July 11, 2011

Hey everyone!

 

Holy cow. This week went by so stinkin' fast. I blinked and 7 days flew by.

 

Not a whole lot happened. 4th of July, but you already know about that....  Yeah. All we did this week was good ol' missionary work.

Taught a few lessons here and there, met some new people. No injuries. The companionship is a lot better. So yeah. Pretty easy week.

 

I guess the only new thing that happened was we had companionship exchanges and i got to go to West Chester, PA. A pretty cool college town full of people my age. It would be a pretty cool place to live... except for, the morals are pretty low there.

 

I had the oppurtunity to hang out with Elder Laker. A new missionary from southern California. He's a pretty cool guy. Loves video games. He's a huge world of warcraft fan. I didn't bother asking him more about it because yeah... i could care less. (sorry dad.) But we had a good time. Met some awesome people, taught some awesome lessons. I had a lot of fun that day.

 

Elder C and I are getting along great! I finally deflated my head a little bit and focussed on humility. A little bit of that goes a long way. But, everytime we have a companionship inventory, it leads to "you have a lot to work on and i don't" speech given by Elder C. So i just have to keep on working with humility and patience. I've had a greater appreciation for the scripture: "Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye." Luke 6:42  Yes, I have a lot to work on, but I feel like i don't need to be told that every 5 minutes. Oh well.

 

So Transfers are this next week. I find out either friday or saturday if I'm getting transfered to another area. I hope not. I love the ward out here. I love our investigators. I even love coatesville. I'd really hate to leave it. But, I know i'll go where the Lord wants me to go, and I'll be happy to do it.

 

I'm glad that you had fun at Girls camp. And good thing you didn't die. The ward out here had girls camp was 2 weeks ago. It was really cool to hear from a few young women in the ward talk about how much girls camp affected their life for the better. It's gotta be Scout camp on steroids. I'm pretty jealous.

 

Speaking of Jealous.... The Elders quorem and the Priest quorem are going paintballing next weekend. Unfortuneately, missionaries can't go because of the rule book... The priests were so disappiontend. They wanted to take a shot at us. I would have loved it.

 

Anyways, back to the topic at hand...... How are the Bell's doing. I got a e-mail from Aunt Lisa a few weeks ago and she was saying how proud she was for my decision and had a fews words of encouragement that really helped. I'm pretty sure i emailed them back.....

 

How 'bout the hugelys?  Maddie said that they were sick =(.

 

It sounds like you all had an awesome week!

 

That would be pretty cool dad. But I'd only like to do it for one season.. maybe. I'll have to think about more... when i have time to think. That's cool that you found Sam McGee's Cabin. I tried reciting that poem the other day, but failed. It's been forever since i've heard it.

 

Well, Time flies and i've gotta run. Enjoy the pictures.. Hopefully they load.

 

Love you all!

 

Elder McBride.

July 05, 2011

Hey McBrides!

 

Happy Independence day!  It was insane out here. Fireworks all night (probably heard a few gunshots mixed in with them...), Barbeque's everywhere, flags galore. It was awesome!  I was kinda bummed though, because we're not allowed to launch any fireworks. But we did see a whole lot.  The people in Coatesville go crazy.

 

Anyway.. So this last week was pretty good. We saw a lot of people, taught a few lessons, and got some awesome pictures. I keep forgetting my camera cord so i can send you some pictures. Sorry, but I'll get them to you soon.

 

Thanks mom for sending those letters, they really helped. I should be picking up the package on thursday, can't wait to see what's inside.

 

So a little update. Elder Conradt and I have been able to set aside our differences and are now working really well with one another. Sure there are still times where we tend to bash heads, but it never escalates into anything serious. We're able to stop arguing, sit down and talk it out. In the end, we're cool with each other.

 

Not a whole has happened since the last time i wrote.

 

Bill's baptism date was moved to August 14 and I'm super excited about that. I now have peace of mind. I was worried he wasn't going to be able to make his date.

 

Mike is on track with his date for July 24 and he's pumped and excited about that.

 

We've gotten in contact with Dawn and her kids and they're doing really good. She's happy even though she found out she has cancer in both her kidneys. Her spirits are high and she can't wait until church next sunday.

