From Braine l'Alleud to Nantes, France!

February 23rd

Well we had a really good week this week, so many lessons and felt that a lot of our investigators are progressing. We are booked every day, which is really nice. 

We have three Amis with dates of baptism. First is is a 49 year old Belgium women. Elder Bailey and I contacted her in the park about 4 weeks ago, we have been teaching her ever since. She is amazing. She visited the Temple in Salt Lake when she was young and felt something different as she went through a soul searching time in her life and however didn't commit to anything at that time. She said that we have helped her regain whatever faith she had and attends all of the activities and has made so many friends already in the ward, she is so awesome.  She has undoubtedly been prepared to hear this message.

World War II Museum

We have another Ami that we are teaching that is getting baptized on the 14th of March. He is 11 and he is excited for his baptism. He is a part of a less active family that has been inactive for 6 or 7 years. Elder Bailey and I reactivated the family and have continued to teach him.

I am really pleased with all the work we have. I love my mission. I wake up everyday ready to learn, serve the Lord, and experience new things. 

Festival in Belgium

Oh we also had a pretty cool experience this week while we were contacting.  After prayerfully considering where we should go, we ended up meeting a women on the street, we taught her the Plan of Salvation in the park and said a prayer with her. She walked off with the biggest smile in the world. It’s priceless the feeling you get when you see so very clearly how you were placed in the path of someone and how God prepare’s his children to accept the plan that he has created for us. 

Arc in a Park, Belgium

March 2^nd

I had a really great but busy week, they just fly by, such great experiences and its so tough to write about them all.

To start there are 4 Elders in our Ward in Nivelles. We are the Elders for Braine L'Allued and the North while the other Elders are for the South. As part of their responsibility they cover an American Base Branch in Mons. Which is south closer to the French border. There are about 20 families that are American that are in the forces there. I am the only one out of the group that has permission to drive so I went on a little trip with Elder Earnshaw. We had a referral to contact and some members to stop by and visit.  We set off Sat morning for the referral, a man who had requested a Book of Mormon.  He lives in Peruwelz, Beligum, its on the border of France, map that out and that's how far we drove. It was the coolest drive I have ever taken in my life for sure. The scenery, cars and buildings, it was so cool.  We visited with the guy who had requested us to stop by for a bit and gave him a Book of Mormon and headed off.   We had lunch in the center of Mons, it’s a really cool tourist city. We parked our little Yaris and enjoyed the scenery.  We were able to visit with some American members and picked up some American milk, pop tarts, peanut butter, and a bunch of other groceries. The members on the base don’t get to see the missionaries very often, they enjoyed the messages that we shared.  It was a great day. 

Our District in the Park

This week we also got to see a cool miracle. There is a family in the ward that has been working closely with the missionaries to share the gospel with others, great member missionaries. They had a family come to mind, we all prayed that their hearts would be open and receptive. The family ended up inviting them to meet with us this week. So on Sunday we went to this members house and met this cute little family.  We shared the Plan of Salvation with them. The whole family, kids included where really engaged in the discussion. I asked the little kids question’s and they gave the most perfect answer’s It brought a smile to their Mom’s face. They understood what we shared and loved it. We, along with the family that are members where able to testify of the blessings that we have as well as the knowledge that we can live with our families forever. Hopefully things will progress. I know that the gospel can help this family be happy. It is our job to help them realize what an opportunity they have. 

So yeah it was a really good week. All our other Amis are doing well, one of our Amis lives in refugee housing we are pretty much teaching him and everyone else there. We are meeting people from all over the world. We taught a 17 year old boy from Afghanistan this week. 

Braine l'Alleud, Belgium

March 9^th

We had another great week. For the most part we were teaching all the time. We have two people that are preparing for baptism on Friday. We are really excited. We have been focused on teaching and praying a lot for these people. They have recognized that God is there for them. Its amazing seeing someone come to this realization and what joy it brings to them, it is life changing, a tender mercy that the lord has given us. Pretty cool! Its a pretty special moment when a person in all humility thanks the Lord for putting us in their path and showing them the right path in life to be happy and joyful living with their family forever.

