The first week of training was pretty good. It's a real testimony strengthener, training. Especially when you feel like you should still be being trained. Elder Mackintosh is awesome, I couldn't have asked for a better trainee. He's really patient with me and understands that I'm still learning too. My Spanish has really started taking off, the gift of tongues is real, I wouldn't have been able to do it without a
bunch of extra help.
So this week has been pretty nuts with the new missionary and all that stuff but there isn't a whole ton to update you guys on because if you want to know what we did you can just go back 12 weeks and look at my old emails about what we did on my first week... Except my new companion's IPad isn't working yet because it came with IOS 9 installed on it which doesn't get along very well with the Church's security
software. He's going to get it on Friday at the New Missionary Meeting.
The cool story from this last week is basically the miracle that I'm actually able to speak good enough Spanish and do the things you need to do to be a missionary, while teaching a new missionary. Sometimes things get stressful then you sit back and think. "Why am I stressed? Look what the Lord has helped you do, if he made it able for you to do/learn that he will help you do/learn [insert struggle here]. You'll be fine, just try your best." And then you lift your head up, smile, and go to work.
So yeah, other than that I don't have a ton to update on, I'm doing great, I love you. I hope you're all safe, happy, and not too stressed. Cole, don't stress about missing school, you have class every day there will always be time to make it up. Ike, keep up the music, I wish I had. I'll answer those questions that you have. The Q&A's make it so easy.
1. Where are your companions from?
Elder Mackintosh From Lehi, Utah. The English District leader in our zone called that I would be training him when they saw his picture on Facebook like 4 weeks before we even knew I would be training, pretty crazy.
How old are they?
He turned 19 in the MTC and he's fresh out of High School
How about the other guys in your apartment?
Elder Smith is 20, from Salt Lake and he went to a semester of college at the U before. Elder Colson is also 20, from Albuquerque New Mexico, and He worked a year before coming out
2. What are your Sundays like?
Pretty much a normal day except we go to church from 11-2 then come home and do language study and 12 Week. We almost always tract on Sunday nights because everyone's home.
Do you attend multiple wards?
Nope we only go to 1 ward and there's 8 missionaries in it. So it's actually the complete opposite haha
Where do you attend?
Our building is by 200th and Dyckman and we're in
the Inwood 2nd Ward.
Is it a building like we are used to or something different?
The building is a lot like a normal one except it has 3 levels. The bottom one is a garage and the top two are like a regular church building.
3. How much do you knock on doors?
A lot
Someone mentioned to me that they didn't think that tracting was part of the program anymore and I laughed out loud. Do you mostly contact on the street?
The goal nowadays is to do the majority of your finding through the members. In some places they don't need to tract anymore because member referrals but in places where the Ward is small and shared with other missionaries, there just isn't really going to be a lot of work unless you tract. Some missions in other countries I've heard also don't tract because it's too dangerous (MTC teacher went to Mexico and wasn't allowed to tract).
How safe do you feel knocking on doors?
I feel super safe. I've never once been straight up yelled at or threatened or anything really scary.
4. What kind of service activities do you participate in?
We haven't done a whole lot of service but, we do teach English Classes twice a week and have service opportunities with members sometimes.
Are there organized projects?
Usually no
Do you go to certain places over and over? Or is it just case by case?
Case by case usually except for English class our companionship teaches every other Thursday.
5. How do you divide up the cooking and cleaning duties?
We kind of just do our own thing and then sometimes we work together and make something special. Ideally we just clean up after we do whatever and it never gets to bad but, that doesn't always happen so when we need to do a special cleaning on a pday we divide up what we need to do and get it done. And every transfer the day or two before the transfer the people who aren't cleaning the apartment do a really deep clean.
Do you feel like you know how to clean?
I'm not the one to ask that would be my roommates. I feel like I'm fine at cleaning though.
6. Have any of your roommates been good cooks?
Elder Smith is a really good cook, so sometimes he'll make something really good, but usually we don't have the time or the energy to cook anything more complicated than Mac and cheese.
