Miracles, rain, and blackouts galore!

Hello fellow people! I hope everyone had the best weeks ever! Our week here was full of adventures, miracles, and lots of laughter! 

Monday:

The dear lovely Sister Ballard took us to do our grocery shopping and emailing since we didn't have a car. Bless her soul. We love that lady so much! Then we just hung out at home for the rest of the day because it was insanely hot and we didn't feel like walking anywhere when we were allowed to stay home haha. Then at six, we decided to walk to the beach behind our house and go street contacting! We were able to find four people that have a lot of potential... yay for teaching on the beach!! 

Tuesday: 

Tuesday was such a good day full of a ton of adventures! First of all, we bussed to one of the areas we teach in for the morning because it was too far out to walk to. We got on the bus and the driver (who neither of us had ever seen before) took one look at us and changed the radio station to a gospel station. Hahahaha it was fantastic.People here know us, even if we don't know them! It was just a reminder that everyone is always watching us, and even if we don't realize it, we are representatives of Jesus Christ literally at all times, and we'd better act as such! After the bus ride, we had a few appointments in that area, and then we were walking to our next appointment (about a half hour away), when it started pouring. And when I say pouring, I mean pouring. Picture earth shaking thunder and someone literally dumping what feels like  the entire ocean on top of your head all at once. Our umbrellas didn't stand a chance to keep us dry, and we literally could not see a thing in front of us because there was so much water coming down. So we sprinted to an abandoned roof building thing on the side of the road and stood under it to attempt to wait out the rain. Well after about five minutes, we realized it wasn't letting up any time soon and we had to get to our appointment. So I just said a quick little prayer in my head and told Heavenly Father that we needed just a little bit of help to get to our appointment on time. We started walking again, and after about thirty seconds, we realized it wasn't raining anymore! We thought that was kind of funny and kept walking, but then as we looked around, we realized it actually was raining still. The rain was falling all around us just as hard as it had been before, but it wasn't falling on top of us anymore. As we were walking, the rain just kept moving away from us! It was seriously a miracle, and we were able to get to our appointment on time! It was so good we got there when we did too, because our investigator told us he'd been waiting for us all day... he had been praying the night before, and he got an answer! He told us he wants to be baptized :) Heavenly Father will do what you ask him to if you ask in faith and it is His will! He knew we had to be at that appointment to talk to that investigator at that time... so He provided a way! Tuesday night, right after we got home and changed into dry clothes, the doorbell rang... and there was a grocery man standing outside with a delivery of food from the best parents in the world! Thanks familia! You guys rock! Free food, free food, free food! 

Wednesday:

Wednesday, we had district meeting in the morning, and then after district meeting, Sister Rampersad started feeling really sick. So we went home and she slept all afternoon... which gave me a chance to read the Book of Mormon for a few hours! I love that book!! And bonus... I finally finished Alma!!! Woohoo! It always feels like Alma takes forever to get through because it's so long haha. 

Thursday:

Thursday was a normal proselyting day. When we got home, we made dinner, and started to plan. Just as we were all going to our rooms to plan, the entire house went dark. I screamed and sat down (I don't know why I do that, but lately every time I get scared I just sit down haha. It doesn't seem like a very practical reaction. Oh well.) Sister Collier screamed and ran to get the American Flag (don't ask haha). Sister Woolf screamed and then continued to just sit at her desk, and Sister Rampersad just kind of laughed and went to find a flashlight. So now we know who to go to in times of crisis haha! But anyways, there was a blackout all over the entire island. And for some strange reason, when the power goes out so does the water and usually so does the gas. We sat around and told stories by candlelight for a while until bed. So Thursday we didn't get much sleep because it was dark and hot (no fans=still, humid, hot air everywhere), but it was such an adventure! I felt like I was camping haha.

Friday:

Fourth of July!! The power came back on around 4:45 Friday morning, so we got a little less than two hours of sleep with fans, and then we were up and ready to go! We still didn't have running water, so I took a bucket shower... if I said I felt like I was camping before, it was nothing compared to how I felt Friday morning! Thank heavens I know how to wash my hair with a bucket... camping gives you some serious life skills man! Right after we finished studies, the power went out again, so we did superplanning in the front room because there's the most light there haha. We finished superplanning, and had a mini photoshoot with an American flag we found in the attic a couple of weeks ago when we were exploring. So we could be patriotic and stuff, ya know? Then we started teaching for the day! We were riding the bus to our area, and we were wondering why there was so much chaos all over the roads (more so than usual haha), when we realized the power was still out all over the island so none of the stoplights were working and people were just kind of going whenever they felt like it! If there was ever a day I was grateful to NOT have a car, Friday was it. haha. Friday night after branch correlation meeting, Sister Smith was driving us home and we got to watch some fireworks the US Embassy was shooting off over the ocean! It was a perfect way to end what was possibly the most adventuresome independence day of my life :) 

