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

crazy/temporary transfers, a baptism, & lots of pics

Happy Monday!

ROBBIE IS HOME!!! That blows my mind. Mind blown. The picture you sent of Skauf, Ty, Rob and Jaren was sweet, miss those guys! 

So I'm going to cut right to the chase- we got transfer calls! And once again, mind blown. Usually we get them Saturday morning from the Zone Leaders, so Friday night we were just at home, it was about 10:15, and the phone rings... Elder Worley answers it and it's President Hendricks. President Hendricks only calls transfer calls if there is some serious moving going around. But, the new plan is this: Elder Worley will be leaving tomorrow morning to go back to Kingston to be the new AP! I'm super excited for him, that will be sweet. Right in the heart of Kingston, get's to be around President, he'll get to come back to Nassau for Zone Conference, it's going to be great. As for me... I will ALSO be leaving tomorrow morning. I'm going to Freeport to be with Elder Hitchcock for who knows how long. Basically what has happened is that Elder Taylor's work permit has expired he's been in Freeport so long, so he has to leave Freeport, Elder Worley has to go back and replace Elder McCready as the Assistant, and the paper work for Elder Weldon going to Freeport and Elder Gurr coming here isn't done. Bro. D is having a meeting with the head of immigration in about an hour to see why it's taking so long to get anything done, we will see if he can speed things up. Freeport branch can't function without missionaries, so I'm leaving Nassau instead of Elder Hitchcock coming here. So I will be in Freeport until the paper work comes through. That could be one week, one month, 6 weeks, we don't know. The way things have been going I could very well spend a whole transfer there and not come back to Nassau, we just don't know. I think my stay in Freeport will be relativity short, but no matter how long it is I'm excited to spend some time on a different island with Elder Hitchcock. No missionaries have ever done that minus one missionary a couple years ago because it was an emergency transfer. I'm pretty pumped even if it's just for a little bit. We've been running around like chickens with our heads lopped off trying to see everyone, have them sign our journals, and then get everything in order to have our house empty for an unknown time. So yep, that's transfers! I'm so grateful for the time I've had here. In saying goodbyes I realize how much Nassau has changed my life. Super cliche, but I'm over it. This is home. I don't want to leave, but hopefully I'll be back soon enough to show Elder Gurr. We've made some great friends here and there's been a lot of good done in Nassau. I can't picture my mission without this 8 months. 

So Elder Taylor is going to Santa Cruz to finish his mission as a Zone leader there, Elder Worley to Kingston to be the AP, me to Freeport with Elder Hitchcock- other than that I don't hardly know any other missionaries back in Jamaica. But that's the Baha Men update! 

Amidst all the transfer calls and craziness, E was baptized yesterday! It was so great. Saturday night we went over to check up with him, when we asked him if he was excited he said in his broken English, Haitian accent "Oh yes, it's wike when da wittle kids awe waiting for da Christmas or da birthday, dis is betta den da Christmas for me." :) It was great. He asked if I would do the baptism. Baptizing people you've taught is always special. When we told him we were leaving Tuesday he didn't believe us. It's such a bummer for him getting baptized and we won't even be here for the confirmation, but he's got a solid support system in the branch, he will be alright. I'll still be able to call him from Freeport and make sure he's doing alright. Funny aspect of this baptism- I totally forgot my baptism clothes, a towel, and underwear.... so me and E rocked the jumpsuits together and I was a bit soggy after my paper towel pat down back into soggy unders. Elder Worley and M gave me a pretty hard time about that one. 

The English class went really well. Teaching English is hard, much different than I thought. And since I kinda horsed my Spanish classes, I hardly remember what conjugating is or anything else about learning a language. President F will teach the class while we are gone, he used to teach French and his English is good enough to teach it. I hope that goes well in our absence. 

Saturday morning there was a big walk for breast cancer around paradise island, so we went! It was fun, we went with Bro. D, his daughter S, and  A, a girl in the branch. It was fun! I'm sending you the race t shirt! :) 

That's nuts about Lance Armstrong. Just makes you wonder who's next I guess. 

Well we've got to go and try and see everyone before tonight. We've gotten so much food in the last 24 hours, it's ridiculous. We are going out with E for dinner, then to the E's for second dinner... buckle up belly, it's about to get full. 

I'll attach pictures in another email. I love you!! 

Elder Romney 

AWESOME week

Good morning! 

Ok, I hope that when I get home we get to have just as much fun going to hockey games and things as you guys are now! My family is a bunch of party animals! :) I'm glad Mac's scope went well, there's got to be a merit badge that he can get from all the doctors visits he's made. Maybe for the Doctors merit badge you have to have like 10 visits to the Doc, kinda like for the camping merit badge you have to have 20 camp outs- two birds with one stone!  

Trunky? What's that? :) My trunk is un-packed, don't you worry. 

 What a week in the Bahamas! We have been so busy the past week, it's been really nice. We have had so much going on, hopefully I get it all in.

So first, secret santa! That was really fun for Elder Worley and I. We decided that instead of getting little presents for all the girls (which would get really really expensive) we would buy them a ton of food and candy and treats. So Monday night we did the shopping and realized that $100 buys SO much food! So we called another audible and split everything three ways, one for each set of girls and then G's family as well. So we buy all the food (see picture) and buy three laundry baskets to put them in. We rendezvoused back at the church, slapped everything together, whipped up a cutesy little note and were one our way under cover style to make the deliveries. We quickly realized that Secret Santa in the ghetto of the Bahamas is much different than Secret Santa back home. First we went to G's house. I videoed all the drop off's but I think they are too big to send in an email. Anyways, as we are walking to the door, we walk past a car and one of her older daughters is in it! AH! BUSTED! She opens the door and says "Hello, whatcha got there??" Trying to play it cool and act as if it's normal to walk around with laundry baskets full of goodies, we cut our loses... here's about how the conversation went:

G's daughter: "Hey! Whatcha got there?"

