Hi Mom!
How's everything going?!
Wow, what
a week it's been. I have been doing better with my health. Some ups and some
downs but better overall. I am really glad you enjoyed the musical number. I
really do love to sing and I hope and can do something with it in the future.
But right now, I'll do my best here using it to comfort and inspire.
This week
went by a bit fast if I have to say. It was one of those same routine things so
I kind of knew what we were going do and how long it was gonna take. Anyway, we
have a wedding this week! One of our investigators is marrying a less active
who is reactivating herself and regaining her testimony. It is this Friday and
my companion and I bought matching ties to wear with our black suits. It's on
the beach so we will be on the side wall watching. But there is also food so
I'm happy.
My
companion is going back home next week to fix some papers of his for 3 days. So
I will be in a trio with other Elders. Not sure who's area we will be in, but
we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Hahaha!
The
miracle of this week was that we had a really spiritual lesson with one of our
investigators. His name is Juan Miguel (Juanma) and we talked about prophets
and we showed him the video of the solemn assembly. It was a powerful moment
and testimony builder for me. He said that if there was a prophet on the earth,
it would change everything for him. We invited him to come to church tomorrow to
watch the area conference in Europe but he could not make it due to work. He
has a baptismal date for the 16th of this month so we could really use your
prayers. He is a great and wonderful child of God.
Answers to questions...
What
kind of shirt are you going to burn? If it is one of your white
shirts, then we’ll put some money in your account at some point, so you can buy
a replacement shirt.
I will be
burning one of my white shirts. Probably a long sleeve because it's so hot
here, lol. I'm excited!
Are you
having a hard time shaving your chin? 😂
The chin
is the hardest part for me to shave. I have been thinking of some things that I
need or would like at least and an electric razor would be one of them. Some
other things would be Chocolate from the United States. I would love that as
well as some cereal. If Coco Puffs are an option, my vote goes for that.
Lol.
How do
you wash your clothes (in your piso or a laundromat)?
I wash my
clothes in piso. We have a washing machine but no dryer. So we have to put them
on a rack to dry.
When do
you get to meet your new Mission President?
I believe
I meet the new Mission President when the new transfer begins. Or that iss when
he comes at least. I will probably see him at a Zone Conference or for
interviews in July.
How’z
the ukulele playing coming along? I am trying to find some simple
string music to send to you.
Well, the
ukulele is now starting again. I had to tune but had no idea even with the
tuner. Something was wrong. I just got it all tuned now so I am playing again.
Let me tell you one thing though, that I cannot hear music by ear, like tenor
notes or knowing when the chord is right. Me cuesta mucho.
Are you
writing in your journal?
I am
writing in my journal though I have to fill up some pages though. I'm a little
behind😅.
I sent a
post card to you all a day or two ago. I'm working on a package right now.
Sorry it's taken so long. The ganas just weren't there I guess. 😔
(ganas
= desire)
This
preparation day was fun. We went to a pueblo to go shopping. Elder Salazar is a
window shopper! He wants to visit a whole bunch of stores with the intent of
buying something but didn't buy squat except for his food and the train the get
back home! Lol. We ended up eating at Foster Hollywood's. It was actually
pretty good. We were with the other Elders from Manacor so we weren't solo
today. Yay! I was able to get some pictures as well. Well, a picture or two.
It was
really funny, we went into a shop and Elder Salazar went in first while we were
by the entrance, waiting for him. Then the man looked at him and then at us and
said that "Los zapatos de este lado son mujeres y los hombres de este
lado" (The women's shoes are on this side and the men's shoes are on this
side). The thing that was funny was that Elder Salazar was on the women's side
shoes on the left, and not the men's size. I was laughing so hard! And so we're
the other Elders except for Elder Salazar. At the end, he did laugh though, so
all was well. 😂😂😂
I took a
HUGE "L" on Sunday. (L = loss)
Oh by the way, on Sunday it was raining so hard and my pants got
completely soaked because my rain jacket didn't cover all of my pants, so that
wasn't comfortable. But that wasn't the "L". This was. At the end of
the conference, everyone was talking and cleaning up as usual. Well, the other
Elders had an investigator there. She looked African, and usually Africans
don't speak very good Spanish so you speak English to them. I said
"Hola" but she looked a bit confused when she said "Hola"
or looked like it wasn’t natural for her. So, I thought to myself, "Oh,
she must be from Africa and is learning Spanish, I'll speak English to her
then." So I started talking to her in English. She looked even more confused. Boy was I completely wrong. Turns out her
native language is Spanish because she is from Guniea Ecuatorial! She does NOT
speak English. Well, I, messed that up! But, at least my English still works. Hahaha!
