April 29, 2015 Travel Plans!

The biggest exciting news of the week was that we got our TRAVEL PLANS!! I can't even describe how exciting it was! It will take about 24 hours to get there from the time we leave the MTC! Monday at 5:30 AM we fly out to Dallas, and then to Heathrow before making it to Copenhagen! London calling baby! We'll arrive in Denmark about 1:00 their time which is 8 hours ahead of us! Another exciting thing is I get to call home while we're in the airports! I'll attach a picture of our specific travel plans! the times are local for whatever airport but then you can know when to expect a call! 

That fieldtrip sounds really fun! I don't remember ours being quite that crazy when we went! I'll definitely look up that talk! Hollands son is coming our last sunday here for devo and I'm super excited because he talked at BYU and it was in that talk I decided it was the right time for my papers to go in so I'm so excited. Also have you found the talk Character of Christ by Elder Bednar? Best talk I've ever heard! 

The Danish district got chosen to be examples for the new missionaries today! Which means we knock on a door and teach an investigator in front of like 40 new missionaries, in english. I don't know how to teach in English hahaha! We think they used our TRC footage to choose us but we're not sure! TRC is when you basically do hometeaching to members that are either from Denmark or served their missions there. Last week we skyped with a girl from Denmark, an actual Dane living in Denmark. So fun and even better we could understand almost everything she said! I can't wait to get there! 

I'll send Sam some MTC tips but the way we packed was awesome and really nice for unpacking so just do the same thing! Also will you send me how much money I have on my debit card? My next P-day won't be until Monday after next but we'll get to skype on May 10!!  Also ya just send that sweatshirt! I might send a few things home right before but our carryons can be heavy and we're going to stack them with our books! I love you mom! Kaerlighed means love by the way! I also love the rest of you and i can't wait to send you all pics from DENMARK!

Jeg Elske I,

AEldste McBride

Thanks for the Cinnamon Rolls we had a cinnamon roll party monday morning and ate all of them! I forgot to get a picture because I don't think so good in the mornings but they were delicious!

April 22, 2015 This Week's News

Hi Min Mor!

Wow! What a big week for everybody! That's so exciting about Isaac's baptism it really is amazing that he could understand how important that is even as his crazy self! He looked so cute in those pictures you sent! Also Sam going to the temple is so exciting we look forward to going every week here and it is such a blessing! I laughed so hard when I imagined Ike taking his throne in the middle of sacrament meeting hahah that must have been awesome! Also way to go Cole! Good luck in your big game on saturday! With you back I don't think there's any stopping your team! 

So here at the MTC weeks are starting to fly by because we're just in such a routine but there were still some highlights! On monday we got to host for new senior couples which was really fun! I just kept thinking about brother Curran because he must've gone through the exact same process! Senior couples live in basically a hotel on the top floor above the bookstore which was pretty funny to see, they have ice machines in the halls and everything! We called it the MTC Marriott haha. One sister was a solo and had to be about 85 years old, walked very slowly with a cane, and was beginning her 4th mission! Ya 4, it was really inspiring! Also the field opened this week which means I got to throw a frisbee during gym time and play sand volleyball it was so great! Oh also I was released as DL and AEldste Williams (Brown ties) was called which I think is a perfect fit! It means I didn't have to go to leadership training which meant I got to relax a little with the missionaries that just came in last week. They are really awesome and we all have a lot of fun together! They loved the brownies by the way! Thanks so much for that! Will you also thank Emily McBride for me? She sent me a bunch of candy which was sweet!! Also thank you so much for the letter Grandma! I asked my teachers if they had ever served in Soro and they had! They say it is really beautiful and pretty close to Copenhagen! I hope I get to serve there at some point in my mission!

