February 24, 2016 Hi Family

It's great to hear from you. The house is going to look so different by the time we get back, I don't think I'm going to recognize it. We had a pretty cool week this week.

The stuff that wasn't the just usual miraculous missionary things that happen every week started on Sunday. Julio Came to church! He's awesome and seemed to really enjoy coming back. Also Craig Bench came and spoke to our branch, he gave a great talk, his Spanish is perfect. He asked me to stand up part way through and basically said "I've known Elder McBride since he was really little and I know his parents really well. His parents are awesome therefore he's awesome so listen to his message, I know it's true." that's not word for word but that's the gist of it, pretty big compliment to you guys, just sayin. In that same meeting A--- also got confirmed! It's the 3rd confirmation I've gotten to be a part of as a missionary 5th all time, and they're always a really cool experience. To cap off that awesome Sunday when we got our zone's numbers from the week and totaled them all up it turned out that our zone had better numbers than any other week in our zone leader records. I'm proud because even though numbers don't mean everything they do tend to indicate a combination of effort and how much the Lord trusts us with blessings, so it's good to see growth.

We found some sweet people over the weekend and so far this week. We're looking for that next person that's just super prepared for the Gospel. Some good hope coming out of Danbury. Next week we have transfers, I don't expect to move but there might be quite a bit of change around me. I've come to really appreciate change, usually when it's looked at positively something positive comes out of it, but when someone doesn't want something to change and it does something negative comes out of it. I've decided to choose to like change.

I love you family. Have a great week! Good luck with the house!

Con Amor,
Elder Sam McBride

Sam with Craig Bench

Sam with Old Friends, Craig Bench and Julio Martinez

February 17, 2016 Pretty Cool Week

So I'm not going to be writing a whole ton this week but I have a bunch of pictures from the photo scavenger hunt zone activity that we did. A quick rundown of what happened this week. We had Zone Conference on Friday, the picture of me on the blog was a picture of me conducting it. On Friday night we drove down to the Stamford chapel and started a companion exchange with the Assistants. It was a good
exchange. I went to New Rochelle for the day with Elder Wulff and we set a baptismal date. Since we started and ended the exchange at the Stamford chapel I got to see the chapel that we were blessed in, it seemed a little familiar. On Sunday A--- got baptized! She has been investigating for 7 years and she finally got baptized. This last weekend was crazy cold. On Sunday the low with windchill was -25. On Monday it snowed but then it warmed up really quick and rained so basically all the snow is already gone. The weather is really weird here. I'm going to send a bunch of pictures to make up for the short email. Love you!

Con Amor,
Elder Sam McBride

Baptism Day

Zone Conference

Companions!

Zone Scavenger Hunt Activity

Abraham & Isaac

Tying Your Comp's Tie

February 10, 2016 - Zone Leader Duties

 Hey Family! That's crazy how much you're changing the house! Are we even going to be able to recognize it when we get back? Thanks for all the updates on things, it sounds like a crazy week for the B Mcbrides. I hope everything goes great.

We had a good week filled with stuff that I have to do as a zone leader that's not a super exciting to write about but not boring to do. On Friday I went to my first MLC (Missionary Leadership Council), which is a monthly meeting that all the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders go to in Scarsdale. It was a good meeting, but the exciting part was the ride down. We got pounded by snow on the way down, we made it on time because we left super early but it took twice as long to get there. The Mondays after MLC we have Zone Meetings instead of District Meetings. It's basically supposed to be a repeat of MLC, but crafted for our zones specifically. It went pretty well, I gave a training on Goal setting and Accountability. After Zone Meeting I went on a Companion Exchange with Elder Michia, whose the companion of one of the District leaders. I was in their area for the day with Elder Michia. Since the exchange was for 24hrs I stayed in their apartment for the night which is in Peekskill New York.  The building that it's in was built in 1846 and has a great view of this lake and the nuclear power plant. I wish I had gotten a picture. We had a good exchange.  The coolest part was when we found a less active member whose Mom is an active member in the last ward that I served in. It was a pretty cool miracle. Elder Michia's a pretty interesting guy, he's from Buenos Aires Argentina.  Argentinians speak Spanish but it's very different from the Spanish spoken in most other countries, so sometimes people don't understand him perfectly. It's kind of a funny situation sometimes, but it always turns out well.

We have a pretty big week ahead of us. We have Zone Conference on Friday. And a Baptism Sunday! It's the same investigator whose baptism got canceled because of the storm. She's been investigating for 7 years, so many missionaries have taught her but now she finally feels ready. It's super cool to see.

I did get my glasses figured out. And thanks for getting me new insoles, I haven't gotten them yet but thanks in advance. I hope everyone has a great week!

Con Amor,
Elder Sam McBride

Mission Leadership Council

Selfie Time with Pres Smith

February 3, 2016 - Hey, I'm In Danbury!

Sorry about that whole Fiasco last week. The software that the church has put on the iPad's decided to force update all of the iPads in the entire mission at 5 o'clock on Pday, so the email I had written up got erased. I'll update you a little on what happened that week. It was a good week, we had a baptismal date scheduled for the that weekend, but it got canceled because of the storm. We reset it for February 14th and she's pretty determined to get baptized that day. The snowstorm was pretty crazy even though we didn't get it that bad. We weren't allowed to drive basically that entire day, so instead we did our weekly planning. It was a pretty intense storm but all the snow is already pretty much gone. I started driving again for the first time in more than 8 months. It's been a good time. We have this little box in our car that tells us to slow down when we go too fast and gets mad and sends a report to president when we hit the brakes too hard or accelerate too fast. So it's been little bit different of an experience since last time I drove but not a bad one just a different one. Missionary work itself is also a little bit different here than in the city and that's a little bit of an adjustment too. There's not thousands of people walking around on the street, everyone has cars, and people have more normal hours. So in some ways it's a lot harder but in others it's a whole lot easier.

