Rain, rain go away

My gosh I've never seen so much rain here on my mission! Even the people who live here say that it usually doesn't rain this much! Pretty much every day this week was cloudy and almost every day it rained at least a little bit. But today is a gorgeous fall day. It's a bit cooler but that's alright. It feels good compared to the summer heat, ha-ha. Transfers came and went again and surprisingly Elder Tyler and I are still together. We weren't sure if he was going to be transferred or not but it turns out he's staying. I don't mind though. We work well together and get along great so that's one of the benefits, ha-ha. Another Elder came in because one left. His name is Elder Saldaña, and let's just say he's quite the character, ha-ha. Sometimes he doesn't quite know when to be mature. He's fun and everything; don't get me wrong. But there's a time and place for everything.

This past week I also got to talk to Elder Keeler for the first time in a year! I had to talk to some other missionaries for something and they were with Elder Keeler since it was transfer week and he asked if I wanted to talk to him and of course I said yes, ha-ha. But at first I didn't believe it was him, ha-ha. He said "Hey this is Elder Keeler." and I just said, "Yeah right." ha-ha. But it was great to hear from him, to see how he's doing for a few minutes, and all that. I still have yet to actually see him...we'll see when that actually happens.

I ordered another nametag just in case one breaks or I lose it in the future. Well, I got it yesterday from another missionary who went to the office and.....they spelled my last name wrong! That's never happened to me out here because no one has ever seen the last name Mathews. But my nametag says Matthews, ha-ha-ha. So I get to keep that and I'm getting another. This time it had better be spelled right. But since no one here knows how to spell my name anyways, I use the other tag once in a while, ha-ha, at least until I get the other one.

This week has seriously gone so well. But the best part was the baptism of Fernanda!!! It was so good and the members loved it. Even bishop told us afterwards that it was one of the best ones he's been to. Her story is incredible actually. She was dating a man named Victor who's actually a member but was inactive. One day Elder Tyler and his previous companion were walking down the street and Victor said hi to the missionaries and they started talking and set up a visit for later that week. Well, they found out that Fernanda wasn't a member and started teaching her the Gospel. I got transferred here and there was still a bit of work to do. They had to get married or split up to keep the Law of Chastity and they chose to get married and they have the goal to go and be sealed in the temple a year from now which is incredible. After they got married everything just went so smooth from there. She got baptized this past weekend and the members love her. It truly was a miracle that she, with her boyfriend, stopped the missionaries on the street. And because of that, she was able to find the truth that she was looking for and that every person needs.

Tarragona is booming and we're keeping way busy with visits and helping others come unto Christ. I love this place so much and the people are the best. There is no rest for the weary that's for sure, ha-ha. When the people here of Spain, most say that missionaries don't have success here. But to be honest, that is a huge lie. I hear stories and everything from other missionaries and from President and I feel that we have more work than many missions around the world. But no matter where you serve, the children of God in that place need the Gospel and you are there to teach it to them at that moment. I love my mission with all my heart and do not want to leave when these two years end. So if I don't come home on time, you all know why :) ha-ha.

Love you all so much and hope you're enjoying the great fall weather!

November!!!!

Helloooo November!!! Today is a gorgeous day with some sun and fantastic weather and on top of that, it's Preparation Day and a holiday here in Spain! Ha-ha. Talk about being able to relax and do nothing! Everything is closed but that's ok. We went to a member's house this morning with the other Elders and just had fun with them.

This past week was fantastic just like every other week here in Tarragona. Oh and I haven' been transferred; forgot to throw that in, ha-ha. We've had such a busy week with all of our visits that I think Elder Tyler and I worked ourselves sick. Seriously, ha-ha. Friday we had a visit with the Bishop and his family and while we were there I just started feeling tired and achy and sick. As the day went on it just got worse and on top of that it rained incredibly hard Friday night and a few days before as well. We ended up having to cancel a few visits Friday night and go in early and I just went to bed around 8:30. Saturday morning I still wasn't good at all and I was just in bed and could not get comfortable. I took some meds and felt ok after a while but we had to visit two people because I felt bad if we bailed on them because they had invited us over to celebrate a birthday party for me actually, ha-ha. So I loaded up on pills (not too much of course) and we went. But then came right back home afterwards and I crashed again, ha-ha. I know Mom would never let me do that at home but I knew that since she wouldn't find out until it was too late I could still do it ;) ha-ha sorry Mom.