Saturday: 

Saturday was bucket shower day 2! I was grateful again for having parents who made me learn how to bathe in the wilderness :) hahahahah. We had one appointment in the morning, and then we had a branch mission activity! We had a bouncy house (which didn't work the first half due to a power outage again haha), and we grilled chicken wings and hot dogs, and the young men and young women did a free car wash! We advertised it on the street, and while people were waiting for their cars to be washed, we gave church tours and they watched the Restoration movie! It was such a cool activity and we got a ton of good contacts and referrals! Woohoo! After the activity, we went to a few more lessons for the evening, and called it a day! We also ate the world's biggest hot dogs for lunch... literally. I'm pretty sure one hot dog was like almost three feet long. It was insane. 

Sunday:

Sunday, Sister Scott picked us up to take us to church! She's wonderful!! We had one of the most spiritual fast and testimony meetings I've ever been to (*sniff, sniff* I love my little branch!) Sister Rampersad and I had to teach young women's again, so we watched Finding Faith in Christ and had a mini testimony meeting with the young women... they're such good girls! I love them all!!! Then Lisa and Andrew took us to the Dinkleman's house for dinner, and after dinner, Brother Dinkleman took us to a marching band thingy in downtown so we could go street contacting! It was a really cool cultural event, and there were a ton of awesome families we got to talk to about the church! After that, we walked across the island to teach some of our recent converts, and Brother Dinkleman picked us up and took us home for the night! 

This week, I've been thinking a lot about temples. We have quite a few recent converts that we're helping prepare to go to the temple, and since we've been talking about it so much, I've been thinking about it! I never realized how blessed I was to have a temple so close to home... even though at the time it felt like it was so far away, it's nothing compared to these people. They cannot get to the temple unless they take a plane, and it's a HUGE deal when they get to go. I am so blessed to have had a temple so close to home my entire life... they say you never know a good thing till it's gone, and I never really understood that saying until now. I've never appreciated the temple as much in my life as I do now that I know I can't go again for a little over a year. I can honestly say I will never take the temple for granted again... for the rest of my life, I will go at least once a month. No sacrifice is too great to make for the blessing of attending a temple! 

Have a great week everyone!! I love and miss you all... keep up the good work everywhere you are! You are all such good examples to me!! 

xoxoxoxo,

Sister Oman 

The avocados here are insanely large and funny looking. But they taste delicious!! 

The giant box of food that got delivered to my doorstep tuesday evening! Thanks family! I love you guys!! 

My water bottle is as big as my head. And I drink about three or four of these every day because its so hot haha. 

I killed three more cockroaches! gross. But I think we've all come to a consensus that if they don't mess with me, I don't mess with them (usually. muahahah)

we took bucket showers for two days last week due to a lack of running water! 

We read and study by candlelight when the power goes out :) 

the event we went streetcontacting at!

french book of mormon! I study this occasionally and try to make sense of it haha. I also study a spanish one too. 

I'll Make a Man Out of You!

Sak pase everyone! I hope you all had wonderful weeks, and happy fourth of july! (almost)

Monday.

We did all of our usual errands and emailing and stuff, and then we decided to go explore cabbage beach some more. Let me tell ya, when you decide to nap on a beach in the bahamas, you'd better make sure you put sunscreen on before you nap. Let's just say my legs have some sweet awkward tan lines haha. 

Monday evening after P-Day had ended, Sister Rampersad and I were driving to do FHE with a less active family in the branch. I was driving down the road when a big scary police man waves me down. So I pull over, and roll down the window, and he's like "Excuse me, miss. But did you know it's illegal to drive with a crack in your windshield?" Which I did know and I can't lie so I told him I did and we tried to explain it was a mission car so we had no control over what happened with the maintenance and stuff, but he wasn't buying it. He was going to write me a ticket for driving with a cracked windshield when I pulled out the whole handy dandy crying trick. So Sister Rampersad and I are sitting in the front seat crying and apologizing and it made him uncomfortable haha so we got off without a warning even! Score one for the sisters. So that was good. The only downside is that President Brown told us we aren't allowed to drive that car anymore and we still don't have our new cars, so we were walking all week. But it's okay because I learned so many lessons from it!! 

Tuesday.

We woke up, did studies, walked an hour to Gethro's house, and taught a lesson. Then Sister Reid (bless her soul) took us to our next appointment in Rockcrusher (which is like a two hour walk from Gethro's house so it was a huge blessing!) Then we left that appointment and we had to go to Baintown, which is like another thirty minute walk, and it was blazing hot. As we were walking along the road, another member of the branch pulled up and said she just had a prompting to drive down this road! So she picked us up and took us to our next appointment. Definitely a tender mercy!! We taught a less active family, and were able to teach two more lessons before we had to walk one and a half hours (ALL the way across the island) to our dinner appointment.The member that fed us drove us home, which was yet another tender mercy. The Lord really does look after us!! 

