On Bilbao & Real Madrid

Sup mis queridos!

I couldn’t finish talking about our trip last week because it cut into my showering/sleeping/living time, so here’s what we did.

Bilbao, España: one of the funniest cities in Spain I’ve seen just yet. It’s like a little Spanish New York, I loved it. Except for the longest time I had my computer password set as “bacalao” because I thought it was fun to say, but it means cod. And so I had a few moments where I just could not remember where we were at. But I was pretty sure it was not the city of Cod.

What's cool about Bilbao, "es que es una parte del pais basco". It's a part of the Basque country. I don't entirely understand how the country/providence thing works here since there isn't a DIRECT correlation to the states, but essentially this: Spain is great. Also, very funny. So Spain is about twice the size of Oregon (I've read this somewhere, I'm not just making up my own facts) and the whole country speaks Spanish. Almost. Well they do, obviously. Castellano (Castilian) is the one of the languages spoken in Spain, but so is Basco (Basque). The tour guide basically says "yeah so nobody really gets where Basque came from, it's origin is unknown since it's unlike any other language. French, Spanish, Italian... these are all romantic languages. Basque is neither romantic nor germanic. Try reading some of the signs, you won't understand them." thanks lady haha. But any who.. 

So I don’t know how I just float around not knowing the plans for the day, but it basically happened again. And we went to the Guggenheim!! Such a spanish-sounding museum, euh? I was so excited to go to an art museum… and then it was a modern art museum haha.  So… well it’s hard to explain exactly how one should feel at a modern art museum. The best I can do is post these pictures and hope you vicariously understand.

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but the hardest part about traveling is finding reliable food. I like going out to eat as much as the next person but I hate doing it for every meal-plus in Spain, eating is not something you rush through. Every time we go out to eat it’s at least an hour. Which isn’t the worst thing, you just have to plan ahead for that. Or be willing to eat pastries. BREAD IS EVERYWHERE IN THIS COUNTRY.

Also don’t buy food from the hotel.

Later in the week, Kristen and I ventured on our own to find the hospital in Madrid. To be short, Kristen’s leg is broken and they wouldn’t give us the insurance we needed so we wouldn’t have to pay out of pocket except for this specific hospital in Madrid. Okay that’s a lie. Her leg isn’t broken. But the insurance thing is real. We left Alcalá right after lunch around 3:00, and a few cities, missed trains, wrong trains, and blocks of walking later we arrived at the ripe hour of 7:00. Not bad?

Anyhow the reason we were trying to hurry in-and-out was because we were going a REAL MADRID GAME!! Frick yeah! Also I would like to point this out to my parents: this is Madrid’s soccer team. They’re one of the best in the world. The team is called “Real Madrid” (Ray-ahl Madrid). I’m only adding this for clarification because I don’t want you thinking that it’s possible to go to a “fake Madrid game” haha.

Basically when I woke up on Tuesday I went to pour corn flakes into my Disney princess coffee mug and spilled a good 60% of them on the table and laughed… but then I thought to myself “oh shoot well, today has some kind of potential... I think.” And it all turned out fine!! Hallelujah. When I showed my host mom my photos of the players from the game the day after she laughed at how far away we were, but it was really so fun. It's definitely SPAIN's sport, everyone is so into it. I thought we were going to have a half-full stadium but by the time we were 10 minutes in every section was nearly full. I guess this is the Hispanic/Latino way haha. Also they have this crazy song they sing at the beginning of the game called "Hala Madrid y nada más" and you need to watch this video. If for nothing more than beautiful spanish men singing:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=baLGqCvnK2M

I wish I knew what else to say about the game, but it's pretty much a soccer game! A really really big soccer game where they make a lot a lot of money to run and kick a ball and we pay a lot a lot of money to sit as semi-confused americans who don't understand what is being shouted. It was great. Totally worth having to sprint out of the stadium at 10:30 with our director, his wife, and the other half of Spain who are all trying to fit on the metro to get home before the last train at 11:40. 

That's all I have for today! Peace, love, and chirimiri!

