More from Bávaro

Dear Family,
    
First, to answer questions:
  
 Q:  Did the President call you and set you apart before you left?  I understand that the branch pres. informally gave you more duties, but you were already called and set apart - right?  And also, is your companion 2nd counselor - and if he is not - then what does he do while you do all of your duties?
 A:  Since I am already called and ordained as a missionary, I didn't need to be set apart again to be the first counselor.  I simply act as the first counselor and take all of the duties.  My companion is the president of the Elder's Quorum - so I am the only counselor.
    
Q:  Can you explain a little more about your house and maybe send a pic of it?  Dad thought that one of the pics you sent was your house and I thought it was just a pic that you sent of a fancy house.  What is it like to have church there?  I can't even imagine the situation.  Can you describe it to me.
A:  No, I didn't send a pic of our house yet.  But I will be sure to do that this upcoming week, sorry.  Our house is two stories.  The main part of the church, like the sacrament room is downstairs and it is honestly really nice and works well for us.  Then, upstairs is the bishop's office, our bedroom, and the main room connected with the kitchen that we use for the elder's quorum and the investigator class.  We live in that room for the week, and then when Sunday comes around, we just cram everything into the bedroom.  Oh, also we have a swimming pool on the roof to use for baptisms! - which is pretty cool I guess . . . except that we can't really us it . . . but oh well!:)
    
Q:  Since the president told you he was gonna send you to the islands and then didn't - were you disappointed? Did you know any of the missionaries that got sent there?
A: Umm.  I wasn't too bummed to not go to the islands because I am a people person and like to hang out with other missionaries.  But, I would have liked air conditioning and a car for sure like they have over there.  I am kind of in another country here though.  My area and my house is COMPLETELY off limits to other missionaries in the mission.  P-Days and everything.  Nobody can visit us because it is to temptaciolicious :)  Yes, Elder Carrols from Mesa High in my first district got sent over there to Aruba.
  
Q:  Does the new calling cut into your missionary work a lot? You said you have a huge area.  How do you get back and forth to all the places that you have to go?
A:  No, so far the new calling hasn't cut too much into the missionary work.  It takes a some time, but not too much.  I usually just do lunch really fast so I can take care of those kinds of things.  Our area is ginormous - so we either use the help of the members with cars or motorcycles, or we hitch hike.  I know that sounds a little sketchy, but it is a completely normal way of transportation here.  Everyone is really nice in that regard.
    
So this week was pretty good as far as the work in Bávaro goes.  There were really no progressing investigators at all when I came in, so we have been working a ton with the members to try to get references - which has been working really well.  We had 2 people at church, which normally for my past numbers would be pretty bad.  But here, I was satisfied with it.  One of the investigators is a way cool guy named Alvin.  He is probably like 23 years old, and he just moved into the small beach town of Cabeza del Toro with his cousin.  His cousin is actually our in-active ward mission leader . . . hopefully we will be able to hit two birds with one stone by baptizing him and re-activating his cuz - but, we are still in the pretty early stages to be able to tell.  OH!!  And two families that I found in my last area are getting married and baptized in these next few weeks, which is really cool!
    
My companion and I are getting along really well so far.  We are working really hard, and playing really hard as well!  Elder Timmreck is a pretty big ping pong enthusiast like I am.  One of his friends sent him out a net and paddles to play with.  We got kind of inventive because we don't really have a table to use.  We set it up on the ground and we call it "tile tennis" and it is super fun!  It is kind of a cross between ping pong and real tennis, I guess.  We line the floor with our abundance of church chairs and our jump ropes and get really into it!  We also have a community basketball court a few streets from our house.  We bought a basketball and have been playing every morning, which has been really good for my out of shape self!
    
That is really cool to hear that everyone is pretty much all just about on their missions!  Tell Trevor I'm excited for him and to hold on a little bit longer!  It's hard to have to wait so long.  I have really seen the blessings out here.  Maybe I am not the oldest or wisest, but that doesn't matter.  Do you know when Jake McGlothin reports to the MTC?
    
Umm, the boots aren't really necessary anymore and the odds that I will get sent to an area without paved roads again are pretty slim, because there are only a handful in the mission.  I would love one or two more white shirts and I will make a list this next week of cool birthday wishes!
    
Well, I better start on my letter to President Antivillo.  I love you all and will talk to you later!

Love, Elder McBride

p.s.  Grandpa's missionary letters?  Cool! It would be awesome if you cold send me some copies or something for my birthday :)