Hello
everybody!!!
This past
week has been awesome!
I
received so much mail, 3 letters and a package with some more mail in it!!! I
hold the lead just so you Know. Keep them coming!
But class here has been real interesting.
Sometimes I'll get it and sometimes I won't, but I keep trying and the teachers
and the Lord know I am trying. It's been getting pretty hot here lately, about
the low 100s, but honestly, California heat is worse than this for me. Haha! We
had a practice fire alarm and got everyone out in 5 minutes. Way better than
the last group of missionaries who were here and they took 30 minutes!
Dead. 😂
Today was
a cool but hot P-day. We went to a cathedral and an Egyptian temple. It was
pretty neat, but the cathedral has got nothing on the temple. There is peace
there, but it's different. So many statues that you can pray to and it's not
just of Jesus, but of Mary, apostles, and I think I saw one of a pope. Crazy.
You can definitely tell that it's not the same kind of peace that is in this
gospel. The Egyptian Papa was cool. We only got to walk around it. We couldn't
go inside. It was a gift from the Egyptians to the Spaniards, Crazy!
Did you
know that there is a current king of Spain, but he doesn’t do much [from what I
learned]. And he lives in a huge palace. In the front yard, they have statues
of all the past kings of Spain. I noticed that some of them have the face of
their wives included in their shield or robe. One statue had a man’s head under
his foot. Took a picture of that one. It was all really cool.
I am
singing again in Sacrament. I am going to be in a trio. We are singing "Savior,
Redeemer of my soul" and "Abide with me, tis eventide". Great
music. I have a solo at the beginning this time!
The
ice-cream here is amazing. It's very creamy. Kind of expensive though, but
sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. Lol.
Being a
District leader is fun. I like going to the meetings and finding out what I can
do to help other people. I'll an answer some questions I have been receiving as
of late. My companion is going to Madrid. He is from North Carolina. I have
about one week left in the MTC before I go into the field (meaning to the
actual Barcelona mission area). I am considered to have to best voice for the
men here. I play soccer almost every day. The Madrid temple is the smallest
temple in the world.
Some advice
I want to give is that all of people define success here by how many Books of
Mormon you give out or how much knowledge you have. But I define success
differently. I define it by how long I can have the companionship of "el
Espiritu Santo conmígo" (the Holy Ghost with me).
I don't
really miss [being] home but I do miss being with family. I've been praying
daily for you guys. I make sure I'm on my knees when I say my prayers so the
Lord knows I'm putting in the effort to talk to him.
Anyway,
that's about it for today. Email me back por favor. I love each and every one
of you.
Love Elder Maybury
Me and my district
My new home! :o)
The palace of the King of Spain
Cool statute of one of the Spanish Kings. Notice him stepping on a head.
Me in front of a cathedral
Another district photo
Yummy helado (ice-cream)
Me in front of an Egyptian temple
As
always, each week, when I receive an email from my son, I am in awe of his
development and growth. This week, he
sent me a personal email which brought tears to my eyes, simply for the fact
that he took time to send me a personal email.
Seeing the words “Hi mommy” brought tears to my eyes. No one could ever pretend to be him because I
know how he talks to me. He did mention
in his email to me that he has been having tummy troubles for the past few
weeks and I think that is his body adjusting to the food. I sent him with some Essential Oils to help
with digestion that he had forgotten to be adding to his water, so hopefully
that will help him out a little. If I could ask each person who reads this
to add a special prayer for him that his tummy will adjust well enough to the
food (besides the chocolate churros and ice cream 😋 ), that would be very special for him and I
know he would feel those prayers. He
commented that he does feel the prayers of all those praying for him, so thank
you. That warms my heart.
He only
has about another 10 days left in the MTC there in Madrid. After that, he will be transferred to
Barcelona where he will receive a new companion and he will be assigned to
serve in the areas in that mission.
It will be a new experience for him simply because in the MTC all of
your schedules and meals are handled for you.
You feel very well-taken care of, which is important as you (the
missionary) adjust to life in the field.
But when you get into your first area, it is solely up to you and your
companion to determine your schedule, who you will visit, how you will get out
and do your visits and how you provide food for yourselves I know that my son will do well, but I know
that it will be an adjustment also.
When he
said that he “doesn’t miss home”…I know that he is referring to the life at
home. He doesn’t miss all of the worldly
comforts like TV, games, movies, hanging out with friends, working at a pizza
place, that he was doing before because he is now engaged in something that is
amazing and exhausting. He is working
and learning all day long. He is happy
serving others. And, he is well
fed. I told him that this was part of
the reason that I encouraged him to work hard the past year and why I gave him
tasks to do on his own (projects and cleaning assignments)…because I knew he
would need to be able to adjust to a life where mom and dad were not always
giving him a list of what to do. This is
where he will spread his wings and fly.
I am excited for his journey!
Thank
you to any and all who have written him letters (and emails). He loves getting mail. All missionaries do. He will be at the address below until July 24th
(assume the 23rd). After
that, we will need to wait to hear where he is assigned before we know his
mailing address again.
My
continued thanks and appreciation to all of you for supporting our
missionary. Your prayers, your good
thoughts, your letters and notes help to carry him on this fantastic and
exhausting adventure. He feels your love
and prayers, as do I. Thank you!
You may send mail to this address:
Elder
Alexander Maybury
Spain Barcelona Mission
Centro de Capacitacion Misional
Calle Del Templo 2, 4a Planta
28030 Madrid
Spain
***This is the final week to use this address***
No comments:
Post a Comment