July 25, 2010

This week we had our first Zone Conference with the new mission President and his wife. The picture on the left is of the Granada Zone, note: the elders all had the same Tie on. I guess as a show of Zone Unity. The picture below is of the Malaga Zone we have the shortest elder, Elder Basurto, standing next to Sis Clegg

This picture is of the "Sisters in the two Zones

Hermanas Hidalgo, Rameriz, Stolk, Clegg, Millan and Hunt. Hermana Rameriz is probably the shortest sister in the mission.

On Saturday evening we had a joint activity with the Spanish Ward, The Ward members put on a program about the days of 47. It was really quite good considering that they had just practiced for an hour before the program. (Typical Spanish style. They told us the program would start at 7:00 P.M. when in actual fact that was when the "rehearsal stated" the program didn't start until 8:00 P.M. It gave us time to talk to the people and get to know some of the Ward Members better as well and the visitors that came with one of our members.

These kids were really qute. While they sat on stage waiting for the program to start, they ate all the props (roll that were supposed to put out for the family dinner.)

The Litttle boy in the had (below) wasn't supposed to be part of the cast however, he kept running in and out of the play all night. Sometimes its kind of fun somtimes it get annoying.

Now, for the next phase of the home building project. You can see that the roof has now been poured and the house is now completly "framed" and not one stick of wood used. They will now start to brick up between the pillers to form the interior and exterior walls (Fire insurance rates should be very low.)

We had a very good Sacrament meeting today. In fact, it was better than I expcected. First our High Council speaker called just before Priesthood meeting stated to tell me that he was ill and would not be able to come today. Since his wife usually speaks with him that meant that I was short two speakers for Sacrament Meeting. But things worked out. The first speaker was afraid that her talk would take too much time as she had planned it so I told her she could have as much time as she wanted. I then asked a visitor, (a former member of the Branch from Nerja) to bare his testimony at the end of the meeting. During Sunday school I remembered that the week before JoAnne had offered to speak and relate a pioneer story about one of her ancestors. So, I asked her if she would still be willing to do that. It all turned out very well. We had 28 people present, 19 members and 9 visitors all from England.

July 18, 2010

Greetings for this new week, I hope you are all happy and well. we have had a very busy week. First with the Zone Leaders Conference, where we got to meet some new elders that were from the other missions that joined with ours. Also we got 4 new missionaries here this week, they were suppose to be here the week before but because of visa problems they were delayed a week. We were so busy updating the board that we didn't get any pictures of the new missionaries but they will be on Sister Clegg's blog: spainmalagamission.blogspot.com
Here you can see lots of pictures of the missionaries and what is happening in our mission.

This first picture is Sister Stolk and Sister Hidalgo when we went to check their apartment. The next picture is Elder Romeny and Elder Phillips, the ZL's in Malaga. All great missionaries. We also checked Elder Beck and Elder Basurto apartment also. It was sure fun to talk with them and encourage them to keep working hard.




We didn't have a district meeting on Saturday, so that meant that we had a free day, so we drove to Gibraltar for the day. At least this time it wasn't raining as it was when we tried before back in December or January.

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I don't know if you can see the caves along the rock there, but the whole rock is full of caves, but natural and some man-made one.

The next picture is the memorial to America that they built because of the help we gave them back in WWI

This last picture is one we took as we were going to go into Gibraltar. It is divided by Spain by only a little strip of land and then they brought in more fill and built a landing strip between Spain and the rock.

Church was great and we got 2 new members that moved here from the Philippines. Now we have 7 members from the Philippines. One was a son from the couple that is here. He is 16 years old and will now be living with them, his name is Wayne Padre. The other is a 18 year old girl, Marie De Lapena.

The Spanish ward had another baptism today also. That makes 2 in July.

We hope you have a wonderful week.

Love Roy and JoAnne Hunt

July 11, 2010

What a busy week we had last week plus this week. We got a new mission president and the old one went home. The first picture is President and sister Mellor, the former mission president and his wife, next to sister and President Clegg the new mission president for the Spain Malaga Mission.

The next picture is the last picture we had taken with the Mellor's. They were a great couple and we sure loved them and respected them and will miss them, but we are already loving the Cleggs.

These are the 3 new missionaries that came to our mission on the 7th of July, a picture taken from the office looking out toward the train station. Sister Clegg, Elder Marchello, Elder Bennett, Elder Ferguson and President Clegg. It was fun catching them getting a picture taken below. They seem like they will be great missionaries. We should be getting 4 more on the 14th of July that were delayed in coming because of Visa problems. Plus there are at least 4 more that have been assigned somewhere in the United States until their visas come through. We sure hope that we will get them, because we are very much down on the number of missionaries that we can have.

These next couple of pictures are some of the missionaries that are on their way home, what a great group of elders. We had 12 leaving at once, so they will definitely be missed. 1st picture: Elder Adams, Elder Barton and Elder Ellis.

2nd picture on couches, Elder Padilla, Elder Igleias, Elder Ellis, Elder Lucero and over on the piano we have Elder Himmer and Elder Hafen.

