Puddle Jumping and Christlike Attributes

Bonjour! 

This week... ahh where to start. 

Monday was P-Day, as usual. So we did all of our errands and chores and stuff and decided to go explore some sea caves! We got mildly lost (and by mildly I mean we were super lost for a long time) and almost got attacked by hundreds of creepy looking bats, but the caves were sweet! They're just like these little holes in the ground next to a highway, but when you climb down in them they open up to these HUGE caverns full of awesome rock formations and bats. Pretty sweet haha. 

Tuesday we spent most of the day street contacting seeing as we're lacking in the whole investigator department and we haven't been getting as many referrals as we'd like. So, a lesson that I've learned this week- Give the missionaries the names of your friends and families that don't have the gospel!!! Don't be afraid to share what you hold dear... if the gospel has done nothing but make you happy, why would you not want to share that with the people you care about the most? I know sometimes it can be scary, but the rewards of sharing the gospel far outweigh the fear of rejection. I promise. 

Wednesday we had zone meeting over skype... we learned a lot about charity and being a charitable missionary. It was super uplifting and I learned so much!! I definitely realized I had a LOT to work on, but thanks to the Gospel of Jesus Christ I know I can be better! Woohoo!! 

Wednesday afternoon I had a super cool experience. I'd been studying a lot during extra studies about how to be in tune with the spirit and how to be guided by the spirit when teaching lessons. So we were sitting in a lesson with one of our investigators and he was telling us how he wasn't sure he wanted to be baptized anymore. So naturally we were trying to figure out where these new fears he had were coming from. We were asking him about a bunch of different aspects of church, and we weren't really getting anywhere. Suddenly I glanced down at the table where his Book of Mormon was sitting. I had a thought pop into my head- "ask him if he's honestly read and prayed about the Book of Mormon" I kind of dismissed it at first because we'd already asked him if he'd done that and he'd told us he had. But I had the prompting again, so I told him to be 100% honest with us and tell us if he'd read and prayed about the Book of Mormon. He told us no, he hadn't. So we told him to get down on his knees with us right then and there and sincerely ask Heavenly Father if the Book of Mormon was true. He did, and he got his answer! He told us afterwards that all of his fears and hesitations about baptism were gone... inspired questions I tell ya! I learned from that experience that the Holy Ghost really is the real teacher in lessons, and I'm just there as a mouthpiece. Super humbling! 

We get up every morning and go for a run. Thursday morning, we decided to run to the beach! I don't know why we haven't been doing that every day... it's like a little over a half mile from our house and it's so so so beautiful!! We ran down to the beach, sat on the pier and watched the sunrise for a while, and then ran back. It's times like that that I realize I NEVER WANT TO LEAVE NASSAU!! I love this place so much!! 

Also on Thursday, I got introduced to my new favorite dessert. (sorry, cherry pie.) One of the members made it for us, and it was beyond yummy! Guava duff!!! It's like guava baked in a sweet bread with guava flavored syrupy butter stuff over top... It's so delicious!! I love Bahamian food haha.

Friday we had superplanning, and then in the afternoon we went to immigration to check on my work visa papers. Good news! I've been approved to stay here! So now I don't have to get deported... haha :) 

Saturday it rained all day, so naturally we wore our water shoes and puddle jumped to every single appointment all day. We were very muddy and messy looking by the end of the day, but that's okay because it was a blast. One of the members took us to an adorable little Greek restaurant in downtown for lunch. It was so yummy! I had my hair braided by five of the cutest Haitian girls in the world... OUCH!!! It hurt so bad. I'm pretty sure I have internal bleeding now. I have some serious respect for all the people that keep their hair braided all the time... they have to have a really high pain tolerance to style it like that, I'm sure!! 

Sunday was awesome! We had so many tourists in church that we had to bring in extra chairs. People were standing and sitting in the aisles and all over in the overflow area outside of the chapel. Plus we had 6 investigators come to church, and we found a new family to teach!! My heart was so full that day. I love these people so much!!! Then Sunday night, we took our traditional drive to Paradise Island. Right as we got to that place I sent pictures of last week (the little abandoned column building thing?), fireworks started going off over the bay! We sat there in the nice cool ocean night air watching fireworks for about twenty minutes, and I was so content with my life. How did I luck out so much that I get to serve a mission in the most beautiful place ever with the coolest people ever in the best church ever??? I don't know, but I thank Heavenly Father every day for everything He's blessed me with. 

This week I've learned a lot about exact obedience. Everyone tells you obedience brings blessings, but exact obedience brings miracles. That is so true!! This week I've been noticing that when I'm just obedient, the work still gets done and everything's good, but when I'm exactly obedient, miracles happen like every five minutes. Time seems to slow down and we have time to do the lessons we planned for the day and even more. I'm able to wake up feeling fully rested and ready to go. I'm able to testify of this gospel with power that I know is not just me. I can feel Heavenly Father using me as a tool to share the message that I know to be true, and I'm so grateful He chose me to bring that holy message to the people in the Bahamas! 

One more thing... I've been reading Mosiah this week. Something in Mosiah 24 stuck out to me. Someone talked on it in this last conference... I think it was Bednar? Maybe? But anyways, it's talking about when Alma and his people were being held in captivity by Amulon. They'd been praying and pleading for the Lord to help them. The Lord answered by telling them that he would lift their burdens. But it's the way that he did that that I think is cool. He told them he would strengthen them so they could bear up their burdens with ease. He didn't say, yeah sure! I'll take away your burdens and make your path through life clear and easy. Nope. He told them that he would give them the strength to endure their trials, and by doing that their burdens would seem lighter. I think it's the same with all of us. We sometimes pray to have our burdens lifted from our shoulders, and we get disheartened when we think the lord isn't answering our prayers. But really, we should be praying for increased faith and understanding so that we might be made stronger through our trials and temptations. This life is all about growth, and how are we expected to grow and become stronger if the path back to God is easy? Trials are placed in our paths to help us grow, and if we learn to build our faith and rely on Heavenly Father and especially the atonement of Jesus Christ, we will be able to bear up our burdens with ease. Through Christ we can do all things! 

I love you all! It was so good to hear from so many of you this week. I'm so proud of all the good things you're doing! Keep being missionaries and spreading the gospel with everyone you meet! The church is true!! 

Hugs! 

Sister Oman 

Goats, Goats, Goats and More Goats!

Guava Duff!

This pretty much sums up our household dynamic. Except Sister Rampersad is usually smiling haha. (These are our "we had a bad proselyting day and we're depressed" hats)

I'm getting tannnnnnn. Ish. Woohoo! 

Clarence and Johnny were baptized right when i first got here by the other sisters. we're working on helping them prepare for missions, so we dressed them up with our tags and scriptures yesterday at church! hahaha. 

Rammmmppppp!! 

When we get home a little bit early and finish planning fast, we play ultimate jenga. which involves jenga and truth or dare. it's quite fun, but it can be frustrating. hence our faces. hahaha.

Montrose Avenue! Just like home :) 

Sea Caves