 

but yeah, besides that, nothing new to report.

 

I do have a few questions though...

 

Dad, How's alaska treating you? have you seen many grizzlies? J'Nell was telling me that you invited her to drive buses with you when she turns 21, is driving something you'd like to continue to do?

 

Mom, How's Utah treating you? How are maddie and conner liking summer? Is J'Nell having "boy problems," cause if she is... Well, lets just say those boys better sleep with one eye open when i get back. =)

 

Oh, one more thing. I found out that the Ground breaking for the Philadelphia temple is mid september. and the Missionaries might be able to be apart of it.

 

Well, hope everything is going good. Thank you for your prayers, i definitely need them. And my prayers are with you.

 

Love you all

 

Elder McBride.

June 27, 2011

Hey McBrides!

 

This week was 100 times better than last week. Not a whole lot happened, but it just seemed like a better week.

 

I guess it all started with my studies on Monday. I read this awesome talk titled "the 4th missionary." unfortunately i can't remember who wrote it.... But wow. So in the talk it mentions 4 kinds of missionaries.

 

1st missionary: Disobedient, Hates the work, and eventually gets sent home early either because he's done something wrong or he doesn't want to do it anymore.

 

2nd missionary: Disobedient, but finishes his mission, but has regrets.

 

3rd missionary: serves diligently, baptizes many, learns from his mission, gives all his might and strength, But, he doesn't doesn't give his heart or his mind. he doesn't enjoy the mission, stays active in the church, but doesn't really enjoy it.

 

4th missionary: Serves diligently, baptizes many, learns from his mission, gives all his heart, might, mind and strength to the Lord so he can become what the Lords wants him to be. Loves his mission and becomes even more active in the church.

 

This week i realized that I'm absolutley worthless on my own. But, If I give myself to the Lord to be molded into what he wants me to be, I can do anything. I will be happier with the work, the days will seem short, we'll find much more success, and I'll become the person i want to be. One of my goals i wanted to achieve while on my mission was to become a better person. Someone whom others would look up to. And I know that by completely giving myself to the work, I'll become that person.

 

So i've tried to apply that this week. Smile more, study harder, pray more fervently, and give myself to the Lord. And immediately after I made that decision, The mission has gotten easier.

 

Tuesday, we had an amazing lesson with one of our investigators. i don't think i've ever felt the spirit more strongly in my life. We talked about how church blesses our lives and invited her to come with us. She said yes, but unfortunatley, she didn't show up. Hopefully next week.

 

Wednesday, I went on exchanges with Elder Payne, our district leader. I went to his area, West Chester. West Chester is a college town full of kids. And about 75% of those kids are girls... pretty girls. At least they weren't distracting. Anyways.... We taught a few people, had an awesome dinner with some members and tracted. It was really cool. Loved that day.

 

Thursday, we had the oppurtunity to go to the Moromon Tabernacle choir concert in Philly. Holy cow. They are amazing. I took a whole bunch of pictures and a few videos of it. I'll send you pictures soon. I promise. So the concert was awesome. They sang a couple of cool songs: Come, come ye saints, I got the whole world in my hands, Sunrise Sunset, Down to the river to pray, and many more. We took an investigator with us, Mike Billings, and he loved it!  I don't remember if i told you, but Mike is getting baptized on July 24th!

 

Friday, I don't even remember what happened friday. it seems like it was forever ago....

 

Saturday, I can't remember what happened that day either....

 

Sunday, Awesome day. Church was awesome! Bill Stewart, one of our investigators, came and loved it. Mike was there, as usuall. and Yeah. good day. After church we had dinner with a Less-Active family and had a really good conversasion why they don't come to church. They told us all these reasons and i simply said, "yeah, those are all good reasons why not to go. But what is the reason we do go?" They were kinda shocked that i would ask them something like that. They then said that they would be at church next week. Super excited for them.

 

So yeah. good week, and it's only gonna get better.

 

Glad that everyone is having fun! Not gonna lie, I miss swimming. It really sucks when you're walking down a street, it's 100 degrees outside and you hear a family splashing in a pool. All you want to do is jump in a soak it all up. Maybe someday.

 

I can't believe that J'Nell will be driving soon. She's not allowed to do that. She's still too young =P.