We are extremely grateful for these people that the lord has blessed us with. They were truly prepared to hear this gospel. It’s amazing to see how we, as missionaries are guided by the spirit to find them. We will continue to be busy this week in preparation for these baptisms. It’s not always easy but so worth it. The Lord is there to help us because he loves us as we are. He knows our potential and is willing to give us all we need according to our faith to get there. 

We are having a lot of fun while in the service of the Lord, that is easy to say. Such a GREAT week.

Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement. Love you guys. 

March 16^th

So this week was pretty crazy. One of our baptisms was Friday night.  He is the nicest, most humble person I have ever met. He had a glow before his baptism just imagine how he was after, was just glowing. We had a good number of people there to support him which was good as well as some of his friends. It was a really special day. He was so grateful for the opportunity. Elder Sheeren baptized him and I was standing on the side of the font. His smile was priceless. After the baptism he said he has never been happier, he just felt the most unique peace that he had never really felt before.  It was kinda the realization for him that it was the right decision.  He is going to be a really good member. He already teaches the gospel to all of his friends. So yeah that was really cool. It’s those experiences that make all the work and effort towards helping other’s worth it!

Saying Goodbye to Members in Belgium

Last Sunday a man showed up and said, “I see your church all the time and I am really curious to see what it is all about, can I come next week and check it out?” We were like YAA of course. This man is like 30,  he is a physics professor and is handicapped. He can’t walk super well so he has his car and a couple of Segways that he uses. I learned that he and his brother have driven across the United States on these Segways. They just travel with these things everywhere. He is a super cool guy and loved church. We are going to start teaching him. Oh and top of that he let me ride his Segway around after church!

Got to ride the Segway- So FUN!! Kids loved it.

This Sunday was actually my last week in Braine l'Allued. It’s been about 6 months. The ward there was so awesome. I have so many amazing friends there. I had the opportunity to bear my testimony and say goodbye. It was really cool to stand at the pulpit and see all of these people just smiling at you. I can look back on the last 6 months and would say that it was a success. It felt pretty amazing leaving somewhere better than it was when I arrived.  I took a bunch of photos with the members and said bye. I will be going to NANTES one of the bigger cities in France near the ocean. I have heard that it is amazing, I am really excited. I leave on Wednesday morning from Brussels to Paris, then from Paris to Nantes in the afternoon. Should be a long day of travel. I am looking forward to it though. 

Saying goodbye to good friends in Belgium

I had a really great last week here in Belgium. I will always remember this place. It’s so cool everyday making people happy.

March 23rd

Well thanks for all your emails and love this week! We have a ton of work right now. I was transferred to Nantes near the south of France on the west coast. It was a long voyage from Brussels to Paris then Paris on to Nantes.

Run into the "Original 4" MTC Companions on Transfer Day

It is one of the bigger Villes in France.  The ward is made up of a lot of small families and University students. It is always busy with people moving in and out all the time. We ride the trams and busses many times throughout the day, it is a great way to meet new people and talk to them about our message.  It’s really fun way to meet new people.  You look at a person and try to think of what you can say to them to start a conversation, We call it trajet contacting. This week I had a really cool experience, I was standing near the door and women came on with a stroller that had twin boys, jackpot. I asked her some questions and explained that I have twin sisters. She was so happy that I spoke to her. Her name was Russian so I didn’t really catch it. She had just married a Frenchman and they had just moved to Nantes to start raise their family and were in search of a church to join. I talked her about the gospel and what a blessing it could be for her family. She was very interested. We gave her our card and she said she would call us next week because as she doesn’t have a phone yet. Those are great little experiences that make everyday interesting.

We are teaching a lot of university students who are young, open and curious. Right now we are teaching a girl who is French and is getting a history degree. The  former missionaries taught her twice and we went back this week another two times. She got a Book of Mormon a week ago and has already read 200 pages. We invited her to pray to know if it is true.  Yesterday she said she knows its true, right away. She try’s to read her university books but she can’t. She starts with them but just ends up reading the Book of Mormon.  Yesterday we felt prompted to set a date with her to get baptized, she will prepare to be baptized on the 25th of April. She knows that the Book of Mormon helps her and makes her feel good. It’s amazing confirming testimony of the Book of Mormon for me when it changes someone’s heart, it’s not something we said or did. It’s the truthfulness of the greatest book in the world testifying of our savior Jesus Christ, pretty special.

