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

10/25/09

Hey mommy it was good to hear from you. Life is good here. This week was really crazy. We had transfers Monday. I got up at 5:30 Monday morning to get everything started. We drove around with shuttles and buses and picked up all 76 missionaries on this island plus 3 that came over from eua at 7:30. We bought 100 cinnamon rolls and got everyone to the church all before 8 o clock. The meeting lasted till 10 then we had to pass out all the cleaning chemicals that the missionaries will need for the next 6 weeks along with their money allowances. then we took them all home before noon which was when we had a meeting with President and the APs. We drove to the airport at 2 o’clock then all over the island dropping off the missionaries that just finished their missions. Then we had to run a bunch of stuff around for president and get the Americans who were finishing all into one central area. We had our meal at 9:00 pm and then had to go to town to find out when the boat would be coming down from Vava'u with 7 missionaries on it. Turns out it was 1:00 in the morning...... we filled the time doing some paper work that has to be done documenting the transfer. We got to the wharf at 1 am and the boat got there at 2:30 am. We had to take all the missionaries back home and ended up getting back at 4 am. At six thirty president called and we had to do some stuff for him to prepare for the meeting that he would be having with all the zone leaders. My comp and I then bought all the food so the zone leaders could eat lunch. We had a little incident occur involving a little girl on the way home that delayed us. We got all that stuff taken care of then had to go back and buy some boat tickets and take care of some things with another church that asked us to help them with something. We had a teaching in one of our wards then had to take the Americans who were finishing to the airport and drop them off and pick up all the new missionaries from the NZ MTC (aka the Tongans) and take them home. The plane got in around 9:30 pm and by the time we got them off and all there bags loaded up it was around 10:30. We had some missionaries with us that hadn’t had the opportunity to eat that evening so we took them into town to get some grub. We got home around 11:30 or 12:00. The next morning we got up at 5:30 to get a missionary to the airport to fly to eua. We got back home and had to do some work in the office for President. We spent all day getting stuff fixed that we had neglected because we were so busy. Then we had to take some missionaries to the airport so they could fly to vava'u. They cancelled one of the flights to haapai so we had to reschedule that flight for later that afternoon. We had to go drive around town… the sisters had gotten all their bags confused so we took them all their suitcases and when they confused their bags they lost all of their keys so we had to go back to the office to get them all keys to their houses. We went back to the airport at 5p to take the zone leader so he could fly back to haapai. At six we ate then had to go do some training for the new Tongan missionaries and take them to their new homes. Thursday we got up at 5:00 to get all the stuff ready for the new American missionaries to come in. we picked them up and while president took them around showing them the island we took their bags home and did some random stuff at the office. We spent the day trying to catch up from the previous few day’s madness. We finally got almost caught up and we were asked to shuttle the new Americans to random places to buy things they would need for their work. Afterwards they went to eat and president gave us a strict order to go sleep for an hour so we did and it was GLORIOUS..... Yesterday we weren’t quite as busy we just did some training for the new palangis and got their houses ready for them to live in. and today we went to the beach and climbed some coconut trees. It’s been a crazy week I don’t think I quite portray just how crazy it was but for practicalities sake I think this works. Needless to say, I was a bit tired a few times. I think now you will understand why I might not email very well during transfer time. Love you all Elder Mayberry

Be Loving To Your Family

On our way back from lunch we see these two cars pulled over to the side of the road. It almost looked like there head been an accident. When we got closer a girl (about 17 years old) jumped out of one of the cars and runs and jumps in our shuttle. She is crying pretty hard and says her step father is taking her out to the bush to beat her. She is crying really hard and tells us that she actually tried to jump out of his car while it was going down the road. We start going and the car she just jumped out of pulls back onto the road and starts following us. He pulled up beside me and motioned for me to stop I communicated that he was to follow us. we were on our way to the office so I just kept our course home thinking to have President mediate. I called president for a little guidance (I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have instructions for this in the missionary handbook) he said he would call the cops and for us to just head straight over. We get there and the cops didn’t have a car so they wanted us to take the girl and the dad into the station. President mediates things out between the guy and his step daughter. (The guy happens to be the high priest group leader from President’s ward) they both agree to just go home and have the mom mediate. We took her home and gave her a little interview/support speech on the way. It was really sad to see a priesthood leader behaving in such a way. It really gave me a new insight on how important it is to treat women with respect. It was really sad to see such a pretty girl so scared and sad. I’m really worried about what happened when we took her home. President is supposed to ask her tomorrow at church. I just want you all to know I love you all and I hope that you will all try a little harder to be loving to your family members and a little more patient and control your tempers.... love elder Mayberry

10/15/09

hey mommy sounds like you have a pretty full plate right now. just remember that i like you a lot so dont worry to much or your hair will all turn gray. we have been really busy lately with the tsunami and all of these people getting in trouble and guys getting sent home we have been very busy in the office this transfer. i think there is another elder going home this week. the transfers are the 19 of october. my comp is going up to the niua where i used to work well see how he does up there. i know my knew comp and im thinking im in for very difficult transfer. its the biggest transfer president will do during his mission plus we are a week late getting started on the planning because of the tsunami plus president uchtdorf is coming next month for a week visit. plus my new companion is not the most choice missionary in the world. i must say i was a bit put down when president told me. but im sure there is a reason ill just have to wait and see what it is.

