Hermana in Houston

3.15.2015

Week 62: It was the best of times...it was the worst of times!

Week 2 in exile: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

Really though, one day EVERYTHING that could POSSIBLY go wrong, did. {such as: our heater breaking in the middle of a winter storm, sleeping on a mattress older than I am, no food, all appointments fall through, aimlessly driving back and forth to complete meaningless chores}.

We were M I S E R A B L E.

Then, out of the blue, the next day is nothing but miracles.

Such as:

Teaching a new investigator the plan of salvation and having her "novio" walk in at the end. Turns out "novio" investigated the church 15 years ago! We taught an impromptu restoration lesson and when I asked if he had any questions he said, "When are you coming back?" and when I asked if there was anything we could do to help them he said, "Just come teach me SOON!"

THEN we decided to try a former investigator from January 2013 who discontinued her investigation due to her very, very catholic mother. When we walked up to the house we were greeted by this devout mother, but we won her heart and she went in and got her daughter! We taught them the restoration and it was so powerful! Right before we were about to say the prayer her sister came home from work and joined us! As we asked the former investigator when we could come by to see her again her sister said, "but what if I want to be there!" So we set day and time when the entire family was together! AHH!

THEN as we were walking to our car a car pulls up to us and a man calls out and asks what we're selling. We shouted back that it was free, and we ended up teaching him through his car window right there in the middle of the street.

THEN we went to visit a menos activo family and as we finished the lesson and packed up to leave their friend walked through the door. He started asking us tons of questions and we ended up staying for another hour!

Heavenly Father sure does love us.

This week I got to go to Yanny's baptism. What a blessing! We drove an hour to Conroe and met up with the Barreras and they drove us the other hour down to Houston {they are angels}! It was so special. The Spirit was so strong! I miss Louetta SO MUCH! {I cannot wait to come back after the mish and give a huge hug to Francisco and Hermano BerRios}

Funnies of the Week:

"They should make a monument for you in Louetta." -President

Tyler Boulter goes to the same church building as I do. {thought I was hallucinating}

The chapel has ceiling fans {only in Texas}.

Two guys we contacted on the street tried to "conquistarnos." They asked us out to dinner and I texted back saying "WE ARE MISSIONARIES", and this is what they sent back: "We understand that, but y'all are also beautiful young women who have to eat and maybe even bowl a few games. God wants us all to be happy and have fun while we are spreading his word. The Bible says it's better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. We understand if y'all are scared of the temptations you might face, but the Lord won't put on you more than you can bear." ....literally.

An hermano in the ward thinks I look like a movie star and walked around showing everyone them the picture of the actress I've never even heard of from a movie I've haven't even seen yet. haha

I love you all so much! I need your prayers!

My new address is going to be:

4475 Carter Creek Parkway

Bryan, TX 77802

Hermana McOmber

Elder Christensen

Map of Woodlands, Louetta, and Brazos

The Elder's car

Frio - Cold!

Broken stairs - we do what it takes!

Downtown Bryan is cute

I LOVE MY NEW COMPANION!!

Home Sweet Home

Welcome to the COUNTRY -

I have never seen so many boots in my life!

Yogurtland

A member gave us a bunch of cactus to snack on - haha!

The Elder's explaining Kolob to each other

Taken at the end of the hardest day ever

Driving to Zone Meeting

Familia Guadarrama

Love when this happens...finding one of our cards when we tract!

So grateful I got to go to Yanny's baptism!!

Loved seeing mama Gaytan again!

Rosie and Yanny!!!

Thank you thank you Barreras for taking us to Yanny's baptism! We love you!

3.04.2015

Week 61: Brazos

My new companion! Hermana Larson!

It's official. I'm getting the full missionary experience.

...I've been exiled.

It's called Bryan, Texas, heart of Texas A&M, and it's in the middle of nowhere. We are "white washing," basically starting from scratch. I am working with a ward with a VERY low activity rate, with an area book whose most updated contents date back to 2008, living in an old Elders' duplex that is literally falling apart, with a brand new bishop, no investigators, and no mail.

Bring it on.

I had an absolute meltdown breakdown after three days, but now I'm on the up & up {but I would sincerely appreciate any prayers sent my way}.

