Week 47: Member missionaries are the best!

November 24, 2014

Y'all are going to see exactly what the scriptures mean by "the hastening of the work" in the next few weeks. Not going to ruin the surprise... but this is going to be BIG {like, 220 million people big}. We got a sneak peak this week and I felt the Spirit hit me like a ton of bricks. In the words of President Mortensen, "It's go time."

This week we found 2 MORE menos activos (less active)! One is the mother of a girl we are teaching, and the girl wasn't home so we shared a scripture with her mom. At the end of the lesson she said, "I remember that little black nametag, I've seen it before." After walking down memory lane for a couple more minutes and telling us about "that one time I was baptized in a church in a font by a man in white" we realized she was baptized 20+ years ago in Honduras! THEN we went and contacted a referral last night and taught him the restoration. At the end of the lesson Hermana Perry invited him to be baptized and he said, "I've already been baptized." Hermana Miller pointed to her plaquita and said, "In this church??" yep. He was baptized here ten years ago. That makes 5 menos activos that we have found in the same apartment complex in my time in this area. 

Whenever we finally find members to come to lessons with us, the lesson inevitably cancels. This week was no exception. One day we trekked around for almost 3 hours with different members trying to find an investigator at home, and we ended up finding a lot of new people to teach. My favorite part of the day was giving the 15-year-old that was with us a pass-along card and having her give it to someone. She was so nervous, but she did such a good job! SO PROUD OF HER! Member missionaries are the best!

This week we had zone conference! It always blows my mind, and it takes a while to put it back together again. haha Hearing Hermana Miller and Hermana Koch's "dying testimonies" (last testimony before leaving a mission) was so heart wrenching! Ahh! It helped me put everything into perspective, because as hard as my mission has been, I really do love it and it will be hard to leave. Living it up these last six months! :) 

{side note: Hermana Hill in Woodlands told me J--- went to church and brought his siblings! And that he wants to baptize them!! Ahh! And that R--- said he would get baptized if I came back! haha}

We had our ward Thanksgiving fiesta! So much fun! So many people came and there is always such good food and music. Our investigator E--- wanted to come so one of our members drove 45 min round trip to pick him up and bring him!!! And he loved it so much he came to church on Sunday!!! The ward absolutely loves him. He is this 17-year-old from Honduras, living here by himself and working to support his family. It makes me think of Nick so much. We are inviting him to be baptized tonight!

We had a lesson with our investigator L--- this week. Miracles just surround her! How we found her, how she heard about us from everyone, the fact that we met her brother months ago, how she is so prepared, and THEN this time her best friend happened to be there and is so prepared as well and they want to be baptized together! WOW. 

Yesterday we had ward council. It is typically a bit loco, but this week was even more so. Missionaries struggling to give their little reports, everyone arguing about what to do, the ward mission leader snoring in the corner... and the whole time I had the impression to talk about magnifying our callings. At the end, the bishop ended up pulling out a scripture that said just that! So I finally raised my hand and said my little two cents about how we all need to step it up if we want to see any changes. The look on their faces was priceless. Got lots of firm handshakes and invitations to thanksgiving! "Open your mouth and it shall be filled!"

{HUG to my beehive who contributed to my mission fund- I cried when my dad told me! You are an angel & you will never know how huge of an impact you made on my mission.}

Funnies of the Week:

"Les van a robar" is the most commonly heard phrase of the week, second only to, "I haven't seen you in forever! I figured you were kidnapped!" Welcome to Houston, Spanish speaking.

President asked if all of the Sisters were "appropriately curved" for the group picture in front of Elder Corbridge. 

"Where's Perry?" -Phineas and Ferb, or McOmber and Miller.

We were invited to a birthday party of a ward member for dinner one night and we were the only ones on time, so it was us and the hermano and hermana and their poodle munching on chips and salsa in their art gallery of a living room listening to "That's the way, uh huh uh huh, I like it, uh huh uh huh."

A random group of guys in the apartments were making tacos and invited us to eat with them when we walked by. Super fun... until the jealous wife came out. ha!

I love being a missionary and I encourage EVERY SINGLE YOUNG WOMAN to serve a mission. I could not imagine my life without it.

Hermana McOmber

Quinces (15th Birthday) are such a huge deal here!

Roommates!

Their last Zone Conference

We always make funny faces for the G's when we knock on their door - haha!

All the hermanitas dragged me over to dance with them at the ward party

One investigator getting baptized in January and Hermana Alvarez (middle) on her birthday

"E" came to church!  He didn't have church clothes so he wore his best jeans and a shirt with a saint on it!  

Week 46: It is cold here!

