Blessings of faith

Good morning!

 

Ya, good call on not forging the signature. I'm sure that Spokane County Jail gets pretty good phone reception though, you could use your 30 minutes of phone time to talk to me! haha I printed off the paper just now, I'll fill it out and send it. Problem is that I don't know where a FedEx is... I know there isn't one in Santa Cruz. I'll have to tell the zone to keep a look out for a FedEx in their area. It's super expensive to send stuff as well, so be prepared for like a $60 sending fee. When the office sends us stuff to the Bahamas, it's like $55 for sending one sheet of paper. Yeah, hosed again. But thank you for taking care of this for me. I realized it would expire pretty soon and was ready to just hand the keys to my companion but this way is better. Thank you!

 

Mark is home! That is so crazy! We got to email the last three weeks of his mission which was nice. I feel the same way too when I run into people here I haven't seen in a while. You should've seen the Mandeville fun day, I was handing out hugs and handshakes like it was my job. I like what you said about maybe that's what it's like in the celestial kingdom, seeing everyone again. That's what happened in my dream last night. EVERYONE from my mission was all congregated in a central location. Companions, members, investigators, converts, it was an awesome dream. When the alarm went off at 5:15, I had to let it go another 5 minutes to finish it up.

 

Linley is pregnant??? Since when?? Shooks, I feel like the I'm going to have to have a sit down and get to know the new cousins. Austin and Paisley won't have a clue who I am. You're right, every one's birthday this year is a milestone. That didn't even cross my mind. I feel the same way though, Mac and Summer to me are the same 12 and 14 year olds they were when I left. Henry sounds like a handful. The dogs here are crazy. But the way to make them stop barking is to pretend to grab a stone from the ground and they take off running like their tail is on fire. Or actually grab a stone and it's the same effect. Dogs are nothing to people here, but if you mess with someones goat you better run because you will have the owner chasing you down with a machete. That's a lesson young missionaries learn very quickly from their trainers here "DON'T mess with the goats."

 

Well this week was quite a great week. Monday we went out to Jack Sprat and kicked it on the beach. Jack Sprat is that sweet little pizza and seafood restauraunt on Treasure Beach outside of Junction. That was a lot of fun, we had half the zone there (Mandeville and Junction Sisters, Juntion Elders and Hopeton Elders). Today we are headed out to Negril for P-day with Sav Elders and Negril Elders then we will do splits with Negril, then tomorrow morning head back to Sav for a baptism interview. We drive so much here!

 

Wednesday we had Zone Meeting. We have Zone Meeting the week after Zone Leader Council every month. It went really well, It's usually lasts about 3 hours and Elder Nugent and I do most of the teaching. I love teaching in that kind of setting. I don't want to be a teacher at all as a profession, but teaching as a missionary is the best. We focused on how we as missionaries can learn from the Lord by improving our prayers, the importance of the Book of Mormon in extending invitations and then the doctrine of desire. Basically we just take what President Hendricks taught at ZLC and teach it to the zone. It's great. The Assistants came out to for it and then Elder Worley and I went back to Kingston and did a trade off. I love that guy, he and Elder Hitchcock, and Elder Taylor (who is doing very well on the homefront by the way). The Kingston ZL's and Assistants share a sweet house now so I got to see both Elder Hitchcock and Elder Gray. We didn't get to teach as much as we would've liked due to a meeting with the Branch President and our appointments dropping through and the drive time back to meet up with Elder Hefner and Nugent but it was a good trade off nonetheless. We had a family home evening with some members and we had the lesson- Elder Worley and I didn't miss a beat with our teaching together- just like the olden days! haha Good to see those guys again.

 

Sunday was quite the day. I will start this story by bearing my testimony that fasting is a truly powerful way to receive blessings God is willing and ready to grant us. I fasted for the purpose to strengthen my faith. I got what I asked for. We had planned a terrific day out after church, the highlight being the lesson we would have with C and M and their whole family (yes, I said a married couple with four kids and a car, can you say score?) Thursday's lesson with C and M was so great. We originally planned to explain that if they weren't going to act that we couldn't teach them, but M was home as well and so we taught both of them together- I felt prompted that we needed to talk about eternal families (which was something we had already planned on teaching but never had the chance to teach the, together). Elder Nugent finishes the opening prayer and says, without communicating anything to me "Tonight we wanted to talk about families". Can you say Spiritual prompting between companions who are on the same page? Check! It was awesome, great lesson, M was literally giddy about us coming back over to teach the whole family. So we planned that lesson for Sunday at 4. Before our Branch Presidency meeting The 1st councilor (and only councilor) suggested that we go to the hospital in Black River where a member's 7 year old son is and give him a blessing. He had a really bad asthma attack and had been in the hospital for 5 days. We felt really good about going so we called President Hendricks and got permission to go to Black River. There was a branch there but it's been closed for almost 20 years and to go there you need permission from the mission president. So we finish out meeting, do the tithing, hop in the truck and look at the gas gauge- less than 1/8th of a tank. Great. Our bad, should have filled up Saturday.  Oh this story gets better, so not only are we supposed to make the 60 kilometer round trip to Black River, but also the 50 kilometer round trip to Nain where a member had been planning on feeding us all week... on 1/8 of a tank? Yikes. I was praying in my head the whole way to Black River hoping that our gas would at least get us there and back to Santa Cruz. We had to cancel the lesson with Milton and Claudia. As soon as we got to Black River the glass light went on- great. We figured we'd have about 50 kilometers left until we were Found On Road Dead (we drive a Ford Ranger, get it?) We give the blessing, it went very well, then we start our journey back to Santa Cruz. By the time we reached Santa the needle was flat on E. We weren't about to buy gas so we just kept going. I honestly thought we would run out. I thought "There is NO way we can make it the almost 100 kilometers on empty. No possible way. Even if God wanted to help us He wouldn't because it was our own fault for not filling up." But we went on. The dinner appointment was wonderful, chicken, pork, rice and peas, then bread pudding and ice cream for dessert. Absolutely delicious. We finish up, get back in the truck, the needle is now hovering below the line. We took a different road than when we came and were able to coast much of the 25 km home. And sure enough, we pulled into our house without a problem and had enough gas to get to the station to fill up this morning. It may sound like a silly story, but I know that Heavenly Father was watching out for us. You don't just travel 100 km on empty. I feel like when I have had experiences where I've drawn closer to the Lord, many of them I have put myself in the pickle. He merciful and His grace is sufficient for all those who repent and come unto Him. I know that to be true.