Nantes

I have learned through various experiences it’s just the little efforts that make a difference. Even if you don’t have success Heavenly Father loves us and will bless us with people if we just try. He wants to see that we are willing to do our part. That is what we try to do everyday. Just give it your all even if you are tired, hungry or it’s awkward.

We are teaching someone from Port au Prince Haiti. I need some vocabulary, phrases from my Dad to share. My New companion finishes next transfer.  We have a lot of work to keep us busy, should be fun 6 weeks.

Thanks for all the emails, love you all!

February Update - Still in Belgium

Week of January 26^th

This Sunday we got to see the man that we baptized pass the sacrament and receive a calling. It was a really special moment to see him pass the sacrament to his family. He was so happy to do that and get a calling and it’s really cool seeing his testimony grow.  A couple weeks ago just after he was baptized, we were teaching a lesson and our leaders had told us to ask for referrals from recent converts.  At the end of the lesson we taught him we almost forgot to ask then I remembered to  ask him if there is anyone that he knows that he thinks would like to learn about the gospel and meet with the missionaries and he said there is this family that I know and he gave us the number of this family and we passed them on to the other Elders in Charleroi. They started to teach them and they all have a date to get baptized soon. It was that prompting that led this family on the path that they are on toward baptism.  I have learned the importance of following those promptings and it is cool when you see the impact they  have on people’s lives.

Last week I told you how we had that really cool experience with the Bishop and his less active brother. This week in testimony meeting he got up and thanked us for our work and how the missionaries are really inspired. We are just going about our business most of the time and it’s really cool how we are led and directed.  We have been sharing a specific message with the members helping them to do missionary work and the Stake President has been giving the members the same invitation. We have the same vision but didn't know it.  

We found a ton of new people to teach this week and I will be getting a new companion on Wednesday. Should be good.

Week of February 2^nd

Well this was an interesting week. To start it off Elder Bailey and I went to see a lot of the members because he was leaving on Wednesday for transfers. It was a bit of a different week having your trainer leave after  4 months together. It ends real quick when he gets on a train to Paris and you don’t know when you are going to see him again. I am grateful for all that I learned from him! He helped to start my mission off on the right foot and taught me a lot about how to be a good missionary. I waited in Brussels all day Wednesday for my new companion and when he came in and we got right to work. 

We had a lot of success and saw a lot of cool miracles. The first day together I told him that we were going to go visit some investigators we had already taught twice. We were having a hard time getting a hold of her so we prayed that she would be home when we arrived. We went over and she wasn't there and we continued the day.  As we were heading home on this little side street there she was. We ended up getting to teach a little lesson to her and set an appointment for next time just like that!

Things were a little different this week with Elder Bailey gone, it was good I liked it taking the lead in everything. I led all the lessons and set up all the appointments, it feels great.  My companion has only been in the mission for a month longer than myself so it will be a good opportunity for us both to learn a lot.

We taught a lady Elder Bailey and I contacted in the park for the 3rd time this week. It was really good she is 48 and is a Belg. She has visited the Temple Square in Salt Lake City and said she loved it and felt something different there. She went through a soul searching phase when she was young and tried out every religion but ours. So this week we invited her to church and taught her about the Plan of Salvation. It was Ward Conference and she loved it. She expresses how it’s like one big family and everyone is so kind. She is in agreement with all the teachings, believes it and she was asking about baptism. We gave her a soft baptismal invite explaining that when you know with your heart that these things are true than you can be baptized and she said yes. So that's sweet. We are teaching her again this week. 

Then last night we found a new ami(investigator). We were knocking doors and met her and asked if we could say a prayer with her and she said yes and invited us in.   We prayed with her and she said she liked it and wants to know more. She is totally cool and we are going back to teach her this week. We taught 18 lessons this week which was good! 

This week I learned a fundamental principle of missionary work. I learned that as missionaries, if we put in best effort  in 100 % of the time not just 80%, you will be rewarded. It’s really the little things like talking to people on all the trains and crossing over to the other side of the street to contact someone.  You may get rejected but Heavenly Father sees that and he knows that you are trying your best. This week we were on the train and I started up a conversation with this guy, taught him a little lesson and gave him our number.  The first two people we contacted off the train we taught lessons too.  The whole zone is all coming to Brussels and we are going contacting the whole day. Should be fun. 