The one ray of sunshine in all of this is my new companion, Hermana Larson. She is darling! We get along so well and I literally couldn't do this without her. {She was trained in this area, was sent down in the area next to me in Houston for one transfer, and brought back up here. If she didn't know her way around here I seriously would have lost my mind by now.}

and even if I was exiled, I was exiled with Elder Christensen {favorite Elder award}. Happy 14 months to me! haha

I am doing my best to pump up the people here. I shared some of my ideas in ward council and it was so neat to watch their faces light up! We are going to turn this place around! I am learning to be lovingly bold! One night we went to visit a menos activo familia and after some serious effort to get them all into the same room together we had a great little lesson, until the parents started screaming at each other. I was getting whiplash trying to follow the conversation and I finally grabbed my things, stood up and shouted, "The Spirit has left, and so must we!" They just stared at me, and finally the abusive husband grabbed another beer and went into his room to watch tv, and we said a closing prayer and left. The oldest son pulled me aside completely awestruck and thanked me for having the courage to do what I did. Brazos will remember the name Hermana McOmber by the time I'm done with them. haha

Funnies of the Week:

They all call me "Hermana Barbie." A little girl was convinced I was a living Barbie and wanted to do my hair and my nails. haha!

Elder Christensen slid open our little brick phone to text someone and one of the young men almost fell backwards from shock. He had never seen a slide phone before.

We came home one night and I had a really uneasy feeling about our apartment. A man knocked on our door at 11 at night, and when we called the Elders because we were scared out of our minds they said, "Did you answer the door?" NO ELDER, WE DID NOT ANSWER THE DOOR {angry whisper} "You'll be fine. See you tomorrow." Later we found out he misunderstood and didn't think the man was at the door right that second, so the other three Elders beat him up for doing nothing to help us. haha where is Elder Diaz when you need him?}

Pray for me!

Hermana McOmber

Louetta District

Apartmentships in Louetta

Eliezer bought us random little water feature things - haha!

Transfers!

Saying goodbye to Hermana Hoj

Elder Hillebrandt

Hermana Tui

Our 2 hour drive to Bryan

There are hills in Texas!

Massive pile of leftover stuff from past Elder's in our apartment!

More!

Our bathroom door ... ???

Endless supply of ChikfilA

3.01.2015

Week 60: Adios Louetta!

February 23, 2015

Adios Louetta!

I am so excited to be transferred! I feel completely at peace. I accomplished what Heavenly Father needed me to and I am ready for a new adventure!

This week I went to the temple with Francisco and Rosabel! It was absolutely amazing! I did baptisms with them and it was so special. I felt so full of love and felt Heavenly Father's approval as we sat there altogether in white. Indescribable. They will never understand how special they are to me, and how much they mean to me. How could I have ever even considered not serving a mission? How lucky we are to have a Heavenly Father who loves us enough to prune us so that we can grow. {remember that UNREAL current bush talk that perfectly describes my life?}

Although I was ready to strangle Eliezer for always choosing to do things the hard way {I have to take a deep breath and remember he is a 17 year old living on his own} and not making it to the temple, he surprised me and gave a talk on Sunday! He kept it a secret all week! It was incredible. He had everyone laughing and crying. The Spirit was so strong! I felt like my heart was going to burst. Again, I thought to myself, How could I have EVER even considered not serving a mission?

Another one of those moments was when we decided to try a referral. We pulled up and she had a big gate around her house, but as we got out of the car, she came home from work! We had been there for less than a minute! She opened the gate and let us in!

Another one of those moments was when a young boy ran up to us in the apartments and told us how he explained the Restoration to his science class at school and got a 100% on his assignment with 30 extra credit points. He used our visuals and even direct phrases and everything! And we taught him that back in November, and haven't seen him since!!

Another one of those moments was when we went to visit a menos activo family this week, and when we came in we found the son gasping for air. We told them to go to the hospital and called someone for a blessing, but no one could get there in time. As we got in our car to drive away we passed a member of our bishopric randomly standing in the middle of the parking lot... on the other side of town from where he lives. We literally kicked the car in reverse and sped back to catch the family before they drove off... and as we ran up with this hermano to give the son a blessing, the family said, "eh. no thanks." and drove off... uhh. UNBELIEVABLE. O ye of little faith. God not only sent us to you in the exact moment you needed us, he miraculously provided a priesthood leader to give you a blessing, and you denied both! Thoughts such as "ehh, I can't breathe, but I don't need a blessing from messengers of God." or "ehh, I'd rather stay home and sit on facebook all day than selflessly serve for 18 months" are not from Heavenly Father, people. Don't pay attention to them. Keep reading, keep praying, keep going to church so you can recognize the hand of the Lord in your life, and His whispers in important moments of decision!

end rant.

Funnies of the Week:

I asked a little boy what his name was and he said, "Mi hijo." {my son. common nick name)

"Uhh, President, Elder Smith has a dangling TIWI..."

Hermana Miller just told me that her roommate in houston east mission found one of our investigators that moved! crazy!

I am so grateful to be a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It has been the most amazing experience of my life. I have learned and grown so much and I cannot imagine where I would be without it.

Love you and miss you all!

Hermana McOmber