All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience

To start off, it has been way hot out lately! Luckily we got permission from our mission president to work without our suit jackets now so it's a lot cooler but still. We've had to walk quite a bit and when you're in the sun for a few hours a day, it gets way hot. And let's just say that I'm gonna get a nasty farmer's tan haha.

This week Elder Raban went home :( It was a pretty sad thing to say goobye to him because he was such a great companion, but it happens to every missionary so it's not something new. We went to Barcelona on Tuesday, our P-Day this past week, to send him off and to spend our day there. We went all over the place and it was sweet to see parts of the city finally, haha. It was kinda funny walking around in a big group of missionaries though. There were about 12 of us just walking around Barcelona so we attracted a lot of attention. Later that night we went to an event called "Singing for the Angels" where whoever wants to come to this plaza in Barcelona can come and we sing a few church hymns to send home the missionaries. It was a lot of fun and I got to say goodbye to a lot of the missionaries I've met. But it's just not the same coming back to Mataró without Elder Raban.

This week has been one of the hardest on my mission. For one, Elder Raban accidentally took all the investigator information with him when he left so we don't really have addresses or phone numbers of a lot of them; and then it's also just been really hard to try to find new people to teach, and to work with a totally new companion. But I know that these difficulties and small obstacles are here to help me grow as a missionary and as a person.

My new companion is Elder Parry who I was with for a little with Elder Raban. He's from Washington state and has been out a little over a month. It's been a little different working with him because he's just got a different personality. I won't say we don't get a long, because we do. It's just that sometimes I feel that he just doesn't step up to the plate if you know what I mean. Technically, he's the senior companion but I've had to step up and grow up real fast this past week in order to have even a few visits with our investigators. I've been patient and working hard to help this area to grow and progress and to keep my companion a little upbeat, but sometimes it doesn't really work. So let's just say that I've been praying and studying the scriptures sooooo much more and I've actually had help.:) It's amazing at how much Heavenly Father knows your situations and what you need to hear or read or study because even though this area is still a little difficult and my companion is different, I have the comfort that I needed to hear.

Unfortunately I don't have any fun or neat little stories for you all this week :( Hopefully next week will pick up and it'll be a better email. But I love you all! I miss you so much and thanks for all your prayers, letters, and support :)

Back in Mataró!

Just thought I'd apologize for not writing last week. It was hectic and I had to travel back to Mataró. But I'm writing now so that's all that matters.:) This past week was sooooo crazy, but absolutely amazing! This was Elder Raban's last week in the mission :( and it was a little sad. We had so many crazy and fun experiences together this week though which made it so great. One of the best was that we ate with members and investigators so much! We ate more than half the week with members and then on somedays we ate two or three times a day which, honestly, was not fun, haha. You can only eat so much and then when you get to the other home and they tell you to eat everything, you can't! So it was good and bad at the same time.

One of the most hilarious things that happened this week was sleeping in the chapel. Yes, we slept in the chapel, hahaha. We were out working and stuff and we got back to our piso and realized that no one had the keys! We tried to ring the bell for the owner that had the spare but they weren't there. So we decided to wait for a while to see if they came back but they never did. We called all the people that we visited that day to see if we had happened to drop the keys there but no one had seen them. Luckily we had the keys to the church and we decided that instead of sleeping outside that we'd sleep in the chapel. So we went there, pulled up the softer chairs in the bishop's office, turned on the space heater, shut and locked the door, and tried to sleep. We tilted the chairs on the ground and used them as pillows and used towels for our "bed", hahaha. Let's just say we all woke up and felt like we got hit by a train, and we all woke up quite a bit during the night, too. But it definitely made a very interesting journal entry, haha. And it turns out that the keys were left in our piso!

I also had the very strange opportunity to go to a babyshower! We were invited over by a member to visit and we thought that it was for an eating appointment. Well...we did eat but it was also the bishop's wife's babyshower, haha. So it was kinda awkward being there since we were missionaries and we could've been out doing other stuff. We stayed for a little bit just to say hi and talk a bit and to eat and then we went to another visit. But it was definitely something that you don't always do on the mission, haha.

