First Time Driving In Snow, & A Canine Terrorist! More Pics (tour of Bryan's apartment)

Hi everyone!

So, it snowed! Saturday and Sunday we received a couple inches of snow and it's very lovely.

Until you get into a vehicle and attempt to drive it.

I've never really driven in snow before. I've been a passenger... but never the driver. Until Sunday. I seriously thought we were going to die. We actually almost slid into the curb going to church. My companion is in a constant state of fear due to my rookie snow driving skills. We're putting snow tires on the car ASAP. Pray for us. Also, pray for the man we saw walking on the snow who slipped on a patch of ice and fell... hard. It looked like Mr. Myagi had karate-chopped his legs out from under him. It was bad. We turned around to go help him but someone else already had and he looked thoroughly embarrassed enough so we decided we'd let him be. But... yeah. Snow is evil sometimes.

Slightly morbid funny moment. We have an investigator, Mirlandi, who has a younger brother, Jean. They also have a small, incredibly annoying dog which I have felt the very un-Christlike desire to kick multiple times (I have not actually acted on the thought... yet. Just kidding. I'm a nice person. I promise.). The dog has a brother as well, which lives with a different family. Well, we were talking to Mirlandi on the street. Or rather, Elder Gutierrez was talking to her. I wasn't paying attention because I was trying to keep the stupid dog from biting my ankles. I was within a couple seconds of dropping my bag on the canine terrorist when Elder Gutierrez said very non-chalantly, "Hey Elder McOmber! The brother died."

At the time, I did not know the dog had a brother. I just knew Mirlandi had a brother. So I stopped everthing (I believe I was in midair above the dog, trying to jump away from it) and said, "What?" Apparently my face was priceless.

"You know? The dog's brother?"

Dang it Elder Gutierrez. Of course I wouldn't know the dog had a brother! I don't know Spanish yet! Sheesh! He had a good laugh at me. Not sure how the dog's brother died either. Interesting experience.

I want to talk today shortly about how members of the church give advice to and correct missionaries. I want to make something clear, being a missionary myself. Yes. The missionaries in your ward do appreciate your advice, and we do love you dearly. We come on missions for two years to serve and help you. But. One thing needs to be made very clear; we answer to the Lord, not to the members. If the advice or correction given by the members goes against what we are explicitly told to do in our Missionary Manual, in the Preach My Gospel manual, or by our mission president, no obedient missionary will listen, because in those situations, the member is WRONG. Our mission presidents hold the keys to correct and counsel us on how to do this work, and no amount of logic or reasoning will override their inspired counsel and direction, nor that of the manuals approved and supported by the prophet and apostles of God. This is the Lord's work, and He will have His missionaries do it His way. We love you, and we love your support and advice; but please be sure that it is in line with the words of the prophet, the apostles, and our mission president before asking a missionary to go against what he or she has been called by a prophet of God through a mission president to do.

I love and miss every one of you. I pray for you always and I love receiving updates on your lives through letters and emails. Keep them coming! :)

En avant!

Elder Bryan McOmber

 

My beautiful desk. Thank you. I know it's amazing.

 

 DO YOU WANNA BUILD A SNOWMAN

 

 

 Our office. We have a lovely apartment.

 

 2000 pieces and 1 month later, I have completed this puzzle. It madeth mealtimes much more entertaining. Methinks I shall frame it and hang it on the ceiling above my bed. (I kiddeth. I shall not.)

 

 This is our kitchen. Yes, the sink is full of dishes. We're two elders. Washing dishes prevents us from doing more productive things, like eating. And anything else.

 

 This is our living room. The couch is less comfortable than the jaws of a tiger shark. I love it. Oh. And WE HAVE A TV! :)

Car Wash or Elder Wash? Christmas Excitement. Being Humble. Pics!

Hey everyone!

So, interesting week. We had a pretty good amount of rain come down; still no snow as of yet. It's gradually getting colder... I get the feeling of approaching a cliff, after which the temperatures will plunge to glacier cold. It'll be lovely.

