week 17

Hey there fam!

my shift key on the keyboard is sticky so i might not have the right punctuation on some things.... just to let you know! ok, questions off the top: Nope, no package from Amanda.. which makes me saaaaaaaad!! Elder Taylor and I live in a four man house with Elder Hitchcock and Elder Collucci and then the Zone leaders have the other side of Spanish Town so there is 6 missionaries here. Makes for some pretty rad P-days and days in general. We have been prankin Elders Hitchcock and Colluci pretty good... it gives everyone a laugh after a long day :) Pres. and Sis. Hendricks finish their mission about the time I finish mine too, two weeks before or something like that.

ok, SPANISH TOWN! It is awesome here, I love it already. Our branch is so awesome, there is two branches, The ZL's are in the other branch, same building though. We meet at 11:30 and we have some studs in there. Our Elder Quorum president and Mission leader come teaching with us all the time. They are so dependable, and teaching with a member present is so much more effective because the investigator already now has a connection to someone in the branch. This week smoked by but at the same time I feel like I’ve been here for month's already. since we are white washing, its like starting from scratch. We are taking the approach of using the branch and lots of referrals instead of aimlessly calling at gates all day (we don’t knock on doors, we call at the gate). And wow, talk about effective! We have four solid investigators, one of which is named R. His sister had been taught by missionaries and he would just listen and sit in but we called him up and he got to the church, found fare somehow, and knows so much about the church already. Accepted to be baptized on Nov. 20th and i can see the blessings he's already received. For one he doesn't have a job... not true anymore. Our Elder quorum pres. hooked him up, he also was at the church when a senior couple was there and they gave him a shirt and two full schoolbags of notebooks, pencils, color pencils, the whole nine yards for his two little sisters. Its awesome, its building my faith the more and more we are teaching him. He came to church Sunday as well. He was late and we were really bummed out but I was fasting for him to come to church and whala, he came for the last part of sacrament meeting and the rest of church. 17 years old and a sick kid.

White washing is new to me, but we literally talk to everyone and invite everyone to church. Everyone. Every human. It's cool. None of them came but still, there's a promise in Doctrine and Covenants that says 'open your mouth and I will give you strength that man cannot know'. Tried that this week and it works! Imagine that, the Lord keeping his promises! We are teaching another teenage guy and a couple other solid people who we are friends with now. one week here and we have been blessed like crazy. Thursday we did splits with Elder quorum pres and mission ward leader, O and I took a WALK all the way out to Thompson pen, like a two hour, two and a half hour walk out there and oh man, I’ve been sore ever since. Walking 11 hours a day will do that to ya! but my feet are getting used to walking and not bicycling again. We talk to so many more people because we walk. I dig it.

In other news, guess who's lactose intolerant?/ me! found that out after two rounds of cheesy pizza... which makes me sad, but I’m over it. It beats being up all night with runny belly. elder Taylor bought a pull up bar and I have a set of perfect pushups from E. Nelson so we are going HARD workin out everyday. I dig it also.

Well fam, things here are great. I miss Halloween for sure, you have to tell me what everyone is for it!! Love you all!!

Elder Romney

week 16

Hey!

Wow, you guys sound wicked busy. The house looks awesome! It doesn't even look like the same house! This week has been pretty crazy. I ended up not leaving Maypen until Saturday because the new Elder's Visa didn't clear, so I stayed with Elder Johnson and showed him around Maypen. Bicycling all the areas we go in three days makes me realize how huge Maypen is. Our area is the whole parish of Clarendon but we only ever go as far as Twin Palms one way, Tollgate the other way, and Hayes to make up the triangle because its about a 1 and a half to two hour bicycle ride out there one way. But it was really fun showing him around, introducing him to some investigators, he and his trainee are whitewashing so I know it was a help to him to have a guide around for 3 days before Elder Nugent got there. 

Spanish Town! President Hendricks came and picked me up Saturday afternoon and dropped of Elder Nugent to the Maypen house, and then we met up with the Zone leaders and Elder Taylor in Spanish Town. Got all unpacked, the house is nice! Washing machine, two bathrooms, a separate study room, a laundry room, kitchen, little living room space where Elder Hitchcock and Elder Colucci study, its a wicked nice house. I was so used to scrubbing out my laundry I forgot how to work a washing machine... but learned real quick :) Talk about a luxury, I love that thing. My clothes all fit properly again and aren't streched out at the neck (my t-shirts) and everything is white! whoo hoo!! Elder Taylor is a boss. I already knew him from being in the same zone and we get along great. We are excited to see what Spain holds for us as we whitewash. We had church yesterday and a meeting with the branch pres., got a couple refferals which was awesome, and are stoked to get out and meet them. We do home teaching in the branch too to the less actives so we have about 12 people to see each month. We are going about this a lot differently just because we are whitewashing I think.  We are using the branch to get refferals and being really involved with them because 80% of baptisms are from member referalls (I dont know how to spell that!) We are pumped to be here! We have a microwave here too and a way to watch a family DVD as well. 

Well I don't have much time this week to email, got lots to do! But know that Elder Romney is one happy camper in Spanish Town! Things are great, I'll have more to email about when things start picking up. Tell everyone I love them and i'll talk to you next week! 

Elder Romney

PS: halloween is not celebrated here, it is for the sake of parties in the tourist towns, but no where else... which is sad because I miss having candy at my disposal!! :)

week 15

Hey!

This week seems like such a blur! To answer your questions off the top, no, we didnt have any investigators at church that we are teaching, but we had one come from somewhere else, so at 11:15 our time Elder Nelson and I were teaching her about faith and the Word of Wisdom in Gospel Essentials class. But this week was pretty good. It rained a lot. Has there been a hurricane passing by? Because we had some biiiiig rain fall which was awesome to watch. Tuesday night I rode my bicycle in it to get home, talk about wet! It was a lot of fun though. Once you're wet, it doesn't matter how wet you get. But Iearned an important lesson: don't ride through puddles because puddles equal covered up pot holes... yeah... ouch!

I went on a trade off in Old Harbour with Elder Gayle and I tell you what, that guy can cook! We had curry chicken, rice and vegetables. He's a Jamaican, so you know he cooks authentic. I chopped the carrots... and made peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches as an appetizer.... some chef I am, eh? I think when I get home, Pryors is going to have an all new Jamaican addition to the menu with all the food I'm learning how to cook. That was fun, teaching in Old Harbour. Thursday was zone conference. I love zone conference. Spanish Town and Kingston zone all meet in Kingston. It was great, learned a lot.

A story was told about some sister missionaries in Vermont who had been serving the heart of NYC and loved being out in the country, small town area. They were driving up a huge mountain to get to an investigators house out in the middle of no where on some switchback roads. One of the Sisters got the distinct impression to lock the car doors. She ignored it twice, but he third time locked them and told her companion to do so as well. Not 5 seconds after they locked it, they heard a huge thump on the roof of their car and a man was looking down on the windshield and another one on the passenger window. They just kept driving, keeping it cool, and the guys fell off the roof and ran the other way. They made it to the house, got out of the car, and there was a distinct handprint on the handle to the back door. They didn't even notice another man running along side the car trying to open the door.... yeah, crazy story. Moral of the story, follow the Spirit! Don't put off those feelings, especially as a missionary because we are protected when we follow those promptings and need that protection.