This week so far has been a pretty normal week. On Wednesday night we visited J---. He's awesome. He has a few things that are keeping him from coming to church but he'll get there. Later in the week we helped a member paint an apartment, and we were supposed to have our fancy meeting with the stake presidency and President Smith, but it got canceled last second on Sunday.

Yesterday I had a pretty cool experience. We went on a companion exchange with Elder Baldwin and Elder Viera, two of the Portuguese speaking elders in our zone. It was the first exchange that I've ever "been in charge of" and it went really well. You learn a lot when you're trying to teach others. The Elder that I was with was having a little difficulty with something and I had no clue how I could help him. Then at the end of the exchange we did a little debrief and I remembered a section of Preach My Gospel that perfectly answered the problem that he was having. We were able to set some goals and make some plans to help him improve and it was a pretty cool spiritual experience.

I love you. It's great to hear from you and hear that everyone's doing well. Have a great week. Thanks for coming in clutch with the glasses and insurance thing I was able to go and order them.

Con Amor,
Elder Sam McBride

Transfer Day!

January 27, 2016 Sorry! Technology Issues

So today I wrote up a really long email it was 5 paragraphs telling you about my week, the storm, and what it's like to learn how to drive again. But the restriction software on my iPad decided to reset my email and delete the account of my iPad and with it my email that I had all typed up. So.... I'm sorry I love you, I'm happy and healthy, but a little mad at maas360 so... Yeah. Love you.

Con Amor,
Elder Sam McBride

With Elder White

Elder Mackintosh with New Trainee, Elder Cruz Santos

Me and this Adorable Brazilian kid, Pedro. He invited the
missionaries to his Cars birthday party

January 21, 2016 Baptism and Transfers!

This week has been pretty crazy because of transfers! First off L___ got Baptized! It was a great service.  I'm planning on sending you a copy of the program. He was so prepared and I'm so happy for him. He was also confirmed on Sunday and he's going to get the priesthood this Sunday. I'll send some pictures. Sadly, R___ wasn't able to get baptized this last week, but he will definitely be getting baptized in
the next few weeks.

Next up is that Elder Mackintosh is training and got called to be the district leader! And drumroll please............ I got transferred to Danbury Connecticut! Specifically the Danbury 2nd branch, Its 1/2 Spanish and 1/2 Portuguese. It's part of the Yorktown stake, which I'm pretty sure is the same stake that we lived in back when we lived here. Dave Checketts, Steve Potter, and Colin Stauffer are the Stake
presidency and all three of those names sound super familiar. Can you send me an email about all of the people we knew from Connecticut and where we lived? It would be cool to go visit and take a picture on a Pday.

My new companion is Elder White. He's from California, and he's super cool. We're the Zone leaders of the Yorktown Zone which goes from Newtown, Connecticut to Ossining, New York. We also have a car, it feels super weird because I haven't really been in a car at all for a little over 8 months. This Saturday we have a baptism of an investigator that has been investigating the church for about 7 years. I've had so
little to do with it but it is super cool to see.

Sorry this is a little short today but we've been running around all day dealing with all the extra stuff we have to do because of transfers. I'm happy to hear that everyone's doing well, I pray for you all the time. I'm doing well, learning a lot, and excited to be in Connecticut. I love you.

Con Amor,
Elder McBride

A very happy new member of the Church!

Obispo Mena

Hermano Manzano

Hermano Felipe Mejia

Hermana Italia

Hermano Jesus Cardenas

The Medinas

January 13, 2016 Crazy Week!

So sadly the wedding didn't happen on Saturday. They called it off and R___ decided to move out instead. He's still going to get baptized this Saturday as long as he can find a place by Saturday. It's sad, but probably the right way to go. All he wants to do is what God wants him to do. He's in it for eternity. L___ baptism is 100%, definitely, for sure going to happen this Saturday at 3 o'clock. I'm so excited and he's so prepared. We have an awesome program planned and it's going to be such a great experience. 

Last Saturday (Cole's Birthday, by the way, Happy Birthday! Welcome to the teenager club!), even though the marriage didn't happen, was one of the coolest days of my mission. Elder Holland came to the city for some other church business and a couple weeks ago asked President if he could have the entire mission meet together so that he could address us. We all got to shake his hand and after a few short, great talks by President Buckner (NYNY Stake President), Sister Smith, and President Smith, he addressed us for a little over an hour. He talked about how vitally important missionary work is.  It really motivated us to be better and to try harder.  It was a great experience.  It's not every day that you get to be taught by an Apostle in such a small group (~230).

Yesterday (Tuesday) we had interviews and some big news came out. I'm getting transferred next week, we have no clue where yet, and Elder Mackintosh will be training! I'm so excited for him, he'll do great. I'm a sad that I'm finally leaving this area, things are looking so up and we're finding better than ever before, but change is good. I'm excited.

My next Pday will be next Thursday. This coming Wednesday we have transfers and a worldwide missionary broadcast, so they decided to change our Pday to Thursday. Thanks for being awesome! It sounds like Mom and Dad both have a ton going on at their jobs now. Good luck with that work situation Mom. I hope it's a good learning experience haha. I love you so much and pray for you all the time.

Con Amor,

Elder Sam McBride