Hey Hey Hey:
It was so fun to see Lena and the boys this week. Its insane how big the boys are. I am so obsessed!
Okay so highlight of the week..MY NEW MISSION PRESIDENT/FAMILY IS AMAZING. He is only 40 and he has 4 kids who are the biggest squishers on the planet. I am already planning on setting Cassidy up with their oldest son. I just am so grateful for the amazing leadership I have seen on my misison. President Schmitt is so cool. He is coming to play basketball with us today for P-day! Haha! SO LEGIT. Hermana Hofer and I decided to make them a little welcome card (see picture) with a little treat (sticky chexmix..yum). The other missionaries called us a bunch of brown-nosers and that is alright by me. Cuz they love us! We saw them at the Mormon Batallion and they both came up and thanked us for the card. I am super pumped that they are so personal because I was a little sad that I wouldn't get to know them before I left..but all is well! We are homies!
The 4th of July was good. We worked at the family history center booth at a big community event. Just a word for the wise...people interested in family history who aren't LDS can be a little bit odd sometimes. This one lady talked to us about reincarnation and how this is the 3rd life that she has lived. Then she looked into my eyes and went silent and said, "yes..your eyes. I can see it. We were friends in another generation of time. We know each other..". Man..I was trying so hard not to bust out laughing. After, we went and had a BBQ with our district and our ward mission leader's family. It was way fun!
Satan has been attacking my health lately. What else is new? haha. I have some random disease on my legs right now that is causing a bunch of red dots. Basically, my hair follicles are inflamed. I am on an anti-biotic and steroid cream. Also, me and Hofer were in and out of bead with sinus problems this week. Not fun. I am just annoyed that my health is slowing me down right now. But we are getting better so time to go hard before i go home.
The wedding/ward activity has been called off. I am just bummed because I was stoked to listen to the ward clerk sing John Legend haha.
I got to see Hermana Flandro this sunday. She was visiting from SLC!
I gave my departing testimony yesterday. That was weird. It is all just flying by and I partly just want time to stop. But life is all about learning and having new experiences. So I am okay about coming home but I know I will really miss being a missionary.
Funny: So, our ward mission leader's daughter (Sydney, 8yrs) is a hoot. The other day me and Elder Hunt, my district leader, were just chatting and Sydney ran up to my companion and said, "I CAN SEE IT NOW!!! <3 THEY ARE GOING TO GET MARRIED! hahahahaha! So now her biggest quest in life is to make sure that it happens haha. I have a quote in my planner that says, "Choose your love and love your choice". Sydney added, "..and your choice is ELDER HUNT". I love kids. They are so great haha. Don't worry I am not planning on marrying Elder Hunt (or anyone for that matter haha).
Spiritual: This morning I was reading one of my favorite talks by Jeffery R. Holland called "Laborers in my Vineyard". I invite you all to read it..its pretty much mind-blowing and amazing. He talks about the parable in Matthew when there were Laborers who came to work for this man and they all got chosen to work at different hours of the day. But at the end of the day, they all received the same amount of money. Elder Holland talks about 3 concepts of this parable.
#1- "Coveting, pouting, or tearing others down does not elevate your standing, nor does demeaning someone else improve your self-image. So be kind, and be grateful that God is kind. It is a happy way to live...Brothers and sisters, there are going to be times in our lives when someone else gets an unexpected blessing or receives some special recognition. May I plead with us not to be hurt—and certainly not to feel envious—when good fortune comes to another person? We are not diminished when someone else is added upon. We are not in a race against each other to see who is the wealthiest or the most talented or the most beautiful or even the most blessed. The race we are really in is the race against sin, and surely envy is one of the most universal of those."
On my mission, I have realized many of my weaknesses. One of them that is still VERY apparent is that I have a hard time rejoicing in other people's successes. I love that Elder Holland says that the only race we are in is against that of sin.
#2- He talks about how the Laborers who worked at the beginning just complained later because they had to stay in the hot sun all day. We must not dwell on things of the past. He says, "The formula of faith is to hold on, work on, see it through, and let the distress of earlier hours—real or imagined—fall away in the abundance of the final reward."
#3- This parable isn't about laborers or wages, it is about the atonement of Jesus Christ and his grace towards all men. No matter who, what or when..his grace is sufficient. He closes by saying, " His concern is for the faith at which you finally arrive, not the hour of the day in which you got there..So if you have made covenants, keep them. If you haven’t made them, make them. If you have made them and broken them, repent and repair them. It is never too late so long as the Master of the vineyard says there is time...Don’t delay. It’s getting late."
I add my testimony to Elder Holland's. The atonement is incredible and perfect. Don't delay. It is getting late.
Sorry this email was lengthy. I hope I didn't bore you all to tears. Only 3 more of these bad boys! I am just trying to get it all our while I can ;)
I gotta go ball up against my mission president now. I love you all oh so much!
xoxo. be you.
-hermana mcbride
Pictures:
1. Me and the President's kids
2. Me and my Match-Maker Sydney
3. Lena and the boys
4. WELCOME LA FAMILIA SCHMITT (yes we spelt their name wrong..#embarrassing haha)
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