Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Halfway Through the MTC and Still LOVING It!

Hello all!
I'm having a pretty grand time here at the MTC! Working my tail end off to learn the language, but I'm still learning quickly and it's a blast because I know I'm working for a good cause! Something interesting about the MTC; there are these people who act like "investigators" (they all wear special gold tags) and we are supposed to contact them while we walk throughout the MTC and set up lessons with them! Everyone else in our district is teaching one "gold tag" as well as teaching our regular French instructors who pretend to be investigators. But Elder Woo and I have TWO gold tags we're teaching as well as our two regular investigators! It's nothing personal... it's just that we're better than everyone else! Okay, no. We're actually very much newbies to the whole "teach people about the Savior" thing. But we're working hard and we're trying. And that's what's important.

Found out a couple funny things this week. First, every elder in my district has seen the Lizzie McGuire movie enough to break into song as soon as somebody says "hey now." I'm not even kidding. We've all broken out into a harmonious rendition of her Colosseum song. More than once. Actually, many times. Second, I think that my roommates have a snoring issue. I have used my earplugs many many times so far. (Thanks, Mom! <3) They also enjoy talking in their sleep. Elder Bird woke me up in the middle of the night by yelling, in his sleep, "I'M SITTING HERE. NO! I'M SITTING RIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT HERE!!!! LOOK AT ME!!" I laughed pretty dang hard. He's a funny guy. Third, Elder Sykes' mom sent him two puzzles (a 750 pc and a 1000 pc) and the elders LOVE them. We fly through our meals just to get an extra 30 minutes at the residence to puzzle it up. We finished a 750 piece puzzle in just our free time (about an hour a day) in three days. We're very proud of that. Now it's time to start on the 1000 piece! I'm extremely excited.

I found a scripture passage which I LOVE the other day. In my studies, I've been looking at the story of Ammon, the INCREDIBLE missionary in the Book of Mormon. His story begins in Alma 17. My favorite part of the entire story is in Alma 18:24-40, in which Ammon teaches King Lamoni, a king of the Lamanites, and his servants about the gospel. He starts from the beginning and relates God's plan for each of us all the way through. But he finishes (verse 39) with an explanation of the importance of Christ and His Atonement for each of us. The Atonement is REAL. Our Savior and Older Brother gave literally EVERYTHING He had for us so that we can return to live with Him. I LOVE that!! I feel so close to Christ each time I pray, and I know that He hears us when we turn to him in prayer. He loves each of us so much! That's the most important part of this gospel: the ability to be cleansed through the Atonement of Christ and become clean and pure before He who shed His own blood and tears for each of us individually. I love Him so much and I cannot WAIT to share this message with the people of Montreal in 3 weeks!

I love each and every one of you and you are in my prayers always! I'm gonna try to attach some pictures to this letter so ya'll know who these people I talk about are.

Good luck in everywhere you all are! Remember you never stand alone!

En avant!

Elder Bryan McOmber

P.S.  Here are some pictures:

 From left to right - Elders Phillips, Herring, me, Woo, Niederhauser, Bird, Critchlow, and Sykes.

 Elder Woo and I

 Elder Woo and I after finishing the puzzle. We were deeply proud.
 

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

The MTC Is Still Awesome!

Hello all!

     The MTC is still awesome! I realized that last time I didn't update everyone on who's in my district, so I'll do that now!

Elder Woo: Black hair. 20 years old. From British Columbia, Canada. Funny. Asian (got his permission for that descriptor :P). Moans in his sleep sometimes... kinda freaks us out. Enjoys naps. My comp.

Elder Sykes: Blonde. 18 years old. From Utah. Very excited... all the time. Bounces off the walls in class. Funny. Enjoys laughter. Comp with Elder Critchlow.

Elder Critchlow: Redhead. 19 years old. From Tennessee. Played QB for his HS football team. Got a scholarship to a college (forgot which one) for football. Strong testimony. Funny. Can be serious when needed. Comp with Elder Sykes.

Elder Bird: Brown hair. 18 years old. From Utah. Athletic. Shortish. Enjoys making funny faces at people in class. Gets along well with everyone. Comp with Elder Niederhauser. (They went to the same high school).

Elder Niederhauser: Brown hair. 18 years old. From Utah. Athletic. Tallish. Wears glasses. Has a Texas accent which sounds HILARIOUS in French. Tells funny stories. Can be serious when needed. Comp with Elder Bird.

Elder Phillips: Brown hair. 18 years old. From Utah. Not too athletic, but super tall and willing to try anything new. Wears glasses. He's our district leader for the first three weeks; good leader. A bit socially awkward, but his heart is definitely in the right place and he's very good at keeping the Spirit in the group when we start to get a little off topic. Comp with Elder Herring.

Elder Herring: Brown hair. 18 years old. From Utah. Athletic (played hockey). Slight stutter when he talks, but it doesn't stop him from serving and sharing his testimony. Struggles a lot with the French language, but he's improved the most of us since he got here. Very short. Was in the theater class from his school, played the lead in several plays. He's kind of the black sheep of the group; we do a good job of including him in our activities but he's the most homesick of all of us (he's got a GF back home and he lived nearby so he's really struggling). Likes talking about the number of girls he's kissed (177... whoa...) and his girl back home. Comp with Elder Phillips.