 

C and M tie into all of this as well. M fabricates and welds burglar bars for peoples houses (everyone has bars over their windows, porches, and doors). We offered to drive them up to the house where he would install them, hence why we got up at 5:15 this morning so we could help him. He asked for our help yesterday but we explained that we should avoid doing our work on the Sabbath. So we drove them up this morning and in talking with them after, M says they were all watching the clock waiting for us to come. The whole family was there ready and waiting and when we called and had to cancel they were SO disappointed. We felt so bad, thankfully we are rescheduled for Tuesday evening. There is such a difference between those who are prepared and who are not yet prepared. M and family are anxiously awaiting for the Gospel and to come to church Sunday. There isn't any dragging involved, only encouragement. I know the Lord is preparing people for His gospel, especially now as He is hastening His work.

 

We gotta run, it's a two hour drive to Negril so we better hit the road. I love you! Have a fantastic week!

 

Elder Romney

 

Jamaica Reunion!!!! Pics!

Good morning!

 

Conference was sweet! I really enjoyed it. We watched it here in Santa Cruz. I took a picture of the set up but forgot my camera this morning to sent it. Oops. I'd rock an Elder Holland foam finger. Crazy that this was my last general conference as a missionary! Ah! Where has the time gone? As always, we had plenty of GC snacks to go around- between Elder Nugent and I and a little bit of sharing we ate a 2 and a half pound back of butterscotch candies... and boy did we feel it this morning! haha The tradition of General Conference snacks had to go on though. I think my favorite talk was the one about how to have a happy marriage. I didn't bring my notes with me this morning, but if Jamaica (and the rest of the world) would adhere to that council, families would be so much happier everywhere. That is something that President Hendricks touched on in Zone Conference as well. He was talking about our relationships with our companions and that if you have the mindset of "My first priority is to make sure my companion (or in his case, spouse) is happy" and your companion/spouse has the same mindset you're marriage will last. That selflessness and then keeping the covenants you've made. Two ways to make a marriage last. I'm telling ya, a mission is the best marriage training haha

 

So this week was pretty crazy. Not in the sense that a lot of crazy things happened, more in the sense that just a lot happened. Monday we went to Mandeville where they were having a combined district fun day. I got to see members from Maypen, Old Harbour, and Spanish Town, and Junction! That was so sweet. I'd name drop but there was over 1000 people there and I can't even recall how many I was excited to see- so many. When Elder Nugent and I showed up, there were 15 buses parked outside the Mandeville church. I didn't even know we had that many members on this island! Anyways, we had to go to the bathroom SO bad, we drank a lot of water that morning, so we resolved to hit the bathroom first then mix and mingle- not EVEN close to happenin, which was fine. Before we even get to the gate of the church lot Elder Nugent has a member from Kingston who wants to give us something, so we head back to the car twice. Finally get to the gate and there is Khevar (formerly known as Elder McLeod) so we are chatting, and then J comes up we we start chatting, then Mama H, and then AT&T and J from Old Harbour came and then... you see the picture. and we had stepped in like 5 steps onto the property. I felt like a celebrity haha It was SO awesome to see everyone, they are all doing really well. After about 30 minutes we made it to the building to use the facilities, but it was a sweet p-day. After a couples hours we left, and then decided to come back just to honk as as went by. I should mention that there wasn't enough food to feed everyone so by the end of the day people were pretty cranky and hungry. Before I could even say bun n cheese I had this box of food in my hands and was literally running from people trying to snag it all and take it for themselves. It was insanity. I put the box down at the front, the district relief society president took over, and then Elder Nugent and I made a mad dash back to the truck haha It was pretty awesome.

 

Tuesday was Zone Conference in Sav. I love Zone Conference. It's so instructive and learning from President Hendricks is so sweet. I could listen to that guy teach all day. It was a very similar zone conference as we had back in July, about being the 4th missionary. Since we have so many new missionaries I think President wants to instill this attitude right from the get go. I've got a couple talks Mac needs to read right before he goes on his mission. The Assistants focused on the commitment pattern- Teach Doctrine, Invite/Commit, Promise Blessings, Bear Testimony, Follow Up- this is how a missionary teaches all day every day. As President says "Wake Up. Live the Commitment Pattern. Go to Bed. Repeat." The life of a missionary. It was very instructive and I was able to pick out places I can improve. I think my favorite was when President taught the doctrine of becoming, that we are agents of ourselves and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can change our natures. I really liked that. When we say things like "That's just who I am" "That's just my nature", that's not true. That is implying we can't change. A man said to a jail worker who talk prisoners how to be better citizens "Why do you try? You know leopard can't change their spots." the jail worker said "I don't work with leopards, I work with men., and men change everyday." So true.

 

Wednesday we stayed in Sav and did spits with the Elders there. There is two companionships so we each went with one. They are some awesome missionaries. I was able to see the whole D family, K, R, K, N and the G's. They are all doing really well. Mama D is engaged! I'm so happy for her. S and A are growing up! A is already 10 and S is 15! AH! I'm getting old.

 

Thursday we drove into Kingston for a meeting with the Zone Leaders, Assistants, and President. More training! This was my favorite meeting out of any of them. 3 hours of one on one instruction from President Hendricks- fantastic. That went really well. We take what we learn from Zone Leader Council (ZLC) and then teach it in Zone Meeting the following Wednesday (this Wednesday). My favourite part was the doctrine of desire. I didn't think this was something you could teach, that desire was an attribute that has to just be acquired by someone personally. But that's not true. Desire is an eternal principle. My favourite quote was from Neil A. Maxwell. I don't remember it word for word, I forgot my notes, but it went something like 'what we desire most in this life is what we become and receive in the eternities', something like that. Basically we become what we desire, so if you're a missionary and desire to be somewhere else, well then that's what you will receive. You serve with all your might, mind and strength, but withhold your heart. If you with hold your heart and don't make this your desire, the Atonement can't change you because you won't let it. Powerful stuff.

 

Ok, so no more checklist of the days, Friday was a great day, we actually got to teach our investigators. We had two come to conference and I think they really enjoyed it. One man who is a friend of many members came out of the blue and we will be teaching him. He loved conferences. He's an older gentleman with a cane but he said that he planned on coming to our church today no matter what. He go out on the road and it started to rain a bit but he said no matter what he was coming today. He said he'd be coming back, we are visiting him Tuesday. Definitely a blessing.

 

Yes we have names for our zones. We have the Kingston Zone, Spanish Town Zone, Mandeville Zone (our zone) then the Bahamas Zone. The only one I haven't served in is Kingston. Within each zone there is a number of different areas. In our zone there is 7 areas and 21 missionaries (including us and our area). This is the biggest our mission has ever been and there is no sign of it stopping growth. Exciting!

 

Henry the dog! What a cutie. His nick name is blingpup. That's sweet you are bumping up your workouts. thinking about running 6 miles makes me quiver haha

 

Well I love you Mom! Have a great week! I'll send pictures later.

