Week One

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