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

Summer??

I know it's only February...but it's pretty much summer here, ha-ha. This past week we had some gorgeous weather :) Who knew that in the middle of winter that I'd be walking down the street in 80ish degree weather? I'm loving it! But there are both good things and bad things about that. The good stuff is that it's really nice outside at the moment when we work. The bad thing is that it's February and it's already that hot...so I'm not really looking forward to what it's going to be like in August, ha-ha. That'll be a killer. Hopefully it won't be too hot but we'll see.

This past week was really good too missionary wise. We had lots of success and we're always striving to improve. Last week I think I wrote about a young man named Ivan, a friend of a young woman in the church here. Well, he just continues to amaze me. This past week we had an activity in the church and the four of us missionaries went to help set up and clean up, etc. There were a lot of non-members who came and a lot of youth as well and we tried to make it an opportunity to find new people to teach. At one point our ward mission leader, Jordi, made an announcement that we, the missionaries, were going to introduce ourselves, and we had no warning ahead of time, ha-ha. So we sorta just got up in front of everyone and presented ourselves a bit and shared a short testimony. Afterwards a young man came up to us and asked us a few questions and as we were answering, about 15 others swarmed around to listen. Ivan was one of them. After we had talked a bit, Ivan turned to this kid and told him, "You should come to church with me this Sunday. I came last week and it's changed my life and I know it will change yours." Ivan is only 15! And for a 15 year old Catalan young man, that is incredible. He said that he believes that the church is true and he wants to continue learning. He said he's buying a white shirt and tie so that he can wear it on Sundays. Gotta love missionary work :)

We actually just got back a few minutes ago from a pretty fun adventure up into the mountains here nearby with a member in the ward. He drove the four of us to a small town and we went hiking. It was way fun and the view was incredible and we got to see a deserted old town that's over 100 years old. But man am I beat now, ha-ha. It was a decently long hike and kinda steep at parts. I'm not quite sure which was harder, going up or coming down. But it was a lot of fun and it was way neat seeing the old town up in the middle of this cliff/plateau thing. But now after this we're just going back home and crashing until we have to go out and work again which is great. I think I might take more naps when I get home, too, ha-ha. I never really did and now that I'm out here, I've realized just how great they are on Preparation Day :)

Well, take care everyone back home. I hope that you're all doing fantastic because I know I am :) Thanks for everything you do and for your love that I feel. Until next week!

New Mission President!

We just found out this past week who our new mission president will be. His name is President Mark L. Pace. He gets here July 1 and he'll be my mission president for about the last three months of my mission. It's kind of exciting to think that we'll be having a different mission president but also sad because President Hinckley has been incredible. I think the exciting part is just waiting to see what President Pace will be like. He served a mission in Madrid a while back so he should know the Spanish culture pretty well, which is great. I'll let you know more details as we learn more about him and what'll be happening.

This past week was a really good one for us, and our district as a whole. We were met with lots of success and things are picking up even more here as we've been working together as a district with the ward members. Things just pop out of nowhere and we're all pretty excited because as we look into the future, things are just looking even more incredible. This past weekend we had a baptism of Camila!! She's the daughter of a member and it was great. The only little problem was that we went earlier in the day to fill up the font and when we came back it was almost overflowing, ha-ha-ha! So we turned off the water obviously and had to start emptying the font with buckets, ha-ha. It was quite the experience. After about 15 minutes of doing that we decided that the water was low enough to be alright. Luckily it was :)

This past week Carnaval started as well. Carnaval is a big party holiday where people get into some crazy costumes. It was pretty interesting, ha-ha. We still had to go out and work obviously and Elder Watkins and I were coming back to Tarragona on a train from another town nearby at around 9:40 and we had to run to catch the train. The neat thing is that you can pay on the train when they come to check to see if you have a ticket. But sometimes the ticket guy doesn't make it all the way through the train by the time we get off sooooo we sometimes don't pay, ha-ha. But once again we had to run and jump on the train as it was about to leave and just wait for the guy to come. We were almost stopped in Tarragona when the guy came. Some luck huh? So we did end up paying which is fine but it's become sort of like a game for us to see if we make it there or not without paying, ha-ha. When we were back in Tarragona we went down the main street to get home and it was packed. We had forgotten that it was Carnaval and that they were going to have a big parade. So we couldn't cross the street for a while because of the parade so we just had to stand and wait there. It was pretty neat though because they had some floats and some extravagant looking costumes and it was way intense. Makes me sorta wish we had Carnaval back home, ha-ha. Elder Watkins and I decided to walk down the main street with our cameras taking a video. We held it right in front of our stomachs and just walked. So I'll be able to send that home and you'll all see a little bit of what it was like :)

Yesterday we had an incredible experience with a young man named Ivan. We were at church talking with people and this young woman in our ward, Lesly, came in with a friend. He stayed for all the meetings and then afterwards Lesly grabs me and my companion and says that Ivan wants to learn more. The crazy thing is that he's 15 and she's only 16 and she's an incredible member missionary. We had the visit with him that afternoon and it went so well. It was a little strange to teach him at first because he's only 15. Jared, my little brother, is 15, ha-ha. This young man had a lip ring and an earring with some spiked hair and he honestly didn't look like your ideal person to teach. But we saw a different side of him that showed what he really valued. He's interested in learning more and said that he wants to come back to church next week, which is way exciting. It's funny because the way he came to church was so simple. He just texted the member and asked her if she wanted to hang out that day and she said that she had to go to church and then just asked if he wanted to come. It's that easy! We invite people to come to church alllll week and they don't come and then a member invites them and they do, ha-ha. So lesson to learn: invite friends and others to come. It's actually pretty easy :)

Transfers are March 6 just so you know, and I'm not sure if I'll be getting transferred or not. There"s a good chance for both, ha-ha. So I'm not really sure. So just keep that in mind if you're planning on sending letters again :)