 

Elder Romney

Happy Easters! lots of pics

Happy Easters!

You guys saw that video? HA! That's awesome. Crazy what technology can do these days. That was at transfers, you're right. He wanted one final performance before he went home so we popped the tailgate of a truck and sang out little hearts out. We are headed to Mandeville for a District fun day today so I'll get to see him. Crazy that we wrote that song a year ago- time is still flying by... in the twinkling of an eye.... as i sit... ok, enough of that.

There is so much information packed into your email that it blows my mind. SO awesome about Haley and her mission papers. Maybe the Lord needs here here in Jamaica?? I'll start putting it in my prayers haha Just kidding, I think she's going to Missoula. :) Mary already got married? That's fantastic, are they living in Spokane? That's great the Lee's were sealed together, what a blessing. Does Tony know where he's going yet? I can't keep everyone's mission stuff straight. Who are the Daltons again?

Well it was a happy easters in deed. This started out with P-Day in Port Royal with the whole kingston and Spanish Town Zones playing capture the flag in this sweet run down fort, I'll send pictures. That was a hoot, after that we went back to the Assistants house and I gave Elder Worley and Elder Hitchcock a haircut. Dem a mi breddren! This week was Zone Conference off island so Elder Worley got to go back to Nassau! He actually called me when he was there and I got to talk E and M and M. E is doing really well, he's picked up a bunch of work which is awesome. He might even come work in Jamaica! That would be sweet. M is expecting her mission call any minute now and M is is doing really well also. We went to Montego Bay Tuesday to Wendesday to do a trade off with the Elders there. Two companionships are in Mo Bay now so I went with one and Elder Nugent went with the other. It went really well, we were able to do some good training. Elder Nugent and I went running Wednesday morning (as we have worked out every morning since I've been in Santa Cruz). Our original plan was to just run to the church and back which was only 2 kilometers. Well... many wrong turns and 30 minutes later we were SO lost. and it didn't help that the day before all we had eaten was peanuts. That was an adventure. When we were driving around Mo Bay with the other Elders and told them where we were running they said "You were all the way out here? How on Earth did you get that lost?" They underestimated my lack of directional skills. Good Friday is a holiday here as is today, Easter Monday, so everything has been closed but there are SO many people on the streets and SO many parties. Pretty sad when much of the population celebrates the ressurection of our Saviour by throwning super raw pool parties.

Church was awesome. We had almost 50 people there! We had chairs out on the veranda of the house we hold church in. The building used to be a doctors office. It was so great to see so many people there. Saturday night we were having a lesson with L, S, and T. L is S's mother and T is the neighbor. So we were teaching about the Plan of Salvation, great lesson, and we asked how their preperations for church were coming and they said they couldn't handle the walking anymore and couldn't come. It's about 10 kilometers one way from their house to the church and they walk it every Sunday hoping that along the road someone will stop to pick them up. They have so much faith, I've only been here for 3 weeks but I've seen changes in all of their lives and countenances. They are happy. But as we all get sometimes, they were pretty discouraged and the thought of having to walk in the Jamaican sun all the way to church again was unbearable. We offered to walk with them and they all shot up and said "yes! We will be leaving at 7." So Elder Nugent and I drove to their house at 7 Sunday morning, parked the truck and we all made the two hour long walk together. It's the first time an investigator has taken up our offer to walk and I'm so grateful they did. We sang songs, we played eye spy, we cheered each other on up the big hills, they are troopers. They were able to get fare to catch taxi home, there's always blessings from coming to church!

Taking the Sacrament is something I've been thinking about a lot lately. I knew it was important before my mission but it's not just important, it's essential to our salvation. If we do not take the Sacrament each week, we are not renewing our covenants. If we aren't renewing our covenants we are not worthy of Jesus Christ, D&C 98:14-15. So crucial! I wish everyone would take it to heart and take seriously the promises they've made to Heavenly Father.

This week will be quite the week. Mandeville today, Sav for Zone Conference and trade off Tuesday and Wednesday, Kingston for Zone Leader Council Thursday, Friday in Santa Cruz, then Saturday and Sunday General Conference! Whoo hoo! Going to be quite the week. I'm so excited for General Conference. It's my last one as a missionary... that feels strange to say. I get way more out of conference as a missioanry the I ever did back home. 

Well I love you mom! you're my favorite mom! ;) Have a great week, don't let Henry the beagle pee on the carpet. Love you!

Elder Romney  

reconnecting with friends

Good Morning!

 

I'm can't keep track of how many people come in and out of our house anymore! haha It's good to see that the McCreadie crew is doing well. I wonder if there is any relation to Elder McCreadie, a missionary that served here. Only reason I say that is because Elder McCreadie was super tall as well. How is their oldest boy doing? I remember the last time we saw them he as like 6'9'' and still growing and already having college scouts look at him when he was 16. Give them all a big hug for me!

 

That's great Gram is working in the temple- that's something I want to do when I become a seasoned veteran in the life category. I bet it's fun to see them more often.

 

Well as for this week, it was awesome! Sunday was fantastic, we had 3 investigators and 2 less active members come back to church. It's refreshing to see the fruits of your labours when Sunday comes around. We are teaching two 14 year old girls. We had a cool experience with service with them. They raise chickens to kill and sell to locals here in Santa and surrounding areas and every 3-6 weeks they have to kill and pluck them... guess who plucked their first chicken?? I did! It was... quite the experience. I will save you the gruesome details, but I now have first hand experience with the phrase "running around like a chicken with its head cut off". Thankfully I wasn't on head cutting duty, I was on pluck-the-feathers-off-the-smelly-chicken-boiled-in-scalding-hot-water duty. It was something; a great skill to slap on a resume back home. Anyways, we did that for about an hour and a half for the girl's mom who isn't a member.  Yesterday we watched the Restoration DVD with the girls and L (the one girls mother who is a member) and D (the other girls mother) came in and gave us some fried chicken from the chickens we plucked and sat down and listened to the last part of the lesson. We invited her to watch the DVD again with the girls and promised that if she prayed to know if it was true that Heavenly Father would answer her. I'm sure she watched the DVD because the girls were  SO excited to watch it again with he and explain everything that was going on. Great experience.

 

Also this week... I went back to Junction!! We did a trade off from Tuesday to Wednesday and I got to see everyone from Junction. The H's, N, M, R, the whole crew! The H's, I LOVE that family. I didn't realize how much I missed them until I came back. They are doing so well. J just turned 14 and was ordained a teacher, T just turned 12 and has the Aaronic priesthood, T is SUCH a cutie, she's already 10 now! And Momma H is so good, so solid in the gospel. She looked so so happy. She and D go visiting teaching, she's the 1st councilor in the Relief Society, or Young Women's... I can't remember... but she's doing spectacular. So good to see them. N, M and R are doing well also. Their getting big too! N is way taller than me now, M has been going to school this whole year, R is still the little butterball he was when I left, they are doing well. Junction, St. Elizabeth = my home in Jamaica.

