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 

 

 

May 16, 2011

Hey Everyone!

 

So, this week was interesting.  Monday (the 9th), We went and chilled with the other Elders in our district for P-day. Elder Payne and Elder Artinger. Elder Payne is 21, has another year on his mission and is from southern California. He's an awesome guy. Really funny and fun-loving. Elder Artinger is from somewhere in Nevada.  He's a witty guy. always cracking jokes and he is a bold teacher. Great guy.

 

Anyways, for P-day, we went to King of Prussia (again) wrote letters, took a nap, ate pizza and played monopoly. And i got my booty kicked. but it was pretty fun.

 

Tuesday, we had a really good day, teaching wise. We stopped by a few investigators, had FHE at a member's home, Ate dinner at another member's home, went on splits with some elders from the ward and taught some less-active members. It was a good day.

 

Wednesday, we had a 10 hour zone conference. It was long, but it was a spiritual frenzy. we had the opportunity to hear from Elder Smith, our Area 70. (or whatever you call them). And he gave a great talk on how we can have a better relationship with our ward. we need a better one... Then President Schaefermyer spoke on how we can be better missionaries by being 100% obedient. He used Elder Perkins and Myself as examples for what a missionary should be. It was kinda funny because we're probably 99% obedient.... but he said he was proud of the work we've been doing and is grateful for our obedience.

 

Thursday, We didn't do much Thursday... it wasn't our fault though. Every single one of our appointments fell through, so we went tracting. Every single door we knocked was slammed in our face. it was a miserable day. The kind of day that a missionary would go home because of.

 

Friday. We went to Dawn's house Friday and taught her a lesson... but something was wrong in that house. There was no spirit whatsoever. It was... scary. We don't know why or what has been driving the spirit away, but it's not good. especially for her. Her testimony isn't as strong as it needs to be at this point. I just hope she didn't get ahold of some Anti that shook her faith.  After we stopped by Dawn, we visited some less active members in the ward. we didn't find much success with that, but hopefully something good will come of it.

Now the exciting part. Friday night we went to a Fathers and Sons activity night and had some fun. but halfway through the activity, i was having these really bad stomach pains. It felt like someone just punched me in the kidney and kept ramming their fist into my side. so, i threw up... didn't help. The elder's quorum president then rushed me to the hospital where they drugged me up and ran some tests. Turns out I have a fatty massive kidney stone. yup. 6mm big. the doctor said I'd be able to pass one that size but, it's gonna hurt.  So yeah. Spent a few hours in the hospital Friday.

 

Saturday, is a special day... it's the day we usually get ready for Sunday but because of the intense pain i was in, it was a day of rest. We didn't do anything that day. I slept, drank lots of water and slept some more.  I finally passed the stone at around 9 at night. and boy did it hurt. but now, I'm all good.

 

Sunday was also stake conference. We had a live broadcast from Salt Lake, so we got to hear from Bishop Edgley, Elder Ballard, and Elder Eyring. we also heard from the Primary presidency of the church, but i can't remember her name. Every single talk was focused on how the wards can help missionary work continue. Bishop Edgley really harped on how the world's view of good and evil has changed and how we as members need to be strong examples to the world. But yeah. Really awesome stake conference.

 

So that's whats been going on this week. Hope everyone is doing good, love you all

 

Elder McBride

May 09,2011

Dear Fam fam.

 

As a missionary... life becomes a game. The game is called "try not to go crazy by the end of the day." I hear this is a popular game amongst parents. For those of you who don't know the rules of the game..... you haven't lived. So here's the Elder McBride Rulebook (simplified) for the game, "try not to go crazy by the end of the day":

 

Rule number one: Always smile.

Rule number two: Mix it up. Don't go through the same routine everyday.

Rule number three: You eventually go crazy so might as well give up on the game now because there's no hope in becoming sane again. Get used to the Cazy-ness.

 

That is the simplified rules for the game, "try not to go crazy by the end of the day."

I am winning that game right now because i follow rule 3 to the "T"

 

Yeah. I'm really weird now. Even more wierd since yesterday when i talked to ya'll. (did you catch that i spelt weerd three different ways... and two of them wrong?) 

