Returning to the Fold

Querida Familia y Amigos,

One last adventure before Tim and family left for the convention in Germany…we decided to spend the day at Naturlandia, an amusement park in the very top of the Pyrenees. It was off-season now so we pretty much had the park to ourselves.  We had a relaxing, fun-filled day that was filled with adrenalin-pushing adventures, including a 5.3 kilometer alpine slide (wild ride!), three-story high ropes course, snowless tubing, go-carts, archery and etc. But the most awesome part for me was the tranquil beauty of the mountains.

Zach Driving

Fearless Bella

Elder Fowers...Not Bad for an Old Man!

Tim Balancing 3-Stories High

"Tranquilidad"~ our ride up the Mountain on the Slide

Wild Ride...Grandpa and Zach on the Tobotronc

Zach and Bella got up early to help Grandpa milk on Monday morning.  Zach was right down in the pit, teat-dipping with Grandpa and Juan while Bella when over a bit later and got to help feed a newborn calf.  After a glorious few days with Tim, Nikki, and kids they headed out early Tuesday for Germany to their game convention.

Bella and Grandpa Feeding Newborn Calf

This had been a week of sweet miracles.  Let me share just a couple that prove that God really is at the helm and directs his work.  These stories are not about us finding the lost sheep but about the lost sheep that found us.  We have had our group in Andorra open for 9 months now and our attendance has hovered around 12.  We continued to press forward along with our valiant young Elders to build this fledgling group.  

Do you recall Carmen who found us about 2 weeks ago?  This week while we were visiting with her, she shared the details of her story.  She told us that about a month ago, she was awaken with a startle in the middle of the night with an impression that she should return to church after a decade of inactivity. She did not even know if the church still met in Andorra. She had seen the missionaries from a distance but wasn't quite sure how to find the church.  Carmen did remember many years previous riding a certain bus line with Maria Teresa. She couldn't really recall what this sister looked like after so many years, but  remembered her very distinctive high pitched voice.  She resolved to ride the bus early in the next morning and do so all day until she heard that unique voice again. Finally she heard the voice. Mustering all of her courage, with her heart bounding out of her chest she asked...Are you Maria Teresa and are you a Mormon?  At that moment they recognized each other and had a joyful reunion.   Within hours Maria Teresa contacted Elder Fowers and we went to visit Carmen at her home the next day. The rest is history.  She is preparing to return to the temple in December and has been embraced in full fellowship in the group!  This week she has been reaching out to other lost members that she remembers and is inviting them to return as well.  We call it lost sheep finding lost sheep.

God brought Carmen back to the fold!

After our visit with Carmen on Friday afternoon, we decided to go get a bite of dinner at the local mall in Andorra.  In the brief time we were there, we ran into a member, spoke with a less active member who manages the Burger King and chatted with a current investigator.  We felt like we had had a very productive evening and decided to head home.  I suggested that we leave by a different exit, but Elder nixed that and led me out the usual way.  As we were walking out, I realized that my badge was covered by the jacket so I reach down and moved it clear view on my lapel.  Moments after I had done so, a young man walked up to us, pointing to our badges and said,  "Soy un Mormon!"  (I am a Mormon).  He introduced himself as Jaime, a professional soccer player from Chile and explained that he had moved to Andorra about six months ago and had been looking for the church.  He was so excited to find out that we had a group that met in Andorra.  Our hearts were pounding with happiness when he walked into church today! 

One little side story.  Before the meeting started, I noticed that all the Jaime had brought with him to church was a tatter miniature book of Himnos. Early that morning I had dropped a Libro de Mormon into my church bag, thinking he might need one of he came.  So I asked him if he had a copy of the Book of Mormon and he explained that as a professional soccer player he had traveled so much that he had lost his. I offered him the copy and he teared up as I handed it to him.  (Now mind you, I actually did this all in Spanish without Elder helping me!)  It was a sacred and sweet moment. Jaime soaked in every word today.  This was his first sacrament meeting in many years.

Jaime is home!

As with every mission, we sometimes wonder if we have done all that we can and should do to further the work.  I just want to testify, that when you do all that you know how to do, God really does do the rest.  In these past two weeks he has guided these two sweet souls back to their covenants and their faith.  God is at the helm of this work and we are so blessed to be a part of it.

Family...So Blessed

Familia

Querida Familia y Amigos,

Knowing that Tim and family would be visiting later in the week, we packed some critical visits and preparations into the first couple of days.  We have several active investigators that we needed to teach and give spiritual support.  Tuesday afternoon, spent a couple of hours with Betty answering many doctrinal questions as she prepares for baptism in a couple of weeks.  We zeroed in on preparations for our Primary, Seminary, Temple Prep and Sunday School lessons.  We are preparing four sisters from our branch to receive their endownments in the Madrid temple on December 15.  This will take some logistical planning because the stake president is two hours away from us and the Madrid temple is six hours away from us. 

