“How great will be your Joy if you should bring many souls unto me!”

Baptism in the Palma Uno branch.

Baptism in the Inca branch.

Baptism of our friend Osa in the Marratxi branch.

Elder De Feo and President Villar Special Barcelona Mission Conference

Beautiful park designed by Gaudi.

Beautiful Fountains at Park de Ciutadella.

The famous Barcelona church by Gaudi – 130 years of construction and still not complete.

Beautiful stained glass windows inside the Sagrada Familia.

A picnic with our Young Adults outside in the rain.

Zulema and Elio, our new heroes in Spain.

Future Pianist

Some of the streets are lined with these purple flowering trees.

Entering the Caves of Drach.

These caves are amazing!

Young missionaries touring the cave with us on their PDay.

Weeks 4 and 5 in Palma de Mallorca

Buenas Noches!

It’s 9:30 on a Saturday night here in Palma. It’s still light outside and the sun is beginning to set. We will try to cover some of our events and experiences over the last two weeks, weeks four and five on the island of Mallorca. The temperature during the days is beginning to climb; we are in the mid to high 80s every day with 70+ percent humidity. As I’ve stated before, the people here keep saying, “just wait until August.” Already, we begin to sweat as soon as we walk out the door. We’ll make a list here of some of the noteworthy things to share with all of you from the last two weeks.

We have the blessing tomorrow of witnessing the baptism of our friend, Osa. He is from Nigeria and has lived here for three years. He shared that he has been looking for the true church for many years. We were fortunate enough to be a part of his first lesson and today with his last lesson before his baptism. The Sisters have done a marvelous job of teaching him the gospel. All of the young Elders and Sisters that we serve with are amazing! They remind us of our early missions and those of our family members. It’s hard for us when they are transferred. We have also been able to pick Osa up and take him to church the last two weeks and will again in the morning. In a short time, he has become a good friend. As we left his piso (apartment) today, Sister Taylor mentioned what a bright light he has about him now. He has the light of the gospel in his face and in his voice – it is beautiful to witness his transition. We are so excited to be with him at his baptism tomorrow.

We have been blessed to be able to witness two other baptisms; one a brother in our branch and the other, a young lady in the Inca branch. Each of these individuals have powerful stories as well. Those photos are included in this post.

On May 25, we had a great opportunity to participate in a Mission Conference with Elder Massimo De Feo of the Seventy. He is the Europe Area President for the church. He and our Mission Leader, Presidente Villar, are colleagues in the Quorum of the Seventy. Early in his remarks, he made special mention of us senior couples. He asked us to stand up and asked all the young missionaries to look at us. He was so kind, so loving, and so complementary of us and asked all the young missionaries to begin now to strive to become like us. It was a very emotional moment for us and it was hard to hold back the tears. We didn’t expect any kind of attention like that, but we felt at that moment, immense gratitude to be able to serve as senior missionaries. The conference was powerful and amazing. Elder DeFeo talked with love, spiritual power and with a beautiful calmness. Many of you know that I am a chronic note taker and I have many cherished notes from the conference.

We had permission to go a few days early to Barcelona before the conference. This was our first real experience in Barcelona. We tried to see and experience as much as we could in one and a half days. We walked about 15 miles in those two days, and we were able to see many of the major highlights of the beautiful city of Barcelona. These include Park Güell, La Sagrada Familia, the Gothic Quarter, Catedral de Barcelona, Parc de Ciudadela with it’s famous fountains and La Rambla. It is an amazing city! Many of these sites can’t be fully appreciated by photos. The works and the contributions of the famous Catalonian architect and designer, Antoni Gaudí are very visible and impressive. We even mastered the Metro (subway system)! Before we left on our mission, Lea put together a 1,000 piece puzzle of Barcelona. She noted several times during our adventures, “I’m inside my puzzle right here.” 

In a similar way, each time we see or walk by centuries old buildings we feel like we are inside a history book! 

We have both had our first haircuts in Spain. Thankfully, we were happy with both outcomes.