Super fun times. We have an AWESOME investigator named Tara who is SUPER humble and wants to change her life. She's got a lot going on in her life and very little of it is good; after we talked about the Plan of Salvation with her, she asked us how she could be happy here in this life. We explained the importance of keeping the commandments to be truly happy, and she decided she wants to be baptized. So excited for her. She's the best. :)

Funny moment... hmm. I suppose there's two. First, we had to wash our car this past week. But... we don't have a hose and we're two lazy to go buy one. (That's elders for you.) So... we filled a bucket of water from the water spout. Didn't have car soap... so we used dish soap and some old windshield wiper fluid we found in a closet somewhere. Yeah. We're dumb. We admit it. But it was fun. Then we realized we had nothing to soap the car down with but some mops. So... we used two mops to clean the car. We looked very foolish. I would've taken a picture, but I would like to keep some dignity. XD Elder Gutierrez tried to rinse off the car with a bucket full of clean water, but he was standing too close to the car and he SOAKED himself. Hilarious.

Second, we were driving through the town to a lesson. For some reason, we were talking about marriage or something similar. Don't judge. It was a good conversation. Anyways, we saw a Christmas tree in a store window. I love Christmas, and every time I see a Christmas tree, I yell, "CHRISTMAS TREE!!!!" Every time. It's lovely. But when I did that this time, Elder Gutierrez said, "I would never marry you."

Dead silence. For a solid 5 seconds.

Then we DIED laughing. Greatest thing ever. It was hilarious. He didn't want me to write home about that; he kept saying, "That's not what I meant!!!" Nobody tell him ;)

I want to talk today about humility. The toughest people to teach here are those who refuse to pray to know the truth of what is being taught. The promise from Christ is that if we ask, we will receive; if we seek, we will find; if we knock, the door to knowledge will be opened for us. Humility comes from the recognition that no human being is perfect, and we are our own source of light and truth. The only way to truly understand whether or not something is true is to pray to our Heavenly Father and ask Him; and we know that through the feelings that come through the Holy Ghost when we pray, we can know the truth of ALL things. But the prayer must be in faith, meaning that we are willing to act on the answer! If the Lord tells us that the Book of Mormon is true, but we make excuses to ignore its commandments, why would He answer our other questions? Every question must come in humility. It's incredibly important.

I love you all and pray for you often! Stay safe, stay strong, and never give up! I feel your love and prayers! Miss you all!

En avant!

Elder Bryan McOmber

Ah the joy of that last half hour before bed. :P Good times.

This flew overhead the other day. Looks fun!

Elder Gutierrez et moi!

Awesome New Companion from Home! A Pregnant Tom Cruise? Obedience. More Pics.

Well hey ya'll!

In case any of you were wondering? Yes. It is getting colder. I've had to wear my jacket pretty much every day for the last couple weeks. It's snowed twice in the last week, but only a little bit that didn't stay on the ground after noon. Kinda sad. Oh well. I'm sure I'll be sick of snow in a few months.

My companion is the BEST. Elder Gutierrez is from Gilbert like me, but only lived there for three years. Before that, he lived in Oaxaca! (SUPER fun to say that. Hahaha. It's not said "oh-axe-ick-ah." I figured that out quickly.) Quick note: he did not actually go to Gilbert High, as I previously thought. He actually went to Campo Verde. (Shout out to those of you I know from there :)) But he's super cool! He cooks really well and teaches even better! We've already had some seriously great miracles with our investigators within days of his arrival. He's also very obedient, and thank goodness. :) Some of the Lord's best blessings are saved for those who obey every command with exactness!

The president of the branch here in Victoriaville, President Furlano, is super cool! He's taught two lessons with us this week. At one of our meetings, he and his wife came with us, and when they got out of their car (we were waiting outside) his wife said, "You know who you look like, Elder McOmber? Tom Cruise. When he was younger."

Great. So my mission has already been branded impossible. ;)

I apologize for that pun. It hurt to type it. I feel your pain; but I refuse to remove it from my letter. :)

Then, yesterday, we had another meeting at the Furlano's house. And Sister Furlano asked me why I unzipped the bottom of my jacket a ways (which I do so it's easier to sit down. It's difficult to explain. Shush.) and then she said, "Are you a pregnant mother?"

