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