 

This week will be full of driving. Headed to Kingston today for P-day (Elder Worley is headed back to Nassau tomorrow! Whoo hoo! I sent him with a bunch of letters for people.) , then tonight we will drive to Montego Bay to do a trade off and stay for District Meeting on Wednesday, and then drive back to Santa Cruz. About 8 hours driving in total. Good thing Elder Nugent and I are road warriors. We get along so well, I'm always blown away at how I always end up with awesome companions. I've learned so much from each of my companions. I know the Lord put me with each of them to learn something from them and apply it to my life. This may have been the only way the Lord could shape me into who he wanted me to be- by serving a mission in the Caribbean and with the select Elders I've served with.

 

We had the funeral this week as well. That was a good experience. It was in an Anglican church so there wasn't any hooting and hollering, pretty reverent. It was interesting to see another church service and how they do things. When we went to the grave site it started pouring rain. There must've been a memo on the collection plate saying, "Bring an umbrella, it's going to pour cats and dogs" because we missed the memo AND were the only one's standing in what felt like Noah's Flood part two without an umbrella. No worries still, the family was grateful for our help in the service and we were able to have some pretty good teaching moments at the small gathering at the house afterwords.

 

Well It's Elder Nugent's turn on the computer. I was thinking about it, do you think you could print off all my emails home and put them into a little book? I think that would be a cool little thing to have after my mission. I sure love you Mom!

Santa Cruz

Good Morning!

You guys sound like you had quite the week! New puppy proof scheming, Haley is taking Catie Couric's spot as journalist of the year, Summer is training to race Usain Bolt, and Mac is preparing to slay the ladies at the dances- all good things! My email today is going to have to be pretty short as I am uploading a bunch of pictures on this dinosaur computer!

So Santa Cruz! This week has been quite the journey to get here. First at foremost, transfer day was a hoot as always. Elder Taylor went home!! It was so strange saying goodbye to him, we shared some tears but he emailed me this morning and he's doing really well. So from Spanish Town we had so many missionaries that were coming back to our zone Elder Nugent (my new companion who is awesome, he's from Provo, his Grandpa was the first member of the church in Jamaica) he had to drive the mission bus and then I took the Ranger. Just about everything that could go wrong went wrong haha It turned out to be pretty comical. I missed our turn in the round about twice, got onto the highway 2000 and the first checkpoint I got in the wrong lane so we had to have all the cars behind us reverse so we could switch lanes, then the second checkpoint we couldn't find the highway card for like 5 minutes, then it started pouring rain so all our stuff got wet, we put a tarp over it in the rain, we reached Sav at about 10pm and stayed the night there. The next morning we drove out to Montego Bay, back to Sav to pick up the bus, then back to Santa Cruz. PLENTY driving! Driving in Jamaica was super weird. Right hand drive, left hand side, but I got the hang of it again pretty quick. We have some awesome missionaries in our zone, 3 brand new ones being trained and one who's in the second transfer of being trained. Pretty young but very vibrant. Awesome!

So Santa Cruz- it's a branch much like Junction. I guess the differences would be that Junction had a lot of priesthood and here in Santa there is maybe about 4 active Melchizedek priesthood holders. But church was fantastic. We had about 18 people there by the end of sacrament meeting, very friendly and loving of the missionaries. I love this side of the island, it's a very different feel than the east side. Not busy, not rushed, just a good farm town of Jamaica. I'm loving it here. We are teaching like 2 sincere persons, but there's a lot of potential for the branch here. I was called as the clerk again. Clerky duties (Nacho Libre voice). I like it. The branch president is awesome, gung ho about the gospel and been a member for years. My companion Elder Nugent is the man, like I said his Grandpa was the first member in Jamaica, his dad is Jamaican, so he's half Jamaica. I've been blessed with the greatest companions on my mission. Crazy to think that I'll probably only have one more after Elder Nugent! He could even be my last companion, crazy town. 

We had a pretty cool experience this week. We received a phone call from a great lady named C. She explained to us that her mother, Sis. S, had passed away and that she was a member of our church. She loved the missionaries so much that before she died she asked that the missionaries in Santa Cruz be pall bearers. We were touched by the invitation and gladly accepted. Last night we went to the home of C who was there with here sister and some cousins (C and here sister are daughters of the lady who passed) and all over the couch were old pictures of Bro. and Sis. S. Bro. S passed away about 10 years ago and was a very active member as well and had missionaries be two of his pall bearers also. Looking through the pictures of missionaries gone before us and the great example they were to these members makes me realize how special our time is here on the mission and that it has a much more lasting effect then I think somtimes we give credit. We had a great discussion about the plan of salvation and I shared my experience with Grandpa's passing. The veil is very thin between us and our loved ones and I'm so grateful for that. The funeral is Thursday at 2PM in a beautiful church tucked in a valley and in front of a mountain that looks like a picture out of the Sound of Music. 

Well I'm going to send all these pictures, they tell 1000 words. I love you Mom! Have a wonderful day! 

Elder Romney

Leaving Old Harbour already!

Hello!

First thing- a 5 POUND CHEESECAKE??? (Mac's birthday "cake") Sweet mercy, the things I'd do for a five pound cheese cake. That reminds me this one time in Nassau, Sis. Smith made Elder Worley and I this FATTY strawberry cheese cake, it was huge. We ate the whole thing for breakfast....mmmmmmm... it was nice. Every morning in Old Harbour I have two pieces of toast with nothing on them and water for breakfast. Still tasty, still fulfills the purpose of breakfast, just not quite like strawberry cheese cake!

Mac is getting older and it's slightly freaking me out... and in every one of summer's emails she happily reminds me that in such and such months and so many days she's turning 16 and how she can date and wear eye liner... i better get into some decent shape so i can inflict fear into any boy that comes into our house. No one will take a pudgy wudgy returned missionary seriously... until I bring a Jamaican butt kicking with me! haha Thats sweet Shauna is engaged! I thought she would have better taste though... Duke? Come on Shauna, this is eternity we're talking about! :) Just kidding, that's so awesome. Where are they getting hitched? And where did he serve his mission?