 

War Museum

Week of February 9^th

So I had a pretty amazing week this week. I saw some really cool miracles and made a lot of progress. It was a busy one though. I will just share a couple of the cool moments we had. 

So first on Wednesday I was on an exchange and we had a couple appointments that were really good.  We had some time to go contacting so we went out and the whole time we both felt that we should keep going on this big long street. We had contacted a couple people and then said hello to this man.  He took off his hood with a big smile and said “Hey Missionaries.” He explained that he was a less active member and that he hadn't been to church in 6 years and went on to explain that 5 min earlier he said a little prayer and thought that he would of really liked to see the  “Freres” from church that day. We had no idea who this man was and had not seen his name before and ended up teaching him a little lesson on the street.  He had a huge smile on his face and was extremely thankful to us. When we got back to the apartment his teaching record was sitting on the desk and we had no idea why or how, but somehow it showed up out of the hundreds the missionaries have.

We also had a lesson planned with a family that the other Elders are teaching. We went to the house with the Ward Mission Leader, when we got there found out that they were at the hospital with their young daughter who was really sick.  So we went up to the hospital and came into the room with the family and this little 4 year old girl was sitting on her Dad’s lap sobbing because she had a tube in her ear and mouth leading to her stomach because she hadn't eaten in a couple days. She was just crying and in so much pain.  We were able to visit with the family and offer comfort , she received a blessing.  Right after her Dad laid her down on the bed and she stopped coughing and sobbing and just laid there silent until she fell asleep. It was a truly humbling experience.  

We have 3 baptismal dates, 2 for the 14th of March and one for the 28th. We taught 24 lessons this week and had some fun. It’s hard to explain how much fun it is and how much of a blessing it is.  Yesterday at church the teacher for the gospel principles class didn't show up, so sure enough with having nothing prepared, I gave a 45 minute lesson in French.  A great learning experience and I was grateful that we had some women in that class who talk a lot! 

January Update from Belgium

(First of the month at the Bottom of this update a little behind)

Elder McBride in his apartment

Week of Jan 19^th

HEY! 

So Elder Bailey and I had a really good week this week. I don't have a ton of time to share all of it but I will share some really cool experiences we had this week.

So to start, yesterday after church we were going to stop by to see some people to say hello to some less active members and some people we had met on the streets. So we tried four people and none of them answered.  We were in the same area as the Bishop's house and we had remembered that he had given us a referral for his street. Someone that he thought might be interested.  We stopped by and said we were the friends of the family and they said to come right in.  So we went in and got to know them and actually taught them the restoration. (THAT NEVER HAPPENS) we had a really good conversation and they agreed to have us come back this week.  It was a really good lesson. 

We headed back to tell the Bishop how the visit went and he was surprised but happy with the outcome and asked if we wanted to come in and visit with his family as well as his brothers family.  We spent some time talking about two of the Bishop's children who are on missions, then the conversation changed to us talking about our missions. The brother and his wife started asking a lot of questions. Eventually we ended up teaching the restoration to his family and they loved it.  They were really engaged and it was an amazing experience that was totally unexpected. They said that they would love to chat again so we are going to have a family home evening at the Bishops home with both families in the near future. So Cool.  We actually found 5 new people to start teaching as well this week.

Mural in Brussels

It was an amazing week full of blessings. Thank you for your support, love and emails. I love my mission and am in an amazing place.  

Week of Jan 12^th

This week went by so quick! We were so busy. I'll share some of the coolest experiences. 

First Isadore, who we just baptized, has actually been coming to church for a long time prior to his baptism is now actually ready to get the Priesthood. We taught him a couple lessons to prepare for that. So after church yesterday that happened and it was awesome.  His kids were there too and it was a really special moment for him, he wanted it so bad and realized the importance of it. 

He has 3 kids that are not baptized and we are teaching all three of them twice a week.  Sandra is 16, Astrid is 12 & Gilbert is almost 8 and they are super cool kids. They actually don't live in our mission but they come to the chapel every week for us to teach them! The goal is to have them baptized in February. They love the church and they have a ton of friends which is awesome.   