Sunday was Stake Conference in Hospitalet which is about an hour and a half north in a car from Tarragona. Our ward rented two travel buses and we all went up there. I still wasn't feeling great so once again I took the meds and went especially since one of our investigators who's getting baptized this Saturday was coming. It was a really good conference and I got to see some of the other missionaries and to be with the members of the ward. It was a fun experience going on the bus with them, ha-ha. Once again, we got home after eating with a member and I just napped, ha-ha. But now I'm ok :) Not 100% but better. But I don't recommend doing what I did, ha-ha. Better to stay home through it all.

Well, my birthday was not bad considering I was sick, ha-ha. The only problem was that I had no appetite whatsoever and two families invited us over to eat that day. That did not help me recover at all. Luckily, the mothers understood that I wasn't feeling good so they didn't feel bad that I ate very little. I didn't even tell them I was sick though...I guess it's just that motherly sense they have, ha-ha. One family gave me a little present that I totally did not expect. They came out and gave me some deodorant and aftershave that smell way good! I thanked them and everything and then after just said, "What're you trying to say here? I smell bad?", ha-ha. We made some cake and I couldn't eat it until yesterday because I just couldn't eat. Today was the first day I even felt like eating something. And even then it wasn't that much. But we have such great people here in Tarragona. They treat us so well and love us so much. And I just love them to death. I even got to talk to some people from Mataró on my birthday!, ha-ha. They surprised me with a phone call and I had no idea who it was and then they told me and sang happy birthday and talked for a few minutes. It was a nice little surprise :)

Oh! While we were waiting for the elevator to visit the family that gave me the little presents this old guy got out of the elevator and saw us and then asked, "What apartment are you going to? Who are you visiting?" We told him and he just looked at us and said "Well, no one here appreciates what you have to say and you are not welcome here so you can just leave." I just stood my ground and said, "Well sir, you may not. But there are other people that do. Have a good afternoon." And then we walked right by him into the elevator, ha-ha. At the beginning of my mission that sorta bugged me, and it still sorta does once in a while. But most of the time I just think, "You poor lost son/daughter of God. If only you knew just how much our message can bless and change your life." But oh well. God made all of us the way we are :) As you can see, there are some people who just don't want to hear anything. But this Saturday we have a baptism of Fernanda!!! I'm so excited!!! We've been working with her for a while and finally the day has come and she's excited, her member husband is excited, and everyone is excited, ha-ha. I'll let you all know how it goes and send a pic of it all :)

Hope things are all going great back home though. Have fun raking leaves :) he-he-he. I still have another year without doing that. And stay healthy! I love you all lots and thanks for all you do to further the work of the Lord.

The Cold Has Come...

What a week! And kinda cold! I've been used to having to wear short sleeve shirts for so long that now when the cold came we've had to change up a bit and start wearing our suits again. Kinda a shocker since it was a pretty abrupt change of temperatures. This past week I was up in Zaragoza on exchanges. And it just so happens that the cold started this week and Zaragoza just happens to be the second coldest city in our mission, ha-ha. Well, I didn't exactly bring a coat or anything so we were a bit chilly. I had my suit and everything so it was ok and we used the buses/ran to and from visits so it was ok, ha-ha. But the cold has come and winter is on its way. Finally! But this exchange was such a good learning experience. I was with Elder Harris and he's such a good missionary. I learned a lot from him about how I can continue to become a better missionary. I have so many things that we're applying now to our own area and our own work because of what I learned and I'm so excited to get out and work so much more every day. It's been incredible to see the difference at just how much your enthusiasm really does affect the work and your investigators. It was kinda funny though at one point because as we were running for the bus and as I was just getting there, this big huge guy came off the bus and I ran right into him, ha-ha. Luckily he was a bit bigger because I sorta just bounced off him, ha-ha. Hopefully that's not being too mean. I just said sorry and had to keep going. We had a good laugh afterwards.

