70 in 2006 at age 70. He was born in Argentina but spoke English and Spanish and worked most of his life for Gillette and Black and Decker in Argentina, Peru and Venezuela. He was in the first stake presidency of Peru so he knows all my people. They gave a great missionary talk. Sis. Smith formerly was the lady that you call in SLC if you wished to go on a temple mission. She is the lady I called when I wanted to go to Veracruz to fulfill my 3 fold goal of a mission, i.e. Archeology, Genealogy and Golf (with a little temple work thrown in so we could call it a mission). She was the one that told me on the phone that the workers from the Mexico city temple were going to Veracruz so that they did not need us there. It was not until we already had a mission assignment to Peru and we were on the Exploring the Lands of the Book of Mormon trip and talked to the Veracruz president, only to find out that HE DID NEED MISSIONARIES there.--oh well, it was too late and we went to Peru again. This is another of those INSTRUMENT IN THE HAND OF THE LORD stories as we needed to be in Peru and we eventually got there. All is well here.

24 March Group

2010-03-24T06:43:00.001-07:00

Sister Waters, Moulton, Egan, Taylor, Waite, Moss, Estrada, and Parry just got here from Provo and will be with us for 6 weeks.

Sisters Cabral (Portugal but originally from Brazil), Almeida and Oliveira (also originally from Brazil)
Elder Correia speaks Spanish, English and Portuguese as he is from Portugal but was born and joined the church in Caracas Venezuela.

Connie Update

2010-03-18T07:02:00.000-07:00

SHE'S BACK. I know it is a little thing, but I really like connie's face and although I liked the long hair, I could not see her face and she did not look like Connie to me. So this is her haircut today. She is also posing to show her new earrings, which are cut crystal from some famous jeweler. They are red and stunning. We did the longer hair from December 2008 until March 2010 and so now she is going to try this for a little while. Luckily the lady that gave her the haircut was good.

March 24th Group we are sending out

2010-03-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

This is our group that is leaving this next Tuesday. This is our biggest group and the first group speaking Spanish. Our counselor Sprouls leave on Tuesday and the missionaries here leave then too. Elder Pyne is from California, Bajana is Ecuatorian living in Spain 10 years, Keller from Utah then Arcelles from Julio's ward in Lima but he has been here 10 years. Then Johansen and his parents are the mission parents in Norway. Quiroz has lived in Italy ten years and in going to Italy but he is from Chorillos in Lima and is a lifetime member. The back row is Guerra (my missionaries baptized her parents in Chilca Huancayo) and she has lived in Sweden for 10 years, then Gonzales from Bolivia that has lived in Spain 11 years, then Garcia from Bolivia who has been in Madrid over 10 years. Then Cannuci from Italy, who is 27 and has been a member 6 years. She is going to Madrid and learning Spanish. Sis Skouson is from Vegas and is going to Barcelona and doing great--good singer and plays the piano. Then Hidalgo and Benitez, lifetime members of the church from here in Spain. Then there is Marin who is a lifetime member from Spain, then Londono from Colombia that has been here 2 years and then Millan, her best friend who was born in the church too. Great group. When you have this few missionaries, you really get to know them and love them. We are going to be able to go anywhere in Europe and have missionaries to look up. It will be great. Love you all at home. Thought it would be cool to see our great missionaries.

Sproul Departure

2010-03-11T13:16:00.001-08:00

Manuel Arjona (MTC director), Josefina Martinez (teacher), Elodie Delothe (French teacher) Anna Nalbandyan (Spanish teacher), Efrain Lopez (teacher), Roccio Gutierrez de Lopez (teacher), Bob Sproul, Susan Sproul, Connie and Daniel Exposito (Physical director). This is our group. We went to a great Chinese place for their farewell. They have been the counselor and have served fantastically for 23 months. We gave them a book on Spain. I hope we get that book when we leave. Those that come will probably have to eat here at least one time.

Cervante's Don Quixote

2010-03-09T05:56:00.001-08:00

Cervante's (author of Don Quixote) birthplace is Alcala de Henares, about 20 miles north of us in Madrid. Shown here the longest portico street in Europe, Cervantes Park and the house where de was born. The national Arqueological Museum is here plus a lot of nice places to eat and shop. As we were leaving town to go back to the MTC and eat, we passed a Tony Romas so we will try that out when someone comes to see us. Great place that is close and a good place to shop. Notice also the new hat. It is a sweet one. See you all soon.