We also got to teach Alemshet this week. She has been reading the Book of Mormon, in her language and loves it.  She wants to send one to her sisters in Ethiopia and the meetings have been going really well with her. She knows that she feels good when we come over and talk and she wants to keep that in her life. 

Brussels

We also staring teaching this lady who is about 60, Marie Louise. She is really nice and has an amazing testimony of Jesus Christ. We taught her the restoration this week. In the lesson there was a scripture in the bible that Elder Bailey was trying to find as she has a great love for the Bible.  So it was important that we could find it. In that moment I remembered the exact reference because I had studied it that morning. That morning I had no idea I was going to need to use that scripture in the lesson and the scripture really helped her to understand more about our message.

The Ward here is amazing, they are so cool. There are so many cool families and youth and it's at the point now where the youth invite us over to eat because they love us. We have been able to get close to some families and really help them with their missionary work. This one family calls us the "beaugosse's companionship" which means handsome boys. They always joke around with us. They like my French, it has been getting a lot better lately.

Candy from the Member's, we just can't keep up!

Overall we had a really good week. Hard to fit it all in an email. Found a lot of new people and had some really spiritual Moments. Love you guys. Thanks for all the encouragement and love. 

Happen to hit a BMW Department store in Brussels on P-day, so cool!

Week of Jan 5^th

This week was an amazing week for us! One of the best weeks we've had. We tried our best to be very focused and give it our all. The one thing that we worked on changing this week was our attitude. It's a little premature to say so but I think the secret to missionary work is your attitude and that always determines the outcome of your work!  This week we tried to go above and beyond in our efforts and of course it was one of the ugliest, most rainy weeks ever! We ended up teaching 14 full lessons and finding 8 new people to teach. We taught 8 lessons in 2 days which was great, some more interesting than others.  

Streets of Belgium, finally stopped raining

One of our lessons was with our friend Almeshet from Africa. She has been waiting for some time to see if she could stay legally in Belgium. When we first met her she was having some challenges regarding her immigration and was feeling very troubled regarding her future.  We gave her a blessing. I remember saying that she would be blessed if she did the right thing and was honest. After that we didn't really know what happened however she was noticeably more happy and joyful! Then this week she actually got her papers back telling her that she could stay in Belgium, Great news! This week in the lesson we taught her about the Book of Mormon, now that were able to get her one in her native tongue, Amharic. That went well, she is going to start to read this week! 

After that we taught some new people and one man's name was Jean de Dieu which means Jean of God!  He was interesting, he is also African and living in a house for refugees and is super cool and receptive. He works close to the church so we are going to start teaching him there. He has not had an easy life and is really humble! Great guy.

Another guy we taught this week was Laurent. We ended up knocking on his door to sing for him a Christmas Carol. He didn't have time in the moment and were finally able to go back to see him and he let us in. We found out that he is actually at a point of his life where he is searching for something and we gave him a Book of Mormon and taught him the restoration. He actually has a ton of books about religion and was blown away when he found out that we were Mormon. He's like Mormons "WHAT! that's so cool". We are going back there this week to teach him and his family.

Those were just a couple of the people we taught this week! 

We eat out once in a while!

We are seeing a lot of success with less actives as well.  This one family has had a lot of problems but have been able to come to church the last 3 weeks. They have a son who is 13, not yet baptized so we are teaching him separately to prepare him. He has a knowledge of almost nothing so we are starting from the beginning. It would be awesome if he could progress in the church because he needs direction. He has so much potential and he wants to be baptized. He knows that church is not always the most fun thing in the world but he knows its where he needs to be. He is the one that I bought a pair of vans for. We are going to drop those off this week! He should love those! Also got some gifts for the parents with the money sent for Christmas gifts. 

One thing that has changed about me from before my mission is that I am seeing the struggles emotionally, financially and physically that people face and with the challenges this brings into their lives.  I have learned to see them as Jesus Christ would see them. I want the best for them and I know that I can help them get there. Often I don't realize or know why I love them but I do. That is why I love being a missionary. Because you help people. This world is far from perfect and people need the gospel. 

