Morning Breaks in Andorra

Hola  Familias y Amigos,

Autumn in the Pynranees is a photographers mecca.  We often walk early in the morning before the mist burns off for the day.  Soooo....beautiful.  I could hardly keep my eyes on the road yesterday driving back from Barcelona after attending a stake bishops training meeting. Falls bright colors dot the canyon mountains. Sometimes I spy  a remote ancient stone chapel perched on top of a mountain. I wonder how and why such a structure could even be built there in the first place. I was walking with Juan yesterday taking his cows to the nearby pasture and he began to describe how he loves the snow capped mountains, the fresh air, and would not trade it for the city life. I agreed with him, as we moved the electric fence giving his cows more pasture for their evening graze. Some day we’ll get the subject back to God feelings about Him.

Morning Mist

Sunrise over the Farmhouse

So this week we passed out flyers in Puigcerda for our presentation of “Meet The Mormons”  This town is in our branch about 30 miles away on the French border and is like virgin territory for the church.   We picked November 5 to aire it in the local town hall and museum.  There will be many people in town this week in that it is the national horse show, the biggest in all of Europe for horses for meat. Yes for meat. I don’t think we will stay for the barbeque afterwards.

Hermana Fowers has been a bit layed up this week with the sudden onset of gout, of all things.  It pretty much kept her off her feet for a couple of days.  The medicine she took to help the gout made her feel even sicker, but she is on the mend now and ready to go back to work.

Posters  Inviting All to Meet the Mormons

This week I interviewed several for new callings in the branch.  We are trying hard to keep track of the lost sheep. There are so many who are very capable, but have never had the opportunity to serve.  Our two elders have uncovered several new investigators, Brazilians and Paraguayans. Our Elders, Graham and Cullimore work hard everyday. 

Andorra Branch Elders

  Last week we mentioned Shane from Ireland.  This week we had him over to the farmhouse for dinner and a lesson in English with the Elders.  As Elder Culimore testified about the restoration and Joseph Smith, Shane was overcome and felt the Spirit.  He later concluded all on his own that if this we were true that he should be baptized. Sister Fowers, in her native tongue, also strongly testified finally having the ability to do so for the first time since we arrived Spain.  The lesson with Shane is like so many of the mission experiences; words on a page  do not do justice to the feelings we feel when someone finally agrees and knows that they have found the truth.  Finding what they have been searching for sometime brings amazement.  Shane could not vocalize how he felt but he knew he was being taught the truth for the first time.  And this is from a young man who studied theology at the University in Ireland.

We ended the week Saturday night at a birthday party for 23-yea-old Cheita, our new Primary President.  There were about 25 of us gathered in the small apartment.  Sister Fowers held the babies.  We did not start the huge meal until 10:00.  I am glad we had an extra hour this morning to get ready for church.

Serge and Valeria with Adopted Abuela

Cheita's Birthday Celebration!

Hermana Fowers was teaching the youth in seminary today about obtaining a testimony of Jesus Christ.  She was trying to explain that testimony is felt with the heart rather than understood with the mind.  That is exactly true of our experience as missionaries.  Words simply do not quantify our day to day interactions. You would really need to be here to comprehend the urgent desire we feel to rescue and the joyful heart-swell when just "one" finds their way back to Jesus Christ.  Beyond words!

Mucho Amor y Bendiciones,

Elder and Hermana Fowers 

Nourished in both Body and Spirit

Querida familia y amigos,

Tidbits from this week's adventures...

We have been generously feed in so many ways during this past week.  We began our week the same way we start all weeks, feeding our Elders “all-you-can-eat pancakes”.  They are only two strong, but they can really pack them away.  We then spent our preparation day exploring…you guessed it, an old church.  This Romanesque church was built in the 9^th century and it is beautifully preserved for it antiquity. After a few hours of relaxation we were able host Eli, an investigator from Andorra at the farmhouse for a lesson.  The spirit was profound as we taught the doctrine of Christ and shared a spiritual feast together.

