The lighthouse at Formentor, Mallorca

The background shows sidewalk tiles - "rajoles" - that pave the sidewalks throughout Barcelona. They were designed by architect Puig i Cadafalch for the entryway of a home. Since 1915, they have been used by the city to pave sidewalks, and have become emblematic of the city. One of the city's most famous chocolatiers, Enric Rovira, produces chocolate bars in the shape and design of these tiles.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Mission Tour


Elder Gerald Causse toured the mission from December 6 to 9. We met him in Bilbao the evening of the 6th and held a wonderful conference there with the Vitoria Zone on 7 December. We then flew to Valencia for a conference on the 8th, then took the train to Barcelona where we met with all the other missionaries (4 zones combined) on the 9th.

It was a wonderful three days of inspired instruction. Elder Causse concluded each conference with a special Christmas present - he played a piano solo for the closing song.

One of the aspects of the conferences was a clear message that we are entering a "second harvest" in Spain. The first great harvest occured in the 1970s, when missionary work was very productive and when most of the current leaders of the Church were baptized. We are seeing the beginning of this second harvest already - this year we have already seen more convert baptisms than we have seen in any year for the past two decades, and with fewer missionaries than in any year except 2010. Elder Causse encouraged us to think of Spain as part of Latin America rather than part of Europe! This is an exciting time to be a missionary in Spain!


No comments:

Post a Comment