Más Despacio Por Favor . . . (more slowly please)

Hi Everyone! Taylor sent some pictures today, but I'm going to add them in with the posts that they belong with. So, be sure and look back through previous posts so you can see them!

The view from my room

Hey Everyone,

So I'm just going to get down to the nitty gritty of things - no time for small talk! So, we went to the University again this week! Really cool and . . . I taught a man named Heimae (sp) the entire first lesson for about 30-40 minutes . . . in Spanish! My companion has some troubles with the language, so I basically taught the whole thing, and it was so cool! I had to ask him to speak a little slower sometimes, but I thought I did pretty well! I gave him a Libro de Mormon, and he said he was going to call the number I gave him and see about going to church. Pretty cool eh? I am soooo blessed to be here at this MTC and be able to have that experience already.

Next subject. Elder Hinckley came to the MTC this week! Yes, as in the son of Gordon B. He was such an amazing man and looks A LOT like his dad. He taught us in a fireside, and came around and sat in classes and stuff. Really nice. I guess he is in the Seventy in charge of all missionary affairs, so that's why he was coming around. He told us some cool stuff. Something I remember though is that he said the people of the Caribbean are really easy to teach and baptize because they are so nice and easy going, but they are really hard to convert. Truly convert. There is kind of a problem with converting activity, so that will be taught when I get out of here.

The missionaries and the Hinckley's. Taylor is on the left side toward the back. You can see him from the nose up! Blake Williams from the 6th ward is back there too.

So lately, I have had this ridiculous, unquenchable thirst for the Book of Mormon. I just can't get enough! Honestly, I have always known the scriptures were true, and that I should read them, but I have never had this desire before! I just can't put it down. It is so incredible and has so much stuff that I never knew was there. I started over when I reported for my mission, and I'm already at the very end of Alma. Anyways, end of that story.

So, my new District is super cool. We only have eight instead of twelve. We have the only two Hermanas, one of which went to Mountain View. And, all of the Elders share the same room, so we have gotten pretty tight lately. They, unlike my last District (which I loved), don't get me wrong, but this District just always want to talk about Church related topics and scriptures and stuff, which is amazing. One of them - his name is Elder Walker - has been reading one of his pioneer ancestors journals lately. One night, he just started freaking out. I asked him what's up, and he asked "Do you have an ancestor from Haun's Mill named Father McBride?" I said yeah, and he told me this story about how his ancestor saw an old man get cruelly slaughtered by corn cutters! I was like, "What?!" It was nuts . . . what are the odds of that happening, right?

Anyways, I got the DearElders that were sent from the 22nd yesterday, so it looks like all DearElders will be delayed a little bit, but they were REALLY nice to have! Thanks to all who have been writing me. I'm working on replies! They can really make a missionary's day - trust me!

Is it possible that you could send me Matt and Greg's e-mails! I'd like to hear how they are doing. Hahaha. I bet the Ryan is the best little Harry Potter ever - that little goober! So, I'll try to send some pictures soon, but the computers are slow and often crash. So, I'll try, but no promises!

Love,

Elder McBride

FINALLY!

So I have been going absolutely crazy this last week - knowing that Taylor was feeling really sick right when he got to the Dominican Republic. I have checked my e-mail way too many times a day every day (thinking that maybe TODAY was his P-Day and I would get an e-mail from him). I had just about given up and started thinking that maybe he was gonna have to write regular letters in the DR MTC - when, late this afternoon I got the e-mail! Woohoo - now I can rest easy knowing he is okay and happy! I know . . . I'm being a silly mom - I just can't help it though. :)

Hello From the DR! So I'm here! I'll just start with a play-by-play arrival:

I went to bed at 1:00 on Wednesday night, and got up at 2:00 and I wasn’t feeling very well. Wonder why? Anyways, made it to the airport, slept for two hours on the plane to Dallas. Then there was a two hour plane ride to Florida where I sat by a nice old lady from Peru and her Niña who was going to live with her for six weeks. It was really my first time ever speaking to someone who only spoke Spanish, which was pretty fun. We talked for about 20 minutes about church and stuff and then I crashed...talk about missionary work eh? Haha just kidding!

Anyways then a two-hour flight to the DR where I sat by a man named Raque (sp?) who was playing for the Diamondbacks this past season and I swore I've seen him before! We talked for quite a while about church and stuff and he thinks I'm completely insane for leaving my family for two years and living in another country haha but he was cool! He said he wanted to give me free seats to some of his games here and gave me his number and stuff, but I said I don’t think I'll be able to go to any games, but maybe I could come by sometime and share a message when I'm good at Spanish - so he said ok! I have his number, and when I get out of here I'll see if he is in my mission.