10/4/09

Hey tell morgan i said happy birthday. its actually my comps birthday
today.its the 4 here. he is a palangi his name is elder hanberg i
swear i already told you guys his name i have been with him for about
three months now. but transfers are week after next and he is more
than likely moving. i have tons of new for you
guys. our mission president got stuck up in niua and that tsunami made
an awful mess of that little island it hit up there. they sent a few
missionaries up there to help rebuild the island and to teach the
people about getting baptized. ( kind of ironic i'm pretty sure
heavenly father just baptized an entire island -in one day i might add.
i have been here a year and only have four) oh yeah i baptized three
people yesterday. t was a really special ceremony. it was a mother and
her two children. all the lessons we have been teaching over the last
month or two have been really great and then they accepted getting
baptized. i was pretty excited. i tripled my total baptism number in
one day. president was talking to me today and he told a great story
about his mission and some of the hardships then he said remember the
men of zions camp. there is a story about a man who was commanded by
god to push a rock. he pushed all day every day with all his might for
three years. then he asked god/nuku why am i doing this i pushed for
three years and the rock never moved. nuku replied i never said to move
the rock i only said push. your arms and back are as hard as rocks
your hands tough as leather, your skin is bronzed by the sun. go now
and claim your reward for service. it goes on to say he got a beautiful
wife and was the best fighter in the island because he did what was
asked regardless of its apparent uselessness. we are called to push the
wagon for a time not a distance some of you just get a little muddier
track than others. ( I personally just took I-10) i wish i had a lot
of time to write but its late and i am going to bed but i love you all
and life is good here. im still as good looking and humble as
ever......
elder mayberry

10/4/09

things all calmed down over here > but it was a mess for a little while. we didnt get a whole > lot of > sleep. president moved one of the APs to niua to help the > people up > there and president went with him and the plane broke down so we > lost our > APs and president for the whole weekend so everything fell > to us... > plus we had all of our original stuff to do including two > firesides we > taught and a baptism. lets just say its kept me on my toes. > thats sad > thatt steven left its been a long time since i talked to > him. we > emailed a few times but it would have been nice to have > seen him > before he left. well pop love you but i got to > go to bed its 11:45 > here and im about tired... > Love Elder mayberry

hey this is elder mayberry president suggested that we email our families to let you know we are all still ok there was no damage done to anywhere except niuatoputapu from the tsunami. we still are not exactly sure what happened up there the lines are all down they sent a plane but the dirt runway was washed away. im sure the sisters are fine but i am pretty sure there are 5 dead and 6 missing from niua toputapu. but im ok and ill let you know more when i find out.

well sounds like you all have been really busy lately. i was talking
to the temple president Pr. Shumway this morning and we were talking
about where in the scriptures it talks about those who obtain a
higher law of intelligence will have so much more advantage in the
world to come. we were talking about the difference between the
learning of secular things, first the prophets have commanded us to
search ye every good thing and read out of the best book. if there is
anything virtuous, lovely of good report or praiseworthy we seek after
these things. we are also commanded to teach each other more
diligently that we may be more perfectly instructed in theory
principle and doctrine. The Glory of god is intelligence, and this is
life eternal that they might know the only true god and his son Jesus
Christ whom he has sent. ought we not then to become more like God by
acquiring the intelligence that is his glory? when we look at
what is godly intelligence, is it raw facts that we spit out to make
ourselves look good? or is it things that we dont necessarily even
think about? things like..do we know what Christ-like love is? what
about godly sorrow? do we have true charity to our fellow man?
knowledge is power but what good is a porsche if you never drive it?
when we learn things we need to apply them in a way that they become
part of us that we may progress in the way that we were sent to this
earth for. men are that they might have joy and this is Gods work and
his glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of men. so
that advantage that we will have in the life to come will not just be
how many decimals you can repeat pi. but how well did you learn to
love the lord your god with all your heart might mind and strength.
love you all
kaataki a moutoo oku ikai ke sia ia i he lea pehee ka nae kole mai a
eku fae ke u fai ha kii lea fakaelaumalie taumaia nae i ai ha talanoa
fuu malie keu vahe vahe mo moutoo ka ko eku ngaue he taimini ko e
ngaue fakanatula pe mo e lahi tokanga ki he tafaaki fakatuasino. oiaue
ofa lahi atu ka moutoo
love elder mayberry