Us: "Oh hey how's it going? Hows your night?"

G's daughter: "I'm doing well, what's in the basket? (she's chuckling)" 

Us: "Oh ya know... just some stuff.... uh... alright, we need a favor. Can you keep a secret?"

G's daughter: "Yes"

Us: "We were never here... you never saw us..."

Then we dashed up to the doorstep, knocked the door and bolted back to the car. TOTALLY busted on try number one.

Second we went to M and those girls, in a little more rough neck of the woods. They live in a second story apartment so we walk up the stairs, knock on the door and the girls ask who is it... M is at work and she's trained the girls very well not to answer the door when she's not home. Hosed again!! So we knocked again and they still won't budge. By this time, I'm down in the parking lot below videoing this whole thing, Elder Worley is up above, and their neighbor comes out wondering what the heck is going on. Elder Worley whips up a plan and tells M's neighbor (who we are friends with) to knock on the door after we leave and tell the girls that you just saw this basket outside of their house, but NOT to tell them it was us. Well, being the 18 year old girl she is, she told them it was us.... busted again. We still deny it was us. 

Third time's a charm, right? Now we head to the other girls house, it the most hood of the three. We park the car out by this abandoned warehouse, take a look down the road and there is a party going on right outside their house! For all we know it could be them sitting right outside! So we do a drive by, discover that its the house next door and the girls aren't outside. So in the most nonchalant way possible, we walk past the party with this big basket, walk back to their apartment door, and they are all sitting right there in the living room! And the sheet covering the window is super thin! AHHH! We knock, and straight sprint through the ghetto past the party, jump past the car and take off undetected. I'm sure that was quite the scene from the neighbor's house, two missionaries running through the streets... but we got a clean getaway. They think it's us, but yet again we still deny it. They loved the gift though, they were super surprised. They had all kept the note and tried to use it as evidence that it was us who dropped it off. Super cute :) We felt so good afterwords. The scriptures are right- charity never faileth. That was a great experience for the both of us!

The next big thing was zone conference. Third and (maybe) the final one in Nassau! IT was a great couple days. Thursday morning Elder Taylor and Hitchcock flew in. Hands down three of my best friends and those two and Elder Worley. It sounds super corny, but each one of them has had a profound impact on my life, I don't think I could become the person I want to be or that my Saviour want's me to be without spending significant time with each of those guys. We had a great lesson with E that day, found a couple new investigators, it was really good. Being with other missionaries is really weird, especially when Friday rolled around and the Turks elders came in, then friday night when the AP's and President and Sister Hendricks came. So many missionaries! It's only like 8, but still feels like a lot when its just you and your companion for 7 months on your own island. Friday night we had the sweetest branch activity. M and the girls came, D was there, M, another girl from C (the store that is member run and M, D, M, W, and B work at) was there named C. I invited her out on Friday afternoon when we were in there and she actually came so that was cool. Elder Worley and I had to leave right as everyone was showing up, had to pick up President and the Assistants. Kind of a bust, but we left Elder Taylor and Elder Hitchcock there to hold down the fort. It just goes to show that when an investigator has fellowship from the branch, they enjoy church and activities regardless of whether of not their own missionaries are there. Love that! 

As for the actual zone conference, it went really well. It's set up so nicely. We get a report on how the mission is doing, President teaches about a doctrine, and then we have a training. it's about a 4 and a half, 5 hour meeting, but I always learn so much. Since President has instituted the Standards of Excellence, which I haven't mentioned a lot, but in a recap basically the Standards of Excellence and goals made to help raise our vision and increase our faith. They are 1. 300 baptisms a year- meaning each zone has a baptism every week and each companionship has a baptism every month. 2. Always have a progressing investigator (a progressing investigator is one who has been taught two or more lessons, keeps all their commitments and has a baptism date). 3. Never attend a church meeting (including firesides, activities, etc.) without an investigator, and to never miss a church meeting. So since those things have been instituted in October, we've seen growth in our mission. Whoo hoo!  It's only been three months and we have a long ways to go, but its at least something. President taught more about the Godhead and how if our investigators are confused about who God is, they can't receive an answer to their prayers if the Book of Mormon is true. The Assistants talked about finding while we teach and teaching while we find. That's something Elder worley and I have been doing pretty much the whole time in Nassau, talking to everyone in any situation. The most awkward and ineffective way to talk about the gospel is knocking on a door. There's nothing natural about it. Roaming is the way to do it!

At the end of Zone Conference, missionaries who will be going home before the next zone conference bear their testimony. It was Elder McCready, Elder Ferrin, and Elder Taylor. Elder Taylor's testimony had me, Elder Worley and Elder Hitchcock tearing up. As soon as he said that he was grateful to have been able to serve with the three of us at one point or another on his mission and that we can all end up back here for his final zone conference and how we are three of his best friends he's had, we all lost it. Gonna miss that fella, he's got one more transfer and he's done. 

So yes, it was a fanstastic week. This we will be busy. We are teaching that English class Tuesday at 7. K from the Haitian radio station called Saturday telling us that he's had over 20 people call and confirm their attendance to the class... going to be quite the experience! We ordered that daily dose DVD but it won't be here by tomorrow so we are putting together a first lesson. That will be sweet, we have a fireside Friday evening, and then Saturday morning we get transfer calls! I have a feeling that Elder Worley and I aren't going anywhere... paper work still isn't done, so that would mean 9 months with him and almost 11 months in Nassau after it's all said and done. We will see. 

That's so nuts Robbie is home soon! Please snap a pic of that fella and I already told him if he wants to go nuts on my CD's he can. So if he asks, give the boy the CD's. That' is so crazy all the missionaries leaving! 

