Out with the old and in with the new!
On Wednesday we welcomed our second group of new missionaries! They arrived right on time around 9am after almost 18 hours of travel from Provo Utah through Salt Lake City and Dallas. The new “welcome” sign that we ordered arrived just in time on Tuesday afternoon.
One of our main goals for their first day was to keep them awake as long as possible to help them get accustomed to the time change as quickly as possible. Five of the six new missionaries had never been outside the US before and one was taking the first airplane ride anywhere in her life! After bringing them back to the mission office, feeding them lunch and getting some of their initial paperwork completed, we took them on a 5 mile walking tour of downtown Madrid to see some of the best sights! We started at the Church’s Madrid Temple and from there walked through Retiro Park – including by the famous “Crystal Palace” seen below left – and then on to Plaza Mayor (right middle) and the Royal Palace (right middle bottom) before finishing our trek at the overlook near the Temple of Debod. Along the way we stopped to eat churros and chocolate at Cafe San Ginés (a Madrid favorite) and take in the sounds and smells of the central district.
We finished the evening with dinner at the mission home and then a Zoom call to introduce them to the other 100 or so missionaries serving throughout the many cities in our area. By the end they were all amazingly tired, but made it through the Zoom intro (barely!) and then off to bed for a well-deserved rest.
The prior day (Tuesday) we spent with our dear departing missionaries. Because of travel to different countries at different times, we saw our departing missionaries off in a few waves. The largest group, pictured below, was able to join us for the whole day and night – capped off by an amazing Mexican food dinner that Trista prepared at the mission home.
Some of our departing missionaries never had the opportunity to serve in the city of Madrid, so we took advantage of the opportunity to spend a couple hours with them walking through the city. For others, it was a bit of a nostalgia tour. We dropped by San Ginés for one last chocolate and churros and Sobrino de Botín, the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the world (hint, it’s been serving Spanish favorites since before the United States was a country . . .). Of course, no tour of Madrid would be complete without a selfie with Bumblebee in the park next to the Royal Palace!
After that, we had a fun evening sharing stories and relaxing at the mission home. We love these Elders and Sisters and look forward to hearing about their next adventures!
Leave a Reply