Misión de Fowers en Barcelona, España: 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.