Friday night activities are way fun, we're still going. It's a great teaching tool too. Elder Nelson and I aren't harldy ever playing basketball at the same time, one of us is always sitting out, so the one who is sitting out talks to the other guys about the church and stuff. Its good to just get the word out. Nothing has come of it yet, but the seed has been planted.

Ok, time for the big news... Elder Nelson and I are both getting transfered! He is going into Kingston and I'm whitewashing Spanish Town! (Whitewashing is when we are new missionaries, not one who has been in the area at all) I will be with Elder Taylor, who is the man, he served in Linsted which is in our zone so I know him pretty well already. He's actually my brother in missionary language, because your father is your trainer (Elder Nelson) and your second companion is your mother (now Elder Taylor). But Elder Taylor was Elder Nelson's first trainee, making my mother my brother and my father my grandfather.... yeah, my missionary family is whack! Spanish Town will be exciting. It's a big big city, with lots going on. From what I hear its a solid branch with lots of great members, Im so excited! So today we are cleaning our house so its nice for the new missionaries coming. Wednesday is when we are actually leaving Maypen. I'm happy but sad because I was finally getting to know the members and getting places with our investigators, but I know the new missionaries will pick up right where we left off!

Moral of this email: Life is good! You guys sound busy and happy. We don't use Mormon.org as a teaching tool really because no one has internet, but I hear its awesome in the U.S. I love the pics of Mac and Summer and their braces!! They will look so much different when I get back... hope I can recognize them!

Have a great week! Love you!

Elder Romney

week 14

Wa gwan family!

You guys sound so crazy busy! Hearing about snow doesn't make me homesick at all actually... its been 78 degrees here and Elder Nelson and I wake up freezing! It was 77 this morning and I wasn't sure what do do with myself... I'm such a nancy! Anything under 80 degrees now and we get a little bit chilled, I never thought I'd say that in my life. It's been pretty rainy here, and by rainy I mean torrential downpour for a couple hours, then nice sunshine again, ADD weather, but its been really nice. We only got soaked once, the other times we were in lessons when the rain came, definitely counting my blessings! Last Monday we played basketball for zone p-day and oh man, I got quite the tan. My little white calves were quite the scene after a couple hours in the deserts of Port More. There isn't any shade in that city for 30 miles all around! Elder Engebrecht is serving there and has the most solid tan out of any of us new missionaries.

This week was what we would call business week. Elder Nelson had to sign some papers in Kingston, so Wednesday the office elders picked us up and we went into "town" (thats what kingston is called here). Talk about a hustle bustle city! It was awesome. There was some mix up with the papers, so we had to go back Thursday as well. It was cool to see so much of Kingston! Coming back to Maypen felt like coming home though, which is nice :)

One really cool thing that happened this week is that we were able to see W who is dying to get baptized, he and his new wifey K. We were walking through Maypen town and he was standing outside a wholesale store, just standing on duty. He wasn't in full uniform so we were crackin joke about casual Friday for the Babylon (police). I cracked a joke asking if I could take his bulletproof vest, and he said "You have more protection that I could ever have with this vest" and pointed to my name tag. The reason that is so cool is because we are hardly ever able to meet with him and K due to their crazy work schedule and the police duo, but you can tell they really are trying to make progress. They read everynight, we gave them some DVD's like The Testament and Finding Faith in Christ and they came to the Relief Society session of conference because they didn't have to work that night. Whats even cooler than that is that we didn't tell them when that session was, so they found out for themselves so they could come. It's so great to see that W has such a strong testimony, despite having things that are getting in his way of being a fully fellowshipped member. When we walked away, I gave Elder Nelson a high five and couldn't help but smile because its true, we have a lot of protection from the Lord behind our little black name tags and I'm grateful for it and that we are able to follow the Spirit to keep us safe. Without it, I think there would most definetly be a lot more scary things about Jamaica, but with it, Jamaica no problem! 
 
Transfer calls come next Saturday! It's so crazy how fast things are going now. I'm pretty positive I'll be staying in Maypen, which is fine by me because I really like it here. I'm thinking I will be getting a new companion because Elder Nelson has been here for 7 and a half months... which is a crazy long time! 

In other news, I've learned some shaweeeet versions of church hymns. Nearer My God to Thee and We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet are the perfected ones, working on Come Thou Fount and others. Who knew playing hymns could be so sweet? I guess you did mom... all those Sunday's back home asking if I was ever going to learn a hymn or two... I am now! ;)

Well I'm glad to hear things are pretty good at home, just remember, "Ask and ye shall receive, knock, and it shall be opened unto you". Scripture of the week! haha I'm sending some pictures because I figured out how to make them smaller. They are of the drive to Kingston, some pretty sunsets, and a couple other things, I don't really remember haha

We can send Christmas packages! This is different info than I got at the beginning of J's mission!

Some of you have questions about your missionaries and Christmas, so we are writing to let you know the best way to send packages.

WHERE TO SEND

It is best to send the packages to our P. O. Box:

Elder/Sister__________
Jamaica Kingston Mission
P. O. Box 2316
Kingston 8, Jamaica

We moved our mission office, so please do not send packages to 36 ½ - 38 Red Hills Rd., Kingston 10, Jamaica

Also, be sure and write CHRISTMAS on the box in big bold letters.

WHEN

Normally packages take 3 or 4 weeks by airmail to get here.  But it does take longer at Christmastime, so plan on sending it by the end of October/first part of November (just to be safe). 

WHAT

We encourage you to send simple gifts:  clothing, ties, socks, beef jerky (can’t get it here), candy, family photos, and various stocking stuffers.  Also, if you are so inclined, you could send extra items for the local missionaries here, who generally do not get anything from home (label, please).

Please be aware if you send electronics (including cameras) customs fees will probably be charged to your missionary.  Customs opens all packages and charge duty fees on expensive items or items they think you may resell.  Then your missionary has to pay these fees to pick up the package.  We have not had any problems with items being stolen, but packages are opened and inspected.

Thank you so much for doing your part for your missionary to have a wonderful Christmas.  We appreciate all your love and support and prayers.

Week 13 letter

Wa gwan!

I looooooooooved conference! Oh my goodness, I had 12 pages of notes and killed a pen in the process. It was so great. Conference as a missionary is way cooler than conference at home. I didnt want it to end. The two hours seemed so short! But anyways, yes, conference was awesome! One of my favorite talks was  Tad E. Callisters,  talked about the Book of Mormon and the Bible and how its necessary to have a second witness of Jesus Christ. He said "how many straight lines can you draw through this dot? (the dot being the bible)" and you can draw an infinite amount of lines through it, the lines being different churches and interpretations of the Bible. Then he said "How many straight lines can you draw from this dot (the bible) to this dot (the Book of Mormon)?" Just one! We are totally using that in explaining why its so important to have it, it makes so much sence!

