ELDER BRYAN MCOMBER Canada Montreal Mission: It's snowing!! We absolutely CAN choose our attitude. Happiness lies in gratitude! Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey everybody!

So... it`s winter. As I am typing here at the library, there is about an inch or two of snow on the ground. It started falling last night while we were on our way home and hasn`t really stopped for too long since... but it`s not too cold so it may not stick (crossing my fingers). :) I threw the first snowball of my last Canadian winter last night... I may or may not have hit Elder Aulner in the shoulder... on camera. No biggy. I may go into the MLB when I get home. Who knows?

Anyways, we got transfer calls last night... and it was kind of crazy. Elder Aulner will be going to Cornwall, a city in Ontario, speaking English (his French is already crazy good so that didn`t surprise me too much). I`ll describe to you all how the rest of the call went.

"Elder McOmber, how do you feel about French?"

"Oh poop. Don`t tell me they`re kicking us both out."

"Actually, you`re growing your family tree."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

"Your new companion is very experienced and knows what he`s doing. His name is Elder.... greenie." (if you don`t know, a "greenie" is a term used pretty often to refer to a missionary who is fresh out of the Missionary Training Center)

So.... I will be receiving another new missionary this Wednesday. Which gives me a few days to do all the freaking out that I want. Which... I have been. :P Because, you know, why not stress myself out and get no sleep?

Other than that, this week has been full of a lot of walking. :) Not complaining... it keeps me healthy!

I`ve learned a lot this week about attitude. Lately missionary work has seemed pretty difficult, with a lot of cancelled appointments and a lot of walking.

We have to choose to be cheerful. I can`t tell you how bad things seem to go when I give in and decide that I`m just gonna have a bad day. I start to see everything through a darker lense and I stop seeing the blessings. And then I find myself at the end of the day saying, "Wow. Today was a really bad day."

Well, duh! I made it that way!

I remember when I was a kid, I was getting into the car after church one day. I turned and saw this man walk by and my dad was talking with him for a second and then he walked away. My dad turned to me and said something that has stuck with me in the 10 or 12 years since. He said, "That man is one of the happiest men I know. The world could be crashing down around him and he would say, `Man, this is such a cool crash.`" In my mind at the time, I thought, "What, is he crazy? If the world is crashing down, hide or something!" But this experience has stuck with me ever since, and seems to always come to mind when I`m having a "bad day." And immediately, one part of my brain says, "Sure. Right. I don`t think it`s that easy to just choose to be happy." And for some silly reason I choose far too often to listen to that voice and then I have a bad day.

I have come to know for myself that happiness lies in gratitude. Why? Because our perspective is different. The events in our lives may not change, but our way of seeing life does. Have you ever looked at one of those black and white images where one person says it`s an old lady and another person says it`s a young woman? (We talked about these in my psychology class one time) The thing is, if you focus hard enough, you can change the way you see the image. It was amazing to see how much effort some of the kids in my class would focus to try and see the other image! It was such an uneventful thing, and yet we all were trying to see it the other way. And after a little effort, we all could!

My point is, we have to change our perspective. We have to look for the good; flip the image, if you will. There are times where it takes a little more focus to flip our perspective around; it`s a lifestyle change. But eventually, our spiritual "eyes" will adjust to the new way of seeing things. So the commitment I have given myself for this week (and that I extend to all of you) is this: every time the moment comes when you want to complain or see fault, mentally or vocally, replace it with a blessing you are grateful for, and try not to think of the same blessings as you have before. Notice the good! Seek out the smallest tender mercies, and suddenly you will recognize that the Lord has really blessed you more abundantly than you can fathom.

I know God lives. I know He loves us. Happy Thanksgiving! :)

En avant!

Elder Bryan McOmber

Exchange with Elder Roubicek! :)