Wednesday.

We had zone meeting at the church, so we walked there and hung out there for most of the day. It was such a good zone meeting! Exactly what I needed to hear this week... I've been working so hard on applying everything we learned to my teaching and my overall attitude here! We walked to Wilkin's house, taught him a lesson, he taught us a little more creole, and then dear darling Lisa picked us up and took us to her house for dinner! We did a lesson with her and Andrew, and then they drove us home! 

We also wrote our own version of the I'll make a man out of you song from Mulan. It's now officially about missions and how hardships make you stronger (hence the subject of this email haha)

Thursday.

I'm going to be completely honest with you. I don't really remember what happened on Thursday. I know some members helped us out and drove us to a lot of our appointments, but it sort of just blends in with the rest of the days this week haha. The only noteable thing that happened was that we figured out how to take a bus (or jitney or coaster depending on what you call it)! The jitneys here are more like taxis... you stand on the road and hail them, and they pick you up and run a semi-regular route. So we hailed a jitney and then once we were on it, we realized we didn't know how to get off haha. Because there's no like set bus stops. We also realized we didn't really know where it was going. We asked someone and they told us to just yell bus stop and it stops, so that's good. So we developed a fool proof system to taking a bus in Nassau. 

Step 1. Hail a bus. Pray it's the bus you need. 

Step 2. Get on the bus. Pray that you can find a seat. 

Step 3. Ride the bus. Every time you reach a corner, pray that the bus turns the way you need to go. 

Step 4. Realize you need to pay the bus driver. Pray that you have enough random change in your bag to pay the bus fare.

Step 5. Yell "bus stop!" as loudly and as ghetto-ish as you can. Pray that the driver listens to you. 

Step 6. Run to the front of the bus, give your fare to the bus driver, and pray that you can get off before he starts driving again. 

So there you have it! How to ride a bus in the Bahamas. Basically it's just a test of faith and prayers. But we usually get pretty close to where we need to go, so it's a very good thing!! 

Friday.

Friday we normally have superplanning all morning, but we had to go to the insurance place to get insurance sorted out for the new cars. We had to go with President Ferdinand (the best branch president in the world!) because apparently we aren't old enough to buy insurance. #babies Haha. 

So we got that all sorted out, and then went home to do superplanning. By the time we finished it all, we just had enough time to walk to the church to do correlation meeting with the best branch mission leader ever. He and his wife took us home, and we ordered pizza for dinner to celebrate everyone's month marks!! 

Saturday. 

Saturday was another day full of walking and adventurous bus rides. We taught some people the gospel, ate some jerk chicken, and that was about it! Saturday morning I prayed that we would meet someone who had been taught by the missionaries before, and viola! We did! We were just about to walk home when a cute little old lady called us over and started talking to us. Turns out she'd been taught by the missionaries like 40 some years ago. She doesn't really remember anything about the church, but she wants to learn more from us! Prayers are answered, you guys! The Lord is so mindful of us and He really does listen! 

Sunday. 

Sunday we went to church and man oh man was it a good church! Brother Dinkleman taught an AMAZING lesson on learning from spiritual, physical, and emotional trials. We sat in on the youth sunday school class, and I don't think I've ever seen a group of crazy teenage boys sit that quietly for that long. The spirit was so strong! After church, the lovely Sister Ballard dropped us off at the Dinkleman's house for our weekly Sunday dinner. Then Brother Dinkleman took us to our afternoon appointment. We taught two of our recent convert boys how to teach the plan of salvation, and it was so fun hahah. We acted the whole thing out, and it was just a really good, fun lesson. Then brother dinkleman, being the wonderful man he is, picked us up and dropped us home for the night! And so ended our week! 

This week, I spent a lot of time thinking about the pioneers. They walked for miles and miles and miles in freezing snow and burning heat to get to somewhere that they had no idea what it would be like. They endured death, starvation, all kinds of sicknesses, and persecution because they had an undying faith in their Savior Jesus Christ. They had a sure knowledge that this is truly the restored gospel, and that the teachings and ordinances in this gospel are the only way to get back to our Father in Heaven. After thinking about all of this all week, I think I'm more fully beginning to understand what this mission is all about. It's so not about me or the little things I think are important. It's not about the sore feet or the bug bites or the sunburns. It's all about Jesus Christ and what He did for each and every one of us. It's about the fact that He gave His life for us so that we could return to live in the presence of our Father in Heaven. It's about learning Christlike attributes. It's about serving the Lord with all of our heart, might, mind and strength, and leaving every single last worldy thing behind. It's about learning to give your entire heart to the Lord, not just for the time you're set apart as a missionary, but for the rest of your life. Missions are amazing. People's lives change every day because of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and although I still feel inadequate to represent my Savior at times, I know that I have been called as a disciple of Jesus Christ, and if I give my entire heart to this work and work harder than I ever thought possible, He will give me the strength to accomplish whatever tasks I find set before me. 