This week was also awesome. We felt a lot of love from a lot of people. T, a lady we are teaching who is great, we taught her about chastity and she said she would live it. The next day we went back and her friend started talking about how sex before marriage is what you should do and T was totally opposite and said that it wasnt right... which wasnt the case 2 days earlier! Cha Ching! Then they gave us two stalks of sugarcane, a bundle of green bananas, and a ton of guinep! Ya! Awesome!

Later on in the week Elder Krauss and I are on a trade off and we were fed twice in one night! Double awesome. Our investegators are doing well. It was so cool, Sunday night after conference we were walking up to Mineral Heights, about a 45 minute walk, and a taxi pulls over and we wave him off because we didnt have any fare but lets us in anyway and took us to Mineral Heights. Turns out Elder Nelson knows him and has kinda taught him before, so we got his number and he told us we better call and teach him because he's been wanting to be taught again for a while. Yeah, that was awesome.

This week on cooking with Elder Romney, we will be cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner, but with only one meal! What meal is this would you ask? A beautiful thin called Desparado. Take some flour, put a touch of sugar in it, add water, and fry it up like a pancake! Add some powdered sugar and whalah! You have Elder Romney's staple food! haha Its actually really nice. For everything to make it, it was only $600 and will last me foooorrreeevveerrr. Its safe to say I didnt eat very healthy this week.... President Hendricks brought Elder Nelson and I a healthy amount of Dr. Pepper this week, so that also has been and will be (for quite some time) a lovely treat, I love my mission president. Not just for the DP though, he's the man. He knows how to lead missionaries and lead them as a friend, not someone who is hard to follow. Love that guy!

This week was great. It sounds like you are doing good over there, sorry to here about everyone being a little sick and stressed, just live the Jamaican way: "No problems mon!"

I love you guys!
Elder Romney

Week 12

Hello my family!!

I was thinking about it, and my letters home aren't very spiritual, which might be depicting me as a missionary or my mission as just another thing to check off my bucket list. SO NOT TRUE. This week we have been blessed beyond belief. It was seriously amazing to see the things that have transpired since our last email.

One blessing is A, a new investigator. She actually just rolled into church 3 weeks ago to check it out. We had never talked to her or seen her before, and weren't able to catch her number afterwords because D came by after church so we were teaching him about the Plan of Salvation. I love teaching at the church, it's almost like cheating when it comes to feeling the Spirit because it's always there. Anyways, A came back the next Sunday and we saw here twice this week, not counting Sunday, and holy cow, she was definetly one of those people who the Lord prepared for us to teach. She has kept every commitment with reading the Book of Mormon, and she lives up in the hills a little bit so its nice and quite when we teach. Elder Nelson and Elder Montegomery chopped her yard Thursday morning (we had a trade off with the Zone Leaders, so I was in Spanish Town with Elder Mackey) and she was to be baptised, prayed about it and everything. We are looking at Oct. 15th or the week after that, but she came back to church for the third straight week and we teach the Gospel Principles class/ investigator class so we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, repentance, baptism, recieving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end) and the Spirit was so strong. She said she loves Relief Society which is great, oh man, its wonderful. We are seeing her again on Thursday and we are really excited about her. 

This week was great. I put some new parts on my bicycle because they were going to break off soon, both my tires exploded! It was pretty hilarious actually, so now I am riding a Cadillac of bicycles which makes riding the hills of Clarendon much more enjoyable. I've now lost 20 pounds, almost 25 because when I checked yesterday after two dinners and having soaked pants from the rain I was 165, but I feel great. Who knew loosing fat would make a person feel good! haha 

Things at home sound awesome! I love the pictures of Mac playing football. It takes me back to my ol' playing days... wow, I sound like an old man when I say it like that. The house is looking great, the garden looks huuuuuuge, and I'm so glad you got the SD card. I was hoping you'd get it soon. 

This week is going to be great too. General Conferance! Whoot whoot! And I've only got 30 pages left in the Book of Mormon. Double whoot whoot! 
 
Well I'm glad you guys had a great week too, enjoy this week and I will be talking to you next monday! My email probably won't be home until later in the day, we are having zone p-day, basketball in Port Mor! Triple whoot whoot! haha

Love you all!
Elder Romney

PS: No, I don't need more pants, I'm still rockin' strong with the 4 or 5 I have, tell Shelby happy birthday!! I miss those guys! 

Week 11 letter

Wa gwan!

So! Things back home sound like they are soooo fun! This week wasnt very exciting compared to last week, so the email won't be as long. Jamaica is still hot, and I actually got sunburned again! I think it was because we started eating real food like eggs and... eggs haha So my skin can hack the sun again, got a niiiiiiiice farmers tan goin on. Seriously, its a little scary how at the beginning of the day, people yell "white man!" as we ride by, and at the end of the day they are yelling "red man!" :)

Monday we just had P-day, shot some pool, wrote a song, nothing special EXCEPT!!! (THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK) We found Dr. Pepper at Shoppers Fair (the store)!! Ya! Usually you can only get it in Kingston, but nooooope we found it, and bought the last 3 cases... we are lining our hallway with the empty cans. If there is one thing that is going to get me fat, its DP. They haven't stocked it yet again, but we havent gone shopping... i hope its there!

Tuesday... lets just say me and Nelson are pretty sure someone cast an Obie curse on our bicycles (Obie is kinda like jamaican voodoo). I had 4 flat tires and Nelson had one. 5 flats on the day between four tires, and a broken axle... yeah, that was a downer. We were at the bicycle four like 2 hours for the axle, got a late start to the day, and then on the way back from Hodlins at night my tire popped again, but thankfully some nice people called us over and not only gave me two patches but fixed it, water checked it, they were so nice. It was a first! We almost just kept walking, thinking they were just gonna chat us. But we stopped. It was cool.

Wednesday was district meeting, the ZL's were there too. It was good, nothign to exciting EXCEPT chinese food! It was ridiculously good, left me in an Asian coma, one of the most deadly coma's of its kind! Taught a few people, nothing to crazy. No big bicycle problems.

Thursday was actually pretty normal. The security guard and Juicy's wanted a Book of Mormon so we gave him one and talked to him a bit. We talked to him again this morning and since he works so much he hasnt read anything, but we will go back soon. Like we always do, they have pool tables that we happen to use on our lunch hour and p-day :)

Friday- Super planning, so we arent allowed to leave the house until 2, buuuuut Elder Nelson painted his bicycle all white (it looks sweet) and had some trouble putting it back together, so we didnt get out until 3:30 which suuucked. We went and saw J, a lady who used to go to church and have been seeign for abuot three weeks. She hasnt come to church or read anything so we are wonding how interested she is or if she just likes the white man company. Activity night was so fun. Basketball again, Ive decided when I get home, Im only ever playing in a white shirt, tie, and slacks because you cyaaaaant beat me when Im in that! haha Seriously, it was awesome. Except I forgot my sneakers so my one pair of shoes is already torn and pretty much done... they were ripped like the first 2 weeks i was out here just from walking... so ill be buying a nice sturdy pair of shoes probably within the next six months... stinkin wal mart!! 