Chilly day of Site Seeing in Andorra

Coloma, Andorra,  9th Century Church

It is not often that you get to sit at the feet of the apostle of the Lord.  Elder Russell M. Nelson and his wife Sister Wendy,  along with the European area president, toured our mission.  On Thursday afternoon, we traveled with 15 members of our branch to Barcelona to a tri-Stake Conference at which Elder Nelson spoke.  There were nearly 900 members in attendance, but Elder Nelson's plane was delayed in Rome so we waited for an additional hour for his arrival. It was worth the wait. He is kind and gentle man and spoke with joy and tenderness. At 92 years old his was remarkably concise in his comments.  The following day he met with the 198 El Faro, Spain Barcelona Missionaries in a very intimate meeting (Elder Nelson's grand daughter is serving in our mission). We were sitting just ten rows back.  As the second most senior apostle, we all knew we were likely listening to the next President of the church and we were humbled and blessed to not only hear his teaching but received at his hand, as he evoked the keys of his calling, and gave us an apostolic blessing.  Among the many elements of the blessing he promised us that our families would be blessed, healed and protected in our absence.  As he left the chapel, no one wanted to leave as we stood in silence feasting upon the spirit of that very special moment. 

A Selfie while waiting for Elder Nelson's Arrival

El Faro (The Lighthouse) Missionaries with Elder Nelson

We went flying back to Le Seu to prepare for Ramon's baptism.  Now keep in mind that this little branch has not had a baptism for 8 months. Ramon, who is originally from Nicaragua, has been investigating the church for nearly 8 years.  His 9-year-old daughter was baptized last year but he could not because of the complex laws, was not able get married.  He made a most courageous decision to leave the relationship and be baptized as an example for his daughter.  He has a degree in agronomy and will be a strong priesthood leader. It was a sacred experience as we held our pool-side baptismal service.  Elder Fowers was blessed with the opportunity to baptize him with 35 members and 5 investigators in attendance.  Sister Fowers is pictured leading the music barefoot (one of the pool deck rules) for the service.

Ramon and daughter, Fabiana and Elders Cullimore and Graham

At poolside, before the service. 

Hermana Fowers leading the singing.

 After we had been nourished by the spirit of that meeting we all retired to the farmhouse for a joyous celebration of Ramon's commitment in fellowship and rejoicing. 

Andorra Branch celebrating with Ramon

Feasting...

On our drive to Barcelona, we stopped at a quaint little roadside stop and found this little picnic table formed into mushrooms.  They dotted the hillside so we felt like we were wondering through and enchanted forest. Nearby is the headwaters of a natural spring where all the people would gather to pass the hot Spanish summers in Solsona.

Picnic in the Enchanted Forest

Our blog wouldn't be complete without a few shots of our majestic Pyrenees.

On our drive to Barcelona

We love our service, even though we encounter days that are very challenging. It was a great blessing this week to stop and contemplate the profound blessing it is to be members of a viable, living, church that is restored with power and authority from God; where the heavens are open and we are being directed by his prophets.  How blessed we are to be part of this great work! 

Mucho Amor y Bendiciones,

Elder and Hermana Fowers 

Seek and Ye Shall Find...

Bon Dia Nuestras Families,

Que tal? How are you?  We are working hard in our corner of the world.  We have had a wonderful Sunday.  Elder Fowers spoke along with the Stake President to 37 in attendance! Poco y poco (little by little) as we try to implement one small program after another, the menos activos are beginning to feel the love and caring of the branch.  For example, our wonderful Relief Society President, Carla organized Visiting Teaching this week and we worked together to invite every sister.  I even went visiting teaching with Ingri a young sister in our branch who speaks a bit of English.  I was terrified, but I muddled through a message in Spanish.  A smile and a sincere hug goes a long way.  During the visits we invited the sisters to an activity at the farmhouse which we held yesterday.  I taught them how to make “American Brownies” and then we watched the Women’s Conference.  11 Mujeres (Women) and 3 Mujeres Jovenes (YW) attended.  It was a smashing success and great fun was had by all…because of something so simple as a visit to their homes.

