The Season of the Ferias

All over Spain each city has their city fair. But none of them are larger and more "Spanish" than the Feria in Sevilla. Reyes Catalan, the wife of our Stake President in Sevilla invited me to come and spend a few hours at the fair with her and a friend, Angeles Erickson, a Spanish woman who married an American and lives in Idaho with her husband and 4 children. How could I say no?

When you walk around all day and see cuties like this little one, it makes for a beautiful day. I will talk more about it later, but first, the reason we are here.

Quoting John 3:5, no one can enter into the kingdom of God without baptism and that is why we are here, to baptize and to help grow and strengthen the true Church of Jesus Christ on the earth today.

Elders Alejandre and Velasquez had a wonderful baptism of Fabian in Cuenca. These two Elders have done a wonderful job building the kingdom there. 3 baptisms over just 4 months. Fabian's mother is a member and she was so thrilled to shortly be able to have the priesthood in her home. Fabian's father isn't a member so Fabian will need to lead the way.

Hna Montes de Oca and Hna Woffinden experienced a wonderful baptism of 11 year old Mariela. Her mother is a member and now she is being a great example to the rest of her family. She has a sweet testimony of the gospel.

Many family members came as well as Pte. Blanco for her baptism. Such great ward support.

San Fernando has also seen a re-awakening of baptisms. This is the 3rd this year with another one coming soon. Great job Elder Smith and Elder Kusseling.

This week also had our Consilio with the Zone Leaders. They are all reverently preparing themselves for the consilio to start. There was a great spirit amongst these leaders in the mission. They reflect the great spirit of testimony and strength that all our missionaries are striving for and demonstrating in their work.

Pte. Clegg is pleased and ready to start. We love our missionaries to be dedicated and consecrated in their efforts. We love the missionaries in the Spain Malaga Mission.

The Consilio ended on a wonderful spiritual high that hopefully the Zone Leaders can convey to the rest of the mission.

We are so excited to introduce you to Elder and Hna Massaro. They are our newest couple to come to the mission. They are both retired nurses from St. George, Utah and will help with all our medical needs as well as supervise apartments and eventually working with the Young Single Adults in Malaga. Their first priority is to set up all around the mission communication with Doctors and finding great facilities our missionaries can go to when they are ill. We are so excited for this addition and know their impact will be felt immediately. Elder Massaro served in the Madrid Mission as a young Elder but most of the time he was in the South. It is a sweet dream come true for him and his wife to come and serve here in Spain.

But now, on to the fair. We have pictured here beautiful Maria Blanco with her handsome brother Pablo. They came with their mother and friend to show me a great time at the fair. Such handsome young members of the church in Spain. Pablo is a returned missionary from the Boise, Idaho mission and his sister Maria wants to serve a mission when she is old enough. Some very exciting news to share is that Pablo is engaged to Hna Alma Moraza who served with us in Bilbao. We couldn't be happier about that! Well on to the fair.

We took this picture outside of the eating place where we enjoyed a wonderful Spanish lunch. Paella, tortilla patatas y pollo. It was delicious.

Maria danced with her mother, Reyes on the small dance floor in the tent. The young Spanish girls take flamenco dancing and learn all the different dances. They looked great.

Walking around the fair we saw thousands of people dressed so beautifully. The fair is a chance to wear the traditional Spanish dresses, eat food with friends, parade around the horses and carriages, ride the rides in the amusement area and just feel Spanish. It was a beautiful day.

The beautiful horses and their riders were everywhere.

The teenage girls all have their dresses. Reyes told me that families hand down their dresses from mother, to daughter to sister to cousin, etc. These dresses are heavy and very expensive. They are all different in all colors and styles.

Even some of the little boys are dressed up. The children are the cutest.

Two sisters in matching dresses. So cute.

You can have the dresses made or go to El Corte Ingles and buy one. They range in price from 200 Euros to over 1,000 and even much higher.

Yep, that's me!! I just couldn't resist trying one on. They are fun and maybe one day? (probably not but it was fun to try one on.)

There are few other things that missionaries like to do than to eat a delicious bomba. Elder Talylor is trying to get his mouth around one.

Elder Thomas just seems to be saying, "Let me at it." They said they are the best they have eaten in Spain. They found these in Murcia, but I am sure they are in other places.

In Almeria Elder Lignell and Elder Bennett are trying to talk to everyone. These are a couple of the penitent during Semana Santa.

The ward in Almeria was preparing for a wedding reception. The youth of the church are married at the city hall and then have a reception afterwards. The next day or two they travel to Madrid where they are sealed in the Madrid Temple. The whole ward comes out in support.

Hna Capner had to remind us that she is a California girl at heart.

The Almeria District was pulling a Sound of Music pose? Oh by the way, Hna Frandsen is also a California girl.

Hahaha is what Elder Lignell seems to be saying. This was a service project but it doesn't look like there is too much service going on. Elder Lignell had to say good-bye to Almeria and now he gets to serve in Algerciras where they are still setting many baptism dates and baptizing. We are happy in the Spain Malaga Mission because we are doing all we can to bring the people here unto Christ. Way to go Elders and Hermanas.