Hi mom!!! How are you doing today?!
Wow, where does the time go? These weeks get shorter and shorter,
I'm telling you. So, we had transfers this week, hence me sending emails a day
later. So the news is........I’m staying
in Pamplona and my companion is leaving. Yeah, I am a bit sad. We worked well
together and loved the people a whole lot. We both did our best and I treasure
my time with Elder Eiguren. So, he is going to Ibiza. The area was white-washed
so he and another Elder are going to "Open it" again. Pretty
interesting. My companion is Elder Vargas! He is a native! So yep, the Lord
needs my Spanish to be better. Hahaha! It will be interesting. We are taking
over the Hermanas area because they are getting moved to the other ward. So, we
have their investigators that they were teaching and everything. But now we
have to learn their area and I'm still trying to get mine under control. Lol.
But the Lord will help us. He always does. 😀
Elder Vargas is from Ecuador and he lived a bit in Madrid Spain.
He is 23 years old and has an older brother who is married, and a younger
sister who is 9 I believe. He said that she is his angel. Awww. Just like how
Isabella is my angel. Awwwwww!!!!
We had to wake up at 5:00 in the morning to get elder Eiguren to
the train station by 5:45. So I am pretty tired. Elder Vargas came at 3:30 in
the afternoon.
My miracle for this week was the baptism of [Investigator J]. Elder Patton who taught him before and was
able to come up and baptize him and I did the confirmation of the gift of the
holy ghost. The spirit was really strong there. It was interesting. I said some
things which were a little hard for me to get out, but then I just started speaking
as things were just popping into my head and I started speaking more clearly.
It was a great miracle since that was my first time confirming someone and the
Spirit was very strong.
For Preparation Day, we went to San Cristobal. It's an old prison
built by Franco. It was pretty amazing. Except there were some pretty trippy
parts that I did not like what so ever. I'll explain. So, you can go around them
on the outside because that's where the guards were to watch the prisoners walk
– in walking ways – which are about 10-12 feet below. We walked around until we
came to a staircase that lowered into the walkway. Then, we went inside the prison! It was okay
at first, until we got to a certain point where there was some brujería. That
is witchcraft. So, you can just imagine
what kind you would find inside an abandoned prison. There was a burned-out
fire with a red cross drawn on the ground. On the side wall was an upside down
red star, the devils star I believe or something like that. We then continued a
little further where the staircase led us lower. And there were roses on it. That means that there was a ceremony or
something there. That tripped me out hard core and we were unsure. But we
followed where we finally got to the end like 30 seconds later. We then went
back up to find the other staircase that went lower and there were roses on
that one as well. This staircase turned to the side, so you could only see
about 5 feet ahead before you had to walk down to see more. We decided not to
walk further. I will say that I got some serious chills. Like we walked in and
it was pretty cold. But there were some parts where it was freezing cold and
then it wouldn't be. I'm going to try and not dwell on these thoughts.
We then left and continued to walk around. We went up really high
to see a certain house or something. There must have been a recent fire or
something because there was smoke in the building, but the walls weren’t broken
so not bad. But it was like we just missed it, but a short amount of time.
There was fire by like a match but also the aftermath of like liquid nitrogen
or something like that. We then went to another tunnel that was by the side and
that was a little weird. The whole prison is pretty old so, of course things
have fallen and collapsed. But at the end of this walkway underneath the
ground, there was a giant broken part, where there were only 4 wood beams left.
And off to the side it said that Leslie died here. Which was true because the
member who took is told us that he remembers hearing about that. So, we did not
cross it. It would have taken us farther down anyway. So, we finished our
journey and got some Burger King to eat. We then picked up my companion and
here we are now.
Something that I read in my scriptures today was that in 2 Nephi
10, Jacob talks about the Atonement. And he says that Jesus had to be at Jerusalem
because it would have been the only nation that would crucify him. If he was in
the Americas or somewhere different, the people would have repented and
believed in him. So, the Jews were really the only people that would reject him
and kill him, thus, he had to be born in this area, among those people or else
the Plan would not have come to pass because there would have been no
Atonement. That's my spiritual insight for this email.
Answers
to questions......
Do you know what is
happening in 6 more weeks (really 5 ½)?
Mothers day call!!!!!!
Should I send you a
board game or phase 10 since you are all so bored with Monopoly?
I would love to have Phase 10. And a board game if you want to send
one.
How often do you get
on Facebook and see my posts?
Is it redundant for
me to email you so much if you see my FB posts?
I do see your Facebook posts often
It's not redundant because it's you personally telling me what's
happening and I like that when you tell me in your emails to me
Did you hear that
they are closing the Spain Madrid MTC?
