"THE DEAD--SMALL AND GREAT!!"

First, a little update on the remodel job:

The hole  was opened over the weekend.

 The worked on it all  week long, while we used the office.

The will probably have the door installed when we go in to work tomorrow.  If that is the case, more pictures will follow on the next blog.  Paco is so excited!!  I am nervous, just to see if all the effort will pay off in the future.  Time will tell.

All three Spain missions received new mission presidents this past week.  Our new president is President Pack.  He and his wife, and two children they brought with them (a 13 year-old boy, and a 15 year-old girl) are from Mississippi.  He has been the CEO of a telecommunications company for a good chunk of his life.  They arrived about 24 hours before the previous mission president left, and I am certain he has been running himself ragged just to try to figure out where he is.  And, to make matters worse, this is the week of transfers!!!  One of these days we will get to meet him and to let him know a little about us, in case he has future plans for a good senior couple to go out into the world and to make a difference somewhere!!

Now, on to the title of this week's message.  We had noticed, on one of our longer walks, that there was this huge cemetery just across the freeway from where we were walking.  For some reason, Sister Bake has always had this fascination with cemeteries, so,. . . a plan was hatched to go and see it.  I think that fascination had something to do with her Grandpa Sandy taking her into the cemetery in Idaho Falls, Idaho, when she was a  young, to see the graves of her grandmothers, and others . (Michelle, "Actually, I have always felt at peace in a cemetery.  There is a reverent feeling there. I remember my mom telling me what her mom told her, when she died and then was brought back.  We will live after we die. I had those feelings again as we walked through the graves.  These are loved ones, they will be united with their bodies and families again.)

Anyway, we left early on Friday, to beat the heat (if that is indeed possible!!) and walked about 2 miles to get there.  (We don't mind walking these days.)  The place is just huge!  There are easily more than 300 acres there!!  

The name of the cemetery is El Cementerio de la Almudena, named after a 16th century icon of the virgin Mary.  It is the largest cemetery in Spain, and possibly the largest in the entire world!!  We wandered around in there for the better part of an hour, just looking, and thinking and wondering about the millions buried there.  Yes, you heard me right!!  An article we read about the place said that there are more buried there right now, than there are living in Madrid right now.  Madrid's population is about 5.5 million.  It was the main cemetery for Madrid from about 1884 to 1973, and from the 1920's, has been almost the only one for the majority of Madrid.

We learned some interesting things about how things are done there.  You are not allowed to own the spot where you are buried--you only get to rent the space, normally for only five years!!  Then, if you don't continue to pay, the remains are moved to a common burial location, and the space is rented out again!!..Different--I know!!  You can also rent for up to 50 years, but, then you pay a lot more.  Families can also continue to rent, for extended times, but if the payments ever fail, things can change rather quickly.  A handier way to handle the issue is to cremate, and lately, that is the preferred option for most of the people.  That way, the spaces are smaller, and the rent is less.

Below are some of the pictures, and some of our thoughts that go along with them:

Some of these plots have been here a long time.  It was difficult to know if we were walking in places that we should not have been walking, but we tried our best to be reverent and respectful.  I thought of working in the Family History Center and hoping that someone had found and written down the information of these people. The carvings are weathered, and broken up on so many of the markers now.

In older times, before things got crowded, if you had enough money, you could build a sepulcher for yourself and family.  Over the years, all family members end up in there.

This the the Mateo Lopez Sanchez family.  If you look real hard, you can see the stained-glass windows in the background.  Really a nice-looking place for the rest of the dead.  As you look inside the sepulcher, there is a chandelier, a place to kneel and pray and reflect.  The caskets are enclosed in granite, layered on the sides. Very beautiful! I was talking to another sister missionary, Sister Gilgen, and she shared with me her experience of making a suit for a toddler who had passed on.  She said that she could not make it good enough for this young boy.  She wanted it to be perfect.  It gave me the understanding of why the soaring cathedrals, the gold and silver plating, the tremendous amount of money spent on churches and even the tombs.  They want it perfect to celebrate Christ, who died for us, as well as those who have gone on.  

Obviously, most of Spain is of the Catholic Religion, and that is seen in the motifs
of the graves.

Some of the newer spots for the final resting place for the ashes of a loved one.

Almost the entire cemetery is laid out in some neat geometric formations, as can been seen from this angle.

This cemetery goes on forever, and ever, and ever!

Some of the wrought iron was intricate in design.  Some of the older stuff was about gone, but still held its shape.

Portion of an older wall with places for ashes.

Detail of a man who passed away in 1870, 16 September.

Mark, can you find some symbolism here?  Anyone else want to try?  Look real closely at the inside.
See Judges 14:5-18

Revelation 20:12-13

Many think of death as such a sad event, and at times such as this, many lose hope of ever seeing their loved one again.  How blessed we are to know that death is not the end.  I Corinthians 15:20-26

Just something to think about!!!

Just across the main road that passes the cemetery, there is another portion call the Hebrew Cemetery!!  This particular architecture is definitely not Spanish.  It looks more Arabic than anything else.

These names, and the ones in the background, are German.  Same thing for the two that follow.

While we were wandering and pondering, Michelle made a grand comment:  "Won't this be a neat place on resurrection day, when all these families get to be together again!!