Step by Step🚶🏻

Ok, so I know... I'm not very good at this but today, I wanted to tell a story. So hang in with me here.

When I was in one of my areas. I remember getting to know a man that lived in a town a good distance away from the church. It was about a half hour drive so not terrible, but it was a struggle getting friends to church from this location because they didn't often come to the main town where the church is. With this situation we did not go there often, but when we did I always tried to stop by and visit this man. We'll call him Paul. As we started to work with him we learned more of his story and past. He was a member of the church for a long time before we knew him. He loved the church and everything about it, he was faithful, went to the temple, and even held positions in the which he presided over the church in this place. Paul was a faithful member. But he made a mistake, a mistake in the which he was humiliated and excommunicated. And since that time, he had not come back to church. When I got to know him, he hadn't been to the church for over 5 years. He still loved God when I met him and he still owned and loved his Book of Mormon. So we spent the first couple months of our time with him trying to help him to come to church, but he never came. He talked about how he couldn't leave his mom alone and he couldn't leave his house without somebody there or they would rob it. So that was our problem...

But, after a time with this we decided to start out with the small and simple, inviting him to read the Book of Mormon every day and Pray with specific needs. As we did this we learned that even though he did have a Book of Mormon, the words were too small for him to read, so we helped him download it on his phone. Great. We came back the next week and bam, he was already through 1 Nephi, 😮. So we invited him to serve and to share the gospel and to follow the prophets teachings. And then we came to the Fast. Now when we invited him to fast we invited him in a very specific way, as we fasted with him we wanted him to pray so that God could prepare the way(by the faith shown in the fast) for him to come to church. And then.... HE CAME. I almost fell over when he said Hi to me at church the next day, and he came back every week I was there,(even sometimes illegally due to his motorcycle fines🫣) and he kept growing and learning. He was a true example to me of Repentance and Peaceful Dedication to God. He was always willing to do things the right way and he always sought to be like Christ, with a sincere heart, never proud.

I love you guys, and I know that we can too always repent and come back to the fold. As my friend Paul showed, the path back to God isn't usually a big leap, it's step by step. As we evaluate our lives and seek to come back to God, He will always prepare the way of Joy, Peace and Love so that we may know that it is His path which we walk, the path of His Son Jesus Christ our Savior. I know it to be true.

Elder McOmber

Members, Members, Members hmmmmm

Yeah, so just a shout to the members here in this ward in Costa Rica. What an experience. We have our elders quorum President who is literally always willing to go to a lesson with us, even though last week his tires got slashed because of where he parked and this time he drove over a nail. We have our bishop who even though he's super busy he's always willing to help us if he gets the moment. His wife is the Relief Society President. Just super she's always on top of things and telling us how we can be of service. So yesterday, we were assigned to give the second hour lesson to the Elder quorum. Okay. Interesting. We planned it out, ok so we're not gonna go to the class until our investigator friends all have their place to go and with WHO. So we go over to help each one... but wait... we can't... they are all already talking and laughing with members who then led them to their classes and sat with them. OKAY. Blown away. So proud to see that they were great.

But yeah, class went pretty good. We had a conversation about the talk by Elder Ronald A Rasband 'Words Matter' and he made a point that I really like. He mentioned the obvious importance of the Saviors words, of the prophets words, and then, the one that really caught my attention, our words. The saying is 'sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me' and although that saying might be a good way for us to understand that people often throw words around as though they are of no effect and we should'nt choose to be offended by empty toxic words. We have the power in our tongue to bless and/or to curse those we love. Obviously we should take care of those we love and speak to them so they know that is true(and act accordingly) But often, coming from the same mouth, we speak hurtful, thoughtless words that wound them, whether because of pride, or casualness, or competitiveness, we damage those who we have been called to serve. Not really uncommon, I feel that most have this problem at one point or another, that I have done it is no secret. But it is so important that we take care of the words we speak, that they be words of peace, words of joy, words of love.

Love,

Elder McOmber

Turned 20 years old!

AY my back🥴

Yeah soooo. This week, not too sure what happened there seemed to be quite a train wreck of people that just decided to value other things over church this week so we're gonna be laser focused on church this week. So yeah if it wasn't too clear, church is cool and highly recommended✌️😉.

But with that note aside... I wanna mention my just absolutely shot back. Oh my we were in the process of helping this cool family with a move the other day. But we showed up to the house they were moving into and it was... at the bottom of a giant stairway. Normal. But still a tough sight to see when we were still in a white shirt and knew that we were gonna be here for a while moving all these things down. But anyways, we were there for like 2 hours helping them move and it was actually a blast, I had a ton of fun. But that shirt that I wore will never be the same, it was mad stained by the end haha. On the way down one of the times though, I was carrying just this big table trying to figure out how to see in front of me where the next step was and fwoooom. There I went. AS well as my back😬 Don't worry, the table is fine...

But anyways, we made it out of there alive and we had a fun time. I learned a lot from this week in experiences that I hadn't seen for a while, experiences such as these (just glad it was down stairs). Perseverance or endurance has always been a vital principle in the Doctrine of Christ. But not just waiting for the 'bombs' to finish dropping, but to be actively involved in making the world around you a better place, so when the bombs stop dropping, and the morning comes, not only are you one step closer to healing, but you are one step closer to God. For as we work with Him the good we see His Hand (miracles), and as we work with Him in the bad, we see His Face (grace and mercy).

