Pics from this week

I got eaten by a graffiti monster this week.

Just clowning around with my buddies in Madrid ;)

Jaycee Carroll!! USU Alumni! He lives in the ward just next to mine
and every time I see him I always just tease him and tell him that
Greg Grant is still better... Hahaha but really he's so cool! And he's
currently playing for Real Madrid :)

This one is for ELDER GEARIG

Talavera crew yesterday! Josue was still crying hahaha I love him so much

Happy Labor Day!!

Hola chavales :)

Another grand week in the books for elders smith and jones :) I think
we have the most American companionship in the whole mission or maybe
in the whole world. Even more so than when I was with elder Johnson
haha! President saw us today and said Elder Jones should consider
changing his last name to Wesson haha ;) good one Pres! But it's all
good, the work is going well and we are getting along great. I feel
super lucky to be training him because it's almost like he came
pre-trained! He's been a fun niño that's for sure ;) here's a bit
about the week!

So there is this guy that we just barely found out about named Omar
who has already been taught everything by older missionaries. He has
been studying abroad/working in South Africa for like the last 3
months but just got back and called us this week! So we went over to
his house and just started getting to know him and then out of the
blue he asked us, "so when can I get baptized?" I WAS LIKE RIGHT NOW
MAN LETS GO FILL THE TUB :) haha but he's a super cool guy and we went
over the baptismal interview questions with him and he knew everything
like perfectly. He was like reading in the Book of Mormon while he was
on vacation and everything! So on the 17th he should be getting
baptized, please keep your fingers crossed for Omar!

Elder Jones was just dying to play basketball this week so I decided
to switch things up a bit and we went and contacted on the court! We
got into a little 2 on 2 match with some drunk Dominican guy and
another guy named Alberto from Ecuador. The weirdest thing is that
they don't backcourt the ball after the rebound, so we lost the first
game because that rule was so weird but then we won the next 4 in a
row by like 15+ points haha. We are like Chris Paul to Blake Griffin
haha. At one point, Elder Jones just destroyed this Dominican guy with
a tomahawk dunk. It was the dopest thing I've ever seen! I just stood
back and was like "that's my boy 😎" hahaha. I'm proud to have him as
a son. After we finished playing, we started talking with the guy
Alberto from Ecuador and he was really interested in our message! He
has studied with literally every church known to womankind but
respects everything and really has a strong belief in God. So we
talked to him a little bit about the godhead and he agreed to meet up
with us again this week and he wants to play more basketball too! So
we picked up a couple of wins and a new investigator which was
yawesome :):)

Tender Mercy of the week : So right now I'm serving in the Madrid West
Stake and that just so happens to include Talavera in it as well.
Yesterday at our church building, they had like seminary graduation or
something and I saw Kevin, Blanca, and Josue! When Josue saw me, he
ran up and immediately started crying! He looked up at me and sowed me
that he was wearing the tie I gave him and everything!!! I JUST LOVE
THEM SOOOOO MUCH and I miss that area too 😩 seriously the greatest
feeling of all time to be loved and missed by an old area holy
schnikes.

This morning for personal study, I was reading about my favorite
missionary companionship of all time from the scriptures. Alma and
Amulek were absolute machines! I love reading their story because they
were so faithful and diligent. They turned to the Lord in everything
they did and really wanted to make him proud. They had success but
also struggled a lot, being spit on and made fun of. I'm so glad to
have Elder Jones because he is the most happy and outgoing person in
the whole world. Someone could be so rude to him but he just shakes it
off and talks to the next person like its no big deal. I honestly feel
like he is training me haha! We set goals this week to become more
like Alma and Amulek and turn to the Lord in everything we do. We have
already seen blessings from this and are excited to see what He has in
store for us this upcoming week :):)

Today for p-day we went to Pavones by the temple and played basketball
with a ton of missionaries. It was sooooo much fun but as I write this
I'm so exhausted hahaha. I saw Elder Gearig and man I miss that guy
haha. Worth it though :) and speaking of Talavera, I'm actually going
down there next week to spend P-Day with the missionaries and members
there! I'm so excited to introduce them to Elder Jones and just see
their smiling faces and see the city again. So stay tuned for that
next week :) I love you all and hope you have a wonderful Labor Day!!

