Keeping in Touch
Shawn and I met only 3 months after he returned home from his mission in Spain. Three months later we were engaged, and 3 months later we were married. That meant that he was only home for a total of 9 months before we returned to Spain for our honeymoon.
Going there for our honeymoon was fabulous. Since Shawn had only been gone for a short while it was quite easy to contact old friendships. Everyone was right where he left them. I met many of his investigators, and had a wonderful time getting to know them.
9 months vs 10 years is a very big difference. As life gets busy, some things get pushed aside, and keeping in touch with his friends in Spain fell short. We talked about Spain alot, but never put the effort in...shame on us!
So when it came time to returning, Shawn had no idea if anyone he knew would still be around. There was one family in particular that he really wanted to see. Whenever we asked people about this family...no one seemed to know who he was talking about. Shawn was afraid they might have gone inactive (not going to church regularly), and then he wouldn't be able to find them. So we went to the ward that they used to attend, and to our surprise Maria Jose was actually speaking that day!
While we were there, Shawn and Alberto left to go get our food. I was left there with Maria Jose, Marta, and Debora. They don't speak English, and I don't speak Spanish. We had fun showing them my blog, and trying to use an online translator to get our points across. I have to say I love this family so much. They are the epitome of Spaniards, and the love that they have for people. It is because of this family that I have such a desire to do what I can to learn Spanish.It was frustrating because I know if we could communicate better we would be able to have alot more fun. When I came to Spain 9 years ago...it was the same thing. So many people wanted to talk to me, but because of our language barrier we were not able. We plan on returning again in 10 years (if not sooner) and my goal is to learn Spanish. Any suggestions on how I should go about it???
Shawn and I are so thankful that we were able to find this family. Hopefully now through the Internet we will be able to do a better job at keeping in touch!
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7 people know I LOVE comments!:
Hola Cristal, No te imaginas la ilusion que me ha hecho de tener el privilegio de verme en tu blog. Realmente fue fantastico volver a veros despues de tantos años, es dificil tramitirte la bendicion que tenemos de conoceros y saber que despues de tantos años sin vernos os acordabais de nosotros.Tuvimos la gran suerte de conocer a shawn cuando realizo su mision aqui en españa y su gran fortaleza y espiritu sirvio para que mi esposo despues de muchos años sin querer saber nada de la iglesia se animara a bautizarse,por ese motivo cuando os vi en la iglesia fue muy emocionante,siento mucho no haberos podido preparar una maravillosa cena que realmente os mereciais. Cristal realmente el poco tiempo que pudimos estar juntas y a pesar de no podernos hablar por el idioma pude sentir en mi corazon que eres una gran mujer y lo mas importante "una gran madre " que ejemplo mas grande me diste cuando me contabas cosas acerca de tu familia.para ti lo primero es tu familia !! algo que yo debo aprender,di gracias al señor en una humilde oracion el tener la suerte de tener unos amigos donde se ve que hay tanto amor entre vosotros y que soy una familia realmente "feliz" muy dificil de tener en estos tiempos que la moda es "divorciarse ". Espero que nos podamos ver muy pronto,por cierto Marta quiere aprender ingles y me ha pedido que la lleve a una escuela donde aprenderlo,quiere cantar en ingles como tu hija y poder hablar con ella cuando nos veamos jaja..
os quiero mucho. bs
Hola soy Marta como estas? me gustaria mucho ir a tu casa para conocer y jugar con tus hijos, aunque me da mucho miedo ir en avion, voy a terminar pronto el cole y tengo muchas ganas de estar de vacaciones . muchos besos.
What a wonderful trip! I am glad you had such a wonderful time. Spain would be a fascinating place to see!
Love the pictures of the trip! So beautiful there! Thanks for your e-mail address!
Wow! You could send your kids to Keller and THEY could teach YOU! My aunt took a class at MCC, and then was called as the Relief Society Pres. of the spanish ward. Better be careful!
It was great that you guys were able to make plans with the families that remembered Shawn. Derek wished that he had kept in contact with more poeple.
I think that learning spanish is a great goal. Good luck. I hear Rosetta stone works great....At least that's what their commercials say.
What a fun trip for you and Shawn! Mark and I need to get away sometime, but it is so hard not living near any family and having two little boys so close in age.
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