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

Lead, Kindly Light

Hey everyone!

This week was the fastest week ever! How is this transfer already half way over? It's flown by so fast!! 

Monday we got to go to Cabbage Beach on Paradise Island. (aka the most beautiful beach in the world on the most fun island in the world.) It was a blast!! That night we went out teaching, since p-day ends at 6:00. It was Michelle's birthday, and she's Jamaican, so we floured her! (Basically Jamaicans pour flour over each other's heads to celebrate big events. It doesn't really make sense but it's fun so I've decided to roll with it.) 

Tuesday we started to go out teaching, but about halfway through the day we all felt insanely sick. So the teaching had to slow down a little, but we got everything done thanks to the help of Heavenly Father! 

Wednesday morning, we went to district meeting (which is mostly like our nightly house scripture study since our district consists of the four sisters that live in my house), and we all started to feel really sick again. Sister Rampersad was super sick, and we were worried about her, so we took her to the doctor. Turns out our filters on our faucets weren't working, and we'd all been drinking contaminated water for a few days. But after we took some medicine and rested, we were mostly okay. The Lord really does look after his missionaries... the doctor told us that we should have been in bed unable to move based on the amount of bacteria that was in our bodies! I'm so grateful to be blessed with such good health. 

Thursday morning, Sister Rampersad was feeling sicker than the rest of us still, so we had to do a trade-off. Basically that meant I had to lead my area after being in the field for two and a half weeks. The good news is, we only got lost once. The bad news is, we were so lost we were about forty five minutes late to our appointment. I'm pretty sure I have no sense of direction unless I have some form of mountain range to help guide me. Oops. The best thing that happened on Thursday was that both Arthur Jr and Northell committed to baptismal dates within the next two weeks! I really hope and pray they continue to progress... their testimonies are astounding!! 

Friday was my month mark! I've been a missionary for over a month now! How is that even possible... It feels like I've been here for like three days. Sister Rampersad got everyone cupcakes to celebrate because she's the best trainer in the world :) We had a mini party in the car before we separated for the day. Friday after superplanning, we had an actual scheduled trade-off, which meant I led my area AGAIN. Sister Wilkinson and I were going to Arthur Jr's house when we realized we were dying of hunger, and there was a friendly looking rasta man on the side of the road selling peanuts. So we pulled up beside him and asked if we could trade him a Book of Mormon for two bags of peanuts. He got super excited and took the book and started reading. Long story short... we have a new investigator, but I never got my peanuts haha. Friday night was fun night at the church. Bahamians sure know how to play basketball! All of the sisters played against the primary kids, and we got our tails whooped. We're going to start working on our skills in the mornings for exercise time so we don't get beaten by ten year olds again. 

Saturday was a normal proselyting day... with a weird dinner consisting of waffles covered in fried chicken and syrup. It sounds disgusting, but it tasted delicious! I couldn't eat more than a few bites though because I thought my heart would stop haha. 

Sunday, ALL OF OUR INVESTIGATORS CAME TO CHURCH!!! And we got three new investigators because our members rock and they share the gospel like none other! HALLELUJAH THE CHURCH IS TRUE! Haha we got so excited, Sister Rampersad and I ran outside and jumped up and down for a few minutes between Sacrament and Sunday school. Then after church, we went to go eat at a member's home for lunch, but we had a flat tire. Boo. We tried to change it by ourselves, but our spare was flat too. Five amazing branch members, a friendly tire shop owner, and a broken sabbath day later, we were finally able to change our tire! So after we finished repenting for breaking the sabbath (haha), we got to go eat lunch and teach a bunch of people! We're working on reactivating the Taylor family. They have a little girl named Arden (she's like four), and she's pretty much fallen in love with me. She follows me around and she even tried to sneak in the trunk of our car so I would take her home with me. Goodness gracious I love that little girl so much! She's the cutest thing you ever did see. Sunday was Ramp's eight month mark, so she and I drove to Paradise Island to watch the sunset. It was GORGEOUS and a perfect way to end the Sabbath!! 

