Hermana in Houston: Week 6: One Day Left!

Always Matching Someone!!

Hi friends and family!

I literally do not know how to express to you my gratitude for your love and support, it means the world to me! I just sit here so overwhelmed because half of my brain is in Spanish, and half of it is in English and I just don´t have enough time to tell you how much I love you.

The fifth was the first official day of spring here! It is getting really hot! I am very grateful I don´t have to be here in the summer!

Hermana Keri Stephenson got here on Wednesday, and although I tried so hard to be patient I finally hunted her down in her casa on Saturday for my package. haha I LOVED IT! Thank you so so so much! Getting mail is the best feeling in the world!

We finally got our ¨dork dots¨on Friday! In the Provo MTC you get the sticker on your name tag to show that it´s your first day, and apparently it´s kind of an embarrassing thing, but here we get them when we do in-field orientation on one of our last days and it´s a super sad thing! Everyone hugs you when they see your ¨dork dot.¨ haha

Sunday was the dedication of the CCM! The workers worked from dawn to dusk every single day to make it look perfect. We had just finished dinner and were sitting on a bench outside of our classroom as a district, just trying to pass some time until we could walk across campus for the dedication, when Elder Dallin H Oaks comes right up to us and says hello! It was absolutely amazing to be in the presence of an apostle! He was so sweet and kept saying he was more excited to see us than we were to see him. He waved as he got in his car to drive to the dedication, and all the way down the street. What an incredible person! The spirit was SO STRONG just standing two feet away from him! A religion professor from BYU is here and documented the whole thing, so look for it in BYU Magazine or BYU TV or something. I am so grateful that the timing was so perfect for me to be here for the dedication! When I first arrived I was really sad to hear that they closed the temple just three days later for renovation, but if I had come even just those three days earlier I would have missed the dedication and meeting Elder Oaks! Hidden blessings!

So every day we teach one of our teachers- they come up with a ¨profile¨ of someone they know who is either a nonmember or convert and we teach them as if they were that person. So our teacher Hermano Cruz was our investigator ¨Raul¨ for the past few weeks, and yesterday he surprised us by bringing the real Raul for us to teach! I was petrified! Absolutely petrified. Hermana Jensen and I walk in to the room and he is this sweet, older hispanic man, with dark, leathery skin, deep brown eyes, and a quiet voice. We got talking to him and I felt the spirit stronger than I have in my entire life. He was so so sweet, and I could have talked to him for hours. He is a convert of eight months and has an insanely deep knowledge of the gospel already. We had an incredible discussion about faith, and I shared Alma 32 with him (I know for a fact that Heavenly Father helped me because I have never read that fast or that perfectly in Spanish before). Hermana Jensen shared Ether 12 with him and it was so cute because he grabbed her scriptures out of her hands and flipped to Moroni 7:5 which talks about knowing someone by their works, and he looked straight in my eyes and said, ¨You are an incredible person. You are here. You bring happiness and hope to people like me. You are a good person, because you are a missionary.¨ It was the nicest, most heartfelt thing anyone has ever said to me. I bore him my testimony, and of course cried, and he was so touched. That tender old Raul left such an impression on me. Once we got out of the lesson, Hermana Jensen and I embraced and wept. We immediately knelt and thanked our Heavenly Father for such a special experience. I have been terrified to go out in the field and teach real people, but Raul helped me see that Heavenly Father prepares people for us, and if we do our part as missionaries He will lead us to the people who will listen.

I know that I am here for a reason, at this time and at this place, with these people. It has only been six weeks, but my life has been significantly changed for the better. I am absolutely heartbroken to be leaving the CCM. I can honestly say that these have been some of the happiest times of my life. I leave in a little less than twelve hours for Texas, and I am really excited to see what the Lord has in store for me there!

I love you all and miss you all so much!

Te amo mucho!

Para Siempre Dios Este Con Vos

Hermana McOmber