Yes. Yes, Sister Furlano. I'm a pregnant mother, masquerading as an 18 year old Elder in one of the coldest places on the planet. I've been hiding it from everyone. How did you know?

She definitely loves to tease me. :P

I want to talk a little bit in this letter about the importance of obedience. I've found myself thinking about this topic for a while, and I feel it's more important than I've ever realized. The first thing to understand about obedience is that we are given commandments so we can a) grow and progress and b) be blessed for keeping them. In Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21, we learn that all blessings are based on laws, and we receive no blessings except by obedience to the law on which that blessing is predicated. So, as we obey laws, we receive blessings equal (or greater) in magnitude to our level of obedience. Therefore, as we are exactly obedient, there are blessings held in store that we can scarcely imagine.

So does that mean we lose blessings when we sin?

Well, yes. Until we repent, at which point our Heavenly Father forgets our sin and restores to us the blessings He desires so much to give us for keeping our covenants.

So can I give an invitation to those of you who, like me, make excuses for being slightly disobedient? Who, like me, pretend that "advice" given from the mouths of prophets and apostles is not really "necessary" to obey perfectly? (Yeah. I know the excuses. I've most certainly tried them. And I still do.)

Stop it! :) Quit refusing to let your Heavenly Father bless you! He wants SO badly to bless us for our obedience, but because He is perfectly just, He CAN'T unless we keep His commandments! So.... be obedient! It's SO important!

I love you all and LOVE getting your emails and letters! Keep working hard to be like Him and I'll be writing you next week! Never ever give up! :)

En avant!

Elder Bryan McOmber

FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE IN VICTORIAVILLE SEEN BY THE EYES OF ELDER MCOMBER. This is an incredible event. I don't know; one night, I just noticed there's Christmas trees EVERYWHERE now! As we drove through town I kept freaking out at every Christmas tree! Which would have been weird enough had we not been on the phone with a member at the same time... oh well. You only serve once. YOSO.

I asked Elder Gutierrez to bring me a glass of water. He brought me a huge yogurt container full of water instead with a big grin on his face. Well, what was there to do but drink it? :P (I know I'm not wearing my tag. It was still on my giant coat. I promise I'm not apostate.)

My new companion FROM GILBERT! & The Atonement: Being Trimmed Back So We Can Grow. More pics!

Well hey ya'll!

Ha. Ya'll. I haven't used that word in FOREVER. I miss the south! :P Or maybe I just miss the warmth... eh. Meme choses. (Same thing)

Well. Elder Boscan goes home on Wednesday. My new companion will be..... drum roll.... thank you to those of you who actually heard a drum roll in your head when I said that... to those of you who didn't, your loss... :P.... Elder Gutierrez! It's CRAZY because he's actually the only other missionary who Elder Boscan has trained! So Elder Boscan's two greenies will be companions in Victoriaville! AND what's crazier is that, he's actually from Gilbert too! He went to my rival high school! WHAT? That's seriously insane! Anyways, he sounds SUPER cool and I'm pscyhed to destroy this town with him! It's gonna be awesome!

Our branch president here in Victoriaville, President Furlano, and his wife had us over for lunch with them and their five kids today. It was a BLAST. They're so fun! For dessert we had these things called "Whippets"... it's like a little cookie with a marshmallow on top, covered in hardened chocolate. They have a tradition where you have to take the Whippet, count to 3, and smash it on your forehead, and then eat it. Yeah. Don't ask me, I don't know. Strange. But... I did in fact participate. It was a strange ritual to be sure. But hey, they tasted good, so ca va!

I have begun a study on the Atonement of Jesus Christ this week. This morning as I read the accounts of His suffering in Gethsemane, a thought came to mind as I read in Luke. The Savior was completely alone in His hour of greatest trial. Forsaken by many of His friends, He knelt and struggled while His closest disciples slept nearby. None were there to stay awake with Him; no mortal could lift Him up. He asked to have His cup of suffering lifted from Him; was there no other way? Could He find some easier method to save us all? Yet He followed His request with the masterful and obedient, "Not my will, but Thine, be done." There was no other way to save us from ourselves but through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He chose to do that for us. BUT. The Lord DID send "an angel from heaven, strengthening Him."

