April :)

What an incredible week! I don't even know where to begin. We've definitely been kept busy here. Lots of work, lots of visits, and lots of incredible experiences. I feel like this week went by super fast but at the same time, I look back on what I did last Monday and it feels so long ago. We had two really good meetings Monday and Tuesday and we talked about some goals and things we can do in the mission to help other missionaries and to also see more success. The Spirit was really powerful there and I learned so much. Wednesday I was able to go back to one of my old areas: Mataró! I went on an exchange with an Elder there and was there until Friday morning. It was really strange being back to be honest. A few things have changed since I've left but overall, it's pretty much the same. I went with some names from my old agendas from when I was there to help the other Elders pick up the pace and to get going, and we also got to see some people who I saw a year ago! It was so neat to be able to do that. I loved it so much. We had an eating visit with Juana and Nestor, a family that I taught the whole time I was there, and Nestor got baptized shortly after I left. It was a little strange seeing him as a normal member to be honest since the whole time I had known him he was a non member who was progressing towards being baptized. But it felt so good to see that I played a part in his life and that he's doing so well. I also was able to see another family whom we taught and got baptized which was really exciting. The only sad part is that they are semi inactive right now. The missionaries hadn't been able to get in with them because they wouldn't answer the door or phone calls. So I decided to see if they'd let me in and they did :) They're still so great and have their testimonies, but they just lack a little bit of drive at the moment. So hopefully the missionaries there can continue with them to help motivate them again to come back to church. Right after doing the exchange in Mataró we went to pick up another Elder to come do another exchange with us in Badalona. It was so much fun. Elder Morrison stayed with us until Sunday night and we had a really good experience. Even though he went to the U of U, we still got along just fine, ha-ha. He actually knows a few friends I met at the Hill Cumorah Pageant too which was pretty exciting, and I got to talk to him about that a little.

General Conference was just as incredible as expected. I loved it so much and learned a ton that I can apply and improve. We were able to see every session minus the last one since it started at 10:00 PM so we'll just wait until the magazine comes out to read it. We even got to listen to it in English :) We could've listened to it in Spanish but sometimes the translation doesn't go over perfectly. Plus, there's a lot more power in your native language, no matter how good you understand the mission language. We worked really hard to get our investigators to come to the conference and to bring specific questions, particularly about baptism because we knew that if they came with the desire to learn and to receive an answer that it would come. One of the best experiences with that was with a young woman named Kimberly who is now preparing to be baptized this month :) She has been coming to church every week since before I got here, has been reading in the scriptures and praying, listening to the missionaries for a while, but just hadn't felt the need to commit just yet and we weren't sure why. We tried a few different things but nothing worked. But when General Conference came around we knew that this was the best opportunity for her to receive an answer that this is something that she needed to do. We talked to her for a few minutes after Conference to see how she felt and how she liked it and she said that she wanted to prepare to be baptized! It was incredible. There truly is power through the Spirit and through the church leaders. We didn't have to do anything. The Lord did it all.

The Hand of the Lord

This week was truly a miraculous week. We were so blessed to see the hand of the Lord working in our area as we did our part to work hard and to help others receive the restored gospel. I guess I'll begin with yesterday in church. We were blessed to see so many of our investigators there in church with us. A member brought her friend who is really interested in learning more, one of our investigators we found on the street came as well and loved it and said that she wants to keep coming, and then probably the biggest part was that a family from Pakistan who we are teaching came as well! And they brought a friend on top of that! It's pretty incredible to be teaching them because the vast majority of people from Pakistan are Muslim and we were able to find a family of Christians! They were really nice to us and received us well. They speak Spanish alright. Well enough to be able to understand what we teach. We brought them a Book of Mormon in their native language which made them pretty happy. But we need to get a few more copies. They said that they would come to church and they were excited to come and see how it is. We arranged for a member next door to pick them up and everything was ready to go. And then Saturday night, probably the biggest miracle ever was that we met a man who is a member of the church in Germany and is also from Pakistan! We were waiting at the crosswalk after getting off the bus and this man came up to us and tapped my companion on the shoulder and asked "Do you speak English?" and we immediately checked our pockets, ha-ha. That line, coming from someone from Africa, India, Pakistan, etc is a common phrase that is used to distract you so that they can pickpocket you, ha-ha. But we responded that we did in fact speak English and then he asked, "Are you Mormon Elders?" and we again said yes and then he showed us his hand and on his finger was a CTR ring!, ha-ha. He was so excited that he had found us and said that he didn't know where the church was. He had come from Germany for about a month and he said he didn't really know why but that he had been looking for the church and he was so happy to find us. We told him where it was and then told him that we actually had a Pakistani family coming to church and he got even more excited. So come Sunday, they all came :). We had a little lesson in a separate room with the Pakistanis and this member, Ramiro, came with us. He speaks perfect English and also his native Urdu. So we asked him to share his testimony and story and he did. I have no idea what he said but I was praying the whole time that this family would be touched by the Lord. I can't help but think that this is too big of a chance for it not to be from the Lord. The family liked church and we have another visit set up for tomorrow and we're really hoping that Ramiro will be able to say something to help them understand even more. We'll see how it goes :)