Elder Fowers Teaching Seminary

 

Amongst all of those activities, we were able to welcome Elder Christensen from Oklahoma, as our newest Elder. He comes from a 4,000 acre cattle ranch and he with Elder Fowers could talk cows all day long.  He is right at home in the farmhouse.

New Elder Christensen and Fowers Gang at Church

One of the challenges we face with such a small branch is finding speakers every week for church.  Elder Fowers took advantage of their visit and asked both Tim and Nikki to speak in church. As most of you must know, Nikki served in this mission about 20 years ago. We had record attendance today with 51! (Of course, that counts the Fowers Clan twice because they attended both meeting ;)

Nikki speaking in La Seu Branch Meeting

After having been on a mission for more than a year, there is nothing sweeter than having family visit from home.  We met Tim, Nikki and kids in Barcelona on Thursday morning in order to spend a couple of days exploring the beauties of Barcelona and surrounds.  After weeks of amazingly beautiful weather, it rained buckets all day long.  Trying to figure out how to manage the rain and still enjoy the sights was part of the adventure.  We were undaunted as we marched through the puddles covered in cheap ponchos we all bought at the China market.  I was not quite up to full health, so I fizzled out in the afternoon and had to back to the hotel to rest, while the Fowers clam partied into the night.

Fowers Family making the best of the Rain

Exploring the Gothic Quarter with the Nietos

The next day turn out bright and sunny so after another morning of exploring we headed to home to the farmhouse. 

View of Barcelona

Güell Park by Gaudi...Amazing

 

Saturday started at the local farmers market then off to the go-cart track.  Tim and family raced around the longest track in Catalonia.  Later in the day we explored the pueblo of ARFA  which has an old Ice Well dating back to the 1300's.  In the afternoon we saw some amazing vistas in Andorra. 

Speed Demons on the Go-Cart Track

Chilin' in the 800-year-old Ice Well

Grandpa clowning around in the old Ice Well

Fowers Enjoying the Antiquities

View of Medieval Engineering

 Pyrenees dressed in Fall Colors

 It is impossible to really grasp the beauty of these vistas through photos.  They are always more beautiful to us when we are able to share them with the ones we love.  Nearly everyday one or the other of us will say, "I wish the kids were here to..." share this amazing experience, so for just a couple of days we did so and rejoiced in the blessing of family.

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder and HerMama Fower

Lightning Strikes

Querida Familia y Amigos,

The week started out pretty normal.  We headed out very early on Monday morning for the Zaragaza/Hospitalet Zone conference at which we were planning to prepare lunch.  After finishing up a lunch of chicken pot-pie and homemade cookies, I began to feel pretty ill, wishing I could just lay down on the church benches somewhere quiet. 

Serving up Chicken Pot Pie

Zaragoza/Hospitalet Zones 

By the time we drove home, I was in a pretty bad way.  All I wanted to do was curl up and sleep, but the pain was unrelenting.  In a sweet and sacred moment, Elder Fowers gave me a priesthood blessing and within minutes the pain faded and I drifted off to sleep.  It was a personal miracle for me.

I stayed in bed all the next day with severe headache and flu-like symptoms sleeping away most of the day.  By the next morning my glands were swollen and painful and the tick bite on the crown of my head was infected and inflamed.  Then we remembered that little hitchhiker tick I had last week. Even though I had not gone to a doctor in 14 months (in fact we didn’t even know where one was) we decided that I needed to see doctor.  Since they have socialized medicine here, we ended up going to the hospital.  After several hours of tests and procedures and a lot of waiting, they called in a specialist.  We had been trying to explain that we were concerned about the garrapata (tick) bite and that I might have a tick-borne illness. Sure enough, once the specialist examined me, he confirmed that he thought that I had Mediterranean Spotted-Fever and prescribed an appropriate antibiotic.  The next few days were a blur, and I slept most of the time.  By Saturday, the antibiotics kicked in and I felt much better.  Looks like I’m going to live.  Having two tick-borne illnesses in one lifetime is like being struck by lightning twice!

Sometimes the lost sheep find us.  During this past week, we had a long lost member approach one of our active Andorran members on the street.  She introduced herself as Carmen and wanted to know where the church met.  Within minutes of the meeting we received a call and was able to contact Carmen, who was baptized in 2002 and had been endowed in the temple.  She was so excited when we visited her and she found out that the church had returned to Andorra. She has had no contact from anyone in the church for more than 10 years when the church left Andorra.  It is hard to describe our feelings as we sat in the living room of this lost sheep as she expressed the joy of having found the church again~A missionary payday for sure!

