Training in Spain, in Spanish

Opa! A couple of weeks in Lisboa and off we go to Spain for some employment coaching training....all of it taught in Spanish. Not too bad though since we still have trouble understanding Portuguese so it was all Greek to us. We did actually get some great value from face-to-face training with Greg and Montie Jones on the Perpetual Education Fund and then they did translate the coaching for us from Spanish to English. The training took place on Temple Square in Madrid where they have the Temple, Missionary Training Center, Temple Hotel and Stake Center. The best part was being near the beautiful Temple.

 To keep from overdosing on Spanish instruction Eileen ducked out and spent Saturday morning, November 14th, in the Temple. She found it very pleasant and even enjoyed the Portuguese. The whole square is so peaceful among a very busy and crowded part of town.

 While there we experienced the preparing of Temple Square for Christmas with lights all over the place. It just so happened that the missionaries at the training center had the service opportunity to complete some of the lighting. Many of the missionaries were from South America and were on their way to a mission in Spain like Barcelona.

 These two missionaries were so fun to watch....such enthusiasm. One was from Brasil (in black) and the other from Ecuador. The Mission Training Center is in the background.

 Eileen helped prepare for the conference and training by preparing packets with the Jones casal (couple). They are the employment center missionaries in Madrid and are on their 3rd mission. The last one was in Brasil....speaking Portuguese....ouch.

 Our first coaching session went from 6pm to 9pm and then dinner. At about 10pm the young adults were having an activity at the Stake Center and came over to polish off the leftovers. I'm not used to eating dinner at 9pm but I forced myself to eat.

The session had about 30 people attending from all over Spain. The director (Hermano Paco Serrano at the front left) set the training up and we had a great discussion. Eileen sat between the Jones casal so they could translate (back of picture in center in black). The Saturday session went from 9am to 2pm with a big pizza lunch to round things out.