Other things that happened this week: 

Since people here speak a combination of French, Creole, and English, I've been working on learning French and Creole. (Even though this is an English speaking mission haha.) I can bear my testimony like half way in Creole, and I'm figuring out how to teach lessons with a combination of French, Creole, English and sign language I make up on the spot :) I think it's working... maybe. Haha :) 

We've been ducking the police all week because we have no brake lights and our windshield is cracked. The office won't pay for them to be fixed because we're getting new cars this week (woohoo!). But we still got pulled over twice. But they took pity on us because we're confused foreigners and we didn't even get a warning! It's a miracle I tell ya. 

We got a branch mission leader! Brother Smith is amazing and his wife is like our grandma here! She's such a sweet lady, and he's such a cool guy! They take really good care of us :) 

This week, I've really been paying attention to the tender mercies of the Lord. One that especially stuck out to me happened Tuesday night as we were driving home. It had been a long day of proselyting, especially since we were so sick and it was almost 100 degrees and insanely humid. I was just worn out and I said a little prayer in my head asking Heavenly Father for some comfort. After I finished my prayer, the song on the stereo changed to "Lead, Kindly Light." I heard, "Lead, kindly light amid the encircling gloom. The night is dark, and I am far from home. Lead thou me on." As I listened to the words, I was overcome with a feeling of peace and an awareness that Heavenly Father cares for me. I am doing His work, and He isn't going to leave me or anyone else alone. He knows each and every one of us better than we know ourselves, and all he wants is for us to be happy. He will guide us if we do our best to follow him. I know that as we all continue to learn and grow and do our very best to keep the commandments and come closer to Christ, we will be blessed in more ways than we can count. 

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us all so much! I love this gospel, and sharing such a happy message with these people every day is helping me find more peace and joy than I could have ever hoped for! 

The church is true. I love you all! 

Sister Oman

Flouring Michelle for her birthday! I love that lady!! 

One Month on My Mission!!

Paradise Island

Cabbage Beach

 

Flat Tire Help is Here!!

Eating fish is fun to do, fun to do to do to do!

Hey everyone! 

This week was one of the hardest weeks of my life, but it was also one of the best weeks! Funny how that works sometimes, isn't it?

Monday we were supposed to go to the beach but it's hurricane season and there was a massive rainstorm/windstorm all afternoon, so we had to stay inside. We just studied a lot instead, and then went to an awesome British family's house for FHE that night. 

Tuesday was awesome! Tuesdays are full proselyting days, so we study for a few hours in the morning and then spend all day out teaching. Sister Rampersad was sick, so we had trade-offs for the day. I went with Sister Collier to teach for the morning, and then Sister Rampersad and I taught a few lessons that evening. Tuesday evening, I had just finished my prayer and was getting ready to climb into bed when I saw something move in my pillowcase. I looked a little closer and realized there was a lizard tail poking out of my pillow. Naturally, I screamed and jumped on a chair. Ramp ran in and asked what was going on and when I told her, she jumped on a chair and starting screaming too. Then I ran out of the room to grab a broom, and Sister Wilkinson grabbed a can of roach spray. Sister Collier grabbed the mop, and pretty soon we were all screaming and chasing a lizard out of our house with a broom, a mop, and a can of bug spray. In our pajamas. I think our neighbors think we're certifiably insane now but that's okay. The next morning I went outside to apologize to the lizard. He's living outside of our door now, and we named him Bill. Bill and I have grown to be great friends. So that's good. 