Well this week was pretty up and pretty down at the same time. Elder Jones has been pretty sick this week, so Tuesday we didn't go out at all. First time my whole mission my comp and I didn't go out. He was good enough to go out Wednesday and Thursday, then Friday came and he was back in bed. I got a lot of reading done in my Book of Mormon though, that was nice. 105 pages in about two days collectivly. I was like Alma 8 and I reached Alma 53. It was so cool to read it like a regular book. The missionary chapters are so sweet! Alma and Amulek are boss missionaries! And Ammon, and Nephi and Lehi. They have so much faith, that's probably what I gathered the most out of my reading. Their faith was SO unshakable. Not only that, they acted on it without second guessing themselves. And how well they worked as companions, shooks, it was awesome. Then the war chapters, Moroni, still holding it down, I enjoyed the time to read. 

I can attest to the fact that Heavenly Father has a sense of humor also. Wednesday I requested a trade off in Maypen so after district meeting I just stayed and Elder Jones and Dally went back to OH. It was so cool to see a lot of people. Right as we walked into the church for District Meeting, S was cleaning the church. I said hello and she said hello, I could tell she didn't recognize me... so I say "You know who I am?" She's like "Ahhh, noooo, who are you?" She flipped out! "you don't even look the same!" I figured the classic response would be "Wow! Nice to see you! You got a new haircut and you've put on weight!" but it was mostly just the haircut comment! haha not to shabby. Anyways, I'm pretty sure when Heavenly Father saw that I was going to Maypen he wanted to make the trade off as authentic as possible. As in my bicylcle tire popped so we had to walk, and it poured cats and dogs all day- yep, back to the Maypen days for sure! It was a lot of fun, every where we went I had some story about me and Elder Nelson running through my head. I would send pic's but we are at an internet shop and true, I don't know what viruses are crawling on these computers so I better not plug anything in.

Saturday we got transfer calls! This week was a 7 week transfer instead of a 6 week to help stagger the influx of new missionaries throughout the world. I'm leaving Old Harbour! Such a short stay, I know! I'll be transfered to Santa Cruz- yep, back in a truck. Good thing my companion Elder Nugent is a dedicated worker out-er! I'm pretty excited. We are the Zone Leaders for the Mandeville zone, so Negril, Montego Bay, Sav, Junction, Hopeton, and Mandeville are in the zone. I'll get to go back and see my people in Sav and Junction! I heard Sis. J is preparing to go to the temple! Whoo hoo! I'm excited for that. There's a lot of driving, I think Mo Bay is like two hours away or something, it will be sweet though I'm looking forward to it.  

I can't believe Elder Taylor and McLeod are going home Thursday!! That is so strange. I'll still see Elder McLeod's mug around town though as Hopeton isn't to far from Santa Cruz. Life is moving fast! We are getting like 16 new missionaries this ransfer- so many! I'll be on the look out for Elder Harris. This is the first transfer day I've been to in almost a year and the last time I see Elder Taylor until we rendezvous again somewhere in Utah or Idaho! He's actually going back to Freeport in like a week with his whole family, that will be fun for them. 

Well that's about it for this week, pretty slow with my sick companiero. But this up coming week is going to be crazy town.  Back to the slow going, bushy side of Jamaica! I love you!! 

Where did my keys go? Where did my book go?

Good morning from another sunny day in Old Harbour!

Yes, Kingston was a gong show but all is well. I'm telling you, I wonder if Heavenly Father ever says, "Oh Elder Romney, you're such a klutz, but I'll bail you out of this one again." Twice this week that's happened. Monday we went to Kingston to play ball (which was fantastic, sunburns and the Baha Men, can't beat it.) I felt like such an old guy. All these young missionaries who have come out since I've been in Nassau, it was strange. We have some cool younger missionaries, some superstars. So anyway, Elder Taylor came and picked us up, got there, had a great time, get back to Old Harbour by like 5:00pm, and we are getting out of the truck and I'm looking for the keys... they were in my pocket... but now they're not in my pocket.. or the truck... great. So I call Elder Worley and ask him to go look for them back at the court, it's a good thing we are tight like unto a dish haha So he goes down to the court (which is in the GHETTO of Kingston) it's like 6:30, and there is 50 people on the court, sitting in the bleachers, playing soccer. So they start snooping around for the keys, asking people if they've seen them, getting chatted like crazy, and they are talking to this 18 year old kid and he's like "Nah, I haven't seen them". Then changes his story and whips out our keys and makes Elder Worley buy them off him! hahaha It wasn't much, just the change in the truck, but imagine how that looks to the people in the bleachers.\- two white guys in shirts and ties come into the court, walk out with a kid and give him money in exchange for something... like I said, good thing Elder Worley is a homie. He's never going to let me live that one down. When they brought them that night I gave him some of that hot chocolate and some candy as a token of appreciation haha It's a funny story but it is another tender mercy from the Lord. What are the chances that 8 hours later in the heart of Kingston we are able to get my keys back? Yep, pretty cool. 

The second story we were riding to drop our bicycles off at a members house then catch a taxi to go to another members house for dinner. Well I brought my guitar and hymnbook so we could play some songs and of course, we reach the first members house and my hymnbook isn't in my bag anymore. It wouldn't have been a big deal but that hymnbook was from Great Grandma Ruth and is special to me so... we turn around in the dark looking for it. Sure enough there it was aaaaallll the way back just outside our neighborhood. "Elder Romney, you're a klutz but, I love you." 

Don't forget about sweet sweet Highgate. Junction to Highgate to Old Harbour. Did I tellyou Highgate got closed lke 6 months ago? I don't know if I mentioned that, but it did. 

Old Harbour is fantastic. We are working with some great people right now. One of our investigators, S, now has a solid support system as that her sister just got baptized in Kingston two weeks ago. S's sister came by and saw S's Book of Mormon and said, "You're meeting with them too? I just got baptized!" Answer to our prayers- fellowship is so critical in keeping members active in Jamaica. We got to have a lesson with the both of them and her sister bore powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon. It was awesome. Yes, we are back to calling at gates- that's pretty weird but it's lost it's newness. Elder Jones is doing well. We are finding a good mesh. Being with a young missionary is so much different than being with an older one. Things are getting better though. The patios is pretty good, some people I have to listen pretty closly to hear what their saying, sometimes I just pull the classic head nod and "Yeah yeah" and hope they are saying something good haha It's definetly different that the Bahamas! My body is now accustomed to purfuse sweating and bicycle riding now. Is was actually really cold this morning, I was shivering and teeth chattering, the past two days have been a bit chilly. 

The picture of the Lee's is awesome! Cam is SO TALL! He's going to hit his head on the ceiling! Shucks. OH! Speaking of Lee's, we had a couple missionaries who's visa's were delayed so they spent a transfer serving in Spokane! One named Elder Egan served in the Shiloh Hills ward and met uncle James! When I said President Lee was my uncle he's like "Ahhh that's sweet. I met him once". The other served in CDA. It was fun to shoot the breeze about Spokanistan. 