November 17, 2014

This may be my last letter due to the fact that I am going to FREEZE TO DEATH.

NO ONE TOLD ME TEXAS WAS COLD.

And, I mean, it really isn't {before you Utahns go off on me} UNTIL the wind blows. It is like a knife! 

We taught one lesson this week where you could see our breath because her little trailer doesn't have heat! But it was worth it because now she has a baptismal date!

Another week of miracles!

One night we went to visit a recent convert. His mom used to be taught by the missionaries but discontinued their visits, until recently when she has enjoyed having us over for dinner and short lessons. His dad doesn't want anything to do with us. He and I always chat but every time I ask him if he wants to listen to the lesson he flat out refuses. My companions the last few weeks have expressed a little bit of frustration with visiting them because they're not progressing, but I kept feeling like it was a good thing that we visit them. Saturday night we went and I felt a little prompting to chat with his dad. So I sat down and asked him about Mexico and his family. Then I felt the prompting to ask him if we could sing him a hymn (he LOVES when we sing, he even turns off the tv to listen). He said yes! At the end of the hymn I felt prompted to ask him, "How do you know God loves you?" Slowly and very very carefully we started in on the Restoration lesson. It was like walking on ice! I have never followed the Spirit so much in my life!! I felt directed very clearly on what to say, when to say it, and how to say it. It was one of the greatest experiences of my mission! The lesson was absolutely amazing and his son was overjoyed- so excited to tell him about the Book of Mormon and bear his testimony to him for the first time. As we said goodbye the dad took my hand in both of his, so tight, and thanked me. Those are the moments I will never forget.

One night we tried a potential investigator, he wasn't home but his brother-in-law was! So we sat down to teach him and found out that he had been taught by missionaries 20 years ago in California! He remembered their names and the story of Joseph Smith and everything!

One lesson we taught Hermana Perry spoke Spanish PERFECTLY, loudly, and with confidence. The gift of tongues is real, people.

One night we tried a potential investigator who had also been taught by missionaries before. As we got talking with her the bedroom door opened and her son came out. He is so prepared!! He kept asking us, "So what is your message?" Even as we tried to sing and pray to start the lesson he kept asking, "but what is your message?" He had so many questions and at the end of the lesson he said, "I believe everything you taught me." And then they made us dinner! haha I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

Funnies of the Week:

Made cookies to bring to our recent convert's little boy for his birthday, but they weren't home so we walked around the apartment complex and handed out cookies as we talked to people. Very effective way of getting them to stop and listen! Cake mix cookies for the win!

Found out one of my friends in Woodlands has an Herbalife club that is super popular! He never told me! Beto, you're fired! 

Hermana McOmber

Made a Plan of Salvation visual

No one told me Texas would be so cold!

Shipleys Donuts!

I Love Texas!

208 pennies we have found on the ground so far!

Hermano Rosales came to the rescue during weekly planning and cut our white board in half to make it easier to share with the English Sisters.

Week 45: There's a snake in my boot!

November 11, 2014

Actually, there's not. but I did get bit by a few fire ants and my right foot looks like a red football.

This week started off so great with a visit from Elder Lawrence Corbridge- yes, he is the one who wrote "The Fourth Missionary," and yes he is even better in person. I got to have an interview with him before the conference and it was so neat! He gave me the sweetest blessing and helped me so much.

One night our appointment cancelled so we decided to knock some doors. The second door we knocked didn't answer so we started to walk away when this guy answered. All I had to say was "Hi, we're missionaries...." and he was like, "pasen, pasen, pasen!!" {come in, come in, come in!} He and his wife ran around the house muttering, "The missionaries are here!" as they straightened everything up and sat us down on the couch. We were worried they thought we were missionaries from their church, but as we got talking to them it turns out that they're simply just the MOST PREPARED PEOPLE EVER. We had a super powerful lesson, I have never taught that powerfully before, and they accepted the invitation to be baptized! I love being a missionary!

One day we tried visiting the lady we found a while back with our card on her door, but her cousins were sitting outside and we got chatting with them. One of them was an older man who was set in his ways and mostly just teased us, but the younger man lit up as we started talking, especially when we switched into Spanish. He had tons of questions and was so amazed by our answers! He wanted to know everything- "I've wanted to know ever since I was little why you don't drink coffee." He even noticed our CTR rings and wanted to know what they were. We gave him a BOM and he is so excited to read it!

We went to an appointment with a potential investigator we met on the street and she was taking care of her little twin nieces, who screamed when they saw me. I had given them a card at the grocery store almost a month ago and they remembered me! They listened to the lesson and actually understood a lot {we're talkin about little six-year-olds who could quote the bible}, and made the funniest comments. loved it!