Wednesday, we found out that since the Dinkleman family is moving, Ramp and I are going to be in charge of all the church's immigration stuff for the entire island of Nassau while we're here. So we spent most of the afternoon in various government offices learning how to work the system. The Bahamian government loves us now, so that's good. But the most important thing that happened Wednesday is that we had a dinner appointment with Lisa and Andrew (Andrew's getting baptized in two weeks... woohoo!) But they fed us fish and I was like oh no I can't eat fish I'm going to throw up in an investigator's house. So I prayed really really hard before I bit into it and holy moly it was the best food I've ever had!! I officially LOVE FISH. I don't know why because it tasted the same as all the other fish I've ever had but I really loved it this time. Heavenly Father is aware of us and all of our little needs, no matter how small they are. I know that and I'm going to call this my fish miracle for the rest of my life. 

Thursday we taught Arthur Jr. and I just love that little boy! He's the one that was living with the guy I contacted in the airport. He's progressing so well, and he just has to come to church one more time and he can be baptized! I've never met a thirteen year old as knowledgeable of the gospel as he is, and I've sure never met one with as strong of a desire to learn as he has. He's pretty amazing! Thursday night we had fish again at another member's home... and SURPRISE! I loved it again! Woohoo! 

I also killed six cockroaches in our kitchen on Thursday... Those things are nasty and HUGE here. Gross. 

Friday was hard, but a really good learning experience. I'd been feeling all week like I just wasn't learning as much as I should, and I was having a really hard time understanding what I should be teaching. So all of our lessons on Friday were one's I was supposed to be leading, but I was just feeling like I didn't know what to say at all the entire morning. So during a meeting Sister Rampersad had that afternoon, I read my Book of Mormon and prayed and then for the rest of the lessons I had a lot more confidence... So I guess I learned that when I don't focus on my studies as well as I should, it's more than just me that suffers! It's all of the people I'm teaching as well. 

Saturday was zone conferences! Our zone is a bit weird because we're the off island zone. We have districts on Turks & Caicos, Freeport, Grand Cayman, and Nassau. (All islands in the Bahamas. Ish.) But anyways, because we're so scattered, we have to fly to have zone conferences. So the elder's from Freeport flew in, and the AP's and President and Sister Brown flew in. The rest of the districts just skyped in with us. We talked a lot about having a full desire for the work, and why that's so important. President Brown is the most inspired man I've ever met. Holy moly when he teaches it's like no one wants to even breathe because they don't want to miss a single word he says. I love it. But anyways, we had a role play to practice teaching and I got really discouraged again (similar to Friday.) So then I just went home and started praying and praying and praying asking how I can improve my teaching. Even though I've only been on a mission a month, I still feel like I can be better than I have been. So I prayed all day Sunday, and then that night I met with President Brown to talk for a few minutes. I asked him for a blessing, and what he said answered my prayers exactly. 

I know have a firm testimony of the priesthood and especially priesthood blessings. I obviously knew before that the priesthood was true, but I guess I'd never had like a super powerful confirmation I guess? If that makes sense. But after that blessing and the things that were said in it, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God acts through his priesthood holders to lead and guide this church. I know that He is ALWAYS listening to us, and that even when we pray for the most trivial things, he'll answer us. Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us so much, and he will answer our prayers. The priesthood authority is the power of God given to man to lead and guide His children on earth. 

OHMYGOODNESS AND GUESS WHAT!!! So President Holland is coming to Jamaica to establish the first stake in a few weeks (yay for the growing church!!) But anyways, we were bummed we couldn't meet him all the way out here in Nassau. So we were talking to President Brown yesterday, and he said that he'll have Holland SKYPE US! I GET TO SKYPE WITH AN APOSTLE!!! Ahhhhh I've never been so excited for anything ever! Two weeks couldn't go fast enough!

I love this gospel so much! I wish I could spend the rest of my life on a mission, but I guess a year and a half will have to do for now. 

I love you all! Have wonderful weeks! 

Sister Oman

The road to our house. There's jungle-y kind of stuff everywhere! It's like one second you're in the city, and the next you're in the middle of a forest. 

The Block Behind our House

Sister Rampersad, my trainer and I!

I started driving on the left side of the road!  Wow!

Zone Conference

We live in a pink house, pink house, pink house! And I love it!! 

They call me the roach killer :) 

I'm a Sista!

