Semana Santa (Holy Week)

Semana Santa (Holy Week)

This past week was very interesting.  It was Semana Santa, which in English for Holy Week.  The entire country pretty much took the week off; at least the Government workers had a holiday.  On Friday, which was Good Friday, everything was definitely closed.  I will give some more details later in the blog.

There is a member who lives in a small pueblo called Jaraíz de la Vera.  This pueblo is about 120 kilometers from Cáceres. There are approximately 7,000 people who live there.  We went there as a MP quorum to visit a member named Angel. Seven of us went to visit Angel to support him and encourage him.  Angel is the only member that we are aware of who lives in Jaraíz.  It is difficult for him to attend church because of the distance and expense so we wanted to spend some time with him and let him know that we love and support him.  As a side note, Angel went to the Madrid Temple this week and was endowed.  What a great blessing for him. 

Jaraíz de la Vera

We spent several hours with Angel and ate lunch near a river in a lovely spot.  After lunch we met with the vice mayor of Jaraíz de la Vera who gave us a tour of the town.  The pueblo is definitely Old Spain.  I met a couple of the local “Policía” and gave them each a shoulder patch that I brought from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Dept. and the CHP.  They invited me into their locker room and each of them gave me one of their shoulder patches.  So I now have a “get outta jail card” in Jaraíz.  The vice mayor also took us on a tour of the “pimentón (paprika) museum.  They claim that the best paprika in the world is grown in Jaraíz.  I had no reason to doubt it because it seemed it to be a super big deal there.  The vice mayor took us to his office in the city hall and gave us all gifts.  He was extremely gracious and attentive to all of our questions.  A member of our branch (Mauricio) is the vice mayors’ campaign manager and has been a big help in his ascendancy to office. 

It is a REAL BULL!

We are certainly settling into our role in the branch.  Our role is: if you need anything just ask Elder Gibson!  Not really but I have to be prepared for just about anything.  Here is a great example: 

Narrow streets of Jaraíz

 Last Saturday was the 174^th anniversary of the Relief Society (at least that is the number I heard from the hermanas).  There was a RS activity at the branch, commemorating this date.  I walked Linda over to the “capilla” or chapel and came back to our piso.  Perfect timing, as the baked chicken was just coming out of the oven.  I was hungry and ready to dig in. Linda had also just made come cookies and I was going for it.  Suddenly my phone dinged with a message that the hermanas urgently needed me at the capilla.  I just had to laugh because the unexpected that is quickly becoming expected was happening again.  I put the steaming hot chicken on the counter and waved goodbye to the cookies as I stuffed one into my mouth on the way out the door.  When I arrived at the church, the hermanas were all seated, waiting for my arrival.  As I entered they all gave me a great big smile and started the meeting.  Apparently I need to improve upon by ability as a mind reader.  Neither the branch president nor the 1^st counselor was there to represent the Sacerdocio (Priesthood) and I had not been asked to represent the presidency.  I was more than happy to preside over the meeting.  The hermanas held a wonderful meeting, bearing testimony of the great Sisterhood of the RS.  Did I mention that as I entered the capilla I was asked to give a talk to the hermanas?  Well I was and I did.  Fortunately I am getting over my shyness as you might imagine, ha-ha.  Speaking is something that I actually enjoy which is a blessing in a branch in the mission field.  My scheme, if I can call it that, is to tell a few stories that relate to a gospel principle, expound upon the blessings one receives by living the gospel and to bear testimony.  A couple of well-placed (and appropriate) jokes, good eye contact and there you have it.  This is my recipe and it has carried us so far.  A little forewarning would be nice but we are working on that aspect.  One thing at a time.

RS Celebration

We had a branch conference two weeks ago.  Our area Seventy, Elder Obando and his wife along with Presidente Rodriguez and his wife came to be with us.  Presidente Rodriguez is the 2^nd counselor in the mission.  The Obando’s are from Costa Rica and the Rodriguez’s are from Cádiz, which is on the south coast of Spain, close to Gibraltar.  On Saturday evening Elder Obando gave a charla foganera (fireside), which was very well attended.  We had a nice activity after the charla foganera.  The majority of the members are from several different Latin American countries and brought “platos tipicos” or dishes from their home countries.  It was excellent and a lot of fun.  On Sunday the attendance was the largest since we have been here.  I believe the attendance was 52.  It was interesting because they ran out of sacrament water and had to fill some additional cups.  I guess that was a good problem.

Elder y Hna. Obando (70)

During the branch conference I was called and sustained as the 2^nd counselor in the branch presidency.  Since I am a set-apart missionary, it was not necessary to be set-apart as a counselor.  I look forward to working more closely with the presidency in the work of the branch.  There are many needs that need to be addressed.  I think the hardest part is to make suggestions slowly and with love.  We have to be careful not to create a “water hose” affect, if you know what I mean.  The nice thing is that the members of the branch really do look to us for advice and direction.