I love this gospel so much, and I love you all so much! Hold to the light of Jesus Christ. He will be the strength that we need to endure whatever trials we face. Not just endure them, but endure them with patience and happiness. 

"Behold, we count them happy which endure." -James 5:11

Have a fantastic week everyone! I love you all! 

Sister Oman 

9 months, 13 months, 16 months, and 2 months! Our little happy district :)

This little guy really likes the inside of my pillowcase. I think he thinks he lives there. Which would be fine and dandy, but unfortunately I like to sleep on top of my pillow every night. Sorry, buddy! You'll have to find a new home. 

Learning to love the awkward!

Once upon a time there was this girl named sister Oman. And she has to email home on an iPad this week so her email will probably be full of typos and stuff. Terribly sorry about that y'all. 

Whatcha sayin???? How is everyone? How's life around the world? Life here in Nassau is swell :) haha. This week was pretty much a week full of pure chaos. And rain. Lots of rain. It was a good week :) 

Monday was spent pretty much getting sister wilkinson ready to go back to Jamaica. So we spent most of the day shopping, then found a tiny little sketch Chinese restaurant and got 50000000 pounds of food for three dollars, then went to an appointment with a couple in the branch! They're so sweet. I love them!! And that was Monday! 

Tuesday was Sister Wilkinson's birthday, so we floured her. We may have floured her inside our apartment because we're not the brightest, which means we still have flour all over in our apartment. But we cleaned most of it up so that's good haha. I shall flour people on their birthdays for the rest of my life. It is a grand tradition. Then we had to take sister wilkinson to the airport so she could fly back to Jamaica. Many tears were shed, a bit of a scene was made, and she was off! Which meant that sister Rampersad and I were in a trio with sister collier for a few days until sister Woolf flew in from Jamaica! The airport stuff took up most of the day (you know how it is haha), but we were able to meet with a new investigator! James is super cool. He used to be a Rastafarian and he's looking to make a lot of changes in his life. He's showing a lot of potential!

Wednesday, we had district meeting in the morning. It was a small district meeting since there were only three of us on the island and the Freeport elders didn't skype in like they sometimes do. So it was small but very good! I learn so much every day here!! When we were just about done with district meeting, a member of the branch, brother Camillot, called and asked us if he could buy us lunch! It was so perfect because we didn't have any food with us and we wouldn't be home until 9:30 that night. Tender mercies I tell ya. But anyways we went to lunch and then went and spent about three hours in line at immigration. Guess who FINALLY has her work permit for the Bahamas?? THIS GIRL!! Woohoo!! Wednesday we did some service. Which was super funny and incredibly awkward. Hahaha so we had one of our investigators ask us if we could help him do wash. So we said yeah, of course! So we show up to do wash and first off all, everyone in the house comes out to watch us and laugh at us cuz we aren't the best at washing by hand. So that's awkward experience numero uno. THEN we had to wash underwear, which was a little awkward too. But what made it even better was that sister collier got really into washing and scrubbed too fast so dirty underwear water and the dirty underwear itself flew in sister rampersad's eye. I about died laughing hahahah. That was awkward experience number two. Then we were hanging out the wash to dry and I was yawning and I turned around and got a mouthful of underwear hangin out on the line. Awkward experience number three. Then we were drinking juice and chatting for a few minutes when we were done and sister Rampersad came up behind me and tickled me. So I laughed but I had juice in my mouth which flew out of my mouth all over our poor investigator. Awkward experience part four. So I guess what I learned from this experience is that you always need to remember that service is super important because when you're in the service of your fellow beings you're only in the service of God. But what I also learned is that if you're awkward before your mission you're going to be just as awkward on your mission so you might as well live with it and laugh at everything always. So many awkward things happen on a mission that if you don't learn to laugh you'll just be in a constant state of mortification. Hahah. And our investigator still wants us to teach him and he was at church on Sunday so it's all good!! We had conch for dinner Wednesday. Man conch is an experience all right. If any of y'all are ever in the Bahamas get some conch. You haven't experienced Bahamian life until you've had crack conch. 