 

So we went tracting not too long ago and ran into this "devout" catholic. They claimed they were practicing the Catholic religion. So i thought I would make a funny and said "why don't you stop practicing and just do it?"  The person stared at me blankly.... poor guy. After we left him a pass-a-long card and he closed his door, Elder Perkins and I busted up laughing. I wonder if that guy ever got the joke.

 

Yeah. As you all know, we previously walked around Coatesville using ridiculous British accents. We have now moved on to use Russian/German accents. And they sound terrible. It's the poorest impression ever. We're probably going to go back to British accents in the near future.

 

Another thing... I went out and bought Monopoly a while back. That has helped us try to keed the sanity we have left. If you have any suggestions on how not to go crazy, I'd love them =)

 

Yeah.. Such is the Life of a Missionary.

 

Mom,  only you would spend 4 hours lugging around a lawn mower.... sadness. But we love you anyways.

man. This week wasn't too bad. Lots of missed appointments, and lots of doors slammed in our face, and a really bad sunburn to boot. (I have a "missionary" tan line!!).  But hey. we kept if fun and that's all we needed. Man, I was also down and out for 2 days because of a nasty sinus infection and stomach virus that has been floating around here for the past week. Tuesday and Wednesday, I was a mess. I slept for like 18 hours each day. It was horrible. I felt bad for Elder Perkins cause all he could do was sit around and read the scriptures. But friday and Saturday made up for it.

 

We found a new investigator too. We met him last monday i think. We've only taught him twice but he wants to be baptized. He has read about a fourth of the book of Mormon in a week and knows it's true. He came to church yesterday and said he felt, "pressure on my heart... but i liked it." We explained to him that that was the spirit testifying to him that what he has been learning and reading was true. We set a baptismal date then and there for him. June 5th so cross your fingers. His name is Bill Stewart.

 

But yeah. That pretty much sums up everything.

 

Love you all and hope you're safe!

 

Elder Jake McBride.

May 02, 2011

Hey all!

 

You wouldn't believe the crazy week i've had. It started out sucky, got suckyer, then finished off semi-sucky. We walked again.... all week. and to make things all the better, we had a mission wide mileage cut. 10%.  Not too happy about that. our area is one of the largest in the mission and we have the least amount of miles in the mission. It's getting to the point where we'll have to drop investigators because of mileage cuts. yay...

 

But i did purchase a guitar. A member in our ward bought one two years ago, played it twice and put it in storage. so i bought it from him for $150.  It's a black Ibenez (or something like that) acoustic guitar. normally priced around $200-275. So that's where some of the money went. And then we went to the King Of Prussia mall. 2nd largest mall in America. I purchased a shirt and new shoes for about $30. so not too bad. I almost bought some slacks but they didn't look like they'd last long.

 

anyways. I did get the Easter package and thank you so much for it!  I loved all the letters, the candy, and the cereal. Elder Perkins sends his thanks as well. The church hymns guitar book would be awesome. That should be safe if you sent it to the apartment. just don't send a box that's too big. =)  With the relient K song. don't pay for it. If you search google "relient K tabs" free ones will be available. please don't ever pay for tabs. it's just a waste of money.

 

Dawn, kayla, and tyler were all confirmed yesterday. They didn't make it last week because Dawn's uncle passed away unexpectedly. So we held it yesterday. It went really good. I just hope that they'll continue coming to church.

 

So guess what... I'm sitting in the library writing this right now and this lady sitting next to me is breathing sooooooo loud. She also grunts and, the best way i can describe it is, barks.  it's kinda funny. But i feel bad... she is a daughter of God. I need to be nice.

 

So dad, One of the missionaries in my district just finished serving his two years and his family is taking him on an Alaskan Cruise. i was just thinking how funny it would be if you ran into him. His name is Aaron Griffiths. I told him to look for you as well.

 

But yeah. sorry my letter this week is pretty boring, non-informative, and just all around sucky. But that's really all that's happened in Coatesville.

 

Love you guys.

 

Elder McBride

 

P.S. You need to get J'nell to write me an e-mail one of these days. Maddie is doing an awesome job!