Another incredible thing that happened was with a family where the dad isn't a member but the mom and daughter are. My first week here we decided to pass by the family just to meet them and to see if we could start teaching the dad because no missionaries have ever been able to meet him and teach him. He apparently always hid in another room or told them that he didn't have time. But we caught them at a good moment and we got to go up and say hi. Luis, the dad, was there but watching a soccer game and not really interested in talking to us. But we got him to open up and once he found out that I actually really liked soccer, it went better. We set up to come by again the next week and it went even better. He began to open up more and we got to know him a little better. And then this past Saturday we planned to actually share a message about the church. His wife and daughter were a little nervous because Luis has never been interested and never wanted to listen. But when we got there and after talking for a while about whatever, we asked if we could share a little message and he actually said yes! His family was really surprised and we just shared a message about the importance of the scriptures. His dad had passed away about a month or so ago but he didn't know that we knew. So we sorta used that to our advantage to leave him a chapter to read in the Book of Mormon that talked about the plan of salvation and what happens after this life. After we gave it to him he said, "You know, I've actually had that question for a little while. And look at what you just gave me..." You could feel the Spirit in the visit and I honestly believe that he is beginning to open up to us. I know that the Lord has His plan and that if we follow his guidance, things do work out.

This week has been incredible and I absolutely love this place. Can't wait to write next week!

Day of Rest :)

I just gotta say that I am soooo glad that we have part of one day a week to rest a little, ha-ha. This week we walked....quite a bit. It was a good week in the fact that we worked hard, we talked with a lot of people about the gospel, and we were doing all that we could to help others come to Christ. But man we walked a lot, ha-ha. We're kinda in the process of finding new people who are ready to listen and receive the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. We have a lot of people who want to listen and are willing to let us in but they don't progress a lot at all. So, we've stopped visiting a few and we're focusing on finding. The week went well though. It feels good coming home after a day of a lot of hard work, knowing that you did your best to fulfill your call as a missionary that day. :) Things overall are going great here! :) I'm learning the area and getting to know the members and other people here and I love it!

Earlier this week it started to warm up and then one day we were eating at home and I looked out our balcony to look at the water and all I saw was a wall of

low-lying clouds, and it ran all the way up the coast! It was kinda scary at first to be honest too, ha-ha. It seriously was just a wall of darker clouds and was moving towards us really fast! We had no idea what was going on and we actually called president to see if we could listen to the radio for a second to see what was going on, ha-ha. But there was nothing on. It turns out it was just really really thick fog! The warm air that we had gotten was just clashing with the colder air over the water and didn't mix too well, and then all this fog just rolled upland. Pretty neat though, ha-ha.

This past Thursday I went back to Tarragona with Elder Corbitt to pick up my residency card. I was pretty excited to go back and just be there again but it wasn't that exciting, ha-ha. We had to buy our own ticket for the train first off and then we got there, picked up my card within 10 minutes, and then that's it.:( We stopped by the Elders there and ate some of their food and then we had to leave again. So that was my "exciting" trip back to Tarragona. It was Elder Corbitt's first time there though so he enjoyed it, ha-ha.

Yesterday in church I had to give a talk. I got the assignment last week and so I knew about it all week and it went fairly well I think. It was about how sharing the gospel is sharing love. I wrote it all out in my little study journal and I knew that I wasn't going to say everything I wrote, and that I was going to say things that I didn't write. That's what usually happens, ha-ha. But it's good because I can look up and just talk to people the whole time! :) It's good practice for when I get home and have to speak too, ha-ha. I also had to play the piano in church as well which I haven't done since I left Mataró! I thought for sure that there would be someone who could play the piano in this ward since it's a pretty decent size for a ward here in Spain but nope! So I got to play and it looks like I'll probably be playing every week. I guess I better start practicing in my free time so that I don't totally sound bad at it. Luckily I can read music, ha-ha.

Things here are going great like always. We had an inactive member family come to church yesterday which was really exciting. We were working with them to get them to come and everything and most of them did :) We're still working with them to get them to come regularly now and to start reading and praying more often together as a family. Hopefully they progress and start doing it on their own soon.

I hope all is well back in the States and that you're all happy and healthy :) Miss you all and love you lots!