So, we got off the plane and these 4 Dominican guys came and grabbed ALL of our suitcases. That’s right - all. There were probably around 60 suitcases total and we were kinda freakin’ out a little. But, they said to follow them so we did and pretty much walked straight out of the airport and they loaded all out stuff onto this sketchy rickety old bus. Coolest bus ride of my life hands down! It was such a new experience and being able to watch the city go by was really cool.

Me and Elder Clayton on the bus

So we get to the MTC, and no one’s here....so I wander around and go up stairs and bumped into the MTC President! He's a way nice guy. So he and his wife took us downstairs and fed us and stuff. I went to bed feeling terrible and woke up and decided to just tough it out. I took my temperature the next day after I got to send that short email home and it was in the 103's. No fun. So I popped some Advil and kept going. I've learned that there is no time to get behind because you can't get caught back up. End of intro.

So we got new Compañero's here! Fun stuff. My new companion’s name is Elder Rich. es de Park City, Utah. He's genuinely a nice guy and trying to be a good missionary. I like him.

Language: So, somehow I got put in a class of geniuses... I think it came from a teacher recommendation, but most of my new District was in the Intermediate Spanish in Provo except for the three of us, who were just good for our class. Spanish all the sudden got soooo hard. It's intimidating with pretty much everyone better than me, and my teacher Hermana Parra doesn’t remember to speak slow sometimes and Holy Cow!!! I've heard some Castallano before, but this almost puts what I've heard to shame! They go sooooo fast. AND they only finish about 30 percent of their words. They drop off all of the "s" in words and sheesh. That’s all. But the teachers are all fun and good. If anything, they seem like they're having fun when they speak if that makes sense. Oh, and when any of the teachers get any good at English, they kind of talk like Jamaican's. It's pretty funny - Jamaican with a Spanish accent. The language can be really frustrating just not knowing as many words as anyone else, but when I teach lessons (yes, I do that in Spanish now) my mouth is totally filled every time. I started spewing out words that I'm not even sure exist, but apparently they do!

So, I had my first experience contacting! Yes, I left the confines of these walls! Oh yeah, we're basically like 50 yards from the temple and can see it from a window in our room which is pretty cool. ANYWAYS, we went to the Univeridad. yes THE univeridad. the only college in the country so, there's about 120,000 students - needless to say a big place. About 10 by 6 city blocks. So it went surprisingly well! Our very first contact was a member though haha, He just got back from Institute. But, I handed out about 6 pamphlets on the 1st lesson, and hopefully a few were generally interested. I had to do most of the talking, but it's all good. It really feels like I was just tossed to the sharks sometimes. Only the other Elders speak English and all the lessons, assignments, all that you say is in Spanish - so it can get pretty tough. But anyways, contacting was pretty fun. Oh! and this girl was calling out “Elder” so I went over there and she kept calling me beautiful and moving closer, so I just kind of left. Haha it was pretty weird, but I'm ok - still here anyways haha!

The food is food - and that’s about it. Beans, rice with beef and chicken everyday for lunch (the biggest meal of the day) and just something boring for dinner. A lot of bread - but it's natural at least! That's a plus right?

Anyways, it has been really nice to get a change, and I really like it here. I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining too much. I hope Joey and Travis are getting ready. You don't realize how good it is for you until you get out here. It's absolutely amazing seeing the Lord's hand from the front row. I wrote that letter for the Priest Quorum and it will be sent tomorrow. I love it here and I love all of you too!

Elder McBride

Ps - my new pouch mail address is:

Elder Taylor McBride

Dominican Republic MTC

P.O. Box 30150

Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150

If you do this on dearelder before noon on Thursday (it sends from Salt Lake the next Tuesday) then it will be sent in the pouch and you don't have to worry about all the regulations and such. Dearelder does it for you.

Pss - If you could update that on Facebook Sis, that would be much appreciated. Gracias

There at Last - Safe & Sick :(

I was anxiously waiting last night to hear that Taylor made it to the DR last night. I never heard anything - but then woke up to an e-mail that made me sad.

Hey Family,

I only have three minutes just to tell you I made it here safe. I got a lot sicker after I talked to you and had a fever of 102 last night. I'm feeling a little better, but still not very good - but I'll just tough it out and keep working. Love you all, and I'll get to send you a real e-mail next week.

Love you bye!

Taylor said on the phone yesterday that he had a little bit of a cold, but was doing fine. I hate that he is feeling so sick right when he got there. It really brings out the "Mom" when you hear that your son is sick and so far away. I pray that he will get well soon and hopefully by the next time we hear from him he will be a lot better.