Well Momma have a great week. I really appreciate the emails every week, and HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY! I totally remembered that it was your birthday on the 9th and I told Elder Worley last monday not to let me forget to tell you happy birthday... totally horsed that one. So happy late birthday mom! I hope it was fantastic. I love you!! 

Elder Romney

New investigators and spending a few hours at Sandals

Well hey there Momma!

We are playing secret santa tonight! After we get done emailing we are going to go buy the stuff, put it all together and then make the deliveries. hopefully it all works out, one set of girls lives in an apartment complex in a rougher area and the other has a house in the same part of town. We will have to be sure they answer or someone will for sure steal all the stuff. Good thing Elder Worley and I are so quick and agile from all the excercise we've been doing! Haven't missed a day yet, (besides Saturday because we were starting our fast, and Sundays). We're excited for the secret santa thing, should work out nicely! 

I'm feeling much better, thank you. The sore throat and coughing is gone, just the remnant of a runny nose and that's about it. C, a former investigator (the one we met at Wendy's my first day here) gave me a big thing of cough syrup (yuck) and some Vicks lozenges. She's such an awesome lady, I'm glad we've been able to keep a good relationship with her despite her not being ready for the gospel. She invited us to her daughters 13th birthday party which was yesterday. We had actually kinda forgot about it, thankfully we had planned to go check up on C that night! We showed up and there was a house full of guests, right as we walk in the atmosphere in the room just got stale people were thinking "Who invited the Mormon missionaries??". Safe to say that within a half an hour we were the only one's left... missionaries sure know how to clear out a room! Maybe they thought we were going to sit down and have a lesson so they all bolted before the opening prayer, either way, kinda funny. C is great. 

Church was fantastic yet again. I think Sunday has become my favorite day. Especially when you have investigators at church. It's discouraging when no one you've invited comes, but this week was another awesome week. E, Bro. D, Sis. B, were all at church!

We have a couple new investigators! Whoo hoo!! We got to church about 9:20 and a woman was dropped off who I'd never met. Her name is K and she works for Bro. O (a Canadian that has a house out here- he's one of the best lawyers in all of Canada and owns 1000+ acres there of bison farms.) He invited K to church. Also knows President F . I had a great conversation with K, turns out she's Jamaican, lived outside of High gate her whole life, and her son and daughter who are going to college in Kingston have been attending our church there for 7-8 months! After church K said she loved church so much and will be coming back for a long time, especially since her son loves it and wants to be a missionary! What a tender mercy from the Lord- pretty cool. We don't know if her son is baptized, we are going to find out tonight. She's great!

S is another new investigator. We were checking our phone bill at the mall Thursday and he was just there, saw my tag and asked if I was related to Mitt. We had a good little conversation and got a return appointment for Saturday. Saturday rolls around and he lives out in the BOONIES of Nassau- like 15 miles away on the south part of the Island. It was a wild goose chase trying to find his house but we found it and had a really great lesson with him. He has worked for Sandals for 17 years and is leaving at the end of this month to go to Negril Sandals and work there. He's the manager of the photo shop there. Super cool guy, really has a lot going for him. Very intelligent, hard working, knowledgeable, cool guy. When he told us about working at Sandals we asked about why it was so inclusive and why visitors can't enter- that's when he said "I can get you in for a day if you'd like- free food, tour of the place, whole nine yards." Uh.... YEAH! So we just got back from there, Sandals gets the nod of approval. That place is awesome! the buffet was something else to- I've got a massive food baby right now. Two words. Creme. Brule'. It was nice. Kinda awkward being that Elder Worley and I were the only two dudes eating together since its a couples resort... then the Sandals guy wanted to take our pictures on the beach and by the pool.... nah man... I'll pass... but he snapped a few anyway haha Just singles though.. still a lot of fun. S is the man. Being friendly to people goes a long way! Now he has the opportunity to hear the gospel and we got to check out Sandals- win win. 

This week will be fantastic. It's zone conference again! Round three in Nassau. It's always nice to see other missionaries- its a huge booster. You don't realize how secluded being on your island is until you see other missionaries and you say "Oh ya, this is usually how it is". Going to be great! 

I like the 5k the Romney way idea! That would be fun, I'm in. Tell Gma not to sweat it the emails, I love her! Yesterday I hit my 18 month mark... weird, eh? 18 months ago I was in the MTC going "oh boy... this is new". Time is flying! I got an email from T-Cox! Sounds like that fella is doing really well, loving his mission. That's good news. 

Mac is a trooper- pin the blue ribbon upon his chest! 

I like what you said about miracles. Yesterday while the sacrament was being passed and just thinking about what I was fasting for, I flipped open my scriptures and i opened right up to Moroni 7. That's one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon. Anyone who thinks miracles have ceased- give this a read. It strengthens my faith every time I read it. "And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me." Time to buck up and have more faith! 

I love you! 

Elder Romney

Junkanoo celebrations, cars for guests at Sandals, J lounging on P-Day and more junkanoo celebrations

Time marches on

Good Morning! Happy almost new year! 

It was so good to see you guys! I'm not kidding when I say that everyone is looking older. Except you mom, you don't look a day over 35 ;) Mac's voice totally threw me off! I thought he was joking when he first started talking! Sometimes I feel like im stuck in time. In my head everyone looks and is the same age as when I left, but 'tis not so! Life goes on everywhere. I look at pictures of Elder Nelson and I in Maypen and it's so crazy to think that that was over a year ago. Time moves on whether or not you want it to! I'm glad you guys are doing so well. ROBBIE GETS HOME in a few weeks???? Oh boy... that is something. I'm gonna have to shoot that fella an email. If he gets home then, when do Mark and Shane get home? Mark left in April didn't he? Crazy to think we are on the downhill slope. AH! 

