Aug. 20th, 2011 DANCE, Super Sabado!

Hey Family, I am so happy to hear about how awesome you guys are doing, I wish I could be there and see it all. Ma and Dad, for sure I will pray for you guys, Ma, that is a great idea, Bring your friend to church, that is the easiest way to get her in touch with the missionaries, and who knows, she might be ready to recieve it!! Tell me how it goes!! Dawn and Fanda, It is so nice to get your letters as part of the family Email!!! Tell Dawn I really digged his words of wisdom, you can believe, I´ll stay strong. Yea, the rumors are true, Brazilian girls are super aggressive, but no fear, that is why we have companions, we got eachother´s backs, no matter what.

I just wanted to share the recent events, this saturday was, "super sabado" We did the dance, it rocked, everyone thought it was the bomb. Geovanio is doing awesome, he was part of the dance and he helped out with super sabado, he is the man. The president of the branch told me the next day that he called Geovanio over to help him clean up and take things back to the church and as Geovanio was helping he was asking if there was any way to speed along the process of recieving the priesthood maior so that he can go on a mission sooner, President told me that he thinks Geovanio is going to ba an awesome missionary.

Yesterday we baptised a woman named Salande, she is awesome!! She is real old but she is full of spunk! She has loved the gospel so much that she has introduced us to all of her family, her 32 year old son Laelson and his daughter are preparing to be baptised this week. Yesterday we brought her Grandson Diogo to watch her recieve the gift of the spirit, in sacrament meeting there were 2 speakers, Pedro who was baptised 10 months ago and Keccio who was baptised 1 month ago, during my mission I have seen many sacrament meetings in my life, but rarely have I felt the spirit as strongly as I felt it there, and they said things that I knew were meant for our friends who are learning about the church. Afterwards I asked Diogo how he felt as the speakers were speaking, he told me that he felt something in his heart, I explained to him that that was the spirit and that when we feel that feeling we need to follow it, he then agreed to be baptised and together we made a goal to prepare him for the 3rd of september. Afterwards Pedro came up to me and told me that he didn´t plan to say half of the things he said but he felt like he should, I rejoiced when I heard that because I knew that the spirit had guided him to say the things he did, I explained to him that when we prepare and excercise faith the spirit can teach us what to say. Pedro told me that he prayed with a sincere heart that his talk in church would not be in vain and that good would come of it, I reassured him that good had come of it.

I am so grateful to have been put here in Penedo with the talents God has given me, I know that of myself I am nothing, but as I do what God asks of me and put my whole soul into helping others my Heavenly Father blesses me with amazing experiences. I want you all to know that I know that God exists, I know that we can talk to him, and he will answer us if we ask in faith. I love all of you and I can´t wait to talk to you all again!

New letter, new p-day each week...

Hey Family, I love you all so much!! I have been thinking a lot about how all of you are doing and I can only imagine how exciting it must be in the house, having Nicole there!!! Have Fanda and Don arrived yet, the other day I was reading thew advice book and saw what they gave me, kkk yes I am glad that I went to a cool place like Brasil. I can´t wait to hear how you are all doing!!!

This week is honestly hard to explain, there is a lot of mixed emotions, but it ended amazingly. Before Giovanio was baptised we taught him about the priesthood and how it is the power of God. He was very excited about it, After he was baptised we set up an interview with him and the President of our branch, we told him to be there at 5 hours in the afternoon on saturday, but he was way excited so he went to church at about 3:30 and waited there until 5 to have his interview. That night, he went with us to visit some of our investigators, we talked to a couple that needs to get married in order to be baptised, one of them was receiving money from the government because her husband died, she did not want to give that up. Giovanio told her to follow the commandments and that God will know how to help her, he then bore his testimony for her. She was so touched by his testimony that she told us that she is willing to get married, she then asked him if he was a missionary too, he responded that he is a member, and that the next day he would recieve the aronic priesthood. I will never forget the look of gusto on his face when he said that.

I am so happy for the love of my Heavenly Father in my life. I am so touched that Heavenly Father chose me and my companion to find and teach Giovanio. Even though I taught Giovanio, I feel like he has taught me so much more.

Basta-me dizer que eu me regojizo na glória de Deus, eu sempre estava bem animado para ir para a missão, mas eu nunca podia imaginar a alegria que eu tenho agorra. Eu só quero testificar que eu sei que está Igreja é verdadeira. Eu Sei que Jesus Cristo me ama e que Atrávez ele eu posso ser limpo de meus pecados, e eu não tenho dúvida nenhuma que Deus existe e que Ele está vendo nosso trabalho. Eu faco tudo possível para agradar a Meu Pai Celestial, e enquanto eu esto precisando ele me ajuda e eu posso sentir a presença dele, mas é só alguma coisa que a gente pode sentir quando colocamos nossos coracões nas mãos dele. Eu não só acredito, mas eu sei que este caminho é o caminho para seguir Jesus Cristo e viver com nosso Pai Celestial, e eu quero este felicidade para todo o mundo, se tiver um falta de sabedoria, peca a Deus, e ele vai te responder! eu digo estas coisas em nome de Jesus Cristo, Amem.

picture to run the Torchlight Race with us

Great day!