Monday, yesterday, we got some rocks thrown at us which was pretty fun. It was the first time that something like that has happened to me, but I sorta expected that sometime on my mission. We were walking down the street and all of a sudden this decent sized rock came between me and Elder Raban and we looked back and then another rock came at us and missed us again! We couldn't see who was throwing them but we didn't really want to stay to find out, haha. So we just kept going and I'm just glad that they didn't hit us at all.

My new companion is Elder Parry. I'm not sure how long we'll be together but I have a feeling that I'll be in Mataró for a while. So here's my new address for all that want to know :)

Address:

C/ President Fransesc Macia

Numero 1, 2º,3ª

08302 Mataró

It's been a bit sad seeing one of my favorite companions go home this week, but it's also been one of my favorite and most rewarding. General Conference was amazingggg and I absolutely loved it. I have never looked forward to it as much as I did this time and I loved it. I love and miss you all and hope to hear from you soon!

Recovery Round 2

I´m still in the office recovering a bit but I've been able to go out and work a lot more which has been so nice. I still stay with the office Elders until they leave the office, around 5:30, and then we go out and visit some people and teach. So I'm not working all day yet but I'm doing something which is great.

Last night was my first real day out and I was soooo tired afterwards. I'm just not used to walking around yet still because I've been sitting around not doing a whole ton lately so I've gotten a bit out of shape. But that comes back really fast when you go back to work so I'm not too worried.

This past week we ate at a Filipino home and they prepared some interesting food, I must say. But it all tasted really good which is what matters most.:) We had some sort of pasta, salmon, salad, mushrooms, and these things called San Jacobos which aren’t Filipino but still great.

It was a fun experience because there were all five of us Elders, the office Elders, me, and the Assistants, and then the senior missionary couple who are just the bomb. And then add in about four other Filipinos and you got a party! It was so much fun. But I kinda hurt afterwards because I was laughing to much and it hurts to laugh haha. So I had to take it easy the rest of the day which wasn't all that fun.

This week we also had our Zone Conference which was amazing like always. We got to go to the new stake center in Barcelona which they just opened a few weeks ago. And that stake center is the most gorgeous stake center I have ever seen. It doesn't look like the normal chapels and everything from the outside, but the inside is incredible. It has three floors and a parking garage underneath, a roof patio, a gym, and a nice chapel inside. It was soooo neat being in there.

Before the conference, President asked all of us to prepare a short four minute talk on "Consecration". We didn't know what for but we did anyway, and I found out why haha. After we took our Zone picture, I heard President ask our Zone Leader to call on someone to give their talk that they had prepared and I happened to be walking by right at that moment haha. So you can probably guess what happened. I gave my talk in front of our Zone and it was a good experience. I didn't end up saying half the things that I had prepared, but I also said a lot of things that I didn't plan out ahead of time, and apparently they liked it but to me it was just a little talk haha. I got to see a lot of the other missionaries that I hadn't seen in a while at conference too which was great. We caught up afterwards and everything and then we all headed home.

The next day, Wednesday, was the Zone Conference in Hospitalet, the city right next to Barcelona. The Ayudantes, assistants, looked at me Tuesday night and said, "Do you want to come?" and I said yeah. I wasn't going to be doing anything in the office so why not go and learn some more? Haha. So I got to go to two Zone Conferences which was sweet. And at the other one, I saw one of the Hnas that was in my District in the Provo MTC!! I hadn't seen her since I left Provo foreverrrr ago and we were both excited. We had tonsss of catching up to do and it was so fun hearing all these stories from what happened while I was gone and everything. It was so great. And I didn't really know many other missionaries in that zone which was a little strange at first but by the end everyone knew me somehow so now I know them all haha.

It was a really fun experience. And, once again, I got called on to do something at this conference haha. I thought that since it wasn't really my conference that I wasn't going to do anything so I didn't comment or say anything so that the other missionaries could. But President called me up with another missionary to do a practice in front of them. It was actually really fun and way good practice. But it just caught me off guard because I don't even belong to the zone haha. But I think that about covers the week.

