Golden Birthdays and Weekend Vacations!

Hey!
I have had a great week this past week! It was full of laughing and crying and moments that I will remember for the rest of my life. Monday and Tuesday were pretty calm days. Wednesday is when all of the mayhem began and it went until about 9:30 last night! On Wednesday I went shopping for my birthday dinner ingredients. There is another girl that lives here in this house, her name is Jennifer, and she went with me to show me the best place to go. Fajitas was the main meal for the night and so we bought all of the ingredients and headed back to the house. That night I got everything I needed ready for the marination process and I think it went quite well.

That night I also went into Madrid with my friend Audi to shop around and kind of do some "pre birthday" celebrations. We enjoyed the fact that we didn't have to report to anyone and we could stay as long as we wanted in the stores we wanted to be in! I left the night with some new perfume that I bought for about ten bucks! What a steal, no? I went to bed with a smile on my face. :)

I woke up with a smile on my face when I realized that it was my golden birthday. I turned 19 on the 19th! And, not only that, I turned 19 on the 19th in SPAIN! How many girls can say that? Not many I am sure! I had class in the morning and then I came running home, threw on a dress, threw some over-priced peanut butter in between some cardboard-like bread and hit the road running to the bus stop. I made it just in time and enjoyed the fifteen minutes of time to the train station. Once everyone arrived at the train station, our group took off to Madrid. Destination: Madrid, Spain temple.

I had a beautiful experience. I know that the temple is the house of the Lord. I know that the special spirit that I felt there was the Holy Ghost. The moment I stepped foot in the temple I began to cry. President Monson said, "No creo que haya lugar en el mundo donde me sienta más cerca del Señor que en uno de sus santos templos. Al ir a la santa Casa, al recordar los convenios que allí hacemos, podremos soportar toda prueba y vencer cada tentación. El templo le brinda propósito a nuestras vidas; trae paz a nuestras almas." I was overwhelmed with peace when I was in the temple. I had one of the most spiritual experiences of my life, if not the most spiritual experience of my life while I was sitting in the temple. I know the church is true. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that He lives. I know that the Book of Mormon is true.

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." The scripture came to me, word for word, while I was in the temple. I did not have it memorized and I didn't not know where it was. The name John came to my mind right after the verse. The reference is John 14:27.

I have never felt so close to my Savior in my life. I want to always be this close and closer. If all I got out of Spain was a much closer relationship with my Savior it was well worth it. I will get much more out of it, of course, but I am so grateful for the experience I had. I am so grateful for the gospel and I am so grateful for my Savior and His atoning sacrifice. I am so blessed.

After the temple, I went back to my house with Audi and met Rikki there. Rikki was in Madrid for the day with her cousin who came into town. This is when the next wave of mayhem began. :)

TAAAADAAA!

Meat, red peppers, onions, guac, limes and torts! Yummmmmm!

Are you impressed family? That's right, you should be. :)

The greatness didn't end there.

That, before your eyes, is a yellow cake with chocolate frosting and fresh strawberries. Jennifer made it for me! Sweet huh! It got sweeter when María decorated it for me.

You can't really tell, but there is a red #1 candle on the left side and then the #9 out of green and red candles. And then an American flag and a clown thing. So cute!

Happy Birthday! I had a wonderful day! :)

On friday morning, bright and early, we headed of to Ávila and Salamanca. Both cities were pretty relaxed, but very pretty!

After a couple hours in Ávila, we went to Salamanca.

We had a tour as soon as we got there and then we all went to eat dinner. After dinner, we had the night to ourselves. Rikki and I and the prof's kids went to the Plaza Mayor and hung out like Spaniards- which means that we sat on the ground and talked. It was fun! At ten o'clock, the whole plaza lights up and it is beautiful! Our hotel wasn't bad either!

That night, after we were Spaniards, we went back to the hotel to call it a night because we were all tired. However, a group of people decided that they wanted to go clubing, including the two girls in my room. As you can imagine- not my scene. I stayed in the room and wrote in my journal and read my Book of Mormon and had a great night to myself! In the morning we had breakfast and then were on the road again. We stopped at two little pueblos. One for lunch and one to see a cathedral. The cathedral was cool because the original color on it. No renovations! In the second little pueblo we ate. I tried one of the staple foods of Spain- Paella. It is rice, shrimp, squid, mussels, clams, oil, an occasional veggies or two and OIL. Talk about fish over-load. I can say that I tried it- that is all that matters. If you look up pictures- it looks better than it is.

This week I have two days of school and then I am going to Sevilla, which is everyone's favorite city from the past groups so I am excited! We leave Wednesday morning and get back on Saturday!

I miss my family more than they can comprehend. I love you!

Love always,
Natalie Christine