It was
also at this conference that there were some women from the State's and they
took pictures of us and sent them to our parents. So, it was really great to
have that happen for all of us. By the way, in the funny photo (that she sent),
I was trying so hard not to laugh, I almost lost It! 😂 It was a great
experience.
Well, I
believe that's about it for this week. I sure do love you all. If I can share
one bit of advice, it would be don't ever neglect a spiritual prompting. It
will always turn out well IF you listen to the prompting. I will write you all
next week. Keep the faith and stay safe! Love you!
Love
Elder Maybury
Selfies and Selfies with my Comp
Knocking on doors can be difficult sometimes. LOL!
See my push pop? Brings me back to my childhood.
A beautiful night in Palma
Mmmm...food! Chocolate Shakes and Pizza!
Playing Phase 10 with my companion. Thanks for the cards!!!
This is how we do our weekly planning!
What a wonderful email. I absolutely loved hearing from my son this week. It was so uplifting
to me. I could literally SEE, HEAR, and
FEEL how happy he is. I can’t describe it
in better words, but it is a special feeling to be able to FEEL your child’s
happiness. I am so proud of my son for
the sacrifice he is making, for the lessons he is learning, for the
opportunities he is taking to grow and develop, and for the testimony he shares
with us all. This week was full of these
bright moments and it this email was just the closer to a week of the Lord
telling me, “I see you and I know you and I am listening.”
I’ll
explain by saying that things have been a little difficult the past couple of
weeks, this past week in particular. We
are swimming in lemonade over here (because we have been given so many lemons,
so-to-speak). In the overwhelm, it is
pretty easy to wonder if you have lost favor with the Lord and wonder if He is
paying attention to you at all. Well,
the Lord definitely answers prayers and we just need to pay attention to HOW He
is answering them.
I felt
uplifted a little after my son’s email last week. Hearing him sing brings me so much joy. I usually listen to the song multiple times
each day because I love hearing his voice.
Well, one day, in the middle of last week, I had sat down after taking
care of a few things and was on Facebook.
The first post that was on top of my news feed was a picture of my son,
singing. He doesn’t post a lot of
Facebook, but he and the other Elders had posted a video clip of themselves
singing “Abide With Me”. (see clip below) My heart was uplifted again, and my cheeks
hurt from smiling so much. The words of
the song were like an anthem for me, “in cloud and sunshine, …abide with me.” I felt so strongly that the Lord was paying
attention to me and HE knew what I needed on that day. Then, just this weekend, I awoke to a text
from an unknown person. She told me that
she was traveling through the islands of Majorca and saw the missionaries and
she sent me 2 pictures. (see below) It is the FIRST time that a random stranger
has done this, and it filled my heart to overflowing. It just reaffirmed to me that the Lord does
know our needs and He IS watching over our loved ones, especially the
missionaries.
So, I
have been filled. These little miracles
that communicate love from my Father in Heaven keep me going and keep me afloat
in all the lemonade. My son’s email this
week, wherein I could feel his happiness, is like a warm blanket surrounding
me. My son has been gone a year (next
week) and I didn’t think I could survive it.
But survive it I am and I love watching his growth and development. This week’s email made me laugh out loud a
few times and that is just the icing on the cake, because it shows me that my
son’s personality is perfectly intact and that is something that I have missed
as well.
This is the picture that the random "stranger" sent to me. I love the goofy one!
When I
asked him to explain to me how this all came about with this random person
taking their picture and sending it along to their parents, here was his
response:
“I’m sorry to say, but I have no idea who those ladies were, I'll just say that there was one of them was good looking, so I got scared, walked
away, and found someone to talk to. The only thing was that I couldn't find
anybody to talk to, so I was just walking around in circles. I think I got a drink of water
from the water fountain about 3-5 times, so...yeah.“
Here is the video that Elder Maybury posted to Facebook
(opens in Youtube)
Thank
you for your love and support of our son and our family. As you read above, he has an investigator set
for a baptism on June 16th, so if you could please pray for him,
that would be wonderful. And, as a final
reminder, next week, he will reach his ONE YEAR MARK. If you would like to send him a card, he
would love it. He will receive all of
his mail at the end of this month.
If you
would like to write to him, you may do so at the following address:
Elder Alexander J. Maybury
C/
Calatrava 10-12, bajos
08017
Barcelona
Spain
Each
letter costs one international stamp = $1.15 / up to one ounce.
Emailed: June 4th
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