Church in Madrid

Here is Catherine, another study abroad student from the U.S. in my ward here, and Robert, an LDS guy from Ecuador. At Institute, we have dance lessons on Friday nights... right now they're teaching salsa and cha-cha-cha, hehe. It was so much fun!


Here is the Madrid, Spain temple! It is gorgeous both lit up at night and during the day... there are fountains and flowers surrounding the temple. The temple is right across from the Stake Center and the other Church building, which contains the Missionary Training Center, a Distribution Center, Insitute, a Family History Center, and a place for people to stay who have travelled to come to the temple.

Here's a picture of two of my friends from Insitute... Luis (from Bolivia) and Jose (from Venezuela). They are two of the nicest guys I've met in Spain! I've met some great people here at Institute and at church... everyone has been so nice.

Here are Brother and Sister Eames... a senior missionary couple from Arizona who help in the Church Education... they teach Institute, run the office, and help with activities... they are so much fun! They're like my surrogate parents, hehe... and they taught us cha-cha-cha. They both speak Spanish very well too... all the kids in Institute love them!

Well, this gives you a taste of what it's like to go to the LDS church in Madrid. The LDS connection, world-wide, is alive and well. I've had a lot of fun going to church in Spanish, meeting people from South America, Spain, the U.S., and other European countries... watching General Conference at the Stake Center, going to Institute... etc.! There is a strong group of members here, and of course they quickly have made me feel welcome.

My ward, the Madrid 5th Ward, is about a 15 minute metro ride away... or a 45ish minute walk. My bishop is from California... and the dean of Saint Louis University-Madrid! I have a few other American students in my ward too, here through various programs. Last week, I went to the Madrid 7th Branch, which is an English speaking branch. It consists mostly of Nigerians, and the others are a mix of Americans and other non-native English speakers. I must say, I think between all of us, we had a hard time understanding each other's English, since Nigerian English has a strong accent and the others spoke English as a second language, but I LOVED listening to the accents! The branch was tiny... but it was a lot of fun!

Anyhow, just thought it'd be fun to share a little of this aspect of my experience here. Going to church in Madrid has been awesome, and one of the best ways to actually feel a part of the community here.