Sorry I don't really have any neat stories still. There aren't a whole ton of little miracles that you can see every day when you're stuck in the office haha. But soon enough the emails will get better so don't worry :)

The weather is still great like always and I am being well trained for an office position haha. I'm not saying that I'm going to be serving here but the Elders keep telling me that I'd be a perfect candidate to be put here since I've been doing so much around the office. But we'll see.

I love you all and I thank you for your letters and support!

Recovery..

Well, the surgery is done and I am sitting and recovering from yet another surgery. But compared to this one, I'd take the knee surgeries anytime haha. But I gotta say, this surgery was by far the most fun and the most unique. I went in on Tuesday with the President's wife to the hospital and I got prepped and everything for the surgery about three hours early. They took my blood pressure and temperature and stuff and I got to put on my nice little surgery gown. After that I kinda just sat in my room which, no joke, was better than some hotel rooms that I've been in. Since the church pays with cash and also tries to get the best care they can for the missionaries, we get the best treatment and that includes the rooms and everything. So there was a nice flat screen tv (obviously I couldn't watch), a nice couch where one of the Elders slept overnight, a way nice bathroom, and just a nice atmosphere. There was a little break room with free food and drinks basically all day for people up there which was kinda neat. But as I was sitting in my little "hotel room", President came in and we were just talking about things and then they finally came with my little gurny...I think that's how you spell it. So I climbed up and off we went to the back rooms. I got my IV all in and after a while they put this little sedative in to keep me calm when they brought me back for surgery and everything. And that's where everything starts to go hazy, haha. I don't remember a whole ton but the things I do remember are pretty funny. At least to me they are. And I swear that I can speak and understand Spanish wayyyy better when I'm drugged, hahaha. They brought me back to the surgery room and I was so out of it. They put me on another table and eventually gave me my epideral which was an interesting feeling. After a few minutes I couldn't feel or move anything from my waist down. It was the sweetest feeling ever. It was kinda funny cuz I laughed out loud a little once in a while because my mind would tell my foot to do something...and it wouldn't do it! I probably sounded like an idiot though, haha. I remember asking a nurse, "Is this my leg?" and I touched my leg with my hand. And of course she said, "That sure is." But the funny thing is, I have no idea if I asked in Spanish or English. Either way, she understood me and I understood her, haha. There were a few more things like that which make me laugh now.

After the surgery they wheeled me into the waiting room where they waited for the medicine to kinda wear off a bit. And that's also when the pain started to set in. Man that hurt. And all I could do was just sit there. Eventually they wheeled me back into my "hotel room" and they gave me some pain killer stuff in my IV which helped a bit, but it didn't do a whole ton. The Hinckleys had to leave me for the night because they had to go do their own things so I just took a nice long nap until the other Elders came. Elder Corbitt, the office secretary, came and stayed the night with me. Apparently he went to BYU at the same time that I did and he lived in the dorm that was less than a football field away haha. Small world huh? I finally got to leave the hospital on Wednesday early afternoon and just sat on the couch all day and took a little nap. It was a rough first day. I have three boxes of pills I have to take. Two pain killer ones and some other one that I'm not really sure what it does. But I have to take that one once every day and then alternate the other two every four hours. So I'm basically taking a lot of medicine, but it helps a lot.

I've been feeling better slowly but surely. I've been able to walk around a lot easier today and I even went to church yesterday! Probably not the best thing ever but I wanted to go anyways. And it was kinda funny because the Bishopric thought I was a knew missionary in the ward so they asked me to give the opening prayer in Sacrament, haha. Of course I said yes and when they announced my name for the program all the other missionaries just looked at me because they didn't know about it. I also got the Elders a dinner appointment with another family because I'm part Filipino :) I never knew that my heritage would come in handy, haha. There are soooo many Filipinos in this ward here and they were all excited when they saw me so they invited us over for dinner this week. So yes, the other Elders said thank you, haha.

I think that about covers the week pretty much. Surgery, sit in the office, read the scriptures and other church things a lot, laugh and then regret it because it hurts, along with other fun things. I really miss getting out and working. I thought I'd get more rest being in the office recovering but I actually feel more tired during the day. I got to go with the Elders here to a visit tonight for the first time in a week and it felt so good! I was so excited and it made me miss getting out and visiting people. But soon enough.

