Dear Family,
Wow. Crazy week. So about the earthquake. I didn't feel anything personally, but a lot of people here in Monte Plata said they did. Monte Plata also is kind of Haitian-ville. Actually 11 of my 12 baptisms here are Haitians, and most of our progressing investigators are Haitian as well. They have all been going kind of nuts this past week because most of these people left all of their family to come here and when the earthquake came, it knocked down all of the telephone poles, so nobody knew if their mom's, dad's, wives, kids, etc. were alive. Two of our investigators actually packed up their things and headed over to Haiti, not knowing if they would ever come back. Communication is starting to come through a little bit now though. A guy approached us last night and told us that 7 of his immediate family died and he was having a hard time. We bore testimonies that God has an eternal plan for us, and that we are able to live with them again if we do the things that the Lord has asked of us. How do people cope without that knowledge? I really can't imagine life without it. But the people who do have family over there are generally just as stressed because most of their family are wandering the streets without food, water, or shelter. I'm sure the church is playing a big role over there. All of the volunteer doctors from here are heading over there to help out. I guess there was also a doctor/member on a mission here that went over there for a surgery. Halfway into it, the earthquake struck and the several story building next door fell and every person inside died. I honestly don't know much more like death count and stuff because we don't have access to that kind of information - but it's not sounding good.
So - now for some good news! We had 2 more baptisms on Sunday! Mom, my camera was out of batteries, but Sister Berkley took a pic and said she'd send it to you. Damari and Sonia are there names. Sonia has 2 kids living in Puerto Principe and she has been freaking out all week, but I'm glad she still decided to get baptized. We also have 2 more baptisms lined up for Wednesday and we are working on getting a family married next week! It's so hard to baptize families here because first they need to get married for the law first - which is usually pretty hard to convince, but these people are looking good.
Elder Vargas is a pretty cool guy. I find him really entertaining! He likes Japanese Anime, comics, and World of Warcraft and stuff like that. He is really smart and I think we can teach pretty powerfully when we are on top of our game.
So ya, Wednesday is Elder Bednar's visit! I'm way pumped - it's gonna be sweet! Apparently, the East AND the West missions are coming, so it's gonna be packed. Hopefully we'll get a decent seat. Also mom, when you send that package if you haven't yet, could you stick in short biography essay things about each of the apostles lives? I found one about Neal A. Andersen and Quentin L. Cook in old Ensigns, and now I want to read about the others if you can find some.
The night I got sick, I cooked myself some scrambled eggs and I thank that one of them was bad or something and that's why I got so sick. But, on Tuesday, I was feeling a lot better - so no worries. What else . . . oh, we had a District BBQ today at the church and that was really fun! I'll try to send a picture of that, buy ya, it's been a good week. I am trying my best and I love you all!
Love, Elder McBride
p.s. Still no package from the Ward as of yet . . .
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