Now to answer your questions! May 5 is our actual departure date! We'll get our travel plans later this week which we are sooooo stoked about! We just want to get over the Atlantic ya feel? Danes almost never have Visa issues because we don't need one to enter the country so theres almost no chance of being reassigned which is pretty nice! Not that being reassigned is all that bad though, reassignments go through the same process that original calls go through so 2 inspired calls is pretty cool. The only thing I think I need is some amoxicillin for my acne because that helps so much besides that I don't really need anything! I'm pretty sure you shouldn't send a disposable phone, I've heard you're supposed to use pay phones and you can buy cards with minutes on them here at the book store! I'm excited to hear all your voices and I'll let you know the exact times I'll be traveling next week so you can be ready for my calls! Laundry is going fine! Can all my pants be machine washed? I wasn't sure if the suit ones could or not. I don't iron haha but maybe I should start.

So I think thats about it. We had an awesome devo last night and the speaker taught about how we need head knowledge, heart knowledge, and spiritual knowledge and how are investigators need the same thing. The way we can do that is by learning the gospel, receiving a confirmation through the Holy Ghost, and then acting on that. It was really helpful and we're going to start using that same pattern to help those we teach! 

Fun Danish word of the week: Rar (sounds like when you do a T-rex impression, I'm sure Isaac could help) and it means "kind" so we've been saying "du er meget rar" all week which means "you are very kind" (meget is pronounced like miyal by the way) Besides Icelandic Danish is the least phonetic language on our whole floor of obscure European languages which is tough but pretty fun!

Meget Kaerlighed,

AEldste McBride

Tie Draft!

Post Tie Draft!

AEldste Nelson ended up with my tie! He's a nord and one of my favorite elders here!
Him and Colton would get along really well!

Elder Nonu and Elder Mereki!

April 15, 2015 Winter Wonderland at the MTC

ITS SNOWING HERE! Pretty different from your Mexico trip by the looks of it! I'm super jealous of the picture of dad lounging on a bed on the beach I think that's the exact opposite of my life right now hahaha! I would give anything to go Scuba diving right now haha! It was a really great week here at the MTC! Ældste West and I have really started to hit our stride here when it comes to the work! Our lessons our getting simpler and clearer and we're hitting the language hard! I'll send you a pic next week when our flashcards will breaking 1000! Vi har vidnesbyrd af studiere korter ( we have a testimony of study cards)! 

2 pretty funny stories this week! We started matching ties as a zone this week starting with short, fat, ugly brown ties! Every single one belongs to Ældste Williams! He's such a funny Elder! The next day was Paisley day which was much more classy! Then we did blue ties. But ya Williams loves brown ties, we don't understand completely but the only one who wouldn't wear one is his companion who says "he's alwayas cared about fashion and won't stop now" haha Ældste Howes reminds me a lot of jordan schlansky, the guy who Conan O'brien makes fun of on youtube hahaha. They're a pretty funny companionship because they're total opposites! West and I are really lucky we both are trying to be better every day so we're making some great progress! The second funny story is about two elders we've become friends with over the past week! Elder Nonu and Elder Mereki! Nonu is from tonga and Mereki is from the gilbert islands or something like that! They're going to the phillipines so they're learning some philipino language from English and they barely know english! It is pretty incredible! They're super funny and they love us so they tried to sit with us during a devotional and we were talking and laughing and then Nonu says "Oh no we're caught" as his branch president comes up and takes them back to the area for missionaries using translation headphones hahaha. They're great I'll try and send a picture next week! 

Will you please thank Aunt Lynn and Uncle Doug for the cookies! They were so good! Our zone (and our teachers) pounded them! Also will you thank the Magnuses for sending those strawberries it was actually really awesome to get fresh fruit! 

Sam emailed while I was writing this letter so I guess that whole twin thing still works haha!

I'm so excited for Isaac it would've been cool to have Sam baptize him but he'll have plenty of opportunities in then next couple months! Also Cole I'm so proud of you! You are so close jeg ved det du kan gore det! I know that you can do it! (we say that a lot during lessons haha). Anyway our dutch elder and dutch sister left a couple days ago which is too bad because they were seriously the best. But later today we double the elders in our zone! 7 dutchies and 2 icelanders! Us Danes are especially excited because they're technically in our Mission and they're are only 8 missionaries in iceland at any time!