One night we decided to try to set up an appointment with a potential before we had to go home for the night, and his roommate opened the door and Hermana Miller almost screamed- it was a former investigator we had lost contact with! Miracle!

Funnies of the Week:

Asked a little boy who the first two people on earth were and he shouted, "Damian y Uva." {Adan y Eva} ...I mean, pretty close, right?

The twin girls are HILARIOUS. They kept making the funniest comments during the lesson. "Sabemos mucho de Dios, pero a veces poco..." {We know a lot about God, but sometimes only a little...} and after they got us off track, "Continuemos..." {moving on}. and at the end when we gave their aunt a BOM one of them shouted, "Y nosotras que???" {What about us?}

I told an Hermana that I want to marry a tall, dark, handsome man that speaks Spanish and she said, "No sabe que dice." {You don't know what you're saying, like You don't know what you're getting yourself into} hahaha

We visited a menos activo and read 1 Nefi 3:7 with her to talk about keeping the commandments, but she would rather focus on the irrelevant scriptures around it... reading them VERY loud with LOTS of emphasis. At least she liked it!

We ate with an Hermana this week who fed us a soup that she learned to make in a dream... take a wild guess at how crazy THAT tasted.

Les quiero! Escribeme!

Hermana McOmber

Conference with Elder Corbridge!

Met some kids on the street and fell in love with them!

District leader made homemade donuts for our district meeting!

Loved this door:  

"As for me and my house we will serve the Lord"

Finally got to go to the temple!

Temple with Lidia

Love my companions!

Week 44: It's So Fluffy I'm Gonna Die!!!

We knocked on someone's door and they had the giant unicorn from Despicable Me!  

IT'S SO FLUFFY I'M GONNA DIE!

November 3, 2014

Remember the song, "Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars?" Well kiddos, I SAW A SHOOTING STAR! {and it's funny because we live right under the airport so all we see is airplanes all day long} Best moment of my life! It was this giant flaming comet thing! Made for a pretty cool 10 Month Mark!

Walked out the apartment door 6:25am on November 1... FREEZING. Got all the way down to 55! Bring on the scarves!

One day while we were walking down the street I recognized a man we had talked to a few months ago. He was so happy I recognized him he took us to his house to introduce us to his wife and kid who just got here from Dominican Republic {picture Tyra Banks with a foreign accent}. We had the best lesson with them and at the end when we introduced the Book of Mormon he ran into his room and pulled one out of his closet! Missionaries in NYC had given him one!!! Crazy!

BIGGEST MIRACLE OF MY MISSION: Remember the "R" family I told you about a couple of months ago? The father was baptized in Argentina as a youth, but left the church when he fell in love with his wife and hasn't been back since. They now have a 14 year old daughter and have had missionaries a few times over the years. We went to visit them when I first got to this area and she told us that she knows this church is true and that she and her daughter will be baptized as soon as her husband decides to come back to church. And then the crazy miracle where we went to visit them and she told us that their daughter has made best friends with girls in the English ward and that they were ready to get baptized into that ward. Well yesterday they surprised us. THEY ALL CAME TO CHURCH. Mom, daughter, AND Dad! It was his first time back to church in years! The mom doesn't speak English so she wants to come to our ward, and the dad wants to baptize them. UNREAL. Couldn't believe my eyes! <3

I remember my first Sunday in the Woodlands ward I wanted to bear my testimony so bad, but I didn't have enough confidence to get up. I finally got up yesterday {thanks to Personal Progress} and it felt so good to bear my testimony to these people I love so much. The coolest part was that one by one all of the other missionaries in the ward also got up! The bishop, ward mission leader, and many other members have pulled me aside in the last two days and told me how much of a difference it made in the spirit of the meeting! So neat! I used to be really, really terrified to bear my testimony {premish life}, but now I understand how important it is, even if it's just our example.

Funnies of the Week:

My companions wanted to match for Halloween so I went along with it. They wore my dresses and put bows in their hair. and everywhere we went the other missionaries asked, "Ohh! Are you Sister McOmber for Halloween?"

Went to the doctor this week and managed to teach a lesson to the doctor, nurse practitioner and all six nurses in Spanish! They told me I needed to slow down so they could take my blood pressure, and blood panel. hahaha

NO ONE TOLD ME TEXAS WOULD BE COLD. You're all fired.

Thank you for your love and support! You never know how significant a difference your little acts of kindness have!

I would love to hear from you!

Hermana McOmber

Brand new sports car in front of a trailer home - haha

Zone Meeting

Halloween!

My crazy little trainee...all she eats is veggies!

Happy Halloween!  Everyone in Texas paints their pumpkins.

