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| First Flat @ Vicarage Square, Grays |
September 24, 2012 Monday
I haven't gotten to talk to you
people for two weeks! Now I don't even know where to start goodness gracious...
Well I'll try to remember some of the stuff that happened in the MTC about two
weeks ago. First everyday seemed to go by so darn fast it was ridiculous. The
first week went by so slow... and then the next just disappeared. I know I
can't spell anymore but just bear with
me :) I've had the best time ever getting to know these Elders out here. They
are the most amazing people I could ever meet. They have made such a difference
in the MTC for me because they understand how I feel mostly because they are
going through the same emotions that I have.
My district has meant a lot to me
and I've grown closest to them and few other Elders. They have made my day with
their dumb jokes and pictures that we draw on the white boards and such. I've
never had a better time with people my age that are here for the purpose of
learning how to teach the gospel. The spirit attends us every lesson and my two
teachers are incredible. Bro. Day and Bro. McClure are two returned
missionaries who are funny yet very spiritual when it comes to teaching. I wish
high school was this fun. I've never met a more poweful priesthood leader like
our MTC President Walker. He is amazing and has taught me so much I don't even
know where to begin. I've had the pleasure of getting to hear his stories and
listen to his powerful testimony and I know exactly why I came out here to
teach. I'll send back a few pictures of me and him in just a bit.
The ending MTC testimony meeting
literally had everyone in tears. I don't think I've ever felt a more powerful
spirit of combined love and sacrifice of all the missionaries here that are
willing to give of their time and effort just to build the Kingdom of God. I've
learned to love this work so much more and it has made all the difference in my
life. The last night was hard to say goodbye to all the friends I have made and
I might not ever see them again, but that’s ok because there is Facebook and
email... Technology is a Boss.
I have loved getting to know all
these wonderful Elders that have helped me succeed at becoming a powerful
missionary. We left on buses the next morning about 6:15 a.m. and that was a
killer. We had to get up at four thirty and I was a little grumpy about that...
The bus ride down was about five hours but we were just chatting and talking
the whole way. We had our own Huge bus... kinda awesome. The bus fit about 100
people and we only had about 20 so tons of room.
As we entered London there was so
much to see and do you want to know the best part? Exotic Sports Cars Everywhere! There is literally and Aston or
Ferrari on every street corner, so I tried to get pictures... but the bus was
moving too much so they were blurry. Best ride of my life. We got down to Hyde
Park, the rich section of town, and there were nice cars everywhere. Best day
of my life. I enjoyed seeing all the cars but when we got to the Hyde Park
chapel I was amazed at the renovation they did to it.
The Hyde Park visitor center is the
most high tech center in the world. So neat! We stepped inside and dropped our
luggage and went to meet the mission president, and he is a kind man. Sister
Jordan is the closest thing to Mom that I know of out here. She watches out for
all of us and she's an amazing person. We had some lunch and then were
introduced to our trainer companions. So my first companion
is..............................Elder Hansen. I was stunned I was getting
trained from an Elder from Utah. Elder Hansen is from Sandy Utah, and literally
looks like an older, cooler version of Mark. He played lacrosse in high school
and loves to ride motorcycles and extreme sports and such. I could go on about
him like that forever, but he is a spiritual giant. He has been on his mission
for just over a year, but he seems to have lived out here forever. He knows all
the people and everything about how to be an Englishman.
After I was introduced to him we
had a quick testimony meeting and we were off. Pretty much I thought we were
going to get a bus to our flat but nope. We had to take the Tube out to my
first area. My area is Grays, just south of London... You can Google it if you
want Mom... and we are really close to the town center there, kinda, by the
train station. We got off and walked to our run down little flat... I'm gonna
be honest... it’s not very good. The toilet barely flushes... and the floor
creaks and has holes... and a ton of other stuff I can complain about but I
won't... It makes me love our home in Utah so much more and now I miss it...
but anyways we came in and guess what the first thing we did was... Dropped my
bags and went out tracting.
I knew it was coming, but I was tired anyways.
I love Elder Hansen's enthusiasm and he keeps me going. He's not harsh and
doesn't push me too hard because I'm learning so much... but I placed my first Book
of Mormon to a Muslim man that we met entering into his house. Really nice
guys, and we shared with him the book and he accepted to read it and hopefully
we'll meet up with him soon.
