Ten years ago today I arrived in the mission field

"We arrived in the beautiful city of Barcelona today. It clean, green, and blue. The flight (Madrid to Barcelona) was short and enjoyable." The Spain, Barcelona mission had approximately 180 missionaries. President Clate Wheeler Mask Jr. and his wife, Carol "Pollyanna" Mask oversaw our assignments and well-being while serving. When President Mask met us at the airport, I didn't recognize him. He wasn't as tall as he looked in his picture in the MTC and he spoke Spanish much more fluently than I expected, so I thought we was a senior native Spanish missionary that had come to help pick up the missionaries and I wondered why President Mask hadn't come to the airport. It wasn't until we arrived at the mission office and he gave us our official welcome that I realized who he was. In the next year I will describe some of the neat experiences I had with Presidente and Hermana Mask as we called them. I learned a great deal from them that I still remember and often reflect on. I love them and am grateful to have served in the Spain, Barcelona "Lighthouse" mission with them.
That night "we went to sing (at a plaza in the middle of the city) with all the Elders in Barcelona. The members were excited to sing with us. It started pouring (rain). There was a waterfall on the stairs to the Metro (subway). We were soaked when we got to the mission home (pictured above)."

The next day I met my new mission companion, Elder Woodbury. We soon figured out that we were both descended from the same great-great-great grandpa, Franklin D. Richards. Of course since I was a brand new missionary right from the MTC, and Elder Woodbury had been out serving for a year, I knew everything there was to know about being a missionary, and Elder Woodbury didn't know anything. We got along fine, but we did have a difference of opinion from time to time. It wasn't until a few months later that I realized Elder Woodbury really was a great missionary and knew what he was doing after all.
Mataro was the first area I was assigned to serve in. It was right on the Mediterranean Sea, we could see the sea from our 7th floor apartment. Elder Woodbury and I shared an apartment with Elder Barrott and Elder Brunson. By the way, Elder is a title for all male missionaries. I met faithful saints in Mataro, many of whom were the first members of the church in their family, the pioneers of Spain. While there, Elder Woodbury and I taught Joaquin, a gentleman who had heart problems. I remember he came to hear me speak in church my first week there. Remember, my talk was given in Spanish, and at this point, I still had a lot of Spanish to learn. Luis was another man we taught in Mataro. He always gave us large soda crackers to eat. Mataro sparked my love for the people of Spain, love for the faithful members of the church in Spain, and love for representing Jesus Christ as a missionary.