Our Branch President just purchased his first car, but he is terrified to drive.  I had to laugh this past Sunday as he drove away from the capilla.  His family piled into his car and off they went.  As he entered the first roundabout next to the capilla, he almost stopped in the middle of the first turn.  I was thinking, Presidente, step on it!  Even though he had the right of way, he was taking no chances.  It reminded me of the drivers in Rocklin who stop in the middle of the roundabouts on Rocklin Rd. The BP safely made it through the roundabout and he must have made it home because I just spoke with him on the phone and he sounded fine. 

Remember my “new best friend”, José Antonio that I chronicled in my last blog?  Well a couple more encounters with him, one which included a plate of cookies, and we are certainly good friends.  He wants to sign-up for the English class we are planning and he has made himself available for any help that we may need.  I’m not sure where this is going but I am certainly pleased the direction this has taken.

José Antonio

Linda and I have challenged each other to achieve a “daily success”.  This can be as simple as having a pleasurable exchange with a stranger or helping someone in need, whether a member or non-member.  We are making new friends everywhere we go.  Our new friend today is Francisco who works at the post office.  He was extremely helpful and even recommended some interesting places in nearby towns that have historical significance.  After we part ways with someone, I jot down their name so we will know it on our next encounter with them.  I have found in life that this is extremely helpful in developing relationships.  The time will come with each of these new friends when we begin them to tell them our message. I feel this is one of the reasons we have been sent to Cáceres Spain.

We are now official “Documented Aliens”.  Some people still look at us as if we were actual aliens but we are getting used to that.  We picked up our “Permisos de Residencia” today and are now possessors of official Spanish Residency cards.  Unless Linda says something I can’t get us out of, we are good for one year at which time we will need to renew the permisos.

OK, I know this is getting extremely long so you might want to go get yourself a Diet Dr. Pepper and raise your glass to me.  If you at least email me a picture of a Diet Dr. Pepper, I will be extremely grateful.

I promised you a few words about Semana Santa.  Well it seems everyone here is Catholic although we did have an interesting discussion with a couple of Jehovah Witness missionaries.  Semana Santa is a big deal here in Spain.  It is the week leading up to Easter Sunday.  Of course Easter for us is indeed a very special time of year as we remember the life, crucifixion and resurrection of our Savior.  Hopefully our remembrance and reverence for the life of our Savior is a daily event for us and not just an annual ritual, which I believe is the case here.

It appeared this week that everyone was outdoors watching the different processions that the Catholic church presented.  Every day there was a different procession.  The processions are somewhat like a parade that starts at a church and slowly, and I mean slowly, completes a circuit.  On Friday night, which was Good Friday, we went to the old town and watched one of the processions.  It lasted for about an hour and was very interesting.  If you look at Brent Moore’s Facebook posts you will see some of the pictures he uploaded concerning the procession he witnessed.  We positioned ourselves close to the front of the procession and were close enough to reach out and touch the participants.  Of course we keep our hands to ourselves.  The path of the procession in the old town was on a cobblestone type road that was approximately 20 feet wide.  As the members of the procession slowly marched past us we could see their eyes move to Linda’s “chapa” (missionary badge) and remain there as they read the inscription.  This happened more times than we could count.  I thought it was awesome, two Mormon Missionaries in the middle of a Catholic procession on Good Friday, in the heart of Old Spain. Even the “curas” or Catholic Priests  couldn’t keep their eyes from looking at the chapa.  Linda was standing in front of me so I don’t think they could see mine.  I’m not certain if the Catholic Bishop, who was dressed in the best processional clothing, took a peak at the chapa.  I was hoping he would at least make eye contact with me.  I do have to appreciate the many people who came out to honor the Savior in the way they did.  These are good people and we wish we could teach the Gospel to each of them.

Well my blog has come to an end.  I know many of you may be saying whewwwwww, but I promised I would keep you posted.  Since Terry Meinzer let us all down (ha-ha) by only posting a couple of times, I feel pressed upon to keep the fire kindled.  I think Terry, in quest of perfecting his Cambodian, has forgotten his English.

Next blog coming soon...........

Hasta Luego

Dennis and Linda

Elder and Hermana Gibson

Misión España Málaga

Spanish Street Walkers

 

My New Miracle Friend

Hello everyone, or at least those who read the blog.  I know there are at least a few because I have been asked by several people when the next version of “As Spain Turns” will be published.  Well not to think that these epistles will ever rival those of Paul, but I will do my best to inform, entertain  and testify.  Just to give you some scriptural references of Paul specifically referring to his journey in Spain please refer to Romans 15:24,28.  I could quote it here for you but that would be too easy.  If Linda has to learn Spanish then you can at least look up a scripture or two, haha.

