The Madrid MTC {missionaryMum.2}

the MTC

The first lot of photos are in from Spain. After 33 hours of travelling, Mum made it safely with a layover in Dubai which she said was "wet and dark and a hot chocolate and a bottle of water cost 10 Euros". Mum and her companion Sister Lin Snowden (who Mum met in the Salt Lake mission),  are at the MTC in Madrid for one week, learning the procedure for how to digitise the old records. Im not sure what type of cameras they will be using but I reckon Mum will be very proficient by the end of it.

Sister Snowden 

I've included some excerpts of Mum's weekly email which I will do each post so she has a photo journal at the end of her mission that can be made into a book.

"The MTC has the top three floors of this building and the bottom three are used as an hostel for the Temple Patrons. The Temple is on the same grounds and also a stake centre which is about the same height as ours and houses three stakes".

 the Madrid MTC building 

  

The Madrid Spain temple and beautiful gardens.

On Saturday Mum and Sister Snowden did a tour of Retiro Park.

 Their tour guides around the park.

This is a memorial to all those lost in the Madrid train bombing in 2004.

This tree was planted in 1633 by Napoleon.

Avenue of statues of ancient Kings and Queens. Oh what a history compared to our 200-odd years.

A conservatory when the land was owned by the Monarchy. I really must get up on my Spanish history.

Inside the conservatory.

"Wow...every Saturday the missionaries go for two hours and talk to people in the park. After that everyone stands at the fountain and sings"

On Sunday the missionaries sang "Called to Serve" on the steps of the temple. They sang in English, Russian and Spanish.

Mum's schedule at the MTC -

"Breakfast at 7 am and then classes all day till 5 pm, then an hour of physical activity, quiet time to change for dinner which is at 7 pm. After dinner more classes and or workshops, bed at 9 pm. Sister Snowden and I are in a class alone and we have three different teachers throughout the day. We do a little of Preach My Gospel but mostly we do Spanish as they gave us the choice. We are only here one week, everyone else is here for six weeks. There are 35 missionaries here at the moment, the number varies. They go to Russia, Portugal, Spain, Italy, France and other Spanish speaking countries. We often have meetings together and everyone sings in the language they are studying,  gives you goose bumps. Prayers are said in different languages too".

Churros!! The real deal... with pure chocolate.

Mum says the architecture is amazing.

On Tuesday they head off to Valencia which is 357 kms away from Madrid over on the south-east coast looking out on the Mediterranean Sea.