Right now Spain is playing in the world cup for the Champion against the Netherlands. The people are really getting into the spirit of the celebration: as you can see in the pictures below and these are only in our apartment complex. We got home from church and flags were hung and then later they started to set up a TV so they could watch the game in the common area.





Notice all the red shirts that are being worn by the viewers. The blow horns and make lots of noise. Right now the score is just 0 to 0 and it is in the 1st half. We live close to a soccer stadium, where we think a big screen is up, because of all the noise we hear from our baloncy. Drums beating all the time and horns blowing. If they win, the party will probably go on until midnight, like when they won Germany.

We had great Sacrament meeting again this week, President and Sister Clegg spoke in our branch and in the Spanish ward today. It was great to feel of their love for missionary work and for the people and the missionaries they work with. We once again had many visitors from different parts of the world. A family from Sweden was here, and we found out that they visit during the times that they vacation in Spain. Another couple was from England and they knew some of the members also. So we have visitors that keep coming back.

We sure love it here and the members here are the greatest, what a strong testimony they have. Last night we went to the church to witness a baptism in the Spanish ward Anahis from Spain a young girl of 18, just recently married. She was going to school with a older lady from the ward and was invited to listen to the missionaries. I even got to help her a little bit with her math one day, even though the language barrier was there, we could feel of her testimony for the gospel.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Love JoAnne and Roy Hunt

June 27, 2010

Brother Shaun Tyndale-Biscoe and David and Judith Turner. The Turners are our home teachers and are from Yorkshire. When we were first here we couldn't understand a word that they said because of their accent, but we have now got used to it, but once in a while we do have a harder time will all the words. He is the Elders Quorum president and she is the Branch family history consultant and teaches Relief Society once a month. We have such great and loving members in the branch that we feel right at home.
You can see the view behind the turner on the terrace of the Riley's home.

This picture is also from our Munch and Mingle and here is Elder Halverson, from Ogden teaching Sylvia from next door to Fred and Bruna Riley. On Wednesday I challenged Brother Riley to find someone we could show a video to, and his wife said that she did the inviting. She lost her husband a little while ago and the Elders taught her and she is very receptive right now. She was a nice lady, and could be a very nice member, we can be positive.









This picture is Barbara and Tony Hall from England, visitors, and Marchella Janssens a member from Beligum. The Halls come for a few weeks several times during the year. We met them at Easter time, and Barbara is not a member, but a lovely person. We just love her. Marchella just moved back here from northern Spain and just loves the branch here. She has been out of work for a long time and now has a job, but is still struggling, but is so positive. We can all take lessons from her.












This picture shows the Philippino people in our branch, what wonderful people they are. Vida, Lydia, Cecila and Augusto Padre, in the back is a visitor from Bristol England, who was here with her boyfriend who is from Wales. She was born in Brazil and served a mission in Boston, and is not living in England.














We were having a munch and mingle at Fred and Bruna Riley's house.

What a wonderful day today. Church went good and to let you know what an international branch it is, even though they speak English, none of the people who spoke in Sacrament meeting are English speaking today. Elder Meyer from German talked, he was really scared, because he had to read his talk. Sister Padilla from Spain and her husband Rafel, our high councilman spoke, He speaks English and translated his wife's talk as she gave it. He also had Brother Victor Gamez talk, who is also Spanish and has been coming to our branch, and he is the young Men's president, doing a great job. A single man whose father is the bishop in a Malaga Ward. This picture shows Belinda Tyndale-Biscoe and her son Seth, the only young man in our branch and Victor Gamez.

June 20, 2010

What a wonderful week we had. We had a wonderful Zone Conference in Malaga on Friday with a visiting seventy. Elder Kerr from Scotland from the 3rd Quorum of Seventy made a mission tour and talked with the missionaries. Here is Roy and I, sitting on the front right before the Conference started. It was mostly in English this time because of Elder Kerr. What a delightful man he is. I think he left everyone inspired to go out and do better. The spirit was very much evident in this conference. It was also a farewell conference for the Mellor's since this is their last conference. We also had the Island by way of broadcast with us, so they could enjoy the advice from Elder Kerr and from President and Sister Mellor.

The next picture is the Malaga Zone, that includes the missionaries serving in Malaga, Fuengirola, and Antequera. Right now we have 10 missionaries in Malaga, but there are also 3 wards in Malaga and they have had lots of success there. They just opened another area this week, but we will probably lose that on the 8th of July because we are losing 12 missionaries and we aren't sure how many are coming because some are still in the states instead of at the MTC in Madrid because of visa problems.

This next picture is the Granada Zone with 4 missionaries in Almeria, and 4 missionaries in Granada, 2 missionaries in Motril and right now we have a triple in Jaen. The 3rd one is one of those that was suppose to arrive on the 8th of July, but he was all alone in Madrid so he came with the 4 Spanish missionaries. From these 2 pictures we will lose 7 missionaries, plus President and Sister Mellor in July.

Next we have our building that is being erected. I'm not sure if you like to see the construction, but I have been very interested to see how they construct the buildings. The first one you can see they have put up forms around the outside to pour cement, and that took over a week to get things ready. Then they bring in a big truck that has a crane so something like that, that has a bucket to pour the cement.