Andorra Branch Womens' Conference

One of our great victories of the week was finding Igor.  Last week Elder Fowers was studying the ward roster of members.  He discovered the names of an temple endowed Russian family that were endowed and sealed in the temple that lived in a tiny Andorran mountain village.  He was determined to find them.  We had a partical address and no phone numbers.  We set out with the Elders on Tuesday morning traveling to La Mazanna after traveling through a long tunnel, we emerged into a entirely new valley, with houses built on the cliffs and rocks.  The search was on.  We drove every little lane and alleyway, talking to dozens of people for more than two hours.  No one had heard of them or the address.  Finally, we pulled over and offered a simple pray seeking God’s help. I started nudging Elder to give up and I know the Elders were over it.  It was like trying to find a “needle in a haystack”.  We determined that we would drive one last winding road up the mountainside and it led to a dead end.  The hunt was over.  Igor was not to be found.  As we drove down the mountain Elder Fowers drove past a non-descript building with no nameplate. Then, suddenly stopped and back up.  The Elders got out of the car, yet again, to try to read the mailboxes.  There he was Igor Burceff written on the box.  We found him!  (Unfortunately, he was not home, but we left him a note and we will be back for a visit soon!)  It was a direct answer to prayer.

We found Igor!

...and Family

Wednesday we had to drive down to Barcelona (2 hours) to finally get our residency cards for Spain.  While there we had a couple of hours to kill so we decided to visit Sagrada Familia Cathedral.  It was stunning...simply beyond words.  The scale and magnificence of this building were amazing.  They started building this church in 1882, 135 years ago and it is not yet complete.  They are tying to finish it by 2026 in honor of Gaudi, the architect, on the 100th anniversary of this death. It is a must-see if you travel to Barcelona.  There were thousands of thousands of tourists with equal number of cameras, so if felt much more like a tourist attraction than a sacred edifice.

Sagrada Familia Cathedral

Magnificent Architecture

Delicate, animated sculptures.

The tourists in the background give some sense of scale of this massive structure.

Our neighbor, Farmer Juan and his wife Carmen invited us over for breakfast as a thank you for milking their cows while on vacation.  Early on, we had asked if we could share with the a message of why we have left our family for 18 months and explain the foundational tenets of our faith.  We were excited to share the message that means so much to us that is the very foundation of our lives.  Needless to say,  it didn’t go too well.  Juan is a very practical man, who works hard every day to take care of his family.  He simply does not believe there is a God.  The way he sees it you work hard and do the best you can in this life and then you die.  We were able to leave them a Book of Mormon.  Perhaps they will read it someday, in the meantime Elder Fowers helps with the milking each Monday morning.

One final story.  We were invited to a family home evening and dinner with a dear family that lives in Andorra last Friday.  Cecilia and Emily are members but Aitor is not.  He is such kind, generous man.  He loves to feed us and we know we will always get a special treat because he is a professional chef.  We arrived to a layed table with breads and salads and side dishes.  After a blessing, he unveils the main course which was Seafood Paella sautéed in squid ink. It was a black as coal even the muscles, shrimp and other seafood delicacies were jet black. If you could get past the visual presentation, it was really pretty tasty!  The meal was topped with a magnificent pastry and caramel ice cream.  The of course, the young missionaries topped the meal with a tender spiritual feast.

Delicacies made by Aitor

Very Tasty...Squid Ink Paella

Most days, we feel like we are running on a treadmill and not really getting anywhere with this little Branch.  Everyday we make plans to find, nurture and love many of His lost sheep.  Our reception is not always the warmest and many of the less actives simply avoid us.  But we press forward with faith.  We know that God has promised to send angels before us to prepare the way.  We are seeing subtle miracles everyday.  We are blessed to be His hands in the Andorra Branch.

Our hard working Branch President, tuckered right out!

We feel your support and prayers.  You are constantly in ours.

Mucho Amor,

Elder and Hernama Fowers

Small Acts Make All the Difference

 Greetings from Beautiful Le Seu d'Urgell,

Sunset from our front porch.

Every Sunday is filled with many branch responsibilities leaving Hermana Fowers to draft our blog.  Today I find myself with a minute so I decided it was my turn.

