Hurricane Isaac

Hey!

I' so glad you guy are home safe! The pictures you sent are amazing! I cracked up so hard when I saw the eagle picture... reminds me on Nacho Libre "Eagle eggs!!" I don't remember the whole line, but good move momma! You're gonna have to send me the top five funny pictures from this trip and last trip. That sounds like so much fun. You guys are road warriors! Speaking of pictures, remember way back in my first transfer I sent home an SD card with pictures on it? I don't know how you are organizing the pictures back home but could you email me the pictures from July 6th, 2011 - Sept. 7th? In organizing my pictures I realize half my Maypen pics and some MTC ones are on that card. That would be awesome if you could! :) 

We are well over here weather wise. It rained cats and dogs throughout the week, off and on Sunday. Very windy still! The ocean was the roughest I'd ever seen it. For a minute there we thought we were going to get a huge storm, but honestly we didn't get hit that bad. Church was cancelled Sunday... that was weird. No church as a missionary?? I look forward to those three hours. But Nassau was on tropical storm alert and we were supposed to start getting wailed on at about 2:00 pm Sunday but nothing too insane actually. We went to the D's for lunch (a Sunday must, tropical storm or not) and then hunkered down for the day. I love Bro. D and President Hendricks! They are two great great men. Saturday night we were at the D's and President Hendricks sent us a text (because his phone wasn't getting through to our phone) asking if we are ok and how the weather is, and Bro. D offered to let us stay the night at his house (at the time of this conversation it was crazy windy and raining really hard). So he calls President from his fancy pansy government phone and asks President Hendricks if he wanted us to sleep there and President said, "I want them to do what's prudent and to be sure they are safe." I'm so glad he can trust Elder Worley and I in making these decisions. We opted not to crash and the D's, though very grateful for the offer. If more people were like those two men, I tell ya, the world would be a better place. But yeah, this week was pretty stormy. I guess one night there was a HUGE crack of thunder and a flash of lightening that lit up the inside of our house through the windows, it woke Elder Worley up... that morning he asks if I had heard the cannonball thunder.... naahhh, I was out like a light! No sissy thunder can wake this sleeping bear after a days work! haha 

This week was pretty good. The focus of this week was definitely the lesson with Sis. B. It was another fantastic lesson. I'm so excited for her to progress. We had it out by their pool which over looks the ocean and Paradise Island- a fantastic view! What was going to take only 30 minuets turned into about an hour and then some, not unusual though. One thing a mission has done for me is made me a better listener. I'd rather listen than say anything at all and I think that is a trait that we can all work on. Just listening. Not thinking about what you are going to say next after the person is done talking, not planning what scripture to share while they are sharing a story, just listening. I have a testimony that the better listeners we are, our relationships with our friends, peers, and investigators (if you're a missionary) will be so much stronger. No one likes the guy that half listens to you and then is just chomping at the bit to get a word in. I think at the beginning of my mission I just wanted to talk talk talk and tell people about the gospel. I've found that by listening to their concerns, stories, past, or whatever it may be, that the Spirit does put the words and thoughts into our hearts and we will know exactly what to say. 

So anyway, we got hear a lot more about Sis. B's growing up and what she's really all about. Our original plan was to teach about the Atonement of Christ, and about half way through the lesson I wasn't really sure if we were going to get anywhere with that topic. We knew it was what she needed to hear, so we just listened. As we did we were able to apply what the Lord wanted to tell her at the right time. Even in a lesson some things need to be said at exactly the right time, at the time when the Spirit has touched their hearts and they are now fully ready to soak up the message. She asked us for a few scriptures to share with her to give her strength. A few we shared with her were Matt. 11:28-30, Alma 7:11-12, and D&C 50:41-46. It's a great feeling to know that we have a loving Saviour who really gets us. Who understands exactly where we are at in our progression and has already paid the price so that we can change. I was going through all the mail I have received on my mission (I have a lot of letters to write) and Kent (formerly know as Elder Heder) gave me a letter right as I was going into the MTC. He said "Change is inevitable, growth is optional." That is so true. We are going to change, whether we like it or not, for good or for bad, but we choose if we want to grow or not. Anyway, enough of the The Epistle of Elder Romney the Missionary to the Romnians, B's are outta town this week, so we will be meeting back up with Sis. B next week on Wednesday. Looking forward to it!

