Mataró - Week 2...Feeling better

Hello everyone!!!

Let me start of by saying, CONGRATULATIONS MOM!!! 🎓

I am so proud of you!!!! I want you to know that I wish I could have been there and if I could, I would have been sitting on the ground in the front row!!! And I would have had the biggest scream for you ever!  I would have SCREAMED LOOOUUUDDDDD!!!! They would have stopped the ceremony for a moment because they thought someone died for a moment, but no, just a faithful son cheering on his mommy. (I teared up a little now) 

So to let you know with what's happening here, the 2nd week has been much better than the first, and I am actually having some fun here. After I wrote my email last week of how I was feeling down, I was sitting on a bench and I just looked up and you know how in movies you can see someone's eyes being glossed over like they realize something. Well that's what happened to me. I just looked up and all I saw was beauty in Mataró. I almost started to cry. I felt so blessed to be here and I felt such gratitude for the Lord in sending me here. Thank you parents for hearing me, helping me, loving and guiding me. 

Mataró is very beautiful. It's pretty hot and humid here, but California is hotter. We are right on the coast so there are a LOT of people to talk to. There are a lot of old castles and old walls with ancient carvings on them. Pretty neat! The ward here is pretty small. But everyone is really nice, and some of them speak English! Even better. But it's hard to street contact because people are either really old Spaniards or Muslims here. So, we go find a building and knock on every single door to get some investigators. My companion is Elder Graham. He is nice and knows a lot. But for some reason he thinks Florida is better than California. Probably because he lived there.  LOL.  But we all know California is way better! He is the District leader so I get to see how a district works in the field. And Hermana Barrientos is in my district as well, so I know a friendly face (from the MTC). 

The first week was really tough for me. Reality kicked in a whole lot harder and faster. Stricter rules, language barrier, walking everywhere and no one wants to talk to you. There was a little homesickness as well but that's taken care of. This week was a lot better. I am trying so much harder to learn and study the language. Or to at least understand it. But I know I will get it. Con Dios, todas cosas son posible. (With God, all things are possible). 

It's been 2 weeks in the mission field, and technically 2 months as a missionary. Where does the time go?  Anyway, Mataró is very beautiful and I absolutely love it here! Since it is so hard to contact, we work with the members a lot! There is a saying that "for every door that's knocked in Denmark, someone in South Africa gets baptized." Well for here its, “for every door We knock in Mataró, someone gets baptized in any other area in the Barcelona mission." So just imagine what that's like! But we keep pressing forward and talk a lot with members. We went to this one lady who’s in her 80's! She a member and she gave us these crackers with a filling that I thought was icing, but it was butter! She wouldn't let us leave until we ate all of them. So when she went in the kitchen, we stuffed like 4 of them in my bag, they were really gross, but she is a sweetheart. 

My Spanish is progressively getting better. I memorized most of the conjugations so I have that going for me and I am trying to get words down now. I have never studied so hard in my life!  Let me tell you, Spanish in high school is nothing like Spanish here!  Still, I should have paid attention better. 

I want to let you all know that being here on a mission, no matter where you are called, is where the Lord has personally called you. You have a work and a glory to do here. And whether it's baptizing converts or planting seeds, it is the work to which you were called and it is the Lord's work you are doing. I tell myself this every day. I love you all!  I love my parents so much!  I love my family. 

Thank you to everyone who writes to me.  I love it.

Con Amor siempre,

Elder Alexander J. Maybury

Just a few pictures...

A heart for my family that I love very much

A dog – we see these kind of dogs all over here

Me overlooking beautiful Mataró

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Here are two new pictures I found from Elder Maybury - these are from when he was in Barcelona:

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Well, as you can imagine, we were very happy to hear from our son this week and to see that his feelings of sadness have rebounded.  I have to say…just as I had felt the previous week that he was down, I could feel this entire week, that he was happier and doing better.  I am so grateful to be connected to him in this way.  As soon as I read the first few lines, I could tell that my happy boy was doing better and I felt so grateful.  Also, thank you to all those who have prayed for him and who have written to him.  He feels the prayers and he appreciates the letters.

We also received a letter from him in the mail!  This was a real treat!  Of course, it arrived at our home while we were away on vacation, but I was eager to get home much quicker to see the letter.  Let’s just say that going 75 mph most of the way home was the average speed limit *hee hee*  And the really interesting thing was that the back of the letter was opened.  After further examination, I could tell that my son forgot to lick it and seal it.  Thankfully, no one else was interested in his letter and he had not put anything else in the letter so it made it to us safely.  Just seeing his handwriting made me feel like I was close to him and so it was a very nice treat after our wonderful vacation. 

I am glad that he is adding in some of the adventures of being a missionary, such as hiding snacks in his bag and having to knock on every single door in a building complex.  That is HARD work.  But, as I shared with him, my honest opinion is that it is BEST to have a hard area first.  You learn WAY MORE by serving in a difficult area in the beginning, than if you went to a high baptism place.  And being companions with the District Leader is a great opportunity, as well.

I can tell that he has been gone for two months.  How?  Because I am starting to cry less.  Hahaha.  A friend told me that the first two months are hard but after that, something happens and it is easier.  She was right.  I still miss him…but I am more happy than sad now.  I talk to him all the time.  Every night, I look at his picture and I say, “I love you my son”.  We all adapt in our own ways, right?  😄

Thank you all for supporting our son.  He needs and feels your prayers.  I know he will continue to be a great missionary but knowing that he has so much support at home from family and friends really does make a difference to a missionary. 💕

If you would like to write to him, please do so at the following address:

Elder Alexander J. Maybury

Spain Barcelona Mission

C / Calatrava 10-12, bajos

08017 Barcelona

Spain

Letters take about 1 week to arrive.