Thursday! Thursday we had to pick up Sister Woolf, Sister Collier's new companion, at the airport! She's super cool. But seeing as this is Nassau, home of the pranking missionaries, we couldn't just pick her up and call it a day. Oh no, no, no. We had to prank her! So we called Emmanuel, a BIG guy from Africa and asked him to help us. He said he would. So he met us at the airport and we told him what was up. When Sister Woolf got off the plane, we all ran over and did the usual hugs hi how are you how was the trip sorta stuff. Then when we were leaving the airport, Emmanuel (dressed in super dark colors with sick sunglasses on), walked up and in a super low voice was like "Miss Woolf? There's been a problem with your passport. I'm going to need you to come with me." She freaked out because I mean who wouldn't if a huge 6'4" African with giant muscles approached you and asked you to come with them? We all almost died of laughter but she looked so scared. She asked him if she could see some ID, and while he was fumbling around for his wallet, we all bust up laughing and told her he was a member. It was so so funny!! 

We took her and Sister Collier home, went out teaching for the rest of the day, and that was Thursday!

Friday morning, Sister Rampersad and I went for our usual morning run. It had rained the night before so everything smelled fresh and clean. The sun was coming out from behind the clouds, the birds were chirping, and the flowers everywhere were so vibrant. It was gorgeous! Every time I really take a minute to look around, I'm reminded of how much Heavenly Father loves us. If he took so much time to design a world as beautiful as the one we live in, how can we ever believe that He doesn't love us and want the absolute best for us? I can't even comprehend how much he must care for us. After studies and stuff on Friday, we went out teaching and got the mail... my package came Mom! Thank you so much!! And everyone that wrote a letter that was in the package... ya'll are too sweet. I love you guys! It made my week :) 

We had fun night on Friday at the church. There was the usual basketball and football (soccer), and some board games, and pizza and wings and s'mores. It was such a blast! One of our investigators told us that it was a fun night that made him want to learn more from us because he could see that we were just normal people instead of these weird girls that always wear skirts and talk about God haha. So it was awesome to see that something as simple as basketball and pizza can be turned into a missionary opportunity!! 

Saturday was a typical proselyting day full of a typically insane amount of rain. We taught a lot of people in the rain, and even lessons we taught on porches were in the rain because they leak. I'm pretty sure I haven't completely dried out in a week haha. It's pretty sweet.

Sunday, Sister Woolf gave a talk on charity in sacrament meeting. It was absolutely beautiful and it helped me form one of my goals for this new transfer... to be more charitable. From now on, every time I meet or interact with someone I'm going to try to ask myself a few things. 1. How does Christ view this person? 2. How does he feel towards them? and 3. How would those things influence the way Christ acts towards this person? It's a work in progress... definitely. But then Sister Rampersad and I taught young women's. We taught a lesson on modesty, and it was super fun! We have such sweet young women in this branch... they all have so much potential and i love them so much!!! After church, we went to dinner at the Dinkleman family's house... I'm going to miss them so much when they move! They're amazing. Then we went and taught AJ, and had a little missionary fireside type thingy with some of our recent convert young men!! 

This morning we paid for groceries with change since we're out of money for the month haha, and we just got a phone call telling us to prepare for hurricane stuff! So it's possible that new adventures are on the horizon involving hurricanes and lock-ins. Woohoo!! 

Also, we got a phone call and someone told us that Jeffrey R. Holland knows who we are! When he was in Jamaica organizing the stake, someone told  him about us off-island sisters. By name. Ahhh! So that's basically the most exciting news I've ever had. 

I was reading the book of Alma this week, and I was reading about the sons of Mosiah. (Chapter 17) It really struck me how much patience and long-suffering those boys had. They literally gave up a kingdom and endured an insane amount of trials and hardships to go on missions. So if they can do that, we can surely make the tiny sacrifices we are asked to do without complaints right? Just food for thought :) 

The church is so true you guys!!! I love this gospel so much! We can learn and grow so much EVERY DAY if we continue to rely on Jesus Christ and especially His atonement. I love you all so much and I'm praying for every single one of you! 

You are all amazing!!! Have a great week, everyone! 

xoxoxo,

Sister Oman 

Sunsets in the Bahamas are my kind of Sunsets!!

Doing wash! (Also known as the service project full of capital a-w-k-w-a-r-d experiences.) 

And the life of a missionary... we're so broke, we pay for food with a cup of change :) 

First Transfer-Check!

Hey everyone!! 

Que pase???  (That's creole for what's happening? Except I don't actually know how to spell it haha)

Well I made it through my first transfer!!! One down, eleven to go! Ahh I can't believe I've already been here almost two months. What is up with this life?? 

Transfer calls were on Saturday, and Sister Wilkinson is going back to Jamaica. :( Sister Woolf is coming out here to Nassau, and I've heard she's super fun though... so I'm excited to get to serve around her!!! 

Hmmm... let's see. What happened last week? 