69 steps! That is how many steps it is from the entrance to our building to the front door of our Piso on the 4th floor. Remember, in Europe they start with the ground floor being level zero. We rarely use the elevator. I have tried to estimate how many times we will walk up those 69 stairs. Many days, it is seven or eight times in one day. 

So, we are guessing maybe 2,000-3,000 times climbing these marble stairs! 

Don’t laugh but we are becoming IKEA laborers. We have put together a couch, loveseat, ottoman, two office chairs, and two sets of bunkbeds. Those of you who know me well, must certainly be surprised at this accomplishment, as this kind of work never was my specialty.

We celebrated Lea‘s birthday on May 22nd. That was a Sunday and we spent much of our day in the church building. The members here, the young missionaries, and many of our young adult friends were so kind to her on her special day. They shared with her many heartfelt and beautiful comments which were greatly appreciated. Today, June 4, would have been my father‘s 100th birthday. Being separated from our children, grandchildren, extended family members, and so many of your dear friends, makes me appreciate how incredible my parents were. We are a long ways away from all of you but we feel so close!

We were given the opportunity to teach the Institute class this last week and hold it in our piso. Teaching the lesson which covered the entire book of Judges in the Old Testament in a foreign language was an adventure!!! But, we love these young adults so much and they made it a great experience.

We love our Friday night Young Adult gatherings. For the last three weeks, we have talked about the words from President Nelson to the young adults of the world in his Devotional on May 15. We have noted numerous times that every sentence in that talk seems like an independent sermon. He spoke so beautifully and powerfully to the young adults. These young adults have become so dear to us. We pray for them every day to make good decisions, to stay on the covenant path, to find worthy spouses, and to serve faithfully in the church. We love them and are so grateful for our calling to serve them. For the last three or four years, I have tried to emphasize the importance of following the prophet in all my communications back home in our Stake. Now, hearing the prophets words from our position as missionaries in Spain has driven that point home even more. It is critical for each of us to meticulously listen to and adhere to our prophet’s counsel.

Last Sunday was our branch conference here in Palma. Lea was able to serve in the branch choir and the music that they sang was very beautiful. The dear Sister, Zulema, who is the choir director is a sweetheart and so kind to us. We learned last week that her husband, Elio has an amazing history. He is from Peru and started his mission at the age of 16. He was part of a special missionary program in Peru that built the first chapels in the country. After his mission, he ended up working for the church building chapels throughout Peru; hundreds of them. Many of the members here are from Latin America and have amazing stories of how and why they came to Spain.

Here’s a fun P-day story for you. Last Monday, we arranged for 10 young elders and sisters to go with us to the small town of Porto Cristo on the east side of Mallorca, to tour some world famous caves. Sister Taylor was so kind and had prepared wonderful picnic lunches for all of us before we entered the caves. The caves are called Cuevas de Drach. These caves are spectacular to say the least. They are much more extensive than Timpanogos or Minnetonka caves in Utah. We heard that there were millions of stalagtites , which I didn’t believe before we went, but it’s true – there are millions of stalagtites hanging down in these caves. The tour of the Cave ends alongside an underground lake; apparently, one of the largest underground lakes in the world. Guests are seated in an underground opening sort of like an auditorium. Then, with all the lights in the cave turned off a rowboat with lights on it slowly comes down the lake with a five piece live orchestra playing classical music. It was fabulous – a totally unique, first time experience. We were happy to be able to have that experience with these 10 young Missionaries. 

We miss you family members! We miss all of you dear friends! And we miss our Burch Creek Stake and 3rd Ward members. We want you all to know that we are happy, healthy and most grateful to be serving where we are and how we are. This is a spiritual adventure for Elder and Sister Taylor. I have the best missionary companion ever! We testify of the divinity of Jesus Christ and of his role as our Savior and Redeemer. This is his true, restored gospel. We are so grateful to be a part of this eternally significant work. As President Nelson has said multiple times, this gathering is the most important work on the earth today. We love each of you who may read these posts and see these photos. We send them to you with our love and gratitude.

Elder and Sister Taylor 

Palma de Mallorca, España