Things here in Tarragona are going soooo good! We have quite a few people who are preparing for baptism and they are so great. We have so many incredible people here. I've just fallen in love with this people and I love visiting them, helping them, teaching them, and getting to know them. The best part is when you see the changes in their lives that can only come through this restored Gospel. It is so incredible! It's so great in fact that I'm not quite sure if I want to leave...ha-ha. I'll come back home and then return to Spain how about that? Ha-ha just kidding. But seriously, I never thought I'd get attached to these people this way. And even be best friends with 40-50 year old guys! Ha-ha-ha. It's actually just like being best friends with my dad which isn't too hard to be honest.:) But I remember just thinking about it one day and realized that wow, most of these people are about my parents age and I talk to them about marriage problems, their eternal salvation, how to help them be happy, and a whole lot of other things. And I'm only 20! But it's just another witness to me that through small and simple things are great things brought to pass in the work of the Lord.

Last night we had an incredible visit with about 12 or so Filipinos. We have a Filipino member named Jocelyn and we organized a little movie night with her and told her to invite all of her friends and that's exactly what she did. We watched "The Testaments" and it was such a powerful experience. We watched it in English because I guess it's not in Tagalog. But afterwards I got up to bear my testimony with our ward mission leader and I saw more than half of them wiping away tears. I bore simple but powerful testimony of what we had just watched and invited them to learn more. The spirit flooded the room and it was as if we had been taken up into heaven for a few moments and that all our worries and cares of the world had been swept away. And what was even more powerful was that one of the other elders who is from Spain and hardly speaks any English was touched I think more than the Filipinos. He was in the back and couldn't stop crying and had to leave with his companion. But it was just a testimony to me that the spirit has no language barrier. No matter what language we speak and no matter what language we hear the word of God, the Spirit of the Lord can and will touch our hearts if we let Him. I know that's true because I have seen it. I speak the language well but I don't speak the language perfectly and I know my companion doesn't either. But the Lord is able to work through us to change people's lives. I know that this gospel is true and that through it we can find eternal happiness.

I love you all so much. I hope you have a fantastic Halloween! Ha-ha. Unfortunately, we don't have it here but that's ok. Until next week!

Do you believe in miracles?

Good morning everyone back home!!!! This week has been such an incredible week! But it did not start off incredible by any means, ha-ha. It was quite the opposite of that. Visits were falling through, things were going well, and we were struggling in the work. As missionaries we set goals every month, every week, and every day actually. And we strive to achieve those goals throughout the day and week and month. Well, we weren't accomplishing our goals this past week. We were a little frustrated because we know that as we set these goals and work hard to achieve them, the Lord helps us. So Thursday night and Friday morning we prayed and told Heavenly Father that we were doing our part and we were going to continue doing our part and continue to be exactly obedient, work diligently, and go forward with faith. But we told him that we needed His help a lot if we were to achieve these goals. And you know what? He did His part! He blessed us with so many incredible miracles and blessings that our prayers were pretty much nothing but thanks Sunday night. We achieved all of our goals when just two days before we didn't think we were even going to come close. And we reached them and even surpassed some of them. It has helped me to realize, once again, that when we set righteous goals and work and do our part to bring to pass the salvation of God's children, He will help us in this work.

This week one of the best visits ever happened. This man, Walter is the husband of a member lady and he's not a member. We've been working with him ever since I got here and apparently the other Elders before me have been meeting before that too. He's been invited to be baptized so that he and his family can start this path together and someday be sealed as an eternal family but he's repeatedly said no. But I can testify that the visit we had with him was guided by the Holy Ghost. I felt it's presence in that visit stronger than in many other visits I've had on my mission and I know that he, his wife, and his kids felt it as well. The words I said did not come from me. I felt that the words were given to me and I didn't have to think about what to say. I had filled out a survey about missionary work for all the mission and one of the questions in it was about how often I act upon impressions from the spirit in lessons and unfortunately, I couldn't answer "always". And that question popped into my mind during that visit. And immediately after the question popped into my mind, a thought came to change the lesson completely from what we were currently teaching. And so I decided to follow it. And what followed was an outpouring of the Spirit and this man who had previously denied to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized to start a new life and to accept Christ as his Savior said that he would prepare to be baptized on November 12! It was an incredible experience that I'll never forget because I was not the one teaching and neither was my companion. The Spirit of God was the one speaking and we were merely instruments through which he worked.

The rest of the week was great too though. On a less "spiritual" note, the diet that we did this past week is now over and I'm back to eating normal :) ha-ha. Oh how I missed normal food! I do eat less and healthier actually which is my plan for the rest of my mission. This past week I lost two kilos which is about four pounds, ha-ha. Crazy huh!! But I still feel and look the same. At least I think so. But I'm not that worried about that anymore. I'll worry about it when I get home, ha-ha. I also got a little sick this past week. I've had a sore throat for about two weeks now and an annoying cough that drives me nuts at night because it wakes me up. But other than that I feel great! I still go out and work and everything and I think it's actually starting to go away....hopefully, ha-ha.