The next pictures you can see the completed cement pour, I took pictures from both side so you can get a feel how big it is. We think that this will be the parking garage, but we aren't sure where the opening is to get there. They usually put the garage underneath the buildings here and then build on the top.

These next pictures show that they are getting ready to pour cement for the ceiling of the garage and the main floor. They put all these poles to hold forms to pour cement on top of, and after it has cured they will remove the poles and continue building. They have also painted the outside of the cement black, at least on this one side that we could see.

The other side is up against the next building. I think you can see a little inside, before they cover everything up.

We think they have almost poured the whole lot in cement.

Oh well, that's the constuction for a little while now. But this also means that the economy is improving a little bit here in Spain.

The weather hasn't been to bad yet, they keep telling us that it is going to be very hot. So if it is like it is now we won't have any problem, but then we haven't reached July or August yet.

The branch is doing great, we had 6 visitors today, one couple from Scotland, one man from Wales and 3 from England around the area of Birningham, plus we had a investigator today. But we had several who weren't there today, either had to work or one even sick. The program was put on by the Tyndale-Biscoe family. They did all the talks, and even the musical number. What a great family they are. Jack will leave on his mission to Madrid on the 18th of August.

We hope your week is great and that you will be of good cheer.

June 13, 2010

We didn't have any new pictures this week. We were busy at the office, but not super busy. This next week is going to be really busy. We get 5 new missionaries coming in during mid-transfer, 4 from Spain and one from the USA. The one from USA is getting bored, because his group that was suppose to come to Madrid for 6 weeks are delayed because of visa problems. It is hard to get a visa to Spain and takes about 6 months if all goes well, so he is coming down to his mission early. The ones from Spain only spend 3 weeks in the CCM (the equilivalent of MTC in Spanish), because they know the language and while they are in the mission they should pick up learning English with their companions.
Next week we will also be having Zone Conferences with an area authority. Elder Kerr from Scotland will be coming down here for 3 days, doing Zone Conferences, Zone Leader Conference and meeting with Stake Presidencies, so he will be very busy.
We were trying to get a picnic together for our branch, but not enough people could come this weekend, so we will stick with the Munch and Mingles each month, because then the Philippinos can come, Since they have Sunday off. The retired people can meet easy during the week, but those who have jobs can only do it when they have a free day or a day off. We had a great Sunday today. Had good lessons, good sacrament meeting talks, plus we had 10 visitors. A couple from France, a couple from Scotland and a family with 4 children from Salt Lake City. It's always so fun to meet people from all over the world and see the dedication those people have to look up the Church wherever they go. Sometimes it is hard to find, but we always hope that they feel the spirit whereever they go. I know Roy and I have tried to make it a point that whenever we are on vacation to go to church, and we have truly been blessed because we have made the effort.
We have started over again in reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish aloud for the third time. We are beginning to understand a lot more, but still can't speak it very well, I tend to mix my German when I try to speak. They speak so fast here also that it is hard to distinguish between the words, especially if the speak with the Andalucian dialect. We can understand the missionaries better, first because they speak slower and realize that we are still learning. And we don't have to speak it in the office. If we had been going to the Spanish ward, we might understand more, but it meets the same times as our church and we go to the international branch.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week and I'll try to take some pictures this week.
Love JoAnne and Roy

June 6, 2010

This picture is the office picture before some of them get transfered. We take a picture each time after staff meeting if we are losing some from the office. Top row: Elder Stanley, new mission sec; Elder Going, old finance sec; Elder Barton, old mission sec; Elder Goodman, new finance sec; Elder Halverson, AP; Elder Bader, AP;
Front row, President Mellor, Sister Mellor, Me, Roy Hunt

Here we are with more construction. If you remember all the rebar that was put down before in a previous week, here you can see that they have poured cement to cover all the rebar.





Next they are putting up rebar on all the sides to get ready to pour the walls of the building.

It's getting a little harder to take the pictures because they have put up a fence around and I took a couple of pictures through the crack of the fence so you could see the building construction. I think it will take the rest of this week before they pour the cement for the walls, but it might be at the end of the week.

They are also putting in posts in the middle of the floor for support of the next layer. This will bring it up to the street level. We think that this floor will be the garage and we don't know how many apartments it will have, maybe only a single family house.

These next pictures are of the departing missionaries and I can't seem to get rid of the duplicate picture, so we have 2 pictures of them helping with the meal before their last meeting.
Sister Mellor had cooked pork roast so they could put it on a burrito with cheese, salad, avacodo, etc. These were a good group of missionaries and we were sorry to see them go.

Elders Swartz, Simmons, Gleason, in front, Gordon, behind, Gardner, Martin, Hyatt, Sister Mellor. Not shown were Elder Beswick and Sister Goins.

This picture is outside the mission office where the missionaries were here to get their suitcases weighed. They are allowed 22 kilos per bag and some had to rearrange or get rid of excess weight. We found that it saves money and time at the airport if we make sure they meet these requirements early. Then they put their suitcases in the van and only have their carryon at the mission home that night. They can't get into their weighed luggage, and we find it saves a lot of confusion in the morning, especially since this group left for the airport at 4:30 A.M.