Seeing through God's Eyes

Hey ya'll :) 

This week was a learning week. It started off really hard because we thought our top investigator was hiding from us and it was pretty much breaking our hearts. But then we ran into her during the week, and turns out she's been working a ton of hours and her phone broke so she didn't know how to reach us. We set up a time to go see her when she wouldn't be working and as we walked away I felt like I was walking on the clouds... it's the best feeling ever when people really do want to meet with you because they know the gospel is true! 

We had trade-offs this last week on Saturday. I got to stay in Old Harbour with Sister Shaffer, and Sister Tebo went to Kingston for the day with Sister Williams! Trade-offs are always fun. It's good to get to teach with someone other than your regular companion every once in a while... I always learn so much. This trade-off I learned a lot about planning and prayers :) 

I've been praying a lot lately and asking for an eternal perspective when I meet people. I know I still have a long ways to go, but over this last week I've seen my prayers answered in many ways. I've started to be able to look past the little things that used to hold me back when talking to people on the street. I had a really cool experience yesterday when teaching a lesson... we were talking to a man about the Book of Mormon, and as we were teaching, it was so easy for me to picture him in the temple with his family. I know that God answers prayers and helps us to see through His eyes if we truly seek for that. I've been so blessed over the course of my mission to be able to get just a glimpse of how God views me, how He views you, how He feels all of us... and you guys, let me tell you. If the tiny little glimpse that I've had is this wonderful, than I can never even come close to imagining how much God loves us and how much He wants us to reach our full potential one day. 

I love what Elder Palmer said in his testimony yesterday about praying with real intent. Basically he was saying how when we pray with real intent, we are promised that we will get an answer. He said, "If you're not getting your answer, it's because God is testing you to see if you truly want to know." I took that to heart and applied that in my nightly prayers last night and let me tell you it's true!! If we just wait and sit for a while during our prayers, an outpouring of personal revelation comes... God just wants to make sure we really want the knowledge we're asking for. 

Prayers are answered. God is real. Jesus Christ suffered and died for each one of us individually, and we can turn to Him no matter what. We can never go too far to be out of the reach of God's love. I know that is true. 

I love you all. 

xoxoxo,

Sister Oman 

We put our ponderize verses on the fridge and I learned so much this week! (If you have no idea what ponderizing  is, check out this talk: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/my-heart-pondereth-them-continually?lang=eng )

Lunch at brother thomas's! 

Brother Thomas made Sister Tebo drink nonni juice... i'll tell you about it sometime. suffice it to say, it's basically the liquid from rotting fruit. it's disgusting. i have it all on video and i will show you when i get home hehe

Sister Tebo trying not to throw up after she drank it (yes, it's that bad. I've been there before) 

Sister Shaffer and i on trade off!

Sister Tebo had her one month mark on Friday! So of course we celebrated with brownies. 

Rainy Days and General Conference

It finally rained this week!!!! Several times :) It was so nice. The rain cools everything off and cleans everything up! I love days after it rains because the earth just looks shiny and new again. It hadn't rained in Old Harbour in approximately an eternity so it was a very big blessing :) 

I learned an important lesson this week: Never ask a guy on the street to take a picture with you because he will try to hold your hand and you'll turn into a very awkward missionary who jerks your hand away and then tries to teach him the restoration while he's laughing up a storm. Confused? Let me explain. 

We were walking down the road when I saw a tshirt that looked vaguely like a BYU tshirt. Now, I've never see anything BYU related except for on missionaries while I've been on my mission so I got very excited. And when I get excited, there goes my common sense. Before I knew what I was doing, I had blurted out "That's my school!! Can I take a picture with you?" He looked a little confused at first but then agreed... and that's when he tried to hold my hand. Oops. Lesson learned and duly noted. 

We had one of the best zone meetings I've ever had on my entire mission this last week. Everything was well planned and it was just so inspiring. Plus we had a really cool experience with President Brown during the meeting. Sister Tebo and I were role playing with him, practicing how to help one of our investigators come to know the Book of Mormon was true. The entire time, it's like questions just popped into my head to ask him and even though it was a role play, I knew it was the Holy host helping us to understand our investigator's real concerns. We learned so much from that role play. I love role plays :) Even if they are awkward sometimes. I've learned to embrace the awkward and love it throughout my mission! 

Zone meeting went long this week. Normally it ends at two, but this time it ended at three. We were a little frustrated at first because we would miss our first appointment for the day. We ended up getting pizza and eating at the chapel after zone meeting before heading back to Old Harbour. By the time we got to Old Harbour, it was pretty late and we didn't have much time to proselyte. We went to a few appointments and were heading home when I just felt like maybe we should go down a road that we don't normally travel on. We got to the bottom of the road and were saying goodbye to the member that had come teaching with us when a man stopped to talk to us. He was crying and obviously a little drunk, so I honestly almost just dismissed it and kept walking. But something told us to stay and listen so we did and he was telling us about how a family member had been killed in a bus accident earlier that day. Two cool things: 

1. The Lord put this man in our path so we could share a message of the Plan of Salvation with him. After we talked to him for a minute, he had significantly calmed down and was thanking us for sharing the Plan of Salvation with him. 

