Elders McCleod and Romney

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Nassau/Freeport/Nassau


Hello from Freeport, Grand Bahama!
Island number three on my mission: Check! It's been super cool being here in Freeport! I tell you what, it feels like a whole different world over there. I flew out of Nassau last Tuesday morning at 10- Elder Worley had to be at the airport at about 7:30, so Bro. D took us to the airport at about 7. Elder Worley got all checked in at the international airport, we walked over to the domestic airport, I checked in and then he had to go back because security takes so long. It was SO weird sating goodbye. Not really in the saying goodbye part, just afterwords waiting in the lounge for 2 and a half hours without him, miss that guy! He's one of those companions I'm going to stay tight with after my mission for sure. There's a handful of missionaries like that, thankfully they will all be in Utah so not too far. He's doing really well in Kingston. Since hes the assistant we still talk often, he's sweating bullets over there! Jamaica never cools down. So anyways, the flight to Freeport is only like 30 minutes. Right as I started falling asleep, the flight attendant gets on the intercom saying "We will be landing in Freeport in 5 minutes, thank you for flying!" No nap, but that's alright. I was in freeport by 11am with my boy Elder Hitchcock!
Freeport is so much different than Nassau. Everyting about it. The landscape here is very foresty, lots of pine trees and open space, all the roads are very wide and there isn't much organization (at least in my eyes) to the way buildings are situated. Maybe it's because ive been in a concrete jungle for 8 months but it seems like all the stores are randomly placed. It's soooo spread out! Nassau, everything is packed in, Freeport  is much more spread out. I don't know the population here but one of the first thing I said is "Elder Hitchcock, where is everyone??" No traffic, no honking, a couple street lights, I like it a lot. A very relaxed atmosphere indeed. The people talk slower here, it's been great being able to see both islands.
I will be going back to Nassau tomorrow night. The meeting with Bro. D and immigration went well, as the paperwork was filed quickly and Elder Gayle and I will be back in Nassau by 8 tomorrow. You don't know how much you miss an area until you leave, I'm just glad I get to go back for a little while before leaving for good. Nassau is home. The hustle, the bustle, the honking, being somewhere so calm feels foreign. Elder Hitchcock and I have enjoyed our short companionship! Weird to think that almost 19 months ago we were wide eyed and bushy tailed in the MTC not knowing a lick about how to be a a missionary. In hindsight, we've come a long way.
We've had a great time here. Yesterday I gave a talk about progression versus movement. Progression is moving forward towards a destination. Movement is the act of moving or being moved. The biggest difference between movement and progression is that to progress, we must have a destination. I applied this to our eternal progression. There's a reason it's 'eternal progression' and not 'eternal movement'. Our big-picture destination is eternal life, to live the life that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live. Along the way we have smaller destinations that will get us closer to our big-picture destination. Using a basketball analogy, a basketball team doesn't enter the season saying "alright boys, we're going to just go out there and give it a shot and hope for the best". That team can't progress. A team that says "The tournament is the second week of march. this is our destination. To reach there, we will need to win games. To win games we will need to practice. Within practice we need to dribble correctly, shoot well, and play with game time intensity. To do this, we much have the desire to win." The point being that at the very core of us wanting to reach our destination of eternal life, it is the little choices from the time you open your eyes in the morning until the time you go to sleep that will shape your outcome in the little destinations. Alma 37:6-7: "By small and simple things shall great things be brought to pass." We can avoid movement and practice the principle of progression as we focus on our daily decisions that determine our destinations. Hop off the rocking horse and onto your motorcycle! haha That was the just of my talk, it went pretty well I think.

E was confirmed Sunday!! I talked to him Sunday after church and he sounded so happy. I'm really excited to see him and everyone else back in Nassau!

last night at Mommy P's house... I ate barracuda! Ya, barracuda! That nasty mean looking long fish in the ocean! and I have to say, it is the BEST fish I've ever tasted. I was so good! nothing but straight white meat, the bones were huge so you werent getting them stuck in your teeth. it was super good. Crazy thing about Baracuda is that if you cook it wrong or you catch a bad batch, its poisoness! Mommy P knows how to cook it though, and I dont think they would feed us poisoned barracuda, but that was a cool experience.
I totally spaced pop's b-day! I'm dropping the ball on that one. Are you guys 43 or 44 this year? Also something I can never remember haha One year older and wiser too, happy birthday to both of you!

Well it sounds like you're doing well momma, I have to confess, amidst all the excitement of moving islands and such my workouts haven't happened... BUT this is me confessing and forsaking my sin, as of the new companion they will happen. :)
Well ive got a couple pics to send. there is this sweet lighthouse our here, had to get a couple pictures by it. I love you Mom!
Elder Romney



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