4-19

Hey Guys!
Hope all is going good wherever you are in the world! All is going great here. The heat is coming on again... haha the temp. hit 97 degrees this week! I am safe and my testimony keeps getting stronger.
We had a Multizone meeting this week up in Yucca Valley (about an hour and a half away from Palm Desert). It was really really good. An hour before the meeting started we had a Leadership meeting with President, the assistants, zone leaders and district leaders and talked about how we could help our missionaries out and what they need to progress. A huge thing that hit me that President Reeves talked about is the principle of prayer. It seems a lot of missionaries arn't praying - or when they pray they don't take the time EVERY DAY to pray for each investigator by name. President Reeves said, and I quote, "It's not optional to not pray daily for your investigators, we are on a mission, it's critical! Don't miss opportunities to plead with God - you're not alone! Praying should be like breathing -make it that way. We can't be successful without God - It's a Team, every companionship is a three-some if done right!" I admit that I have not prayed daily for each investigator ... and sadly I have not felt the real need to - until now. If we don't have that contact and prayer time with our Heavenly Father, Satan get his rotten little snake head in there and just bites away at these people. 2 Nephi 32: 8-9 PRAY!!!!
Sister Reeves gave a training about how important we are and a testimony is. Pretty much the whole Multizone meeting was focused on 'Covenants we made in the Premortal existance'. A covenant is a special promise to our Heavenly Father like when we get baptized or married/sealed in the temple we make sacred covenants/promises with God. Well knowing Gods plan - that some of His children would not have the gospel in their lives here on earth - the ones who did would need to find those who didn't. It is a real thing that we made convenants with our brothers and sisters up there to find them, to teach them, & to bring them back to the fold of God. Sister Reeves asked if anyone had any investigators/converts that we had worked with from our missions that we KNEW/ God confirmed it that we had made specific convenants to talk and teach them here on earth. I raised my hand and shared my testimony about Brenda Franklin. Haha, it's kind of funny - I didn't feel it at first - but the more I got to know her and the more our friendship grew I KNOW we knew eachother in the pre-earth life and that I had made covenants to teach. I found my friend and my sister that I had promised God that I would find & oh that happiness that comes from it! Sister Reeves actually surprized me when she took out a card that she had received from Brenda Franklin. She read the card replacing Elder McBride with "Elder Brown". The card said such wonderful thought about our friendship and her finding the gospel. It's crazy - before I came on the mission I was just thinking about myself - I really didn't care or know that I was going to have the chance to find friends out here. But I DID! Those who are thinking about serving our Heavenly Father on a mission - know that it is not about you. That the choice to not serve on a mission just doesn't effect you- but it effects others. Now I am not saying that if I didn't go out that people like Brenda Franklin, Jan Judd, Rubi Bonilla, Colley McAvoy & any of the others that I have gotten so close to out here would have never been brought back to our Heavenly Father. I made specific promises and covenants with these people, my brothers and sisters & I hope to God that I will never miss the many opportunities that I will have in my mission and life to fulfil my promises.
Heavenly Father loves us all. I know that because I know that He loves me. I have so many faults about me that daily I try to correct... but still I fall short. I know my Savior & Redeemer lives though, and that as I strive to do what is right constantly feasting on God's word we can have the promised blessings of our Heavenly Father & our elder brother Jesus Christs grace, mercy and justice.. and the biggest blessing of not only immortality -but eternal life with them and my family!
I love you all so much! Always remember our covenants! They are so important! Like our prophet Thomas S. Monson said to his daughter when she told him 'the blessings that come from keeping the commandments and covenants are so good' he told her, "Ann, they are everything." May the gospel of Jesus Christ literally be everything! Stay safe!-- Love, ELDER PATRICK McBRIDE