We are really excited for the secret santa! We decided we are going to both sets of girls. We don't know what to get them yet, but it's gonna have to be the same thing for each house or there will be some disappointed girls. We are stoked! It will be a lot of fun. Thanks for letting us do this- this is going to be really cool.

We had some really good things happen this week despite a few hangups. I've caught my annual winter cold (the same one I've got every winter since 7th grade). Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday it was the uncontrollable face explosions (otherwise known as sneezes) and the achy muscles, Saturday and Sunday it's been the croupy cough, but just like always it's gone after about a week and I can enjoy the rest of the year sickness free. It hasn't hindered any of our work though. I've developed this mentality that basically unless you're in the hospital there's no reason to stay home sick. Wash you hands, bring the hand sanitize, pull up your socks and go to work. Elder Worley has been disinfecting and sanitizing everything I touch trying not to get sick- didn't work haha he's got the sniffles now. But we had a great week, here are a few highlights-

Friday night there was a party at the church for a Haitian radio station. Two members here are apart of it so they used the church the location for the function. Elder Worley and I had shown up about 15 minutes before 7 to drop off some mail and former branch president  showed up and we had a good chat with him. As standard Caribbean time goes, he was there at 7 and no one else was, so he left but she told us we should stick around and see if we could advertise the church on the radio station. We had been talking about it earlier as well so we decided to do that. We're going to be teaching an English class every Tuesday starting the 15th, so having that announced on a creole radio station is perfect. The party didn't start till about quarter to nine but we were able to talk to the host of the show and get his number, he is more than happy to help us with anything we need. That's a big break for us. Now we just need to figure out how to teach English...

While we were waiting to talk to K (the host) there was a girl out in the foyer and we just started talking to her. She was pretty quiet, pretty reserved, not super talkative, but I just felt like there was something she needed to tell us and we needed to share with her. She was a super cool girl, junior in high school, wants to be a doctor, has some great plans for the future, just started going to a church because she knows she needs to be in church, very different from most 16 year old girls in the Bahamas. I asked about her family and she said she lives with her Aunty and brother and has 3 siblings in Haiti. Then she told us her mom died two years ago and she's never known her Dad. We were able to share a few simple truths of the Plan of Salvation with her and you could just see a sense of comfort come into her eyes as we talked- just someone to talk to and someone to just listen. I've become a professional listener on my mission. For some reason people just open up when we talked to them. I don't know if it's because I'm a missionary or what but sometimes I feel like there is a sign on my head that says "You can confide in me, I'll listen". It's a good thing. I enjoy it. Within 20 minutes of just meeting people they are laying out their life story and their fears, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to bring the gospel to them. 

Saturday night we were driving around visiting people in one part of town and we had the thought to go and visit Sis. S, a member the opposite way. It wasn't this grand overpowering of the Spirit, it was just a thought. So we rolled over there, we are good friends with her and her family, really just going over there to see how their Christmas was and make sure they were doing alright. After about 20 minutes of giggles and Christmas recaps, Sis. S told the kiddo's to go inside and she shared some pretty personal things. She did most of the talking and when she was finished  we shared with her what we knew would help her as directed by the Spirit. She told us we were an answer to her prayers that night and that because we came, she knew Christ was aware of her. :) I love being a missionary. At any given point you can be teaching any doctrine to anyone, and if you aren't in tune with the Spirit someone else is going to suffer. Awesome.

E was at church, he's still a boss. D had to work this Sunday but hopefully we can see her soon. It's P-day and usually roll down to Cariloha and see wa gwaan so we will see her. This morning we went over to the D's and I cut M's hair. I bought a pair of clippers about 2 months ago so we did that this morning. He's a funny kid. He's 14  and super cool. We love that family. After cutting his mop top (he's rocking the Elder Romney cut now, except a comb over on top) Chef fed us lunch and we had a fat bowl of ice cream... yum! But we are gung ho about the new years resolutions over here. Time to shape up! Spiritually and physically. I'm really excited for this last 6 months. Gonna be great! 

Yes I heard about the new curriculum for the church, sounds like it will be fantastic. A lot different than it used to be. The church is stepping up their game! Good work President Monson, you have the Romney seal of approval. 

Well I love you! Hope you have a great new years!! 

Elder Romney

What truly matters

Merry Christmas Eve morning!!

You guys look great in the Bahamas gear! I'm so glad the package made it. I'm looking at last years picture of you guys in the Bob Marley stuff and comparing- everyone still looks great! haha Macky is starting to look like a young man instead of a little boy and it's starting to scare me a bit. Watch out ladies- Cheeseball is growing up. I'm glad you like the stuff. I realize that I love to spend money- that hasn't changed, but I like spending money on you guys more. I think about your reactions when you open them or if the girls would actually wear the stuff to school, I've enjoying shopping for you! It's about the only time I feel like a tourist here. Unless they try and charge you to much- then you pull the "Uh, I live here, can't pull the wooly over my eyes bwoy!"

I think the ding dong ditch to a family would be awesome. We will talk about it and make it special for someone. 

Well I'll save most of the chit chat for Wednesday, but I just want to share an experience I had in Sacrament meeting yesterday. We got to church a little earlier than usual to make sure everything was straight for church, and I just felt so full of joy. The word happy wouldn't do justice to my feelings yesterday. We were planning on having two investigators at church- D said she was coming and E as well. Church was getting close to start, people are usually late, it's safe to say I've never been so ancy or anxious waiting for investigators to come. It's not that I doubt that they will come, but so many times their ride bails or they can't catch the bus. But about 5 minutes before church started, D showed up and I was just so thrilled. SO THRILLED. 5 minutes after the meeting started, E came and I just felt at peace. They have friends in the branch, they are sincere seekers of truth.  When we saw D saturday night she said she was going to catch the bus early so she didn't have to rely on anyone else for a ride. She understands how important church is. E- that guy is ready for church by like 8:30 waiting for his ride every Sunday. Awesome. 