7. What do you do on P-days besides write to us?
Sometimes we'll go do something cool like my first pday when we went to the 9/11 memorial or go play some sport. But a lot of the times we do our laundry and get our groceries and just kind of relax.
8. What do you do for exercise?
I mostly just do some push ups in the morning because we walk around all day and a lot of buildings don't have elevators, so I kinda count that as my working out, and do some push ups for obedience's sake.
9. Have you heard from any friends?
Ha but not for a bit I shot off a couple how are you doing emails today
10. People always say that crazy things happen on the mission that its best for moms not to know. Like crazy people being taught or crazy comps or missionary associates. So are there any crazy things you are not telling me?
Crazy stuff happens, but nothing you need to be worried about.
11. What are your feelings about fasting?
Fasting is awesome, I've really gained a testimony of it these last couple of weeks ever since I was called as a trainer. I fasted the Sunday before and it really reassured me.
12. Packages. Did you finally get our packages, Max? And Sam, I sent one to you too with your coat in it.
Yes. Thank you, you guys are so nice.
I Love you so much,
Con Amor,
Elder Sam McBride
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
September 16, 2015 Some Big News
Con Amor,
Elder McBride
Ok sweet I got a second to write. Yep I'm training Elder Mackintosh from Lehi Utah, here in Washington Heights. It's kinda crazy and super unlikely for someone to train right after they got finished being trained but, if the Lord calls you, it means it's for a reason right?
Elder Buckley went up to Holmstead in the east Bronx to be a Zone Leader and Elder Gallego went up to New Rochelle to be one of the Westchester Zone Leaders. It's a bummer to see them go, but change is good. Training's going to be crazy. My Spanish isn't really all that great yet, but, from what Elder Buckley told me, I'm doing well for only being out 2 transfers. We're going to learn a lot together and I think that my Spanish will take off, now that I don't have a safety
net. We said goodbye to a bunch of Members and investigators so that means I have a few pictures to send home to you. I'll put them in some other emails so the caption goes with the picture.
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| This is me and my trainee Elder Mackintosh. He seems pretty awesome and ready to put a lot of effort in. We're going to learn a lot together. It's going to be really funny to listen to Hispanics try to say our names. |
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| Of course me and Elder Gallego had to take a picture before he left for upstate. It's so crazy that I started my mission in the same apartment as him, what a blessing. |
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| This is Elder Buckley and one of the Recent Converts we teach, Hermano M... |
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
September 9, 2015 Short But Sweet
I don't have a whole lot to update you on this week other than that I'm not sick anymore (Yay), but we did have a couple cool experiences this Sunday.
On Saturday we met with a less active couple who we've been working with pretty much since I've been here. The husband is a very talkative person so the lessons are usually mostly him talking about something he's recently read or some topic that we brought up at the beginning, and then we ended by teaching the principle we wanted to teach and then bearing testimony. After a particularly scattered discussion it was almost time for us to go so we bore our testimonies. It was one of those times when the words just kind of came out making sense in Spanish without really having to struggle too much. After we bore our testimonies, the wife started talking, which she rarely does, and told us the the real reason that they haven't been going to church for all this time. We were able to address some of the concerns that they had had and reassure them. And the next day, They Came! It was great! The last time he came was more than a year ago and we don't even know the last time she came was. It was a straight up miracle.
On top of them coming to church, a member who is visiting from the Dominican Republic for a week brought her brother and his wife to church who aren't members and live in our area. They are awesome. We're meeting them tonight, because the sister that's a member is going home tomorrow, and we want her to be there for the first lesson. It was like two great investigators just appeared out of thin air, such a great blessing.
Next Wednesday we have transfers though, so there's a chance I'll be gone to continue teaching them, but it's
doubtful because my companion has been in this area for a really long time so if anyone's leaving it'll probably be him. But there's a chance that next week I could be emailing from someplace totally different or I could be with a different companion.
Transfers are fun. It's like every six weeks you start another semester at school, meeting new people, changing up your routine, maybe getting a new roommate, and every once in awhile go to a totally different place. Exciting haha.