Saturday was our Tour de Maypen day... rode allll the way past Palmers Cross to see B who didnt really give us the time of day because she was leaving, then to Burger King for my second medicinal Whopper (ya, two medicinal whoppers in one week... that should explain my level of sanity this week) then allll the way out to four paths to see Rasta C. Did some finding as well, ended up way out in the bush of Four Paths and was talking to a lady who said she saw us earlier in Maypen town... and we just HAPPENED to wander all the way out there and she HAPPENED to be outside at that time we were walking by... yeah, thats what ya call having people put in your place! So we will definetly be going back there. We had a nice conversation with some 7th Day Adventists, that was fun. And then bicycled home and did some more finding out there.

Sunday was amazing as usual. We actually had two investegators come to church! Ya! Thats a first! 10 weeks in a my first investegators at church... about time! :) We had a lesson on the Plan of Salvation and it was really nice, felt the Spirit. It's so true too, I'm so glad that we can kick it with our family after we die. A lot of people don't quite comprehend that here. Anyways, ate at S and W, saw Z (13 year old recent convert ) and then dropped some church dvd's off at W for his wife to watch.

All in all, it was a frusterating week as far as teaching and bicycle problems go, but we keep things in pretty good perspective (me and Nelson) and don't let it get us down to much. Can't force people to follow the Gospel and be happy! haha Wish ya could sometimes, but anyways, i didn't chat back to anyone this week! If anyone chatted us, we just yelled back "ONE LOVE!" It's pretty fun, it's fun when people chat us now. 

This week should be a good one I think, we're seeing some small success with a couple people and hopefully it continutes!! Love you all! Likklemore!

Elder Romney

Week 9 letter

Wa Gwan!

So this week though was absolutly insane. Seriously. Insane. Like im so glad its over insane and I can't believe everything that happened insane.

Monday we were in Linstead, went to Natural Bridge and these siiiiick caves! I took a bunch of pictures that you will be seeing in the next couple weeks. It was so awesome, the first beautiful thing ive seen in Jamaica actually haha We got Pizza Hut after (yuuuuummmmm!!!) annnnnd since the ZoneLeaders love me so much, they picked me up a 12 pack of Dr. Pepper when they were in Kingston because thats the only place you can get it! it was sooo nice. Maybe the highlight of the whole week. 

Tuesday... We got a late start to the day due to some extra curricular activities taking place outside our house... which was crazy, but no worries, all is good, so we left at like 11, had to go shopping because we were out of breakfast food and we saw... A WHITE FAMILY! YEAH! I KNOW! WHAT ARE WHITE PEOPLE DOING IN MAYPEN?? Then I looked at my extremely tan arm against a white shirt and realized they were probably thinking the same thing. I waved the the 10 year old boy, I couldnt stop smiling, it totally made my day haha I know thats weird, but for half a second, i thought i was back home in walmart shopping around! So that was crazy, then we dropped our stuff off at the house and made the hour long ride to Four Paths to see Rasta C.  I dont remember much about Tuesday after that. We ate at H like we do every tuesday. Delicious as always, but i can never finish it. Call me a Nancy, but i just have this mental block of finishing my food there. Im always soooooo full. 

Wednesday was transfer day that we werent at because me and Nelson are in Maypen for at least another 6 weeks. We taught a couple lessons, got lunch and juicies where i got slaughtered by Nelson in pool, met a kid named J who wanted to come to church and play ball on friday nights with us, so we gave him our number. Then we went on a 4 hour finding spree, got totally lost out in the bush, ended up above all of Maypen with this sick view and these huge houses around us, nice grass, it was quite, seriously like a little America. We begged a momma a glass of water (you call all the women older than you momma here "Good afternoon momma", its kinda cool, they call you sweetie or darling or bumbaclot (a Jamacain swear word) if they dont like you... we get the third one a lot haha but anyway, she directed us back to Maypen and that was that

Thursday we were fasting and I want to meet the person who said that the devil doesnt have a body... because he does... he took the form of Elder Nelsons bicycle! Seriously, two flats, a broken axle, and 4 hours later we finally got out to four paths to see Rasta C and then to an investegator's church service. I think it was a baptist church and he said if we came to his he would come to ours (which he didnt) but anyways, it was really different. But the best part: we are sitting there, listening to the lady preach and scream, and she gets done, there is only like 10 people there, and the lady next to us is like "before we pray, would you like to talk about your church to everyone?" We couldnt believe it... so guess who was a guest minister in a baptist church teaching about the Mormons??? cha! us! It was hilarious. I mean, we took it serious, read Jacob 3 i think, and Moroni 10:3-5, talked about prophets and the Book of Mormon for 7 minutes, but it was so cool. Walk into a church, not planning to teach and just to listen, and we end up teaching a sermon to the people... we even got a couple amen's and a hallelujah. Pretty wicked. 

Friday we had super planning, we had to walk because papa P locked the garage with our bikes in and left, so we only taught a couple lessons before friday night activity. We got hurricane style rain and lightening this whole weekend, shotgun loud thunder, it was nuts, so we just played domino friday night with these kids C and R. Smoked them. They werent happy white man gave them 6 in domino. But it was funny. Then we say J walking home... He texted us and stuff and asked what we were doing... just weird. 

Saturday we taught a lady who Krauss referred to us. She has had one rough life. I don't wanna repeat it because its not my place to, but i had a bit of the fear tear goin... we taught her about enduring to the end and having faith. We will meet with her this week for sure. ZL's dropped up some Books of Mormon, got Chinese food, and J, somehow... found us in Maxie's buying some new shoes wit the ZL's, followed us to the church, we taught him a little bit, but we was more interested in other things that church stuff... so i was really uncomfortbale and a little mad at Nelson because he kinda threw me under the bus and made a phone call right as J started talkin about weird stuff. So I bit the bullet and tried to help him. On the ride home a guy yelled "f-ing Americans" and i was already on edge and in a bad mood and didnt take the high road. Chatted back, crossed the street and had a little confrontation, nothing big, just asked him what i ever did to him and why he was being stupid, he backed down and stumbled over his words, like they all do... im really gonna work on that though. We usually just ride on, but there is a scripture that says in Alma that says "blessed are they who are persecuted without cause in my name; for theirs is the kingdom of God", im gonna try that. 

Sunday was solid as always. Full of food, went to the CES fireside where Elder Oaks spoke. it was really good. Talked about truth and tollerance. Good talk.