Nassau is pretty great. We are cycling through investigators, lots of contacting and finding, recent converts and ting. We had really great lessons with T and J this week. T was asking about the cost of serving a mission, we told him to talk to President F about figures for the Bahamian missionaries but that he shouldn't worry. D&C 4:3 "Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;" not "Therefore, if ye have the cash flow to support a mission ye are called to the work;" We are going to get him a Preach My Gospel this week, every time we went over there we would reach and realize that we forgot it. J is doing well also, he asked for some hard hitting chapters in the Book of Mormon, something that would shake him up and blow his mind. So we gave him Alma 39 to read and then had a great lesson on it and chastity the next day. It's sick (as in filthy, not sick as in cool) how the world views sex, and especially in the Caribbean culture. There is a talk by Jeffery R. Holland called Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments that everyone should read. If the fact that sexual sin is in the top three baddest of bad of sins behind cold blooded murder and denying the Holy Ghost, Elder Holland lays it DOWN in this talk. Such a good one. 

In other news, I was going to try that workout you gave me last week but I thought "hey, maybe before I bust my tail on that, I should see if I can even squat anything". Oh boy!! I'm thoroughly embarrassed by my lack of leg strength. It was just a machine, I did two sets of ten (I won't share the weight- you would never let me forget it) and I was sore the rest of the week. Baby steps to thick legs! I can't hack being sore and walking around, too much of a nancy. I'm sure Elder Worley got tired of hearing "Ohh, aww, eeee," every time I got out of the car haha. I did some squats in the machine this morning and stopped after a set.... don't want to be sore! I didn't run at all last week either... gotta hop back on that treadmill. We are going to start walking three days a week now in our mornings. That will be a good start. I'm telling ya, Mac, if you get a mission call where you have a car all the time, buckle up my boy because you will get soft  REAL quick haha I'm not to worried, walking a transfer on the rock is like mountain climbing. A smooth street? Not a chance over there! 

I don't have any pics from this week I don't think- I can't find the batteries to my camera. They have a mind of their own and pop out whenever they want. I think the passenger seat at them, it eats a lot of things. The weather is still kinda nasty so I'm not sure what the P-day will turn into, maybe just another nice chill day.  

I can't believe school is starting so quick! Yikes! Mac's last year of middle school, Summer's last year at the high school before running start, and Haley's first year of "real" college! That's exciting! 

Well that's about it for me, this week is looking like another good gathering week... we had a funny experience last week, we knocked this guys door and he says "Who is it?" We say "It's the missionaries!" He says "Who?  We say " The missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." He mumbles something under his breath, we stand there for about two minutes and he doesn't come to the door, so we leave and we had reached all the way to the street and I don't think he realized we had already left because from his window he screams "You better leave because I'm not coming out!" I guess us missionaries have a gift to bring out the two year old temper tantrum in everyone :) I love you!! 

Elder Romney 

Feeling a little pressure

Hey momma,

Ha! Sis. D cracks me up, I'm in for a Jamaican butt kickin' when I get back there. Definitely my Jamaican momma. 

I've always had a hard time with timing. I just want things to happen in my time SO bad- which is selfish and honestly kinda dumb because its not my time out here, it's the Lords. You're right. Who knows when she will be ready. It's like the H family in Junction. Countless missionaries since D was baptized tried to teach the family and they just weren't ready and for some reason when we asked if we could teach them the "seeds" had started sprouting and eventually just took off. Yoda said it best: "Patience young padawan learner". Speaking of patience, we had the COOLEST experience this week and I'm so excited I can't wait any longer in the email to tell you about it. 

