What's up J
Tuesday, we went to Matapozuel to visit Stefan and his familia. They had this really good bread cooked up for us and drinks which was very thoughtful of them, considering how little they actually have. We got permission to have Skype with missionaries in Romania so they can understand everything, so right now we are trying to schedule a time with them and it will be great! I'm super excited! Then we taught Mabel the restoration, she's the recent convert that has kinda faded away but we committed her to come to church with us which was a big step for her! Then we went to the Tamayo Familia, which is Michael and Nicole. Michael... That kid loves to do everything that he shouldn't. He wants to be baptized but won't give up his friends, he just loves to do his own thing and it makes his mom soooo sad. They just fight and cry :( please keep them in your prayers, and we will continue our support and lessons with them.
We
ended up meeting with Michael a lot this week which means we get food too,
which is always a plus haha. We have lots of good spaghetti, rice, eggs, fish,
Spanish tortilla, and paella. So it's really important for me to use my
exercise time wisely because we eat a lot of food! :) anyways, another girl in
the branch this week got her mission call too to Barcelona which is way cool!
It just flooded my mind with memories of the night when I opened my call. Never
did I ever imagine that I would experience these things!! But it's super cool.
Another funny cool thing was when I called Beatrice to let her know I might be
leaving the area (even though it wasn't too likely), she freaked out and said
"Oh no, you can't go yet! We have more things to talk about and I'll miss
you!" I WANTED TO CRY!! Such a sweet lady. It made my whole transfer
worthwhile that I could be a good friend to someone and just listen. Something
I discovered this week is that she smokes 25 cigarettes a day :/ I challenged
her to cut back and she got down to 14 but then gradually started getting back
up again. I'm praying for her like none other!!
Friday,
we went to visit Stefan again because all the little kids in the house are sick
because the water is bad. It's a super sad situation. We are re-teaching Stefan
the lessons again because he didn't understand totally everything the first
time, which is quite normal for a recent convert. After the lesson, Elder Peña
and I gave blessings to every single child in the house and a bunch of the
adults too. Most were blessings for the sick but a few were just of comfort. I
have never felt more of a priesthood responsibility in my life!! Blessing these
little sick children one by one as Stefan brought them into the bedroom was
such a testimony builder to me. Holy cow the priesthood is real and I felt so
honored to help the family.
We
started a new thing where we teach Preach my Gospel classes to young men and
women in the ward who are planning to serve missions. So far, we have 3 people
that come and it's fun! I always get to bare my testimony about missionary work
and other stuff, we have a blast. And also, the English class is a huge
hit! We acquire more people every week! I forgot to mention, the Hermanas in
the area both left to Madrid, but we are getting 2 new Elders! One has 15
months and the other is strait out of the MTC so that's gonna be awesome to
help him!! We will pick them up from the train station on Wednesday I believe.
I want to challenge/invite everyone reading this email right now to look up the Mormon Message called 'Mountains to Climb'. It's a little excerpt from a talk by President Eyring. I haven't felt the Spirit this strong in my life in a long time, and I have watched it over and over. It's my new "go-to" during a lesson because it's an instant Spirit-inviter. How wonderful that we have a Heavenly Father that loves us enough to give us trials so we can overcome them and be better. I never looked at it this way until I saw the video, and it's going to help us appreciate the good times that much more!
I love my Heavenly Father so much, and He loves me more than I can comprehend. This is one thing I have really come to know in my life and in my short 3 months in my mission. He knows what he wants us to become, and it's up to us to accept His plan and let it change us for the better. His plan is perfect and I know that to be true with all my heart.
Have a wonderful week, I love you all!!! I feel so overwhelmed with support every Monday morning when my inbox is flooded :) it's a very good problem to have!
Con Amor,
Elder Brady Craig Smith
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