The MTC is still going awesome! I'm
actually really anxious to get outta here and go to Montreal, but the
learning process is going well and I'm getting more prepared every day
to go out and teach! FRENCH IS SUPER HARD THOUGH. Like... whoa.
Especially because this week our teacher (who served his own mission in
Quebec a year or two ago) switched into his Quebecois accent for the
last 2 weeks we're here and seriously... it's not even the same
language. It sounds very interesting. I'm a little scared of showing up
in Montreal and finding out they actually speak something that sounds
like Mayan. So... yeah. Definitely going to be interesting.
So.
Elder Niederhauser. He... has a kidney stone. And it's... hilarious.
He's on Lortab... which is a seriously crazy painkiller. And he's a
completely different person. He tried to slide down the railing of the
stairs on the fourth floor (while on the medication) and Elder Bird had
to grab him. "No no no no no. Elder, you're WAY too medicated to do
that." To which Elder Niederhauser, usually the most mature of all of
us, responded with, "PLEASEEEEE??" It was hilarious. But anyways,
because of his stone he's constantly drinking fluids... which means he's
constantly leaving to go to the restroom. In the middle of the night a
couple nights ago, he walked back into the room after using the bathroom
and apparently I had a conversation with him in my sleep. It went
something like this.
Me: "Elder Niederhauser."
Him: "Yes?"
Me: "I have something to teach you."
Him: "Alright, preach!"
Me: "Listen carefully."
Him: "Got it."
Me: "That hymn was published AFTER Brigham Young died."
Him: "Uhhhh...."
Me: "You got it?"
Him: "Sure."
Me: "Cool."
After which I promptly fell back asleep. I think I may be going insane.
Also,
another funny thing the elders do... we sing in the showers. Not
individually... we all harmonize random songs (from Michael Buble to the
Beatles) as we shower. It's amazing. We have some pretty solid
acoustics, I'm not gonna lie. Mormon Tabernacle Choir, here we come. :P
I
had a really cool experience this week. On Sundays, after a devotional,
all the missionaries have the opportunity to watch special films
(usually past devotionals that have been given or movies about Church
history). This Sunday was Fast Sunday (for those of you who don't know what that means, on the first Sunday
of each month, members of our faith fast, or abstain from eating for 24
hours, and pray for help from our Heavenly Father), and I was fasting
and praying for the ability to know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of
God. I believed he was a prophet, but I hadn't yet felt the Spirit
testify to me that it was true. Well, Sunday
night we happened to watch a movie about Joseph Smith and his life. And
after I watched, I felt something different about the story than I'd
felt before. I felt in my heart that the story is true. I can now say
that I KNOW Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, the first prophet of
these modern days. I KNOW that in 1820, when he was 14 years old and had
questions about what church to join, he was visited by our Heavenly
Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, who chose him to restore the fullness
of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth. I know that if it wasn't
true, he would not have stood by his testimony of the gospel of Jesus
Christ and the things he'd seen as he was attacked and persecuted. I
know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the same
church Jesus Christ established while He was on the earth, and that if
any of us need to know the same, all we need to do is the same thing
Joseph Smith did in 1820: ask of God, through prayer. I know that this
gospel has changed my life forever. And because of that, how can I NOT
share it with everyone I know? I love this gospel. I love our Savior. I
love that He gave His life for each of us so that we can return to live
with Him again.
I love all of you so much. You're in my prayers every morning and night and I miss you all. Until next week!
En avant!
Elder Bryan McOmber
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