And Maddie's 10? Sheesh. You guys need to stop growing up.

That's no fun with Conner. Hopefully he starts feeling better.

 

And no, I haven't been able to pick up the package you sent yet. I also haven't recieved the letter, but it should be here later today.

 

Anyways, Love you all!

 

Elder McBride

June 20, 2011

Hello McBride family,

 

Yeah, last week was pretty discouraging. I was sick with some kind of stomach virus, my new companion and I don't really see eye to eye, many of our promising investigators no longer want to meet with us. We finally got in contact with Dawn, but now she doesn't want anything to do with us. It was not a fun week.

 

This past week was pretty similar. Even more of our investigators said that they don't want to meet with us. Elder Conradt and I are still struggling as a companionship. A few of the members have been giving us the cold shoulder ever since Elder Perkins left the area. Tracting is a nightmare. and to top it all off, I've been sick for a few weeks. some kind of stomach virus.

 

I have a few tracting stories I'm sure you're gonna love.

 

Tuesday, we tracted for at least 4 hours in 90 degree weather. Door after door we were rejected. This one door, a lady comes out and starts yelling at us, calling us "Sons of Satan" "Jesus killers" and "Baby eaters" (and those ones where the nice ones). She then proceeded to throw various objects at us, a few of which were sharp and/or heavy. we got lucky though, Her aim was horrible. But i still got hit. Pretty good goose egg out of that encounter.

 

On wednesday. We tracted into this guy and he let us in. We then told him who we were and why we do what we do. He seemed interested, but you could tell he had just been doing some kind of drugs. He still had a bong on his table... along with a gun sitting next to it. We then made up excuses and got out of there as fast as we could. It was pretty intense.

 

Thursday we didn't do much tracting, but we had a lesson with one of our investigators and she started throwing anti stuff at us. She no longer wants to meet with us.

 

Friday we tracted.... all day. and didn't find a single person who would listen to us. Got called out by a group of latinos. I thought we were going to have to fight them, but they left us alone after they circled us and yelled at us for a few minutes. They were all small so Elder Conradt and I should have been able to handle the situation pretty well if it got out of hand, and thankfully it didn't. yeah. I'm kinda sick of Coatesville.

 

Saturday we had a few appointments and one of them, an investigator no longer wants to meet with us because he said he prayed about the book of Mormon and received and answer that it's not true. We know he didn't pray and we asked if we could come back, but he "politely" declined and threw us out of his apartment.

 

Yeah, this last week was rough.

 

To answer a few of your questions.

 

I have been taking pictures but not as many as i would like. We're not supposed to take pictures as we're out prosolyting so we don't look like tourists. But I'll keep taking pictures. I'll upload a few next week (i forgot to bring my camera). And i'll send the SD card out to you when it's full.

 

I haven't gotten a GPS yet just because i haven't had the chance to go and pick one up.

 

We saw Dawn, but she doesn't want to see us.

 

For the most part i'm healthy. I've lost quite a bit of weight and slimmed down a bit. But most of that is due to lack of eating. I'm not hungry out here. All i eat, when i do eat is a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich and i'm good for the rest of the day.

 

My testimony is still strong. It's weird. I look forward to sundays now. I love church. It's a recharge and i need it. I'm reading the BoM everyday and am now just starting Helaman (this will be the second time reading it since i've been out here.) I feel like my testimony has really grown since being out here.

 

I don't think i need anything. But i would like some more music. Besides that i'm pretty good with what i've got.

 

And i do know that you love me. I love you too.

 

It's really good to hear that every one is enjoying the summer. It's crazy to think that J'Nell will be driving soon. And that Maddie's birthday is this next week. Happy Birthday Maddie! Is she turning 9 or 10?

 

Glad to hear that Dad is enjoying Alaska. That's pretty cool that everyone appreciates you. I wish i could read the blog. Alaska sounds awesome.

 

Thank you so much for the prayers. I need them =).  Well, I love you all and Pray for you daily.

 

Elder McBride.

 

June 13, 2011

Hey,

 

Ugh. This week was... not one of the best weeks. I got really, really, really homesick. It was super wierd too. And Elder Conradt, is an interesting character but he's a good guy. It's gonna be an interesting couple of months.

