Bon dia a tots (which means good morning everyone in Catalàn). I hope everything has been going well back home and that the cold is finally leaving and summer is coming along great! Mataró is going fine. This week the temperature dropped a little but it was still gorgeous outside.
It was another pretty tough week here though in Mataró. We've been trying new things to keep the work going and to pick up if we can. We decided to go to some other little towns along the coast and everything that are in our area and we went to one called Premià de Mar. It's a nice, pretty little town and we passed by quite a few old investigators to see if by chance they were home or were still interested in listening. And I gotta say it was a much better day out there. At first it took some convincing to get my companion to want to go but when we got there and had a little success, he ended up loving it, haha. We're actually going back up today because we have a few visits with some of the people that we met. But the rest of the week was tough. We didn't find any other new people this week and our numbers were low yet again. I got an email from my mission president in response to my weekly email to him. I had told him that it's been rough and that we're working hard and doing what we can and in response he sent a nice, short, but much needed message of support. He said basically, "I have no doubt Elder Mathews that there are people waiting to meet you in Mataró and they have been prepared to hear the message you share. The Lord will put them in your path or you in theirs." To some it may not sound like much but that was something I needed. I've been able to have a much better attitude towards the work this week and I know it's because of the much prayer and study on my part and the comfort from our Heavenly Father. This week already looks really good so I'm pretty sure next week's email will be much more upbeat.:)
As the title states, this week is Semana Santa, or Holy Week. Here they celebrate the week up to Easter with processions that portray different aspects of Christ's life and other Catholic aspects of this time of year. I haven't really seen anything yet but it sounds kinda interesting. I'll probably end up sending home some pictures soon. They also have this holiday called San Jordi. It's this Saturday and the guys give a rose to the girls they like/love and the girls give the guys a book. It comes from a legend that this dragon came and was destroying a city and to pacify the dragon, the city would offer up a young woman as a sacrifice. But one year, the king's daughter was chosen and the king sent San Jordi to save her. He killed the dragon and where the blood fell on the ground, a rose bush grew. San Jordi gave one of the roses to her and in turn she gave him a book to record the deed. So that's where it comes from. Our ward here is setting up a stand, which a ton of people do on San Jordi, to give away books. Instead of selling books, we're giving away copies of the Book of Mormon. Good missionary opportunity right? At least we think so. So I'll update you all next week on how that went.
I must say that some things here just bring back floods of memories from home and everything. One of them being sports, haha. We were walking down the street one night and we stopped at a crosswalk. I just turned around just to look around me and I saw this big running store! And let's just say that I was drooling at the window.;) There were a whole ton of running shoes up on the wall with pictures of athletes doing various events and everything and I just kinda zoned out and thought back to all my days on the track and everything. Oh how I miss it. And now that track season is starting, it's even worse, lol. But that's alright. I'll make sure that I get back into running when I get home :).
As a missionary, we kinda stand out from the normal crowd. We walk around in suits and ties or just white shirts and ties. Well, you'd think that we're one of a kind and it would be pretty easy to recognize who we are right? Wrong! It's so frustrating when people think we're Jehovah's Witnesses. We walk down the street, contact somebody, and almost always they ask if we're JWs and of course we say no. I don't really get how they can confuse us though because we have name tags and we don't speak Spanish very well. The JWs go out once in a while, without a name tag, and stay in their own country. It's just crazy frustrating for me because they give us a bad name because everyone tries to avoid the JWs, haha. But that's what happens. And another mix up happened just the other day. We were in a neighboring town and this guy was sitting outside a bar and called to us. We went over and he basically asked if we were with the CIA, hahahaha. He asked if we worked for George Bush, too, and were looking for Bin Laden, lol. It was soooo funny and we just told him that we were missionaries and that we don't really worry about Bin Laden. It was hilarious!
Yesterday in church was probably my favorite and one of the best. We got there early and we were talking to people when one of the Bishopric members came up and said, "Elders, one of the speakers isn't going to be here. So can one of you give the talk?" Of course we said yes and originally Elder Parry was gonna give it. But after talking to me for a while I said that I'd give it. I had no idea what I was going to say but I said a quick prayer and started thinking. A flood of ideas came to my mind along with a couple scripture references and I just had a plain thought out in my head to talk about our Savior, Jesus Christ. I got up and actually gave a decent talk, I feel. I felt the Spirit guiding my words and the things I said. I said things in a way that I normally wouldn't say them in Spanish, but I knew that what I was saying was what the people needed. It was a great experience and the Spirit filled the room and I know that the members felt it. But to go on top of all that, I had to play the stinkin’ piano!!! And for those of you who know me, I don't play the piano, lol. I just played the top hand and that's all. Let's just say that I'll be practicing a bit every now and then just in case, haha.
I love you all and I know that the Lord lives. Stay strong and know that you are all children of a loving Heavenly Father :)
