Hna. Mancera...

Our 4th transfer of the "transfer" was a little sadder - our wonderful Hna. Mancera returned home to Malaga on Thursday due to health reasons. She arrived safely Thursday afternoon and is in the care of her family. She has been fighting with some health issues for the past month and we still didn't have a diagnosis, but we hope  that she will be back in the mission field within a couple of months. She has been a great missionary, and we pray for her improvement and return!

Hna. Mancera with Hna. Dalton in Palma

Elder Salcedo

Our third transfer of this "transfer" took place on 2 May 2012. Elder Henry Salcedo of the Levante Branch in the Baleares District has a call to serve in the Utah Ogden Mission, but is still awaiting his visa, so he is now a visa-waiter with us! We are excited to have Elder Salcedo with us for at least a little while!

Elder Salcedo and his mother at his setting apart

¡Nuevo!

Rumors of the arrival of Elder Escobar have been circulating for weeks! The missionary system included him in the group of missionaries scheduled to arrive on 29 May. Then we got the word two weeks ago that he was arriving at the Madrid MTC and would come with our group that arrived 17 April. Then we got a call on the 16th saying he would not be traveling with that group. Then on Wednesday we were notified that he could come on Friday morning. Since we had a training conference scheduled for Friday morning, we arranged for him to come on Thursday night. And he did! 

We are excited to finally have him in Barcelona. He joined us for training in the morning, and this afternoon went to work!

Los Hinckley with Elder Escobar

Elder Escobar with the Barcelona Zone Leaders,
Elders Corbitt and Matthews, who will be training him.

"Flood the World" - The Miracle of Sant Jordi

Monday, 23 April 2012, was our favorite holiday in Catalunya: Diada de Sant Jordi. St. George the Dragon slayer is the patron saint of Catalunya, and his day is celebrated widely here and in other parts of Spain.

The celebration is two-fold. First, the tradition is that men give the women in their life a red rose, and tables of rose-sellers appear on every corner during the day. Literally millions of roses are sold in a single day.

Street booth selling roses

The second aspect of the celebration is the giving of books - women traditionally give a book to the men in their life. This tradition began in about 1925 in Barcelona to celebrate the fact that both William Shakespeare and Miguel Cervantes died on 23 April 1616. UNESCO subsequently designated 23 April as World Book and Copyright Day (how's that for a charming title?). So along with tables and booths selling roses, tables and booths are found throughout the cities selling books.

Of course, we are willing to give away free books, and take advantage of the holiday to "flood the world with the Book of Mormon." In both 2009 and 2010, we distributed over 800 copies of the Book of Mormon on Sant Jordi. This year the missionaries set a goal to distribute 1,000 copies, and each ward and branch where the holiday is celebrated (and in some places where it is not celebrated) set goals and made plans. The result: 1,611 copies of the Book of Mormon distributed! We received many names and addresses of people willing to learn more about this unique book. In one case, a woman approached the missionaries and asked for two copies - she had received a copy last year but her husband and niece wanted their own copies!

Archie and missionaries from Barcelona 2 at Plaza Catalunya

Elders Tyler and Fica presenting the Book

Archie guarding the cases of books - and distributing them to every passer-by!

Elders Reeves and Garces in the Plaza

Nuevos!

One of our largest groups - 13 - arrived on Tuesday! It is a great group of missionaries, and they have come from all over the world: Switzerland, Romania, the Canaries, Spain, Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, and the United States.

At Montjuic. Not pictured is Elder Perez who did not arrive until 10:00 p.m.

Enjoying the views!

Elder Marcos and Elder Manotas - Zaragoza

Elder Rhead and Elder Poeinar: Vitoria

Elder Ashcroft and Elder Hastings: Manacor

Hnas. Rejon and Goodman: Sabadell

Elders Weiss and McKinnon: Catarroja

Elders Oldroyd and Olaya: Barcelona 3

Hnas. Cruz, Cueva, and Oslund: Hospitalet

Hnas. Cozzolino and Walker: Pamplona

Hnas. Moulton and Wilson: Zaragoza

Hnas. Robinson and Dalton: Bilbao

Elders Bennington, Brinley and Shields: Albacete

Hnas. Fernley and Peña: 

Adeu: Viejos Video 2012 Apr

This week three great missionaries returned home: Elders Hadley, Jimenez, and Plaskett.

Elders Plaskett, Hadley and Jimenez with Pte. Hinckley at the airport

Singing for the Angels

 Viejos video:

¡Por fin! - Viejos Video from March 2012

We finally got around to uploading the viejos video from March, which actually features missionaries from the last few months who completed their missions. They are now home working more miracles! We miss them and love them!