I think at times we all ask this question. "Father, is there no other way? Why does it have to be this hard? Why do I have to struggle so much? I don't understand! Can't we do this an easier way?" But if we choose to continue and trust Him, the Father responds, "Child, I know what I am doing. I know what you can become, and there are times when the only way to help you grow is to trim you back a little bit. But I can strengthen you through this. You are not alone. You are mine, and I am always here."

Our Savior had to walk alone through much of His struggles; and because of that, we do not have to. Never forget what He has done. If we will but trust Him, hand our will over to His Father and ours and say, "Here's everything I've got. I will be a tool in Thy hands," He will make us SO much more than we can imagine. Happiness does not come through us, it comes through giving ourselves up and serving Him.

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it." - Mark 8:35

I love the Savior. Let it never be said otherwise. I know He lives, and I know He made it possible for all of us to live with Him again. I trust Him with my life and I know He is there for me every step of the way, as He is for all of us.

En avant!

Elder Bryan McOmber

Outside the Lalonde's house 

 O...Canada
 

More Canada

 Zone Conference with Elder Golden

Hey!  That's me!

I promise I'm not a selfie person.  I just had to.

 Hey!  That's me again!

 

This is a Canadian sky. It is blue. Just like the rest of the world. Thank you.

 

I'm attempting to better my selfie taking. It's... a work in progress.

 

This is a path. Where it leads, I do not know. I chose not to take it... because it's not straight and narrow. Yeah. That rhymes. Sweet.

 

THE MONTREAL QUEBEC TEMPLE IS AMAZING!!!!

Birds. Lots of them.

Hey! It's my friends!!! :) Left to right, back to front: Jose-Luis, Jacob, Mikaela, Leanne, Itza, Karen, and Rosalie! I love temple trips! :)

 

Itza, Leanne, and Karen. Karen is an investigator of ours! :)

The Lucero family.  LOVE them.

 

 

Jose-Luis Lucero. He's the BEST. He does GREAT missionary work!

This is Gabriel Cortes, Karen Cortes' younger brother. He LOVES the missionaries. And we love him!!

Can't Wait for More Snow!! & Change is ALWAYS Possible.

Hello all!!!!

Still getting colder... but it hasn't snowed again yet. I'M SUPER EXCITED FOR THAT.

Also... so.... Elder Boscan, my companion, goes home in seriously 9 days. It's kind of crazy because I remember three months ago when he said "three months is a super long time" and it feels like it has only been a couple weeks since then! Mission time is so insanely all over the place... I have no idea how to even describe it. Days feel like weeks, weeks feel like days, and the work goes on. I'm equally excited and terrified to have a new companion; what if he's super disobedient and wants to rob a bank or something? I'm wearing a tag with my name on it! I can't rob a bank!!

But seriously. It'll be something to have a new companion. We'll see how this goes. If I don't respond to your emails... he's probably left me in the snow somewhere. Send help.

I had an interesting experience this week. One of our investigators, Frederick, is in the hospital. He's fine, we don't know exactly what happened, but he's there. (No, we don't proselyte in hospitals. Pretty sure that's illegal... :P) Anyways, he's a little bit schizophrenic and he smokes and does some drugs... he's quite a character, to say the least. I promise, we don't just go around finding as many weirdos as possible. He just happened to be an old investigator from some past missionaries and we went to see him a while back. Anyways. So he's in the hospital. And we taught him a lesson and finished and he asked me to say the prayer because he needed to go smoke. Well. I started saying the prayer. And after about 20 seconds, in the middle of my sentence, he just throws out, "Amen." So... I closed my prayer. Frederick was literally jittering... he said, "I REALLY need to go smoke." And then we left. As soon as we got into the elevator, Elder Boscan and I BURST out laughing. It was quite an interesting time.