A few things of interest have happened since our last chat.  Linda and I are thinking and praying for ways to support the branch, support the young Elders and develop our own methods, using our experience and hopefully wisdom (at least Linda’s).  One thing we have implemented is to select a different family each week and hold a family home evening with them.  We have developed a lesson which we took from a talk given by Sister Marriott.  The talk is entitled "Spiritual Nourishment and Long Handles Spoons.  If you haven't heard or read it then I recommend you Google it and read it.  It has a great message.  We coupled the talk together with an article in the March issue of the Liahona (page 23) entitled "I'm Feeling….."  We printed out scripture cards on card stock and put them in a cup  for the members to keep.  We also purchased long wooden spoons which we found in the "Chinese store" near us that carries all kinds of "stuff".  Have you ever heard a Chinese person speak good Spanish?  Nope, me neither.  Anyway…….after the lesson we left the cards and a long wooden spoon with each home.  We think the lesson has been well received and we will continue to hold the FHE's until we get to each home.  We will then probably make another lesson plan and continue on.  Oh yeah, to add a nice touch, Linda tied a pretty ribbon around the wooden spoons.  The women really liked this added flair.

The people here really do not know much, if anything, of the Church (I am referring to the non-members). Because of this, we are on a "crusade" to present a happy countenance and always try to bring a smile to each person's face that we meet.  In my mission to Uruguay the people were very friendly and a greeting expressed was a greeting returned.  Here we have found the Spanish people to be very closely guarded and a greeting in passing is a rare thing.  This does not detour us in the least.  We constantly greet people in the streets and in the stores.  The popular way of greeting here is "buenas" or "hasta luego", even though "hasta luego" really means see you later (literally, until later).  We have always been the first to invoke the greeting and most people will at least grunt a quiet response as we pass them.  The older the person, the better the response.  Sometimes the people's eyes literally open wide in surprise as they can't believe someone greeted them.  Yesterday we had a marvelous success.  As we were coming home to our "piso" (apt), a younger lady saw us and greeted us loudly and happily.  I think we had greeted her in the past and she recognized us.  We felt so pleased with this simple success.

Now, I know this blog is getting a little long for those whose attention span is challenged but I would like to share what I feel is a minor miracle.  We had an interesting experience on our first day here in our piso.  Elder and Sister Redd came to Cáceres to show us around and introduce us to some of the members.  The Redd's are the couple we replaced.  They will finish their mission in May and are now traveling around the mission the check on the picos of all of the missionaries.  While the Redd's were at our piso showing us around, a knock came at the door.  Elder Redd and I went to the door and when we opened the door we were greeted by a very angry Spanish neighbor who said he lived just underneath us.  He started out on a rant that went on and on.  I almost laughed at his outrage but I didn't think that would be proper.  After all, I am a missionary.  He continued at length until the humor I felt morphed into a "we believe in the laying on of hands" attitude.  Again, I had to remind myself that I was a missionary.  Anyway……his beef was that he had put up with tons of noise, for months and he had already mentioned it to the Redd's before and he had had it.  The funny thing is, the Redd's hadn't even been in the piso for two weeks.  He didn't seem to care and even reminded them of the noisy kids who had been there way back during Christmas time.  After he finished his rant and left, I looked at Elder Redd and said: "thank you". 

A couple of days later we passed the neighbor on the street and he actually acknowledged us.  I told Linda that my goal was to meet this guy in more favorable circumstances, become friends and introduce him to the Church.

My plan almost backfired before it got started.

Fast forward to yesterday……….We came home and found a long letter from the same neighbor.  His name is Jose Antonio.  His letter almost sounded like a legal eviction notice with great flowery language (of course in Spanish).  He said that he was sick and tired of the constant noises from us at all hours of the night and day.  He went on and on but there is no room to write all of his complaints.  The just of the letter was that he had already sent a letter to the piso management and was going to begin legal proceeding to have us evicted.  Well well, Elder Gibson really had to be reminded of his missionary calling.  The thing is, we are very quiet and his ranting had absolutely no basic in fact.  As I re-read his letter I noticed that he was complaining about noises and furniture being dragged around the piso, etc.  The things he complained about actually were coming from another neighbor because we had heard the same things.  I decided to go down and talk to the guy.  When he opened the door I think he was surprised to see me.  I put on my best "I'm a good guy face" and eventually he let me in.  We sat down and I went over his letter with him in detail.  I told him our schedule and that we didn't stay up half the night and didn't get up with the chickens.  There are too many details to tell you about but when I left his piso after about 40 minutes he had profusely apologized several times.  He said he would immediately call the management and tell them that he was gravely mistaken and that the other neighbor was at fault.  I asked him to leave us out of the "snitch" business with the other neighbor and he said not to worry.  After we had drunk the nectar of friendship, José Antonio told me his father and two brothers were in the police business here is Spain.  Hallelujah, an opening I couldn't let slide.  I told him I had a gift for him that I would deliver the next day.  He seemed quite pleased with the idea.