So I think I already told you about Sis. B. She is married to Bro. B and has been coming to church for 20 years (since they've been married) but isn't a member. Bro. B is extremely successful and totally a self made man that made it in construction back in the 70's and 80's in Cali, Seattle, and Australia.They are an extremely nice couple. Elder Worley and I have been nervous all week, really the past two weeks, because this may be Sis. B's only shot and taking lessons from the missionaries and we really really don't want to horse this one. If we mess this up, there goes their shot of an eternal marriage, I know Bro. B has been waiting for her to come around for 20 years- there is a lot weighing on this. So last week we called her and asked if we could come by and visit, she said of course, she was going to cook for us and it was gonna be great. She had expressed to Bro. B and President F that she knew the church was true and she knew she needed to be baptized. We were really lost as to how we are going to approach the dinner, how we will get our foot in the door, and even if she will accept our invitation to be taught. For about a month we've felt it necessary to fast once a week, and the last two weeks were completely dedicated to Sis. B, fasting that the Lord would prepare a way for us to teach her. Dinner time rolls around and we head over to the B's, and from the time we pulled into the driveway to the time we left was an absolutely flawless display of the Lords awareness of our situation. We were eating, Bro. B told us his life story as did Sis. B, how they met, the whole nine yards, conversation was great. Not an awkward moment throughout the entirety of the visit. Even better, Bro. B threw us a bone and whips out his missionary flannel board and accompanying memorized discussions that he used back in the 70's when he was a stake missionary. It lead right into talking about how missionary work is so much different, Preach My Gospel, the way lessons are compared to back then, and the question "Sis., have you ever taken the missionary lessons?" was natural and  perfect. I think she knew that question was coming by the look on her face, but what proceeded in the following 30 minutes was an absolute manifestation of the Spirit. She laid EVERYTHING out on the table. With tears streaming down her face, she told us her concerns, fears, issues she has that she feels she can't overcome, she bore her testimony that she knows Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true and that she knows with all her heart the church is true. She wants SO badly to join the church because she does know its true, but she doesn't want to join just to join... MUSIC to our ears. People who join the church without a testimony or having a spiritual witness that the Book of Mormon is true don't stay active, or at least are active and church and not the gospel. The Spirit was working so hard on her hard, you could feel it. Elder Worley and I hardly had to say a word. She talked, we listened, and the Spirit testified. We assured her that we don't just teach 5 lessons and baptized people, that this experience is all about her time frame and spiritual progress. Bro. B is completely supportive of her decisions, hasn't pushed her at all to join the church in the 20 years they've been married... and now is our chance :) Why its Elder Worley and I that are out here at this time to teach her, we don't have the slightest idea, but I am so thankful for fasting and prayer. The Lord truly knows the desires of our heart and answers prayers. We are set up to teach her on Wednesday, then they are headed off island for two weeks so we will catch up after that. 

Things are looking up! We still don't have many investigators, did some finding this week (not as much as we anticipated though) and found a couple potentials. M gets back this week! When she left we gave her a map of how to get to the LA Temple visitors center and we wrote a letter to the Director so give her a copy of the Book of Mormon in Tagalog and give her a tour of the visitors center. She said they would have lots of time and she would love to visit. Can't wait to follow up with her on that! 

T and J are doing well, all stars. Both have come out of their shell quite a bit which makes it fun. G is doing well also- since her baptism she's been schedule the Sunday morning shift every week but once :/ She hasn't been to church in three weeks. Her testimony is rock solid, we visit her twice a week still but we are going to need to address that concern. She totally understands she needs to be at church so its not a matter of teaching her the importance of it, she knows full well and is so mad at her manager for giving her those shifts. Going to need some divine intervention for sure. 

Thanks for the workout routine. Hitting the gym is more of a way to get us up and out of bed rather and stay fit than get huge. We realize how pointless it would be to put so much effort into it, since really that's not why we are here. Little changes make a huge difference,  and then adapting those little changes into habits. 

The thing that scares me the most about going home is the line "Oh Jackson, you haven't changed a bit." No no no, not what I want. Maybe on the surface my sense of humor or personality won't be altered much, I'm not going to be this completely new, different guy. But if I went home unchanged my mission would be pointless. It goes back to that Third missionary and fourth missionary. The third missionary does good on his mission but goes home unchanged. The fourth missionary does good and has let the Lord change his heart. I realize to how much it really doesn't matter what people think haha I don't remember where I heard it, must've been a talk or something, but if you look and Christ's mission on Earth, the only thing He wanted to do was please his Father. If we take on that same mind set of "All I want to do is please my Heavenly Father", life would be so much better. 

Your bike trip sounds like a hoot!! Oh man, take lots and lots of pictures! Which bike is pops taking? My guess is the Guzzi. Fun fun fun!! :) 

Well I love you! Have a fun week, kick the garden in the carrots, that is so cool you saw A, if you see him again shoot him my email, eh? I love you!! I love you I love you I love you!

