Sorry this letter is a little late. I've had a little too much NyQuil and not quite enough energy these last few days. After a great week last week, I started to not feel so good going into the weekend, and found myself falling apart on Sunday and Monday. My companion has amassed a list of the funny things I say when I'm frustrated with being sick and my head hurts. I'll share a few of them with you.
(when some strangers were talking super loud a few flights down in the stairwell of our apartment complex and I couldn't sleep) *knocks quietly on wall and mumbles* "Yes, hello, um, I hate you."
(when I was completely congested and Elder Colunga got to witness me using a Neti Pot, which is an invention designed to let you drown yourself while also looking very foolish) "I hate that you laugh at me through your nose."
(when I was reading about the Pharisees) "Stupid Pharisees, arguing about divorcing their wives. Surprised you even have wives."
(when the suggestion was made that we get McDonald's for lunch) "Stupid McDonald's, making me pay money to eat food that's gonna make me more sick."
I promise, I am normally a very nice and kind person. But my filter and half of my IQ goes away when my brain is loaded with like 3 different medications at once.
I think that the only thing I want to share this week is about weaknesses. Sometimes we have things that occur in our lives that lead us to ask in prayer, "Why? Why me and why now? I'm trying!" But I was reminded this week that the Lord gives us weakness to help us to be humble, to recognize how much we need His help and how much we can become with His help. Sometimes, it takes lying in bed and sneezing your lungs out for a few hours to help you recognize that you just don't have the strength to do His work by yourself. But let it be very clearly understood, the Lord does not give us weakness to criticize or demean us. He gives us weakness to help us come to Him, so that He can make us strong. We must choose, in those moments where our greatest weaknesses are brought to light, to come to Him and let Him change us. There is a quote that I love from Martin Luther King Jr. which goes something like, "The greatest measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge and controversy." When those moments of challenge and controversy appear, where do we stand? When our weaknesses bring us to our knees, we must remember Him who kneels beside us with His arms around us, lifting us higher. Let Him lift you beyond your weaknesses!
I love and miss all of you!
En avant!
Elder Bryan McOmber
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