Well that was my crazy week, hopefully this week is better. But, my life is pretty good. No worries about girls, money, where to live, all i do is wake up, play my guitar, go teach the gospel, come home and play my guitar. Jesus and my six string for two years! Not to shabby :) I love you all!!! Have a great week, 

Elder Romney 

Week 8 letter

Yo Wa Hopn? (Whats happening... i love patios :)
Ok, to answer the questions before I forget. I don't know how we are gonna watch conference, I think we will probably go to Kingston or Spanish Town or something and watch all the sessions. Conference for missionaries is pretty much like vacation. Get to sit in one building, watch more white people talk than you've seen in the last 2-12 months, AND go eat after. I'm pretty stoked. My comp is really a Marine, loves it. Wants to be a special forces officer. Yep, he's been in Maypen for six months, and yes, he's really layed back, which is good and not good because there's been times I just wanna go out and work and we will kick it at someone's house after dinner for longer than we should, but we get a lot done still. Im always amazed at the end of the week when we do numbers haha I actually beat this new investigator at pool this week! It was sick, he beat me the first game, this is down in this little bar by his house, and so I bought another game, (because I wasnt about to let some 15 year old handle me in pool) and I beat him. It was pretty tight. He's cool, we helped him and his mom build a pig pen saturday. My comp does not have a blog, no sick days yet, vitamins? What are those? ... ;) Nah, I need to start taking them though. 

Well this week is full of stories, I've got half an hour left so i'll try to get as many as I can in. It was a crazy week as far as interaction wit the Jamaicans goes. We got chatted sooooo much this week, but anyways:

Monday - P-day, kicked it at home, right after I got done emailing you we got in a taxi and there was a 20ish year old woman in the back and she told me I was her boyfriend, that was an interesting taxi ride. Taxi rides are like dad described in China, 5 passengers and the driver in a four door 1995 Corrola. Pretty nasty haha But Momma and papa P (they live downstairs) had a BBQ and family over so we got invited and oh man.... SOOOO GOOOD!! mac and cheese, coleslaw, and meat. Real. Meat. Pork. Everywhere. It was awesome. We got shut down by those twins that night, we were gonna go teach them, so we walked around Racetrack and found no one, but oh well, we tried.

Tuesday we had a full day and were supposed to get money on our cards but didnt which sucked. This week i pretty much lived on oatmeal and Pepsi and patties. Went up and saw some new investigators, there is this guy D who read the Book of Mormon all the way to 2nd Nephi which is awesome, so we are going back to see him and saw him a couple times that week.

Wednesday was trade off, I stayed here and Gilson came over. We had a solid two hour lesson in the church with this lady named P. She's really open to the church and stuff, obviously, she sat in a hot room for two hours and had a heap of questions. We call Gilson the silent assasin... when we got home, he read this book about the brain for almost three hours and i played my guitar and we probably said 4-10.5 words the whole time, not because we didnt wanna talk, but because he was reading and I was writing a song. It was just kinda funny because me and Nelson talk a lot, and you cant pay Toutai $100 to top his noise haha 

Thursday we traded back, had another day of work. I don't remember much. Day's and stories run into each other now, its kinda nice but really weird.

Friday was siiiiick. Super plan, went and got CHINESE food! Ya, whats more American than eating chinese food in Jamaica?? I cannot think of anything! It was sooooo good, big old plate of greasy noodles and meat... only on your mission would you think something like that is actually edible, let alone a something you call every elder in the zone and brag about. There was 3 white guys in there too, but they were french, it made me thing of Robbie. We saw a couple people, then went to Friday night activity where we played our regular basketball. Its cool because I understand the trash talk now and can get in on it haha It's all gentlemanly though... for the most part :) we don't play with members, but it made for a cool teaching opportunuty, and ive decided i shoot so much better in my shirt and tie than in shorts... its quite the conundrum. oh, and a fight broke out, a couple teacher aged guys (14-15 years old), C and J. Welcome to Jamaican activity night!! 

Saturday we helped build that pig pen aka me build the pig pen with J and N and Nelson taking pictures haha Its cool though, we both have strengths and things we could work on. It was sweet though, layed the concrete and stuff, put on the roof (sheet metal held down by cinder blocks). We went out and saw the twins in Paisley, about an hourish ride out, and the lesson was going good but their brother was a loooooser. Every five seconds he'd yell "Hey do you believe in chromosomes? what about zygotes?" Im just like "Yo, we're talking about Jesus. Interupt us after" He kept jumping in and according to his knowledge, (which is none because he only beleives in the psalms and the new testement but hasnt read anything out of it) Jews are evil because they killed Jesus, but we were like "Jesus was a jew, and so was Moses, who gave you the ten commandments you say we are saved by, so you're crazy". grrrrrr it was so frusterating. So then we go get Juicies, are sitting there and minding our own business, and school here started today so allthe punk kinds are out, and there is this kid just chattin us like no tommorow and like we arent there "white people this, white people that, they are scared to talk to black people, they made us slaves, they killed Jesus, I have one question for a white man if i ever saw one" and Nelson says "Hey whats your question, you've been chattin us all night. Ask." And he's like "uhhhh, im nervous." Yeah, pretty typical... we were riding through the market and this guy was up on his veranda with a rock (jamaicans fight by throwing rocks) and he told me to give him my bike and bag and I said no twice as we rode by and he winds up to throw the rock and i told him to do it... drops it and goes inside. Thats how it works here, they think you are weak because you're missionaries. We usually just ignore them and dont chat back, because thats the right thing to do.... but we werent perfect this week.

Sunday we had church, ate at S AND W (i love Sundays, im always stupid full after) and coastered out to Lindstead, where we stayed the night last night and where we are right now. The driver and a guy who was chatting him almosted knuckled up in the coaster, its been a crazy week!! But ive never felt unsafe, thats why I feel ok to tell you all these stories. Its the ones that there's a hint of fear that stay under more wraps, but so far so good! haha We are going to these caves today with the whole zone which will be fun! I got a few more emails and only 10 minutes, so i better jam. I love you all! Have a great week! drink some milk for me! every milk here is in a box.. ick...Read your scriptures! 
Elder Romney

Week 7 Letter

Wa Gwan!

Ok, I seriously think you guys are having waaaay too much fun back home!! Pig out in the park, kickin it with the family, Seriously, I miss working on the deck and cleaning the house... is that weird? :) 

This week was kinda lame. I had a lot of bicycle problems so we were always fixing a tire, pumping up a tire, yadayadayada. A lot of appointments fell through this week, and our numbers were waaaaay down, so we went on a 3 and a half hour finding spree to get some new investigators and maybe make something happen here in Maypen. It seems like all our investigators are either to scared to read about the Book of Mormon but dont mind us teaching them about it, don't know how to read, or just like to have white people come over. We've had one person actually read a chapter by themselves between visits and it was awesome! Me and Nelson just looked at each other and smiled, after the lesson we were walkin outta Juno Cresent and both were like "Bumbot!!!" (boom-bot: Jamaicas equivellent to "daaaaaang! Freaaak! Thats crazzzzy!!" Her baby daddy is crazy though, had a test of faith this week with him, but all is well :)

Friday was really fun. After the finding spree we had activity at the building. Played Basketball for 3 hours, we do taht every friday. I love ball here! Everyone is always freakin out about every little thing, its the kind of smack talking basketball everyone should play. Saturday we went to Brother R's funeral, there were a ton of people there. We brought 100 Plan of Salvation pamphlets and it wasnt nearly enough. After that we got burger king with Elder Toutai and Gilson, and Toutai is awesome but we always spend way to much time with him, he's like the guy that sits and talks to you for 20 minutes in the drive thru, makes you laugh, cool dude, but you've got 3 freds burgers burning to a crisp and you're just hoping someone flipped them because you don't want to stop talking to this guy haha 