Love y'all
Elder McOmber

NO MORE COFFEE🚫☕️🚫

Yeah, so the word of wisdom for somebody that is preparing to be baptized means that for at least 2 weeks before you are baptized (and forever after, obviously) you can't drink coffee(and some other substances). But coffee is just the main struggle over here apparently. It came to the point where we just brought some awesome treats over to some of our awesome friends with a little wrapping around that says 'wow, this is so much tastier than coffee huh?' that made them laugh until the little 9 year old was like OH NO! I drank coffee this morning. And then she got all depressed. She's doing so awesome other than that though. She's reading in the Book of Mormon and in the last 2 or 3 weeks she's read all the way to Jacob. Absolutely committed she's great we're going to be visiting that family tomorrow to see how they have been doing. They literally nailed a paper to their living room wall that has a big X through the 5 substances that you can't take😆

They are a dedicated family that really wants to please God and follow His commandments. I have learned a lot from the people here in Costa Rica and the desire many have to please God Not just to say 'I believe in God' but to actually do something about it. Repentance is the BIG step before baptism. So the big thing we look for in our friends, in those truly ready to make a covenant with God, is a broken heart and a contrite spirit with a desire to change and become like God. Many times we look for those who already express that on the first contact. But it can also take place within a few teachings and they feel the spirit testify to them the need to change their lives. I have taken much from that. Many times I have messed up something, knowingly or unknowingly, and felt the need to repent. To follow our friends✌️ so that is my ending invitation, seek and carry out repentance. Love y'all🫰

Elder McOmber

Paz✌️

This week... wow. This country really just loves celebrating holy week by going to the beach which ya know I'd great and all. But not for us😒 but it's fine I'm not bitter. It actually wasn't a terrible week as far as the work goes, just a ton of rescheduled appointments and we really had to kick it into gear but it was a blast. I will say I'm just real happy not to be sick like I was last week oh my gosh that was quite interesting.😅 

Anyways, so what the people seem to do here that I haven't really seen or noticed before, is a catholic tradition with a cross. What they do is they put a cross outside there house with a purple cloth over it, representing Christ as King. Then on Resurrection Sunday, they change the cloth for a white one. Quite interesting, I'm personally not a huge cross kinda guy. But I love the symbolism of the final change, on Sunday me and my beloved comp wore white ties for Easter and I loved that, it was a good sacrament meeting.

There was once an analogy that I really love to compare to these talks, whether at sacrament meeting or in some other setting, sometimes spiritually speaking, the speaker prepares a big bucket full of 'celestial juice' for the audience, and in his talk he pours it to each, some of the audience bring enough to carry all the 'celestial juice' so they are quite edified, some only bring a small cup, they are edified, but they didn't take away the spiritual growth that could have been and was prepared for them. Which is tough. Sometimes the relationship is vice versa, the listener may bring a big bucket hoping to get edified and the speaker only prepares a small cup of 'celestial juice'. Only a drop in the listeners bucket. This Sunday the speakers brought a bucket and it was really special, I hope I brought a big enough bucket to carry it all.

Love you guys,

Elder McOmber

My old enemy...stairs🐼

I have been thinking a lot about Kung fu Panda in this area. There is just an unearthly amount of stairs. The other day we went into this area that we usually want to leave before 6pm because it gets dark and we don't really know how the streets work, so anyways.. we're going down these stairs we did NOT take up. Not the greatest decision but we had just come out of this very interesting contact with someone calling our church false. It was quite the experience but anyways it was pretty long so we had to dip. SO we started going down the nearest road that led to where we wanted to go. Well it led to where I thought we wanted to go. But actually it just kinda led out to the other side of who knows where. There were forks in the road and it was mostly just made of dirt. I almost fell a few times and at the end we really just started running down this mountain. We made it out alive but I don't think I could retrace my steps back up that maze oh my hahaha

So I am now in the city. It's been quite a minute since I've been in an area such as this one. It's actually been like a year and I was quite a different missionary a year ago so the work and view of this part of Costa Rica is just completely revamped. I actually understand everything that is going on which is new. And although the people are different from the fields and farms of my last areas, they are all children of God. The same spiritual needs and illnesses affect everyone I have come into contact with. It's a different people and the vibe is a big switch up from an area with not too much action. But the spirit is the laborer, If I can bring the spirit, they will feel it plucking at their heart strings, the same way God sends His angels to us to comfort us and to help us come unto Him. We are tools in His hands to bring souls to the great joy of the gospel. It's not easy. And it isn't always too fun and exciting. But it's the Lord's work. For behold, it is good😉

See ya soon

Elder McOmber

Night climb⛰️

Ok so yesterday. I had this great idea. We have this investigator and a member friend that are really cool and really nice and apparently they have member friends so... we thought it would be cool to visit them, so we called and talked with their friends and they have been in town in these last few days so we were like sick, they are probably home on a Sunday, especially if we head there at like 6 or 7. But NO. I thought it would be a great idea to go visit them, but the problem is they live like 30 minutes up quite a steep mountain so we went the whole way, mostly only lit by the moon a few parts up, and they weren't home lol, pretty tough not gonna lie, it's alright though we got to look for some more friends down at the bottom of the mountain so it was cool, my legs also felt pretty good after too so that was a plus.

I really appreciate the care and the prayers for our friends here. They have really been taking some important steps and been coming to church and it's been a blessing to see how much they love it and how much the members are seeking to serve them💪.

We've got transfers next week, starting the last few months I've got left and I feel good. I love to help these people and I'm looking to go out with a bang helpings our friends to be baptized, it's special to see them grow towards the Savior. And when maybe they haven't been progressing so much its been a good learning experience for me, all things have been pretty well planned for my good and the good of my friends. As we serve and love God, that's what He does. Every. Time. I know it to be true as I have tried it out.

Love yall, miss ya

Elder McOmber