It's The People!

L to R The Wiscombs, Deeres, Guffys, me, Hemana Chantrill,
the Castillos, and the Wilsons.

Today I'm going to take a break from the Alhambra and share a bit about what makes a mission so special. As the title says, it's the people!  The above picture was taken at our Senior Conference not long after I got here in Spain, and I've grown to love them all.

Hermanas Castillo, Wilson, Deere,
Annie, and Nielson :)

The Wiscombs and me at the Alhambra.

Going on the large picture, first up is the  Wiscombs, who I get to see fairly often as they come in for Zone conferences. I also got to go through the Alhambra with them (more on that next week). They work as leadership support .

Hermana Deere (in the black blouse) and two of the
 Deere kids, Justin and Annie, with Hermana
 Wilson outside the Malaga car museum.

Next are our awesome Mission President and Sister Deere. I am fortunate that I get to meet with them every week in our office staff meeting, and also get to work fairly often especially with Hermana Deere. She is one awesome lady!  

President Deere doing what he does best -
 helping missionaries (in this case the brand new
 type) feel welcome and teaching them what
 they need to know and do to be successes.

Next are the Guffys. They work with the members in the military over at the naval base in Rota. I haven't seen them too much, but they'll  be coming in next week :)  

Then on the other side of me is my companion Hermana Chantrill. She and I have a great time together. She is working on an absolutely amazing quilt wall hanging for the next people in line, the Castillos, based on some tile work at the Alhambra (the one with me crouched down beside it acting as a sizing reference).

 

Then there are the Castillos. What can I say about them?  They are amazing people, and great friends, and why this post is occuring now - they will be ending their mission tomorrow and will be greatly missed.  

Finally on the end are "Los Wilsons", another great couple that came to the Alhambra with us. I have absolutely loved getting to know them! They do great work as leadership support too.

The Coombs came later as the much anticipated new office couple, which allowed the Castillos to actually do what they came out to do, which was Mission Nurse and JAS (YSA) support. They fit right in with our group, and have been a great support to both me and the other office staff, and to the missionaries they help daily. 

On to some other fun pictures taken at the Alhambra in Granada.

Hermanas Wilson, Wiscomb,
and Coombs

Elders Wilson and Coombs

The Coombs and H. Wilson (back)
and Elder Wiscomb and me.

The next group that have become my friends are the members of our little Mijas International (English Speaking) Branch. Unfortunately I don't have many pictures of them as I'm not particularly in the habit of snapping photos in church, but there are a few. And I'll try to get more to add. 

This sister is not quite a year old in the gospel - and I've been teaching her temple prep (and piano) lessons to get her ready to go to the temple this next month. I am so excited for her!  She has a amazing story involving escape from Iran (where she is from) and her seach for a Christian church she could believe in. She found the right place!

This is the branch President and his wife (to the left), and the sister who came back into activity a while back and has made GREAT strides (talking to Hermana Chantrill). We're going to the temple together this Friday, which I am very excited for! 

Well, looks like I'll have to break this blog post into two parts too - way too many pictures!