 

It just seemed like this week was one of the least productive weeks i've had. It was a really good week, but at the same time it wasn't. A lot of missed appointments, a lot of doors slammed, a lot of sickness, and a lot of just downright awful days.  The weather was horrible too. 100+ and 90% humidity for 4 days in a row. I was not a happy camper. 

But on the other side, the lessons we did have were awesome, the people we're teaching are solid, and the Members are really supportive. the week deffinitely had its up days and down days. There was one day where all i wanted to do was find a dark room, curl up in a corner, and cry. But because i'm a man and a missionary, I did my best to continue the work. (without any tears)

 

man... have you ever had that feeling where you have a lot to say, but you can't put it into words. I'm having that right now. There's so much to tell you, but i can't put it into words.

 

But yeah. I don't have much to report. Still haven't found Dawn. Mike Billings is getting baptized July 24th. Bill Stewart is getting baptized July 10th. President Schaefermeyer gave me a call and told us how great we're doing and to keep up the good work. Elder Conradt and I have some differences but, i'm doing my best to be patient. One of the Recent Converts will be going to the temple soon and i might be able to go. Some big things are happening in Coatesville. and I'm lucky to be a part of it.

 

That's awesome that you guys are planning all that for the summer. It'll be wierd not being there. But hey, i'm right where i need to be.

 

The only thing that i would like, would be some more music.  Preferrably, Josh Groban, Jeremy Camp, or something similar. But yeah, whatever would be nice.

 

Sorry for such a short email, but i don't know what to write.

 

I'm glad you're all doing well and i pray for you always.

 

Love ya

 

Elder McBride.

June 06, 2011

Hey Mom,

 

    Glad to hear everything is going really well. WHAT!!!! RUSSIA!!! You'll have to congratulate him for me. Ah. I'm so jealous.  We're teaching this kid from Ukraine right now, Sasha, and he tells us about how awesome Russia and Ukraine are. I'm also picking up some Russian.  Kak Dela (what's up... pronouced Cok Doolla). Haha. He also told us how gorgeous the woman are out there. I wonder if Derrick met anyone.....  And Florida. Tell Lexin congrats as well. That's awesome!

 

That's too bad the ward is struggling. but i am glad that they're all banding together. (i think i used that word out of context...)  But let them know they're in my prayers. Poor Colton. I hope he'll be alright. And also Jared. That's rough.   Dawn also has problems with her Kidney. She has cancer in both of them. I told her she could have one of mine =).

 

Speaking of Dawn. She vanished into thin air. We have no idea where she is or what she's doing. Hopefully she's OK.

 

Anyways. You need to tell J'Nell to stop breaking phones. How many has she gone through? 4?  And Maddie.... i can't believe she got one too.

 

This week was pretty interesting. I don't really remember what happened because it went by so fast. Oh. It was hot. Hot and Miserable. The humidity is awful. It got up to 100 degrees, plus 90% humidity. I almost died that day. Horrible.   We played a lot of B-ball, Did a ton of service and Taught some awesome lessons. Mike Billings, the one who won't smoke, told us Tuesday that he's going to quit smoking and wants to be baptized on July 31. Elder Perkins and I were speechless. We thought he was going to be an eternal investigator. Also, this area is on fire. We have 2 baptisms lined up, including Mike's, and we expect a lot more before August. It's a great time in Coatesville. for the most part.

 

But today will be a day to remember. We had transfers today. Elder Perkins is now in Scranton, PA (yes... that's where "the office" is filmed). I have a new companion, Elder Conradt from Hawaii. He's a pretty cool guy. I don't know much about him because we met.... an hour ago. the one thing i do know, is that it's going to be an interesting exchange. We might butt heads a little bit, but I'll do my best to make it the best. He seems like a good guy. He's been out a year and a half so I'll be able to learn a lot from him. I'm nervous though. I get to stay in Coatesville and pretty much take over the area until Elder Conradt gets to know everyone. So that puts a lot of pressure on me. Hopefully i won't crack =P. But yeah, besides that nothing big has happened.

