Lewis and Clarke (...and Luci) Adventures

Queridos Familia y Amigos,

This week we mixed work with fun.  While the kids were here, while we got in a few visits and organized a Branch Fiesta.  Early Tuesday morning Elder, Sarah and Johnathan rented bikes for a couple of days to explore the local trails.  The Lewis family had fun biking to ARFA to see the old ice well, along the river and even on some of the mountain trails.  Johnathan was brave biking into town and buying pan(bread) himself while communicating in Spanish.  We have loved having the farmhouse filled with happy noise. Johnathan and David are  growing and they could really tuck away the food so we did a lot of meal prep (mostly Sarah)!  We spent the evenings playing “Paperback” and fun was had by all, especially with Elder’s innovative spelling of unknown words and the boys’ hilarious humor! 

David Coaching Grandma and Grandpa

Wednesday morning we were able to explore yet another old church or two in Andorra.  We even got to peek into one that had always been closed on previous occasions.  We absolutely love to explore the churches of antiquity here, but I am not so sure about the boys.  I think they began to think that they all looked the same after the fourth or fifth one!

Santa Coloma Chapel

A peek inside...

Mighty Hike to San Marti de Nogal

Exploring Inside

We then scurried home to prepare for our "Hola y Adios". Hello to our new Elder Barron and goodbye to the Lewis family. We organized the party at our farmhouse so the Lewis gangs could meet our mission friends and neighbors. We also wanted to welcome our new Elder to the branch.  We expected a crowd, but were more than delighted to have 43 in attendance, 10 of which were non-members.  Even our dear friends Juan (the dairyman next door) and his wife Carmen came along with their daughter and new employee Jose Luis who is a member of the church and a high priest! Remember Rui and Victoria, that we visited last Sunday?  They came as well! One of our sweet sisters, Chieta, even made a special cake for Sarah’s family and the new elder. 

Mountains of Food

Mark and Sarah helping us host.

Juan and Carmen

Our new friend, Rui

 Special Cake made by Cheita

We had had wonderful weather all week, but the day of the fiesta a cold front moved in so we decided to move the party into the garage rather than out on the patio and we still nearly froze!  Once everyone had had their fill of the wonderful food, Elder Fowers took the opportunity to share a special message…Alma 5:22, “And now I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God…” but in order to be heard, he took advantage of a tiny sets of stairs that leads to the loft, to preach to the crowd. We saw little miracles occur that evening as the room was filled with love and fellowship!

Preaching the Word...

to our beloved friends.

Our last full day with Sarah was pretty low key.  We had all been up really late the night before cleaning up after the party so everyone was moving really slow.  We had some visits to make and some responsibilities to attend to so that we could prepare for our branch conference.  Later that afternoon we took a leisurely hike to the St. Antoni Chapel that we can see on the hill near our farmhouse.  The weather was blustery but the view of the valley and the clouds were breathtaking.  The next morning we had to say goodbye to the Lewis Family.  I am certain that we could serve missions forever if we had a different family visit us every month.  A visit from family was exactly what we needed to renew our spirits and fill us with determination to press forward in the work!

San Antoni Chapel

Vistas

Lovely Walk

Enjoying our last bit of time with the kids.

While Sarah and family were here, the weather was rather balmy.  We were even in just shirtsleeves a couple of the days, but the morning after they left we woke to a snowstorm.  Looks like a few more weeks of winter weather may be ahead of us!

Spring Snow at the Farmhouse

Today was our Branch Conference.  The room was filled to capacity (half of which were Stake Leaders) but even more so, with the fullness of the spirit.  It is hard to put into words the feeling that comes when individuals that you have visited and nurtured in their homes and invited back to the fold, come walking in the door. It must feel exactly like the shepherd felt when he found his lost sheep and brought it back carrying it on his shoulders...rejoicing.  Just last week we sat across the table from Rui and Victoria extending such an invitation, so our hearts soared when they quietly entered the chapel after more than a decade of absence.

Last Day, Together at Le Seu Cathedral

We leave you with this beautiful sunrise...symbolic of the sentiments we have for the Andorra Branch, it is on the rise!

Mucho Amor,

Elder and Hermana Fowers

Farmhouse Sunrise

Sagrada Family... Our Sacred Family

Querido Familia y Amigos,

The big news of this week is that Sarah, Mark and our two oldest grandsons, Johnathan and David came to visit and spend a few days with us.  After being on the mission for seven months it has been such a joy to have them with us and spend a few days exploring the amazing architecture and antiquity and fill our farmhouse with happy noise.  It has been a blessing to share our mission joys and challenges with them. 

Together in front of Barcelona Cathedral

Elder Abuelo y sus Nietos 

We were busy every minute yesterday (Sunday), that we could night find one minute to write our blog.  We had our regular double meetings with a three-hour block in Le Seu and then after a quick lunch break we headed to Andorra to meet with our new group for another couple of hours.  We arrived home just in time to gather again at the church for a little farewell gathering for Elder Bromley who will be transferred tomorrow.  Without the help of Mark and Sarah, who made food for the evening gathering, I am sure we would not have made it through the day.

