Elder in England: Week 64: And the RAIN came a-tumblin' down!!!

September 21, 2015

We got absolutely DRENCHED this last week! The rain just came pelting down on us! Some of the roads became shallow rivers near our flat, and even my waterproof shoes failed and filled up with water! Elder Chu and I both have colds now, but we're getting over them. Elder Chu's voice is still gone though, he says it's his "spiritual" voice since it's so quiet.

I don't know if I've said this before, but Elder Chu is from Hong Kong, China! He can speak Cantonese, a little bit of Mandarin, and fluent English. We get along great, and he's really helped me to stay organized and to have fun and relax.

We just had interviews with President Stevens yesterday! Haha I came in with a list of questions and just asked away! It was really helpful talking to him, and it was just so great to see how much he loved and cared about all of us. Sister Stevens shared some of her thoughts and experiences with us that brought the Spirit into that meeting. I loved being with them so much!

On Sunday, I went to a different church for the first time! We have an investigator who is very strongly attached to his church, and he agreed to come to our church if we came to his. He really enjoyed our church, and the ward mission leader and his wife had a great time talking with him. We had a good time at his church, too. From what I understand, it wasn't any one particular church, but a collection of Christian churches combined. There was a Christian band playing songs for them, they had people share their thoughts about the scriptures, and they had a good lesson from the Bible. Several people came up to us and introduced themselves, and we had a good time talking to them. I was even able to answer some of their questions about who we were and what we did as missionaries, including showing one of them a copy of the Book of Mormon. Hopefully that will open up opportunities if we see some of those people on the street!

My favorite miracle this week was with somebody on our Progress Record. Ever since I arrived in Norwich, there was this one name, J, a less-active recent convert, that lingered at the bottom of our record, and I'd never learned too much about him. Elder Chu and I decided to just call him one day, and he said that he'd been thinking about calling us over to talk as well. He wasn't sure what time he was available next day, so we just decided to stop by in the afternoon. As we were walking near to where we thought his home would be, we saw somebody step out of their home and linger on their doorstep for a few seconds, giving us a funny look. It didn't look like the door he was standing at was the right address, so we kept going. When we were a little ways away, he ran us down and asked us who we were looking for. When we told him the name, he said, "That's me!" We had a great conversation with him, invited him to the Young Single Adult activities we have in our ward, and then he had to leave. We met the other missionaries and ward mission leader that night, and the senior missionary couple told us that they'd tried contacting him earlier that day and hadn't gotten a hold of him. I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who placed J in our path at precisely the right moment for us to contact him. He truly does know us and has a perfect plan for us. He can help us find peace and joy no matter what circumstances we're in. I know He lives and loves us.

Thanks again for reading! Hope everyone's loving the Fall colors back in Utah! Love you!

Elder McOmber

Funnies of the Week

That moment when you realize the dripping you're feeling on your head is the water coming through your umbrella. Time for new winter gear!

I was able to argue over cookies in Mandarin with another Chinese missionary in our district. SUCCESS!