Yay for Phonecalls!

We just got off the phone with Taylor! It was so good to hear his voice. He left the MTC today for the Dominican Republic. He had to get up at 2 am to catch a 5 am flight. He said he got about 2 hours of sleep and he has a cold. But, his spirits are good. He called from Dallas during a layover. Next, they are flying to Miami where they have another layover - then on to Santo Domingo! They will arrive about 7 pm. He said there are about 40 other Elders going. A few are going to other places in the Caribbean. Out of all of those Elders, he only knows about 4 or 5 of them. They were all in different Districts in the MTC. He also got lucky and got to see Jordan Williams by chance! Taylor was just sitting there on a couch last night and Jordan walked out of the elevator! He just reported yesterday, but he was supposed to go directly to Brazil but his Visa didn't come through. We talked about a lot of stuff, but I will wait and see if he puts it in any of his letters.

Elder Jordan Williams and Elder McBride

I took this picture while I was still in Provo and we had already dropped Taylor off. I put it on here because I love how the suns rays are shining through.

The Time Is Almost Here!

Dear Family,

So right now I’m doing my laundry for the last time at the MTC! I leave at 2 in the morning on Thursday and fly out at six. It's been really fun and I'm not gonna lie, I'm really sad to leave. I love my District here, they're all such good guys. Oh! I kind of broke up a fight this week! Elder _____ and Elder _____ don't get along very well. I was over by the mail, and the Spirit prompted me to turn around so I did, and Elder ____and ______ started pushing each other. They were just about to start throwing punches when I jumped in the middle and talked some sense into them. They're such good guys, and I would never want either of them to get sent home - they just have their differences. I'm glad I was able to help stop them before they wouldn't be able to serve.

So, for all who read this who I haven't talked to - here's the story about the cyst on my wrist - (but don't call me a cyst wrist). Haha no one probably got that... Anyway, so I was at the health center because my companion had an ingrown toenail and a few days earlier I had noticed a bump on my hand. SO, I was just sitting there and figured that I should ask one of the professionals about it. I did, and they told me it was a ganglion cyst. Today, they sent me to a specialist to decide what to do with me, and the doctor agreed that it was a ganglion cyst caused by extra joint lubricating fluid in my wrist that kind of bubbled up. He gave me two options. He said he could surgically remove it and be done with it - AND leave for the DR two weeks later. OR, do the other unreliable, sometimes impossible, procedure of drawing out the fluid with a needle. I don’t want to leave late, so I said a little prayer, and chose the latter. First, they numbed it, then got this giant of a needle out and plunged it right in! Nothing happened for the first little while then, (sucking noise) it all just came right out. It was pretty gross, not gonna lie! Have you ever had power gel before? If you have, it looked exactly like that - same consistency and everything. Kind of like a light shaded honey for those of you who don't know. So . . . I’m cured and ready to head out!

This week has been really good with the language! I met an Elder from the DR, who knew just about as much English as I do Spanish, and we were able to talk for about half an hour no problem! It was pretty cool.

In class, we watched a movie of Elder Holland’s talk "The Miracle of a Mission". It was so good and inspiring - holy cow that man knows how to write a talk! Oh, and the MTC watched The Testaments on Sunday night. Never have I ever seen so many guys cry at the same time in the same room. The Spirit was so strong. OH, it's really cool when we all sing too - it's so powerful! Sorry this is all random stuff...

I'm so excited to get over there and learn the language so I wont be wasting any time when I get there! This is definitely the Lord's work and my testimony has become so much stronger in my time here. I’m so excited to teach the people who don't have the same truth I have. They need to feel the love of the Savior in their lives just as much as we do.

Wish me safe travels! Love you – bye!

Love, Elder McBride

p.s. Dad, I’m working on that letter for the priests. I’ll make it a good one. They ALL need to get out here! Fonzie - haha I think you're funny!

Twice in a Week!

We got lucky enough to hear from Taylor twice a week for 2 weeks! His time got split up because of some service projects.

Dear Family,

     
So honestly, there usually isn't a whole lot to tell everyone considering I just wrote the day before last, but this will be my last time writing twice a week, so I might as well take advantage of it. So.... something exciting! Wednesday, a guy in our Zone left for Peru, so we had a party and his brother sent a can of silkworms, so a few of us tried them (including me)! Actually there were only about six of us who could keep them down, they were sooooo gross! They were actually pretty big, and when you bit into them, all the juice came out and it was very nasty. 