Soeur (Sister) Guzman: Black hair. Not sure how old she is, she won't tell us. Somewhere around 25? Latino. From Arizona. Funny. Can be serious when needed. Probably the most mature of the whole district. Went to college at University of Florida. Strong testimony. Speaks Spanish and English, and is learning French.

Soeur Clarke: Blonde hair. 19 years old. From California. Sits directly across from me and Elder Sykes in the classroom, and we have gotten really good at communicating what we're thinking through facial signals since we're not really allowed to speak in English very often. Good at French. Can be serious when needed.

Soeur Cunningham: Red hair. 19 years old. From Utah. Sits next to Soeur Clarke. Strong testimony and very good at French. Good at making sure the class stays on task. Funny. Smiles often.

Welp. That's everyone. I'll start sending pictures of us all next week so everybody can recognize who it is I'm talking about.

     A funny thing that happened this week. During choir practice, the camera crew pans over the choir to check their settings and stuff before the devotional happens. All of the elders in our district were sitting together. When the camera would zoom in on our district as we sang, three or four of us would have do duck our heads because we would all make each other laugh at that moment with how we looked at the camera. I don't know what was wrong with us! The camera would pan across us, and Elder Woo would just get this weird grin and then burst out laughing, so the camera would start to move again but not before all of us noticed that happened and would all die laughing.

     We were rather disruptive.

     Suffice it to say that we did not get the opportunity to be on camera for the devotional itself. I wonder why?

     I'll end with a quick spiritual thought. 1 Nephi 17:50-51

     This scripture describes the prophet Nephi's reaction when his brothers tell him he can't build a ship as God commanded him to do so that he and his family could sail to the Americas.


50 And I said unto them: If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.
 51 And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?
     I know that we have the responsibility to do certain things in this life: lift those around us, battle temptation, teach our children and our peers, learn of God. But too often I forget that with these commandments God has given us, He has also given us a way to accomplish those very tasks. Nephi's response to the doubts that we all face in this life, from ourselves and from others, is basically, "So? Of course it's difficult. But impossible is NOT in God's dictionary! If He tells me to do something, gosh dang it I can do it!" (I may have translated his words into Bryanese for my own interpretation :P) So just remember that when it seems too difficult to do the right things, it's not impossible. Life is not designed to be an endless maze; it's a mountain, and He knows the right path and will provide all the direction and assistance we need to accomplish the things He commands. I know that and bear testimony of it in His name.

     I hope all is well in every place all of you are. I miss each one of you and thank you for the teachings you've shared with me and the examples you've set. I love you all!

     En avant!

Elder Bryan McOmber

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Bryan's 1st Letter!


Mon cher famille et amis, 

This is SO AWESOME!!!!! I've been here 6 days and already this is the greatest experience EVER! It's also one of the hardest things I've ever done! I'm speaking French almost 24/7 and it's really really frustrating because my vocabulary is about as short as my stay here has been. And I'm ALWAYS exhausted but I can tell my strength is being bolstered as I try to stay awake enough to learn French and prepare lessons for the investigators we're ALREADY teaching en francais. This is really, really hard. But that also makes it super super amazing because I can see just how much progress I've made in these few days! This place really is amazing because we're already conversing in French and I'm able to understand what my teachers are saying and all I can say is the gift of tongues is SO REAL! My comp is Elder Woo... he's learning both French AND Mandarin in 6 weeks (I just have to learn French). He speaks Mandarin already, but he can't read it or write it yet so it'll be interesting for him! He's super cool though and I really enjoy learning from and with him and teaching with him. He's awesome.

One thing that freaks me out a bit: sleeping in a room with three other Elders, you hear some weird stuff in the middle of the night. Elder Woo, my companion, woke us all up at about 5 AM yesterday morning. He was still asleep, but I think he was dreaming he was a whale? He groaned REALLY loud for about 45 seconds (no breaths, just straight UUUUUUUUUGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG). Then he stopped, then started again. Mom, those earplugs you gave me really came in handy. ;) Another funny thing: all of the elders in our district (the group we're put in that all speak the same language) take showers together. (Okay, that sounds funky. We're separated... but we can hear each other and talk to each other.) Anyways, all of the elders have conversations en francais as we shower and it's HILARIOUS. It also probably terrifies everyone else. And the showers are the annoying kind that stay -99 degrees when you're showering, unless someone flushes a toilet (which happens a lot), and then the showers teleport to the surface of the Sun. Talk about a burning bosom!

I've also had some really cool spiritual experiences here. The gospel of Jesus Christ is SO TRUE. When 2000+ elders and sisters join together to sing the Battle Hymn of the Republic... WHOA. We haven't sung Called To Serve yet, but I'm psyched for that. On Sunday, Elder Woo and I got lost, and we were stuck on where to go. We stopped and said a quick prayer, and literally 5 seconds later our zone leaders walked in and were like "Hey! You guys are late!" and took us to our sacrament meeting. It was so cool, Elder Woo and I just looked at each other and grinned. We also watched Elder Bednar's talk to the MTC a few years ago near Christmas entitled "The Character of Christ." It was AMAZING. It was all about how we should look outside ourselves when we start to struggle and the immediate natural response is to think about ourselves. I loved the talk, and the Spirit was even stronger while he spoke.

I miss you all. You have my love and care, and I'll continue to write and talk about just how freezing cold I'll be in Canada! En avant, mon amis!

Elder McOmber