October 23, 2017

So I’ll start with the heavy hitter. Elder Rasband! It was honestly amazing! He gave a lot of insight on the back story behind his 2 most recent talks, he also talked a lot about his time that he spent as a missionary here in New Jersey, shaking his hand and hearing his voice, you could honestly feel that he truly was an apostle Of Jesus Christ. Just as if you were listening to peter, James, or John. It was amazing. I wish I could give you what he said word for word, but I can give you some quotes that I remember. If you have any questions feel free to email me! He said,  “Most often, our good works are known to only a few. They are, however, recorded in heaven. One day, we will stand as a witness of our whole-souled devotion to works of righteousness. No trial or calamity can derail God’s plan of happiness. Indeed, by “divine design,” “joy cometh in the morning.” “I came into the world to do the will of [the] Father,” Jesus taught. Dear brothers and sisters, so have we.” “The Lord’s hand is guiding you. By “divine design,” He is in the small details of your life as well as the major milestones. As it says in Proverbs, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; … and he shall direct thy paths.” I testify that He will bless you, sustain you, and bring you peace.” I love this church, and it’s chosen leaders. So,thing that he strongly testified of is that this church is not led by man, it is literally directed by our savior above. I love you all so much! Elder McOmberÂ

November 13, 2017

Hello everyone! 

Sorry there hasn’t been an update in a while!

Things have been going well here in Elizabeth! I am in my 5th transfer here and still loving it. We had a miracle. We felt like we should knock on this street in linden and a few doors in we knock on the door and a middle aged mother opens the door, she lets us in and we taught her, her son, and her sons friend. Fast forward a couple days we were sitting with them in church when a member of the branch testified of the love she has for this gospel and how it has blessed her and her families life. I love this work, I love this branch, and I love this opportunity I have to serve. 

This week is going to be a big week! We have Elder Gifford Nielsen of the seventy visiting the Mission. For those of you who do not know, in Jesus Christ church when he was on the earth their was a group of seventy men who were called to assist the apostles and were to represent him in testifying of him (Luke 10:1) I feel blessed because my companion and I will have the opportunity to sit down with him and President Hess and discuss a few things before he speaks with the Mission. Then he will hold an MLC with the Mission leaders. It is going to be a busy week! 

I just want to hear my testimony that I know that god lives and that he loves us all very much! Keep on keeping on!

Much love,

Elder McOmber

November 20, 2017

Hey everyone! This week was a really good week.

Update on Gabriel: He has now come to church 2 weeks in a row and he went to the ice skating activity this week. He is such a boss. We stayed for an hour of it and made sure that he was making connections with some of the other youth, which he did and had a great time. His mom stayed as well. She is less interested but loves how her son is so interested. We had some of the other adults go and make connections with her. One of the members, Sister Sartorie walked up and started talking to her. They really clicked. Sister Sartorie and Rosemary talked about the trials they are going through and then Sister Sartorie bore an amazing testimony about how the Book of Mormon is what made the difference in her life and brought her so much peace. Sister Sartorie gets it because she was in those same shoes 6 years ago. She wasn’t interested but she had missionaries that didn’t give up on her. She wouldn’t read, lesson after lesson, but then eventually she picked up the Book of Mormon and read on her own for the first time and then her “Life was never the same again.” Rosemary said that she knows that it was god who sent Sister Sartorie to her and she said she would read the Book of Mormon. So Sister Sartorie said she would give her a Book of Mormon at church. 

We had an awesome Lesson on the plan of Salvation with Gabriel. He had so many questions about where we came from and where we go after we die. We were happy to answer them. After we finished teaching he said, “now I understand why people get baptized”. We set a date with him to be baptized on the 9th of December which may be my last week in the area. Who knows 🤷🏼‍♂️

Meeting with Elder Gifford Nielsen of the Seventy was cool, Elder Feick and I got to meet with him and President Hess for a pre-Conference meeting and it was so cool. He told a football story of when he was in the NFL. It was really cool, but what was even cooler was hearing him speak and teach from the scriptures. He is an amazing teacher. 

I am so grateful for this gospel and the way it has changed my life. I know that I will never be the same again. When I return home, nothing can ever be the way it was before. 

I would like to testify of what my cousin (Ethan Thompson) said, if we do love him, our life will be be the proof.  We will manifest our love and loyalty to the savior by his feeding his sheep. 

