Get That

Buenos Dias!

I had such an amazing birthday. THANK YOU so much for everything. It was so much fun. Everything is going really well here in Kennewick. This place has SO much work to be done. There are billions of apartamentos and mexicans everywhere. Its great. Me and Hermana Foster are having a really good time together. We get along so well and she is an amazing missionary. 

So this week we had exchanges with the Pasco Sisters. Whoop whoop! I got to see mommy pierce but I went with Hermana Ray to Pasco. It was really fun being back in pasco for the day. Except for the part where we had to drive a visa waiter to the airport at like 4 am. I have learned a lot about companionships lately. I was with the same 2 companions for almost half of my mission, so change was a little rough at first. I am obviously obsessed with Momma Jones and Pierce so I have learned how to adapt better with other people. I am learning so much more about people and how to adapt out here. It will definitely help me in real life a ton.

We have been going and finding a lot of old investigators from like years ago and it has been really frustrating because NOBODY ever still lives there. But this week while on exchanges, Pierce and Foster found this lady named Irma. They knocked on her door and she said "Oh my goodness, how did you find me!?" (in a really exciting happy way, not in a creepy way). She was so excited. We had an appointment with her this week and she is SO solid. She was like I already know this is true. I was bearing testimony to her and she said.."I can tell you weren't raised in the church. You REALLY know this is true". I told her I actually was raised into the church but I had to find out for myself. I am so grateful for all of the experiences I have had to make my testimony stronger and stronger. It wasn't always easy but I can actually say I know it for myself.  

We had Zone Conference this week. A M A Z I N G! President and Sister Ware are so legit. They taught me so many good things.One of the things I learned is that the perfect model of charity and love is Jesus Christ and God. So whatever situation we are in, we can use that overcome hard things. You all know me, I have an attitude sometimes but I am trying better to be willing to be more charitable and lovable...with the Madi Spunk too of course. Wait who is Madi? I mean hermana mcbride. weird. awkward. President Ware is really good at having the spirit but having fun at the same time which is exactly what I strive for. 

EXCITING NEWS: I asked President Ware about Nathalia's baptism and he almost said no. But being the nicest guy ever, he said YES!!! then he told hermana pierce YES! FAMILY REUNION IN YAKIMA WITH ALL OF MY FAVORITE PEEPS! I am so excited. Also, Nohemi (Nathalias daughter) and said she is planning on applying to BYU instead! SO cool! 

Spiritual Moment: In zone conference they had departing testimonys for those who leave this transfer. One elder got up there and said something that was very applicable to me. In my own words: Without my mission, I would have been totally fine. I wouldve been hanging out with my friends. Trying to choose the right. Hanging out with my family. BUT...because of my mission I have learned who I want to be. I have learned how to really live the gospel and how to be myself at the same time. I have a testimony now. a REAL one. I know the patterns that I need to live (making my bed, cough cough). My mission really means so much to me.

Funny Moment: There is an Elder in our district named Elder Sanchez. He is a native and doesnt know much english. I have been trying to teach him slang hahaa. This week we played volleyball and he was killing it! So I kept saying "GET THAAT ELDER SANCHEZ!" Kinda like "heck ya! or Good job". But he didn't really understand. So he goes over to hermana foster and says.."Hermana Foster...Que Significa...Get that?" bahaha!! She said, "Es una palabra de hermana mcbride". He now uses it all the time haha. good stuff. I also taught him how to say "WHATEVER!" and he has got an attitude now. good ol' elder sanchez.

Love you all so much. Have a BONITA week!

Les Quiero MUCHISMO!

XOXO! Smile Siempre.

-Hermana McBride 

God Loves Hermanas

Que Pasa Homies?

Can't believe how fast summer is flying by! I LOVE hearing from all of you and seeing all of your pictures. This last week has been pretty good. During P-day last week we always meet as a zone and play sports or write letters. This week, we played Zombie Apocalypse with nerf guns...Wait what? Who am I anymore? Apparently every missionary has nerf guns and they are like way nice. haha! I was laughing so hard. But it was way fun! We ran around the church shooting eachother with nerf guns. Like I said, I don't know who I am anymore. Today I am going to the mall to refind my interself haha!