We were starving one night so F took us to Los Gemelos for dinner.  Yum!!!

Noche de hogar con la familia "A"

(Family Home Evening)

Week 43: Another Week of Miracles!

October 27, 2014

Howdy howdy howdy.

The leaves still haven't changed colors here... so weird! Doesn't feel like October!

It was another week of MIRACLES!

One night it was 8:30 but we felt like we should stop by and meet a menos activo on the ward list. We got in with her and read in the BOM with her. At the end of the lesson I told her that she could call us whenever she needed anything, and she started bawling! She told us she had just been praying for help and had even decided to fast when we knocked on the door. She came over and embraced me and wept. One of the sweetest moments of my life.

Another night we went to try a potential we had met, but only his dad was home. He invited us to sit down on the porch and we shared a scripture with him and his drunk friend. When we asked if we could leave with a prayer he was like, "Couldn't you stay for just a little longer?" So the drunk friend wandered off, and we taught this man the Restoration. It was such a powerful lesson, and you could see the Spirit working in him! I bore my testimony at the end and told him that the Book of Mormon has changed my life. He cut off what my companion said next to ask me what I meant! So I told him how much peace and comfort and guidance I have found from reading daily in the Book of Mormon. He was quiet for a few minutes and stared at the Book of Mormon in his hands before he said, "I want to know." 

One day we decided to try a referral we got from a member of another ward. It is a cute mom with her 8 year old son, and they are both so prepared! When I asked the little boy how he knew that God loves him, he teared up and said, "because He gave me such a wonderful mom." MI CORAZON! I am so in love with him! He wanted to read all of the scriptures and answer all of the questions, and when I told him the first vision he was a foot from my face and didn't blink once! haha 

One day we got a call from a guy who saw our poster for our english classes. We went to visit him that night and realized that we met him two months ago! We had an amazing lesson with him and he came to church yesterday! Heavenly Father led us back to him when he was ready!

One night all of our appointments fell through so we went to a member's house and watched the Joseph Smith movie with his mom {she has been investigating the church for a long time}. The Spirit was SO INCREDIBLY STRONG and it hit me like a ton of bricks that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. He did not suffer everything that he suffered and endure everything that he endured for a lie. {"THEY WOULD NOT DO THAT!" -Elder Holland}

We were teaching this sweet old woman with no education and she was having a hard time understanding what we were teaching, but she repeated over and over, "I just feel SO GOOD when you come." "I just feel SO MUCH PEACE when you come." "I just feel SO HAPPY when you come." The Spirit is the real teacher, we are the instruments in His hands.

THE BEST was last night at 8:30, we had a list of people that Bishop gave us and we were looking up the last address. I knocked on the door and this cute family opened the door, the son told me that the man we were looking for didn't live there anymore... and then I saw him glance behind me and he said, "...but that's him right there." We turn around and a car had just pulled into the driveway, and out comes the man we were looking for! He was on the verge of tears when he saw us, he has been wanting to come back to church for a long time and was so happy to see us! THEN as I was chatting with the family at the door, the mom told me that she met with Elders years ago and wants us to stop by and teach them again! 

It has been absolutely incredible to see that no matter our challenges or our weaknesses, no matter how hard it gets, that as we just keep going and follow little promptings we are in the right place at the right time to bless the lives of our brothers and sisters. Choosing to serve a mission is the single greatest decision I have ever made in my life. I will never forget {can never forget} the experiences I've had and the people I've met. Being a missionary is biggest blessing! 

Funnies of the Week:

Sunday morning we were running late for our ride to church so we had to run in our church clothes through the apartments, shouting "Buenos Dias" to everyone. {see "Two Weeks Notice" with Sandra Bullock. Scene where she's running in her pink bridesmaid dress... that was us.}

The Primary Program was on Sunday and Carol's little boy Adrian started to scream, so she tucked him under her arm like a football, covered his mouth, ducked under the pulpit and sprinted in her pumps down the aisle to the back door. Hermana Miller and I were laughing HYSTERICALLY.

Everyone asks if Hermana Miller and I are real sisters.

One of our investigators just got out of the hospital with his first kidney stone {I figured out what it was right away}. You should have seen his face when I told him how many my mom has passed {we lost count after 60}.

Les quiero muchisimo!

Que Dios les bendiga! {haha everyone says that to us}

Hermana McOmber

A ward member took us to downtown Houston on our P-day!

The huge Galleria Mall has an ice skating rink in the middle!

Taking over Houston with little miss Lexi

I was having a rough morning so Hermana Perry made me breakfast in bed.

Our investigator wanted to braid my hair, then she took a picture because we all had braided hair!

So much food!

I love doing family history!

Always a struggle!

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