Meeting Carmen

Maria Luisa welcoming Carmen home.

Early Saturday morning I left Sister Fowers in bed still recuperating and loaded six of our Andorra Branch youth for a 2-hour drive to Barcelona to compete in the annual Youth Olympics. Three stakes combine to produce about 150 youth ages 12 through 18 who compete in various track and field events.  Everyone is divided into  ages groups, boys and girls and one seniors class for all over age 30.  Our tiny Andorra Branch traveled the furthest to attend and I must say some of our youth feel isolated at times.  However, today they were overwhelmed to see so many “Mormon Youth” gathered.  Lluís, our only Deacon, made friends with other young men his age for the first time.

Multi-Stake Youth Olympics

Our Dominican girls, Dariana y Arianny were born to run and received several track metals as did Emily and her friend Daniel who is investigating the church. The final race of the day was the 1500 meters with all running together.  At the starting line a looked around and saw no one who looked over 40.  All of the sudden I felt ancient.  It was a fast pace as all took off but I held my own hanging in the back third. I had enough for a kick at the end and passed 6 kids who had run out of gas.  On our return trip home, happy chatter filled the Van as all had a great time.  We brought home 10 metals,  but more importantly we grew closer together.  Sometimes senior missionaries have to go the extra mile~literally. I slept very well.

Emily on the medals stand in 2nd Place

Daniel, our investigator, placed 1st in long jump.

Elder Fowers chasing down the pack.

Transfers were this week and we were pretty confident that our Elders would be staying.  With the help of Nikki we had just gotten them International Driver’s Licenses and had them trained them to drive in Andorra, which had greatly simplified our lives.  But sadly, Elder Squires will be leaving us today for Valencia.  He has been a dedicated, hard-working Elder and we are sad to see him leave!  He went out with a bang.  His last day in Andorra we took this sweet photo of Elder Squires with Lluís a recent convert, Carmen, a returning member, and Ramon a new investigator!  The perfect day for a missionary.

Elder Squires, Lluís, Carmen, Ramon and Elder Jones
GOODBYE Elder Squires!

Signing off with this photo of our morning walk...God be with you until we meet again.

Con Mucho Amor,

Los Fowers

Morning Sunbeams

Sunrise in the Andorra Branch

Querida Familia y Amigos,

Sister Fowers is busy baking 200 cookies and a ton of chicken potpie for our Zaragona/Hospitalet Zone Conferences (about 55 hungry missionaries) on Monday. She prepares, precuts, prebakes, and gets all utensils, bowls, etc. ready to stuff in the trunk of our little car.  With the missionaries in the back seat balancing pots on their laps, we will launch the two-hour drive to Barcelona early Monday morning. Today has been most challenging as we are fasting and the whole house is filled with the aroma of Hermana Fowers’ freshly baked cookies.

Cookies...Made with Love

On Monday we entertained six the missionaries in our Lleida District for preparation day.  We shared a few pictures last week, but we had to drop in this awesome pictures of our missionaries letting off a little steam and the go-cart track.   Elder Squires and Elder Hunsaker fought for the lap lead but Sister Anderson held her own. Sister Fowers hosted a chicken dinner including hot brownies at the farmhouse. Later we drove to Andorra to hike some waterfalls and see the many sights we show all who visit us. After the mission I could be guide for Andrew and Rita’s Shaka Guide tour in Andorra.

Burning up the Track!  Lleida District

You may have seen the news this week about the rebellion, the separative vote and the demonstrations in Catalonia and more specifically in Barcelona.  This separation movement dates to the Spanish Civil war of 1936 but has roots that go back decades if not centuries.    There were a few local demonstrations but most of the vocal demonstrations have now quieted down and life will go on and every one will get back to complaining about the Madrid government as they sip their morning coffee in the open-air cafes.  As for us, the missionary work goes on and we work hard for every investigator and convert baptism. Actually this political history is part of the reason the church grows much slower in Spain when compared to Latin America.  The Catalonians rebel against the government and the bureaucracy in Madrid.  Historically the control of Catholic Church was a big part of the oppression put upon the people.  Mormon faith, is viewed somewhat in the same manner and to join our church is to defect from being a true Catalonian. 

Hitchhiker

   Hermana Fowers had a little hitchhiker this week.  She dug

   this creep-crawly tick out of her scalp after a morning walk.

   But it was worth it.  Early mornings are so quiet and 

   beautiful. You can't help but be grateful. 

Sunflowers

Sunrise at the Farmhouse

We continue to grow our youth group with seminary and a growing Young Women’s program.  Seven of our eight students have less than two years in the church.  They are open vessels waiting to be filled as we study the Book of Mormon this year.