Last Monday, we decided to take a slow day. We just kind of lounged around all morning, emailed home, went shopping, and then we decided to take a road trip for the afternoon. Well as much of a roadtrip as you can take when you live on a tiny island and you have mile limitations on your car. haha. We drove to the west side of the island and found a little beach in the middle of nowhere. We took a nap, built a snowman out of sand, turned it into a missionary, found a decapitated lobster, and called it a P-Day. That night we had FHE with a family in the branch. We taught them how to be member missionaries and had some of the most hilarious role plays of my life. Missions are great. 

Tuesday we mostly just ran errands and taught a few lessons all day. We still don't have our new cars... hopefully we get them soon :) 

Wednesday we woke up to a GIANT thunderstorm. We also woke up to no power, gas, or water! We had our studies by candlelight and ate mangoes and leftover pancakes for breakfast. We didn't shower due to the lack of water, and our hair was crazy all day because of the lack of power, but it was one of the best days ever haha. Oh the adventures of being in the Bahamas. Wednesday was also district meeting again! Sister Rampersad and Sister Wilkinson taught about finding. Another great lesson! I love learning from the sisters I'm serving around. After District Meeting we had lunch, and then it was time to teach! Our first two lessons for the day were a bit discouraging... BUT then we found two of the most prepared people I have ever met in my life. We have such high hopes for both of them! 

One of them is George. George lived next to some members of the branch and asked them to take him to church with them last week. He came up to me after sacrament meeting and asked me to come teach him more about the church. So we went to meet him on Wednesday night, and he is so cool! When we told him about the Book of Mormon, he got all excited and said he would go buy one the next day. When I pulled one out of my bag and told him we could give it to him for free, he got so excited that he stood up, walked across the room, shook our hands, and started crying. We called  him the next day and he'd already read most of 1 Nephi. It's people like George that remind me why I'm here. I have never seen so much joy on someone's face when they are told they can learn more about God and how they can improve their lives through Jesus Christ. Seeing him so happy and excited makes us happier than I could have ever thought possible. 

Thursday. What in the world happened on Thursday. Oh yes. We had District Leadership Conference in the morning because Sister Rampersad is district leader. Then we went and did service (in the pouring rain) for most of the afternoon. We had a lovely little dinner appointment, taught a few lessons, and called it a night. Nothing much happened on Thursday besides the fact that we looked like drowned rats again due to the torrential downpour and ridiculously large puddles. PS I've been puddle jumping more this last week than I ever have in my life. I'm pretty sure it was the best week ever. I love puddle jumping. Also! We found lizard eggs in our apartment behind a bookshelf in the living room. Empty. Lizard. Eggs. Ahhh some sneaky little lizard laid her eggs in my house! How rude. No wonder we've been finding so many small little lizards in our stuff. They were born in our living room! (There was a lizard in my pillowcase two more nights this week. I'm learning to shake my pillows every night before I go to bed so whatever little creatures that have decided to move in are kicked out. Hahaha.) 

Friday we had superplanning. Again. After superplanning, we all went to lunch at Outback because it was Sister Wilkinson's ten month mark!!! Haha ten months ago I was at BYU... it's crazy that she's been on a mission that long. I think I just assume everyone has only been out as long as me but then I remember I'm one of the youngest in the mission. But not anymore because new people are getting to Jamaica today!!! Woohoo!!!! 

After outback, we taught a few lessons, had correlation meeting with the branch mission leader (he's seriously the best.), and went home! Good day, good day. Haha most of the afternoon, Sister Wilkinson and I decided to work together. I wasn't allowed to talk. I forget why. But we played like an hour and a half long game of charades where every time I wanted to say something, I had to act it out, and she had to try to explain what I was saying. It was quite hilarious. I'm going to miss that girl. 

Saturday, Saturday, Saturday. Saturday we taught some lessons in the morning, and then the afternoon was the Father's Day picnic at the branch (Happy Father's day everyone!) We got to go because about half of the people at the activity were our investigators. We played some super fun games and laughed a lot. I love this branch so much... they're all so fun!!! Saturday evening was a baptism of one of the other sisters' investigators. So we went to that... we had a few investigators there and it was such a good experience for them. After the baptism, we went and taught the most spiritual restoration lesson I've experienced on my mission so far. I got in the car and just started bawling because I love this gospel and these people so much. (It was a good cry, no worries Mom:) If you would have told me before my mission that I would get this attached to people I've known for less than two months, I would have told you that it was impossible. But now that I'm going into my second transfer, I can't imagine leaving this area! Everyone here is so good to us and they do so much for us. They're like a family I never knew I had, and I love them more than words can describe! 