Love you all!

Elder McOmber

 

November 28, 2017

Not a whole lot to report, and even less time! 

I had the opportunity to go to the temple today! To make things better, the new senior couple from Redmond Washington (the Woods) came with us! A lot of fun and very spiritual.

I love you all!

 

Deember 11, 2017

Hey Everyone!

I’ll start with the big news. I’m being transferred to Bayonne! I am really looking forward to spending my last 2 transfers there. The area covers part of the unit that I spent the first 8 months of my mission, so I will be in contact with some of the people that I taught before, but I have been asked to focus my efforts on helping the Bayonne Branch so I look forward to that!

Although that is good news it meant a lot of goodbyes. We were really busy yesterday but we were able to say a few. Rasheedah definitely wasn’t happy. The hardest goodbye was Sister Currence. My companion and I have been taking the sacrament to her for the past 8 months so we have grown pretty close, when I told her she started crying. I got her number and I will definitely call her regularly. 

Other news, we had 5 exchanges this week and I am beat. Englewood and Ceder Lakes had to reschedule theirs to this week and we already had Eatontown, Paterson, and Plainfield this week, and they are not close together. I am happy that it is over haha I have really loved my time here, especially my last 2 transfers, but I’m definitely looking forward to Bayonne haha

Gabriel is doing well! He came to church again and he is going to be baptized on the 24th! We also had a few more at church, things are rolling here in Elizabeth. 

That’s about it here love you all!

Elder McOmber 

December 28, 2017

Dear Brother and Sister McOmber, Just a quick email to let you know what a great missionary Elder McOmber is.  I have attached a copy of a letter that was sent to Elder McOmber after he accepted a call to serve as a Trainer here in the mission. We love and appreciate his good works so much here in the mission.  You can be proud of your son and all that he has accomplished here in New Jersey. Love, Sister Naylor   Hello everyone!  The first week here in Bayonne was amazing! I absolutely love it here and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. It is a branch but it is pretty strong. The chapel itself is probably the size of the primary room in the Sammamish Chapel. But it works!  The people here are amazing! The branch president is this fired up, energetic, small Guatemalan. I love him to death and boy does he love missionary work. The primary program was yesterday. In the middle a young man who was about to turn 12 got up to give his line, because the entire program was in English it had to be translated into Spanish for those that only speak Spanish. The person translating happened to be the father of the young boy giving his part. After giving his part he said that he felt like he should give his testimony. He then went on to testify of how grateful he has been for the primary program in the church and how he has grown so much, he then started to cry as he explained how grateful he was for the church and this gospel. Then the father, with tears in his eyes, translated what his son had just said. Such a powerful moment, I am so grateful for all of the many people I have met here in New Jersey, and especially grateful for the time that I have been given to work with the members here in Bayonne, New Jersey. The church truly is the same everywhere you go. My companions name is Elder Gwilliam, though these have been his first few days in New Jersey. He is already a great instrument in the lords hands. I love you all, Elder McOmber

Oct 22, 2017

So I’ll start with the heavy hitter. Elder Rasband! It was honestly amazing! He gave a lot of insight on the back story behind his 2 most recent talks, he also talked a lot about his time that he spent as a missionary here in New Jersey, shaking his hand and hearing his voice, you could honestly feel that he truly was an apostle Of Jesus Christ. Just as if you were listening to peter, James, or John. It was amazing. I wish I could give you what he said word for word, but I can give you some quotes that I remember. If you have any questions feel free to email me! He said,  “Most often, our good works are known to only a few. They are, however, recorded in heaven. One day, we will stand as a witness of our whole-souled devotion to works of righteousness. No trial or calamity can derail God’s plan of happiness. Indeed, by “divine design,” “joy cometh in the morning.” “I came into the world to do the will of [the] Father,” Jesus taught. Dear brothers and sisters, so have we.” “The Lord’s hand is guiding you. By “divine design,” He is in the small details of your life as well as the major milestones. As it says in Proverbs, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; … and he shall direct thy paths.” I testify that He will bless you, sustain you, and bring you peace.” I love this church, and it’s chosen leaders. So,thing that he strongly testified of is that this church is not led by man, it is literally directed by our savior above. I love you all so much! Elder McOmberÂ

Hey Eveyone!