There's been a couple of things that have reminded me of home this week and its been pretty awesome. So my acne kinda busted out this week and H, a recent convert, tells me she's gonna give me some tuna and im supposed to fillet it and scrape it in water and then drink it and it will help my skin... so she goes to grab the "tuna" in question, and I look at Nelson and tell him he better drink it with me, as we are busting a gut because im getting the Jamaican remedy for acne, and she comes out with two Aloe vera leaves haha they call that tuna here. That was definietly a nice surprise. So we get home and Nelson is trying to fillet it and screws the whole thing up so i grab it and fillet it just like Kevin showed me how to fillet the fish and boom, a perfect cut! It was pretty surreal, cutting aloe plants like fish... in the end, the drink was nasty, but i think its actually helping. Then saturday we are up in Juno and there is an old man shoveling a giant pile of rocks from one pile to another pile 5 feet away, so i stop and do it for him in like 15 minutes, totally thought about being in the back of Gilson's truck shoveling red rock for 2 months straight, but instead of a cold beverage and a butt kicking in pool afterwords, we had a sweaty half hour bike ride, but thats still better than a butt kickin in pool by grandpa Gilson. (by the way, I play pool every wednesday and thursday at lunch... Im comin for you Gilson!!)
And then Sunday, we had no investigators show up (again, 4 weeks straight) but a lady in the branch brought her 18 year old twin sisters who are investgating the church and i thought of Jen and Jes and Katie and Chuck. Pretty funny.

We get transfer calls this saturday! Pretty crazy ive been on my mission for almost two months. Day seem like they take forever sometimes but the weeks smoke by. My patois is getting better, but everyone just laughs at me when i try and speak it, so im sticking to english for the most part :) 

I love having a guitar!! My calluses are already all back and im writing some sweet licks before studies in the morning and after plannign when we get home and on P-days. Nelson is learning really quick too. 

Thats crazy school is starting already. School is starting here too next week, everyone wears the same uniform too. I wonder if the streets wont be as crazy with all the kids locked up in school. Or if we wont get harrassed as much. Usually when people harrass us we just ignore them but its so hard sometimes. We were at the ATM this morning and this guy told us to give him some money and he wouldnt leave it alone, so Nelson points to the guy behind us (black guy, duh) and asks the begger why he doesnt beg him for money... he didnt say anything. This guy wasnt even homeless or anything, we arent supposed to give our money out because we hardly dont have enough to spare, but yeah... its been raining like crazy here this weekend! crazy rain, the hurricanes all sideswipe us, but we never get the brunt of it, thankfully. I hear we get like one nasty cane a year though, so we shall see!
Oh yeah, and picture this: it rained all last night, its like 79 degrees, so me and Nelson are wearing jeans and drank hot chocolate at Burger King this morning.... PATHETIC I KNOW! haha :) Well i love you all, not much more to say. Have a great week!! 
Elder Romney

Letter for week 6

Wha gwan,

Monday and tuesday where pretty normal, P-day and then a full day tuesday. Wednesday we had a trade off and Elder Gilson came here, so I led the area again. It went pretty good, besides the fact we got we waited outside Greg's bar to teach him, he showed up and then left without telling us, and it rained so we were pretty muddy. But not terrible, still had a good lesson with G. We found out that Old Harbours phone wasnt working because we had called 15 times to ask elder nelson what Bro. F's number was because we were going to scrape paint of his house and he is out in Sandy Bay which is a taxi ride, so we left the house early thursday and coastered out to Old Harbour to meet them there so we didnt get all mixed up. We went and got lunch and Juicies, and had to stay with them because the ZL's were on their way wit a new phone and needed to be able to get in contact with them, so we were in O.H. from 10:30AM to like 5PM. We had a full day planned out of teaching which sucked that we didnt get to do, but whatever, it happens. There was a little tropical storm too so it was rainin wicked hard. I was glad we were inside shooting pool. When it rains here, its like people thing its the plague. No one is outside, or they are all underneath an over hang of a building, finding in the rain is pretty much pointless. We managed to salvage the day by teaching W and his fiance K. They are getting married this week. They have a really nice house. AC, couches, its what i imagine teaching the gospel in America is like. Quite, no distractions, the Spirit was really strong, which is rare here because there is always distractions. They committed to be baptized the second week of Sept. which is sooooooo awesome. They and three other people are our only investigators with solid dates. So friday, we had super planning, went out and chopped Mama G's yard and had a lesson with her and her daughter M, who's probably like 40. It was the first time i really saw them contemplating what we were saying and taking it to heart. They thought we got paid to do this and i think when they found out no one gets paid in the church, it softened their heart. We had zone conference in Kinston saturday morning so friday night we coastered out to Spanish Town and spent the night with the ZL's and the Linstead Elders (Taylor and Layton). It was really fun, played a lot of Domino. I think thats what im gonna do when i get home. Forget about school and buying a car, im gonna teach Gilson, Vern, Larry, Charlie, and Jonny Gamble to play domino and hang out with them at Pryors every morning playing. Its so addicting haha Saturday we crammed 8 large humans in a 6 man truck and made the squished ride hour ish to Kingston. Elder Vienes of the Seventy was there which was really cool to meet him, he's doing a mission tour right now. ZC lasted about 3 hours, and Pres. Hendricks talked and the Elder Vienes spoke the rest of the time. We talked about the Atonement and how to understand it and apply it to our investigators and then the second half of the time we talked about our numbers. Basically he said that we are on a lull right now and we that we are doing fine, but need to do better aka you cant do any worse, so lets make goals to do better. Im excited to see what happens, we are improving our finding efforts because the average number of investigators to baptisms is 52/1. but we dont wanna baptise just anyone, it would be better to only have one baptism that is solid and goes to church and is a solid member than 10 who just go inactive after they are baptised. So we will see. After ZC, we went to TGI Fridays which was aaaaaaaaaaaamazing because it was american food haha Then we went and helped a senior couple move some office stuff, and went and bought our guitars! :) Elder Nelson bought one too, spent way more money than me, and Im teaching him to learn before studies in the morning and when we get home after planning. He's doing good. My fingers are building those calluses back up, i forgot how much it hurt in the beginning! We took my guitar our finding the night we got them, sat on the corner by our house and just played. When people would walk by we would ask what song they wanted to hear and most of them said something by Kartel, so I'd play Summertime and they would freakout and dance and sing along. Then we'd give them a Restoration pamphlet and get an appointment with them. 3 new investigators in 15 minutes... not bad eh? ;) thanks for throwin that cash on there. I spent $22,500 jamaican on it, it was the cheapest guitar in the store but still wicked nice. acoustic electric, thin body so i can sling it over my shoulder, im loving it. Sunday was crazy. We had our lunch and dinner appointments like usual, had district conferance, but i had a guy tell me i walked like a bad man and i had ganster glasses on and he looked like he was ready to knuckle up. I told him i was really full from lunch so i was walking slower and i wear these welding glasses because they are nice and dark and wicked cheap haha then! a taxi man made fun of us for believing in Jesus and not Sellacei, and then on our way home we a taxi pulled up and said he'd give us a free ride, so we hopped in and thanked him. Nelson gave me the front seat... 15 seconds later he's preachin to us about how he's annointed and born to lead and stuff, and im just like "oh cool" "thats sweet" "awesome!" We pulled in front of the church, got out and started talking about joseph smith and how there is one living prophet on the earth today and he said he was an apostle... so we asked how the apostle were chosen in the bible and he started talking about how there was 120 called or something like that and he starts yellin and wavin his arms about this vision he recieved and how he saw Jesus tell him to go preach and become the leader of his church and stuff... and before we know it, he's yellin in this crazy language and stompin his feet and it looks like he's tryin to dive into the pavement, and this whole time Misister Sally is interpreting what he's saying. Four minutes later, as we are tryin our best not to laugh histerically, he stops, sweating like a fat man in a sauna, and is like "PRAISE JESUS! YOU JUST RECEIVED A WITNESS OF JESUS! LET THIS BE YOUR WITNESS!" So we just shake his hand and try to shake minister Sally's hand and Pastor Smith is like "dont do that! She's in the spirit!!" sooooo we left... it was pretty funny.

