Week 23: My First Sister Missionary Haircut!

Hooooooola.

What a week! The weeks feel so slow, but this transfer has flown by! Only one week left!

Got the best letters from Aunt Missy this week! I was dying laughing! Thank you!

I just barely had my haircut, and it was one of the funniest experiences of my entire life! There is a lady in the English ward that cuts all of the missionaries' hair for free, so we headed over to her little salon behind her house. First, I was dunked in her tiny little sink and I came up sopping wet from my waist up. Then she put a tiny bit of deep conditioner on my matted ("washed") hair and stuck me under the hair dryer on a super hot setting... in June... in Texas... for half an hour... I was dying! Then she rinses out the conditioner, doused "dos veces," and begins to attempt to comb out the knots she made. OW. She was literally bracing herself against my forehead trying to tame it. All the while she has this classical music playing and it was absolutely hilarious- I felt like I was in a movie! The music would speed up as she is yanking on my hair like she was starting a lawn mower, and then the climax came on as she brought out the scissors. She actually did a good job with the cut (I think, I'm too nervous to look closely yet), only taking off the bare minimum I asked for, just kind of weird considering she made me stand up the whole time she cut it. Then I made the mistake of asking her to use a roundbrush as she blowdried it... She used six roundbrushes, and would curl the ends of one sections and leave the brush in, picking up another brush for the next section until I had all six hanging from my head! And she kept putting all these clips in as she was going. Then she tried yanking them out and I was praying I would let any of my screaming on the inside make its way out. She FINALLY finishes and I sit down while she gets to work on my companion, and as I am finger combing the rest of the knots out of my hair... I find a clip. Yes, you read that right, a CLIP. IN MY HAIR. I couldn't help myself, I started laughing so hard. Luckily she was blow drying my companions hair and couldn't hear me because I was dying. THAT is what I call a Sister Missionary haircut!

This week was a little hard. My body just won't give me a break, every single part wants to freak out in its own special way. I keep getting really nauseous after everything I eat. And then Friday morning I woke up with a sore throat, fever, body aches and head ache, and that night I couldn't even touch my head to my pillow I was in so much pain. Lots of fun.

We had exchanges twice this week! My first one was with Hermana Hill and I got to go to Louetta with her. I love exchanges! I am able to really see how much I actually know and what I can do- which is always more than I give myself credit for! My second one was with Hermana Durham! It is so much fun to get to know more missionaries!

I'm not going to lie, it is really difficult to be companions with someone going home, especially when you are so homesick. The one and only thing you hear ALL DAY LONG is "home home home home home home."

Luckily, I have some amazing friends here. Ana, David, and Aaron surprised us by covering our apartment door in sticky notes and left us dessert because they could see I was really sad and exhausted on Sunday. It was so much fun to come home to that! I am leaving them up as long as I can!

The best part of this week was when one of the people we teach told us, "Dios nos mando angeles." (God sent us angels) I love being a missionary and helping people change their lives for the better and see how happy they become!

Funnies of the Week:

One of our investigators had just come home from a doctor's appointment and was on some pain killers; she was on the phone with the office and they needed to know how to spell her little girl's name, but she couldn't remember. So she asked her teenage son and he takes off his shirt to show her "Heidi" tattooed on his left pectoral. hahahahahah

We approached a man we thought we heard speaking Spanish, but it actually turned out to be Romanian. This is how he introduced himself: "Hi, I'm Danny and I escaped from communist Romania, and am now a world famous opera singer."

Elder Abadillo called me a Barbie in zone meeting. (Why doesn't he understand that she is BLONDE?) haha

Love you all and miss you all so much!

Hermana McOmber

Exchanges with Hermana Hill

C

He loves his CTR ring!

Zone Meeting

Love Hermana Hoj!

Love taquerias

Can't wait to make my families favorite brownies! 

 Thanks for sending them Mom!

S and her CTR ring

The J's

So cute!

All these people are from the same family that we are teaching.  The grandfather is a member - but no one else...yet!

Galletas en la panederia

Exchanges with Hermana Durham

Being eaten alive by mosquitoes - these are just from one day!