Your approach to the drug committee is completely true. I would love to speak at one of those because the United State's drug problems don't even come close to the drug problem  here, and your right, there are hardly any families here and look what comes of that. The gospel way is always the best way. Speaking of that I had a serious realization Sunday. President Brown from the mission presidency came in and taught priesthood (he is going to be the new mission president by the way  come July 1st- he will do my exit interview) anyways, he taught about chastity and how everything starts with your thoughts and music plays a huge role in that- I've realized this already but it was heavy today that I have a lot of music to throw away. I don't even know if I want to sell it, just filth. I remember when Hans came home and threw away a bunch of his music and I was like "That would never be me" Yep... it's me. I feel like that's a reason why I was called to Jamaica, music is such a big part of life here. Eat it, breathe it, so my testimony of changing music i think helps some of the young men. I look and say "Shoot, I've been there! There's more to it guys! Swallow your pride and listen to something better." 

Well Momma, I think you're finding good balance between your workouts and stuff. Something good to ask ourselves is "What purpose am I trying to achieve?" Then we don't have to waste our time with doing things that don't go towards acheiving that goal. :) I love you!! Have a great week!

Elder Romney 

first week in Old Harbour

Good Morning from sunny Old Harbour!

 

I haven't recieved the card yet. It may be in the mission office right now though, I will ask Elder Worley to check for me. Thank you so much for going through the fiasco for me! I can't imagine trying to activate a card with Jamaican cell phone service. Would have been crazy!

 

Old Harbour is so awesome. I really enjoy it here. My flights back were a bit of a gong show. My flight leaving Nassau was delayed 40 minutes, so I reached Miami about an hour late. That airport is huge as it is, so I was booking it through the terminal, up the stairs, on the skytrain, down the escalator, all the way to the back of the luggage claim (because we were switching planes, so passengers had to take their bags for the switch) only to find out that my bag didn't make it to the Miami Airport - awesome. I ask the lady what I should do and she says t file a lost luggage claim when I reached Kingston. Then she looked at my ticket and says "You better hurry, your plane leaves in 20 minutes - double awesome. So fatty Elder Romney takes off hauling through the airport, whiz through security and out to terminal D37. I rush up to the gate thinking that everyone has already boarded and I ask "Flight to Kingston?". Five people standing there working the desk kinda look at me, then look at the huge amount of people sitting in the waiting area, then back to me and tell me the plane hasn't started boarding yet - duh, I should've thought of that as I ran past hoards of Jamaicans waiting to go home. There wasn't a seat so I just plopped down on the floor with my guitar and backpack, slightly out of breathe and a good sweat going. I had about 5 minutes there and then the plane started boarding passengers. I said a quick prayer that as pretty much word for word like this "Father, I need my bag. Let it be in Kingston. In the the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." I instantly felt at peace with everything and I knew it would be there. Sure enough, it was sitting in the baggage area in Kingston. I don't know how Heavenly Father swung that one, but I'm very very grateful!

 

So anyways, Old Harbour. It's great. We are living in a different house than the ones the Elders were living in when I was being trained in Maypen- this one is much nicer. Clean, large, we have a washing machine :) No hot water (can't win then all), but I really like it. We bust open the windows and the breeze cools it down pretty well. It's on the edge of town, about a 10 minute ride from the church which is a rented upstairs space of a building which also has a hardware store and a cable station.

 

My companion's name is Elder Jones. He's a Jamaican from Ocho Rios. He's been a member for not even two years yet. He's a good guy, I enjoy serving with him. He's been on his mission for almost 5 months- this is the fist time I've served with a younger missionary (minus Elder Worley and Gayle who were only 6 weeks behind). I see a lot of my younger missionary self in Elder Jones. Missionary work here is going great. We had a stellar week, two investigators at church and four with a baptism date- awesome! We are back on bicycles. I've already got a wicked tan.

 

I've had some Nassau withdrawals but they are getting better- it was weird coming home for lunch after church sunday and eating top ramen and instant potatoes instead of lunch with the D's. Church was great, the branch here is sweet, I felt welcome. I've made friends with some of the youth here already, having homies makes an area that much better. Speaking of homies, there is a supermarket on wheels here- yeah, I didn't believe it either until he drove past. It's this guy who packs his car FULL of everything you need, candy, bread, ramen, snacks, juice, seriously anything and he drive around at about 9PM honking his horn and people come out at buy their groceries from him- it's awesome! Elder Jones needed a few things so we stopped him. Really nice guy, we call him Flex. I told him my name was Elder Romney and he says "Alright Ramen! Ya mon! A real ting dat! Lik de ramen noogle! Me na forget a name lik dat now mon." Elde Ramen it is I guess haha It was hilarious. I have a hard time understanding patios- it's coming back though. No more "Sak' Pase" or "Whatchu sayin' bui". Good mornings and hello how are you's only. Elder Hitchcock went to Kingston. Sounds like he loves it there. Elder Taylor goes home in 3 weeks- crazy!!

 

I loved the Christmas present! Thank you thank you thank you! Tuesday night Elder Worley, Elder Hefner and I stayed the night in the mission home and I opened it there. It really did feel like Christmas all over again! Between Elder Worley and I the pretzel M&M's lasted a matter of hours, and I've been living off the jerky because I've only got American cash and Jamaicans don't take it (a missionary wants to exchange Jamaican cash for it so that's being taken care of today). I forgot what it was like to wear a nice crisp new shirt haha and beautiful ties! I wore the blue and silver striped one to church yesterday. And I've had a cup of hot chocolate every morning since I go to Old Harbour, whether it's 90 degrees or not.

 

Thanks for the family update. It was funny, my last distrct meeting in Nassau, Elder Stuart (who is in Cayman) asked if I saw Amanda's baby. It's was fun to talk about our common family and shoot some Uncle Brett stories.

Sounds like things at home are cruising along. I can't believe Mac is a 10.5! Shucks, I've underestimated how much my sibs have grown up. Your Cub Scouts sound cute cute cute.

 

Well today is going to be awesome. P-day number one back in JA we are headed to Kingston to play ball! The Baha Men reunite haha I'm stoked, it's going to be a fun day. Elder Taylor just called and said he'd be here in 10 minutes. Whoo hoo!

 

I love you Mom! Keep your trunk packed also ;) Love you!!

 

Elder Romney

 

Leaving Nassau :(

Welcome welcome P-day morning!

SHANE IS HOME??? Shucks!! This is so crazy, I seriously thought he didn't get home for a little bit longer- he's home! Crazy town. He is super tan and looks way older. He's going to have to fight off the ladies with a stick. Or just put down the stick. They're both good.