Yesterday after church we went to the little girls' house and sang Christmas carols while I played the guitar. We were leaning against an old broken down car, a party full of drunks next door, police sirens blaring past us, but in that little circle of 5 there was hope and happiness. We were laughing, making up silly songs, singing their favorite Christmas songs, it seemed almost surreal.  These are the same little girls that asked what it was like to get a Christmas present, but for that 45 minutes none of that really mattered. I think of when Christ visits the Nephites in the Book of Mormon and blesses all the little children. I don't picture Christ checking his watch saying "Well times up kids, love to stay but I've got more important things to do". I have a testimony that as we do little things for people, whether it be going to their house with the choir and singing for someone sick or smiling at someone and asking how their day was, that is when Christ is closest to us. If charity is the pure love of Christ, why do we turn up our nose when an opportunity to serve comes along? Everyday we should be looking for ways to do what Christ would do if he were here. We ask everyone if they are excited for Christmas and it is so sad that nobody cares anyone. Out of the probably 50 people, maybe 1 has mentioned they are grateful for the season or excited for Christmas. When we ask why they aren't, you find out clearly that people really miss the whole picture of why we celebrate Christmas. So go do something nice for someone today!

I love you Mom!! I can't wait to talk to you on boxing day!! 

Elder Romney 

Twas the week before Christmas! Lots of pics

Good morning!

ONLY 8 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS! AHHH! I guess you could say I'm a wee bit excited. I seriously don't even know where the time has gone. No idea. I still feel like I just got to Nassau.... I've been here coming up in over 6 months! And Christmas is in 8 days? It never ceases to amaze me how time flies. President Hendricks asked me in our interview the other day if it seemed like my mission was flying by or going slow. He said something that surprised me. When I told him how fast it was going he said "Good."... Good? Then he expounded a bit by saying "I find that missionaries who are enjoying their missions and want to be here say their missions feel like their going fast. That's a healthy sign." Well, consider me the healthiest horse in all the land because it's cruising right along. 

Speaking of cruising, Yes, I got Sis. Evans email! When I read it Elder Worley said "Your Mom probably freaked out when that happened!" Was there a freak out? I think it's funny Dad thought you would want to cancel your Christmas plans because our phone call couldn't happen on Christmas Day. No worries, Boxing Day will be just fine. I'll Skype from the church, that way we aren't bothering the E's or D's two days in a row.  The internet connection here is really good, we got it fixed a while ago. That will work out perfect because we have district meeting Wednesday morning from about 10 -12, grab a bite to eat and chat to you guys!  Make sure you take lots and lots of pictures! I lost one of the rechargeable batteries for my camera and went through a set just for the Battle for Atlantis, gonna have to grab some more for Christmas pictures! 

Have you got my package in the mail yet?? I sent it in the beginning of November... if it gets lost in the mail I will be sooooooooo bummed. So so bummed. 

This week was one of our best weeks in quite a while. There were a lot of good things that happened and not many bad things. Good things - bad things = good week. One thing Elder Worley and I are doing is teaching a man how to speak English. It's a completely new thing for me, I'm not sure how great of teachers we are... but we are trying. His name is W, he's 35, married in the temple, his Father has lived here for 14 years. Bro. R (W dad) has 10 kids, most in Haiti, but they are a super family in the church. He's had like 4 sons serve missions, W served in the District presidency there, super stars in the gospel.  It's hard to do anything in the church when you can't speak the language. So about twice a week we teach both of them some English. At first we weren't sure what to do but we thought about it and came to the conclusion that the best thing for both of them would be to learn first how to pray and maybe recite the Sacrament prayers so the can participate in meetings. And to speak in as much English as possible to each other- which isn't much- but it's hard to learn a language when you're only speaking it a couple hours out of a week and the rest of the time you're speaking creole. So that's been a task as of lately, it's going well. W is making progress.  When we teach it's just like teaching the gospel- very, very simply. Which is how it should be. No point in teaching complicated when people aren't going to understand it. 

Another cool thing that happened this week was... we got a referral! Who actually wants to meet with us! We were out at DHL picking up a package and we got a call from a member who lives near by and she said she had someone she wanted us to teach. So we rolled over there and met K. A super nice lady and has a little boy. Very sincere. We went back to meet with her Saturday but she was a bit tied up so we are going back Tuesday. But we were able to have a really great sit down lesson with her the first time we met her. Not even really a lesson, more like an initial overview of what she's looking for and what we believe. It was nice. 

We met up with a guy named A this week. We met two weeks ago while walking to the immigration office while our car was being serviced. Super cool guy, got some big plans in life. We set up a time to meet with him and had a great lesson. As of lately, sit down lessons are so scarce it's so refreshing to have them. We were just talking about life and his plans and just like Elder Holland said, something always ties into a principle of the gospel. Everything A was saying was tying into the gospel- his questions, his concerns, it's one of those feelings like when you're in the MTC and just learning how to teach and it's all laid out there so you don't miss it. Kinda like teaching C, everything seemed perfect. He wants to marry his girlfriend and have a family, wants to provide a good life for her and their eventual kids, looking for the purpose of life... great time to run into the missionaries! He's leaving right after Christmas to go to a community college in Arkansas and then eventually to University of Arkansas to be an engineer- the Little Rock, Arkansas mission is going to be getting a great refferal in a couple weeks!

