Wedding! Fiestas!

This week was crazy! Spain is crazy. So the holidays in the city of Murcia are finally over! I thought they´d never end. Tuesday was Bando de la Huerta, celebrating people who work out in the country. Everyone, literally, was dressed up in typical clothing from the time period and almost every living soul hit the streets and parks to eat, drink, and be merry. I have never seen anything like it. It was impressive and also a bit depressive (for all of the drunk people and their shenanigans of course). It was basically impossible to get anything done that day, the buses were a joke, and we had to come home early for our own well-being haha. After the huge parade it looked like a tornado had gone through the town, but amazingly the next morning it was all cleaned up. I imagine that´s how the end of the world might look. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday there were more parades. Thursday they put up the giant sardine (it looked like a mixture between a Disney ride and a float...) hanging on a structure with little plastic elves (sardineros) for the burning. On Saturday night they supposedly burned it but we were asleep haha. Spain loves their holidays. 

On Thursday MariCarmen and Juan got married! We went with the bishop and a few other members to go see in in Alcantarilla (one of our towns we visit) in the Justice of the Peace. The man said some words, the signed papers, exchanged rings, and now they are married! Finally! Maricarmen works all Sundays but Juan is now ready to be baptized so we are trying to set a date for him! He doesn´t like commitment so he keeps telling us he will decided later...but if all goes well they will have a reception and his baptism in the church on the 7th :) Pray for it please!

Mari still wants to get baptized and she finally got to church yesterday with her youngest daughter Selena but with all their family and personal problems we still have yet to pick a firm date. 

Saturday morning we stopped by a referral we got from an American woman that had served a mission here 11 years ago. She talked to a man named Antonio in a Buddhist shop about the church and told him we´d go by. When we got there we met Antonio and his friend Paulino. They had both already had contact with the church, one 20 years ago. He still remembered the Joseph Smith pamphlet they give him. I love finding little seeds that others have planted. 

Well that´s about all for this week! I´ll try attaching pictures, because there are a TON, but this computer isn´t having it, maybe I can later today. Sorry! Love you all!

Hermana Thompson