I have spent my last week or so studying how to better change myself to be more like the Savior. There's a scripture in the Book of Mormon, Mosiah 3:19, that talks about overcoming the "natural man" - or the sin-loving part of us - and becoming a saint through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and trying to become like Him. I've really enjoyed the study. But I want to say one thing, short and sweet: We can change if we try. That's what the Atonement of Jesus Christ is for. Change is possible, and all it takes is continuous effort. If you've stopped working at it... start again! If you're currently working at it, keep working at it! I'm doing the same, and that's what this life is all about!

I love and miss you all! Be safe and never give up!

En avant!

Elder Bryan McOmber

"Life In A Freezer" & "Rock-Bottom Can Be A Good Thing If You Remember Who the Rock Is" - More Pics

Well hellloooooooooo all!!

Can I just say that missions are AWESOME!!! I LOVE being out here! It's super stressful, I'm exhausted all the time, people yell at us and ignore us... and yet this is seriously one of the best things on the planet! Why? Because there's also SO much love around us; the members here really love the missionaries, and several of our investigators are really starting to progress! I love being here and I love serving the Savior!

It's getting colder. Like... consistently dropping below freezing until about 10 AM. I sleep under about 4 or 5 blankets every night. It's pretty interesting. Many of the trees have already lost most of their leaves. But the way people talk about winter here... it feels like the Germans are coming. Everybody talks like all happiness has left the planet once snow comes. I feel like I'm going to be that one missionary who's skipping through the snow (at least... until I freeze to death) while everyone else walks with their heads down, singing depressing songs and refusing to make eye contact. Honestly... it's SNOW!! How can someone NOT be excited about snow? I realize I sound completely naive and foolish to those of you who have lived in snow. But hey, I'm embracing it! Because snow depression is seriously a real thing and I refuse to be a victim! :P

Yesterday, we went over to the retirement home to visit a recent convert of ours, Ginette Girard. She's been on oxygen support for most of her life, and she struggles to walk so she spends most of her time in her walker/chair thingy or in a special electric-powered scooter she's got. She's got a really bad memory, but she remembers the lessons we've taught and she loves the Savior. Yesterday, we watched a movie with her called "Finding Faith In Christ." (It's REALLY good, I'd recommend it to anybody) As I watched the scenes from the life of Christ unfold, I received a profound impression. Up to that point, my day hadn't been going super well. I was a bit discouraged and a little bored, honestly. But. While watching that video, my attitude changed. Why? Because I realized some very important, basic truths that EVERYONE needs to know because they're SO important.

Jesus Christ is REAL. He was born to a mortal mother named Mary, 2,015 years ago. He grew up under the watchful eyes of both His earthly and heavenly parents. He was baptized by a prophet, Jean the Baptist, who held the priesthood authority to perform such an ordinance. He then commenced His ministry among the Jews. He walked the lands of Jerusalem and Galilee, teaching all those with whom He came into contact. He DID heal the sick. He DID raise the dead. These are not stories, made up by power-hungry pretenders intent on gaining control over naive believers. He knelt in Gethsemane, crushed by the sins, weaknesses, and infirmities of all mankind, and then overcame ALL of that so that He can stand with us and lift us in our darkest moments. This is not a story, and I cannot deny the truth of His divinity. He was more than a man, and after He willingly gave up His life on the cross, He took it up again three days later. He and our Heavenly Father visited a young 14 year old boy in 1820 to restore His gospel here on the earth, and that gospel is found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He lives today, and He ministers among His children through the Holy Ghost. I know to the deepest corners of my soul that this is true. I would not be here, thousands of miles from home and family, if I didn't. If you desire a testimony, trust mine. I stand as a witness that He lived then, and He lives today. Jesus was, and is, the Christ, and He stands with those who stand with Him. Never forget or deny that truth, because it IS the truth, and none can avoid it. If we yield our stubborn instincts into His masterful hands, He will build us into more than we could ever be on our own.

I heard this quote from someone I looked up to very much last summer, and it has stayed with me ever since.

