*writing this while on the train, in the airport, and on the plane to my new
area*
Wow, what
a week it has been. So first of all, about my current status in the mission. I
am getting transferred. Yep, I am leaving Pamplona. But, my next area will be
Palma! (Really the Majorca Islands) I will be serving in the branch of Marratxí (Ma-ra-chi). I'm pretty
excited. My companion will be Elder Salazar. Yes, yes, I am getting another
native companion who is from Ecuador as well. Wow, I wonder what the Lord has
in store for me. No English for a bit, but, I'm ready for my Spanish to grow
even further.
My last
two days were mostly spent visiting members and saying good-bye to them. I hope
I had a good impact on them. Of course, I want to be the best missionary that
they have had, but that's not for me to decide. All I can do is be my best. You
can't change or decide people's expectations. You can only do that for
yourself. So anyways, we visited a lot of members and took a TON of photos. I
had a little farewell on Monday night. It was an FHE (event) as well. I had the
people sign in my transfer journal as well. They are one of my favorite families,
too.
Answers
to questions...
How is your tooth doing?
Tooth is
doing great, hasn't hurt me for a bit.
Can you send me the file
of you singing at Zone Conference?
I am not
able too because I don't have the file. I have it on an app but for some reason
not on the file. I'm not able to transfer it. Sorry!!!😣😔😢
How did it go with your
packing?
Wow, I am
the worst at packing. The worst. I'm going to have to let go of some things, so
I can have more space. I have also acquired some things as well.
Were you able to take all
of your suitcases, and carry-on and ukulele?
Everything
is okay. Just barley under the limit. I brought my rugby ball in my carry-on bag.
And I was able to bring my ukulele as well in my big suitcase. Everyone else who
had theirs had to leave them in the office, hahaha, win! I mean I'm on an island for crying out loud.
Of course, I need my suitcase. But I remain humble and grateful to the Lord
that I was able to bring all of it and not pay any extra.
Didn’t Elder Eiguren get
transferred to Palma also? So you will
be in the same zone?
I will
see Elder Eiguren at Zone Conference! Yay! He is in a trio with another elder
from our group so I will see him as well! Double Yay!
Did you read the talk
from Elder Holland, “Lessons from Liberty Jail”? Any insights?
I did
read some of it. I will attach my remarks in another email
The
miracle I think that I experienced was when I realized that I was being
transferred, I knew it was the right call. I knew it was what the Lord needed
for everyone. For that Barrio to grow even more and for all of us as
missionaries to progress as well. So that was a good miracle for me.
The Mother’s Day call was
absolutely great!!! Wow, I loved it so much! It was so great to see my family and that
they are all doing well. Happy Mother’s Day Mom! You’re the best! I don't know if I already
talked about this or not, but many of you may know that my beloved Uncle Warren
passed away a little while back. And that was pretty tough for me and I worried
just for a moment about the rest of my family, well more than normal. I want to
be there to take care of my family. But
to see all of them happy and well off again has been a great and true blessing
for me. It was by far one of the best moments of the mission, possibly my life.
I just love my family so much. And all of you, my friends, as well.
You know,
it's kind of hard to believe that I have been out here in the mission field for
11 months now. The time goes by really fast, but you also don't notice it that
much. I can't actually believe that I'm here at this point right now. There
have been so many moments that I will never really forget. I know I still have much
to go, it's just that I'm astounded at the growth that I have made here while
being in the mission which I am very sure that I wouldn’t have had if just stayed
at home or gone to school. Or at least I wouldn’t have matured as fast.
So, I am grateful.
So, I
have now arrived safely here in Palma. I love you all! Be safe and keep the
faith!!!
Love
Elder Maybury
There are so many
families and people that I have come to love here in Pamplona. It is
always hard to say goodbye. They are amazing people.
Here is a picture
of where he is in his new area.
Marratxí is a municipality in the Raiguer region of Majorca, one of the Balearic Islands of Spain.
Marratxí is a municipality in the Raiguer region of Majorca, one of the Balearic Islands of Spain.
I did find out that Marratxí has about the same population as Saratoga Springs, Utah, where we now live. So it's not too big.
Well
what a week this was!!! First of all,
our phone call on Sunday was JUST what I needed. Although I know my son is doing fine, I
needed to see his face and hear his laugh.
I needed to SEE that he was doing well.
And this phone call did not disappoint.
There were fewer tears than there were at Christmas, on both sides, but
there were still some tears. It’s just a
letting down process, where your heart is tugged just a bit more, especially
when you feel the spirit so strongly and then have to say good-bye. Each one of us got to spend a few minutes
talking with him alone and that was wonderful!