I’ll start with the big news! Elder Rasband of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles is visiting our mission! I am so pumped. He is going to address our mission for 2 hours and I get to shake his hand. This is going to be awesome.

We saw some miracles this week. We found some really cool people who we hope will progress. One of those people was Janine. She is so cool, we were just out knocking doors into the night and couldn’t find anyone interested. We decided to go a couple more houses when finally a Nice older lady opened the door, she has such a crazy back story as well as an amazing testimony of how Jesus Christ can help us through our trials. We look forward to teaching her in the future! 

Spiritual thought of the week:

In the latest General Conference President Uchtdorf said, 

“You cannot just float in the waters of life and trust that the current will take you wherever you hope to be one day. Discipleship requires our willingness to swim upstream when needed.

No one else is responsible for your personal journey. The Savior will help you and prepare the way before you, but the commitment to follow Him and keep His commandments must come from you. That is your sole burden, your sole privilege.

This is your great adventure.

Please heed the call of your Savior.

Follow Him.”

I would like to testify with him, we all need to come unto the savior Jesus Christ, no matter. Thank you to all the stalwart amazing examples in my life, most of you know who you are, keep being you!

Here is a video of Sister Currence. A very fun and spunky lady we take the sacrament to every week!

Hey everyone! As promised I wanted to give you a few thoughts on Conference! Two talks really stuck out that I wanted to share. One was Be Ye Therefore Perfect--Eventually by Elder Jeffrey R Holland and Has the Day of Miracles Ceased? By Elder Hallstrom. In the first talk, Elder Holland explains how in Matthew the savior commands us all to be perfect, even as our father in heaven is perfect. To you and me that seems impossible. But the truth is that it is possible... to eventually get there. Near the end he testifies: "Brothers and sisters, every one of us aspires to a more Christlike life than we often succeed in living. If we admit that honestly and are trying to improve, we are not hypocrites; we are human. May we refuse to let our own mortal follies, and the inevitable shortcomings of even the best men and women around us, make us cynical about the truths of the gospel, the truthfulness of the Church, our hope for our future, or the possibility of godliness. If we persevere, then somewhere in eternity our refinement will be finished and complete--which is the New Testament meaning of perfection." I testify that through the atonement and grace of Jesus Christ we can become perfect! In the talk given by Elder Hallstrom he starts by explaining an amazing miracle that occurred, that could only be explained by divine help where a man who should have been dead miraculously lived. But then he goes on to ask, what about all those who don't receive the miracle? Or at least the miracle they are Hoping and praying for. He goes on to say: "Often we describe a miracle as being healed without a full explanation by medical science or as avoiding catastrophic danger by heeding a clear prompting. However, defining a miracle as a beneficial event brought about through divine power that mortals do not understand gives an expanded perspective into matters more eternal in nature. This definition also allows us to contemplate the vital role of faith in the receipt of a miracle." "King Nebuchadnezzar demanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego worship the golden image he set up as a god, threatening, If ye worship not, ye shall be cast … into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.Then he taunted them with a Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? These three devout disciples said: If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods. They possessed full confidence that God could save them, but if not, they had complete faith in His plan."  We all need to ask ourselves, do we have the faith to know that the lord can provide those miracles? But more importantly do we have the faith to accept that god knows best and work toward the most important miracle... to return and live with god forever! Updates for the week! I saw Marlene! I went on exchange in Paterson and got to see her. Such a blessing but I forgot to take a picture. I also got to see Chase! (Elder Verhaaren) he is doing awesome and it was so nice to catch up with him! Love you all! Elder McOmber

October 3, 2017

Hello everyone!

It's been a while! Not a lot of time but I wanted to let you all know that I love you! 

Update: got a new companion! His name is Elder Feick! We have been living with him for a while (we are in a four man) his transfer was really easy haha! Just moved one bed over! He is awesome, I feel so blessed to be his companion.

I will give you my thoughts on General Conference when I have a chance to actually compose some. In the mean time I wanted to say how grateful I am to have living apostles and prophets on the earth today. It is such a blessing to hear gods word for us here and now. 

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland once said, "In a world of unrest and fear, political turmoil and moral drift, I testify that Jesus is the Christ--that He is the living Bread and living Water--still, yet, and always the great Shield of safety in our lives, the mighty Stone of Israel, the Anchor of this His living Church. I testify of His prophets, seers, and revelators, who constitute the ongoing foundation of that Church and bear witness that such offices and such oracles are at work now, under the guidance of the Savior of us all, in and for our very needful day. Of these truths and of the divinity of this work I bear witness."