First and foremost...NATHALIA AND NOHEMIS BAPTISM. It was such a great day. Me and Lupe (member from our branch) went to pick up Pierce and then drove up to Yaktown. I was so happy to be back there with Jones and Pierce. It was amazing! I literally jumped on Nohemi and Nathalia when I saw them. We sang nearer my god to thee in spanish and accapella and welp..WE KILLED IT. The spirit was unreal. Everything went perfect. I didn't want it to end. Apparently Nohemi might serve a mission too! They are moving to Utah in December and Nohemi is applying for BYU right now. SO LEGIT!

This week has been way good overall. I am having a hard time a little bit because I have VERY vivid dreams sometimes and they are almost always about coming home or being at home with friends and family. So by the time I wake up I have to remember that I am a missionary and its time to get to work. Its happened a few times where I will wake up just extremely confused. Once I get up for about an hour, its all good. It has just been really weird haha.

We had one day this week where we had NO appointments. It has been so hot and we knew we had to tract all day so we prayed for some clouds. Let me just say that God loves the Hermanas. We got clouds, wind, AND rain. The Elders texted us and said "I bet you guys prayed for this weather or something because hermanas get whatever they want". Ya pretty much how it works elders. #SorryNotSorry

Spiritual: This week I have been thinking so much about families. We are teaching so many different types of family dynamics and me and Hermana Foster have very different family situations as well. But regardless, I am so grateful for mine. They have made me who I am today. Yesterday we taught The Ibarra family, the ones who just got baptized, about eternal marriage. Lakisha said that it is hard for her to wait a year to be sealed because she wants it so bad right now. The desire she has is so unreal and it keeps her family so strong. Another family we are teaching just moved here from North Carolina. They are originally from Honduras but they moved to the U.S. They were on there way to move to Vancouver but there car stopped working here in Kennewick. So they will be staying here for a while until they decide to leave. They are members and they found the church time online and showed up last week. Me and Hermana Foster went to visit them this week. We walked into their apartment and they have no beds, no furniture, a small tv hooked up, blankets, and a cooler for a fridge. But I have never seen a family so happy and so loving with one another. We found out that 2 of them aren't members and are really loving church so we are going to be teaching them. I am so excited. This family has the light of christ. We felt it the second that we walked in. And its cool too because the dad looks like Doc Rivers. hehe. 

Funny Moment: We were at a members house and they showed us this video that some elders from our mission put up on youtube. Go search: "L.D.S Missionaries A Childs Prayer". It is a video of them lipsynching in the car. I was crying laughing so hard.

Also..Hermana Foster had a blonde moment this week. Here is our conversation:

Me: Where is Hermana Lemmons from? She looks american.

HF: She is from Peru.

Me: Oh thats way tight! She just has really light skin so I couldn't even tell.

HF: Ya well she has spent a lot of time in The United States so thats probably why.

Me: HAHAHAHA!! WAIT WHAT?! If thats how this all works then I am moving to Africa.

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! Que Tengan Buena Semana!

XOXO! Smile Always.

-Hermana McBride

 hiking badger mountain - me and lammie 

happy 20th birthday!! princess for the day! 

presents!! 

lakisha and juan

maria sanchez - powerhouse member 

lupe - aka Jonesies best friend. I love her!! 

birthday fun! 

more birthday fun!! surprise!!! 

Happy Birthday to Me from Kennewick

Hola Familia y Feliz Cumpleanos a mi!!!! hehehe.

You all know how much I love my birthday. I thought that birthdays would be really lame out here on a mission but I am loving it! These packages are so much fun! Thank you so so much for all of your sweet letters and packages. I am one spoiled hermanita! The family I now live with made me cake this morning and I opened my presents this morning too. I LOVED THEM ALL!!! I am planning on going ziplining today with the other english sisters and then going to play volleyball with our zone and then we are off to COSTA VIDA!!! Closest thing to cafe rio right now, and they give missionaries 75% off. SCORE! Then we are going to one of my favorite members house tonight. Its gonna be a good day!

