Skousens in Sacrament and Luau

We have had a terrific week with our members from Portugal. They touch our hearts everyday with their willingness to work! They really are hard workers. We have a huge group of elders and sisters in the MTC right now. We have a brother and sister from Milan, Italy who are from Peru but have lived for 9 years in Italy. They will be serving in Rome. They speak Italian and a little Spanish. We have another sister from Rome and another elder from Rome. Today in Relief Society we had our lesson in English which was translated into Spanish by our Portuguese instructor. The Spanish was then translated into Italian by our young bishop's wife who is originally from Argentina but who lived for 4 years in Italy. It was so interesting but we wondered if it was alittle like the "whisper game". Our speakers for Sacrament meeting were the Skousens from Mesa. They were wonderful and really had the missionaries in the palms of their hands. The air conditioning has broken and our building is hot! Madrid is having very unusual weather again. Hotter than normal. The elders were hot but didn't complain a bit. They are learning to roll with the punches. Our fireside tonight was a conversion story by a couple from Valladolid. The have been members since 1978 and are fantastic. They gave the missionaries some really good advice. We are having our luau tomorrow night for all the temple missionaires. There will be about 40 of us and we will have it downstairs in the hostal dining room. I'll let you know how it all turns out....music, table decorations and food. We will be on the afternoon shift this week in the temple and will be working upstairs too. We really don't have time to waste but do love being here. We had dinner today with a couple from Queen Creek. They said that they lived in the Pecansomething or other area. Their name is Everhard. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese and he speaks Spanish. What a blessing they are to us. We pray all is well and that the Lord's blessings are with each of you. We do have time to miss our family and friends. You are the dearest things to us. A spiritual thought for the week is, " When you can't stand it anymore, kneel!"