Well it's finally happened. I'm leaving Nassau. My flight leaves here tomorrow night at 5:05pm. It was totally unexpected. Ok, that's not true, obviously it was expected to happen sometime, duh, it's a mission, you're going to leave the area's you come too, it just caught me off guard. We were at E's house and I got a text from Elder Worley saying "You're coming home!!" and as soon as I read it I started to choke up. I realize I'm not much of a cryer but it just hit me like a ton of bricks that I actually have to leave. It's such a strange feeling. Elder Gayle and I were talking about it, it's different that leaving an area in Jamaica- you're still in Jamaica, chances are you will serve around that area again, but leaving an off- island spot, this is it. I'm sad but I think more than sad I'm SO grateful for the past 8 and a half months. SO SO SO thankful, it's slightly ridiculous how much I love this place and the people here. But that's the name of the game and it's a good thing. Elder Gurr and Elder Gayle are going to tear this place up, the branch will take good care of them, things are going to be great.

Sunday was the final D dinner. I feel like a broken record saying how awesome the D's are, but it's so true. They are the greatest family I've met on my mission. I can't say enough about all of them. They love unconditionally, are rock solid in their testimonies, and just show plain love to us as missionaries. I feel like part of the family. I'm not sure they understand how much they've impacted my life, Bro. D especially. I've learned a lot from what he's said, what we've talked about, wisdom he's bestowed upon me but most of all I've learned from his example. He and Sis. D are wonderful. She's been literally like a mother the past 8 and a half months. Yesterday I cut M's hair after dinner. That boy has the purest heart I've ever come across. We talked about paleontology, faith, the priesthood, he was genuinely interested in what I want to do after my mission, we talked about his fears and how we can overcome them. About half way through the hair cut he asked if he could have a wash cloth. I handed him one and said he could wipe his face if there was hair on it. He said "No, it's not the hair. I'm wiping my tears. I'm really really going to miss you Elder Romney. You're a great friend." That experience is something I will cherish the rest of my life.  

Nassau has been wonderful. I feel like I was so young when I first got here. I hadn't been out a year yet, coming out of Highgate which was 6 weeks packed with learning experiences and life lessons. Now I've got 5 months left and I feel like I truly understand how things are supposed to be done. My relationship with Heavenly Father has never been this strong and I'm so pumped to make the next 5 months the best of my mission.

I'll be going to Old Harbour. It's in the same district as Maypen, my first area. That will be sweet to go back to where it all began. I don't expect people to recognize me from Maypen. If they did they would say "You've put on weight!" and "What's up with the goofy haircut??" haha I'm about the same size as I was in Maypen I guess, maybe they won't say the first comment but for sure the second.

Sister Evans called about the card. I pulled off that $30. I'm trying to put one of my suitcases inside the other with my stuff and have it be under 50 pounds to avoid the $40 fee for checking a second bag. I think I'll be able to do it. I stuffed my backpack full of some books and my running shoes and I'll put the couple t-shirts I have around my guitar. $40 fee my foot! 

That's awesome Mary is getting hitched! If she's dating the same guy, he is a roommate of Elder Kraus, a guy from our mission. He emailed me one day and said she was dating his roommate- good for her! That is so weird that my friends from high school are having kids- if you see Aaron tell him hello for me! 

Puppy?? Oh Mom, I knew it was only a matter of time before you succumbed to the pressure of the siblings haha That would be awesome. What breed? Chiwawa? :) No thank you! 

Elder Gayle had his first McDonalds soft serve this week! I've got the fella hooked- soft serve ice cream and ketchup on mac and cheese.

Have a fun day at the movies! I remember one time it was you, me and Haley and we were going to the Y. It was a dreary day and we were at the turn to either go left to the Y or right to the movies, and NONE of us wanted to workout that day so we went to the movies. I think we saw the little red riding hood scary edition or something. What made it special though was that I was with you two. :) Fun times! Have a great week, I love you! 

Elder Romney 

conversations and pictures

Good Morning! 

I think I must have short term memory loss or time is just smoking by- Amanda was pregnant? Jeffy is already in the MTC? I thought Malea got her call like last week?? I know you've told me all these things, I remember reading them but then when they happens it's like yikes, people are growing up! I was going to say that Malea will probably be in the same group as a set of missionaries going to Jamaica, our district in the MTC was us and then the Vegas- West mission as well. If she see's Elder's Ringer, Edwards, Norris, Godfrey, or Pulsiver, she needs to hail them up for me! I should email those guys. 

That cracks me up that Mac still falls asleep on short trips. From the house to the library you could always count on that little fella to be conked out by the time you reached Starr Rd. At least he's consistent. 

We had a good week this week- lots going on. Like I said last week we've been focusing on referral lessons with members, still on that run, it's been going well. I feel the members faith is being strengthened in knowing that there really are people being prepared. We've received a couple referrals and have a few people to teach so things are looking up. We went tracting with a member named F this week. He got home from his mission right when I got to Nassau, and 3 months later was married (I say atta boy to that one) so he's only been home for like 8 months and still has the missionary drive in him. We went and knocked doors out by his house on Saturday afternoon and it went well. Two conversations we had stuck out to me, not in anything that was said but just in the situation. There was a man who was cleaning the pine needles off his boat, the boat was pretty beat up, so we chatted about his boat for probably 10 minutes and I told him all about how Grandpa's boat and how there was always something to be fixed on a boat or car or in the house. We offered to help, he declined, but we were able to share our testimonies about Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel. He didn't become a new investigator, but if you're talking to people just to fulfill a number you've got your priorities all mixed up. 

The second conversation was with a man up the street. He was sitting flat on the ground covered in oil with part of the engine sitting next to him. He said he was trying to loose a screw and it ended up falling in (what I think was) the oil pan. So he ended up having to take the whole thing out- cracked me up, reminded me of Saturday's in the garage and dropping a wrench of something into the engine and having to reach your hand all the way down and around parts to try and grab it. I sat on the ground across from him and we chatted about what he was working on and he being a mechanic. I told him about rebuilding the Ranger that summer after it was rolled and how my pop's was always working on the cars. He said "Well that's what happens when you by a Ford- Found On Road Dead" I guess that joke spans the globe. He's a super cool guy, been fixing cars his whole life, his kids are all grown up so it's just he and his wife at home now. Conversations flow so easily into the Gospel, "Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men." D&C 100:5. It's true! We are meeting with him this Saturday. 