Time really feels like it's flying I'm already past the 20 months left mark and I feel like it was just yesterday that I got to the MTC. Crazy.
I got those Book of Mormons, Books of Mormon, or copies of the Book of Mormon (however you say it) from the young women of the ward. Tell them thanks. I'm not sure when I'll be able to hand them out because most of the time we just give out Spanish copies but if I don't give them out in the next week or so I'll give them to the English Sisters in our zone and they'll be able to get them to somebody awesome.
Sorry for the short email I didn't really have a ton to say this week. I hope you have a great week and that everybody will stay safe, healthy and happy. I love you!
Con Amor,
Elder Sam McBride
On Saturday we met with a less active couple who we've been working with pretty much since I've been here. The husband is a very talkative person so the lessons are usually mostly him talking about something he's recently read or some topic that we brought up at the beginning, and then we ended by teaching the principle we wanted to teach and then bearing testimony. After a particularly scattered discussion it was almost time for us to go so we bore our testimonies. It was one of those times when the words just kind of came out making sense in Spanish without really having to struggle too much. After we bore our testimonies, the wife started talking, which she rarely does, and told us the the real reason that they haven't been going to church for all this time. We were able to address some of the concerns that they had had and reassure them. And the next day, They Came! It was great! The last time he came was more than a year ago and we don't even know the last time she came was. It was a straight up miracle.
On top of them coming to church, a member who is visiting from the Dominican Republic for a week brought her brother and his wife to church who aren't members and live in our area. They are awesome. We're meeting them tonight, because the sister that's a member is going home tomorrow, and we want her to be there for the first lesson. It was like two great investigators just appeared out of thin air, such a great blessing.
Next Wednesday we have transfers though, so there's a chance I'll be gone to continue teaching them, but it's
doubtful because my companion has been in this area for a really long time so if anyone's leaving it'll probably be him. But there's a chance that next week I could be emailing from someplace totally different or I could be with a different companion.
Transfers are fun. It's like every six weeks you start another semester at school, meeting new people, changing up your routine, maybe getting a new roommate, and every once in awhile go to a totally different place. Exciting haha.
Time really feels like it's flying I'm already past the 20 months left mark and I feel like it was just yesterday that I got to the MTC. Crazy.
I got those Book of Mormons, Books of Mormon, or copies of the Book of Mormon (however you say it) from the young women of the ward. Tell them thanks. I'm not sure when I'll be able to hand them out because most of the time we just give out Spanish copies but if I don't give them out in the next week or so I'll give them to the English Sisters in our zone and they'll be able to get them to somebody awesome.
Sorry for the short email I didn't really have a ton to say this week. I hope you have a great week and that everybody will stay safe, healthy and happy. I love you!
Con Amor,
Elder Sam McBride
Friday, September 4, 2015
September 2, 2015 Sick Week!
So... 2 weeks ago some of the sisters in our zone got sick and then it spread to Elder Gallego and my District Leader then it came to my other Zone Leader, Elder Smith, and I. We got sick and had to spend the entire day in the apartment. Our companions got permission from the Bishop to bring us the sacrament, thank goodness, so at least we got to do that. We have felt pretty bad every since but we're feeling a lot better today so hopefully soon everything will be back to normal.
We had a super fun ward barbecue at this park along the
Hudson. It was super pretty I took a sub par picture of a beautiful view. I'll put that on this email. We played volleyball in full proselyting clothes and ate a ton of food.
We found some awesome people these last few days so we'll see if we can get some people progressing and coming to church. We're having some pretty good success with some of the less active members of our ward, which some say is just as important.
Sorry this is kind of short there's not a whole lot to update you guys on. I'll add another picture that Elder Gallego and Elder Smith took one day when I forgot my IPad in the apartment, to make up for it. They're making some pretty funny faces, but hey they took it so I'm at no fault for sending it to you guys. I love you all so much and hope
that you have a good week. Enjoy taking the sacrament. It's one of the highlights of my week.