With Elder Holland I testify that god truly is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Just as before he has once again revealed his secrets to the earth (Amos 3:7) and they are here to bless us all! Please listen to what they have to say, it will only bless your life.

Much love Elder McOmber

birthday week

Hello everyone!

First off I wanted to thank everyone who wished me a happy birthday, I
really appreciated it! My birthday was a busy day of missionary work
so I didn't get any time to slow down and celebrate but I wouldn't
have it any other way! I did however get a chance to go to Popeyes and
get some great chicken, I just wish my fried chicken would turn out
like theirs.

We had a pretty good week. Talked to a lot of people and found some
new people who want to know more about this gospel. Ibette is doing
really well, she is probably going to end up in the Spanish ward. She
is fluent in both but she prefers Spanish.

I'm out of time so I will have a more extensive email next week.

Love you!

Elder McOmber

Hello everyone!

This week was a pretty good week! I'm not sure if I talked about her already but we are teaching this young women named Ibette. She is the sister of someone who my companion baptized at the beginning of his mission. She is really cool. She reads the Book of Mormon and she comes to church, we are just waiting on an answer.

In my studies I came across a talk that I really like. It is titled, Stand Up inside and Be All In.

Da part of it reads, "Our son Justin passed away at age 19 after fighting a lifelong disease. In a sacrament meeting talk he gave not long before he left us, he shared a story that must have resonated with him about a father and his young son who went into a toy store where there was an inflatable punching bag in the shape of a man. The boy punched the inflatable man, who tipped over and immediately bounced back after every punch. The father asked his young son why the man kept bouncing back up. The boy thought for a minute and then said, I don't know. I guess it's because he's standing up on the inside. In order to be all in, we need to stand up inside, come what may.

We stand up inside when we wait patiently upon the Lord to remove or give us strength to endure our trials and hardships, Such trials may be disease, disability, mental illness, death of a loved one, and so many other issues. We stand up inside when we lift up the hands that hang down. We stand up inside when we defend the truth against a secular world that is becoming increasingly more uncomfortable with light, calling evil good and good evil and condemning the righteous because of their righteousness.

May we all stand up inside and say, come what may. May we all live with our shield, or upon it.

Elder McOmber

8/28/17

Hello everyone! This week we were out, talked to a ton of people and saw some fruits. We met this girl named Lakeisha , she is super cool. She has been through sooooo much in life and has such a good attitude and faith. After our second lesson with her she said followed us to the church to know where it was for Sunday, she didn't end up coming but progress haha President Hess issued a huge challenge to the whole mission 2 weeks ago. He gave us all a hard copy of the Book of Mormon and challenged us all to read it and underline or highlight every reference to Jesus Christ. Someone has officially gone through and found that there are 3,925 references to Jesus Christ in the 531 pages. That averages out to 1 reference ever 1.7 verses. One of my favorite references is 2 Nephi 25:26, it reads, "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." I love the Book of Mormon with all my heart! If you haven't already I hope you read it. That book (along with the Bible) brings so much joy peace and understanding, but most importantly, it brings me closer to Jesus Christ. And because I read it I know that much more to what source I can turn to receive a remission of my sins, and more importantly, HOW how can receive it. How I can receive peace, how I can receive joy, how I can be forgiven for the sins and mistakes of my past, and how I can BECOME someone so much more. I love you all! Elder McOmber

Hello everyone!

Nothing too big to report, just out here working in Elizabeth.

This week I came across a talk in my 9:30-10:30 studies that I love.
It is titled "Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ Into Our Life's"

Like the title suggests it talks about how to really bring gods power
more fully into our lives. Something ALL of us NEED. I would like to
invite you all to read it. In it he says,

"Do you remember the biblical story of the woman who suffered for 12
years with a debilitating problem? She exercised great faith in the
Savior, exclaiming, “If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be
whole.”

This faithful, focused woman needed to stretch as far as she could to
access His power. Her physical stretching was symbolic of her
spiritual stretching.