I have also come to the conclusion now as I have almost been out six months that I have moved past being a teenage punk! The humbling experiences you have on a mission are hard to replicate.  You develop charity and love and realize that you were sometimes selfish and unkind to others. I'm not saying I'm near perfect but at this point I am really thankful for what my mission has done to me. I was reading a scripture in Ether 12:27 which explains it perfect. 

My nickname on a train in Brussels.

We had a really good week! I even found my gang on a train. I love my mission and am thankful for all of you that have helped me get to this point. Have an amazing week! 

Week of Dec 29th 

HEY! 

So we had a good week this week! A little slower than usual but still really good! A unique experience: We were contacting near our house on the way to get a train and I see this guy say HELLO.  Immediately after that he walked into a van and fell over.  He started going on about how he needed to go to bed and all this crazy stuff. Then he tried getting real serious with us. Kinda funny.  

We went out contacting and the first two contacts we had were the most interesting we have ever had. The first guy we asked if we could talk to him about Jesus Christ?  His immediate response was "NO you came to my house and rang on my door bell the other day and I said no!" (side note you see a million faces a day and you can't remember them all. People will come up to you and be like "HEY" and you will think "umm lets just go along with this because we have no idea who you are") anyway after this guy said no he told us that he was going to call the police and then stormed off mad and we went on with our day! The next lady we talked to was a little crazy, all I really got out of what she said to us was that she has a goose. A stone goose in her backyard and every time she feeds it is says "Jesus", just yells that out. So she has a stone talking goose.

On the other hand We got to meet with Isadore this week at a members home for dinner and a lesson. We taught him about the Priesthood because he is preparing for that now. He wants to be able to baptize his kids soon. The meeting and lesson went really well. He understood the responsibility's and privileges and is pretty ready. Along with that we are starting to teach his 2 Daughters who are 13 and 15 I think? They come every week, love church and want to be baptized around the middle of Feb. So we are starting to teach them everything they need to know to make sure that they are ready for that day. They actually live out of the mission but they are meeting us at the chapel to we will be able to teach them because they only speak French and they go to our ward so that should be really good. We are really looking forward to that! 

Jungle Book 

On New Year's Eve we went to a member's house watched a church movie and had dinner and played games, it was good. Then New Year's Day we drove to the Stake Presidents house, Pierre and Noelle Kahne, the people that you know. We went to the city of Liege. SUCH a cool city. The reason we went there was because their was this exhibition of Disney ice sculptures in a huge cold tent. It was so awesome. We saw all of the latest Disney characters. They had this huge Ice Slide.  It was so cool. We had so much fun with their family. After that we went back to their house ate dinner.  It was super fun. 

Oh and then today, our P-day we went to Brussels this morning early because we wanted to do some service with the money you gave me. We went and bought a package of oranges and some Pain du Chocolate and handed them out to the homeless people all over the metros and streets. It was super awesome. A  lot of people liked it! It was cool to see their smiles. When you are really doing service you see and feel the love that Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father have for all of us. So that was really fun. We also shopped for some people in the ward that we are going to help out.  

Overall it was a good week!  A week of service and helping others

The Month of December

Week of December 22^nd

With Christmas this week, we didn't have a lot of work like we normally do and only taught a couple lessons.  One was with the Ba family which we met a few weeks ago.  They are a great family and have said they feel something different when we are there.  We had a really good appointment and the next time we are going to teach the Plan of Salvation.

We also had a lesson with our recent convert who just got baptized -  Isadore.  He was so excited and has been so happy since being baptized and has tons of strength and is ready for anything that comes at him. He also had an interview with the bishop and will be getting the Priesthood in the next two weeks. We are teaching him a lesson on that tonight.  Everything is going well him. 

This week we spent a lot of the time singing. One day we went out with all of the youth in the Ward to sing to a number of families as well as some we are teaching. 

 

Ward Christmas Party

We spent Christmas Eve at the Bishops house with his family and Christmas day at another members house, the De Lauw's. We got some presents from both, they are very generous and are two really cool families.  The De Lauw's got me 4 hockey sticks that they ordered from Finland as they know how much I love the game and miss it.   Overall it was a really good week with a lot of fun. I learned to appreciate Christmas in a different, in a special way and grateful to be here on my mission to allow me to deepen my understanding of the Gift of our Savior. Thankful for that as well as the Skype call with my family in Dallas!