Con Amor,
Elder Sam McBride
A special little note for the little bros:
We had a super fun ward barbecue at this park along the
Hudson. It was super pretty I took a sub par picture of a beautiful view. I'll put that on this email. We played volleyball in full proselyting clothes and ate a ton of food.
We found some awesome people these last few days so we'll see if we can get some people progressing and coming to church. We're having some pretty good success with some of the less active members of our ward, which some say is just as important.
Sorry this is kind of short there's not a whole lot to update you guys on. I'll add another picture that Elder Gallego and Elder Smith took one day when I forgot my IPad in the apartment, to make up for it. They're making some pretty funny faces, but hey they took it so I'm at no fault for sending it to you guys. I love you all so much and hope
that you have a good week. Enjoy taking the sacrament. It's one of the highlights of my week.
Con Amor,
Elder Sam McBride
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| Hacked by Elder Gallego |
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| Pretty Park Along the Hudson |
A special little note for the little bros:
Cole, it's great to hear from you! I hope schools going great. Take advantage of it and try hard especially in the advanced classes I wish I had stayed in those for longer. Having weight lifting during school is awesome I'm jealous, taking a weight lifting class is so much better than doing it on your own. It's hilarious that you guys have been having so many parties, sounds like fun.
So, for the story that I told Ike I would write in your letter. We were over at a members house yesterday waiting for her to finish cooking so we could teach her a lesson I tried to talk to her son who was sitting on the computer and playing his DS. When I tried to talk to him my companion leaned over and told me that he never talks to us so I might as well not even try, so I gave up for a few minutes until a little later I realized he was on a Pokemon website. So I started talking with him about Pokemon and how I played a ton with my little brothers a few years ago. He was super excited and showed me his pokedex. It was pretty cool, his mom is a super solid member, but he's never even really talked to the missionaries. So congrats, you helped me get to know someone that traditional doesn't like the missionaries, you guys are awesome! I love you Cole, have fun, make good friends, don't burn yourself out in school before it even really matters, don't sweat the small stuff if you don't learn that now you'll learn it on your mission, and always always thank God for your blessings.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
August 26, 2015 Q&A on the subway (haha that rhymed)
1. How do you like living in the city?
Living in the city is good and bad, I don't really know how it compares to being upstate yet but from what I've heard from other missionaries I think I'll like being in the city more.
Is it a non-stop pace?
Yep always non stop walking around trying to catch buses, running through the turnstiles to try to catch a subway that just showed up, and depending on the street sometimes crosswalks are just a suggestion. It's pretty funny how passive I've gotten at just kind of walking quickly, dodging people and cars, and figuring out where I am and where I'm going based off street signs.
Do you love it or does it wear you out?
I love it and one of the reasons is because it wears me out. I come home at the end of the every day tired, hungry, and ready to go to bed. It's honestly a great way to live because I almost always go straight to sleep and don't have the energy to sweat the small stuff.
I love that you live in cities with Art in public spaces. Do you see much of that, Sam?
We don't have a ton of art in our area but we have a statue of a butterfly pod, and a painted subway tunnel in the area above us. We have one wall that's pretty sweet I'll get a picture that I took for Elder Gallego and put it on this email.
2. What do you have in your kitchens?
Do you have a toaster?
Nope
A blender?
Yep
A mixer?
Nope
A crock pot?
Nope but if we want one the mission office can bring us one
Would you want one?
We usually just stick to stove top and microwave, and sometimes we'll make milkshakes on pday with the blender.
3. Do you eat most of your meals at home?
Yep pretty much all of them
How often do you get fed by members?
Not too often, but when we do it's usually some Dominican spaghetti or la bandera
4. What's your favorite thing you are studying right now?
That's a tough one, right now I'm studying the BoM one chapter a day really taking it slow, I'm flying through the New Testament, and PMG how to use time effectively in Spanish during my personal study's. During my extra time when I'm tired and don't feel like reading I'm watching all of Elder Holland's General Conference talks chronologically and when I'm not tired and feel like reading, I'm reading out of one of the institute manuals which is super awesome. It's hard to pick but the Book of Mormon/New Testament personal study combo is really great, they really truly support each other and when read together revelation flows.