2. Because zone meeting had ended an hour later that day, we were on the bus an hour later. As we listened, it became very apparent that we would have been on the same bus his family member had been killed on had zone meeting ended at two o'clock instead of three. The Lord protects his missionaries. I know that's true. 

Funny moment! Here, they sell something called bag juice. It's basically cheap kool aid in a bag that you can drink. Well they also sell bag water, which is water in a bag. This week, Sister Tebo asked me what flavor the clear bag juice is. After I laughed for a while, I explained it was water. Then we both laughed for a while haha. 

I love General Conference. This weekend was amazing. I came with a list of questions I needed answers to. Some of them I didn't see how they would be directly answered in conference, but I prayed that somehow I would find the answers I need. And every single question was answered. Especially as Robert D. Hales talked, it was like he was just talking directly to me. I know the Lord inspires His servants to teach us the things we need to hear. I love and sustain all the general authorities of this church. The church is true!! 

And to close off this crazy long email, my favorite quote from our dear, dear prophet Thomas S. Monson: "Abiding faith becomes an anchor to our lives." 

I love you all!! Have a splendid week :) 

xoxoxo,

Sister Oman 

Jamaica.  How I love it!!

I love Jamaican Sunsets, everyday!

We went to a fun restaurant in between sessions of General Conference on Saturday with our district... it was super fun!

Sister Pinnock came along for lunch.  I love that lady!!

Rainy Days=Umbrellas

The man with the BYU Shirt.  Ha Ha

Lunar Eclipses, Transfer Meetings and Prayers!

Woah okay so another week has gone by!! 

I went to Spanish Town twice this week... once on Tuesday for trainers meeting (which was amazing), and once on Thursday for transfer meeting!! Going to Spanish Town is always an adventure... I love it :) 

On Wednesday, we continued our weekly Chinese food in the air conditioning at the church after district meeting tradition. But this time we added a round of phase 10 to our lunch. 60 minutes of Chinese food and Phase 10 do a lot to help you feel ready to face the rest of the week :) 

Thursday, I picked up my new companion! Her name is Sister Tebo, she's from Texas, and she's a total sweetheart :) Funny story! She actually emailed me before she went into the MTC! When President Brown found that out, he told us that he had no idea that had happened when he made us companions. And that's how I know transfer calls are truly revelation :)

We saw a lunar eclipse last night! It was so cool!! We had called our district leader to give him our weekly call in report and instead of the usual "Hey this is Elder Palmer," when he picked up he just yelled "Quick go outside! There's a lunar eclipse!" and then we hung up. Well after I scared Sister Tebo a bit because I just ran out of the house without telling her what was going on (haha sorry Sister Tebo), we saw the lunar eclipse! It was so awesome haha. 

The women's meeting on Saturday was amazing. If you haven't watched it yet, you all need to watch it right now. So many prayers were answered!! You can watch it here: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2015/10?cid=HP_SA_9-26-2015_dPTH_fGC_xLIDyL1-A_&lang=eng

And last but not least, I love this scripture!! 

"And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led." -1 Nephi 17:13

I love this scripture because every time I read it, I'm reminded how the Lord will always lead us through our live if we keep His commandments. As we rely on the Lord for guidance and we counsel daily with Him through prayer, we can truly reach our promised lands... wherever that may be in this life, and we will gain eternal life in the world to come! I am so grateful for that promise :) 

Okay I think that's it for this week. I love you all!!

xoxoxoxox,

Sister Oman 

Pictures!! 

Jamaica has turned me into a crazy dresser!!  Ha Ha, these are just my pajamas!!

Sister Blake and Zenadine

Our investigator named Tracy

Oh the traffic jams in old Harbour...sigh!!!

I saw Sister Slater again at transfer meeting!!

And family picture!!! My two daughters :) Aww how cute! 

Sister Garret, we're going to room together when she gets home from her mission.

The sky in Jamaica, never ceases to amaze me.

Sister Tebo, my new daughter!!  (Ha ha..that's what they call your companion when you train them.  I'm her mother and she's my daughter.)

Jamaica, oh how I love Jamaica.

Sister Tebo and Brother Thompson, a member who comes out teaching with us quite a bit.

I love Jamaica :)

Let's do this email thing again! I say this every week, but the weeks are flying by! I can't even believe how fast time is going... I wish it would slow down!! 

This week was Elder Aguirre's birthday. Conveniently, it was on the same day as district meeting so of course we floured him after district meeting. And then later our entire district had a meal appointment at a member's house, so of course we floured him again. Success. 