Sunday was one of the harder days I've had since I've been out. Sometimes it's hard not to get discouraged when you see other people around you having what looks like more success than you. But I think what I'm realizing is that you can't always judge success by the number of baptisms you have. You become a successful missionary when you give your full heart to the Lord, and work as hard as you possibly can, having full faith and trust in the fact that He will make up whatever part you can't do on your own. This week I'm going to work on throwing my whole self into this work. I've been working hard, but I'm sure there's something more I can do to improve the work here. Sister Rampersad and I had a really long talk last night, and I think we got closer than we've ever been. We realized we need to work on putting our trust entirely in the Lord rather than in other people.... because He will be there for us always! I have to remember to leave every little worry and concern about worldly things behind, because the next year and a half aren't for me. They're for the Lord, and it's not fair to him if I keep part of my heart from him. He's given me everything I have, and the least I can do is try my best to give back 18 months to Him! I know that He really does hear and answer our prayers, and that we can find strength beyond our own if we turn to him and ask for His help. He is there. He loves us. And He wants us to succeed. We just need to trust him! 

I say it every week but I'll say it again. I love this mission, I love these people, and I love the gospel more than words can express! I am so so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know it can heal people and strengthen people more than they ever thought possible, as long as they put their full trust and faith in our Savior. 

I love you all so much! Have the best week ever!!!! 

xoxoxoxxoxo,

Sister Oman 

Our "Snowman" we made out of sand!

Sister Wilkinson and I on our mini road trip! 

And outback for Sister Wilkinson's ten month mark! We got fancy drinks haha. And please ignore the fact that ten months is written on a bottle of moonshine. We didn't notice until the picture had been taken. We really are super obedient righteous missionaries i swear 

Lisa!!!! One of the coolest people you'll ever meet! I love her!! 

This is what mini road trips look like in the Bahamas. Isn't this place gorgeous?????????

Road trips, that aren't really road trips are the best!

Sister Wilkinson put the lobster head on her face.  Not sure why!

What even happened last week?

I feel like once you get on a mission time changes and the way time used to be is definitely not how it is anymore. The weeks are so short but the days are so long and every day just kind of runs together. So... this email may be confused and jumbled. I apologize in advance. I'll try my best

Monday-

After doing the usual email/grocery shopping/cleaning the house kind of p-day stuff, we decided to go wander around downtown! We went to a cute little restaurant overlooking the bay and had some delicious Bahamian food, did some souvenir shopping, and explored the straw market and got some killer deals (the straw market is like the local touristy place to go... random vendors go and set up stuff on the floor of a giant room and you go and barter with them. Basically they all hate us because we refuse to pay the insanely high prices tourists pay, but we usually get what we need anyways haha.)

Since P-Day ends at six, we went and had family home evening with some of the recent converts in the branch. We watched the Testaments and played some games... pretty good FHE if I do say so myself :) 

Tuesday-

I honestly have no idea what happened for most of tuesday. I failed at journaling this week. Oops. But I'm assuming we went proselyting for most of the day and taught some lessons. OH! And we did something I've always wanted to do for my whole entire life! Seeing as the cars on good ol' Nassau are sadly beaten up and broken, the mission decided it was about time to buy us new ones. So Sister Rampersad and I got to go to a car lot and pick out two brand new cars!!! We got ourselves the world's cutest toyota yaris. It's a 2014 and it's blue and beautiful. We named it Pedro. We don't actually have Pedro in our possession yet, but he will be ours by the end of this week. Soon come. 

Wednesday-

We had district meeting in the morning. Sister Rampersad taught an awesome lesson on helping investigators keep commitments... aww she's such a good trainer. Then we went to lunch at the mall. One of the members takes us there every week after district meeting and lets us buy whatever we want at the food court. This week after we ate lunch, he disappeared and came back with literally 18 of the world's biggest brownies. Keep in mind there are four of us on the island. We do not need 18 brownies. So... if anyone out there wants brownies, just fly to Nassau and give us a call and we'll hook ya up :) 

Thursday-

Thursday was another one of those days that I don't really remember haha. If I learned one lesson this week, it's that a journal is a very important thing to keep. Ummm I think a member took us to dinner Thursday night? And we taught some lessons? OH! I remember. We had a really really awesome lesson with a new investigator on Thursday. We taught the Restoration, and half way through the lesson he was just smiling and smiling and he told us that he had never felt that happy in his life. Then at the end, we bore our testimonies, and he looked at us and said "Everything you just told me is true. No one can speak like that and lie about it. This is all true." Then he asked us when he can get baptized!! I swear I smiled all night. I'm pretty sure I even smiled when I was sleeping. It was a great evening. 