The only problems I have are that I
didn't get a mattress pad or a good pillow. The second night we were here we
met up with a member and her family. Her name is Miley and she is from Peru and
she's amazing. She gave us dinner and while we were talking we were just
talking about the apartment and she went and gave me a pillow. It was her son's
who had just left for college and she wanted me to have it. I was baffled and
thanked her a ton. I call it the Obedience Pillow because you get blessings for
being obedient to the mission rules and such you get blessed. :)
It was a great pillow too... but
yeah the first few days here get long and tiring and my feet hurt from walking
miles and miles around the town. Grays is really a kind of industrial town and
not that pretty, but things only get better Elder Hansen said. The other towns
are much more pretty this is just were all the docks are for the Thames River,
so it gets kinda busy when the ships come in. We've gone finding in the town
square just trying to talk to people, and I'll be serious, people are jerks.
I've been cussed out, flipped off, all sorts of things but finding just those
few people makes the entire day worth it. Just to have one person listen to
your message makes the day feel worthwhile.
I really miss all the nice people of Utah, but
I'm doing fine. I'm just regular old me, trying to make the days worthwhile by
teaching and preaching the gospel. I like talking to people on the streets more
than knocking on doors because when you talk on the streets you know who you’re
going to talk to, with knocking it’s just who ever shows up and sometimes it’s
not a pretty site >_<. I've had fun for the past five days out here and I
look forward to the next 6 weeks or possibly 12 with Elder Hansen.
I love you guys so much and I miss
Utah a lot. I was reading your letters and sounds like Mark is having a lot of
fun with his friends when it comes to Homecoming... I don't know exactly how
things are going, but maybe Mark should pray and ask God to help him with his
friends. I know that sounds dumb coming from me... but I've seen it make a
difference in my actions especially to people I don't like that are out here.
Heavenly Father really does make a big difference in our lives, and all you
have to do is ask for those blessings. Really, I've seen a lot of miracles out
here... from big to small. We literally prayed for the rain to stop while we
were tracting and it stopped long enough for us to finish the houses we were
tracting and get back to our flat. No Kidding! It may be just luck, but I think
God watches out for his servants :) We can't always ask for things like that,
but we can ask for comfort and help when we have difficult times.
I've had so many trials out here, and there are many more to
go. Day 5 down, and two years to go... LOL.
I would like it, Mom, if you would
send my emails to my MTC buddies for me. I'll get you a list of them next week,
oh and our P Days are on Monday just so you know. I don't have the card with
all their names and emails with me at the moment or else I'd give them to you,
but send these emails to my closest friends because the mission president has
asked that we don't email anyone except our families and him. But you can email
them for me therefore I can be obedient and my friends can still hear what I'm
up to. I'll put some more pictures up of us so you can post them on the blog :)
I'll give you a heads up on my financial
situation... So, I received about 145 pounds a month for all my stuff I need.
Both Elders receive this same amount. I started with about 70 but we get reimbursed
for travel and some other stuff that I only need to worry about. If it’s all right
I just need to get a few things with our own money like mattress pad, because
for some reason I don't have one..., and extra socks. I had to use a lot for
travel just to get here, so Elder Hansen has been buying our food and stuff so
we're doing just fine there, plus we get invited over for dinner almost every
other night, which is really nice. Also Mother... could you send me recipes for
anything cheap that we could make because I'm starting to run low on ideas for
different dinners... so that would be great.
Some of the pictures may be blurry because
they are cars I tried to catch in the bus or while walking... like the blue
Aston. I'll send more emails with more pictures. Alright I think I've tried to
cover everything, if you want to know something specific just ask in your
emails plus I love getting emails from Shannon and Whitney and if Daniel wants
to he can send me one. Get Mark to get on it. Plus, I sent a real letter and
should get there sometime this week, but I got rained on earlier this week and
the paper my bag got ruined :( so could you send me more of that special
printed paper you made me? Possibly? I understand if you can't... you'll just
get letters that literally have water marks on them lol. I love you guys a ton
and I'll send more pictures for yah. Can't wait to hear from you guys again.
Don't be afraid to send me multiple emails and pictures I like looking at them
and reading them. Love you Guys :)
Your Son and Brother
Elder Bradley Smith
Your Son and Brother
Elder Bradley Smith
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