We've also learned more about Denmark from quizzing our teachers and have found that to the Danes happiness means more like contentedness so it won't quite be like going to Disneyland haha. We also learned that one of our teachers never had a bike his whole mission and they're are actually very few Ældster in Kobenhavn! We also learned that when we get there it'll be the perfect time of year and fields will be covered in these super bright yellow flowers! We're so lucky! Hope all is well back home and Ike's baptism goes well! 

Meget Kaerlighed,

Ældste McBride

Preview of Us in Denmark

  

Brown Tie Day

Elder Bringhurst is the man! He got reassigned to Utica, New York until his visa to the Netherlands goes through! Him and Sister Duncan sang a song in dutch which is a hymn in Europe but not here it translates to "shall we meet across the river" it's a fun song to sing I only know how to sing it in Danish not English!

Williams!

Paisley Day

MTC Winter Wonderland

Snow?

April 8, 2015 News from the MTC

MIN MOR (My Mom)!

Thanks so much for the package! I got it last P Day and I saved the caramel chocolate egg until Easter Night! The pictures were fantastic and seriously made my week especially the sunset from our house! Week 2 at the MTC flew by! Conference was pretty awesome here because everything felt like it could be applied immediately! We sat in an auditorium to watch conference with basically every other missionary in the MTC and everyone had notebooks out and was fighting not to fall asleep AEldste Williams mostly lost that fight hahaha but I did pretty well! The church needs vibrant, thinking missionaries" was the stand out for me! So I've been working on my vibrancy hahaha! Easter here was not as good as at home! Breakfast was cold cereal, lunch was roast beef, and dinner was sloppy joes? Also no pan hiding or riddles so it kind of just felt like a normal average day except for conference.

Also tell Ike thanks so much for the drawings he's quite the artist hahaha!! I can't wait to hear how his baptism goes, at the MTC we get taught everyday how important that is so that's just so cool! That's so exciting for Jack and Jared! There are sometimes when I'm seriously jealous of English missionaries because they can say what they want from the first day! I'm so proud of Cole, what a stud! Can you send me a picture of him all dressed for his game this week? It's amazing how determined he is! I hope Austen feels better, poor kid. Is Sam feeling better after the enchiladas? I'd love for him to send me like a recap of his life and also the Walking Dead this past week! Is he all done with mission shopping? Congrats to you Mom for winning the egg toss! Danny is going to love it at BYU.

So solo missionaries still have a companion, just going to a different mission so she's comps with Zuster Duncan a Dutch Missionary who is totally awesome. Being a solo has some serious plus sides though because you can study as hard as you want and not have to discuss so much what you're gonna do. It's probably more productive but definitely not as much fun. So after the swedes and nords left we had two days where it was just us danes and one elder and one sister dutchie who are both totally awesome! Then we got 3 new nord elders, 1 nord sister, 2 swede elders, and 1 swede sister! So we have one solo sister in each of the 4 missions in our zone which is pretty strange!

Now to answer your questions! I'm adjusting really well to the schedule we have a really nice one for people like me who don't wake up feeling chipper because we have gym in the morning so I'm up for 3.5 hours before class starts which is where I really need to be awake! I do see the sun! Our language teacher Bror Williamson (We have 3 teachers but he's the one most focused on language and also the coolest because he tells us straight up what it will really be like in Denmark which is awesome) anyway Bror Williamson takes us on Vanderingtors "hikes"  whenever we start getting a little to bogged down so we just walk around outside for a little while. The language is coming really well and it has to because this week Mon- Sat we are teaching 11 lessons between 3 practice investigators and then we get to talk with actual Danish people over skype I think! That's tomorrow and I'm crazy excited. 'Held og Lykke"  would be good for a banner! It means Luck and happiness! I don't have time to be lonely in fact Its the opposite! Sometimes a little too much people time haha. The Racquetball has come in handy and I've started to invite games to play with the zone using it so I'll include a pic of that! I can print off your emails, thats what I did this morning but I can only do that on Pday but dear elders can be read any day which is nice, but some elders get like multiple a day which just makes them homesick I think! We go to the temples every Pday and the Provo temple is meget smukke (very beautiful)!