"Remember, when we hit rock bottom, that the rock, who is Jesus the Christ, is still beneath us."

He will lift us. He will carry us.

Come unto Christ.

I love and miss all of you very much. You are in each of my prayers and I enjoy getting your letters and emails. Don't forget me while I'm here in Canada, eh? (see what I did there? See, it's funny, because Canadians say "eh" a lot.)

En avant!

Elder Bryan McOmber

 

Elder Boscan and I... NO idea why he does this face.

 

 

Frere Denis playing the violin for us.

Elder Valencia, a very new greenie, and I on exchanges! Finally someone younger than me!

SNOW!!! I only eat if I have wives. The most important thing. Pictures of Fall.

Salut ma famille et mes amis!

Okay. The weather here is seriously freaking me out. I woke up this past Saturday morning at 6:15 with my companion to exercise. After he went in to the bathroom to take a shower, I noticed there was a weird whiteness outside the windows. So I rubbed off the condensation and... um... it was snowing. Yeah. There was a white carpet of snow EVERYWHERE. It freaked me out!!! I didn't really know how to react. I just stared out the window for about 2 minutes straight. What was this white powder? I'm from Gilbert... this whole snow thing does not compute! Then I started YELLING like a little kid, "IT'S SNOWING!!!" (Keep in mind we're in a building with four apartments... I'm pretty sure I woke up the people living above us... who already don't like us. But who cares? SNOW!!! :P) I ran to get my camera, and went outside and took a video like some crazy weatherman seeing a tornado. I'm from Arizona... it's not my fault, okay? :P

I have made some pretty interesting French errors this past little while. For example. On Sunday, I had a really big lunch because we were going to be driving up to Quebec for a zone conference that evening (that's where a bunch of missionaries in the area get together to be taught by the mission president. They're SUPER fun). But since we were going to be in Quebec, we were supposed to pack our dinners... and I'm WAY too lazy for that. So I threw some crackers in the car and Elder Boscan said, "Tu ne veut pas manger le souper?" (You don't want to eat dinner?) I responded with, "Si j'ai beaucoup de faim, je vais manger." (If I have a lot of hunger, I will eat.) Well. Apparently. I pronounced "faim" wrong, and instead, I said, "femmes." That means "wives." So. Apparently, my eating is determined by whether or not I have wives. Elder Boscan got a good laugh out of that one. :P

I want to talk a little bit today about the Savior's invitation to become as little children. We are teaching a 16 year old boy named Camilo Cortes here. The other day, his sister, Karen, walked up to us and asked us to teach her. SHE asked US. So we sat down and shared the message of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through His modern-day prophet, Joseph Smith. She was writing on a note pad while we taught, and we asked her what she was doing. "Oh, I'm just taking notes." I almost fainted. This girl is 12 years old. She has plenty of other things she could be distracted by. But she wanted to hear about the gospel.

I think we could all learn a lot from Karen. She understands something very important... the gospel of Jesus Christ is more important than ANYTHING else. It is EVERYTHING. If we find ourselves making excuses to avoid going to church, to avoid going to mutual or to other church activities; to not pay tithing; to avoid prayer and scripture study; how can we profess to follow the Savior? He has asked us to come unto Him with the humility of a little child. If a young girl of 12 years old can realize that... how much more need have we to realize that? I have decided, and I invite all of you to do so as well, to step back and look at my life. Do I prioritize other things over my duty as a disciple of Jesus Christ? Do I truly humble myself and choose to sacrifice other things I COULD be doing in order to serve Him and keep His commandments?

I love each and every one of you. I am thankful for your examples for me in my life and I am proud to know all of you. Never, ever, ever let yourself slip into the comfortable downward spiral of going through the motions in the Lord's service. This is His church, and He needs every hand He can get to help keep this stone cut out of the mountain rolling to fill the earth! Let's put our shoulders to the wheel... He needs us now more than ever! En avant!

Elder Bryan McOmber

 The leaves are beginning to fall.... winter is coming!

The farm across from the church building!

The bridge across the river to get into Quebec City! It snowed just after this for about 30 minutes... in October!!!