Visa trip to Madrid Spain...

Visa trip to Madrid Spain - June 2009



Sister Allen cutting Elder Dewey's tie before having to say goodbye in July...

President and Sister Allen will be greatly missed!!



Late night view from outside apartment




Elder Sorenson and Elder Dewey doing a little contacting on the street corners of Ekat while Elder Sorenson plays his violin.

Dear Family and Friends,

It was another whirlwind last week with some unexpected issues that occurred and left me a bit confused.( It's funny, you mentioned that I looked a little dazed in the last zone conference pictures you received. The pictures were taken while I was trying to figure out what was happening with my visa.) Let me explain...

My trip from Ekat to Spain began Wednesday morning at 7ish. I first thought I was leaving on Tuesday afternoon, but they received last minute news that my passport was still in Prague, so they really were not sure where to send me. They already bought my tickets for Spain, which were pricey tickets, and Elder Brown, the Canadian needed a companion. After debating what to do they decided for Spain to be my visa destination. I ended up leaving on my visa trip by myself about 20 minutes after my group left for Helsinki Finland. The flight from Ekat to Prague was pretty good, I was able to sleep most of the time. Once I arrived to Prague, I had a few hours to hang out at the Airport. So, I sat in some sandwich shop feeling exhausted, maybe it was the whole visa issue that had me feeling worn out. The flight to Madrid was good, I had a lot of time to get some good reading done, and I slept a little more. I felt better once I was able to get a little shuteye. When I arrived in Madrid, I took the metro to the Spain MTC, which is quite the adventure and pretty cool. The MTC is right next to the Temple. I finally met up with Elder Brown. We attended an early morning temple session on Thursday, which was amazing. We then had some study time and lunch. After lunch, we went out to see downtown Madrid, it was nice to do some sight seeing. After returning from our brief downtown adventure, we had dinner and more study/nap time. Honestly, after experiencing missionary life out in the field you realize that three hours of study time a day is adequate. And... being locked back up in the MTC can drive one a little nuts. After picking up Elder Brown’s passport on Friday, we stopped at a bookstore where I found some great materials I have been wanting for my mission, but unable to find in Russia. The best find was a few moleskin books. By the way, mom if you can slip a few in the next package I would greatly appreciate it. After the bookstore, we went back to the temple and attended another session, and before taking off Saturday morning, we were able to fit in one more. Honestly, the best and most rewarding experience about this visa trip was the opportunity to attend the temple. The overall feeling of just being inside the temple is the best.. it get’s better every time!
I just want to thank all of you for your love and support.

Make it a great week!

Love,
Elder Dewey