11/13/09

hey cutie,
news from tonga
uchtdorf came and it was absolutely amazing he is one of the most
genuine guys you will ever meet i didnt get to much time with him (he
is a pretty busy guy) but i got to shake his hand and went to every
meeting he went to for both of the days he was here. he and his wife
are absolutely awesome she is so funny and cute. we had quite a bit of
work to do to get ready for him. we almost got to go do a temple
session with him but we couldnt because he did it during our morning
program i figured ditching the lords rules to go to the temple and
meet an apostle might be a bit hypocritical (yes i spelled that wrong
but give me a break im in tonga) anyway it was a lot of fun to have
him here but the missionaries have all been getting in trouble again
so we have been doing discipline helps for the last two weeks. one
missionary got in trouble for fraternizing in a a manner unbefitting a
missionary with an old fat ugly bishops wife. it was a bit embarassing
to get that phone call reporting him. plus a few other ones that arent
really appropriate for me to gossip on. just know that they keep me
busy here and that i love my job and my mission but especially my
mission president.
ofa lahi atu PS kovi aupito ae tamaiki fefine nau feinga lahi ke
tauhele'i emau kau faifekau
Elder mayberry

hey mom i stilll have some time left while my comp finishes up so i
thought i would write you just a little bit more. i wanted to say how
much i love you and how much i appreciate you and dad and all the
help that you gave me. i never realized before i got out here how
little so many people know about their religion even missionaries but
i have been blessed to have been raised in a home where the gospel was
taught and you gave me the opportunity to know what it was that i now
profess to be true to all these people. thank you so much for never
giving up on me. never just letting me do all those dumb things
without offering me help and guidance. i know i wasnt always the most
humble learner (still working on that one by the way) but i do
remember the things you said and they stuck and i have learned much
from them as i ponder them from time to time. i bet your kind of having
a bit of a hard time right now but i want to testify that the lord
loves you and he loves our family. if the lord know the sparrows and
loves them how much more important are we his children. Mom the Lord
helps us out even when we dont realize it sometimes the things that
sem hardest here turn out ot be the things that help me the most.
weight lifting helps the most when you strain the most. same rule
applies it may hurt but it will help later. hang in there and know
that i love you and more importantly the lord loves you and will help
you. president uchtdorf promised us while he was here this week that
when we pray the Lord will answer and when we fast the lord will speak
peace to our souls. i never was much good at this preaching business
but i hope you know that i mean it from the bottom of my heart the
church is true and our saviour lives and loves us. i know he guides
this church and through the holy ghost we can know the truth of all
things. know that i pray for you and the lord hears both of our
prayers.
love you lots from your tongan son
Elder virgil Mayberry

11/9/09

hey mom
well this evening finds me in excellent spirits and as cheerful as can
be. life just seems to be really good lately and im not complaining
about it. i got a full stomach and a bed to sleep on. i have been
realizing more and more during my missing just how unimportant all
those things are that we value so much in our society. i must say
that some creature comforts are very nice but there are some things
that are an awful waste of money. its funny i have been out here long
enough that this feels just as much like home as the place you live
in. im good enough in my language that i have no trouble understanding
almost anything people tell me. i still have trouble every now and then
expressing some piece of grammar that i havent used very often but i
have that much trouble speaking english. i feel very content with
what the lord has allotted me and frankly quite grateful for how much
he has given me. i have a great family that loves me, i have a mission
president that has so much love even to people that i cant hardly
stand to talk to. my mission is absolutely amazing it has its down
sides and i have my down days but there is no better place to get
stuck than the islands of tonga. the people here have taught me a lot
of things that hopefully i will be able to take into my life and make
myself a better person when i get home.
thanks mom for always being there to help me and try to keep me out of
trouble. i appreciate you always sending me stuff while i m down here.
i actually have a christmas box for you guys. but i doubt that it will
get there on time. i still am gathering up stuff to fill it up but i
think it will be fun when you finally get it. its got 7 CDs worth of
mission pictures. and some cool stuff from my travels in tonga. its not
much but i think it will be fun.
as far as the box you are sending you mentioned sending some stuff. i
can get garments here i actually live next door to the distribution
center. but white shirts are hard to come by. they have them here but
they are not very high quality and get junky pretty fast. id like some
more of those CTR shirts that we got in Phoenix but if not i have the
capability to hem my shirts when they get here so any walmart one will
be fine. i like the athletic fit shirts a little better so i dont
look as poofy. but its ok either way just size 15.5 will do great
thanks mom.
tell grandpa and everyone i said hi and that i miss them all. 'ofa lahi atu
Elder Mayberry

11/4/09

hey mom i have to sit here and wait while the Ap's collect all the weekly reports because they dont know how to use a computer so i thought i would write you a little bit better letter than the one i gave you yesterday. we had a great trip to vavau i got to see the family that i used to live with in niua and i got to see the family that let me use their phone on mothers day it was really cool to see all those people again and we also got a lot of work done up there. we finished all the stuff we set out to do. we had a bunch of meetings with bishops and the missionaries and a few stake presidents about keeping accurate records of things that happen in the church. it all sprang from our baptism records that have a bad tendency of not being filled out very well. and when they are not filled out all the way the program that we use to submit them to salt lake wont except them so we had a bunch aof baptisms that happened several months ago but were not yet acknowledged by the church because we could not yet enter them into the church's system. we had a few really good teachings this week as well. one of the kids that we taught is going to the local college for technology. he was very good at listening and paying attention. the member that invited him to listen to the lessons is a very pretty teenage girl that he has been chasing for a while but the mom only lets her date mormons. so i think he has some good motivation to keep his appointment for next week. especially since the girl is helping us teach. my new comp is doing really well i dont remember if i told you or not but its elder preston yates. we were in the MTC together and are getting along really well. he is a good guy and had a desire to help and do whats right. i have to tell you about our AP's. neither of them has ever used a computer before and it is down right hilarious watching them. one of them was my companion in niua and he makes dads hunt and peck method look like a professional typist. all he does is type the numbers in boxes that i make up every week but it takes him a a good thirty minutes to type in the 50-60 boxes. it would only take me about 4 minutes but president has specifically asked me not to do it for them but rather to teach them how to use the computer. it does get a bit trying every now and again like right now its 11 o'clock at night and im sitting here waiting for him to get done but its ok life is still good and im learning so much patience here you'll probably not even recognize me. the mission had already changed me a lot (hopefully for the better) and im hoping that i will continue to change as the lord needs me. there has been and will be times when the changes are a bit painful. swallowing my pride gives me a bit of a stomach ache sometimes. but the lord knows best and helps us in spite of all we do to avoid it. i love you mom and hope life is going good love elder mayberry