Well family, I am so happy that you guys are doing awesome, I really hope that my service is helping you guys out too. I think it is wild to see how you guys are changing just through your letters. Heather is writing really well, with a good sense of humor, I laughed real hard when I saw the pickles comment at the end. kkk I am glad to see that Justin is going all out and even doing work in the paint with the pros;) I am real happy that you guys are happy, the work here is going real well, We are about to baptise 2 people this saturday, Euranha and Felipe. Felipe is a teenager that went to one of our baptisms a few weeks ago, he saw his friend get baptised, and it touched his heart, and so he said that he too wanted to be taught. We went to his house in the following days and spoke with him, while we were there we met his aunt, Euranha, she is also way awesome. I know that mom would love her, she has a baby who faz bagunsa during the lessons, he is hilarious, and she is so funny. The other day he fell over 8 times because he puts clothes on his face and jumps up and down, she finally said "Pronto, pronto, a festa já era!!" and she put the clothes up above , then he tried to climb on a chair to get to the clothes and we all just started to laugh. When she holds him on her lap, we will be talking about something very spiritual, then she will all the sudden say to her son, "Deixe sua mãe para conversar!!" and then continues talking, I wish you guys could see it, it is hilarious!! They are both amazing people, Euranha has been through a lot in her life but she is so excited to take these steps, and I know she will be such a force for good, and Felipe is such a sweet kid, he is so tranquil, but happy, i´ve never seen a kid quite like him, they are both such amazing people and I am so happy that I was able to play a part in their lives, I am so excited to see what will happen to them as they grow in this gospel. I know that Heavenly Father saved them for me and my companion and for that I am very grateful! I love you all, thanx for the support and love, -Elder McOmber

Run for Justin! Good story of a kindred dancer :)

Thanx for the letters Ma and Dad, I love you both so much!! I will try to get a running picture for you guys, I will send it to you on monday. The work is going awesome here, we have had a few divisions that fell through this past week, but it was fun to have some quality time with my companion, Elder Garrett is very wise and I have really loved learning from him as we serve together. We are coming close to tranfers, I would really love to stay here with Elder Garrett, but if the Lord has a better place for me, I am ready to go, I love my Pai Celestial and I will do whatever he asks of me.
I had an interview with my new mission President, Elder Gonzaga is an amazing servant of the Lord, and I know that he is called of God. This last week has been amazing. I just want to share a story with you all about my friend named Jeovanio. He is way cool, he is way into Capoeira, he went to a big meeting in Sergipe last week with some pros. He is very sincere and very straight forward. He has been to church a few times and he is reading the book of Mormon and praying for an answer, whenever he reads he said that he feels normal, but he is always able to tell us exactly what the chapter is about. So we left him to read the story of Ammon and pray to recieve a feeling in his heart. I told him that I would pray for his answer.

I prayed and thought a lot about his answer, then the morning before we went there I recieved a prompting in personal study to read Alma 32, I read and funny enough, verse 28 stood out to me, even though I was reading in Portuguese I read that verse and I thought a little about Ben Bleazard haha But I felt really strongly about sharing that scripture with him. When we got there Jeovanio told us that he read this chapter, he really liked Lamoni. I asked him if he felt something this time, he told me that he did, I asked him if he could explain it, he said that he couldn´t but that he knew that he felt something and he indicated across his chest to his heart. I told him that I had been praying with all of my heart that he would recieve that feeling and that I had been prompted to show him that scripture, Alma 32:28, I showed him that scripture and we talked about how he knows that the feeling in his heart is growing and getting stronger. We explained that that feeling is the spirit and that he can know through that feeling that this church is true.

I was so happy that Heavenly Father let me be a part of Jeovanio´s spiritual journey. I want to testify that I know that this church is true and that Heavenly Father really does tell His servants what He wants them to do, if they are listening.

I love all of you, and I promise to pray for Justin and his Eagle Projects, I am not really sure how this whole letter thing works, but it sounds like it goes to a blog where people read it, so for all of you blog readers, go run in my little brother´s Race!!! He is the man! Much love Family, and Justin, even though I am not in America, I promise you I will be running around over here, so you can believe I am running with you, my brother.

-Elder McOmber

Great Day in the Seattle/Brazilian Rain!

Hey family, I love you all and I am so proud of all of you!! I loved the package!!! I just got it this last week, I am loving the peanut butter pretzels and NUTELLA!!! Nutella is Sooo good with Brazilian bread!! Heather, I am sorry you had a rough sleepover experience, and I am glad you are skyping with Nickle, tell her I love her too and there have been times when I see 2 little girls playing in the street and I think about you two. This last week has been quite an experience, but to put it all in a few words it was a whirlwind, my companion and I have been literally running around doing divisions and working out everybody´s problems. But it has been a blast, I have thought a lot about a lot of advice everyone has given me and some things Dad has said to me, as I have been working to achieve one of the goals he set for himself during his mission. On sunday it was raining like crazy, but we had found a bunch of people to bring to church that week so we were running around trying to help all of our investigators get to church. It was real rough, but then as I was walking along the streat I herd a familiar song that I used to sing to ma, and for a second the rain stopped and the sun came out. I thought about my family at home praying for me and it gave me a moment of needed courage. In our outdoor font in our branch it started to rain when Eunisse was going to be baptised, Augusto really wanted me to baptise Eunisse, I have to admit there was something magical about baptising Eunisse in what to me felt like Seattle rain. I felt like in that moment my worlds were colliding and I was reminded of how Heavenly Father really plans every moment perfectly if we have the faith to do what he asks. I love you all, Bust, go hit someone for me out on the field. -Much Love, -Elder McOmber

wearing his shoes out in the service of the Lord! :)