The cute SURPRISE!!

They are the best!  

The sticky notes are so funny!

The clip I found in my hair when she was done. HAHA

Week 22: Five months!! I love going to the temple!

5 MONTHS! Ahh!

This transfer has FLOWN by! Only two weeks left!

This week we got to go to the temple! What a blessing to have a temple in my mission.

It has been crazy weather this week! It is already hot by 6:30am, but randomly in the middle of the day we have an absolute downpour that floods everything in minutes! So crazy!

The best part of this week? I had AGUA DE SANDIA for the first time. Ohh dear heavens, it was unreal. You basically put a watermelon in a blender with sugar and then let it chill for a few hours. My new obsession! Apparently they make "aguas" from tons of different fruits, so I am putting in a few requests this week with our dinner appointments to try some new ones! haha

One day we went to visit B, an investigator that had really been progressing and then fell off the face of the earth and we haven't seen her for two months now! We knocked on the door and a young girl answered it and we assumed it was just another one of the nannies for her two younger kids, and usually they send us away, but this one let us in. We sat down and started talking to her and figured out that she was actually her daughter! I was SO confused! I had been to that house so many times and never seen her, the family never talked about her, and there were no pictures of her up in the house. We continued chatting and found out that SHE IS A RECENT CONVERT! I had never heard of her because B's husband is a devout Catholic and had kicked the daughter out of the house the day she turned 18 and got baptized! We ended up having a lesson with her and her dad and she was so helpful to explain everything! She is going to help us get back in with B, and we are going to help her prepare to serve a mission! What a miracle!

We went to the mission office to switch back to our old car, but we went out to the parking lot and it was dead. hahah Rental car for another week!

Last night we had a really fun Noche de Hogar with C, A, F and S. They were so excited for it! They had all dressed up and gotten out all of their Libro De Mormons (yes, that is correct "Best Two Years") and made a special dinner! C is such a good cook and he made us sope and sopa, and pastel de tres leches. We did the Arbol de Vida lesson and it was so much fun! We were all laughing and having such a good time. I love them so much!

Funnies of the Week:

We have a really hard time finding anyone to teach at 8pm because everyone is watching the novela or mundial. (soap opera or World cup)

Hermana McCleary eats a LOT of garlic as a "natural bug repellant" because we are all being eaten alive out here, but Hermana Santiago got one whiff of her (gagged) and said, "That's not all you repel!" Hispanics are so blunt! hahaha

W has a lot of sweet, innocent (hilarious) questions:

W: "The man that sits in front is the bishop right?"

Us: "Yeah!"

W: "And the two men that sit on either side of him are his body guards, right?"

I love showing pictures to little G because he overreacts to every single one and it is so funny! He pulls the funniest faces! And this week when I was showing him pictures in the Ensign he said "Oh my gosh!" I have absolutely no idea where he picked it up from! He doesn't know any English, and everyone here says the translation of "Dios mio"- taking the Lord's name in vain (it's a work in progress). So funny in his little accent!

Love you all so much! I would love to hear from you!

Hermana McOmber

R and E

Yes, that is a real coat of armor!

Downpour!

Beautiful temple

Our crazy district

Love my companion!

Yes, we did facial masks!

Elder Lindsey told us our car was the red one on the left - haha!

Beautiful stairs in a member's home - I love it!

The kids all love getting CTR rings!

D and her birds - named Mary and Jesus!  She takes them everywhere and they sing when she whistles.

C, F, A & S  

I love them!

Family Home Evening - The tree of life!

Week 21: Happy Memorial Day!

Hola mis queridos amigos y familia 

(dear friends and family)!

The library was closed yesterday, so we didn't get to write, but it finally gave us time to have a FUN PDay! We went to the Kolache Factory for lunch, so good! They're like the best dinner roll you've ever had, with dinner inside of them! Then we went to Sam Moon and I got the funnest little Texas earrings. Then we came home and actually relaxed! So nice!

On Friday I got 4 letters and 2 packages!!! I couldn't believe my eyes! It was BETTER than Christmas! Thank you so much for taking the time to write me, it means the world to me! It can be so lonely out here, so even just to know that someone is thinking about you makes all the difference. Thank you for being an answer to many prayers!

