Hi
momzee!!!
How you
doing?!
Wow, what
a week this has been. Extraordinary things have happened here. I can’t believe
it's another Monday. My, my, where does the time go? Well I will, start off
with a miracle from this week. The miracle I saw this week was that we saw
a woman, who is Ana María. And the most Significant thing about her is that
this is the 5th time we have seen. We have never been able to teach her before.
But we were sitting in a park putting in a lesson and she said Elders! And we
talked with here for a bit and we scheduled a lesson for the next day which we
met and taught her a bit. There is no way that we have meet with her so many
times by straight coincidence. I know without a doubt that this is of the Lord
work. That was so amazing, I couldn't believe it that it was actually
her.
So, we
set our first fecha* this week!!! Roberto has a baptism date for the 28 of November
because it will take that long to prepare him. We can only meet with him once a
week so yeah. But it is really interested and loves to hear what we have to
say. He has a close friend in the Church that introduced us so
fellowshipper!
*fecha = date (for baptism)
So just a
little background on the missionary experience. We have a big white board with
a bunch or names with investigators, members, those who are progressing,
less-actives, and such. But we didn't before because we were in part lazy but
just didn't use it. But once we filled it up with all the information it has
now, we started being more focused on our Purpose and who we can teach. We
started talking to more people and I felt more good about myself as a
missionary and us as a companionship. Really amazing stuff.
We played
a lot of tennis today for preparation day. I was the second best! Whoop-whoop!
But I know I could have been a whole lot better if I played with you and pops.
You both are so good!!!! We took some pictures which will be below. I have
noticed that I am getting a little rounder in the mid waist area if ya know
what I mean. Noooooo!!!!!!! So that means I gotta make these morning workouts
count!
Spanish
is getting better I think. I finished Mosiah in the Book of Mormon in Spanish.
About to anyway.
Oh,
really exciting thing! Tomorrow is Zone Conference!!! Yes! I love it so much.
It’s such an amazing experience. Just surrounded by other missionaries and
President. We are all focused and one in purpose. Simply fantastic.
Joshua
and Dad are stinking guapos eh? Muy bonitos. Yo quiero una traje que es el
mismo de Josue. Una traje azul y tengo una corbata negra. Pues, pienso que seré
muy guapo también. Yo recibí un complido de Antonia en la Iglesia ayer, y dijo "Tu
eres guapo." Y Antonia tiene noventa(90) años creo. Boom ya!
(Translation:
Joshua and Dad are stinking handsome,
huh? Very handsome. I want a suit the same
as Joshua. A blue suit and I have a
black tie. Well, I think I will be
handsome also. I received a compliment from
Antonio at church yesterday, she said, “You are very handsome.” Antonia is 90
years old, I think. Boom, ya!)
It's been
an amazing week thus far. It's been so much better not focusing about the time
I have left. Sometimes thoughts will pop in like I am been on my mission for 4
months but I just push those aside and get back to work. But I will say that
time does fly by.
I love
you all so much. Pray for me and this language to get along because we all know
that I could use it. But I am doing much better than before. I pray for
everyone daily and continually. I love you all so much. May the blessings of
the Lord continually surround us as we strive to be like our exemplar Jesus
Christ. I know he lives and that he is the Redeemer of the world. And through
his mercy we may live with God again. He is love. He is hope. He is our all. He
is Jesus the Christ. We are never far from him because he is always with us. I
love him dearly and I only want to do His will. I feel His presence everyday
and I know that that is a blessing. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
I love
you all! Keep the faith!
Con Amor,
Elder Maybury
Gazing
into the distance
(Boy do I miss that profile, but I would recognize it anywhere)
Preparing for conferencia general. (General Conference)
Posing - on the roof - in my soccer gear
Enjoying a beautiful day in Mataró
Tennis! My parents taught me well. Haha.
What a
wonderful letter we received this week.
His happiness and testimony just jump off of the page. He is doing better. He is loving the work. He is making progress. He is seeing miracles in little things. He is enjoying the people, the work, and his growth.
It has
been nearly 12 weeks in Mataró and next week is transfers. The big question is will he be transferred to
a new area or will he get to stay. There
is a general rule that I found to be true in my missions. When you are having a difficult time in the
area, you stay. When you are loving it
and enjoying the work, you are transferred.
It’s not a 100% rule or anything, but I have seen it happen many, many
times. It’s not a punishment, it’s just
a growth opportunity. So, I wonder what
will happen for him this coming week. He
finally has a solid investigator who has a baptismal date set. Will he get to stay in the area and continue
to work with him for another 6 weeks? Or
will he be transferred to a new area to apply his love and energy for the
work. We will see in our email this week
(Tuesday).
What I
love the most about his letters is that I can see my son’s personality. I can see that everything is not easy, but he
is taking it in as an opportunity to grow and to learn. He is more comfortable in himself and in
calling upon the Lord for help. I had
given him counsel about 3-4 weeks ago to no longer focus on speaking the
language perfectly and to no longer focus on the time in his mission (or the
time he has left). I am happy to see
that he is continuing to do that and that he is reaping the blessings from
turning his focus solely to the work. Missionary
work is very hard work, BUT it is also rewarding work. It will wear you out every single day, but it
is also the thing that gets you up each morning. No greater growth can come than during
mission when you literally give up all of your weaknesses to the Lord and allow
Him to mold you and to walk you through miracles. It’s beautiful and I am so grateful that my
son has this opportunity.
The
region of Catalonia in Spain continues to deal with the idea of wanting to be
independent from Spain, but we wait to see what the final outcome of that will
be and what, if any, changes that may make to the Barcelona mission (see last
week’s blog post). As my son has
mentioned, despite the upheaval that there is in the region of Spain that he is
in, he and his companions continue to feel blessed and feel safe in their
area. THAT is the greatest blessing for
me, as a mother, to see. That my son is
safe.
As you
can see from his words above, he loves his mission, he loves his Savior, and he
loves all of you. Thank you for
supporting him. Thank you for saying
prayers on his behalf. Thank you for
writing to him. Thank you for checking
in on him. He feels it. He appreciates it, and he needs it.
As I was
responding to his email this past week, it happened to be at the time that he
was online and he sent me back a couple of messages, but even better than that…he
snapped a picture and sent it to me at that moment. This may just be my favorite picture. It is him as he emailed me. LOVE IT!!!!
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
All
letters require an international stamp = $1.15 and cover up to 1 ounce.
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