Week one in Badalona

Week one in Badalona down and lots more to go :) This week was really good and a lot of fun. But where should I even start?? Well, my trainer in my first area in Pamplona, Elder Gerber, actually served here as well which is pretty funny, ha-ha. So I've just followed him to here and it's a great area! There are a tonnnn of hills and yesterday I got to walk them a lot! Great leg workout but man will it be rough in the summer! It wasn't even that warm out yesterday and I got warm. I'll be sure to come home with good strong legs though, ha-ha. Badalona is right next to Barcelona which is pretty nice because it's really easy to go right into Barcelona for meetings or for Preparation Days. But Badalona is mostly just like an extension. It has a lotttt of immigrants from all over the place here. I've already seen somebody from almost every South American country, Romania, Northern and Western Africa, Russia, China, and I don't know where else. There are a lot of gypsies too and if you don't know what they are....well, I'm not sure how to describe them to you, ha-ha. They're just....different lets say. The area is really big. Probably the biggest I've been in. It's not the biggest geographically but it's definitely the most densely populated which means there's a lot of work to do :) We use the buses and the metro quite a bit to get around which makes things a bit easier which is nice.

This past Sunday was my first Sunday at church here and it was good. The chapel is pretty big and the ward is great. Most of the ward consists of people from South America but that's ok. I love them because they're such a great people. Sometimes they can be bums and kinda lazy about keeping commitments but they're a kind and loving people. I got called up randomly to introduce myself since it was my first Sunday there and then I later got assigned to give a talk on the 18th, ha-ha. Just heap everything on to the new guy, lol.

There's a tonnn of work to do here in the area and it's really exciting because we have a big pool of investigators to teach and who progress well. So I'm sure in the coming weeks and/or months that there will be some exciting stories :) Elder Corbitt, my companion, is great. He's a great example and is helping me learn the area well and getting to know the rest of the missionaries in our zone which has been a lot of fun. We work pretty well together and I really like teaching him because he teaches well and we can just go off each other. I'm sure we'll develop a better teaching pattern as time goes on but so far so good.

It's starting to warm up a bit but it's not as warm as it was in Tarragona which is a bummer. I actually had to wear my scarf the other night because it was a bit chilly. But I'll start letting you know how hot it is soon enough. I hope things are going well back home and that you're all enjoying the change from winter to spring :) Pictures will be on the way and more info and stories about the area as I get to know it and everything.

Love you all!

Badalona!!

Transferred again! As I feared, I've been booted out of Tarragona and sent up closer to Barcelona where President can keep a closer eye on me, ha-ha. J I've been transferred to Badalona. It's pretty much an extension of Barcelona to be honest. And the best part is that it's right down the coast from Mataró where I served a year ago so I'll be able to go back some time and see some people whom I taught! I'm really excited! My new companion is Elder Corbitt. He's the one who took care of me after my hernia surgery almost one year ago exactly. Kinda crazy how that works huh? Ha-ha. He's from Washington state and lived about 100 yards from me at BYU and we didn't even know each other. Small world. He's a great missionary and I'm really excited to work with him in Badalona.

Tarragona is definitely a lot prettier of a city but that's alright. I'm needed here for a reason and I'm going to work until I fulfill it. This past week was pretty good. We had some good visits with people and saw lots of success. Our investigators are doing really well and it's kinda sad having to leave them all :( That's the one big thing I hate about transfers. I had to say goodbye to everyone and it was pretty sad. Yesterday we were invited to help paint a house as a service opportunity and little did we know that it wasn't really painting, ha-ha. They sorta tricked us...and they took us out to this really nice house that had an incredible view of the sea and had a barbecue, ha-ha-ha! The food was really really good but I sorta felt bad since we should have been working. But it wasn't really our fault since we thought we were going to be painting a house. But too late now. We ate ribs and sausage that was grilled in a brick oven and the weather was incredible and everything was just perfect! I took some good pics so be sure to check those out :)

We had quite a full day on Monday since we were coming back from the "service project" and then we had to change clothes really quick and then catch a bus to another part of our area. We ended up having two other unexpected eating visits too, ha-ha. That's another bad part about transfers: you get fed a tonnnnn! But the food is always really good so no complaints there :)

The weather is warming up still but not quite summer yet. Apparently it's going to be a little chilly this next week but we'll see what that means, ha-ha. From what things sound like, we're going to be working pretty hard up here in Badalona. We've got some great people to teach and some people who are progressing towards baptism which is really exciting. Hopefully I can do everything I've been sent to do here. I know that as I do my part and strive to serve the Lord, He will help me and my companion be successful.

I love you all and miss you all a lot. But talk to you again soon with a better update about my new area :)

New mailing address:

Elder Justin Mathews

C/ Pau Picasso 10-12 9,1

08914 Badalona

España