Elder Romney 

Complete joy. Absolute, complete joy.

Hey!

I think a lot of missions have really strict rules about emailing. Mark is definitely the assistant. I told him to send me a blank email if he was the AP and he sent a blanker- Mark the AP! That's pretty cool. I can't believe Zach is on the homestretch! He's the one that started out all of the crew heading out. He's only got two transfers left I think... yeah... close enough to that. Awesome! 

We hit the gym every day last week and I lost two pounds and my chest measurement went up an inch- nice. A little disappointing that the gut didn't get any smaller, but I'm in no hurry. One week can't get you the body of a roman god... the throwers coach for track said it best. He came up to us sprinters while we were doing abs and says "You know guys, girls love a 6-pack, but they beg for the keg!" Do they? Do girls beg for the keg, Mom? ;) jokes. All the big fellas in the Book of Mormon had lots of wives and concubines... King Noah, Laban, I'm sure Zeazrom had a girly or two.... they were also the most wicked... hmm.. deep doctrice, over my head! I'll stick to the gym and eating right. We got a nice deal on chicken breasts and bought like 15 of them, that will be good for protien because we ran out of protien powder this morning :/ That stuff is ridicoulous expensive out here! And if you were to send some out it would probably be just as much because of the duty and shipping and such- gonna have to get creative with out eating. I eat lowfat cottage cheese in the morning with strawberries or blueberries in it and then some Kellogs All Bran on top- its about 280 calories, 14g of protien, 13g of fiber- think thats a good breakfast? I thought it was pretty healthy. Any suggestions? We are salad fiends already, got tuna fish, we are pretty healthy eaters. 

Your new workouts sound like butt kickers! I realize that I am going to be swimming like a dolphin when I get home. Swimmers are yoked! Why was I so stubborn when you would try and get me to do laps? I do not know. I can't remember the last time I did a squat or leg press.  It's been nice, we get up at like 5:55 and are to the gym by like 6:10. So far so good!

The farm is a never ending project! What year is this now of you doing it? 2 or 3? I remember when we were laying the "horse pipe", that was fun. Me and mom, horsing the pipe! :) 

This week was another great week. It had a few downs though, one being that C, our investigator we met at Wendy's my first night, we had to stop teaching her. Our original plan wasn't to drop her that night, we had a BOMB lesson planned out on the Atonement. We were ready to have the Spirit just rock her world and testify of truth. Well, the Spirit was definitely there, one of the most spiritually led lessons of my mission I think, but she really just didn't get it, and by it I mean understand why we were having these lessons or who Jesus Christ really is. She read the homework we gave her (which was all chapters from the Book of Mormon and Bible about Christs Atonement) and she totally missed the boat. Her questions she had were COMPLETELY of no importance. Is knowing what swear word Peter uttered when the Bible said he blasphemed pertain to your salvation? No. Does it matter if the woman who anointed His head with oil was a virtuous girl or a prostitute? Nope. We talked for an hour, and it wasn't until she stopped asking these kinds of questions where the lesson actually went anywhere. When we brought up the Garden of Gethsemane and how Christ suffered there for our sins and pains and everything we go though her response was literally "Oh. Well anyways...." Elder Worley and I were almost in tears by the end of the lesson. People don't know what Christ did for them. "Jesus died for me". You're right, He did, but He did SO much more than just hang on a cross so you could worship Him every Sunday. I think as missionaries, and I am no exception, we get so caught up in teaching about things pertaining to the restored gospel, about Joseph Smith, about having a modern day prophet, about all these great things that make The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Christ's true church restored on the Earth again, but we fail to explain the Atonement and that everything that the gospel is based around is that Atonement. The Bible hardly mentions Gethsemane. Maybe like 15-20 versus in the whole book. I am grateful for additional scripture revealed through Joseph Smith that explains exactly what went down that dark evening in 33 AD and the joy that comes from it. So anyways, we had to drop her. She wasn't coming to church or praying and she told us she wasn't going to. Can't make any progress without the foundation- read, pray, church. Simple as that. 