Well that was my week, pretty exciting, not to much frustration, which was nice. I wish i could do something to help you guys with maggie... know that i love you all!!! 

Elder Romney

Week 5 letter

Waa  gwan!

This week was a lot better than last week. I told myself i wasnt gonna be homesick anymore and somethin just clicked and ive been havin a great time.

Monday we had our p-day and i ended up taking a 5 hour nap!! i didnt sleep at all that night which was pretty lame but still, it felt great. Today we are in old harbour havin a combined pday with O.H. elders and the ZL's, which are always fun. Then monday night last week we went finding and found 5 people in like 45 minutes. It was awesome! I was gettin kinda discouraged because we'd been walking for about an hour and no one was out really or didnt wanna hear us, so we said a prayer and boom, 5 in 45 minutes. Pretty sweet. Kinda unheard of for a monday night. All in all we have 12 new investigators this week which is above our goal of ten! Cha!

Tuesday i went to Old harbour for a trade of wit Elder Toutui and it was really fun. He just walks around with his ukalale and plays for people and gives then a restoration pamphlet. Its a great finding tool. So we did that that night, got juicy's, and wrote this little song/rap on the uke:

 Livin in Jamaica, watch where it will take ya

wishin on my mission i was back home fishin and im missin all the kissin and at christmas i just listen

we be teachin da rastas da plan of salvation

livin in reggae nation but this aint no vacation

oatmeal and eggs on my breakfast rotation but ill eat anything without hesitation

24 months and 17 transfers

jamaica's got questions and we got answers

baptising people from day to day

find a lost soul along the way.

It was fun haha

Wednesday i was supposed to go on a trade off wit elder mackey (zone leader) to Spanish Town but they decided i should run my area for a day soooooo me and elder montgomery were in maypen all day. I totally got lost for like the first hour but then it went really smooth. taught p and mama g and n and h. P is supposed to be baptized on the 20th but she hasnt been to church because she cant get a ride out there so we are moving it back a couple weeks. kinda a bummer but she is still gung ho for it.

Thursday we went out to old harbour to pick up Elder Nelson, went back and (the most exciting part of the week) borrowed a guitar from elder baird, an office elder, because for friday night activity it was jamaican culture night and me and elder nelson did a mash up of Redemption Song (by bob marley), Closer To the Sun by slightly stoopid, not jamaican, but still reggaeish, three little birds, and summertime by cartel. it was sooooo awesome! everyone was jumpin up and down and signing along, ill send the SD card home in snail mail and its on there, you will have to watch it and load it to facebook or something. We bought rasta tuke's and wore dark shades too, soooo funnny!

Friday- we had super planning, went out and taught a few lessons, then had friday night where Drive By Lap Dance (the name of me and Nelson's band) performed a live acoustic show for the lovely saints of the Maypen branch. It seriously was the highlight of my mission so far! All the little kids were jammin along, i got a lot of pictures of them on this SD card, it should be getting there in like 3 weeks i think.

Saturday was our districts family fun day so we went out to Mandeville with the branch because we had an investegator named P going. It was pretty fun. Volleyball, futbol, dominos, ice cream, some food, and blaaaaazing music. seriously, it was nothing like a stake fun day back home. They were playin all their music loud and pround, even some lil wayne and eminem (which none of them can understand, just like we have a hard time understanding jamaican hip hop here, its pretty funny. We would be rapping to the lil wayne and they didnt ever know what he was saying) That lasted all day which was kinda a bummer because we were thinking we'd be done by like 2 and still be able to get some missionary work done, but we went and saw C, she's 14 and we've been seeing her for a while, but we are really pushing for sit down lessons and making sure she understands everyone. Her dad T is really cool, he owns a little bar, and im pretty sure he's baked of his rocker all the time... but whatever, everyone here is haha

Sunday was alright. Church was good, went to S for yummy lunch, went and tried to see the two people we found by W, then ate there, played some chess, and went back and taught C again and saw Z. 

How is my primary class????? i freakin miss them! Jaren should be leaving soon, yea? Hows teh ward? any new babies?? haha

A couple business things here: Will you please take like $200 from my savings and load it on my card? We are allowed to have a guitar here and id really like to buy one, not only because i love going home to a sexy six stringed instrument, but cuz it would be a sick finding tool. We packed it to the church and on the less that quarter mile walk, we played for 3 people. That would be great!! And i found a great place to buy jamaican christmas presents and souveniers for you guys :) Yes i got the SD card (finally)! mail takes forever to get here but it does get here which is good to know. Ill be sending the other one home pretty soon. I put on bug spray at night sometimes, on my ankles cuz we have these little ants that just bites your ffeet, but for the most part im not getting bit too bad and not noticing it that much either. I have a niiiiiice tan going on :) I wore sunscreen a couple times but i dont really burn anymore, my face does every once in a while, but its just a nice tan goin on, a year round tan, gotta love it :) As far as crazy religions go, we just get a lot of 7th day and baptists, screaming and singing hallelujah, and we gave a guy a restoration pamphlet and he told us that michelangelo was on the front when it was actually Jesus, but nothing super crazy yet. No voodoo yet which is nice. Its been fun. Well we are off to get our haircut and shoot some pool at juicies!! I love you all and love reading your emails. hopefully things calm down a bit over there and you guys arent so busy, but come on, what would the Romney's do if we werent busy ;)

I love you!

Elder Romney

OH! AND ive lost 13 pounds and two inches around my waist! yeah, pretty insane haha My pants are loose, thank goodness for belts! and im doing pushups in the morning now instead of bed yoga... its more effective.. 

Week 4 letter

Wha gwan!

