Hey
everyone, how are you all doing today?!
Well, I
know that some of you have been wondering about whether I would be transferred
or not. Well here is the news. Drumrolls please🥁🥁🥁
I am
getting transferred to Sabadell. Sabadell is about one hour outside of
Barcelona. So I am now in the Barcelona
Zone. Nice and close to the mission home.
So, I
wasn't too excited to leave. It has been very hard for me to leave this area
(Marraxtí). I could call it my other home. I have made a lot of friendships
here and the members are like family to me.
So, this
last week has been filled with doing work, but also saying goodbye to people
and practicing singing. I was asked to give a talk my last day and we asked to
do a musical number as well. I talked about the first 3 lessons that we teach
as missionaries,
1. The
Restoration
2. The
Plan of Salvation
3. The
Gospel of Jesus Christ
I liked
it and it felt good to talk about it with all the members about missionary
work. We are working on “Baleares 2020”. That means, that by the year 2020, we want
there to be a stake in the islands. So, each branch has to have a certain
number of baptisms each year in order for that to happen.
Then we
sang the Spanish version of "Come Thou Fount" and we replaced the
words with the words to the Hymn "Joseph Smith's first prayer". It
was really good. We did duets, harmonies, acapella. I sang the bass part for
the last verse. It was really all very beautiful. I'll upload a video on it
when possible.
Saying
good bye to as many people as possible was hard for me. Oh, we ate so much food
on my last day. I was stuffed continually! Oh, I also might be lactose
intolerant. It's that or the islands are literally killing me. Which is also
likely because I was pretty sick for the first two weeks of when I first got
here with Elder Salazar. Then the second to last week or so, I got a bit sick as
well. It could be the food or the way the ice-cream is made here. I don't know.
But this transfer is the transfer where I get in shape! I promise everyone! 🏃♂️💪🏋️♂️
I got a
lot of people to sign in my transfer journal as well. It's almost full. I might
have to get a new one before I finish the mission. But we will get there when
it comes to it. Can't be getting trunky now! I will say that one of the most
difficult things was saying good bye to Elder Gomez, Hermana Davis and Hermana
Orr. We have sung a lot together and laughed and spent a good time together. I
wasn't in their district so I called myself the "adopted child". Hahaha! But we will all see each other after
the mission for sure. Probably at BYU.
The next
hardest thing was getting my bags under the weight-limit, lol. Brother, that
was so hard!!!! I tossed clothes away and stayed up till about 1:30am packing,
re-packing, being at the point of tears 😭 (just kidding), and then packing again.
It killed me. I am so tired though. I got about 4 hours of sleep. We had to get
up at 5:00am to get ready and finish everything. The Zone Leaders came by to
pick us up. A mission rule is that if we take a train, we have to be at the
station an hour early and if we take a plane it's 2 hours early. My plane left
at 9:20 so I had the be there by 7:20. Checking in went well and
everything.
Our plane
got delayed for about 30-60 minutes. Good thing airports have bathrooms.
LOL.
Anyway, I
arrived and picked up my luggage and the other Elders from the office picked us
up. We had to wait 40 minutes for a new missionary who is coming from Chile.
Then his plane got delayed so that was an even longer wait. But, while waiting,
we met a family who is from my ward in Sabadell. It's actually the bishop’s
family. Hahaha. They were at the airport picking up their son from his mission
(not sure from where). I actually know their other son who I saw in Mataró from
time to time. Blessings to bishop’s family from my new ward.
But here
is the big kicker for me. And this is the miracle...
When I
was in Mataró, we baptized a man named Roberlando. Well, after I left to
Logroño, he left to Sabadell. I just found out that he is in my ward Sabadel 1!!!!
My companion told me that he is so
excited to see me. I asked how he was doing, and my companion told me that he
is preparing to go to the temple!!!! Wow, it brings true joy to my heart. I am almost
at the point of tears. I am happy!
So now
about my companion. His name is Elder Newman. He was born in California, in a
small town just outside of Los Angeles. His family moved to Meridian, Idaho
when he was a boy. He has 1 year and 6 months in the mission. Just from the
small time that I have been with him, he seems like a good fella. We already
get along really well. He actually reminds me of Zachari Shubin and Caleb Swain
so I already love him, hahaha.
So, this
transfer is going to be 5 weeks instead of 6 weeks because President Galli has
a Mission President's conference during 6th week and church headquarters asked
them to move the transfer up a week. So, this group who will be going home will
leave a week early. But next transfer will be 7 weeks long, so it can even back
out.
Well, I
am enjoying myself already and I am really pumped to get started working here.
I know that the Lord has called me to this place to further his work and design
which is what Ivwant to do with all my heart and soul. Help build the kingdom
of God and bring joy to everyone by sharing the Gospel with them.