Many of us have cried out from the depths of our hearts a variation of
this woman’s words: “If I could spiritually stretch enough to draw the
Savior’s power into my life, I would know how to handle my
heart-wrenching situation. I would know what to do. And I would have
the power to do it.”

When you reach up for the Lord’s power in your life with the same
intensity that a drowning person has when grasping and gasping for
air, power from Jesus Christ will be yours. When the Savior knows you
truly want to reach up to Him--when He can feel that the greatest
desire of your heart is to draw His power into your life--you will be
led by the Holy Ghost to know exactly what you should do."

I love this quote because it is completely true. When most people read
this their minds immediately think of prayer, which is of course huge
in receiving  gods help and direction in our lives. But that is not
all, it comes through diligently living the gospel. Continuous
increasing of faith through diligent study and prayer, powerful
repentance through seeking to more fully fulfill gods commandments,
and consistently renewing our covenants we make with god with real
intent. If we truly do these simple but hard things we will become
more like him in every way, and that is what brings true power and
happiness.

I love you all so much,

Elder McOmber

July 31, 2017

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Hello everyone! Sorry I didn't update last week, I got my iPad Fixed! Do you all remember Imojean from Paterson? She got baptized! It was awesome to see her, and the baptism was very well put together. She is going to be solid the rest of her life. This week was fun, we have been working with this young man named Ezekiel he came to church for the first time this past week. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and is already in 2 Nephi! He is a stud and a pleasure to work with. I came across a great talk in my studies this week and I would like to share a piece of it with you all. Elder Jeffery R. Holland said: "My beloved brothers and sisters, I am not certain just what our experience will be on Judgment Day, but I will be very surprised if at some point in that conversation, God does not ask us exactly what Christ asked Peter: “Did you love me?” I think He will want to know if in our very mortal, very inadequate, and sometimes childish grasp of things, did we at least understand one commandment, the first and greatest commandment of them all--“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.” And if at such a moment we can stammer out, “Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee,” then He may remind us that the crowning characteristic of love is always loyalty." I have read and listened to this talk many times but this time reading it my mind went back to a poem that my father recited to me on many occasions. It reads: "I love you, Mother," said little John. Then, forgetting his work, his cap went on, And he was off to the garden swing, And left her wood and water to bring. "I love you, Mother," said rosy Nell. "I love you more than tongue can tell." Then she teased and pouted half the day. Till her mother rejoiced when she went to play "I love you, Mother," said little Fan. "Today I'll help you all I can; How glad I am that school doesn't keep!" Then stepping softly, she fetched the broom, And swept the floor and tidied the room. Busy and happy all day was she, Helpful and happy as a child could be. I love you Mother again they said. Three little children going to bed. How do you think that Mother guessed, Which one of them loved her best. There have been many times where I feel like I have been either little John or rosy Nell. But I know that moving forward I can become a little fan. I know that if I work and serve god cheerfully throughout my life I can one day stand before my savior and say "yea Lord, thou kno west that I love thee." And have HIM know that I do. I would like to invite you all to look into your own lives and find something more you can do to serve god more fully

July 10, 2017

Hey everyone!

Elder McOmber here. This has been a good week! I'll fill you in on all
the fun non spiritual stuff first and then I will go to spiritual.

First off, today we had Popeyes with the elders that live with us. By
the way Popeyes is my new favorite restaurant! They are ALL over in
the hood. I probably get Popeyes once every 2 weeks. Anyways today I
asked for the 9 nuggets combo and the guy HOOKED...ME...UP! He gave me
9 tenders!! (Picture included)

Second, one of the elders here had a ping pong set sent to him so we
set it up in our middle island and play on pdays. Not gonna lie, I'm
pretty good... (video included)

Now to the real stuff!

Niegell got baptized! He is so awesome. You can tell he really wants
this in his life. Like I said before he walks 30 minutes to church
every Sunday in 90 degree, 60% Humidity weather. And comes ready to
learn. He has grown so much so fast. After the baptism I asked how he
felt, he said, "I feel like my heart is on fire" I am so proud of him.

I love you all, have a great week!

Elder Mcomber

July 4th

Hello everyone!

This week has been a roller coaster of a week! My companion and I had
the opportunity to to pick up the new mission president (President
Hess) and drop off the departing one (President Taggart).

It was really hard to see President Taggart go. He has helped me grow
so much and has created a great culture here in this mission.  He will
for sure be missed.