Oh! Funny story, ha-ha. Last night we had a visit in another town and we had to take a train to get there in time. Well, we missed the first train because our visit before that went too long. So we called and pushed back the visit an hour and caught a train to one town and switched trains to get to the town we wanted. Butttttt the only problem is that we got on the wrong train, ha-ha-ha. So we went to a completely different part of our area, had to ask where we were, cancel the visit, buy another ticket, and just go back home for the night, ha-ha. Talk about a crazy little train ride. And that's never happened to me! I never get on the wrong train! lol. I'm not sure what happened but now we know that we should double check before just getting on :)

Well, that's about it for me this week. It was fantastic and full of incredible memories. I love you all and pray for you all every day. Take care and I hope that things go fantastic this week!

I Know

I feel like I say this a lot but this week has been so good, ha-ha. I'm not sure how I can keep saying that the weeks are always good and you all probably don't really think I'm serious. But I have to say, it takes a bit to make a week terrible and very little to make a week fantastic.:) As missionaries, we talk with so many people every day. We teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help others come unto Christ through baptism by someone holding the restored priesthood authority of God. Some people choose to exercise their agency to not accept the message we share but on the other hand many others do. When we walk through town, have our visits, knock on doors, or whatever it is and no one seems to want to listen, it can get a little discouraging. So you may ask, "Why do you keep doing it if you know that you're going to get 'no' for an answer so often?" We do it because we know that there are people who are just waiting for us. We cannot afford to let a day or a minute go by without searching for those that have been prepared by our Heavenly Father to receive the message of the restoration. And that is why we keep going. There is no better sound than that of hearing someone say "I've been waiting for this my entire life." The miracles that God brings forth are incredible and make every moment of these two years worth every door slammed in the face, every person that yells profanity at us, every person that says that we don't know a thing about life and about God because we're only 20 boys from the States. But let me ask you something: Do you think a grown man would know any better than I do now that God exists? If a person doesn't want to know that there is God who loves us when he is 30 years old, what would make him want to say that there is one at 90? I know that we are children of our Heavenly Father and that He loves us so much and knows us better than we know ourselves. By the time I turn 30, then 50, and hopefully even 70, I will be able to say the same things that I know now: that there is a superior being and he knows us and he is our Heavenly Father.

This past week was a week full of miracles and I have no idea how people can say that there is no God when all of this happens every day. One such miracle happened as we were sitting on a bench waiting for a member to come meet with us. We had a visit scheduled for that night and we needed an adult man to come with us to the visit or we couldn't enter the house because of mission rules. We had called everyone we could think of and we had no idea who to call next. About 40 minutes before the visit we both decided to pray so that we could somehow either have the visit or do what Heavenly Father needed us to do at that time. We both felt the impression to call a member who we hadn't thought about and we don't really use in visits much because of his schedule and where he lives, but it turns out he could come. So as we were waiting in front of the church on a bench for him, we watched the time tick by. We understood that he would probably come a little later because he lives a bit far so it didn't surprise us when he was late. We were sitting there still, 20 minutes late, and growing a little impatient. As we were there though, talking in English, a girl walked by. I didn't really pay any attention because people always walk by. But all of a sudden she just stopped and turned to look at us. She paused for about a second or two and then asked, "Where are you both from?" in English! We began to talk with her and it turns out she's from Texas! She came to study for her master's degree in teaching English as a second language. She apparently had a cousin who served a mission and she said that she's always wanted to know what he really did and what the church was. We set up a visit and we are so excited to meet with her. I don't know what will happen with her. She may accept the gospel or not. But I can't help but feel that the impression we had to call that member wasn't just a random feeling. We felt to call him because we knew he'd probably be late and Heavenly Father knew that we needed to meet in front of the chapel at a certain time to find one of His beloved daughters. I know that we are cared for and watched over even when we don't know it. And I know, more than ever before, that we have a loving Heavenly Father.

I love you all so much and I know I wrote a little differently today. But for some reason I just felt like I needed to. Have a great week and I'll see ya next week!!!!