Young Women:  Dariana, Emile, Arianny and Laddy

Dariana and Emily two of our Young Women, Dariana and Emily initiated and organized their own family home evening and invited all in the branch to attend.  They brought two non-member friends, prepared a lesson, conducted and served refreshments.  This is the first activity in a year where Sister Fowers and I sat back and let them do everything.  This give us hope for the future. We are seeing our numbers grow among the youth. As they rise up in faith and good works they bring energy, light and hope to everyone around them. They really are our future. We are thankful for the quiet ways the Lord directs this work.

Youth Sponsored Family Home Evening Activity

Future Leaders

Since conference last week, we have rededicated ourselves to a deeper study of the Book of Mormon.  For example I was just reading in in Alma 56 this morning about the Stripling Warriors and the famous quote, "We do not doubt, our mother's knew it."  What exactly did their mother's know and what specifically did they teach these fine young men?  That will be my study question for the week.  Knowing the answer to this question could really empower parents...and grandparents.  Perhaps I will share my insights next week.

Con Mucho Amor,

Los Fowers

Random Sampler

Querida Familia y Amigos,

Sorry for the delay in getting our blog posted, but we had such a long day yesterday with three sessions of conference in two countries that I couldn't muster the energy to write the blog.  Many of our members do not have the technology to watch conference in their homes, so we hosted every session in the church both in Andorra and La Seu.  Even though I was weary, I was filled to the top with the spirit and messages from our beloved leaders and it was a joy to be together be with our members.  On Saturday evening session (which is actually morning session for you) I served hot apple crisp, a memory that is linked to my childhood.

La Seu members viewing conference...

and Andorra Group 

We are having a beautiful Indian Summer so our garden has not yet frozen and our morning walks (or runs in Elder's case) are beautiful.  We often wake to a cold fog but by 10:00 the sun is shining brightly and it glorious to be out and about.

Morning Sunflowers

Our seminary class is coming along.  We pick-up three students from La Seu and meet up with three more students from the Andorra group and hold seminary in the Hotel each Wednesday night. Elder Fowers teaches the lesson each week.  He was so excited about last week's lesson which was about Nephi and his brothers returning to Jerusalem for the Plates of Brass. The students were really engaged throughout as he told about how God put the drunken Laban in his path and beheaded him with his own sword.  Nearly to the end of the lesson, Elder Fowers was trying to explain that when Joseph Smith opened the stone box that held the golden plates, there was the every same sword of Laban.  Now the word for sword in Spain is "espada", but the word for spine or back is "espalda".  So imagine their amazement when Elder Fowers explained that the "Espalda de Laban" was in the box.  They were so confused about why they would have preserved his spine.  One kid asked, "Was his head there too?" We all got a really good laugh out of it, once we got it sorted out.

Elder Fowers' teaching seminary class.

Last Sunday just before our meeting started we had a film crew show up from the National Television Station. They wanted to do a little blurb on their local station about the new Mormon church in town.  We permitted him to film for just a bit at the first part of our meetings and then he returned on Thursday for brief interviews and filming of our missionaries out on the street.  We don't think it has aired yet, but we will let you know when it does.  We could use some positive publicity!

Since we live in such a small village, we often take a "walk about" around the town in the evening just to become a presence in the community and hope to run into a lost member or two.  Believe it not, quite often we will encounter someone we had been hoping to contact and have a pleasant chat.  This week we ran into our dear friend, Chieta who had not been able to attended church for several months since she got her new job.  What a delight to see her!

Our dear friend Cheita

While wandering the streets last Friday night, we noticed a couple that were in fancy, native costumes. We assumed that they were headed to some cultural event and we decided to follow them. Sure enough, on one of the back roads near the Cathedral they were holding a celebration and had invited a band and Catalonian dance troop to perform.  It was delightful!  Elder Fowers struck up a conversation with a few of the couples and found out that the dance which is called the "Baile Cerda" was a courtship dance. It goes back many centuries, and was performed when the mountain folk would come to the valley for the annual festival looking for a bride. We spent an hour or so just mingling with the town folk, trying to understand their history and culture while we shared with them our purpose as missionaries.

Hermana Fowers with our local giants.

Baile Cerda...Cultural Dancers

Catalonian couple performing Baile Cerda

We spent the day with our Lleida District Elders and Hermanas. We hosted a special preparation day lunch and showed them the sites of Andorra.

Lleida District

Bells of Fantenada Church

Elder Fowers with District on our favorite medieval Bridge

Everyday is a different adventure as we serve our members, our missionaries and even our community.  We do all we can to introduce the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to any and all that will listen. So many that we speak to have never even heard of the Mormons, so our goal is to make sure they know a bit more before we part ways.

Con Mucho Amor,

Los Fowers