JD

STS: On Processes

I don’t have a really cool/prepared spiritual thought this week because I am trying to get better at this “go to bed on time” thing, so here are my thoughts for the day. As per usual I write this more for me than for an audience/person in mind, so think of me in our room in the attic typing on my computer with 23% battery instead of on top of a soapbox  to the world.

Love life.

Love it all.

Love the parts that are easy to,

and try really hard to find something to love in the parts that don’t.

Because I’m not going to tell you to love the parts that suck.

Because I’m not an idiot.

When it sucks, it sucks.

But I am a hopeful idiot!

And I try to see my life with a little bit more perspective when it’s hard.

Because life is sometimes a lot more hard than I’d like it to be.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately and have really been just trying to love the process. Or to learn to love the process. Drawing is a process. Speaking a foreign language is a process. Understanding a foreign language is certainly a process. Making steady good choices can be a process. Life is a process, people!!

Like I said, I don't really have any poignant thought to share this week. 

But I can do more. I can be better.

I can give it my all, and go to bed and say I did my best.

I'm entitled to my emotions.

It's okay to be frustrated

                        scared

                        angry

                       discouraged.

We can have moments that are hard

                                                 empty

                                                  dark

                                                lonely.

but we need to know why.

and this is the best why I've got:

Because life is a process. And God knows what we need.

And I really do believe that.

 4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with suretyhope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.

(Ether 12:4 )

And I don't think that God has this plan where we have to suffer a designated amount before we can have good things. I don't think He has carefully planned out this painful horrible existence for us to crawl through to prove ourselves worthy. Doesn't that sound contrary to everything God is? I think a lot of the times God has more faith in us than we have in ourselves, and He knows we can handle so much more than we give ourselves credit for. Heavenly Father wants us to be wildly happy! And He wants us to grow to be our best self.

I believe in a God who sees more than I'm capable of.

I trust His plan is better than mine.

I get frustrated because I can't see it all fall into place in my impatience to know it all right now.

But I'm working on that. 

Being patient, you know.

Because I'm not dead yet and that's a lot of life to spend being frustrated.

Enjoy the ride. Love where you're at. Aspire to be more, but don't forget about today. It's a process.

Lots of love,

Jessie

bonus link:  

"Blessings" - Laura Story

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSVqHcdhXQ

STS: Tener Una Conciencia Historical

Hey folks!

I had to write a little bit of my thoughts as an assignment for my religion class, so I just sat down and 

wrote it all out and decided to also post it for Spiritual Thought Sunday. It's not really concise or a 

formal essay, but it's more formal than my usual writings. So here it is if you'd like to read it! Also 

hopefully Faustino is forgiving because my ideas about indentations and punctuation are also a little 

more flexible than they should be. Shucks.

Tener una conciencia historia

“To have a historical consciousness”; an expression that I heard for the first time this last week. It came up during our religion class in Alcalá, (“Los Mormones En España” aka REL C 350R). We were having an introduction to the class including learning about our professor Faustino Lopez when he brought it to our attention. What does it mean to have a historical consciousness?

My first thoughts were simple: don’t be asleep in class when they’re telling you about the world.  Those who don’t understand history are doomed to repeat it. You have to know a bit of history to understand a bit of the present, and I felt like these were pretty concrete thoughts.  I kept going and thinking in how it could pertain to our religion class, and it seemed an easy transfer: don’t be asleep in Sunday school when they’re discussing the history of the church. Those who don’t understand the Church’s history are doomed to misrepresent it. Or have a really hard time defending it when confronted by sharp comments. You have to have at least a basic understanding of the beginning of the church in order to appreciate how it came to be.