Answers to questions...
How did you like the
packing cubes? Were they helpful?
They packing
cubes are great! They help me keep everything nice and orderly.
Did you get any mail or
packages?
I did get
some mail. I absolutely loved it. Thank you, young Women!
What are you looking
forward to this week?
I am
looking forward to meeting all the members
When was the last time
you cried and share why, if you want to?
The last
time u cried was bearing my testimony and testifying of the Book of Mormon and
saying good bye
How have you become a
better person in the past year?
I have definitely
become a better person and I am proud of who I am now. I am more patient and I more humble and I
love to serve other people.
Well
that's about It! I hope you all have a great week and I love you all! Keep the
faith!
Love
Elder Maybury
Beautiful Marraxtí
Saying GoodBye
Thank you "Young Women" of Riverside 2nd Ward
(Note: the young women of the Riverside 2nd ward put together an "Out of the Blue" box for Elder Maybury. Everything in it was blue and was meant to bring him and his companion a little bit of fun and joy.)
Leaving the Islands
Zone leaders picking us up for the airport
Elder Holbrook and I leaving Palma
Sigh. Goodbye islands
In Barcelona - All is Well
My New Companion - Elder Newman
Me and Roberlando (from Mataro)
Well
this was a great update from my son! I
absolutely LOVED feeling his energy and love in this email. As a former missionary, I can tell you that I
KNOW how hard it is to leave an area where you have built relationships and
where the people feel like your family.
There was a part of me that felt sad for my son because I know how hard
it must have been to say goodbye.
BUT…the
Lord is in the details of our lives!
It
literally brings tears to my eyes to hear that the person that was his first
baptism in his first area is now in his new ward in Sabadell and is preparing
to go to the temple. Wow! We always talk about how sometimes the role
is to plant the seed and sometimes it is to bear the fruit (of someone else’s
work of planting the seeds of the gospel).
In this moment, my son will be able to SEE and continue to the WORK that
he began so long ago in his first area of his mission. It is a rare opportunity, indeed. The Lord surely was aware of both my son’s
and Roberlando’s needs and pathway and putting them back together again is a
true miracle that will bless their lives forever.
Another
great little miracle was to be able to meet the family of Bishop
(ecclesiastical leader) for his new ward in Sabadell. These, for me, are little moments where the
Lord is showing that He is aware of what is needed, and He softens the pathway
to make it easier. While leaving Marraxtí
was very difficult for my son, he has a beautiful energy about serving in his
new area and he was blessed with these two immediate mini-miracles for his
obedience.
An
interesting moment occurred for me on the morning of transfers. I had had a strong feeling that my son would
be transferred. Logistically, it seemed
to be what was going to happen. So, I
tried to be thoughtful about him during this time. I felt that as I was going to bed the night before
(11pm to midnight Utah time), he would be at the airport. It seems that was the case. But about 2am, I woke up with thoughts of my
son in my mind. As I gathered my
bearings to figure out what was happening, I looked at my phone (which is on Do
Not Disturb) and there was an email from my son, which had been sent only a few
minutes before. He simply said, “Hi mom, I’m at the
airport. I’m going to Sabadell. I love you.” I
sent back a quick reply and then went back to sleep. For me, that was a mini-miracle, or touch
from heaven.
You
see, many people talk of the “great blessings” that come to the families of
missionaries. Admittedly, I was a little excited thinking about the blessings
that would come. But I can attest to the
fact that they are generally not temporal (meaning physical things). For me, and perhaps for others, the greatest
blessing that I have received while my son is serving his mission is a
greater connection to the Spirit and to my Savior. And from this comes a greater connection
to my son. I am able to feel and
sense when he is doing well and when he is not.
And if I pay attention, especially to when he is not doing well, then I
send a message to my son and he reads it and he realizes that he truly is not
alone. We ARE with him and the Lord is
paying attention. This experience of
waking up and thinking of my son just a few minutes after he sent me an email
is a simple example of what I mean. It
is not a tangible blessing per se, but it certainly is palpable, deep,
meaningful and remarkable.
He sent
a little video of himself at the airport.
It’s a short video but it shows that (while he is tired) he is doing
well and is happy.
Thank you
all for your love and support of our son.
He feels it. He is grateful for
it. He loves you all for your love and
support of him. He loves being a
missionary and he is growing in ways that were so important for him to be able
to do.
If you
would like to send him a letter or a card, you may do at the following address:
Elder
Alexander J. Maybury
Spain Barcelona Mission
C/ Calatrava 10-12, bajos
08017 Barcelona
Spain
Each letter will require one international stamp = $1.15
/ up to one ounce.
Packages can be sent to the same address. The best way to send those is via USPS using
small padded envelopes and staying under 4 pounds.
Emailed: September
18th
No comments:
Post a Comment