Now for the craziness that happened this week. I got a call on Tuesday morning from President Ware that said that one of the Hermanas was going home for health reasons. So..I was Emergency Transferred to Kennewick 4 hours later. It was a very bittersweet thing because I have heard so many good things about Kennewick but I was so sad to leave Pasco so soon (and of course momma pierce). 

Kennewick is only about 10 minutes from Pasco but it is over the river so it seems like another city over there haha. Kennewick is really cool. Lots and lots of apartment complexes and lots of mexicans :). I am now companions with Hermana Foster. She is from Orem UT and she is a powerhouse. She has only been out for 7 weeks but I swear she knows more than me. Either me or her will probably be transferred out of here in 3 weeks because of the 9 Hermanas coming in, but we are making the best of the time together. At first it was hard to adjust because I have been with Pierce and Jones my entire mission but I love hermana foster. She is a professional dancer and she is just legit.

When I got here to Kennewick she told me about this family that was going to be baptized THIS saturday. So basically I kinda got thrown into the wolves to help plan a baptism but it was so fun! The Ibarra family is SO LEGIT. You would never think they would be interested in this church but they have completely turned their lives around and they are so ready for the church it is unbelievable. I have been so blessed to know them and see them through this step in their lives. Juan is 28 and Lakisha is 23. They have 2 kids named Uvia and Ricky. They are so freaking cute and I love them.

The baptism planning was all going smoothly and then Saturday approached. We started off the day by going to a branch activity to hike Badger Mountain (not really a mountain). It was a pretty big hike and we did it with the Ibarra kids too. It was really hot outside but we had fun. After that we were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to get everything done before 6pm. Everything went so well and smoothly and then people started to show up. And then more people. And then the AP's. And then President & Sister Ware. And we had about 30 people there. As Juan went to get into the font, the branch president looked up at me and said "The water is way too hot.." WHAT?!! We were so careful about making sure it wasn't too cold! And now it was too hot!? Me and Hermana Foster sang a duet and I shared my testimony on the spot to stall time. After about 15 minutes, everything went perfectly. Long story short is that it wasn't our fault. Someone messed with the temperature gages and they had to call a technician in. By the end of this week with all the changes in transfers, meeting new people, learning a new area, having a new companion, planning a baptism, and hiking a mountain...its safe to say that I AM EXHAUSTED. But a very productive exhausted. 

I am loving Kennewick so far. I am scared to get close to anyone because I could be leaving in about 3 weeks though. Hermana Jones told me story after story about the members in Kennewick because she LOVES this place. So it has been really fun to see the people that I have heard so much about. I am always just tracting behind in my momma's footsteps :)

Funny Moment: Alright I am takin a big move with my funny moment this week..We love all the missionary's in the mission. But I will say that I know that their are only the special ones that are called spanish speaking ;). So me and Hermana Foster have a new slang word that we use. When we want to call someone odd or just a little bit different...we say.. "They are so English" or "They were so nice..just very English" haha. Use it. Good stuff. And for all those who have served spanish speaking..you know what I am saying. For those who didn't..don't be offended. hehe.

Spiritual Moment: After all was said and done during the madness of the baptism, watching these 2 people that I have only known for 4 days get into the waters of baptism was absolutely indescribable. The room got quiet and the spirit rushed in. I wish I could remember my special day a little better but it was a really strong reminder to me how important that day 12 years ago was. 

I love you all so much. I am having such an amazing birthday. I am so blessed by so many incredible people in my life. I can't believe that I will be home in a year! Time to get to work! Love you all so much!

Smile Always.

Xoxo!  

-Hermana McBride

chavez family

juarez clan

the new trio

one for posterity

elder calder

natalia

Transferred to The Promised Land aka Pasco

Hola from Pasco Washington!!!

