Zone Conference-lots of pictures!

Hey!

 

The internet wasnt working at the church, so $12 later we are in a public library that looks exactly like a scene out of harry potter... there are big bookshelves with glass doors, stacks and stacks of newspapers ining the halls, and the building looks like a mini hogwarts. It smells like a mix between mold and the hospital- I imagine that is what hogwarts smells like as well. To bad I left my wand at home!

 

Yes I got all the pictures and they are fantastic! Thank you so much! Everything was in there. One of the CD's didn't work though, it had something like 250 files on it, for some reason it won't load the pictures- not a huge deal though because the other two CDs I got a HUGE laugh out of. I look like a child in the MTC! Elder Hitchcock looks like a starvation victim, and everyone else looks the same. It was cool to see pictures of Elder Layton. He's doing well, he and his wife were at conference, he's doing school up in Calgary. Miss that fella!

 

Well this week was not the week to be swinging out of the slump, but it was still an AWESOME week! We had our zone conference with Elder Zivic on Satuday but the whole shindig really started Thursday morning when Elder Taylor and Elder Hitchcock flew out. It was such an awesome day. We wanted to introduce them to everyone over here so we spent the day bouncing around Nassau seeing people and checking out the island. We saw J and C in the morning. C is so funny. She's 10 and was baptised by Elder Worley and Poulsen right before I got here, her whole family are members, but she has the biggest crush on Elder Worley. It's hilarious, he will ask her a question and she will literally forget to breathe. She just sits there and has her hand covering her face and just taking big breaths- she's a funny girl. We went and saw everyone at Cariloha and Del Sol (the store on Bay Street mangeded and run by members), cruised to a couple other stores that members work at, it was sweet. We really wanted them to meet Sis. B but we knew she was slamming at work at not going to be home. Bro. B and her own a HUGE condo complex on Paradise Island so we went over there and sure enough her car was out front and she had time to talk.  We got the grand tour of this place though- HOLY SMOKES! I'm sending pictures but they don't do this place justice.  It was really nice to see her though, she even said herself that we should swing by the building more often that it was a good stress reliever. The views off of this place are one in a million, the rooms themselves are things you see in magazines, it's incredible. From there we went and got soda's and fries and Johny Rockets and went and saw T. T is doing well. We need to tie his ties for him this week though- he keeps coming to church without a tie because we never remember to tie them for him. Pretty funny. It was so nice to catch up with Elder Taylor and Hitchcock. Even though we talk to them almost everyday and skype every week for District Meeting, nothing beats having the Baha Men staying in Nassau for 3 days and 2 nights!

 

Friday was hectic! We were late picking up Elder Zivic and President with their wives and the Assistants, then by the time we dropped them off at the hotel we took off to go to the church to make sure it was clean- traffic in Nassau is ridicoulous and it took us at hour to drive what usually takes us 10 minutes. By the time we reached the church it was time to turn around and drive back to the hotel to pick of President Hendricks and Elder Zivic. But we got to the church right on time with them so we could start our interviews. Being interviewed by a General Authority has got to be one of the coolest things that's happened to me in my life. Eder Zivic is the man. I was the first to be interviewed  and the Spirit was just so strong. He asked about you guys. I had my box and he loved looking at all the pictures. He says I look like Dad. It's cool to see a man who's got so many things on his plate to take time one on one with each missionary in our zone and talk with them. In Jamaica only 10 people were interviewed but since there are were only 4 of us at this zone conference we all got the opportunity. That night he hosted a fireside which was awesome. He talked about families and the way that the Lord has established they should be raised and what not. Really great. After that we drove them to the Hotel and they just kept one car and we took the other. Bro. D bought us all pizza and we went home only to find out that on the keys to the car we left with President are also the keys to the house. Oops! Thankfully our landlord was still awake and had spares.

 

Saturday was Zone Conference itself. It started at 8:30 and was really great. Elder Hitchcock played a sweet version of Come Thou Fount as a musical number. It never ceases to amaze me the Spirit that accomanies sacred music. I snatched the music from him and am going to try and learn it. President Hendricks asked me last week if I would prepare a musical number on the guitar (which was a bit of a shock). It was hilarious, when he asked last monday if I would play he says

 

"Elder Romney, can you play hymns on that guitar of yours?"
"Well of course I can Pres. What would you like me to play?"

"You play whatever you feel will invite the Spirit, you're the musician here. I don't want any of that rock and roll or rap stuff, I know guitar isn't your typical musical number for a church meeting but I feel it would be a nice touch on the Zone Conference."

 

President Hendricks is the man! I played and sang Nearer My God To Thee, I think it sounded pretty good.

 

The overall topic of Zone Conference was how we are going to reach out new Mission Standards of Excellence. My whole mission there hasn't been a mission goal for anything really but now President has implimented three standards to help us have a vision where to go. They aren't a quota to meet by any means. To illistrate, the Assistants had me stand up and told me to jump straight up. So I did. My earth shattering 3 inch vertical blew the minds of everyone in the room. Then Elder McReady (who's 6' 4'') put his hand above my head and told me to jump and touch his hand with my head. It caused me to jump a litle higher to reach the goal. They likened this to how we can be on our missions without goals and just be jumping. By setting a standard to reach we have something to looke at and jump up to. It was a good analogy. Elder Zivic talked about changing the mindset of our missionary work and our lives. He mentioned the man in the 1940's (who's name escapes me at the moment) who brokethe 4 minute mile when the mindset of science and the people was that it couldn't be done. It really opened my eyes to how much of an excuse I use that. "That's just how I think. That's my mindset" Even the word mindset is narrow minded. It implies that there is a set way of thinking and that it is unalterable. Even outside of missionary work in the real world, the mindset of people and society is set one way when really it doesn't have to be. At the D's yesterday he was telling us about a returned missionary who is a DJ in New York making $150,000 a night. In talking with Bro. B, that guy started out with a seat cover business in Los Angeles and became the very best at what he did, moved to construction and became the very best at what he did, and now this guy is worth millions and millions of dollars because he's continually lived the gospel and worked his can off in being the best at what he does. These people didn't succumb to the mindset of everyone else, and Elder Zivic's point was that we if we want to see these goals achieved we are going to have to throw out the notion that the Jamaica Kingston Mission doomed to a one generation church. To reach out goals we basically have to double everything we do. How many people we talk to, have at church, invite to be baptised and baptise. There is change in the air!

 

45 degrees???? YIKES! We've left the AC on two nights in a row and I literally wake up frozen and it was 62 in our house! I was SO COLD! I had to snatch the big thick quilt from the couch. I'm such a Nancy... I really do miss winter, I miss the snow and the skating and the hot chocolate when you're cold. I'm just going to have to bundle up like an eskimo when fall hits and when snow falls I'll walk around with an electric blanket all day. Do the have battery powered electric blankets?

 

I didn't even recognize T. Cox in that picture!! He's looking good. Thanks for sending that letter from Josh- he's going to do great on his mission. 

 

I've got a ton of pictures to load and not much time left so im going to end there and let the pictures do the talking. I love you momma! Have a fantastic week, you and me are putting on the rally caps this week and reporting how the farming/knocking went next week. Love you!

 

Elder Romney