Day 4-Templo y Churros

Our day four of Madrid consisted of two things mostly, attending the Madrid Temple (Templo) and eating churros and chocolate afterwards. We had to slow down today because we physically hit a wall. Mike woke up feeling not so good this morning. I felt fine and got ready, went to breakfast, and brought some food back to the room for Mike. I was really hoping Mike would start to feel better after that, but he didn't. We canceled our trip to Segovia. Last night as we returned from Toledo we were smart and bought the tickets for today's trip when there weren't any lines. (No ticket for a ticket again!) Unfortunately the tickets went unused. We also canceled our flamenco show reservation for dinner, since we figured that even if we felt better late tonight, we would rather just focus on the temple and getting to bed so we would have energy to leave for the islands the next day. Sometimes you need to just roll with the punches. It reminded us both of how when we were in Switzerland a few years back the weather was so cloudy and cold that we couldn't make our much anticipated trip to Interlaken or take the tram up the mountain. Sometimes we don't follow Plan A. But with a proper perspective everything still works out.

Anyway, I started to feel a bit under the weather myself after that. I think it might have been a bit from anxiety over Michael. I knew we were flying to islands the next day and how much he was looking forward to being back there and I started to worry that the trip would be severely compromised. It was either nerves, something I ate or even just both of our bodies succumbing to the time changes and physical demands, but soon I found myself laying down in bed for the rest of the morning, too. I did a lot of praying during this time (I really couldn't fall into a deep sleep again.) It was a reminder to me of how dependent we are on our Father in Heaven. When I did get up and go to the computer to double check Madrid Temple information, I saw the LDS YouTube ad for the day was from one of my favorite talks, "O Remember, O Remember" by Elder Henry B. Eyring. I watched it and right there it was reminding me also of the Lord's hand in my everyday life. I have seen His hand in preparing for this trip and certainly today as my prayers were answered and we received strength enough to attend His holy house.

The temple is in a very nice, quiet neighborhood andthe grounds are so peaceful. Big difference from the busy, noisy feel of downtown Madrid. On the square is the MTC for missionaries called to serve in Portugal, Spain and France, if I remember correctly. Also hostals for members to come stay while doing temple work, and a distribution center. The temple worker that met us at the door was serving there with his wife and is from Provo, Utah. Brother Shaw was his name. The cafeteria was closed and he showed us a nearby supermercado (supermarket) so we could grab a bite to eat before the 6pm session. It was fun to go down the aisles and see all the different (or similar) foods compared to what we have in the U.S. Like ham flavored Ruffles potato chips. Intriguing. We ended up getting tuna empanadas from the bakery counter, papaya strawberry and pineapple coconut drinkable yogurts and a couple apples for our meal. After eating we returned to the temple for the session.

The temple is exquisite. There is inlaid carved marble everywhere that matches carved moldings, stained glass images, etc. Brother Shaw said the Celestial Room here was President Hinckley's favorite. I can understand why. There is a dome above the chandelier that is hand painted gold with pomegranate flowers. And the chandelier is amazing. The windows have a weaved pattern on them. I know it is hard to picture really, but it was so nice. There were only 3 women and 5 men in our session. I had headphones for English, but Mike listened in Spanish. We received a tour of the inside of the temple afterwards by Bro. Shaw. He took us to see the sealing rooms and the baptistry also. He pointed out the symbols in the above stained glass window (the sun, the moon-the small circle does have a cresent shape in it though it is hard to see in this shot, and the stars below, then the sides are flanked with an infinity pattern like the seal of Solomon.)

Here is my fountain shot for the day. This fountain is at the temple entrance. Notice the statues in the background? They should look look familiar. A mother, father and child. It was a wonderful experience.

The next thing we did was to stop at a churros stand that we saw when we were walking from the Metro to the temple. They made us some fresh churros, and I took some pics. They really were so yummy dipped in the warm chocolate. A sweet ending to the day.