Christmas Day with the De Lauw's

Week of December 15^th

We ended up going back to the Ba family the past week that we were led to earlier. The one time we just stopped by on the way to Paris and they set us up with all this food, we ended up having to go back later to teach a lesson. They had dinner for us so we taught them the lesson during dinner. They are really curious and are the nicest people in the world.  We have loved getting to know them and see them begin to understand who we are, what we do as missionaries and the message that we have to share.

Isadore was baptized this week, it was an amazing day. It was so cool to see him take that step and I loved being a part of helping him get there.  It was a good service and there were some really good talks given by the members,so many people came out to support him.  After his baptism he had a different glow and you could tell that he carried a different light with him. It was a great day as a missionary to be able to experience that.

On Wednesday we had a Christmas Conference in Versailles.  The mission was  split in half for convenience.  President Babin and his wife as well as the Area 70 for Europe Elder Texeria and his wife were there.   We took an early train from Brussels to Paris. Got to the conference about 9.  The first training session was given by President and his wife. The second was given by Elder Texeria and his wife, there was a Christmas lunch in between.  At the beginning of the second session President Babin asked a Sister to come up and bear her testimony and after she sat down, all of a sudden the Elder conducting says "Now we would like to have Elder McBride come up and bear his testimony!"  So on the spot I went up in front of the Area 70 and 160 missionaries. After the meeting I thanked the President for the opportunity, he had a big smile on his face. The training were really good, learned a lot. Grateful to be able to meet up with the many missionaries that  I have become friends.

To cap off the week we had a big Christmas Sunday yesterday. We had 2 less active families that we have been visiting,  a recent convert who just got baptized and 2 amis de Eglise attend church, it was great. After church we had a big lunch/dinner activity where Santa came, we ate, sang and had activities. The Belgians do Christmas right over here!.

Week of December 8^th

We have been doing a lot of knocking on doors and asking people if we can sing them a Christmas song. One night we taught 3 lessons and sang three songs and one of the last streets we were on I felt like we should go down to this one building. The second buzzer I pressed, we asked this man if we could sing for him. He said one second I’m coming down and it ended up that we taught him a lesson on the street two weeks before where we had 5 min to teach him and he was really impressed but he really had to go. He came down and opened the door and invited us in. We walked in to meet his wife with their two kids.  The cool part was that I had seen that family 3 times before! We were on the bus with them and then we saw them on the street two more times!  As soon as we entered the apartment they took our coats and our bags and invited us to have dinner with them as they were just about to eat. We taught them the WHOLE restoration and had a 45 min conversation before dinner. Then during dinner we talked about what we do, who we are, our role, families, interests and hobbies. We also shared with them basically everything different about us. After they both said "you know this makes sense, you guys know your stuff. There is something different about you".  I know that it was not by chance and that we found them.

Week of December 1^st

Leading up to Christmas we have been talking to people about Jesus Christ and asking them what they are doing for Christmas or why Christmas is special for them. It’s been really effective in getting people interested and we then share a message about the gospel.  We are meeting a lot of new people this way.  We have also been knocking on doors and singing Christmas Carols and sharing the story of the nativity.  The other night just before we were about to go in we knocked on this door and asked this older man if we could sing a song for him. He said yes. So we came in and sang away in a manger in French. He was blown away and he said it was amazing. He felt the spirit and said he felt different.  So he invited us back and we are going to start teaching him.  This week we taught 14 lessons and also met with Isador who is being baptized on the 20th.  He is so ready and I can’t wait for him to make that step.

It snowed this week which was awesome. Just a little bit of it stayed for a day!  I also taught a 20 minute lesson at a bus stop as our bus was late.  It was an older lady and she listened but wasn't that interested in the message, just interested in me. We are going to Paris on Wednesday to pick up Elder Bailey’s legality card and to help with luggage in transfers. Should be a fun week. Fitting in a little shopping in Paris which is always good too. 