Friday-

Superplanning went a little crazy. We had been planning for like an hour when Sister Rampersad had to use the restroom. So I went out in the kitchen to get a drink... and the next thing I know Sister Wilkinson and I are drumming on the bathroom door singing we will rock you to Sister Rampersad. She ran out of the bathroom spraying air freshener everywhere and screaming, and then ran back in the bathroom. Next thing I know, Sister Wilkinson is standing on a bed waving a chair in the air holding Sister Rampersad's teddy bear hostage, I'm running around with my good old trusty broom, and Sister Rampersad is waving toilet paper and air freshener around while holding my teddy bear hostage. (Yes we both took teddy bears on our missions. Don't judge.) But anyways, that lasted for about five minutes until we collapsed on the floor laughing because we had no idea how the whole thing started. Welcome to life in Nassau, everyone! We work until we can't work anymore, and then we work some more. But sometimes, we just need to take a break. Hahahaha. Friday night was fun night at the branch. We had a ton of investigators go, so we got to go too! We did the world's best scavenger hunt, and then everyone else got to eat hot dogs. (We didn't because we were fasting, but I'm sure they were delicious.) Everyone in the branch is so fun and loud, it makes branch activities a little chaotic but really awesome. 

Saturday-

We ate a ridiculous amount of conch fritters and mangoes because everywhere we went all day kept offering them to us and acted all offended if we said no. It's mango season! I think we have about 30 mangoes in our fridge right now... everyone has an insane amount of them, so they always just give them to us. We've had mango toast, mango smoothies, mango ice cream... pretty much whatever we can think of to change up the mangoes, we've been doing it. 

It rained ALL DAY LONG. Holy moly. We were inside for most of the morning teaching lessons, but in the afternoon we had to go find a referral. People here don't really have house numbers, and a lot of the streets aren't even labeled, so finding where people live is always a bit of a challenge. It's even more of a challenge when it's pouring rain and thundering. You think you've seen a thunderstorm and then you move to the Caribbean. Let me tell you... Colorado thunderstorms got nothin' on the storms here. But anywho... we were standing on a porch literally looking like we showered in our clothes, trying to cover our scriptures as best as we could so they wouldn't get wet, shivering, and looking basically just like drowned rats,and just praying that this was where our referral lived, when a nice lady opened the door and said that she'd been hoping we would stop at her house! It wasn't the referral we'd received, but she wants to hear more about the gospel and she was able to help us find the people we'd been looking for in the first place. 

Sunday-

I had to talk in church (again), and then Sister Collier and I had to go into primary to help out with singing time. It was just like being back at home! No matter where you are in the world, singing time is the same. The songs are the same, the kids mess around the same, and they sound exactly the same when they're singing as they do at home. After church, we had branch council, then we went to dinner at a member's home, and went out teaching for the rest of the evening! No paradise island this week because it was pouring rain and thundering again.

Transfer calls are this week! I can't believe I'm halfway through training already... how did my first transfer go this fast?? I realized this week that missions are the best things ever. Haha I knew it before, but it hits me all the time. We walk miles in the blazing sun and pouring rain down dirt roads every day. We see people that have literally no money for food and are living in shacks with no roofs, but they are happy and content with their lives because they have the gospel. We talk to what feels like hundreds of people every week, hoping and praying that one of them will be open to hearing the message we bring. We can have the longest and hardest day of our lives, but having one good lesson with someone makes it all worth it. This church is true, and I want to spend the rest of my life helping other people find the joy it has brought me in my life. I love this mission. I want to share my testimony with everyone I see, hoping and praying that they will realize how important this message is. There is nothing I love more than watching someone completely change into a happier and better person through the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Missions are amazing! The church is true!! I love you all! 

View from the Poop Deck Restaurant

cruise ships mean tourists which means traffic and waits at restaurants and stores. blech hahah 

A pier in Downtown Nassau

This guy was looking for conch shells and I totally creeped on him with my stalker zoom on my camera. It was all well and good until he saw me. Then it was awkward and I had to run and hide behind a palm tree. hahaha.

We found random stocks in downtown so Sister Rampersad locked me up in them. haha

Sometimes we send things like ties to the elders in our zones. We usually ask them to send us stuff back. This week we got creative (look up the scriptures haha) 

We play at this park sometimes. Just kidding, we were waiting to meet one of our investigators and decided to go play on the swingset. Which only has one swing by the way. The rest got stolen. Welcome to nassau haha.

I was in the shower one night and came out to find this. This shirt is incredibly large. hahahaha

Look at how much water is in the roads! It's crazy! The drainage system here is super ghetto so the water just kinda sits in the roads haha

We go to a playground by the beach to teach lessons sometimes because it's quiet and spiritual and it's by the beach, so hello? Why wouldn't you go there? 

This is what happens when you go teaching in the Bahamas. It rains and you get funny stains on your clothes from who knows what. Yay! 

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