Con Amor,

elder b.c. Smith

Pics from this week

Elder Jones and I! His first time seeing the Madrid Temple :)

Raul's birthday this week :)

About a year ago... Year agoooo lol I miss elder hammond and the MTC

A family we found who just barely moved here from 

Saratoga Springs,Utah in the metro! They were nice enough 

to send my mom a "text" hugfor me :)

A ward activity that we did on Saturday... Little waterfall hike :)

Lanzado hacia el amor :') jajaja

Sup guys :)

Well first week has come and gone with my son :) his name is Elder
Jones and he is from Gilbert, Arizona! He is the 9th of 9 kids but has
a twin brother who is 5 minutes older than him who is serving in Chile
right now. He's a machine at basketball and we get along so well. He
pretty much carries his own weight when it comes to Spanish and is so
excited and enthusiastic about the work! I'm super excited for these
next few weeks with him and hopefully we can see some miracles in B3
:) he came from the Provo MTC and so he has been really thrown head
first into the Spanish culture this week as well as trying to keep up
while dealing with all the jet lag. He got lost in Madrid when he got
off the plane and ended up at the mission home after a 2 hour taxi
ride and then lost his luggage too for a few days so that was fun :)
hahaha but all is well now and we are finally settled in. Here's a bit
about our week!

So first and foremost, Alexander won't be getting baptized this week
:/ something came up last minute and he still needs to get some stuff
figured out before he gets baptized. I'm really sad but more proud
than anything because he understands what type of commitment he is
making with God and he wants to do it the right way. He will still
continue coming to church and we are going to help him with his
problems until he is all cleared and ready to get baptized! It
shouldn't be too much of a delay but we shall see. So there's the news
on him, keep him in your prayers please!

We visited a less active girl named Brenda from Bolivia this week who
is like easily one of the coolest people I've ever met. She cut my
hair (it looks good) and then after, Elder Jones prepared a little
lesson for her on the sacrament. We talked about the importance of the
baptismal covenant and why the sacrament would be so crucial to
partake of every week and at the end she told us, "Elders, I really
want to come to church on Sunday." We were hyped and she actually came
and brought the rest of her less active family as well! It was so
awesome to see them all there and it helped me realize the power of
just a simple invitation. So we are gonna keep on meeting with her and
hopefully help her keep coming every week! Never be too timid to
extend an invitation to a friend, it might just work :)

Last night we had a lesson with another less active guy named Calixto
who was baptized not too long ago but got hurt in an accident so he
lost his memory. He doesn't know what happened and neither does
anybody else, he just said he woke up in the hospital and didn't
remember anything that had happened. It's super sad because he is so
awesome! He doesn't like to come to church anymore because he doesn't
remember any of the members and he feels a bit scared so we invited
him to come with us and he accepted! We warmed up to each other
quickly and had a nice lesson with him about the atonement. I am
quickly coming to realize just how much love our Savior has for each
and every one of us. He wants us to be happy and that's my job here as
a missionary, to share the happiness that this gospel brings! Pray for
Calixto that he can start to get feeling better and that he'll come to
church with us :)

GREENIE FIRE IS REAL GUYS like holy cow. My companion is a beast. I
got so lucky :) Even though he doesn't speak fluently, it doesn't even
matter because he still talks to everybody. It's awesome and has
pushed me to be even more outgoing than I was before! I'm really
grateful for this opportunity to train because it's been my dream
since day 1 of my mission. We Just gotta keep pressing forward and
doing what we know is right and the Lord will take care of us. I'm
having so much fun and I know without a doubt that this is the work of
the Lord :)

That's all I got, thanks for all the love and support and extra
prayers especially this week! They don't go unnoticed and I'm
extremely grateful for every single one of you in my life. I wouldn't
be anything without my fans ;) have a great week, enjoy school, watch
some American football, and keep being the greatest family and friends
in the whole world :) LOVE YOU ALL TO PIECES!