New Suit, Merry Christmas Elder McBride

Elder Cook Visit and other Highlights

Week of November 23rd

We have been teaching some different people on and off right now.  A couple of guys, one has a Baptismal date for December 20th and a woman from Ethiopia. They are all super awesome.  We have been working with the ward mission leader to set a date and figured out all the logistics of the baptism. He has 4 kids and 3 of them want to be baptized so that will be happening in the future too. He wants to be able to baptize them so that will be really cool. They all come to church every week. The other guy is 40 and lives on his own and drives big ships in the ocean. He has lost faith in the world. This week we dropped by because we hadn't heard from him in a while. He ended up being really sick. We taught him a little lesson then gave him a blessing, it was super awesome. We are going to meet with him again soon.

Then there is the woman from Ethiopia who is a refugee.  The lesson we had planned to teach her was the Plan of Salvation. As the lesson progressed it we ended up teaching about faith, repentance and baptism. I was questioning the whole time where this was going.  Then all of a sudden she commented that this was what she wanted to learn about.  I knew that's where the spirit guided the lesson. I realized that's the only way the lesson could of gone to connect with her. We offered a blessing to give her added comfort. I gave her a blessing and it was amazing the spirit was so strong.  That was probably the moment that I have felt the power of the priesthood the most.  She said she felt better and that she felt stronger after. She has had an amazingly hard life and I can't explain how much I've been humbled teaching her, pretty cool experience. 

This week we had our Thanksgiving district meeting with the whole zone. We had a massive lunch in Brussels as always. 

The number represents how many 6 week transfers they have been through

We got yelled at knocking doors this week which was funny. An old lady yelled something I couldn't really understand. We just stand in the lobby's of the big apartment buildings and buzz every sonar. 

I Had a cool experience on the train one day. We talk to a ton of people and contact on trains but this time I was sitting across from a lady, it was a short ride. We were getting off at the same place and I could see that she was looking at me so I smiled. All of a sudden she said "do you have a book for me?" I didn't say a word just smiled, pretty cool how the spirit works. We gave her a Book of Mormon and our card.  We also met this old guy contacting and we asked him if he had a relationship with God. He was convinced that God is the sun? He kept on going on about how he sees God (the sun) everyday haha. He even yelled it, So funny. 

We also had a couple service projects on Saturday. First we cut down a giant tree in an old lady's back yard. I don't think that using a chainsaw is allowed but it was super fun. The group of members said "Give it to the Canadian he knows what he is doing." Then we got to go work with horses and scoop poop. That was awesome. The family that owns the horses are really cool. hen to top off the week we had to teach the 5th Sunday lesson at church with the mission leader about effective ways to work with less actives and invite them back to church that went well. Over all is was a really good week. 

Last thing. We are doing a little bit of a Christmas study challenge thing that i think would be good for everybody: 

1. What can you do this month to come closer to Jesus Christ?

2. What can you offer him? 

3. How can you help other come closer to him? 

4. How can you become more like him? 

Week of November 17th 

So this week we had a meeting with this guy that has been in contact with the missionaries for about a year. He is going to get baptized. It should be in the next two weeks. We are so happy for him. He really want's to get the priesthood and baptize his son in January which is awesome. Our last meeting he said some things that were amazing to hear. 

We got a referral from a lady in the ward who is a refugee from Africa. She moved to Italy and then moved to Belgium. She knew the church was true right away and got baptized here.  The referral is a woman about 25 and has a cute little daughter and are from Ethiopia. She has a huge family back in Africa. We went over to the members to teach her in English. She has had a lot of trials but during the lesson she commented that she is just looking for the right church. She expressed that she needs the love and comfort of our Savior Jesus Christ in her life. She loved everything that we shared and we are so happy we get to help her. She felt the spirit of what we taught.  She is a super strong women and a amazing example. I really hope everything works out with her. 

This Tuesday I got to go check out the Atomium. Its the famous huge sculpture with a ton of balls in Brussels.

On Wednesday we moved into our new apartment!  Its so cool and we have so much space. This whole week we have been putting Ikea furniture and we moved all our stuff to the new apartment in our tin can hybrid Yaris. 

On Thursday we went to Paris. We Caught a train leaving Brussels at 6am and got to Paris around 8am. From there we took the metros to Versailles where the chapel is located that the conference with Elder Cook was taking place.  It was an amazing conference, Elder Cooks witness and testimony of Jesus Christ was powerful.

A member of the church here owns a horse farm and we went and did some service there on Saturday. Cleaning and restocking and it was sweet to hangout with horses.  Over all it was a packed amazing week.