My
summary of my son is best conveyed in words that I shared with him in
my weekly email to him. I said,
“You
know, I have to tell you my son…there were some beautiful things that I saw in
you during our phone call. It is hard for me to put into words, but there
is a growth there. You DEFINITELY seem stronger, more confident, more
focused, more connected to the Spirit, and even happier. I know there are
moments where you struggle and things are hard, but seeing you after so many
months, I CAN SEE it in you PHYSICALLY – in your face and in your eyes – and I
CAN HEAR it in your words, your testimony, and your prayer. To me, this
is the most beautiful thing that I can see. That is, the growth and
development of my boy into becoming a man who walks with the Lord. I want
nothing less for you. THANK YOU for working so hard to be willing, worthy
and accepting of the work that it takes to grow so much. I am excited to
see what the next year of this mission does for you and how you grow and
blossom from it. The Lord has known for a long time who He needs you to
be and He is giving you situations where you will develop specific muscles
(physical AND spiritual) that will benefit HIS WORK, whether now or much later
in your life. Always, always, always, recognize that you are on HIS
errand and that He will make these experiences work for YOUR good.” 💖💖💖💖
At the end of the phone
call, we asked him to share his testimony with us and then to say the family
prayer in Spanish. Both his testimony
and his prayer brought the Spirit strongly. James and I both picked up on
something he said in his testimony that was impactful to us. He said to live your life each day in such a
way that if you had to face the Savior that night, you could tell Him
that you did everything you could. It was a great perspective to add to
our dedication in living a better life more connected to the Savior.
And in his prayer, he asked the Lord to bless his family and he said
“everything I do is
for them” …umm, yeah – that
hit me in the feels. My eyes were blurry from then on. While I know
that my son is working in dedication and service to the Savior, it was a
beautiful moment to have our son also dedicate his work, his time, and his service
to his family so that we might be blessed for it. And further, to hear him acknowledge it is
one of those moments as a parent where you look at your child and are in awe of
who they are as a person. My son, I
feel, has a gift. He has the gift of the
Spirit for sure, but he also has the gift to communicate through the
Spirit. And every one of us felt it.
Additionally, I think it
is a beautiful thing that he is with a new companion who is also a native
speaker. I told my son that this is the
Lord answering his weeks of prayers, asking to be better in his language
skills. Oftentimes, we want the answer
immediately, but the Lord is always working in the background to make things
the best for us that they can be. And
now, my son is seeing the answer to his prayers come in the form of native
speaking companions. This certainly
raises the bar for language skills. Coincidentally,
as his mother and knowing that this would be the best thing for him, I was
praying that he would get native speaking companions. So, another example where the prayers of a
mother are answered to benefit her child.
I am excited for my son
to be in this new area on the island of Palma.
He woke up early on Tuesday morning to leave by 5:30am to take a train
(from Pamplona) all the way down to Barcelona. While at the mission home, they had breakfast
and then did some logistics and had their luggage weighed. As you read in Elder Maybury’s message, he
was just under the weight limit. And, he
was able to take his ukulele with him, a major win for him. Hahaha. They waited at the airport for a bit and after
an hour’s flight, he landed safely in Palma.
I have to admit, waiting to hear that he was safe was truly difficult
this time. This was the first flight
that he has had to take for a transfer and so I needed to know that he was
safe. His emails came through about 90
minutes later than normal and when I received them, I felt a wave of emotion
run over me just to know he was safe. My
husband never feels the same way as me.
He just happily goes along through life assuming that all is well. I guess, one of us has to use the Kleenex in
the family! *LOL*
An additional note. As I was looking through all of the pictures
that Elder Maybury sent in this week’s message, my heart was impacted and began
to swell with love. Love for a Father in
Heaven who has taken care of my son who is so far away and who has given him
experiences that have helped him to grow SO MUCH in 11 months. Love for so many families and people who have
taken care of my son for me while he is in Spain. I can see that they genuinely love him. I can see that they genuinely like him. I can see that he has genuinely impacted
their life. And finally, a love for a
son, who made the decision to set aside the cares of the world to go and serve
the Lord’s sheep, wherever he may have been called to serve, ultimately,
serving in Spain. I can see the light of
true happiness in his eyes and I LOVE IT!
Missionary work is never easy, but it is always worth it.
Thank you all for
supporting my son while on his mission.
He loves you all and he thanks you for his prayers. He can feel them, and I can tell that he has
been blessed by them.
On June 13th, he will complete his 1-year mark
in the mission. Yay!!!
I would like to ask
everyone (especially family) to take a few minutes to send him a card. It could be a card of encouragement, a funny
card, a 1-year-anniversary card, or a “way to go” card. As you may remember, he only gets mail every
4-6 weeks and so Zone Conferences are pretty big deals as the missionaries hope
for some mail. Due to his transfer to
his new area, his Zone Conference will be May 25th. That doesn’t leave a lot of time for cards to
get to him. But, if you get one in the
mail, it will for sure get to him for his June Zone Conference and he will love
it just the same!
You can send cards and
letters to the following address:
Elder Alexander J. Maybury
Spain
Barcelona Mission
C/
Calatrava 10-12, bajos
08017
Barcelona
Spain
All cards
and letters require one international stamp = $1.15 / up to one ounce
Have a
great week!
Emailed: May 15th
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