Hello from the beautiful island of Nassau, Bahamas!

Yeah you read that right... Bahamas!!! Whatttt I'm in the best mission in the world.

We live in a pink house with red and green carpet and yellow tile. I guess it's time I realized i'm in the Carribean :)

Kay first off.... MTC wrap up!

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday are all kind of a blur of packing, class, laughter, goodbyes, and one fantastic blessing from Elder Shumway! (Thanks Elder!!)

Tuesday we woke up at 3:15 in the morning to catch our flight! Three flights later and we were in Kingston, Jamaica! (At 10:00 at night haha). We spent the night in the mission home, and woke up bright and early to go to transfers in Spanish Town. I found our I'd be serving in Nassau, and Sister Mouritsen is in Grand Cayman, so we ended up staying in Kingston one more night with the Sister Training leaders. We woke up bright and early (again) to go to the airport (again). One flight and two new investigators later (yay for sitting between two non members!), I was in Nassau! I met my trainer, Sister Rampersad, and the other two sisters we live with... Sisters Collier and Wilkonson. They're all great and I love them sooooo much!

We spend every morning studying since I'm in training (I have to do extra studies every day), and then we go out and teach all afternoon! Right now we're lacking in the investigator department since they all got baptized haha. But we're working on finding new ones!

Friday we had a mother's day party at the church. We had sooooo much food and it was delicious!! It's like mostly rice and beans and chicken and stuff but it's dang good rice and beans and chicken so that's cool :)

Saturday we taught all day, and then went to a baptism of one of the other sister's investigators and a baby shower! It was super fun!

Sunday I showed up to church, got asked to give a talk, and then was asked to teach relief society.... So welcome to the mission field sister oman! Hahaha. It's okay I love it. We spent most of the afternoon skyping (ahhh it was so good to talk to you family! I love you!), and then in the afternoon we went to see one of the people I met in the airport!! We went planning to get one new investigator, and we got three! Yay for families and yay for the gospel! They are super eager to learn. We're meeting with them again tonight.

Today we're going to the beach after we email... What's up bahamas?

People here are amazing! I love them... there's a crazy big wealth distribution on the island so there's super poor third world areas and super massive fancy beach houses too. We spend most of our time in a ghetto-ish area called Rockcrusher. Most of the people there know us, and they call me Sister Whitey haha (Cuz I'm so white. And they're not. I guess.. haha.) They speak a mixture of Creole, French, and broken english with terrible grammar. So I'm working on learning Creole and French! Right now we bring a translator with us to lessons but I hope to be able to do it on my own eventually.

My companion is amazing!! She's from trinidad and she's such a spaz but I am too so it's perfect :)

I've been proposed to twice since I got here... I guess the men really like white skin? I don't know haha I just laugh it off :)

The culture here is crazy different! We just kind of wander around houses yelling our investigators' names until they come out... there's no doors and people just kind of wander in and out of houses. But it's amazing!!

I've killed like six GIANT cockroaches and creepy centipede things since I got here... I'm pretty much a boss. Just kidding. But everyone calls me cavewoman oman since I like camping. I don't get it, but whatever :)

The members are amazing, the island is amazing, my investigators are amazing, and this work is amazing!

Even though I'm exhausted and sweaty and sore and sunburned and bug bitten all day every day, I've never been happier in my life.

The church is true like the book is blue!

I love this gospel and I love all of you! (Haha that was a mini poem:)

Love you all!! Hugs and kisses!!
Here's my new mailing address.  I love to hear from all of you!

Sister Samantha Oman

PO Box SS6360

Nassau, Bahamas

Sister Oman 

Here are some MTC Pics...Bahamas pictures coming next week!

Sister Oman and Sister Mouitsen

It doesn't snow in Jamaica!!

Hey everyone!

I loved getting all your emails and letters this week... Thanks so much! I'm sorry I don't have time to respond to everyone individually. I have so much to say in this email, and I don't have much time... so sorry if it doesn't make any sense. Haha.
This last week was one of the best, most difficult weeks of my entire life. I love the MTC!