Con Amor,
Elder Brady Smith

Pic from strangers in Spain!!

Pure love….. what you feel toward the strangers who take a picture of your son and his new companion at the train station.  And send it to your cell phone!
There is a lot of good in the world J

Pics from this week

Fattest dopest bulldog I've ever seen hahaha

We saw the Hermanas on the other side of the metro this week going
home haha they were banging on the windows like maniacs trying to get
our attention then it finally worked!

Early morning soccer this week! Elder stout pulled the cover off a
soccer ball and put it on his head and now he looks like MegaMind
hahahahaha

Noche de Hogar last night!!

Bye elder stout :(( oh and matching suits and ties

Lighting the match for the 1 year mark!!

It's a BOY!!!!!!

Hola Fam :)

Sooooooo I've got some good news for y'all.... I'M GONNA BE A DAD :)
boy oh boy I've been waiting for this moment literally my whole
mission! Forget district and zone leader, AP and everything else...
Training is where it's at :) so I'm pumped. My freaking hijo is gonna
be so swaggy and I'm really excited to see him! I will be picking him
up tomorrow afternoon by the temple and then the fun will begin :) so
pray for me that I don't mess him up too bad haha! Tonight there are
like 6 elders sleeping at my Piso because transfers mess everything up
so they need people to bunk with. Also.... It was really hard saying
bye to Elder Stout :(:( he was such a fun companion and I'm gonna
freaking miss him. He is headed up to Ovideo to be in the León zone
where I started my mission and his new companion is Elder Wright!!
That's what I'm talking about!! Haha they'll do great together.
President shook a ton of stuff up this transfer so we will see how
everything plays out :) well I don't remember hardly anything from
this week but here it is!

Well Alexander is all ready for his baptism and we actually moved it
up to Friday the 2nd of September. So my son is gonna have a baptism
his 2nd week in the field and that's dope. Not that numbers matter but
it will be a cool experience for us both! He has such a strong
testimony and tells us every time we visit him how happy he is and how
excited he is for his baptism! He had an interview with the bishop
this week and things are just looking good with him. I love that guy
:)

Um Thursday was HUMP DAY so we went and played soccer in the morning
(we have actually been playing soccer every day for the past 3 weeks
for morning exercises with the other elders) and then got a dozen
Dunkin' Donuts to celebrate :) we didn't have any candles so I just
shoved a match in one and then we lit it and ate them together.

Yesterday was spent saying goodbye to members cuz Elder Stout is
leaving but it was really fun. I hate transfers so much but I love
them so much more. It's the ultimate love/hate relationship. We had a
huge Noche de Hogar with a brand new family that another member
brought to introduce us to and they loved the things we shared with
them! So we were thinking this was gonna be a golden family to get
baptized and all and then they told us where they lived and it's super
far out of our area. So that was kinda a sucker punch to the kidneys
but hey, they'll get baptized somewhere else and that's all that
matters :) I really am enjoying my time here in B3 and it will be fun
to see how things go this next week with introducing my hijo to the
members and stuff :)

That's literally all I can remember from this week. Sorry it's not
that spiritual or interesting but hey I'm just excited to train :') I
seriously can't get that off my mind that I'm going to be a father. I
had a great trainer in Elder Peña and so hopefully I can do the same
for my new greenie. We will make it a great first week and hopefully
have a lot of fun stories to share in the next few transfers to come!
I'll try not to tease him too much ;) LOVE YOU ALL, TALK TO YOU IN A
WEEK :)

Con el amor de un padre nuevo,
Elder Smith