President Hess is such a spiritual giant! It's only been a few days
but I can already tell he is very humble and he knows the scriptures
like none other! I am really looking forward to where this mission
goes under his stewardship!

4th of July

For those of you who don't know, The 4th of July is literally my
favorite holiday! Last year was amazing because I was in jersey city
so I could see the New York fireworks in New York for jersey. Now I am
a little farther a away so I will be watching local fireworks. Still
very excited.

I am truly grateful for all of the work the founding fathers put in to
make this country what it is. True it has a lot of issues here and
there, but when all the dust settles it still stands as a beacon of
freedom and liberty. That is always worth celebrating. It is on this
day in 1776 that this nation declared its independence, creating an
opportunity for freedom of religion, which of course provided the
perfect opportunity to restore The Church of Jesus Christ, in these
latter days! I have always loved these verses in the Book of Mormon,

2 Nephi 10

19 Wherefore, I will consecrate this land unto thy seed, and them who
shall be numbered among thy seed, forever, for the land of their
inheritance; for it is a choice land, saith God unto me, above all
other lands, wherefore I will have all men that dwell thereon that
they shall worship me, saith God.
20 And now, my beloved brethren, seeing that our merciful God has
given us so great knowledge concerning these things, let us remember
him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are
not cast off; nevertheless, we have been driven out of the land of our
inheritance; but we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has
made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea.

Let us all be grateful to be able to live in such a blessed land, and
strive to be worthy of such a blessing!

Love you all!

Elder McOmber

Hello everyone! Great week! Niegell is doing really well! He walked 30 minutes to church again and he loves the teachings of god. Like I said before he has never had a strong faith in god like this before and he is just taking it all in. He is a champ. My companion and I had the opportunity to pick up the new missionaries from the airport and spend the night with them and then the next day we picked up the missionaries going home and spent the night with them. It was soooo interesting to see the difference. With the new missionaries you can see the mixed emotions, excited, scared, happy, nervous. I remember being those shoes. To be honest I wasn't really that nervous, but it's funny to think of how much I thought I knew. I have grown sooo much over the mission. With the missionaries going home there were the same sort of feelings but a very different feel. Among those missionaries was Elder Adams. Many of you know him because he spent some years when he was younger in my home stake. Elder Adams has changed my life and perspective on so many things and in so many ways, I'm not going to lie it was really hard to see him go. It is so interesting to see how God shapes us and our lives by giving us mentors and examples as well as stewardships. If God asks you to do something that seems hard at first, trust him. He will make you capable of anything he asks you to do. I love you all soooo much, Elder McOmber

Hello everyone! Good week for us here in Elizabeth. We met this guy named Nigel. He is a very committed yet shy person. He really wants to be a motivational speaker so he is pushy himself out of his comfort zone. He lives 30 minutes (walking) away from the church. But he has walked to church in the really hot and humid New Jersey air, so that he can receive the good word. He comes drenched in sweat but he doesn't care. He is hoping to be baptized on July 2nd! Today my companion and I get to pick up all the new missionaries and do their first day of missionary work with them so I have less time to write but I want you all to know that I love you! Be strong and walk with God! Elder McOmber

June 12

Hello everyone! 

So sorry I have been lacking on emails! Things have been crazy so not a whole lot of time to email. 

When it comes to the work a few things happened this week that were awesome. We have been working really hard and seen a lot of opposition. But we decided that it didn't matter what happened we would work hard and trust the lord. We have been going out and talking to as many people as we can and skipping meals. found a lot of cool people, but they all wouldn't really progress.  On Saturday night we knelt down and prayed. We have definitely been humbled. In that prayer we opened our hearts to god. We told him that we know that this is his work and that we are simply his instruments. We asked him to please allow us to more fully fulfill our purpose. Yesterday out of the blue 3 people came to church who we hadn't talked to and want to be taught. Then some other missionaries found a family of 3 from Nigeria. We taught them last night and they outright said they want to be baptized. I now have a testimony more than ever of Alma 26:12 (Book of Mormon) "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."

I am so greatful to god for this time here in New Jersey. I have never felt so close to him in my life and this connection is something I want to maintain and strengthen for the rest of my life. If there are any of you who don't feel like you have a strong connection with god and want one, PLEASE talk to me. There are so many blessing waiting for you.

I love you all,

Elder McOmber