BUT that was probably the only sour thing that happened this week. Sunday was maybe the happiest I've been since watching M and N pass the Sacrament in Junction. T was assigned to give a talk, and he was sweating BULLETS all week. He's a really shy fella but has opened up so much since we started meeting with him. The topic was the love of the Saviour and he had a couple ideas and had written it out, said it was going to be good. We joked with him as his opening line he should throw out his digits so the Ms. Ladies in the branch could jot it down- didn't happen haha He's super shy around girls still, BUT ANYWAYS, he was the first to speak. He starts off by talking about how Christ loves us and shares John 3:16, talks about how everythign we do is out of love, and then he starts talking about how Christ left the streets paved of gold, left His home, His father's presence, to come down to an Earth to be rejected by men and be killed by His own creations. THEN! Oh yes, then he basically says "I'v been thinking a lot about a mission, people have been telling me how great of a missionary I will be and how in a year I can go, and at first I really didn't want to. I have desires! I have dreams! I can't leave those behind! Two years? That's a long time to leave everything behind! But, after completing this talk I realize that if the Saviour was willing to leave His heavenly home to save my soul, I can leave the little possessions He's given me to show my love for Him." Then he shares  a BOMB testimony and I tell you momma, your boy was tearing up. Complete joy. Absolute, complete joy. I couldn't stop smiling. Elder Worley and I exchanged like three knuckle pound its in the congregation after he sat down. We were/are SO happy. T is truly converted to the gospel. Not the church, no no no, not converted to the church, but to the gospel. It was so awesome. I couldn't help but give the fella a big ol' bear hug afterwords. And he's only been baptized two weeks??? Ya mon! Bookit starbwoy!! T is a stud. That night there was a home teaching meeting and we dropped some ties off to him earlier that night and he showed up, tie and all, and he hasn't even been assigned a home teaching partner yet. Yes. Yes yes yes. We have a winner. 

Being that we have now baptised pretty much our entire teaching pool or three people, we are down to just M. Needless to say this week we are on the hunt! The find! Knock knock knockin' on Nassau's doors! Prayed about where to hit the find this week, got a spot all lined up, and gonna go knockin. Also a mega bonus, we have a lunch or dinner appointment everyday this week! Meals with members = natural way to seek referrals. Speaking of referrals, another HUGE blessing happened this week. We were at the church Wednesday morning for district meeting and our branch president was there finishing up some business and he proceeds to explain to us that the wife of a long time member whose been coming to church for 20 years, feels its time for her to be baptized.... YES. Nailed it! Of all times she feels ready, of all the preparing of her by the Spirit, Elder Worley and I have the chance to teach this wonderful older lady about the gospel. She's been coming to church for years but still doesn't know some of the basic principles. She knows most of it, but we are honestly nervous for it. Her husband (who is in the branch presidency) started this branch way back when, they are from the States, and so this is finally their shot to be sealed together in the Temple, this is the first white person we've ever taught, and they are very wealthy and educated. We realize that the Spirit is the same, we are still going to teach simply like always (KISS- Keep It Simple Stupid) but its such a different environment for the both of us. I'm honestly much for comfortable sitting on a cinder block teaching in the hood rather than in a humongous mansion. Gonna be a cool experience! 

Nice ride!! The bikes look good. Have you put the straight bars on it yet? You thought your workouts were hard, wait till your cub scouts are running around pouring glue all over everything for thier artsy arrow point! That will be a lot of fun :) Speaking of the Stuarts, Elder Stuart is doing really well out here. He's been out two transfers, just finished being trained and he's training himself. 

When the Bahamas won the 4x4, people went nuts. Honking their horns and carrying on, it was cool. We were with T (and he doesn't care a lick about the Olympics) and he says "Yeah, I think we actually won a medal or something. I don't know why everyone is carrying on a screaming, its one medal." haha His sence of humour is rather dry, but hilarious. 

Well this is the longest letter known to man! Have a great week! I love you!! 

Oh, PS- just finished this massive email and didn't even tell you about our epic P-day today! We went back to Cabbage Beach, hardly a soul on it, and we start our walk out to the tip where the One and Only Ocean Club beach begins. We walked all the way around that beach! The whole thing! This is where Oprah, Tiger Woods, Barry Bonds, Nicholas Cage and others have their massive houses. Got some nice pics! Pretty epic- didn't get bothered by security or anyone. The other pictures are of the scripture box I made- now you guys are with me everywhere I go! I love you!! 