 

Welp I am here in what is called "The Promised Land" of the mission. Unfortunatley we are in the very white parts of the city because we are sisters (Although I would like to believe I could totally handle a gangbangin neighborhood). Just to give you an idea, I live in an apartment that has a gym and a tanning bed..yes i have utilized both already. Our apartment is a 3 bedroom apartment because we live with 2 of the English sisters. Hermana Ray is a cute gal from Mesa, AZ. Its weird adjusting to these Trio companionships especially because I have served with Hermana Pierce already but its going good I think. I jumped into Hma. Pierce's arms when I saw her. Love the girl. We are planning on living in Provo together after the mish.  Hma Pierce and Ray opened this area only 4 weeks ago, so just like Yakima, we are kinda starting from square one but Its all good. We are having a good time and my spanish is doing so much better. So here I am in Pasco. I learned so much in Yakima and I really did love it there so much. I am going to miss Jonesy so much. I already do. It was sad saying bye to people too. Its crazy how close I get to know these people in such a short amount of time.

 

Before I got here to Pasco, we were knocking on some doors in Yakima and we asked this one white man if he had any spanish speaking neighbors that we could teach. Usually, they are always down to point out the neighbors..not this guy. He went off for about 5 minutes about how much he hated these mexicans and got into all of the political details. I was sick to my stomach. It was right then when I realized my love for these people. They are some of the most hard-working, humble, loveable people who just want a better life for their families. Sure, there is more to it than that..BUT my point being..I am so grateful to get to teach these people.

 

Hermana Pierce and Jones are now "Sister Training Leaders" AKA: Girl Zone Leaders. So that just proves how I really did get the best trainers on the block. Anyway, they had a meeting in Kennewick and so me and Hma. Ray just stayed behind. The phone wrang like 10 times and I had to try to figure out what these people were trying to say in spanish. EPIC FAIL. It was pretty hilarious though.

 

Temptation of the week: NBA FINALS. Walked into a house and they had a giant screen of the game. Game 7. 4th Quarter. 5 Minutes. ABORT MADISON MCBRIDE ABORT!!! Luckily, Hermana Pierce caught on and we peaced out pretty quickly. But dangggg...Missin the NBA. Glad the Heat won. Anything that will tick Kobe off is good news to me.

 

Funny Moment of the week: Now that I am out of Yakima we actually eat with the Branch. Mexican food for days. Lets just say my stomach was not ready for that. The 2nd day we went to this ladys house and had this shrimp (legs still attatched)/oyster/mussel/octupus soup with tortillas, white rice, and insanely hot salsa...yaaa. Pierce is like an anti-fish eater so it was very interesting. Then, to show our thanks we ask for more. Its been a rough go for my tummy. But I think Im handling it all pretty well (psych). I did miss some good mexican food though..now just trying to figure out the 2 huge servings. Please pray for my stomach to find more room for all of it haha.

 

Spiritual Moment: We went to try a less active but nobody lived there so we did a tryback to this lady. Ray and Pierce told me about this girl and how she lived with this very abusive guy. They have avoided him everytime they are over there because he is very loud and rude. Well at the door, She said that she didn't have time because she was sleeping. As we were walking away the man started getting loud and was saying "NO PLEASE COME IN...I WANNA HEAR WHAT YOU GUYS NEED TO SAY. COME ON. I HAVE 20 MINUTES". We were scared but we knew the lord would be with us. We went in and talked to him what we do as missionaries. He told us that he has felt very lost and doesn't know how to feel God. We had the coolest conversation with him. It was amazing to see his accountance change within minutes. He told us how much he desired to have a relationship with God. At the end of the 20 minutes we taught him how to pray and he brought his wife in and prayed. It was so amazing to see the work of the Lord and how much he can soften the hardest heart. I have never wanted hope for someone so much. Missionary work is amazing.

 

Te Amo Mucho Familia!!!

 

Que tenga buena semana.

 

XOXO!!

 

-Hermana McBride

Companionship Unity

agua fresca after a long hot day of tracting

matching outfits....we call it "companionship unity."