I got super sick last week... so we had to stay in for a few hours on two different days and man it was the worst! I just wanted to be outside working but nope couldn't really get out of bed. Saturday evening we'd been home for like an hour and a half and I was like "I can't do this anymore we have to go teach!" So we went and had a lesson. We were on our way home and I'm thinking "Oh maybe this was a bad idea... I don't know if I can make it home... Uh oh." When all of the sudden a member pulled up in her car next to us! She said that she didn't know why she was driving down that road but she just felt like she should and could she give us a ride wherever we were going? The Lord is mindful of His children and He will always provide a way for us to do what we need to do :) 

We got to our investigator Joe's, house for a lesson last week. We were planning on introducing the Book of Mormon to him. When we got there, we heard the Book of Mormon playing on CD... and we were sort of confused. When he came out, we asked him where he got the CD's and he said his friend that introduced him to the church gave them to him. It was like four in the afternoon and he'd been listening to the CDs since really early that morning. He asked us to teach him more about the Book because he felt so good when he was listening to it. And then he accepted a baptism date in the lesson. And he walked about forty five minutes to and from church by himself this week... and he was at sacrament a half hour before it started! Man I'm so excited for him. 

We had FOUR INVESTIGATORS in church on Sunday! You guys, I almost fell out of my chair I was so happy. That's more than I've ever had at church at one time my entire time in Old Harbour. It's amazing. It was a miracle. I love this gospel. I've never experienced so much joy in my life than what I've experienced on my mission. I never want this experience to end... I could stay out here for the rest of my life and be perfectly content. I love Jamaica. I love the Bahamas. I love these islands, I love these people, and I love this gospel. I am just more and more humbled every week when I think of how much trust the Lord must have in us as young missionaries to send us out here to share something so precious with the world. I don't think I'll ever be able to wrap my head around how He could trust me, of all people, to be the one to share this gospel with these people here... but somehow He did trust me, and I will never be able to repay Him. I thought I was coming on a mission to pay Heavenly Father back for everything He's given me, but this experience has just blessed me so much more than I ever expected and I'll never be able to repay Him.

I love this gospel. I love you all. Have a wonderful week and don't forget to pray and read your scriptures this week :) 

The church is true! 

xoxoxoxo,

Sister Oman 

Be not deceived by how beautiful of a day it was!  It was 1,000,000 degrees out!!

When we saw the sunset, we looked at each other and blurted out in unison, "It's the second coming!" And then we started laughing hysterically in the middle of the road. Not sure why it was so funny looking back... but hey it's always good to have a good laugh right?

Flouring Elder Aguirre after district meeting :) 

Zone Conference

The Manner of Happiness

This week was one of the busiest weeks I've ever had on a mission. We had so many people to see that we had to speed walk/jog to our appointments and take shorter lunch and dinner breaks. It was the best week ever. 

We had a lesson with one of our investigators on Tuesday. Oh my goodness I love that lady so much. She just started bearing her testimony in the lesson on the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and how she came to know it's all true. I think my favorite part about missionary work is seeing these people go from knowing next to nothing about anything we teach to bearing their testimony about it all. And seeing the changes in their lives that go along with those testimonies... it's definitely a huge testimony builder to me. Hearing her testimony just completely filled my heart with joy... I never knew it was possible to be this happy until I came on a mission. Even when days are hard and it's hot and we're tired and no one wants to listen to us, we're still happy... and that's how I know the gospel is true. 

In other news, I hit my 500 day mark last week. That seems like a lot of days... weird. 

We have a new Sunday night tradition. We come in for dinner, make bread sticks and marinara sauce, and then eat them on our couch while watching part of Meet the Mormons and talking about life until our dinner hour is over. This was the second Sunday we've done it and it's officially my favorite thing. I think I'll continue this tradition for the rest of my life. 

Alright. Cool story time!! 

We met someone who may very well be the most prepared person I've ever met on my mission last week. Here's what went down:
A recent convert in the elders' area, Brother Wright, had a friend he wanted us to meet. We went to have our first lesson with his friend and he told us that three weeks ago, he woke up in the middle of the night and heard a voice tell him to stop smoking and find a church. He stopped smoking that day... it's been three weeks since he's smoked. Which is a really big deal here. And the day after that happened, he was talking to Brother Wright and Brother Wright told him he should start meeting with us. He was very accepting when we invited him to be baptized, and he was at church a half an hour before sacrament meeting started yesterday. He is so cool and I'm so excited to work with him!! 

I love this scripture:

"And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness." -2 Nephi 5:27

The thing that I love about this scripture is that they weren't living easy lives when Nephi wrote this. They were working hard to get food and shelter and clothing for their families, and I'm sure they faced all sorts of trials. But you know what? They had the gospel. They had the temple. They had a prophet. They had eternal families. And so even if their lives weren't going exactly the way they had planned, they could still live "after the manner of happiness." And you guys, guess what? We have all of those things too! So even if our lives don't go exactly how we'd like them to, and we hit some road blocks and speed bumps here and there, we can still be happy. :) 

Well that's all for now, folks! Love you all!! Have a great week :) 

xoxoxoxo,

Sister Oman 

A street in our area.

The best pasta I've ever had at this random ridiculously nice restaurant we found a few weeks ago.  Totally random for this part of Jamaica.  

The scripture case we made for our investigator's birthday present!!

The final wrapped product (yay for recycling things that were sent to me)!

Me & Sister Douglas!  I love this lady!!

One of my investigator's niece

We have a new Sunday night tradition.  And I'm going to do it for the rest of my life.  During our dinner hour, we make bread sticks and marinara sauce, and then we eat it on the couch while watching Meet the Mormons.  Best tradition ever!!