6. Sam, is there anyone from the ward that is super helpful to you?
Our Bishop is awesome, Bishop Mena, he is such a good leader and never really gets fazed by anything.
Cole and Ike sound like they're doing great, that I hope Cole's liking his teachers. I remember how weird it was switching to having a bunch of different teachers from just having one. It can be kind of overwhelming adjusting to how 6 different people want you to act and learn, but being versatile and teachable are skills that you are going to need your whole life. And Junior high is the start of that in a lot of ways. It's awesome that Ike gave that sweet talk in primary, I hope he liked it. I wish I had given some more talks before my mission. I think it would've directly applied to teaching on a mission because it forces you to develop skills like explaining yourself simply, clearly and directly which is so key to people understanding our message. I hope they both have great school years I thinks it's kind of funny that I'm basically gonna be gone for the entire time Cole's in Jr high, I left right before he finished 6th grade and I get back just before he finishes 8th wow.
Haha that sounds like a really goofy event, I bet it was fun. My second day in the mission they had a ward game night and it was hilarious. We played a bunch of weird games that I had never heard of before, like this weird version of musical chairs where you basically got assigned a fruit and if they called your fruit you had to get up and find a new chair. If you were the person who didn't get a chair, you would have to do something goofy like sing a song or tell a joke. My companion lost like 5 times. It was really funny.
Weird. I can't really remember Dad ever going to DC. I hope he has fun.
We had a pretty good week this last week, but there's not a whole lot to update you on. We're just chugging away trying to find someone that has the time and/or the desire to actually meet with us consistently. It's great, though, we find some sweet new potentials every week and some of the members that we teach are really growing in the gospel. It's great to see. My Spanish is coming along even though sometimes it doesn't feel like it, but Elder Buckley says that it's really been improving the last couple of weeks.
I love you family have a great week!
Con Amor,
Elder Sam McBride
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| Elder Gallego next to some nearby Street Art |
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
August 19, 2015 Zone Conference
Awesome to hear from you guys, I hope Cole and Ike had a great first week back to school. It's weird this is gonna be the first fall in like 15 years not going to school. Crazy!
We had a super good week last week. We found one awesome guy and actually had some follow up appointments happen which is super rare here. Two of the newish people that we have are awesome and one of them has a family that's pretty close so maybe if we can get them really moving or I stick around another transfer we might see some baptisms.
Yesterday we had Zone Conference which is basically a huge training meeting with all three of the Manhattan zones. We had it in the cultural hall in the temple building which is always awesome. The first part of the Conference was pretty much a devotional centered around a topic. Every zone gets a topic and all the missionaries have to prepare a talk because when the conductor stands up and says the program, he says an elder and a sister from every zone that the president picked and that's when and how you find out you're speaking. I had a feeling, ever since I heard that they did that, that I would be speaking, so I spent some serious time studying for it and getting some ideas down. And I was right, they called on me so, yeah I gave a talk on "How is the Book of Mormon, combined with the Spirit, your most powerful resource in conversion?" In my first zone conference, I was the 2nd to last speaker and the last elder speaking. I had a pretty strong talk that wasn't even really close to what I had prepared, but from what I've heard, it was still good. The rest of the conference was some random training stuff and then President talked for awhile about doctrine and principles. He used one of Dad's favorite quotes, "True doctrine understood changes attitudes and behaviors". It was a really good topic. All in all it was 8 hours long, but it was a pretty sweet meeting.