Elder Romney 

New converts doing well

Hey there,

This is crazy, we are losing a bunch of senior couples but getting a bunch of new ones... and by a bunch I mean like three sets. The mission isn't even going to look the same when I get back to the rock. Elder Nelson leaves in 6 weeks, same with Elder Baird, and Elder Ostburg and Randle leave in 3 days. Crazy! Gonna get back and be the new guy all over again. 

This week was pretty good. I realize I need to get the baptism pics from Elder Worley because you guys haven't seen G, J or T at all! I will do that today. Sunday was so awesome- G gave the opening prayer (nailed it, she's a superstar) and then T and J received the Holy Ghost. There also was a family of tourists from Thorton, Colorado and they know Uncle Brett. Small world! I think the pops of the fam must've been the stake president or something because he was the only one that knew him. Sunday night was probably the most full I've been on my mission, or at least in a few months. We hit the D's for lunch, roast and mashed potatoes, then the D'ns for 1st dinner (curry chicken and rice) THEN went to a party thrown by M (who I will explain about next) and there were about four table lined with Philippino food. It was all soooo delicious, but seriously when I woke up this morning I felt like a Mack truck ran over me in my sleep. SO much food! So much for our running this week, eh? Weekends are tough for the diet. We've been eating super healthy lately- chicken breast, salad, and veggies. Im gonna buy some Tallipia today I think too. How do you cook that? Just fry it up with some lemon pepper or something? Anyways, Sunday was fantastic. 

So, M. This is probably one of the coolest stories of my mission. M is this little Philippino lady who is the maid for the D's. When President Hendricks was here he stayed with the D's and when we went over to pick him up he asked us if we would teach her. Ya, a refferal from President Hendricks is like gold. Come to find out that M's family in the Philippines are all LDS, one of them is a bishop or Branch President too. She really wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon so we gave her one and set up a time to see her again on Wednesday. Well we show up Wedneday and she has cooked us this FANTASTIC meal. Philippino food is so good, this nice soy saucey tasting chicken and porkchops and rice, so good. Her sister M and niece E live there also so we all had dinner. Philippino people are the NICEST people I have ever met in my life. O my goodness, I can see why the church is flourishing over there. People are so friendly and willing to listen. Conversation led to the Book of Mormon and all three were so intently listening to every word we said and just sooo sincere and polite and happy. We gave them all a copy of the Book of Mormon, invited them to read it and she invited us to that party we went to Sunday. I think it was Saturday, yeah, we went to the D's and Chef cooked us lunch, and M came out and said that her and her sister and neice all sat and read from the Book of Mormon and discussed and talked about it and that she soon would be through to the middle of the book.... middle of the book???? Baffled is a good word to describe our feelings after that conversation. So Sunday we go to this party, lots of people, very low key birthday party for E, D's were there, it was really nice. M is taking her sister back to the States and staying in LA for a bit, then her sister is going back to the Philippines. We asked her if she was going to take her Book of Mormon with her and she says "Oh yes! I'm going to read it on the plane! I've read from it every day since we last met." Blessings are seriously falling out of nowhere. She is so solid, and such a sweet sweet lady, just the nicest person you've ever met. Pretty legit!

haha oh sister D. Tell her that "Usain need fi gwaan go bade him frowsi, nah badda wit dem likkle likkle ting. USA fi win pon 2016". She will get a kick outta that... or be really mad that im knockin her bwoy haha. It's weird not hearing any patios out here, I miss it. Missionaries on the rock are gonna get chatted hard after that one. I thought the olympics would be a bigger deal in the Bahamas than they are. No body really talks about it or anything, Im glad im not missing the Winter Olympics. That would be soooo rough!

So what else is left to harvest in the garden? Think it's legal in the States to weed with a machete? Sure hope so!  

Nassau is still fantastic and Im still loving being a missionary. Elder Worley is doing good, he woke up with crook neck a couple days ago and hasn't fully recovered... makes for some good crook neck jokes though haha 

Well I hope you have a great week momma, that new workout regimne sounds totally different than anything you've done- a good thing, a little shock to your muscles. Gonna have to let me know how that goes! I love you!!

Elder Romney