 

So what are some of the fun things you guys are gonna do this summer without me?  Some of the fun things I'm going to do without you are: Baptize everyone in Coatesville, Walk, Sweat like crazy, lose a million pounds, Get doors slammed in my face, Have really awesome spiritual lessons, Meet cool and crazy people, become Elder Conradt's best friend, Stress over my Investigators, Rebuke the Ward Mission Leader, Have awesome P-days, and read my scriptures for hours. Yeah, I'm lookin' forward to it.

Now that i'm thinking about it... Hopefully Derrick didn't go off the deep end. There's a guy from the ward who went to Ukraine to live for a few months and came back a different person. From what i've heard about him, before he left, he was a really nice guy that would do anything for you. Now, he smokes, drinks, swears like a sailor, and has gone Less-active. The reason he had such a big change was because of the culture of the people in Ukraine. I just hope Derrick didn't get "rattled" over there.

 

Guess what... I've got an awesome tan. I look like a burnt white person. and i'm proud of it. My skin is super dark.... on my arms and face. Everywhere else is white.... blinding white. it's pretty funny. YA CRUT!! (some more russian, "I'm cool" pronouced.. ya croot).

 

But yeah. That's pretty much it. Hope all's well in Orem.  Love ya

 

Elder McBride

May 31, 2011

Hey Fam,

 

So to get your questions out of the way.... No, it hasn't rained for about a week and a half, but boy... It is HOT! Hot and Humid. Not too fun. Today it got up to 99.... with 75+ percent humidity.  but it's supposed to rain sometime this week.

 

The money thing. I forgot that there were 5 weeks is May. So i kinda spent all my MSF (missionary service fund) early. So some of the money went to groceries, and then we went to down-town Philly a few days ago so i pulled some out for that, but didn't use it. so I've got an emergency fund right now, stashed somewhere safe. so yeah.

 

I'm as healthy as a horse. No more problem with the stones. The one thing i can work on is drinking more water. But the Tap water out here will give you some kind of disease... we missionaries like to call it the "philly-itis". It takes you out for a few days. So we went out and got a filter. Yeah. so hopefully i can keep the fluids up.

 

And yes. I know that you love me. I love you too.

 

So this week was an interesting week to say the least.  Dawn has gone missing.... we have no idea where she is. Her kids don't know where she is. No one in the ward knows where she is. But what we do know is that she had a big argument with her Ex not to long ago. So we assume that she ran off to avoid him for now. probably living with a friend or relative.  Hopefully we can find her soon. Her kids are ok though. They're with their uncle. and He's a really good guy.

 

Anyways. We are teaching these awesome people! I think i told you about Bill Stewart. He's still rockin' and rollin'. He can't wait for his baptism. He's just a solid guy.  Then we're teaching this awesome lady. Vicky. Unfortunately i can't remember her last name.. it's some crazy Italian name. Anyways... Vicky is awesome. She has been reading the BoM like mad. But... she doesn't want to come to church because she was forced to go in the past and that kind of turned her off from attending church. But we had a really good lesson with her and she said she'll come to church in the next couple of weeks.

 

We went on two exchanges this last week. One with our zone leaders and the other with the members of our district. I got to go out with Elder Kay (one of the zone leaders). He's an awesome guy! He's heading home here this Wednesday actually. He's from Kearns Utah. Funny, laid back kind of guy. Dad would really like him. After that exchange he told me he hasn't been on that good of an exchange since the beginning of his mission. That was pretty cool. And the second exchange.. I went with Elder Payne. Awesome kid from southern California. It's almost scary how similar we are. We clicked right off the bat. Good guy.

 

it's weird though.... Transfers are this week and It's highly likely that either Elder Perkins or myself is going to be leaving (yes that was really bad grammar, but it's ok cause i be a missionary). It will most likely be Elder Perkins but you never know. It'll be interesting to see. So you never know, the next e-mail you get from me might be from somewhere that's not Coatesville. (like it matters right =P).

 

So how the heck is everyone! How was memorial day? Did you BBQ at all cause we did! It was so good. Probably because I'm just an amazing cook. anyways... Schools almost out right? You should consider yourselves lucky because the kids out here don't get out till June 15th.

 

Anyways. I'll talk to you guys next week!  Love ya

 

Elder McBride