Hello mommy! How are you?!
So this week is been super amazing. And by that I mean that I feel
absolutely great. No, no baptisms but that doesn't matter because I am here
doing the work of the Lord! Woo-hoo! In Spain, there are a lot of revolutions.
Mostly in my Zone. It's almost election year here and there are a lot of
Separatists that want Cataluyna to be separate from Spain. So every night for
the past week, people get out on their balconies and start banging pots and
pans, playing drums, and just making a while bunch of noise! It was a little
frightening at first but now I am just used to it. I have of course prayed for
the our safety and the Lord has given it in abundance.
Me and Elder Graham work hard because we need to work hard!
Anything less than a full out effort reaps nothing but laziness and sorrow. We
are commanded to, "Thrust in our sickle with ALL our might." And I
intend on doing just that. This week has flown by pretty fast. I have found
that the more visits and appointments we have, the more time seems to slip
away. Which is good. Because I like to be busy and focused on the work.
This Preparation Day has been really fun! We played some
basketball! And I still got it! (Swish noise) It was really fun up until the point
my companion sacked me in the face with his elbow or hand. I dont know which
one it was. I only know that I scored and that he hit me hard enough to break
the skin and bleed. So I got a swollen left cheek bone. Haha. But it was on
accident and it takes more than that to knock Elder Maybury down. You know what
I'm saying?! Yeah, you do. Anyway, i was dribbling and shooting and just being
myself. It was really fun. We than finished and tried to do some gymnastic
flips and that didnt work out too well. But it was fun to just relax, chill and
have fun.
So the miracle I saw this day was one of our appointments. He is a
friend of a member that he works with and they are best friends, I believe. And
we talked with them as they passed by us and we were talking about church and
stuff. And he wanted to know more and he said he had time right then to talk
more. So we went to their apartment and started to teach him. And he seemed
really interested! It was amazing!
So my district is called the Lion District. And in a Chinese store,
we found these two neat statues of Lions! So I think I am going to by one and
have it be our mascot! I only have two weeks with my trainer until I get my
breaker*, so it's really exciting and nerve racking as well.
*Breaker
means a new companion who is not my trainer and I am no longer considered a “new”
missionary.
So I take it that dad's letter hasn't got there yet. Bummer. But
it will come soon I hope. I also mailed a Birthday letter to Isabella. It will
probably get their early but better early than late! I am really glad that
everyone is doing amazing! I am doing amazing as well. We did not go to the
office today but probably next week we will go and I will grab the mail! Yay! A
package! Exciting!
Nick Purcell looks way different. I mean, the same but different
as well. If you could tell his mom for me that I said hi and that I hope he is
doing fantastic. And happy birthday if that is soon or already happened. My
email address as well and that I love him. He is a great friend.
I will send pictures in another email, but know that I love you
and everyone so much! I can't wait to hear from everyone again! Love you
mommy!
Con Amor, Elder Maybury
As a mom, this is one of my favorite pictures. I miss his face. But this is a face of true happiness. I know he is doing well. I can literally see it in his face.
Awww, and this face. This is the face I have known since he was a baby. I would recognize this perfect Zander-face anywhere. I love it.
This picture also ranks in my top 5. Wow, I can't believe how much I miss him and how much my heart swells when I see his face. I went from seeing this face every day to now only seeing it in pictures and I miss him so much. But seeing his face with this pure smile brings me such happiness.
And, I'm glad to see he is keeping up with his haircuts!
This is from a Zone Conference (zone = 3-4 areas/cities).
I LOVE that he is right at the top center. A perfect place for him!
This was a great week and I was so happy to hear our son's report. I am so happy for him that he is finding his stride and that he is happy. I have said it many times before - missionary work is hard work, but it is also rewarding work. I am grateful that he can see both sides.
In my weekly emails to him, I often tell him that he is a warrior. All missionaries are. They leave all of their known comforts and they go to another place, sometimes learning a brand new language and they serve people all day long, every day. Beyond the individual missionary receiving many blessings for their service, their families are also blessed. I have felt a very palpable, yet intangible cloud of blessings resting upon our family. It would be too difficult to describe, but I simply feel that the our family is the recipient of untold blessings because of our son's sacrifice to serve a mission. And for this, I continue to write to my son and thank HIM for blessing our family so much. What a gift he has given us. He is the first missionary in our family on both sides for the grandchildren. He is a warrior. A hero. An example. And, a shining star. We love him and we love supporting him. We are grateful for the blessings that his service brings in to our lives.
A few people have messaged me, and him about not getting the emails that they once did. He did used to send one out and he would link in as many email addresses as he could. For the past few weeks, he has only been writing a single email to me and a couple smaller ones to his siblings or a couple of missionaries. Here is why. On his P-day, they have from 9am to 6pm to do their regular things like studying (personal and companionship), exercise, eat, go shopping for their weekly needs, do laundry, get haircuts if needed, do any activity that they planned (ex: travel to neighboring city with other missionaries), and email. He has a set time to email. Often, that time for emailing is cut short because the other activities have taken up a lot of time or the members keep them a bit longer because they like to feed them, etc. So, he relies on me sending out the one email that he is able to write. I post this on Facebook and every couple of weeks, I send it to a few people via email whom I know do not have Facebook (let me know if you know someone who would prefer it via email). So that is what is happening. In the MTC and at the beginning of his time in the field, they had more time to email simply because their schedules were different. Now, they are more active and he is not able to email individual people. Trust me, he would if he could...that is just how he is. He likes to respond to every single person.
Please know that I love and appreciate each one of you for supporting our son. He is a pretty amazing kid. Not perfect, just kind of amazing and I am in awe of watching him grow and develop each week. I wish the same for each of my children. To know the joy of serving others, to find happiness is doing good things, and to enjoy their growth and development into strong, happy and capable human beings.
If you would like to write to Elder Maybury, please do so at the following address:
Elder Alexander J. Maybury
Spain Barcelona Mission
C / Calatrava 10-12, bajos
08017 Barcelona
Spain
International stamps cost $1.15 each and will cover up to 1 ounce (this includes a greeting card).
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