            While there are certain things God asks of us-find and cherish your own testimony, follow the commandments, love one another-if it doesn’t already say somewhere in the scriptures that this is important, I really do think that it is. We all have a basic understanding of our nation and how it came to be, I think we need to have the same for the Church. As Latter-Day Saints, we take a lot of heat from those “outside of the faith” who go to unreliable sources to learn about the Church. These conversations may be with people we live with, people we’re friends with, or just strangers on the bus.  We need realize that it is a responsibility we should take upon ourselves to share with them truth to the best of our abilities. And I’m not saying we need to always be carrying a soap box to preach upon at any given moment, but instead we need to be able to make factual and simple statements and the spirit will take care of the rest. I know that Joseph Smith received revelation and direction to restore the Lord’s church on the earth. I know we have prophets on the earth today to guide His people exactly as He did as in the times of the Old and New Testament. Simple and non-aggressive statements that I know to be true.

            The discussion in class however took a different turn that I wouldn’t have thought of on my own. To have a historical consciousness also applies to our own lives. But let me say it in a different way. Those who do not share spiritual moments of their past are doomed to forget them. I tried to think of a more impressive way to write that, but that’s the best I’ve got. And suddenly, there we were: having a 30 minute discussion on why it’s important to keep a diary. But hear me out.

I keep a journal because it’s easy. I like knowing what I’ve done, I like telling stories accurately-because I also have a talent for unintentionally embellishing. I like being able to put down exactly how I’m feeling in the best way I know how and being able to share quite literally whatever I want and I don’t have to worry if my audience wants to even hear it. Of course they want to hear it. It’s me: I wrote it. And if I wrote it I will likely read it at least one more time before I die if for nothing more than to laugh.

I also keep a journal because I know I’m changing. I think I tried keeping a journal as a kid, but had an incident (what other women who aren’t writing this as an essay might call THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL!!!) where my little sister always read my embarrassing 10 year old thoughts and then brought them up as conversation pieces. It’s been a decade, and I’m over it now- but I also keep my journal closer to me now haha. But what I was trying to say: I started keeping a journal again in college pretty regularly. And a little bit irregularly just before as I was joining the church. And I’m incredibly grateful for these embarrassing little notebooks with my babblings and stories and insecurities.

I had to teach Sunday school this past summer, and for one month I had a few lessons on keeping a diary. If I had the time back, I would tell them something a little more concrete:

The reason you should write is for you. You will go back to these books and see where you were. You will remember your experiences. You will see what you wanted. Did you get there? Did you fall? Did you stand back up? Do you have new  goals after trying something new? Did you get discouraged? Did you triumph? Are you where you want to be? What do you want out of your life?

Of course you’re free to write about whatever you’d like, but I write about these things on somewhat of a daily basis. And I’d like to encourage you to try it. In whatever way works for you, write when you can about the only history that only you can tell fully: yours.

Faustino then shared with us a powerful quote from a talk by Elder Henry B Eyring.

“When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property.

He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.” I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write.

And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.”

   

      I included more in the blog post version of this essay so you wouldn’t have to read the whole talk, but you’re welcome to! The talk is called “O Remember,  Remember” from October 2007. 

      This is the last and most important thing we need to remember. In telling our own stories, we must not forget to share our spiritual experiences. Faustino included one last slide in his slideshow that really impacted me, and it’s a lot more concise than how I would have been able to say it:

I am important.

The history of my life is part of the history of the church, and of the world.

I should keep a record of my experiences.

I should live in a way that my life may be worthy of being told.

My life is influencing others.

And so with this I’d like to end. The scriptures are just like this: personal records and things that 

happened to ordinary people. Sometimes normal happenings, sometimes big spiritual changes. I know I can improve on noticing God in my life and writing it down, and I will start with something simple:

I know God lives.

I know he hears our prayers.

I know that sometimes we think God is deaf to our prayers, blind to our tears, and unaware of our 

needs. But He isn’t. I know He is watching over me carefully and attentively. And I know He is doing 

the same thing for you. I don’t know how He does these things simultaneously, but I don’t have to. 

God can do so much more than I am even capable of understanding. And it’ll all make sense one day, 

so I don’t worry about it. I just try to float along and be me. And love who I am and where I’m at. And if I’m not loving it, be patient with myself.

Anyhow, that’s a lot for one day. But thanks for reading this far.

Love always,

Jessie

      Bonus link: 

      Jason Reeves- "Like The Sun"

      www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFfH3I4IDzI