This reminds me... there is a guy in my District with a friend at the Dominican MTC. He wrote a few days ago saying that the whole MTC ate some bad chicken, and that all of the American's had worms and other parasites really bad all week - throwing up and uhhh, well, you know....But sounds like it's gonna be an adventure! I'm actually a little sad to leave because my District is so cool, but I'm sure new experiences await!

Taylor & Elder Zufelt

DR Guys

I was able to see Matt at breakfast before he left, and it was so weird! I’m not going to see him for two years! It just hasn’t set in yet I guess. And Greg came and visited the night before he left, and we talked for a while, and he wanted to do the "Hurrah for Israel" cheer thingy so we did (hahaha that kid cracks me up)!

     
So we watched the Joseph Smith movie on Sunday night, and the whole first like 20 minutes was about when Joseph was little, and it shows a lot about Alvin, his older brother, and how much Joseph looked up to him, and it really made me miss the boys... I kinda miss being an older brother if that makes much sense. And the rest of the family at that, don't worry mom but I know that me being out here is the best example i can set for them.

    
 Anyway. How's life in good 'ol AZ? Is it warm still? How's school going - just life and such? Is the house quieter without me? haha probably! Can you ask Emily if she's getting the mail that I've been sending? Last letter it kind of sounded like she wasn't... maybe it was just a delay or something. Mail has actually been not too bad this past week or so, so don't feel bad mother - I honestly expected to get no mail from friends so I'm pleasantly surprised! Anyways, not much more to say for now, but reply soon! I'll be waiting.

Love, Elder McBride

P.S. have I really only been here two weeks? It feels more life two months! Time is so trippy here.

Hey Fam!

Hey Everybody!

Another week at the CCM (Spanish for MTC for all you gringos)! It is so great here, but really cold I must say. It rains a lot, and I have no warm clothes whatsoever – but I’ll tough it out and be a man. I am learning so much it’s incredible!

So you asked for a daily schedule and it goes a little something like this:

• Wake up at 6:30 am, get dressed and go to class at 7
• 7 is personal study which we have to do in the classroom
• Go to breakfast - go back to room and change to gym clothes
• Go to gym - come back and get changed
• Companion and language study - and also missionary directed time (MDT)
• Lunch - then back to the classroom for a 4 hour block of class
• Dinner - then back to the classroom for 5 hour block of class
• Then off to the room and to bed

All in total it is a 14 hour day, but honestly, I haven’t even been getting tired or anything as long as I keep the rules.

So, General Conference was soooooooo good! Has it always been that good? The answer, I am sad to say is probably yes – but I never gave it the full attention that I should have. But, not to worry – I did this time! It is amazing how much more you can learn with a notebook and the Spirit teaching you the whole time. Jeffrey R. Holland’s talk was so amazing. I’ve never heard such a powerful speaker before. Also, I liked President Eyring’s talk on becoming more Christlike, and President Monson’s on Service. Everything seemed so applicable to me as a missionary. It was so cool. I can’t believe I never listened harder before though. The men are ordained of God, and I’m sure that a few of them have even spoken to Christ themselves. I can’t stress enough the importance of listening to them.

So this week was really fun. My District and I are getting in the groove of things and we are really having a blast! It is such hard work, but it is also a lot more fun that I imagined! Matt left yesterday, and Greg left today. It was sad to see them go, but I know that they will do great out in the field. Don’t worry Mom, I have a picture with Greg, and Matt has several pics of me and him. Make sure you ask Aunt Susie for them when he sends them.

My District

I got my flight plans! Trust me, it’s a big deal here when you get that baby! I leave October 15^th and my flight is at 6:00 in the morning – which means I have to wake up at 2am and get the travel office at 3. The estimated arrival time is around 9:00 that night I think. Mucho travelling.

So the Spanish is coming along quite nicely, and now as a District we can’t speak English until after lunch. This really wouldn’t be a problem, except my companion doesn’t understand a word I say . . . oh well, there’s another Elder in the District I can talk to, so all is well.

Ha Ha – so Elder Perkins knows Laurette Platt! He says they’re pretty cool. Anyways – he dislocated two ribs moving something and he has been on painkillers and muscle relaxants all week. He has been hilarious to talk to! He doesn’t know what he’s saying half the time. For example – in the middle of conference, he woke up and started reciting the words to the “Spirit of God” to me. He is a crack up!

Elder Perkins

I’m running out of time, but I love you all! Thanks for the brownies – they were still good. I don’t really think I need anything unless Emily wants to send me candy haha! I love you and will write you again Thursday!

Love, Elder McBride