I started my week with a nasty head cold so Elder Fowers joined the Elders to climb yet another mountain and explore another mountaintop church, while I caught up on a few hours of extra sleep.

 

Conquering Mountains

Elder Fowers exploring San Vicente Church

Recently we have been holding weekly cooking classes with the sisters to teach them a few American dishes that are so common to us, but all new to them.  This week I had a few sisters join me to teach them how to make strawberry freezer jam.  The berries are beautiful this time of year so I found some pectin and made a few jars last week.  They tasted it on the fresh rolls from last week’s class and asked me to tell teach them how to make it.  I am almost to the point that I can communicate in Spanish when we are on a gospel topic, but I have no “cooking” vocabulary. So the cooking class was a lot of pantomime and demonstration with little explanation, but somehow I managed to teach them how to make fresh jam with they ate on hot waffles.

Just Jammin' with my Amigas

The long awaited day of the arrival of Sarah and family was Wednesday.  We had organized our work and planned ahead to that we could spend a couple of days in Barcelona.  We walked many miles in old town and spent hours exploring the amazing old structures including the Barcelona Cathedral, Sagrada Familia, waterfront port of Barcelona and many of the structures of Gaudi, the famous architect of the Sagranda Familia.  We loved every minute, but it was especially sweet because we were with family.

Sagrada Familia Main Nave

Interior Beauty

Mark and Sarah in Sagrada Tower

Gaudi's magic use of Light

Sagrada Exterior...the Passion of Christ

Gaudi's Animated Architecture

More Gaudi

Gaudi's Park Pavillon

Sarah enjoying Gaudi's Park

While at the Gaudi Park, Johnathan got bored with looking a buildings, so he set up shop and started entertaining the crowds with his "speed-cubing" talents to solve his Rubik's cubes.  He made 33 euros in just one hour!

Johnathan Speed Cubing

Friday was drove back to the farmhouse and introduced Sarah’s family to our life here in Le Seu, which as Sarah put it, “It’s like little house on the prairie Spanish style.”  Things are really slow paced and laid-back compared to the pace of the big city.  Yes, Sarah even had to hang out her laundry to dry since the farmhouse has no dryer!

Saturday we decided to drive to one of our favorite mountain top churches.  We wound our way back into the brush to explore some old gristmills that were hundreds of years old! Grandpa totally enjoyed the adventure as Johnathan and David joined him as the followed the creek bed and found beautiful pools of clear water.

Old Grist Mill

David rock hopping!

Sarah in the back country.

Johnathan at Mill

Elder Fowers has been functioning without counselors and a clerk for the past several weeks. He only has an Elders quorum president.  We lack priesthood leadership.  Some weeks ago Elder awoke one morning with the strongest impression that he should call Brother M. who is a priest, to be his counselor in the Branch Presidency and challenge him to step up and honor his Priesthood.  The only problem is that Bro. M and his wife have been less active for many years.  After several weeks of trying to get an appointment with them, we finally met with he and his wife last evening.  President Fowers proceeded to tell them that he had been impressed to call Bro. M. to serve as a leader in the branch, helping him to understand that he was needed and called of God. He promised him that the Lord would provide for him and solve his family problems if he would only exercise his faith and magnify his priesthood. The spirit was profound and he was clearly touched.  We left them with the charge to ask God through prayer for confirmation of the call and commit to return to the fellowship of the church.  It is in the Lords hands now.

Mi Sagrada Familia

Mucho Amor,

Elder y Hermana Fowers

Climbing Mountains

Querido Familias y Amigos,

I (Elder Fowers) am constantly amazed at the tenacity of the ancient Spanish people who inhabited these mountainous cities.   Earlier during apartment searches for the missionaries in Andorra we spotted this little chapel perched atop a mountain. From the road we could see a trail leading up to the San Marti de Nagol Capilla.  Excited to explore it, we returned on Monday with the missionaries dressed in hiking gear.  The trail was very steep and Hermana Fowers ran out of oxygen before we hit the top but she rested and soon we were peeking in the ancient wooden chapel door.  Of this quaint little chapel was built some time around 1,000 AD by some very determined workers.  They chiseled out the mountain-side to create enough space to build upon.  One can only imagine how they carried tools and materials up the narrow mountain trail day after day.  Would we today have such faith as evidenced in their works, which as stood for thousand years?  If our Bishop called us to build a chapel on some remote mountain-top, would we raise to the occasion?  These Spanish people truly had deep faith in what they were doing at the same time lacking the fullness of the gospel.

Sant Martí de Nagol Chapel

Climbing Mountains Together

Looking back down for the peak...

Elders Bown and Bromley making the final accent.

Later in the week “HerMama” Fowers hosted a Relief Society cooking class in our farmhouse kitchen.  She taught the sisters how to make rolls and strawberry freezer jam.  They hung around he farmhouse kitchen for hours and laughed and talked. A good time was had by all, and I got to eat hot rolls with jam.