E is doing well! He was at church yesterday, we've moved his date back to January 13th. We had a great lesson on the word of wisdom and law of chastity. No problems.  I remember at the first of my mission teaching the law of chastity was so awkward... you got kinda squirmy explaining it. Just because it's something totally new you're talking about. The Caribbean culture is completely opposite of the law of chastity. You've just met this person and you're going to tell them to stop having sex with their significant other who they are not married to or to stop watching pornography, when their whole life it hasn't been a bad thing. 17 months later, teaching the law of chastity is the easiest thing to teach. It's so simple. Do things in God's order and you will be blessed. Cut and dry. The hard part comes in when you're helping them overcome their old habits. 

We had an AMAZING branch Christmas party! I'll get the pictures from Elder Worley, it was so sweet!! The best branch function of my mission yet. There was probably 90 people there, great food, great people, great conversation, it was great! When the food was served we went Pryor's waiter style and were doing drinks and getting people food, it was awesome. That's something that's always stuck with me, among many things from working at the restaurant, is Capri and Kevin saying "Whatever you do, make sure everyone's drink is full. Full drinks = happy customers". It's true, I had a two liter of soda in each hand and was going to town on the drink full up! It was lots of fun, we performed two songs. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on the guitar and then the First Noel with me on the ax and Elder Worley on the keys- turned out nice. There was a full PA system and mixing board and everything so the sound was good. I love playing and singing for people. You couldn't catch me singing unless it was with the band before now- a mission changes many aspects of your life for sure! It was really good for our missionary work too - not the singing part, but the party- Bro. D was there, a few potential investigators came, a ton of less actives showed up, it was really great. 

As far as working out and eating healthy, last week got away from us. BUT! We've re-grouped and are ready to be perfect this week. 

As far as Sacrament meeting goes, they do a great job here. Things run how they should, nothing out of the ordinary. We always stand and sing an intermediate number, that's a little different, no musical numbers from members. There is a choir but they've only performed once in the 6 months I've been here. Every once in a while something will pop up that isn't the norm but the leaders are good at being on top of things. The biggest difference is starting on time. They've been doing a good job as of lately of starting right at 10, but there are like 15 people in the chapel at 10, and by the end of Sacrament meeting you've got about 100. There isn't a huge sense of timeliness in the Caribbean. 

I miss the Pryor's crew! I had to take a second to realize that it was MJ - I'm used to seeing a pregnant MJ haha Is anyone new working there? When I left it was Kev, Capri, Missy, MJ, Cheryl, Morgan, Pam, and a new girl who's name escapes me at the moment, I think that was it. They're looking good though, the last two months I've had the biggest craving for a Fish Taco - nobody does it like Pryor's! 

I'll attach some pics in a different email. I love you!! Talk to you in 8 days!! 

Elder Romney 

Ward Christmas Party

Happy Missionary

A potential band member?

TCBY Frozen Yogurt!

J's Homies!

Anonymous Angel

Ward Christmas Party

Young Men and Young Women skit

Horns in every country

Ward members

Ummm this is sparkling cider!!!!!

Relax J it is just cider!

chillin'

Ward Christmas Party

Transfers...

Good morning! 

Your week sounds so crazy! Trips to the DOL always turn out to be quite the experience though, eh? Two government agencies in one day is almost to much to handle. At least you had really nice people helping you out, that makes all the difference. We've learned to plan at least an hour and a bit for trips to the immigration office here- take a number and wait it out! We were filing papers for someone once and so we head out to DHL to get the papers that Jamaica sent, then drive all the way back to immigration, get out of the car and realize that we forgot to buy the $10 stamp required to sent the forms wherever they send them! Back into the car, drive to the post office, back to immigration, wait it out.... I feel your pain! It's so interesting though, many times these trips to immigration or other errands we have to run for the office turn out more fruitful for missionary work than knocking doors. It makes sense- if you have the mindset of always finding wherever you are, going to immigration or to the bank or wherever is a perfect opportunity, there's people everywhere! 

Should I be worried that everyone in my family seems to have something wrong with their health or is this normal? When I left everyone seemed punky dory and now Mackie is a fire breathing dragon and having camera's put down is eso-fagus and I don't really remember what a thyroid does but it sounds unpleasant. I hope you guys stay healthy and the doctors can figure out what's up. 

Luke and Jared are leaving??? That is so weird- I remember sitting in a Stake Youth meeting of some sort with Jared and we were talking about how when he goes on his mission I will have already been out for almost a year and a half- here we are! Bonkers. 

As for my week, it was alright. Not the best week but not the worst either. We got transfer calls on Saturday and.... da da da da.... Elder Worley and I... will be together for yet another transfer! Yep, it was a bit of a shock to the both of us. We weren't sure if they were going to send him right when the papers went through but the Assistants said he will stay an entire transfer, which is until January 23rd. So, in looking at that, unless there is a whitewash in Nassau, I'll be here until March. I don't really know what's going to happen, but it looks like your Christmas package will be a St. Patrick's Day package, (which is totally fine, I'm not worried about that one bit). I'm really happy he's sticking around for one more transfer. Elder Worley is the man. I've had the best slew of companions I think of any missionary to ever exist. Nelson, Taylor, McLeod, Baird, Worley - some of my best friends. I still hear from Elder Nelson every week and Elder Montgomery as well.So yeah, that's the scoop on transfers, one more with Elder Worley and who knows how long in Nassau! 

As for as investigators go, E wasn't at church again. We weren't able to see him this week either- pretty frustrating  It's hard to be upset though because the man is trying to make it and he's got this new job, we've just gotta touch bases. I'm completely confident in E and him getting baptized. Like I've said before, he's a very intent listener and is one of those people ready for the gospel. He has already made the changes necessary so it's not like anything that he is asked to do by the Lord and his commandments is new, he's already changed his ways and now he's going to be able to reap the benefits and blessings President F actually talked to him last Sunday for about half an hour and he said E is solid and ready as well. His date will be moved back again, but there really isn't any rush. He's solid, still the man! Sister B is going to be out of town pretty much all month, her and Bro. B both.  She's such a sweet lady, very excited (as is everyone) that Elder Worley is staying another 6 weeks. 

