Monday, August 15, 2016

Hump Week and Finish Strong!

Hola loved ones :)

Another week has come and gone :) and you guessed it... I'm still
loving every single second! How could you not love it when you are in
the greatest country in the world with the most awesome people of all
time?! Haha I do miss all of you though so don't worry :) we had a
pretty good week, there are a few highlights I'd like to share as long
as some thoughts I've been having recently. Here it is :)

First off, on Tuesday night we had a lesson with our friend Raul. He's
a less active who we have been working with for a while now. He has
been coming to church which is really good and also going to marriage
classes with his wife! During our lesson, we were just chatting a bit
and then Raul told us that he had something to say. About 2 weeks ago
we taught Raul about tithing and how when we pay it, the Lord will
bless us for showing our faith. During the lesson a few weeks ago, I
shared a personal experience with him and he really liked it. So, Raul
decided it was time to pay his tithing! The day after he paid it, his
boss called him into his office and basically praised him for his good
work and told him he would be having more opportunities to work and
make more money! Raul was crying as he told us about how happy he was
that the Lord had answered his prayers to keep his job and thanked me
for the experience I shared. I was so happy for him! It was so
perfect. It strengthened my testimony that when we are willing to keep
the commandments, the Lord will do his part and bless us for trying.
We got to see a miracle first hand this week and it was all thanks to
Raul and his faith :)

We taught Alexander again this week about the law of chastity and it
went really well. Once again, he already knew what it was and hasn't
had any problems with it. He told us that he went on Facebook and
liked the Book of Mormon page and a few of his friends from other
religions started to bash him super hard. So I asked if I could see
what they were saying and holy cow, these guys were going so hard on
him trying to keep him from reading and talking with us! But as I was
reading Alexander's comments back to them, I was so surprised at the
way he responded. He was calm and testified of the spirit that he
feels when he reads and he feels when he is at church with us. And he
also said that the words are bigger in the Book of Mormon so it makes
it easier to read ;) I don't think I would have kept my cool as well
as he did! I was really proud of him and we are coming up quickly on
his baptismal date :) I love Alexander!!

Some other interesting things that happened this week were...

- We were out contacting this week and a guy from Mali named Mundo
came up to us and was super friendly. He was speaking to us in English
and it turns out that he has met with sister missionaries in Barcelona
before! He only ended up asking us for money but I didn't want to give
him any so I took him into a sandwich shop and bought him a sandwich
instead :) we got his reference and are going back to teach him this
week!
- I cut 4 more people's hair this week :) I'm getting better!
- Some old Spanish lady started to hit me with her little Asian fan
thingy on the bus because I was too close to her. We were on the most
crowded bus I have ever seen/been on in my whole mission and I was so
claustrophobic haha. I told her to calm down and that I was sorry and
she didn't like that so she just continued to swear and glare at me
until I got off. I was getting shoved around by everybody though so I
don't really know what she wanted me to do!
- I ate real Mexican Food and Cinnamon Rolls this week 😍 heavenly stuff

- My little GF in the ward, Ana, asked me if I was going to be here in
February and I said probably not and she said "no not this February,
the next one in 2018" and I said that I would be at home in Utah. Then
she got all sad and said "I want you to baptize me but you can't right
now because I'm only 6. Will you come back and do it?" I wanted to die
hahaha she's so cute! Heart = Melted

I can't and don't want to believe that this week I'm hitting my 1 year
mark. It feels like just yesterday I was getting set apart! The one
thing that I have really learned and come to appreciate on my mission
is love. I now realize that without it, you have nothing. Missionary
work is love. You need to love everybody. Everyone who knows me knows
how big of a people person I am and so the mission has taken that and
just blown it out of the water :) I love these people so much, I love
every one of my companions, and I love my Savior. Before my mission I
don't know if I could say he was my best friend and the one I would
turn to, but without a doubt now he is my numero 1 :) I know I can go
to him and my Heavenly Father for anything and everything. Even though
I love you all so much and these people in Spain, they love us even
more. I am so grateful for the things I have learned and am excited to
keep on spreading this marvelous message of the gospel with everyone I
meet for another whole year!! FINISH STRONG :)

Sorry it's a long email but it was a good week :) thanks for your love
and support guys. 1 down and 1 more to go. HOLY COW! I'm excited,
nervous, happy, sad, just a little bit of everything. Today for P-Day
we went to Móstoles to play fútbol with a bunch of missionaries and it
was super fun :) oh and a BIG thanks to my wonderful mother and family
for the awesome hump day/year package!! I've got the greatest family
in the world :) I'm looking forward to this next week and the next
year! I'll talk to you all soon and you'll be hearing from me in 1
short week! Adiós :)

Con Amor,
Élder Brady Smith

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