One by One...

Hola Friends and Family,

As Utah and the western US has been covered in snow and rain, Catalonia Spain has been rather dry.  The ski resorts in Andorra have survived on manufactured snow to keep the lifts open.  However that all changed when we awoke this morning to white pastures with cows sleeping under a blanket of fresh snow.

Farmhouse Driveway

New colt weathering the snow.

Snowy morning viewed from our front window.

Earlier in the week we took a walk along the mountain side road with temperatures in the 20's.  We came upon a great hill for ice blocking, without the ice block.  The leaking irrigation canal above provided a perfect ice sheet several hundred feet long. Wish my kids could have joined in the spontaneous adrenaline rush.

Elder Fowers enjoying some spontaneous fun.

Frozen waterfall.

After three weeks of closed offices and businesses, things finally started to thaw out a bit this week as far as Le Seu commerce goes, so we were finally able to get our package from the post office. We are especially thankful for all the treasures and gifts we received. HerMama wrote the following in her journal: "Getting packages from home are like getting little packets of love. Even though we delight in the little gifts and treasures included in each envelope, it is really the message of love that means the most. It is the DO part of love." We are rationing the chocolate to make it last longer. Speaking of our kids, here is a picture of our refrigerator covered with all the pictures from home. It helps us keep everything in perspective and lifts our spirits when things get a little difficult.

Each picture is an expression of love.

We have come to believe that this mission for us is like Elder Bednar's new song: "One By One".  That is what we are doing here.  We visit, listen, invite, admonish and pray with all the members here in and in Andorra. Some are stepping up... one by one.  Slowly we have seen some members make changes abandoning past behaviors that are not compatible with a Latter Day Saint.  Hermana Fowers has honed her special message in Spanish to all who will listen:  "Come back, we miss you, we love you, God needs you, how can we help You".  She continues to teach seminary in Spanish which stretches her skills every week, but her students have come to love her for her efforts. You don't need a lot of words in Spanish to convey the message of the rescue.

Laddy Flores (one of my seminary students) hugging her daddy.

Yesterday, we went to Andorra and met with a young lady originally from Paraguay.  She hailed down the missionaries on the street a few weeks ago and is now on our branch records.  Mari is here without papers and hoping to get legal soon.  She left her family and friends back home to seek a better life in Andorra. Her boyfriend is a member from Nigeria and they plan to marry soon. She is alone here, so finding the missionaries and thus the church will be a real boost to her. She is the one. Mari will help us find other "ones".

We are pressing forward with the Andorra group.  Right now we are waiting for the area authorities to secure a rental agreement for office space we have selected.  We hope to begin group meeting sometime in February expecting about 8 people initially.  This could grow quickly as we have about 35 more members on record in Andorra.  Again, "One by One".

Location for our new Andorran Group

Hermana Fowers here...I have recently read two books that I would highly recommend.  They have both lifted me heart and my understanding: The Rent Collector by Camron Wright and The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox.  I would also like to bear testimony of the gift of tongues.  During the first week after we received our call to serve in the Spain Barcelona Mission, a good friend our ours dropped by the house and said, "You need to start reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish, if you do, you have been promised that if you read the Book of Mormon in your mission language you will be blessed with the gift of tongues."  I took that heart and started that very day to read the Book of Mormon in Spanish.  With the Elder Fowers help with pronunciation and translation I would plow my way through a few verses everyday.  With my old brain, it would require the reading of a word a hundred times before I could hold it in my memory.  But I persisted, everyday since then.  Now, 11 months later, I can read and understand about 90% the Book of Mormon in Spanish and I am nearing the end of my goal, as I am now reading in Ether.  Though I am still not very fluent in speaking to the members or community members, the words of the gospel in Spanish have come alive for me and "the eyes of my understanding have been opened".  It is truly a gift to be able to learn a language at my age.  I have been just enough language to fulfill my purpose here, but I will continue to trust His promises.   

Mi amado Libro de Mormón

Our Love,

Elder Fowers y HerMama