I love the pictures! Mac is such a goof... I dig the boots little fella. I guess he's not such a little fella anymore. 

So Mom, are you totally pumped for the Skype call??? I'll email Dad and see if he has an idea of when that will be. We are going to the E's Christmas morning and the D's in the evening so either way I'll be able to Skype from either of their houses. I'm pretty confident Skype will work, I'll ask Dad to throw some money on my homecard so I can load some funds on my Skype account in case the skype doesnt work I can call your phone from Skype. The downer here is that in the Bahamas if you call anywhere but the Bahamas and Florida, its $4 a minute... so yeah... Skype will work just fine. the E's have great internet and a bunch of different ways to call (computers, tablets, etc.) It will be just fine, just need to know a time. I'm excited!

 

Well that's about it! Hope you have a fantastic week! Sorry this email took so long to get to you, while I was writing it my computer wigged out and then wouldn't let me back onto my email. Weird. Love you!!

 

Elder Romney

The Box of Trust

Good morning,

Yes, the Christmas devotional was so sweet! It's so interesting how your perception changes about General Conference and devotionals as you get older. I love listening to the General Authorities speak! Everyone's talk yesterday was so good. I think my favorite was President Uchtdorf's talk. Being a gracious receiver is totally over looked these days. I never thought about it that way but the way he used the story of Peter having is feet washed by Christ and the woman that anointed Christ's head with oil, being a gracious receiver of gifts is definitely a Christ-like attribute. President Eyring's was great too. It's so true- how much money you spend on a gift isn't what makes it special. And President Monson's talk- they were all so good! He had a quote that was something like "He who gives his money gives some, he who gives his time gives more, but he who gives himself gives all." I love Christmas! The music was so great, my favorite was "What Child is This". AH! So good! With the little flute thing going in the background I felt like it could be the music to Lord of the Rings or something. 

President Hendricks is the man. I just think about how trusting he is. If he can trust two 20 year old's on their own island in the Caribbean, how much more can I trust someone. Obviously we aren't just two 20 year olds, we're representatives of Jesus Christ, but still- he's a very trusting man. The first day on our missions in the mission home he drew a big box on a piece of paper and said something to the effect of  "This is the box of trust. It's big. You can go anywhere inside this box. If you stay in this box, you're mission will be a joyful experience. You will have opportunity's you didn't think you would have, you have my complete trust and confidence. (He was drawing a squiggly line around inside the box, then the squiggly line went outside the box) and he says "If you leave this box, you enter into another box (draws a tiny little box). This is the box of no trust. (tries to draw the line in the box- so small there isnt much space to move). There isn't much space to move around, is there? You lose a lot of freedom in this box, but you can always get back into the box of trust." It's true, that man will forgive quicker than anyone I've ever met. I had a great interview with him this week over Skype- I love listening to him teach. He's always teaching. We talked about how our teaching pool should be like an escalator, with people constantly getting on the escalator going up, rather than an elevator where you pick people up at the bottom, some people get off halfway, maybe one or two at the top but then no one else is in the elevator so you have to go back down and fill it up. Wise words! 

Interesting you should mention the huge number of missionaries coming into the field. That was actually the reason for the interview with President Hendricks. He informed us that because of the huge numbers, the MTC won't be holding the missionaries as long as I was in the MTC, therefore sending them out sooner. To accommodate this they are making one transfer in each mission anywhere from 3 weeks shorter to 3 weeks longer so they can have a better stagger in the mission field for when missionaries come in. Our mission is having a 7 weeks transfer, so one week more which means rather than getting home July 11th my mission will be one week longer, getting home July 18th. Speaking of home, I will probably be calling for Christmas from the E's house- we are going over there tonight for dinner so I'll ask them what the usual protocol is for us and phone calls on Christmas. I guess they've had the missionaries over every Christmas since the beginning of time- not bad! 

This week was pretty good. E was at church! He's such a boss. We were able to meet with him three times this week, all solid lessons. He's like a sponge. Everything we teach him he just soaks it all up. Even in Gospel Principles class Sunday, he's one of the most intent listeners I've taught on my mission. You ask him if he has questions and he usually says no and you think yikes, maybe he doesn't understand us, but then he will ask a great question or explain what you just taught in great detail- it's so refreshing to teach someone prepared. There is a huge difference between teaching someone like E who is ready to make changes, ready to act and willing to believe and pray as opposed to trying to convince someone the gospel is true. He's the man! His date has been moved back to Dec. 16th, hopefully Elder Worley is still here. That's the week after transfers and paper work has been moving super slow. We get transfer calls this Saturday so we will see.

Ya, those cookies aren't going to make it haha Especially since I might not be opening that package until the end of January if I go back to Jamaica then. Fruit loop cookies are my favorite! Last year I remember when you sent those Elder Taylor and I killed the bag in almost a night. Crazy to think this is my second Christmas away from home. 

The branch here is so sweet. It's probably the second best branch in the mission (Cayman Branch being the first). We have regular PEC meetings and Branch Council, it runs fairly smoothly. There are about 600 baptized on record but we have about 50-80 at church every Sunday. That's how many of the branches are in the Caribbean, huge size but only a small percentage active. It doesn't help that addresses, especially in Jamaica are virtually non existent so tracking people is hard. The branch actually is probably a split right down the middle between Haitians and Bahamians with a few Jamaicans and then the E's, D's and B's from the States/England.  We have tourists every week. It's such a small world, I've met people who know Uncle Brett, John Gjendems sister, a good friend of Chanda, Parish Hansons roommate at BYU who also knows Elder Randle (AP who went home a couple months ago),  it's always fun. 

This week is going to be great. Teaching E the rest of the things he needs to know, we will see Bro. D this week, hopefully Sis. B, some solid finding time, another great week in Nassau. 

