9/21

Hello Everyone!

How is everyone! Hope you are all doing great! Haha, it looks like the family had a great time at Grandma Edna's 96th birthday party! I love that lady... Hopefully I can get one more lipsticky cheek - that means she'll at least have to make it to 97 and a half!!! Thanks so much for the blog/email/picture updates I love to get them!So this week has been a major busy week... which is of course good for a missionary ;) . We have had meetings meetings meetings, missionary discussions, baptisms and more! Monday was kind of a sad day... We had a meeting with Geo and he said that his dad no longer wants him to take the missionary discussions and for him to look more into his "roots" - talking about how his family is all catholic and how he needs to see what they believe first. So he is going to compare and contrast and then make his dissision of which church he will join. We still plan on hanging out with him at the Yokshas's though! He is a great kid... & the better part - after we drove off he turned to Sis. Yokshas and said that he just felt empty inside and sad that it was all over.. Sis. Yokshas said "well, that's the Spirit!" So at least he felt something - hopefully he will remember that!Tuesday we had an early morning "trainer-trainee" meeting at the mission-home. We learned how to be better trainers and what President was expecting from us. Then as trainers we bore our testimonies. I thought I would bear my testimony about talking to EVERYONE. As missionaries we are expected to talk with EVERYONE we come into contact with - and if we don't we cannot have the Spirit with us because we are not being obedient and if we didn't talk to everyone then who knows if we would miss that 'one' person who would except our message. I told of this one story of this thing that happened the other day: Me and E. Fly were at this one less active members house and the less-active person roomed two men in her house so we came up to the door step and the two men were out on the porch smoking. I passed them and knocked and they said that the member wasn't home so I said thanks and walked back down the sidewalk. Then I felt the spirit whisper that I needed to talk to them.. I thought.. hmm no no, there smoking silly.. haha, but listening I turned around and asked them a couple of questions about what they believed and then started into the first discussion about the Restoration and one of the guys stopped us in our talking and said "hey.. can you guys come with me for a second" so we said "sure" and followed him down the sidewalk to the front of the garage. When we got there he said "I just wanted to bring you over here to tell you that I believe you and felt that your message was true and want to have you come back when my friend is not here because he is not interested, can you come back and teach me?" ... haha, we were like ... UHHH YA! haha, but that was just a cool story that we had about talking to EVERYONE and not judging anyone before you talk to them.Wednesday we had a Multizone meeting in a city named Hemet and I had to go really early in the morning to watch a "defensive driver video" ... golly - I put that I got in a crash on my record when I got into the mission field.. and now had to watch an hour pressentation of how to drive... haha BORING! The funny thing is last night I had a dream I wrecked the mission vehicle... haha, I like totalled the car while backing it into a stall... When I woke up I was like Glory Haleluah!!! That didn't just happen!!! haha The multizone was really great too! Pres. and Sis. Reeves both gave a training together on "Honesty" and how lieing directs the spirit to leave (of course obvious - but the training was soo good.. hmmm, well at least it's in my notes). Oh and guess what the Hemet Relief Society women made us for lunch... Meat ball Subs!!!! I had like 3 of them! haha SOOO good!! Jealous??On Friday I ate dinner at Chili's again! ... just thought ya ought tah know.. I am really making myself hungry..am I making you? No Molten Lava cake though...:'(And on Sunday I had a great day at church! This girl named Hannah Fardig is a member and I went over to her house to have dinner with her family. And I don't know if it's weird, but just with some members I'm like - I really need to get a conection with this family - and I had that with theirs. So I told them that they needed to invite their friends so we could come teach at their house. So everyweek at church when I saw her I would ask how her friends were doing, and then on Sunday she brought 4 girls to church with her and they had a great experience..( to be continued..)@ 5:00 on Sunday we had a baptismal service for Ana Melton! It was really good! There were so many people there, and even her non member father who doesn't like mormons was there to support her! She was so excited and her smile just eluminated the room! Then after the baptism I went up the Hannah Fardig and asked her how her friends liked church and she said that they LOVED it!! and that 3 of them want the missionary discussions and one even said they wanted to get baptized!! haha, how cool huh! I was so excited! and then one of the members pulled me away and took me to Sis. Meltons neighbor who was there at the baptism; Wendy Florez. And Wendy started crying and said that she was so thankful for the church and said that she wanted her and her 3 kids baptized - that through all the years Satan had been working on her and that nothing would stop her know-- she was going to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints!!! Then we gave her a blessing of healing and comfort for her back, because she had been in the hospital a number of times from the pain it gives her. THEN we just found out that the girl that lives with the Meltons: Tiffini Hoff (who is the same age as Ana [12]) can get baptized too - that she had got permission - so basically we are going to be setting up A LOT of baptismal dates! haha, wow can you say BEST SUNDAY EVER! Last night Sis. Reeves called to congratulate us on the baptism and I told her all about our day - and (being the angel and sweet spirit she is) she started crying and saying how greatful she was! It was a way cool experience - I love that lady!And as for today I played at the Yokshas's house all day and had fun with the family! Haha, Susan said she is coming down and going to see what this "muttin-bustin" is... I told them about the kids riding sheep and they never had heard of such a thing... haha, they think we are crazy up in Utah..haha We will show them!!!Well I love you all sooo much! Miss you like crazy! I am having a great time with E. Fly and we are working like crazy! Goll, I don't even think we got a hour to spare in our schedule this week! - Crazy! The Gospel is true everyone and it is so awesome that you get to see all the people that just go to a simple event like church or a baptism and then they feel that spirit that is there and know it - THERE'S A TESTIMONY FOR YOU!! Stay strong, be Safe, Hold True to the iron rod!!Love you sooo much!Elder McBride