Yesterday we had Zone Conference which is basically a huge training meeting with all three of the Manhattan zones. We had it in the cultural hall in the temple building which is always awesome. The first part of the Conference was pretty much a devotional centered around a topic. Every zone gets a topic and all the missionaries have to prepare a talk because when the conductor stands up and says the program, he says an elder and a sister from every zone that the president picked and that's when and how you find out you're speaking. I had a feeling, ever since I heard that they did that, that I would be speaking, so I spent some serious time studying for it and getting some ideas down. And I was right, they called on me so, yeah I gave a talk on "How is the Book of Mormon, combined with the Spirit, your most powerful resource in conversion?" In my first zone conference, I was the 2nd to last speaker and the last elder speaking. I had a pretty strong talk that wasn't even really close to what I had prepared, but from what I've heard, it was still good. The rest of the conference was some random training stuff and then President talked for awhile about doctrine and principles. He used one of Dad's favorite quotes, "True doctrine understood changes attitudes and behaviors". It was a really good topic. All in all it was 8 hours long, but it was a pretty sweet meeting.
Today we're going back down to the temple to actually go to the temple. We get to go once a transfer. Our entire district is going so it'll be interesting to see how the House of the Lord calms Elder Gallego. It's always awesome going to the temple because when you're down in the city, there's really not ever a break from all the random junk, but once you're in the temple you wouldn't even know that it's in the middle of Manhattan. It's a great break and the last time we went I left feeling so refreshed and ready to go for another 6 weeks.
Thanks for the box. It was really sweet. My companion hates the hex bug. He thinks it's super creepy haha. And the first thing Elder Gallego did when he saw the whoopie cushions was play with one for a half an hour. The children's piano book gave us a good laugh. Thanks, I'm seriously gonna try to learn at least 1 hymn before I get transferred.
I love you guys so much. The question and answer thing that we did a few weeks ago was awesome, so feel free to ask questions. It makes it a lot easier to think of things to write. Have a great week and if you get a chance watch "Safety for the Soul" by Holland from the October 2009 conference. I love that talk, my quote of the week is what I hope to be able to say someday, "I want it absolutely clear when I stand before the judgment bar of God that I declared to the world … that the Book of Mormon is true." Straight chills every single time. It might be kinda hard to find the video because it weirdly doesn't work on Gospel Library, but I know that you can watch it here on your phones http://media2.ldscdn.
Les Amo Mucho,
Con Amor,
Elder Sam McBride
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
August 12, 2015 Answers Pre-Big Email and What the Heck Moments!
Wow! sounds like you guys had a Crazy Summer. It's like you have 2 less people to worry about or something. What are you gonna do with all your free time once the kids are back in school Mom? The kids here just started their summer break, the schools have these weird schedules where there's school for a certain amount of weeks and then they get 2 off but, I'm not sure if it's every school because some families go on really long vacations back to the DR during "Summer Break".
I already sent a pretty detailed response to your questions today, so I think I'm just gonna tell a story. That's why I named this email what it is, I had a few of them this week this one was just the most ridiculous.
Tuesday's are long because we don't have anything but proselyting time and they're usually a bit slow. We usually have a lot of appointments but a bunch of them will fall through, so we spend a lot of time walking from place to place trying to find someone to teach on Tuesdays. Yesterday was exactly like this. We had a few appointments
either bail on us or just not be home when they told us to come by and hadn't answered their phones earlier. So we spent awhile just walking around and taught a couple lessons then we had a member, who we were supposed to teach later that night, text us and tell us that he's going to a birthday party for a 1 year old girl. We thought he was going to cancel on us so we were kind of bummed, but then he invited us to go with him. We were really confused, but accepted because we've been looking for an opportunity to meet an awesome family to teach, that has already been exposed to the church by a member. So we said we would and met up with the member and his friend, the dad of the niña, and went to this party. Turns out we underestimated this 1 year old girls birthday party, it was supposed to be in a park but it got rained out so there was like 50 people squeezed into this apartment, super loud music was playing, the all the adults were drinking except for us and the member we went with, and it was super hard to move around because of all the people. We didn't leave for a bit, even though we were super uncomfortable, because they were all being super nice, giving us food and cake, and we didn't want to leave our member there alone because we're pretty sure he didn't know anyone but the father of the girl who's birthday it was. We did do some missionary work though. We became friends with the dad of the girl, and we talked to the member about the new thing we're starting to do with our investigators and members that we teach, to try to help them keep the commitments that we extend and that they accept, where we challenge them to read the Book of Mormon every day and we promise to text them and remind them every day. He accepted the challenge. So yep, that's my story of going to a rager birthday party for a 1 year old girl as a missionary and still technically teaching a lesson (Principle taught, Commitment extended).