Anyway I think that's it! My testimony is growing really strong because of how much we have to share it and how much we're learning which is really a blessing! I would share more but I don't have time to write a gospel doctrine lesson into one email just know that this really is a spiritual place and the gift of tongues(Tungmalsgaven)  is absolutely real! Also can you please send me my Danish Flag. Fun fact: there's not a word for please in danish so its weird to type it. 

Jeg Elske Jer,

AEldste McBride

Mini 4 Square

Line Call in Mini Square

Name Tags!

Aeldste Williams in a Sweet Weight Lifting Shirt

My desk during personal study/ breakfast!

April 1, 2015 First News From the MTC

Dear Mom-

Everything is going pretty awesome here!! I hope you got the letter I sent out! They let you send one the day after you get to the MTC to make sure your family knows you're alive haha! My P day is Wednesday which is the hardest first pday because its a full week from the time you get to the MTC but its also the best because its the day new elders arrive which is super fun! The dear elder you sent me really made my day because those things are super popular here and I had never heard of one so I was so surprised to get one! Thank you!

The first day here was a whirlwind! I stepped out of the shuttle and immediately a host (babysitter) started leading me around to different buildings picking up books, nametags, keys, and an id card and then whisked me off to my room where I got the first glance of my new zone which was a little overwhelming because they were so excited for the NEW DANES! The second I put my stuff down I was pulled to my classroom by my host! There I plopped down into what is now my home for at least 10 hours everyday. Our teacher looks like he came straight out of Denmark and the teachers speak literally zero English the first day or really any day since unless we specifically ask what something means. After the strangest class ever we had a tour of the MTC from our zone leaders and got to meet some of our zone. We came into an amazing zone! It includes the Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Dutch missionaries. It consisted of 2 Nord elders, 2 nord sisters, 2 swedish sisters, 7 swedish elders, 1 dutchie sister and 1 dutchie elder. They were incredible to us! So amazingly kind and happy we were there but Sunday was our last day with the Swedes and Nords! The are powerful missionaries we heard each of them bear their testimony during sacrament meeting and they are studs. After they left our DL AEldste Howes got bumped up to ZL and I became the new DL. Which sounds important but really just means I pickup the mail twice a day haha. 

My District has four elders and 1 sister, Me, AEldste West (kommerat), AEldste Williams, AEldste Howes, and Soster Ackerman. Min kommerat and I get along really well! He's from Oregon and a super social guy, we lived in B9 together last semester but didn't know each other. AEldste Williams is from a small colorado town and is the most mellow person I've ever met. AEldste Howes is this little guy from North Carolina. I didn't expect it but we laugh all the time in the MTC! Now that we've learned quite a bit of Danish we can talk in a group of people and have only each other understands which is so funny! The combination of little sleep and a lot of learning also make everything really really funny! I honestly love it here! We learn so much and also we see little miracles every single day. West and I have been blessed to usually be on the exact same page when it comes to what were doing or talking about! We're really lucky! The language is learned so fast here, Tungmalsgaven (the gift of tongues) is absolutely real here. Last friday was our first investigator lesson taught in Danish and thursday was the last day we said prayers in English! Sunday night the we did as a full zone was sing the Spirit of God in 4 languages which is seriously the most powerful hymn I've ever sung! Our pronunciation is pretty bad but we all have fun learning it. Today is a great day! We get new Swedes and Nords who will be with us for the next 5 weeks. Its weird being so excited for someone you've never met! 

Anyway I love all you guys and can't wait to hear more about what's going on at home! Have Cole, Ike, and Sam write me if they have time I'd love to hear from them! 

Jeg Elske Jer (I love you all),

Aeldste McBride

Max with Aeldste West (his companion) on the first day

That's our district! West, Me, Williams, Howes.

The whole district

Stretching out Aeldste West's back

The Classroom Board