December 28, 2015 MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It was delightful to chat with you a couple days ago family! There's something about seeing someone actually smiling and laughing that means way more than letters talking about smiling and laughing! Thank you for that gift! It was good to see that Mom and Grandma are still sweet as ever, Cole and Sam are still studs, and that Dad and Ike are still goofballs hahaha! I got the chance to see a lot of Ike's belly so that was pretty funny haha! Thanks again for all the gifts! I sent one but I'm sure it will get home late! It's for the whole family :)

Also by the way those snowboarding pictures get me really jealous but don't stop sending them haha! And don't worry about sending pants to me! I'll just find some over here, it will be easier and cheaper!

We had an amazing week experiencing a Danish Christmas! Christmas Eve was a blast and singing danish christmas songs is really really fun! The Trapp family that we skyped with has an awesome tradition of tacos for lunch on Christmas day, so in that odd way I felt right at home! We love the Århus ward and the Århus ward loves us! Since the missionaries in the ward have been pretty consistent for the past while some really great friendships have been made. I'm really thankful for that beause I didn't have the chance to really get there in the other two wards I was in with very many people!

Tell Alex congrats on getting married soon! That's exciting! Oh and also it was fun to see Alec and JT and that picture of Colton with long goofy hair, great guys!  Anyway I hope you have a wonderful new year! Make lots of resolutions! Elder McBride and I, we begin our year where we are missionaries the whole time! kind of crazy! I love you all!

Godt Nyt År!

Ældste McBride

Juleaften was with this awesome family! The Kearsley Family! Dad-Kim, Mom-Vanessa, 18 year old twins Camilla and Maria, 16 year old son Nicklas, and 13 year old stud Daniel!

Me about to ring a big bell

Some pretty pics of Århus I took from the top of the Domkirke in the middle of the city!

December 21, 2015 It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!!!

Woah!! Sounds like quite the week for the people of Mesa hahaha! By the way snow reports do make me jealous but I still want to hear about them! Oh by the way I met the missionary that baptized Courtney last week! He is the ward mission leader for Fredericksberg ward in the middle of Copenhagen. Pretty awesome guy, way funny to hear about Mesa from a missionary perspective. Super fun to do it all in Danish ;)

This week as the new Family History people we got to go to both zone conferences and give a training for that stuff and that also meant we got to enjoy the festivities twice! The trainings went ok but the rest of the conference was super fun, especially on Jylland where most of the people I've served with are. It had a good mix of fun, spiritualness, and good food! There is a Danish dessert tradition called Ris alaman (spell check? I think its french originally) where you eat this really good rice pudding stuff with cherry sauce and crushed almonds but they put a couple full almonds in the bowls and if you find it you win a prize, so eveyone tries to eat a lot so they can have the prize! It's a blast! We even watched a Disney movie as a mission, Inside Out. Its really crazy funny to watch a group of 20 year olds go wild about a kids movie but that's what happened haha!

We have some really awesome appointments set up for this week with some member families and it will be really fun to experience full on Danish Christmas! Ya, I love you guys and can't wait to skype! I also found a really awesome present for the family that I'm trying to send today but I have no idea when it will actually get there!

Love all of you,

Ældste McBride

P.s. Thank you so much for the Christmas packages! I opened pre Christmas but am saving the Christmas one for actual Christmas!

Nick the Nisse rides the Moose!  And I think that's the cute paper nativity from Aunt Holly!

December 14, 2015 Han skal hjem og opereres

Kære Familie,

This week was another odd week. The decision was made that Ældste Ericksen would head home to get surgery on his toe spend the rest of the transfer recovering and is planned to come back Jan 10. It won't be to Århus however so I don't really know when the next time I'll see him is. It's pretty sad really, nobody should have to kill their son. He handled it all very calmly, but seemed really determined to get back out! I'm sure he'll come back because Denmark was always his dream mission call! On the plus side we took a sweet picture recreating Abraham and Isaac with one of the assisstants as the angel. On the negative side Ældste Ericksen had the thing I've been using to send pics so you don't get to see it :(

My new companion is Ældste Bishopp! He's from Seattle Washington, was at BYU the same time as me, is the youngest of 8 kids, and came to the land one transfer after me! He was serving in the heart of København before I kidnapped and took him to Jylland. We were actually in CPH for a few days because a guy that Ældste Bishopp taught got baptized. It's always great to see someone get baptized! That was only the 4th one I've seen personally in Denmark!

So in the midst of all this Ældste Bishopp and I were called as the new Family history missionaries replacing the sisters that were doing it. That will be an interesting assignment.

Anyways I love you all very much! I received the Pre-Christmas package hahaha. His name is Nick the Nisse! Nisse is basically the word for christmas elves here in Denmark and they are everywhere in members homes! I'll try to find a nativity or maybe a Nisse but I'll be honest I don't know if I'll really have enough time to shop it out and send it off :( I feel a little bad but I didn't think about Christmas far enough in advance. By the way will you thank Brother Holt for the Christmas package and ask him if he designed the card game that was in it.

Glædelig Jul,

Ældste McBride

Recreating the scene of Abraham and Isaac

Good Luck Elder Ericksen!!!  Wishing you a speedy recovery!

December 7, 2016 Glædelig Jul

Christmas is in full swing here! Århus is lively and people are happy and we have a little tree set up in our apartment! Also it hasn't been very cold at all this week! :)

But enough of the good news...(dramatic pause) Unfortunately Ældste Ericksen has a rather serious ingrown toenail so we have been inside quite a lot lately. We've had to be quite patient as we go to different doctors to figure out if he'll need surgery or not and if that means he'll get sent home for the surgery or not. After like 4 doctors opinions it seems that surgery is pretty likely but now we have to wait for doctors in Salt Lake to see pictures of the toe so the Area doctor over like all of northern europe missions makes the decision if he's going home or going to Sweden or Germany for surgery. Its a lot of hullaballoo and mumbo jumbo and other funny words over a toe but it is a pretty nasty looking toe and it is a very boring/stressful process. So yes that's about it as far as life update. Pray for Ældste Ericksen please. Thank you!

Now lets talk about Christmas!!! That's what everybody is talking about anyway! I have not received a package yet but our Christmas conference is on the 18th so if it's in Denmark I'll get it then! Speaking of Christmas packages, do you guys want anything from Denmark for Christmas? I have been trying to think of stuff but I don't know what you want/exactly what it will take to get it home yet! Sorry I kind of thought of this a little late haha! But yes please give me ideas for stuff to send home if you would like something from here haha. The Christmas call is pretty open but we are doing it at this really great familie's house so it's all lined up there! Be expecting pretty early for you guys! I was thinking I could do mine at around 4pm here in Danmark which would be 8am for you guys maybe? I don't remember the time difference. But we'll be doing it in 2 groups so it is somewhat flexible! I don't know if it will be possible to coordinate it with hermano McBride either but just know it will be in the morning for you guys! :) Also will you send me my skype info? I haven't found where I wrote it down last time yet haha!

I love you!

Ældste McBride