Not a ton of things to update on this week. We've been finding some people who might actually pan out recently, so fingers crossed they will open their doors and answer their phones again. It's weird hearing about Alex's mission. Here it's really easy to find people that are interested and will talk to you once or twice then tell you that they don't have time because they're always working. They have to because of how expensive it is to live here. In a family both parents almost always work, the kids are home alone if they aren't old enough to have a job when they're on breaks, and the only adults we ever meet that are home most of the time are old women who we aren't even allowed to teach because there's never a 3rd male home, so we keep the Sisters busy. We still have people who are interested and are trying hard though. And some of the members that we teach are awesome.
So things are going well here I love you and hope you have a great week. I'm gonna put a picture of one of the libraries at Columbia.
Love ya
Con Amor,
Elder Sam McBride
Questions & Answers
1. What are your current addresses?
I'm not supposed to give it to you but the closest intersection to where I live is 187th & Fort Washington if you wanna street-view it or something haha.
Do you get mail at your apartments?
We're not allowed to
And do packages always need to go through the mission office?
Yep it's pretty annoying but way safer and less annoying because they either leave it at the door so it could get stolen and I wouldn't even know or you have to go pick it up at the nearest ups/fed ex/post office if you don't want them to just leave it.
2. How is the language coming along?
It's coming along my companion says I'm doing really well but it's kinda hard to judge how well I'm actually doing especially since I was the only person learning a language who came in when I did.
Do you have to use Spanish all the time, Sam?
Yep all the time, my zone is the most pure Spanish zone in the mission, and there's a chance my area is the most of the 3 areas, so yep I'm speaking Spanish a lot.
3. Where do you go to write letters?
I usually write my letters either on the subway or waiting for the subway. Sometimes after we're done with our chores I take like a half an hour to finish them up and then we either send them off in a Dunkin donuts, the church, or an A subway station because they have pretty good internet.
Can you print things or do you just read them?
I have my iPad so I don't really need to print but I probably could if I need to.
4. Do you need anything? How are your clothes holding up?
I'm doing pretty good. They're doing good one of the zippers on one of my pants has some
issues but it's not a big deal.
Your shoes?
My shoes are doing really good, the brown ones are fantastic to walk in, the black ones are good but not as nice to walk around all day as the brown ones.
Do your feet hurt?
Sometimes one day it rained super hard and I got a blister in between 2 of my toes but it healed up pretty quick.
5. Where are my pictures??? I need more pictures.
I took some pictures today I'll try to send them if I can get good enough internet but, where I am there's not a ton to take pictures of and even if there was we would still barely ever have time. I'll send you what I've got. I'll put a picture of When we went to Central Park with some people on this email for you and I'll try to send some more
when I send my bigger email.
I already sent a pretty detailed response to your questions today, so I think I'm just gonna tell a story. That's why I named this email what it is, I had a few of them this week this one was just the most ridiculous.
Tuesday's are long because we don't have anything but proselyting time and they're usually a bit slow. We usually have a lot of appointments but a bunch of them will fall through, so we spend a lot of time walking from place to place trying to find someone to teach on Tuesdays. Yesterday was exactly like this. We had a few appointments
either bail on us or just not be home when they told us to come by and hadn't answered their phones earlier. So we spent awhile just walking around and taught a couple lessons then we had a member, who we were supposed to teach later that night, text us and tell us that he's going to a birthday party for a 1 year old girl. We thought he was going to cancel on us so we were kind of bummed, but then he invited us to go with him. We were really confused, but accepted because we've been looking for an opportunity to meet an awesome family to teach, that has already been exposed to the church by a member. So we said we would and met up with the member and his friend, the dad of the niña, and went to this party. Turns out we underestimated this 1 year old girls birthday party, it was supposed to be in a park but it got rained out so there was like 50 people squeezed into this apartment, super loud music was playing, the all the adults were drinking except for us and the member we went with, and it was super hard to move around because of all the people. We didn't leave for a bit, even though we were super uncomfortable, because they were all being super nice, giving us food and cake, and we didn't want to leave our member there alone because we're pretty sure he didn't know anyone but the father of the girl who's birthday it was. We did do some missionary work though. We became friends with the dad of the girl, and we talked to the member about the new thing we're starting to do with our investigators and members that we teach, to try to help them keep the commitments that we extend and that they accept, where we challenge them to read the Book of Mormon every day and we promise to text them and remind them every day. He accepted the challenge. So yep, that's my story of going to a rager birthday party for a 1 year old girl as a missionary and still technically teaching a lesson (Principle taught, Commitment extended).