Saturday we had our first gym time... ahh so fun! I was so glad to have a break from sitting all day.

I also was kind of having a rough day on Saturday... so I asked Elder Larson for a blessing and it was amazing! Definitely what I needed.

Sunday was seriously one of the best days of my life. Sister McConkie (first counselor in the young women's general presidency) came to teach in relief society... and I loved what she said! "So many of us fall to doubts when they are mere shadows in comparison to the light of the gospel." LOVE IT!
We got to go on a walk around temple grounds... it was beautiful! I love the temple. That night, we had our devotional. Stephen B. Allen talked, and it was so cool! he talked about how the fate of generations relies on my knowledge that I can do this through the strength of the Lord. I'd never thought about it like that... It really made me want to work harder!!

Monday we started teaching our first TRC investigator. Her name is rachel and she's just the cutest little thing in the entire world. I love her so much... And we committed her to baptism!! So that was super duper exciting. :)

It snowed on Tuesday! What. The. Heck. It was so cold, and all sister mouritsen and I have for clothes are like summer clothes for Jamaica so we basically froze our poor little toes off all day. But its okay... because D. Todd Christofferson came to talk to us!! He talked about trust, and how we need to both trust God and live so he can trust us too. I love what he said about missions: we were indebted to God when we left, and we'll be even deeper in debt when we get back. AHHH so true. My new goal for my mission came from his talk... I want to be able to say that the Lord approves of ME, my MISSION, and my SERVICE.

Wednesday we met the new district in our zone... ahh i love them all so much!! They're so awesome!
Wednesday was also kind of a hard day for me... I was feeling like my progression and learning had kind of stopped and we had a rough lesson with an investigator, so I was feeling pretty down and alone. But then i remembered what Holland said

 about the Lord... "He is there. He does love us. And when we weep, he and the angels of heaven weep with us." Definitely a blessing to have that brought to my remembrance right when I needed it!! We also went to the TRC that night and read the Book of Mormon with Rachel... it was so powerful, and it made me so happy to be a member of this church!!

Thursday was in field orientation. Basically we went to one room ALL DAY and learned how to work with members and fill out different types of paperwork and stuff. It was actually way more fun than it sounds! haha! Last night, Sister Mouritsen was sick, so we missed our TRC... but Brother Dopp got to work one on one with me and i feel like it improved my teaching so much! I'm really trying to focus on teaching people, and not just reciting the lessons... it's been a challenge!

I feel like my understanding of the Book of Mormon has gone up like fifty kabillion times since I've been here. I LOVE THAT BOOK!! You should all especially read 2 Nephi 31. IT IS AMAZING!

today we got to go to the temple because it's our pday... there is no better way to start off your friday than in the temple!!

Sister Jeppson and I are like best friends now too... we might live together after our missions. She's going to idaho too :) We have nightly powwows on the couch outside our room and just laugh and laugh and laugh. Last night's powwow included chips and salsa (thanks mom!) and we laughed so hard the salsa came out of our noses. OUCH! (Too much information? sorry :)

Sorry I haven't replied to all of everyone's dear elders and letters!!! I LOVE HEARING FROM YOU PEOPLE!! I've just been ridiculously busy :) Hopefully I can catch up today!

Shoutouts!!

Thanks holly and tom for the candy, and tell Addie I loved her picture and card! So cute :)

Grandma KC- thanks for the package! It was perfect!!

Momma and Daddy--- ahhh you guys are the best! The stuff you've sent me is seriously exactly what I needed and I just love you! (Mom... the elders in my zone love you so much for sending those cookies. They loved them!!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TANNER!!!!!! I know it's late... sorry!

I love you all!!! I'll try to send pics but it might not work again.

The CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!!!!!!!

Being a missionary is the best thing I've ever done with my life.

Love you bunches! Sorry if this made no sense :)

Sister Oman