We had our English class Tuesday night. Tuesday during the day I was pretty much a nervous wreck trying to figure out what to teach. I don't know why I got so uppity about it, but I did. I just had no direction in what to teach. I ended up printing some vocabulary and then we were going to learn how to properly ask a question. We had 30 people packed into the Relief Society room, after the opening prayer I reminded everyone that if you have a question or need something explained in creole you can because we have a member of the church here who can speak English and Creole.... psych. No one showed up from the branch, so that was quickly changed to "Yeah... ask it in English as best you can because me no palle creole." The class went surprisingly well though. People understood what was going on, things flowed well, it was good. And that's why we start with an opening prayer and ask for the Spirit haha

We also had our branch Valentines party which was awesome. We helped Sis. C out with the decorating and stuff- reminded me of decorating the house for birthdays with the streamers, twisting them over the railing to make it look fancy- it was fun. Things like that are what make good relationships between members and missionaries. To gain something you have to give something, and giving your time goes further than giving anything else. So that was sweet, I'll attach some pictures. Sis. Bcame, Bro. D was there, we invited all of Cariloha and Del Sol, it was fun. Kinda weird for a bit just standing there with Elder Gayle while this throwback 70's sappy love music was playing... don't get any idea's mister haha It made for some good jokes. We left early to go home but I think everyone had a great time. 

Elder Gayle is getting to know the area pretty well. I realize how patient Elder Worley was with me when I started driving out here. It's so much different driving a left hand car on the left hand side of the road- you feel like you're driving on the sidewalk. We're trying to bulk him up for beach season when he gets home- for a 125 pounder he eats like a horse! 

Dad's comment about spending money on his grand kids cracks me up. It's going to turn into "Dad, Grandpa always buys me what I want, why don't you always buy me what I want??" ".... because he's a grandpa and that's what grandpa's are supposed to do" haha 

I'm glad that package reached you safe. Those shirts are so soft huh! They are made out of Bamboo-cotton, pretty spiffy. We get a killer discount there to so it's silly not to snag a couple.  As I was doing chin ups this morning (and by chin ups I mean 2 chin ups... that's all I can get these days. Over hand grip though, none of this Nancy underhand stuff.) I thought about how true the scripture is in Alma 37 about small and simple things shall great things come to pass. True, True, and True again! 

I love you Mom! Have a fantastic week in the snow! :) 

Elder Romney 

Spiritual experiences are sweet

Bonjue! (Creole for good morning, not sure if that's how you spell it)

What a week indeed! When both those sisters asked if I wanted them to say hello for me, I thought that was so cool. Out of all the tourists they are the only two who've done that, they were very sweet ladies. It makes the world seem so small when I'm so far away! Being back in Nassau is wonderful. It felt like coming home, even though I was only away for 10 days, I didn't realize the impact that this place has had on me. Bahamians in Freeport don't like Nassau because its so busy, and Bahamians in Nassau don't like Freeport because it's so slow. I love both islands, very different feel's to both of them, but the hustle and bustle of Nassau is home to me. 

Elder Gayle! My new companion! He's Jamaican! From Junction branch! N, M, and R are his cousins and brother! He's awesome, we shoot stories about Junction and his family often. He's 24, loves to cook, and came prepared with a guitar to learn how to play :) It will be a great companionship! 

Believe it or not, I came up with that talk on my own. (The talk on movement vs. progression-see last week's letter) haha It cracks me up that you thought otherwise. I had no idea what to talk about and on Thursday during personal study I was thinking about what the Freeport Branch needed to hear and that's what came out on paper. Totally the Spirit, I won't take any credit for putting those truths together myself, I'm just glad that I was able to not hinder the message the Spirit needed to share. 

Speaking of the Holy Ghost, we had a couple cool experiences this week with it. Recently in my prayers I've been asking Heavenly Father to help me recognize the promptings of the Spirit more fully. This week I've learned that it really is quiet as a whisper and so easily missed. The past few day's I've been showing Elder Gayle around the island, introducing him to members, trying to better help him swallow everything here. We are focusing almost soley on seeking referrals with members. The mission has made a huge surge in this aspect of missionary work and we (as a mission) are seeing amazing results. So visiting members has been the focus as of lately. Friday we went and visited M and the girls, just had introductions and the girls asked Elder Gayle about 30,000 questions, it was great. Usually we wouldn't see them on back to back days just because they have things to do and a life outside of meeting with the missionaries. In my studies that morning I studied about true Christlike love and how important each one of us are to Heavenly Father. We created a lesson plan out of it and planned on teaching the second set of girls the lesson. We did, but then I felt like we needed to go see M again. I fought with the idea for just a second, thinking that she'd be at work, that she wouldn't want to have a lesson in the middle of the day because she was busy, but we went anyways, she was home and wanted to have a lesson, so we taught about how much Heavenly Father loves His children and the two great commandments are to love the Lord with all thy heart, and to love thy neighbor as thyself. After we finished the lesson she told us how she really needed to hear this because she was she was struggling with her job because this co-worker was trying to pressure her into doing foolish things. We talked about that a bit and she realized that that being mad at her coworker wouldn't be the right thing to do and that ignoring this person rather than leaving her job angry would be better for her and her family. All of that from a simple thought of "Go see M". Crazy.

Experience number two- Sunday night after the D's we didn't have any solid appointments so we went to check on Sis. S because she wasn't at church that day and we were going to have a referral lesson with her. When we got there she was getting her hair done (and it takes forever for Caribbean women to get their hair done) but she fed us a second dinner and we waited till she was finished so we could have this lesson. The first half of the lesson I felt wasn't very good, there were lots of distractions outside and the Spirit wasn't there. I said a silent prayer that things would calm down up the street so everyone could stay focused. By the end of the lesson, Sis. S had this shocked look on her face as we asked her to pray about people that she knows that are prepared to hear the gospel and then she said "You missionaries always seem to come at just the right time because this morning I had the thought of a man I want you to teach but I kept second guessing myself." Music to our ears! I'm grateful for the lessons Heavenly Father has taught me this week.

Ok, so I don't know a lick about the insides of any of those cars, but I've seen them all driving around Nassau and Freeport and by sheer looks alone, I'd go with either a Toyota Forerunner or the Nissan Pathfinder. Sister K in Freeport has a Pathfinder and that thing is SWEET! There, that's my shallow two cents about you're next car. Actually, I take that all back. 2013 white Range Rover. Go big or go home haha 

I'm so pumped Jaren is headed to New Jersey! That is so awesome. Will you call him today and get his mission email from him so I can email him? 

Those plans for the summer sound like fun! Don't forget you've got an extra set of hands to help with all those things come mid- July :) Did you say that Bro. Gilson is planning on adding onto his house? Tell him to wait until I get home and I'll give him a hand, me and ol' Gilson, like the olden days haha Finish up a good days work, flip on some Jimmy Hendrix and shoot stories back and forth just as fast as he's shooting the 8 ball into the corner pocket to kick my butt for the 15th straight game. 

Well I love you momma! It's nuts that it's February already. I bought two white shirts about a month ago and Elder Hitchcock sent me back to Nassau with one of his that's in good shape- When we shop for Mac and his mission we won't be buying Walmart shirts and shoes haha I Love you!! 

Elder Romney