Ok, to answer your questioms first, I'm in the Maypen branch, there is about 30-40 people tops that show up every sunday, I had to speak the first Sunday i was here! it was on obediance and it went really well. This week was better than last week because I've made friends in the ward out side of Elder Nelson. R, T, Z, T, they are pretty cool dudes. The priesthood authority in the branch is pretty weak, its not the strongest branch, but we're doing our best with what we have. When we sings hymns it takes me right back to home. Yes im on a bike, it's just been passed down from missionary, i think from elder Baird, and i dont have to pay for it if i take care of it, but i bought a new tube because tuesday my tire popped (ill explain later). I have one hour to read and write emails, and im strugglin to get my pictures loaded because the computers in the internet cafe are so slow. I got a letter from Dad today but ill be actually getting it wednesday because thats when ill be seeing the ZL's so its probably in there! :) The snail mail works, it just takes a little longer.

So! time for the day by day update:

Monday- It was P-day, i jammed with the rasta, and since it was holiday we didnt do much else, but we did get a new investegator which was sweet.

Tuesday- ohhhhh tuesday was rough. Elder Nelsons bike broke, so we went to the bike shop to get a new derailer after we emailed, then we got lunch, and it broke again, so we rode back to the shop, they fixed it, then we rode out to a lesson, and my tire popped. Rode to Youngs bike shop to get a tube and of course, they dont have a 26''. So walk our bikes to the church, lock them up, its pouring rain, and we walk up to Juno Cresent (about an hour) and teach H (recent convert) and P (baptism date for Aug 20th) and meet with mama G and her family who are also investigators. Her daughter N is interested but pretty skeptical and won't come to church but read a little from the Book of Mormon and watched the restoration DVD.

Wednesday- We walked to the church for district meeting (about an hour walk), after district meeting went to Juicy's (home of the famous beef patty!) and ate, shot some pool, and Elder and Gilson jumped on a Coaster (big toyota van full of people) back to Old Harbor for trade offs. We go on trade off's each week with them. We went finding for like 3 hours, i was dyyyyyyyyyyyin, sooo hot, i gotta buy some Dr. Scholls or somethin too cuz my shoes are not as comfy as they used to be haha had a lesson, yadayadayada and then bam, it was thursday.

Thursday- ohhhhhhhh thursday. met up with Nelson and Toutui in old harbor, got lunch, then coastered back to maypen, fixed my bike and taught a couple lessons to n and mama G. But! pretty cool thing happened, sittin on the coaster next to a lady who says she went to church in the bronx a couple times on vacation... what are the chances??? so I gave her a BoM, got her number, and hopefully we will be seeing her tomorow. Definetly an answer to my prayers. So then we are walking home, we worked through dinner, Elder Nelson is buyin some onions, and this guy walks up, speaking awesome english, (i still have a really hard time understanding patios by the way, its not the english they said i would be speaking!) and he asked who we were and stuff, gave him a BoM and he was super interested to meet up the next day. Another blessing, people are just coming up to us that day! So we are still walking home, and this El Camino with a bunch of scandelously dressed girls in the back pull up, music blazing (it was a party promotion car for a party in Kingston) and me and E. Nelson are just walking, keepin our head down, being good missionaries, and they start yellin at us to jump up in the car with them. So we laugh and smile and say "No WAY!" and keep walkin, next thing we know, we here from the loudspeaker on tope of the car "Girls! Get the white men!" and i turn around and before i can pull a Joseph and run away from Pharoh's wife (or however that story goes) i get double teamed by two jamaican girls, one grabs my backpack and the other takes the front and im gettin danced all over... so i am still walking, tryin to pull a lil spin move, slightely freaking out, but its no good. I look back and Nelson is gettin the same treatment from just one girl... it was the longest, most weird 6 seconds of my life hahaha They left and me and Elder Nelson are just laughing histerically. We arent sure what in the world just went down, so whats the first thing we do? "holy freak! We gotta call Toutui and Gilson!!" haha but the night is still young!! we are STILL walking home, and the clouds look like they are gonna open up pure hell on Jamaica (we thought because the girls were getting groovy on servants of the Lord) but we get inside and the Zone Leaders call and say to stay inside, a hurricane is passin by the island. It was pretty awesome, but we didnt get rained on at all until the next morning. Old Harbor got smoked with rain, flooding in the streets and everythin, lost power, it was nuts. So we just played some domino and watched the clouds for a bit.

Friday- we super planned in the morning, which is detailed planning for each of our investigators for three hours, called up B and he said he'd be at the church for a lesson, so did K, so we waited at the church for both of them and they flaked out which really sucked.

Friday night activity gets going and we are playing basketball with baby shaq (6'4'', 320 lbs) and another guy when Elders Toutui and Gilson show up because they are stayin the night because they are using our font for a baptism in the morning. And they take off running down the street to the taxi park. Turns out Toutui's bag got jacked, had his wallet and everything in it. so we are lookin around for the taxi man, he says he doesnt know where it went (the taxi man told toutui to put the bag in the trunk and took off before toutui remembered, shifty taximen do that all the time) so Nelson and him ride bikes home and me and Gilson were gonna get a cab home because it was almost curfew. Turns out, there wasnt a single taxi going to race track so we made the hour walk home. i was so wiped out. I was a crazy two days

Saturday- Helped with the baptism which took all morning, had lunch, then went up to mama G's and chopped some of her yard with machete's (so awesome!) she and n didnt wanna hear a lesson, so we made a couple calls and of course were turned down, went home and ate, then walked to zachs BUT i forgot a pair of socks he needed, so we turn around after already walking for twenty minuties, and sure enough, we ran into a lady named D who took a restoration pamphlet and we are meeting with her tonight. Blessings come at the weirdest times!

Sunday- Church, (fast sunday) came home and ate, went out finding and to z, then to T's for dinner, then met with travon and got to talking about why he should go on a mission. got blown off my G but were meeting with him tonight, and went and saw Brother C, a less active, and invited him to Culture night on friday at the church. For culture night me and Nelson are playing and singing some bob marley! oh, and if you wanna hear what son i hear about 7 times a day, because in jamaica, people just put huge subwoofers and speakers in the street, so there is litterally music going almost 24/7, its called Summertime by Cartel. Im already sick of it haha

This week was actually really hard... ive been pretty homesick. Saturday morning especially. I was tired and this whole week has been pretty hectic with the bikes breaking down and all the cancelations, so when i went to grab a pair of socks, i found mom's note that said "you are loved" and i broke down. I really miss you guys and think about you a lot. I love a busy full day, but a lot of times it didnt happen like i hoped. Jamaica is great though, besides the terrential downpours every once in a while that get all my stuff soaked ;) oh! i did my own laundry in the buckets! it turned out actually pretty nice, my shirts blew off the line though and landed in the dirt so they are a touch dirty. This week is going to be hectic too, im going on two trade offs, one in old harbor and one with Elder Mackey (zone leader) in Spanish town, so i wont hardly be in my own area. I feel your prayers and gain stregnth from them. Have a great week! Haley- dont hit anymore deer! Mac- .... ok, just make sure you have the single bass down before you go to crazy with my thrash metal music! Dad- any canuck news? im on an island when it comes to that! hehehe :) Love you all!!

Elder Romney