Well I love you Mom! I'll let you know next week wa gwaan with the christmas call. Have a good week, don't get sick! Love you! 

Elder Romney

Thanksgiving-no turkey, but a b-ball tourney, lots of pics!

Happy Thanksgiving/Merry early Christmas!

Great pictures!! It looks like Thanksgiving was a hit yet again. I think Thanksgiving and Christmas have to be my top two favorite holidays, next two Arbor Day and Boxing Day of course. Looking at the pictures you sent, Cameron is huge!! That guy is so tall! He's gotta be at least 6 feet tall? Yikes, whatever he's eating, I'll take what he's having. Everyone is starting to look so grown up. It's a little scary!

I don't even know where to start in describing the AWESOMENESS of Thanksgiving here. The tourney was probably the coolest extra curricular thing I've done on my mission. I took like 200 and something pictures and a bunch of video's, it was well documented. The gates didn't open until 12 but we got to Atlantis early to see what was going on. They did that place up right! Huge posters of the teams, other fancy things, they know how to have a basketball tournament. After walking around for a big we just sat on a bench in the main lobby and were on the look out for teams walking through- not hard to spot them. We saw Stanford, Missouri, Northern Iowa, Minnesota, Louisville and Duke all walk through, got them all on video, I felt like such a stalker haha the coolest thing though! Elder Worley is a die hard Duke fan (so I played the part for a day, I can respect Coach K as one of the greats) and we were sitting on this bench and we see some of the managers from Duke walk past... so we get up and head down the hall to see if Duke is on there way. Sure enough, strolling down the hall is the entire team. I was videoing them walking past and then we saw Coach K! Right there! 10 feet from us! So we had to hail him up! We probably looked like goons but we were standing there and all that came out was "Coach K!" and he gave us a fist pump! Yes, Coach K acknowledged mine and Elder Worley's existence with a fist pump. It was subtle, but it's on camera documented as the day Coach K fist pumped the missionaries. We still believe our hail up to Coach K gave Duke the motivation to win the tourney haha It was so much fun. We had awesome seats. 7 Rows up to the left of the basket. They played the games inside the grand ballroom. It was a super cool atmosphere. It was a pretty low ceiling and the place was packed so it was a big game feel in a little area. I'll be sure to send pictures. It was such a good time, if you would've asked me 5 years ago where I thought I'd be at on my mission I can guarantee I wouldn't say in the Bahamas watching some of the best teams in the nation play. Great time!

The week other than the tourney was pretty decent. We got to see E which was good. He wasn't at church again this week- we are seeing him Tuesday to see what's up. I really think it's more of a logistics issue than a testimony issue. He's got this new job, he was in a car accident so his car isn't running, we just need to regroup with him and make a plan for him to be at church. He was all about it when we saw him Wednesday. We had a great lesson with him about how the Book of Mormon fits into the gospel and why it's necessary.  We read scriptures about how it prophesies of Christ and how it's entire roll is to be that second witness that he is the son of God. E is one of those guys that is a believer. We asked him if he prayed about the Book of Mormon to see if it's true and he said "I have, but it's pretty obvious that it is. Reading it makes me believe that it's true." That's pretty fantastic. We explained that it's important to have that spiritual witness as well, I'm confident he kept his commitment to pray and ask. 

J is doing really well still. He's been at the final chapters of Alma for a couple weeks now and we kinda expected him to be finished with Alma by now. At first the thought was that he hasn't been reading as much as he could be, but we were wrong. One of the most common excuses we get when we asked people if they reading is "I'm really just taking it slow to get the full understanding." which interpreted is "I'm reading one verse a day because I don't want to read". Not the case with big Josh. When he said he was in chapter 59 we were like "come on big fella, gotta find time to read" And he said he was taking his time to understand it all- he sure is! We start talking about what he's been reading and he's telling us the story of Teancum and the Epistles from Moroni to the leader of the Lamanites almost word for word! He's loving the Book of Mormon, it's so true that the more you read the more you want to read. He's doing awesome, he's the second counselor in the Sunday School Presidency and he plays hall cop at church when the kids won't go to class or primary. He takes it pretty serious too, which is good. Can't blame a guy for taking his calling serious. He makes a great hall cop too, he's more like a hall shepherd. You'll see him walking down the hall with his arms spread open and a heard of primary kids swiftly walking the opposite direction and running to their class. A big fella like that demands respect! Nobody is gonna mess with him. When I try to hall shepherd kids all I get is a kick to the shins and my pen stolen... I'll leave the shepherd duties to him.

Brother D was at church! That was so awesome to see him. He's the husband of a member,  from Spanish Town Jamaica so it feels like going home when we go to their house. Bro. D is super cool. Just a chill guy, LOVES music. Holy smokes, me and this guy are two peas in a pod when it comes to music. He's really good at rapping too. We brought the guitar over when we went and saw him and he freestyles so well. I guess it's not really rapping, technically it's called DJing because it's all in Patios. Our goal is to establish a really good relationship between him and missionaries. His situation is similar to Sis. B's in that they both have been to church often and are married to strong members. It was so awesome to see him at church because he doesn't get many Sunday's off and if he does he's usually sleeping because he's working like 15 hour days every day. Baby steps!

You can probably deadlift more than I can!! I'm so out of shape, Saturday there was a Young Men's activity- BBQ and basketball. After watching all that ball I got all giddy to play... yeah... it was the weakest game of 21 I've ever participated in. Two games and I was losing my lunch... good thing there were burgers and dogs to revive my spirits! haha Elder Worley and I manned the grill as the Young Men's president had never grilled before. It was pretty tasty!

Well I love you momma! I'm glad my letter made it safe and sound, can't wait to hear back from you! 

Elder Romney