hello friends and family!!! so first
thing is first... there is no
enter button on this computer so it is going to look like a really
long bad paragraph... i am so sorry
because i don´t like those kinds
of emails so bare with me. and if
you are reading this.... i love you
so much!! thanks for taking the time
out of your day to support me. i
feel all your love and support and
prayers!! okay... so here´s 9 days
into a 20 minute email...... the
plane rides were really long but
good. i didn´t sleep a whole lot but
i read the book of mormon a lot
and the missionary hand book and
other stuff. once we got to dallas i
called my parents which was much
needed... i love my family so much!!
then we got on a huge plane unlike
anything i have ever seen before
with beds and stuff!! So we got to
london and I HUGGED ELDER TANNER
FREAKING HAMMOND HOLY COW that was
literally one of the most special
moments of my life. two young boys
just exploring the world on the
lords errand... oh not to mention
that they are lifelong best
friends!! so anyways that was cool.
we landed in madrid and we looked
like an army coming off of the
plane... we are the biggest group to
ever come through this mtc and you
can tell because it is packed
here!! so a bus drove us to the mtc
and then we got right to it... so
my district is made up of 4 elders
and 4 sisters... i am the only
elder in my whole zone going to
madrid and there is 1 sister...
strange but whatever. my companion´s
name is Elder Garrard and he is
from riverton, utah and he is headed
to malaga. he knows more spanish than me so that´s a plus. elder hammond and elder
walster are both in zone 1 and
im in zone 2 so i don´t have the
same eating schedule as them or
sports with them... but we see each
other all the time in the hall and
inbetween classes. it´s awesome!! i
have made it a habit to hug elder
hammond, walster, and others before
bed because it reminds me of home.
i have cried a lot while being
here... whether from homesickness which
sucks haha or i feel the spirit so
strong or i think about my family
and look at pictures of you guys...
i guess heavenly father sent me to
spain to remind me how much i love
and miss all of you. the coolest experience i
have had since i have been here was
on saturday at the park. we get
paired up with someone other than
our normal companion.... so i got paired up with
elder rosenblike and he is going to
the portugal lisbon mission!! but he is from norway... so he
speaks fluent norwegian, english, portugese, and spanish. so we could
pretty much communicate with
everyone we talked to which was nice!!
and he is the coolest kid ever. we
met this guy named miguel and he
was very interested in the church
and christianity... he came to the
park that morning with a grocery bag
full of bread prepared to give it
to all the homeless people that me
met... because he said that service
made him feel better!! so i gave him
a book of mormon and some
pamphlets and he was my very first
contact ever!! in return for the
book of mormon and other stuff... he
gave me a compass... he said
since i helped guide him that
morning he was going to help guide me
through the park and through madrid
which was easily the coolest thing
i have ever experienced!! so cool
and heavenly father was watching
over me... because all of this was
in english :) for sports we can
play dodgeball, go to a gym,
basketball, or soccer. soccer is cool
because its in these really dirty
places that have beer bottles and
graffiti and tons of trash and old
guys smoking with random dogs
everywhere.. its definitely a big
and dirty city but its fun. well,
my time is almost out and i love you
all so much. the spanish will
come and i know that the gift of
tongues is a real thing. oh and every
now and then every hammond and i get
to have a heart to heart which is
really good. thanks for the prayers,
letters, and support... i think
about home everyday and how much i
miss it!! i know that the lord has
people prepared for me to teach in
spain... in spanish... and these
next two years are going to be
awesome :) well, until next week!!
hasta luego!!! con amor, elder smith
