Hermana in Houston: Week 7: This Hermana is (FINALLY) in Houston!

My first TRIO companionship: Hermana Hoj and Hermana Burnham

This Hermana is (FINALLY) in Houston!

I absolutely love it here! It is not quite as hot as Mexico, but I can feel a little bit more humidity. There are so many trees here! It's basically a forest! It is so bizarre to not have any hills or mountains- I keep looking at the top of the trees and the bottom of the sky and wondering what is missing. haha My system is SO much happier coming back to normal food (God Bless America), and this regular keyboard is so great. haha

We had to wake up at 1 am to make it to the Mexico City Airport in time for our flight, and as we were driving there the road we needed to take was blocked by a train accident so our driver went into PSYCHO mode (as if driving in Mexico City wasn't bad enough). It was like a horrible rollercoaster- veering and swerving and slamming to a stop and weaving through traffic and flying over speedbumps... I literally could not walk in a straight line when I got out of the car I was so sick! Luckily the airport was super easy and not scary like I dreaded it would be for six weeks. haha When we got to our layover in Dallas I had a Subway and never has a sandwich tasted so good in my life. But American Doritos are the worst! Flavorless!!! I'll be importing those from now on. haha I am so glad I had a few minutes to call you, Mom & Dad! All it took was hearing your voices and I was bawling. I love you so much. Everyone at the airport was so nice. There was this huge black guy who looked pretty rough but he checked on me to see if I was okay, and it turned out he was on our plane so we talked for like 45 minutes and he helped me with my bags and everything. He played in the superbowl and was wearing one of those massive rings. The other Hermanas thought I was nuts. hahah Just makin' friends everywhere I go!

We got off the plane and the Pingrees were right there to greet us with a big hug! They are so great! I love them so much! And then the very next person I saw was Elder COLE TANNER! I went to high school with him, he is a year younger than me, and we got our mission calls on the same day, to the same mission, and our farewells were on the same day! He left first, but had to go home and get surgery so we ended up actually getting to our missions on the exact same day. WHAT ARE THE ODDS??? haha We were freaking out.

The next morning when we went to the chapel to meet our new companions I saw Hermana HOLLY FULLMER who I did Allyse's Bridal Fashion Team with! It was so much fun to see her and catch up with her! Then I ran into Hermana Lizzy Cotch who is best friends and roommates with Montana Brian and Savvy Nielson, so that was really fun!

They put me in a TRIO! So my new companions/trainers are Hermana Burnham and Hermana Hoj! I absolutely love them! I met Hermana Hoj at BYU once, she is friends with Christian Clark (who at the time was dating President Pingree's daughter who I also met... WHAT? Small world). We have this nice little honda we drive around and our apartments are clean and safe which is all I wanted. Our first night we knocked on my first door, only to find out she was a member! haha Again, what are the odds?! She was so sweet and we sat in her little home and chatted for a while. I understand 90% of everything said, but I cannot, for the life of me, remember how to conjugate in every tense yet. Drives me insane.

My first real day on my mission was Valentine's Day! They took me to my first tracting street, River Oaks. Our area is divided into extremely wealthy and extremely poor, and River Oaks is basically a trailer park with driveways. So we park at the end of this huge, long street and just start knocking. We skip the houses with American flags because if they speak English we can't teach them, only refer them to the English missionaries and they are really far away. So we go for the houses with shrines to the virgin Mary in the front yard. haha Every house has multiple dogs, so I saw probably every breed of dog known to man in the course of that street, not to mention about thirty feral cats running around. Luckily there was this nice german shepherd that liked us and followed us down the street and when the big boxers would growl and bark at us and get close to us, the german shepherd protected us. haha I love holding all of the little puppies we find. I miss Coco so much!

Then we taught English at the nearby hospital to a woman named Rosa. She is so sweet. It is a religious hospital so we are trying to figure out a way to sneak in some lessons with Rosa without breaking their rules. haha On the way there we saw a roadrunner! So crazy!

Then we went back to River Oaks and taught one family who told us to come back later, Mayte and Luis. I absolutely love them. We had a super good lesson- she was asking tons of really good questions and you could just see the cogs working in her mind. The Hermanas said that that was the first time that her husband had stayed for the lesson, so that was cool!

Then we had a lesson with J. Where do I even START with this kid... He is 18 and comes from a really rough background. I am not going to give details, even though his story is crazy, but basically he committed a serious crime in self defense and was bailed out of jail. He got out and realized that he needed to change, so he started reading the bible and praying. One day Hermana Burnham and Hermana Hoj went to his house and his parents told them they weren't interested, but as they were walking away, he pulled into his driveway and he said that he knew that they were missionaries so he leaned his head out the window and told them he wanted to be baptized- and just two days earlier the Hermanas had been fasting to find people who were ready for the gospel. So I got to meet him on my first day, and I learned more about the Mexican gangs, drug dealing, and cartel than really anything else that day. HAHA! Nick, you would have loved him.

Day two was great. I seriously love missionary work so much! We found this cute young girl named Vanessa to teach and it was such a powerful lesson. I shared Alma 32:28 with her and told her how I got my testimony of the Book of Mormon. She was so excited to read it, she literally grabbed it from my hands! She reminded me of the young women so much! I love you all and miss you all so much!

Then we taught Elisa who also lives on River Oaks. Her "residence" is the first that I have actually been apprehensious (more like terrified) to go into. We had to make it past three boxers tied to broken down cars to make it to her garage where we had to wade through so many decades of rotting junk and feral cats to get to her door, and then I basically just smiled and held my breath. The Hermanas laughed and said, "Just wait until it gets hot."

Then we had J's baptism! It was supposed to start at six so we got there at four to set up chairs, do the programs and fill up the font, but no one came with a key until 5:45. Talk about STRESS! We were literally sprinting down the church hallway with buckets and bowls and pitchers of water trying to get the font filled just enough to make it work! hahah It went so well. So many people came to support him, and he was so so happy.

Then I made it to Sunday! I love our ward! It is an all Spanish ward, the majority of which are probably converts. Everyone was so welcoming and nice- here everyone kisses you on the cheek to greet you. They all love to tease me about my Spanish, but then they hear me speak and they tell me I'm actually doing really well! The elders that have been here for a year say that my Spanish is as good as theirs, but I know they are just being nice. The gift of tongues is MOST DEFINITELY real though, I've been able to say what I need to say in lessons and words that I literally don't even know. So cool.

We got to go into the primary for singing time, and I LOVED it! They are all precious. It was so sweet to hear them sing those songs, primary songs have the most powerful lyrics!

I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK! It is so much fun! I am happy and healthy and having the time of my life.

My new address is:

Hermana Courtney McOmber

26325 Northgate Crossing Blvd. #1621

Spring Texas 77373

I would love to hear from you!!!!!!!!

I love you all and miss you all so much!

Hermana McOmber