We continue to have small miracles happen in our little branch.  Today we had a single middle age Spanish man walk in off the street and attend sacrament meeting.  This has never happened before and only happened because Hermana Fowers made a large laminated sign and posted it on the church door inviting all to come, and one man did come. The missionaries have a lesson scheduled with him tomorrow.   We had 27 in our meetings today, with three “menos-activos” and two investigators.  We held branch council for the first time in years. Also, we will have a baptism in 2 weeks for Ramon (we mentioned last week), who has been investigating the church for 7 years. He bore his testimony to announce he was preparing himself for baptism. He has a 9-year-old daughter who is already baptized and Ramon wants to provide her with a positive example of obedience.  If Ramon continues on this path he could be a future branch leader.

Speaking of which, yesterday I took the 4 youth to in our Branch VilFranca (near Barcelona) for a multi-stake youth Olympic activity.  It was like herding cats but a lot of fun.  They opened up the last event for everyone, the 1500 meter run.  About 25 of us lined up youth and leaders. I was double the age of anyone else.  I ran in my long pants and shirt not having brought my workout clothes, and just having drunk two cartons of chocolate milk.  I finished 4^th…… (from the last) however, my Andorran Branch youth cheered for me and that was all I wanted to accomplish anyway.

Hermana Fowers taught seminary for the first time today in Spanish, with the missionaries help.  It was a real stretch for her, but she worked hard to prepare and with the help of the spirit, and a lot of visual aids she was able to teach our youth. Again, another program that has never functioned in this branch. 

We have implemented a rescue program in all of the communities that are in our ward boundaries La Seu, Andorra and Puigcerda looking for His lost sheep.  We try to travel to the outlying cities at least once every week. While in Puigcerda this week we participated in a powerful lesson with Jessica, a single mother from Peru, with two daughters.  The spirit was profound as they taught the Doctrine of Christ.  

Rescue Mapping each of our Members in our Branch Villages

Puigcerda touches the border with France so on our way home we took a 1-kilometer detour and drove a little way into France.  There is no real border crossing, because they are part of the EU, as we crossed a river bridge every sign was written in French.

Entering France

Ancient Church just inside the French border.

FRANCE

 I would like to relate an amazing story that demonstrates out of small things comes great accomplishments.  This is especially sweet because it is about my parents who both are now passed. In June of 1971, I was a missionary in Cerro, a little community attached to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.  Sonia Moriera was a 21 year-old member who had submitted her papers to serve a mission some 6 months previously.  The paperwork was stalled in Salt Lake because she had no money.  Three months later, I returned home and asked my parents if they would be willing to pay for Sonia’s mission.  They said that they had been so blessed in the last 24 months during my mission and gladly would commit the money necessary for her mission.   Sonia was called to serve in the Cali Columbia mission.  We stayed in contact during her very successful mission but afterwards lost contact.  I often wondered what happened to her.  Well, two days ago I found a contact request on my facebook messenger from Sonia.  It is now 45 years later, she is 68 and living in Lima Peru working for the church area office.  These are her words(translated):” Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve a mission, my gratitude is eternal….I am very grateful that your parents chose to support me among many others.  My mission opened my spiritual eyes to understand our Heavenly Fathers plan.  Without that knowledge I do know where I would be now.” 

One and a half years after Sonia completed her mission, a fellow missionary proposed and they were sealed in the Lima Peru temple.  They made there home in Peru where they had 6 daughters, (no sons) and 7 grandchildren.  All her children are active and leaders in their respective wards.  Her husband was a valiant servant to the Lord till the end.  He served as a bishop,a stake president for 10 years, a regional representative in Peru, a mission president in Columbia, and counselor in the MTC in Lima.  Sonia is eternally grateful to my Mom and Dad for providing her the opportunity to meet and later marry such a fine man.  He died three years ago after a long battle with cancer and she is comforted that they are sealed eternally. Small things sometimes make a great difference.  It has taken me 45 years to finally see the results of a small act of charity.

 

Sonja Moriera when I met her in 1971 (2nd from left)

On our preparation day this week, we took the Elders on another adventure to explore the ancient mountain communities that dot the Pyrenees.  We drove through a National Park, which borders Andorra.  We had another amazing afternoon exploring old churches, wandering our way through the cobble stone streets, drinking from the artesian wells that bubble up from the ground and even exploring an old grist mill up a narrow canyon.