This week I had exchanges with Hermana Koch! I met her once at BYU! She and I just clicked- I absolutely LOVE her! She helped me learn and grow so much in just one day! It was the worst day ever, but she made it so much fun!

She and I knocked on the door of one of our investigators, and the door opened and out walked two Jehovah's Witness missionaries. They proceeded to Bible bash us on the porch of the investigator for a long time, not letting us defend ourselves or leave. Finally they begin to walk towards their car, telling us "pobrecitas" (poor things) to find the truth and read the Bible. We were pretty stunned and just stood on the porch, not quite sure what to do... and then we heard a sickening crash. They had backed into our car! At first I thought it was intentional and I was shocked, but it really was an accident, she was just an old lady who hadn't seen our car. She smashed our left mirror and dented the driver door. After two hours of standing in the heat filling out paper work and listening to her tell her husband that it was Satan that did it, the police came and she got a real nice ticket. The police officer was so impressed that we could speak Spanish and had already gotten all of their information and handled the situation so well, so we gave him two passalong cards and he put them in the front window of his squad car. haha

That night we went to visit A and M. She was baptized into the church in Mexico when she was 14 because the cute American Elders brought movies for her family to watch, but never went back to church. We tracted into her and have been teaching her, and the last few lessons her husband has been sitting in. Hermana Koch did such a good job teaching them about the Plan of Salvation, and at the end A opened up and told us that he loves us and looks forward to each time we come, that "mi casa es su casa," and that he is so grateful that we brought the Book of Mormon into his life! He said the closing prayer for the first time and the Spirit was so strong! It was an unforgettable lesson!

W is just my favorite person. We had a really good lesson with him this week, and he is SO excited to get baptized! He tells EVERYONE. hahahahah I gave him a CTR ring and it looked so cute on his giant fingers. I wrote on a sticky note the 4 steps for how to say a prayer and put it on the cover page of his scriptures last week. At this lesson he was telling me that he gets really scared to be home alone because of his epilepsy, so he tried praying and now he isn't scared anymore. Almost made me cry! Love him so much!

This week was also ZONE CONFERENCE! Ahh! It was amazing. I love being around President Pingree and Sister Pingree. And I got to see Hermana Hoj!! They called me up to speak, and the topic was the Atonement, so how could I not cry? haha Afterwards everyone came up and hugged me and thanked me! They all said they were so touched by what I said and that they love and admire me! Ahh! What an answer to my prayers!

X, G, AND E all came to church on Sunday! Ahh!

Funnies of the Week:

In Grandma Grace's letter this week she wrote: "I especially like to read messages from President Uchtdorf. He is quite a handsome man as well."

Hermana Koch teaches lessons in Spanish in her sleep.

President Pingree talking about the Plan of Salvation:

 "...sent to Earth in this body that only wants to eat ice cream..."

President Pingree: "Seeeeester McOmber!" (accents for the win!)

President Pingree: "Dear President, I have a detailed log of my companion waking up at 6:32 for three days in a row. A detailed database is attached..."

Everyone wanted to pick a fight with us this week! Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, Native Americans... everyone.

Ate dinner with Carlos, Angelica, Fatima, and Shayla one night (SUCH good food!) and he served us peaches with sour cream for dessert. I was trying to cut one of my peach slices, but it slipped off the plate and went flying.

I laughed and Fatima said, "Que paso?" and all Angelica responded was "Se fue."

I love you all so much and hope you have the best week!

Hermana McOmber

Yarn bombing at the Library

Woodlands

We went to put a pass-along card on this man's car and he already had one inside!  

So we left another one for him and he put it right next to it!

Our poor car!

Hermana Koch!

I had so much fun with Hermana Koch!

When in Texas - do as the Texans!

O and J - love them so much!

Common floor plan here - Front door is on the side of the house

So cute!

Love Hermana Hoj!

Thanks for all the packages and letters!  I love you!

This cute little black dog follows us around to every house and sits on the porch while we talk. 

 It is hard to keep him out of the houses and our car!

Fun P-Day!