No. 1 Granddaughter

Kenna Rae Farnsworth born December 9, 2008 at 11:40 a.m. in Los Angeles, CA. She weighed 6 lb. 15 oz. and was 20 1/2inches long with a dimple just like her mom's. Isn't she beautiful?! Proud parents are Ryan and Shanna Farnsworth, our first-born son. And even though we are entirely too young to be grandparents, we are so excited to welcome the newest addition to the Farnsworth Family. We can't wait to meet her!

Fall has fallen.....

Hola! We did attend the Mission Presidency Area Training in Germany in August. It was such a great experience to be with 36 other mission president couples plus Elder Perry, Elder Rasband and Bishop Burton. They are such inspired men and really are in tune with missionary work, espeically here in Europe.









Fall has come with a lot happening in the mission. September and October have been full of sick missionaries and little fires and emergencies to handle. Hopefully, we have shown the compassion and love these missionaries and our own family deserve.




We have had a little time to continue to see parts of this beautiful country. On a recent trip to Alcala we stopped to see the birthplace of Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote. Alcala is a lovely little city about 40 minutes east of Madrid. There is a beautiful plaza and lots of people. There is a university so there are lots of students-- that's where BYU's Study Abroad Program is located. Brad is the ultimate in making contacts, but I don't think Don was listening.

Another day sets in the beautiful country of Espana....................

Families are Forever

We have enjoyed a 3-week week visit from Jennifer, our lovely youngest daughter. We have had a lot of fun shopping, driving, piso checking (with an overnight in LaMancha and a windmill sighting), meeting with missionaries, and just "hanging out." One of the most fun activities was watching the movie, "Encantada" or "Enchanted" for you Americans. It's our new favorite movie -- really, you can't help but smile. We love it! I highly recommend it.

We have also been busy with missionaries, needless to say. Last week we had 11 amazing missionaries return home and we picked up 8 new excited missionaries, plus a Zone Leader's Meeting. It's a continuous 6-week cycle that just keeps going and going and going. We have learned that it's only through change that we grow -- no matter how hard that may be.

We are heading to Frankfurt, Germany this week for some Mission President training with the area presidency, plus Elder Perry and other General Authorities. We always love this opportunity to learn more about how we can encourage, lift and inspire the missionaries and help them be more successful. Of course, the bottom line is how we can better preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and bring people to Christ so that they can participate in the ordinances of the temple - so that families can truly be together forever. I highly recommend that! This is an amazing work! We are incredibly blessed.

Lions, and Tigers, and BEARS -- Oh MY!!!

I finally got a picture of the BEARS located on the A-1, highway into Madrid. I was so excited. Unfortunately, it took a traffic jam to accomplish this feat but I finally did it. There are actually 2 sets of these mama bears with 2 cubs on each side of the road. I love them! But there is also some significance to bears in Madrid as well.

As many visitors to Madrid know, there is statue of another bear and a Strawberry tree, "El Oso y el Madrono" at Puerta de Sol, the center and heart of Madrid. This statue is the symbol of the city of Madrid. It is on everything that belongs to the city. A visit to Madrid is not complete without a picture taken by this statue.

Bears were once very plentiful in the area which was once called "Ursania." This is the reason that the flag of Madrid is red with 7 white stars. Each star represents one of the administrative areas of the province of Madrid, which are the City of Madrid, Alcala de Hernares, Torrelaguna, San Martin de Valdeiglesias, El Escorial, Getafe, and Chinchon -- But, together the stars are said to represent the constellation in Ursa Major known as the Big Dipper or Big Bear.

So that's your history of Madrid lesson for today. We have learned to love this country and this city, but more importantly, the people. We consider it a great blessing to live here for a time. So next time you see a bear, pause for a moment, remember Madrid and think of us!

Summer has arrived!

This transfer we are doing something a little different. We are having every zone up to the Mission Home for Interviews where they also meet with the zone leaders and the assistants and then we have a Barbeque. So far we have had the Las Afueras Zone and the Alcala Zone. It has been a lot of fun and I think the missionaries have enjoyed it. We discovered we have some talented "chefs" and the food -- both spiritual and physical -- has been wonderful! The missionaries also have some study time and just "getting acquainted" time. We are watching the new Church DVD "Finding Happiness" and talk about how it can help us contact people about the Church by asking them Questions of the Soul. (For those former missionaries, we now have only seven zones. The two districts in Madrid Norte were put into other zones.)

We have also just completed Summer Slam '08. This is a basketball camp the missionaries put on for the church youth and their friends. We had 299 young people register this year. Only 176 attended but we now have 71 referrrals of non-members who attended the camp that will receive missionaries into their home to get their camp shirt and photo in front of the temple. We have already had one baptism and there are another 4 or 5 in the near future. Isn't the Gospel wonderful! This has been a great tool for the Spain Madrid Mission.

With Spain winning the Eurocup and Nadal winning Wimbledon, it's been a great time to be in Spain............even though we didn't watch it. Viva Espana!!!

It's Been Two Years!!!

This has been an amazing week of zone conferences! Most of the talks were about testifying and the convincing power of the word, especially The Book of Mormon. President Farnsworth and I even did a little demonstration. We had 2 stepstools at the front of the chapel and we stood on them and gave a little testimony on the importance of The Book of Mormon as if we were really talking to people -- somewhat like Alma and Amulek in the beginning chapters of Alma......I was a little nervous but I knew it was what we needed to do. What I don't do for these missionaries! Oh and did I tell you it was in Spanish?! We had six companionships follow us and do the same thing. There was an incredible Spirit in the room! We have invited the missionaries to read The Book of Mormon in Spanish, marking all the scriptures that refer to, teach about, and testify of Jesus Christ. It will be an amazing experience. Want to join us?

This photo reminds me a little of that demonstration. It was taken 2 years ago in England when we were actually talking to these people about who we were and what we believed in. We ended up giving these people a pass-along card with the Church's website so they could look up some information. It really doesn't seem that long ago. But............... Today is our 2-year anniversary. We went into the MTC two years ago today. It's really hard to believe. It's been 2 years of growth for our ENTIRE family and we have been incredibly blessed.

Bienvenidos!

We are entering an age of new technology. We need to keep up with our children and the missionaries (at least those who have returned home.) Check back for updates!