Not a ton of things to update on this week. We've been finding some people who might actually pan out recently, so fingers crossed they will open their doors and answer their phones again. It's weird hearing about Alex's mission. Here it's really easy to find people that are interested and will talk to you once or twice then tell you that they don't have time because they're always working. They have to because of how expensive it is to live here. In a family both parents almost always work, the kids are home alone if they aren't old enough to have a job when they're on breaks, and the only adults we ever meet that are home most of the time are old women who we aren't even allowed to teach because there's never a 3rd male home, so we keep the Sisters busy. We still have people who are interested and are trying hard though. And some of the members that we teach are awesome.
So things are going well here I love you and hope you have a great week. I'm gonna put a picture of one of the libraries at Columbia.
Love ya
Con Amor,
Elder Sam McBride
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| We went to Central Park to play frisbee a few weeks ago. From the right its the lady who took our picture's finger then, Elder Buckley (my companion) making a really funny face, then Elder Gore (one of the AP's), William (President's son), and Elder Reid (The other AP), Elder Gagnon in the back (Elder Gallego's comp/ZL), Sisters Hobbs and Thompson (English Sisters in our zone), me, Then Elder Gallego (ZL/Roommate/buddy from home). There are some sweet weird smiles in here because we could totally see the lady's finger on the lens. |
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| A Library on the campus of Columbia University |
Questions & Answers
1. What are your current addresses?
I'm not supposed to give it to you but the closest intersection to where I live is 187th & Fort Washington if you wanna street-view it or something haha.
Do you get mail at your apartments?
We're not allowed to
And do packages always need to go through the mission office?
Yep it's pretty annoying but way safer and less annoying because they either leave it at the door so it could get stolen and I wouldn't even know or you have to go pick it up at the nearest ups/fed ex/post office if you don't want them to just leave it.
2. How is the language coming along?
It's coming along my companion says I'm doing really well but it's kinda hard to judge how well I'm actually doing especially since I was the only person learning a language who came in when I did.
Do you have to use Spanish all the time, Sam?
Yep all the time, my zone is the most pure Spanish zone in the mission, and there's a chance my area is the most of the 3 areas, so yep I'm speaking Spanish a lot.
3. Where do you go to write letters?
I usually write my letters either on the subway or waiting for the subway. Sometimes after we're done with our chores I take like a half an hour to finish them up and then we either send them off in a Dunkin donuts, the church, or an A subway station because they have pretty good internet.
Can you print things or do you just read them?
I have my iPad so I don't really need to print but I probably could if I need to.
4. Do you need anything? How are your clothes holding up?
I'm doing pretty good. They're doing good one of the zippers on one of my pants has some
issues but it's not a big deal.
Your shoes?
My shoes are doing really good, the brown ones are fantastic to walk in, the black ones are good but not as nice to walk around all day as the brown ones.
Do your feet hurt?
Sometimes one day it rained super hard and I got a blister in between 2 of my toes but it healed up pretty quick.
5. Where are my pictures??? I need more pictures.
I took some pictures today I'll try to send them if I can get good enough internet but, where I am there's not a ton to take pictures of and even if there was we would still barely ever have time. I'll send you what I've got. I'll put a picture of When we went to Central Park with some people on this email for you and I'll try to send some more
when I send my bigger email.
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