So in summary, I'm doing well. I still have a little pain now and then but that's normal after getting cut open. Thanks for the letters and love :) I love you all and miss you a lot!

Elder Mathews

Under the Knife Again

This week has probably been one of the best weeks of my mission if not the best. It started off on Tuesday with a nice long hike up to the mountains of Mataró. Remember the man I told you about that lived in the monastery in the mountains? Well, we had to hike up there to visit him Tuesday since we didn't have a car. So we brought our regular shoes and changed once we got to the dirt road and started the excursion. I have to say we looked a little ridiculous with a suit and running shoes on, haha. But it was a neat experience. We hiked up the mountain for about an hour and visited Miguel for about 15 minutes. By the time we were done it was getting dark and we hiked back down. We decided to take a different path down because we thought that's the way we went the first time we went up. But we obviously thought wrong, haha. At a certain point we both just stopped and looked at each other and said, "This isn't the way we went last time." haha. But we kept going anyway because we had gone a long way already. We kept going and after a while we came out to the highway. Not some dinky little neighborhood road but the highway. And we looked at the road signs and we had just come out to the neighboring town called Argentona which is forever away if you're walking. But that's what we had to do. We walked along the highway and then finally got back to Mataró. So instead of taking an hour or less to get down, it took us 2.5 hours hahaha. So lesson learned, don't take a path that you aren't sure about. But that was a fun experience: walking in the dark on the mountain and just goofing off with your companion and laughing at your stupidity. Oh how great the mission is!

This week was also the baptism of Jorge, Maria, and Tania. They're a family that Elder Raban and his other companion found and I came in about halfway through. But they warmed up to me really fast and I just fell in love with them. Tania is only 10 so she reminds me a lot of Jenna, my little sister. And she just seemed to have a little soft spot for me, haha. Friday was their baptism and Elder Raban baptized Maria and Tania while I got to baptize Jorge. It was an incredible experience. But what was even more incredible is what came on Sunday when they were confirmed members of the church. Maria was confirmed first and then Tania came up. Elder Raban and I participated with the bishop and his councilor and the bishop asked Tania who she'd like to confirm her. And she looked right at me and said, "Mathews." It caught me completely off guard and I was shocked. I had never done something like this before on my mission and all of a sudden I just got nervous. But as soon as I started, all the fear and nerves just left. It was an incredible experience for me.

Later that day they invited us over for dinner since I'm leaving to have surgery tomorrow (I'll get to that in a bit) and we had just started eating at home. So we stopped and put everything in the refrigerator and went over to their house. It was such a good meal, too, and they just seemed so much happier than they had ever been before. The gospel has changed them dramatically and I love the feeling I get being around them. Before we left I said goodbye to them because that was probably the last time I'd get to see them. And as I went to say goodbye to Tania she told me ,"Tienes que volver ¿vale?" which means, "·You have to come back. ok?" I don't want to sound like a big ol softy, haha, but it kinda touched me. I didn't realize how attached I had gotten to this family and at how attached they had gotten to me, especially little Tania. I will forever be grateful for these two short weeks I've had here in Mataró.

But now for the update on the hernia… As I said earlier, surgery is tomorrow. Yep, I go under the knife yet again. I'll be in the hospital at 1:30 and getting taken care of and then they start the actual surgery at around 4:00, I think. I'll be spending the night in the hospital and then the next day I go to the office to spend about a week there doing absolutely nothing. It'll be frustrating but hey, the sooner I recover, the sooner I can go back and work. But the doctor did tell me some kinda sad news. At least for me it's sad. For those of you that knew that I liked to lift weights before my mission might understand why it's a little sad for me. The doctor said that after the surgery, I will never be able to lift heavy weights again for the rest of my life because it risks having the hernia re-open and we don't want that. He said I can lift little stuff but my heavy lifting days are over. So sad huh? :( But it's alright. I'll just focus more on training for a marathon or whatever. But that's the update.

As I said earlier, this week has been amazinggggg. I love being a missionary and the joy that I feel when I'm working and doing the Lord's will. I love you all and think about you often and I hope that you aren't suffering too much in the cold, hehe. I'll update you all next week about how surgery went :)

Elder Mathews