I did hear that it is closing, it's interesting, saddening, and
I'm ok with it because it's what the Lord needs done at this time
Will you please send
me pictures of your piso? Your room,
where you dry your clothes, the kitchen, etc…
I will take pictures tonight
Are you okay with
taking pictures on your tablet or do you have a phone? Do you want me to send you another camera at
some point?
I'm fine with my tablet and the camera here, I don't mind at
all
General Conference was so great. They called two new apostles who
are Asian-American and Brazilian. I always feel the spirit so strongly when the
choir sings. Whether it's the Mormon Tabernacle Choir or a group of students,
it always gets me because I love to sing and improve my singing to sing praises
to the Lord. Singing expresses a different way of communication and your
testimony. I love it so much because when a song resonates in you, you just
want to sing and shout. As we read in the scriptures, the angels are always
singing and shouting Hosanna! Therefore singing, to me at least, is a higher
way of praising God. During General
Conference, I received an answer to a question that I was pondering. It was fantastic,
and it took me a moment to realize it was my answer because I thought that I
was already pretty set at it, but I can always improve. So now I need to find
how I can apply my answer to my life even more which means trial, progression,
and heavenly rewards.
I love the gospel so much. I would never leave it for I know who
my God is. I know His judgement and I know His mercy. He is my King and Lord,
he serves me because he is greater than me. I serve Him because I brings me
happiness. I love Him forever.
I love you all and I hope you all have a great day today. I hope
you had a great Easters day as well. Keep the faith!!!!
Love Elder Maybury
My new companion, Elder Vargas
Adios, Elder Eiguren - It's 5:30AM...we are both tired 😴
We got a new dog for our piso! ....April Fools! 😄
The Old Prison - Are you spooked too?
Do you see the smoke rising off the floor in this picture? *shivers*
What did we just miss?
What did we just miss?
The sign says, Military zone, passing prohibited, danger from accidents
The Pamplona Elders and a member who took us on this P-day excursion
A Couple Selfies!
The Daughter of an English Speaking Family - Kids are my specialty!
I still miss my little princess Isabella
Baptism of Papa J
Well, transfers is always an exciting
time. The question of “will he be
transferred or not” keeps the excitement going.
Although we were pretty sure his companion would be transferred, the
second most exciting thing is finding out who his new companion would be. As he mentioned, it is sad when a companion
that you have become friends with is transferred. With some, you find a good working groove and
seem to work naturally well together. I
am glad that my son has experienced this for most of his mission. There may still yet be moments where that is
not the case, but I know my son, he will love and serve each companion to the
best of his ability, so he does not waste his time on the mission.
I have prayed that he would receive
a “native speaker” as a companion because I know that this would help his
Spanish exponentially. Now, I know that
he speaks well and can communicate in Spanish, but I also know that he wants to
be better. Well, this is an answer to
both his and my prayer. He will rise to
this challenge and when he looks back and assesses how far he has come in his
language skills, I am sure that he will see that he was blessed with a
gift.
This week I have spent a few
minutes each day thinking of my son.
Thinking about what he is doing in that moment or wondering how the work
is going for him. I have missed him a
lot this week. It’s not the kind of
missing where my heart is breaking, but it is the kind of missing him to where
I want to connect with him. He has been
gone now for 10 months. Some of it has flown
by. Other moments have seemed to
linger. But each week, I see growth in
my son. I see that he is becoming who he
is meant to be. He is shaking off the
more adolescent side of himself, the worldly side, …the side the seeks the
approval of others. And in place of it,
he is accepting of himself and he is seeking the approval of the Lord
first. It’s a beautiful thing to
see.
Below is a link to the Spain
Barcelona Mission blog. This specific
link connects you to a video that was made of all of the missionaries opening
their mission call. They have interlaid
it with a talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland and it is wonderful. It was a little emotional, of course. One, to hear this talk in context of
missionaries being called to labor in the field, but also to see my son open
his mission call again and to see the joy in his face and to hear the joy in
the hoots and hollers of the family. This
effort, I believe, truly helps the missionaries to keep their energies focused
on where they need to be…as disciples of Jesus Christ.
(Note: Elder Maybury is at minute
5:21 and 15:25)
As always, thank you for your love
and support of our family and our son.
Thank you for taking the time to read his weekly emails/blogs. He tries to write something each week that
might be meaningful to those of us who love him. If you ever have any questions for him,
please let me know and we’ll put it in the weekly email. He has finally gotten pretty good at
answering each question we pose.
If you would like to send him a
card or letter, you may do so at the following:
Elder Alexander J. Maybury
Spain
Barcelona Mission
C/
Calatrava 10-12, bajos
08017
Barcelona
Spain
Each
letter requires one international stamp = $1.15 / up to one ounce
Emailed: April 3