Asnurri Church built in 1038

Bell Tower

View of the tiny village of Asnurri from above.

Elder beside the river pools.

Exploring an old plaza in the mountain top city of Civis.

Leaves are starting to turn, snow is dusting the Pyrannese Mountains behind us.  I could take several postcard worthy pictures from my front porch. Fog dusts the hillsides as I jog along the riverbanks in the mornings. Just wish I had my kids jogging with me.  

Elder Fowers

Morning mist on Hermana's morning walk.

 I feel the mantel of responsibility for nurturing all the members of this little branch.  I have started with teaching basic church leadership and establishing essential programs.  Today in our meetings I felt a strong spirit of support and felt the Lord is leading and helping us in small ways. It is joyful work and I know it will be for their salvation and mine.

Mucho Amor,

Elder and HerMama Fowers

Pressing Forward

Hola Familia y Amigos,

So sorry for the late blog post, but the week got away from us.  What an amazing week in this corner of God's great earth! We continue to press forward in the work everyday trying to reach those who have never known God or His Son and rescue those who have once known them but have been "lost in the mists of darkness or the great and spacious building".  We have the hardest working Elders in the mission.  They go out everyday ready to find and teach anyone who may be open to hear.  They never back away nor give up on their commission to bring others to Christ. We are blessed to work with them and feel their determination even if the work often very slow here. Last week they decided that street contacting just wasn't working in Le Seu, since missionaries have been in our little village for many years.  Instead, they decided to stage an open house at the church which is right across from the town plaza.  The opened the doors displaying pictures of Christ along with many forms of teaching materials and invited passers-by to come in and watch Bible videos. It was a great way to expose the community to our beliefs.

Meet the Mormons

Elders Graham and Cullimore Inviting Passers-by view Bible Videos

Open House...Come on In!

Another way we do missionary work here in Le Seu, is to host "fiestas" at the farmhouse.  Emily is a new member as of a few months, who just turned 17, so we celebrated her birthday with a cookout under the veranda.  Our guests included non-member family members who were able to share a pleasant afternoon with us. We hope they can feel our joy and our light while they are in our home.

Lunch Under the Veranda

We moved into the cool of the old stone house.

Since our last blog, we were also able to host a District-wide Preparation Day in which the Lleida District enjoyed a chicken dinner with chocolate sheet cake.  Needless to say, there were not any leftovers.  Afterwards we were able to explore city of ARFA together.  We had been to the ancient church before (see pictures from last week) but this trip we discovered their incredible Ice Well that was built in 1305 where the peasants would harvest and store ice blocks for the noblemen during the winter in this massive stone well. It would last through the summer. Of course, the peasants didn't get to use any!

Exploring the Ice Well

City of ARFA's Famous, Arched Stone Bridge

Now the most unique way we have of pressing forward in the work, is by milking cows.  This week our neighbor Juan was leaving on a three-day vacation to France so he asked if Elder Fowers could supervise the milking while he was away...much like Ammon and the sheep, he realized he needed to live his message of service before he taught his message of Jesus Christ.

Favorite Service Project...Milking Cows at 6:00 AM

Elder Fowers Milking with Hired-hand, Karim

We were able to listen to most of the sessions and conference.  I thought I might try to listen in Spanish, but chicken out and put in my earphones so I could focus on the message and not just trying to figure out the words. Many branch members joined us for both the Saturday and Sunday sessions. The spirit was powerful and the messages concise. Afterwards, one of our long-time investigators meet privately with Elder Fowers and asked if he could be baptized--an Andorra Branch miracle. The messages spoke to his spirit.

Random tidbit... The other day Elder found this old postcard of Le Seu hidden in the back of his desk drawer. If you look really close you can see the farmhouse.  It is in the very bottom right corner's edge about an inch from the bottom.  This postcard give some perspective on the majesty of our little village tucked in the foothills of the Pyrenees.

Sunrise over the Pyrenees...

Adios for now, and may the Lord's riches blessing be upon you and your families. 

Mucho Amor,

Elder and HerMama Fowers