Today I delivered to my new friend, a patch from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department as well as one from the CHP.  Dave Montijo was kind enough to give me some CHP patches before I left.  I have quite a stash, so there are more for the cops (if needed, haha).  José Antonio was more than pleased with my gift.  So what started out as a very inauspicious beginning is now literally blossoming into a legitimate friendship.  We have exchanged cell phone numbers and the future looks bright.  He is a professional man with military experience as well as legal training.  He is exactly the type of person who would make a great member.  Now I'm not predicting he will be baptized but a minor miracle has already happened.  Sorry for the length of this story but I hope you see that even when things seem bleak, the Lord helps us figure things out.

Yesterday (Mon) we met up with Brent, Austin and Tyler Moore in Old Cáceres, which is a wonderful historical part of Spain.  If you really want to see “Old Spain”, then “La Cuidad Monumental” is where you need to come.  It has an incredible history that dates back before Christ.  I’m sure I will blog about it in much more detail in a future blog.  To peak your interest here are a few pictures.  It was nice to visit with folks from home.  The Moore's are on an epic trek.  They are walking from Sevilla Spain to Salamanca and possibly even farther.  I am sure we will eventually walk more miles is Spain than they will, but we have 18 months to do it.  They are performing quite the feat.  Linda was especially grateful for the opportunity to speak English.  If it wasn't for me, she would have nobody to speak her language to.  Elder Bailey is from England but sometimes we have to ask him what in heaven he is saying.  He has only been here about two weeks longer than us.  Between his basic Spanish (he is getting much better) and his English terminology, it is quite comical.  We have yet to meet an English speaking person on the street or even in a store in Cáceres.  When we were eating lunch with the Moore's a greyhound puppy ran under our table and refused to leave.  His owner profusely apologized and tried out his English with is but it wasn't quite the King's English.  I actually quite liked the puppy, but alas he went to his master.

This picture doesn't begin to do justice to the Old City.

Notice how narrow the streets are.

Austin, Brent, Dennis, Linda in the Old City

Tyler, Brent and Autin Moore enjoying lunch with Elder and Hna. Gibson

Saturday evening we had a branch council.  I was asked by our branch president to train the brach leaders on presidency meetings.  I thought long and hard on how I wanted to go about this training I was asked to deliver.  One thing that I have noticed is for the members to not be too concerned if someone who is assigned to teach a lesson just doesn't show up.  What has been the practice in our limited time here is for the branch leaders just to ask someone to fill in at the last minute.  Obviously the person filling in isn't prepared and the result isn't always good.  I have been asked twice to teach Sunday School when the teacher didn't show up.  The first time I had luckily read the lesson ahead of time and I somewhat have the gift of gab so it went ok.  The second time I prepared a full lesson ahead of time, anticipating that the teacher may not show up, and he didn't.  I was prepared and the lesson went well.  I told the branch council that there are two ways to serve in the church.  One way is by custom or tradition or "this is how we have always done it".  The other way is the way the Church has outlined, by handbooks, lesson manuals, leadership training, teacher instruction training, etc.  I didn't want to step on any toes or bring in the "American way of doing it", so I was very careful on how I taught them.  The participation by the branch council was awesome and I think they were relieved that we had this discussion. 

The members here are wonderful and faithful.  Our hearts are so softened towards them as we listen to their stores and hear of many of the struggles they have endured.  We are so blessed in our lives and we want to do everything in our power to help lift these wonderful people.

Hermana Abuela Gibson

This is one talented Hermana!

Yes we do more than just eat!

Each week (usually) I write letter to our Mission President giving him an update on our labors here in Cáceres. In my letter I told President AndersenI about the leadership training and my thoughts on this subject.  He called me this morning and talked with me for a long time telling me how much he agreed with the approach we are taking,  He also said that he is certain our coming to Cáceres is the will of the Lord and that we have a great work to do here.  It was a special phone call.  He also invited Linda and me to join him and Hermana Anderson, along with a member of the Mission Presidency and his wife to spend some time in Mérida next Monday.  Mérida has a great deal of Roman ruins.  He said he doesn't get to be a "tourist" that often and invited us to join them.  I guess he likes us.  We love him and Sister Andersen and were please to accept the invitation.

I have more but I'm sure you are tired of reading, if you are even still there.

We love and miss our family and friends but know that we are where we are supposed to be for a season.

Next blog coming soon………..

Hasta Luego

Dennis and Linda

Elder and Hermana Gibson

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