Learning how to make "Pan Americana"

This week I did many interviews for our upcoming temple trip in May.  We have set a branch goal of taking 100 family names to the temple.  We will take some 15 members to do endowment and baptismal ordinances at the Madid Temple which is 6+ hours south from Le Seu.  Some of you might remember Luci’s childhood friend, Betty (Spiekerman) Molgard who has been studying to be a professional genealogist.  At our invitation, after some powerful promptings of the spirit, has agreed to fly to Spain to serve a “mini-mission” with us for 14 days in April to assist in researching and preparing names for the temple.  We are delighted to have her join us and we are grateful for her sacrifice of time and money to help our branch members and know her effort will be praised on both sides of the veil.

Dear Friend, Bette will soon join us in Spain

Our little group in Andorra is now in its third week and growing.  We had 9 members plus missionaries in attendance today.  I must say that the spirit was so strong among the members in this little group.  We met in a quiet, corner conference room of a downtown hotel in Andorra La Vella. Hermana Fowers gave a 15-minute talk in Sacrament meeting on the elements of conversion.  She is much better at speaking Spanish that she thinks.   We had a sister attend today who has not been to church in over 12 years.  She loved it! She left refreshed with the special spiritual feeling and committed to come every week going forward.  Another sister from Paraguay was also in attendance for the first time in many years.  Like wise, she felt the special spirit as the saints gathered.  “One by one”, as Elder Bednar has said.  One by one we participate in the rescue.  This is truly the sweetness of a senior couple’s mission experience.  To see these lost sheep come in that door for the first time in years brings tears to my eyes.  What a small miracle to witness as lives are changed and brought back on the path.  We were paid today yet we received no money.

Andorra Group (with two hidden sisters in the back)

Next week we will have our daughter Sarah, her husband Mark and their two oldest boys, Johnathan and David join us.  We plan to conquer more mountains with chapels nailed to their tops and explore some of the amazing aniquities.

Mucho Amor a Todos,

Elder and HerMama Fowers

Continuing to Gather His Chicks...

Amado Familia y Amigos,

Last night at 11:00 pm we attended a very special baptism.  Our sweet granddaughter, Joy turned eight years old on Friday and was baptized yesterday in Lemon Grove, California by her father and WE WERE THERE…(by the miracle of technology)!  It was a wonderful blessing to participate and rejoice with her as she starts on the “covenant path” to begin her journey back to her Heavenly Father.  Joy we are so proud of you! 

Joy and her daddy, Mark on Baptism Day

We just returned from our very long Sunday of double meetings. Though our gathering of our group in Andorra is very small, the spirit was enormous in our testimony meeting today. It filled the room and our hearts to overflowing. They have been without the opportunity to worship for so long, so it become a cherished priviledge and we felt that today.  We are determined to help it to grow.

Elder Fowers presides over Andorra group.

Powerful missionary, Elder Browley

Andorra Group...small in numbers, enormous in spirit!

We have finalized the contract with the new piso (apartment) in Andorra, so the young Elders will be officially moving to Andorra April 1.  They will be the first missionaries to be in that country from nearly 10 years.  We pray everyday that the angels will go before us to prepare the hearts of the people.  Keep in mind, that the country of Andorra is right in the heart of the Pyrenees Mountains with towering cliffs on every side.  It is considered a micro-country that can be transversed by car in under an hour.  The population is about 80,000 residents with 11 million visitors a year.  Our Elders are beyond excited to open a new country, determined to fill our fledgling group those that are really seeking to find truth.

Since last Sunday was pretty hectic, so we decided to take some time on Monday to celebrate my birthday.  We didn’t do anything spectacular, just took some quiet down time as we went for a walk and had a lovely lunch at a quiet local restaurant.  Just before we were about to call it day, we got a ring at the door.  It was our dear friends Cecilia and Aitor from Andorra (the ones who got married a couple of weeks ago) to dropped by with a late birthday present…4 fluffy little baby chicks.  They are adorable and I have become totally enamored with their care.  When I reach into the box with a handful of feed, they run and eat right out of my hand.  What a sweet gift and Elder Fowers is excited to expand the flock!

Unusual Birthday Surprise...

During one of our trips to Andorra we took a quick side trip to visit the beautiful old bridge.  It wasn’t really very old…built in the1785 to replace the old one that was washed away in a spring flood.

Pont d'Endorgany Bridge 1785

Sometime during this past week, mix in with our studies and our visits, we participated in a cattle drive with Juan, our neighbor.  He needed to ear tag and vaccinate his spring calves and drive them to a new pasture.  He recruited us missionaries to become the roadblocks to keep those ornery, old Aubrac mamas  cattle from taking off down the road.

 

Hermana Fowers pushing the Aubracs with stick in hand.

Juan and his Aubracs

 Our work here is much like herding chickens, you get a couple of them headed in the right direction, and while you are focusing on those two, five others scatter in five directions and disappear from sight.  So it seems that we are encouraging and guiding the same chicks over and over again, much like the Savior who never gives up on any of us!

Mucha Amor,

Elder and Hermana Fowers