Oh. My. Gosh. It's finally here!!! I leave tomorrow morning at 3:30 AM
to fly to Montreal, Canada, and I am so darn excited I can't even
contain it! Today is a frenzy of packing and goodbyes and singing songs
and just a ton of crazy stuff. But... I'm REALLY glad to leave the MTC.
Not that I haven't loved it... because I have. But... there are things I
need to do and people I need to meet in Montreal, and the MTC is just
the preparation stage of the mission. The REAL work begins as soon as I
step off of that plane in the Montreal airport. And honestly... I'm
really, really scared. I don't know this language, I don't know these
people, I don't know who my companion is going to be, I don't know my
mission president, I don't know the area I'll be serving. I know
NOTHING. BUT. This work is not about me or what I don't know or what I
lack. This work, this thing that we as missionaries have been called to
do (along with every other member of the church; we just do it all day
long), is not about how well I speak or how much I understand the
people. This work, the work of inviting others to come to know Jesus
Christ, is about Him. The only things required for us to share the
gospel with power are these: a willing heart, obedience to the
commandments, and a love for Jesus Christ. That's it. Everything else is
extra. Which is not saying knowing the language doesn't help, because
it does. There are plenty of things we can do to assist in the work. But
those three things are the only requirements. That's the greatest thing
I've learned here in the MTC.
Something
hilarious happened at the beginning of my stay at the MTC that I totally
forgot to tell everyone about, but I remembered this week because
somebody brought it up again. Elder Critchlow (hopefully you guys have
seen the pictures... he's the elder with the fiery red hair) was in our
room and I was talking about my family and he said something like, "Do
you have any pictures of your family?" So I pulled out my little brag
book I have with pictures of my friends and family and showed him a
picture of all of us. He looked at it for a little while and then said
something like, "Elder McOmber, your sisters are both really
attractive." It took me a full ten seconds to comprehend what he was
saying. Sisters? But wait... I only have one sister... But wait... I
have a mom too... she's the only other girl in the picture... wait...
no... I'm gonna kill him. So I said, "I only have ONE sister. That's my mom." I expected him to get apologetic and awkward.
Nope.
He
immediately said, "Then your mom is really attractive too!" But he made
up for it a little by saying, "Your whole family is full of models! You
guys are all attractive!" I wasn't sure whether to get mad or just let
it go... so I just laughed and moved on, away from the awkwardness. But I
made sure later that day to clarify that nobody gets a chance with my
sister unless I say so. :P
I had a really cool
study period today in which I read through and studied the Christlike
attribute of charity. In Luke Chapter 10, a man asks the Savior a
question, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus Christ responds with a parable (a
form of analogy) entitled "The Parable of the Good Samaritan." I would
encourage you to read that parable (it's pretty short) because it's
awesome for learning how to love people. Anyways, I found three major
types of people in the parable. First, a "certain man." Sometimes we all
fit into this category, as we travel through our own personal "road
from Jerusalem to Jericho." Life is full of thieves, or experiences
which take from us our confidence, our family members, our possession,
or even sometimes our happiness for a time. Second, there are "priests"
and "Levites." I put these two into the same category because Levites
had very similar jobs to priests in the New Testament; in fact, they
were usually assigned to assist the priests. Both of these walked by the
"certain man" in the road without helping him in the slightest. These
men knew the law very well, being priests in the temple, and the law
stated that if one saw a man's animal collapse on the road, you should
not hide yourself, but rather help him lift his animal again. How much
more important was it, then, to help the man himself when he has fallen
by the way? Obviously they convinced themselves not to, soothed their
consciences by saying they were in a hurry, or that the thieves might
come back. Excuses are readily plentiful to those who seek them.
However.
The third type of person, a Samaritan, came along and "had compassion"
on the fallen Jew. (The man was likely a Jew, as he was traveling from
Jerusalem to Jericho.) The Samaritans and the Jews had a long history of
hatred, to the point in which Jews were forbidden even to eat food
prepared by the hands of the Samaritans, and would take long detours
around the land of Samaria to avoid being made "unclean." The Jews
treated the Samaritans with a "much holier than thou" attitude. And yet,
a Samaritan took the time to stop, bind and clean the wounds of the
fallen Jew, place him on his beast, and take him to an inn, at which
time the Samaritan paid for his future care, and promised to return. This is the requirement made of each of us. The Samaritan did not find an excuse, because he wasn't looking for one. This
is the demand that our Redeemer makes of each of us. As we travel
through our own roads to Jericho, we will most definitely find those who
have been cut down and thrown to the side of the road by the thieves of
life. If we are looking for excuses to pass by, if we tell ourselves we
have to be somewhere or that this person will probably not appreciate
what we might have to offer... we are in danger of becoming those
hypocritical priests who passed by on the other side of the road. Can I
offer a challenge? Don't look for excuses. Let's look for ways to help.
Look for ways to clean the wounds, place them in our own care, and be
there for them as often as we can. That is the Savior's character. He
could have found excuse in so many instances. And yet, He loved
perfectly. He healed the sick, forgave the sinner, and performed the
Atonement; He gave His life for people who would constantly fall short
of His demand to "be ye therefore perfect." That is our example, and
that proves that it is indeed possible to help the fallen stranger. If
He could do it, then we can do it with His assistance as we pray for the
desire to love our fellow men; ALL of them. I know He loves us. I know
He will help us love others. I love Him with all my heart, and I testify
that He lives today, our Savior, Redeemer and Brother.
I
love you all. You are in my thoughts and prayers every morning and
night, and I wish you all the best. The next letter I send home will be
from Canada! I'M SO EXCITED TO GET TO WORK! God be with all of you until
we meet again!
En avant!
Elder Bryan McOmber
Frere Pehrson, one of my French instructors! He went to Canada Montreal, too!
Soeur Johns, my other French instructor! She went to France Paris!
Elder Menzel and I. He's from Germany, and we played soccer together a lot here at the MTC!
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