Week 14

Hello world. This week has been really fun and i dont know why cause we didnt even do anything fun. I guess thats just what attitude does and what happens when youre a missionary. The Moreno family is in our ward and we went to visit them and their kids, Shae (8) and AJ (10), were playing football in the street and Sister Moreno is sweet and told us to go play with them so we got a game of street football going and it was awesome. Then we visited my "abuela" Bertha who wont get baptized but just wants to feed us every single day and she wont let us leave till all the food is gone and she doesnt mess around when she cooks. Reminds me of dad at home lol just throws food at me and tells me to eat it all. Shes awesome and from Chihuahua so me and her get along really well. Then we did some service and helped a member cut down bamboo and that stuff doesnt mess around. But i never appreciate and enjoyed yard work more haha being a missionary is so weird. Bob Daynes spoke in the spanish ward this past week. I see him every week and he gives me the college football run down and hes awesome.

"If this church wasnt true missionary work would of destroyed it a long time ago". Whose idea was it to send teenagers out to do the most important work??? Who would listen to a bunch of kids who just got out of high school and barely know how to take care of themselves let alone be taught how to live their lives by these kids? Whoever decided to send out young men and women knew the power of the Holy Ghost. This work is true and the power of the Holy Ghost is real. The best part about it is that we are all able to have that gift if we are worthy of it. What i say to people doesnt matter, its how they feel when they truly listen to the words i say to them. Im thankful that i am able to be out here and be the tool to changing peoples lives. I know that im not doing anything but being here and Heavenly Father is working through me to touch these people. Alma 26:12 has been my favorite scripture this past week.

I hope everyone has a great week and reaches out to those in need of help. thanks for all the support

** No im not getting transfered i got 6 more weeks in carlsbad with Elder Schow and im pumped

Yep this is where I serve, view from my bishops front yard!

This is my district the Spanish missionaries .

Me with brother (cousin) Bob Daynes our stake patriarch  and biggest Ute fan!

I've never been happier to have a football!!

Week 13

What a week what a week! one of the craziest hardest weeks yet. I went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders and went to their area so i was in English work and a zone leader for the day. English work is so much different! It was really fun. Me and Elder Schow have a dart board in our apartment so i do footwork and drop backs on our carpet when we get home at night and then throw darts haha. So my footwork will keep up. We ran to the beach Saturday morning and there was a surfing circuit going on with sponsors and tents and surfers everywhere and so we watched for awhile. It was rad.

Besides all this fun stuff it was the hardest week Ive had yet. I have been praying to be more humble and less selfish and man my prayers were answered. At the beggining of last week all the people we were teaching dropped us or we dropped them so we had nowhere to go alllll week. So what did we do? We knocked doors ALL DAY every day. Man thatll get rough on you. But you gotta do something so we knocked so many doors and just had a really hard week. "The people deserve to know" -my district leader. Towards the end of the week me and Elder Schow didnt even feel like going out and werent motivated at all, we felt terrible. But we just decided to have a complete attitude change and really attitude changes everything. "Out of comfort is my zone" that has been our quote. I love being uncomfortable because i am growing and learning more than i ever thought was possible and i am seeing miracles happen. I love this work even if it means getting told no and being rejected all day long. Its worth it when you find that one person who is ready for you. 

Thank you all for updates and the support.

 

The Oceanside Zone

week 12 short and sweet

Well not much to say as usual. Conference is awesome and powerful. Im glad we arent alone and we always have someone there with us if we are worthy of it. Being a missionary conference is so much more meaningful and you get so much more out of it. As Jeffrey R. Holland said i am thankful for mothers and their role in Gods plan for us and i hope my mother has a great week and a great birthday. I know that this gospel blesses families and individuals and it is always amazing to see it change people. I am doing great and love hearing from all of you.

Other words from Baylor in personal letters this week:

So we went to family home evening with an investigator to a members house this past week, the Crumps, and we played fruit basket upset! we used to play that with the allens all the time and it was super fun. Love you have a great week and a great birthday!!!!

(I also received a letter from that family the Crumps this is what they said)

{Sister Romney,

Our family loves having your son serve in our ward here in Carlsbad/Oceanside!

He is a great missionary and so polite and helpful when in our home for dinner. The other night he asked what he could do and I asked him to set a bowl of food on the table for dinner. He asked me, "Does it need a serving spoon?" I told him that his mom had taught him well and he responded, "Yes, yes she did."

We appreciate his service and just thought we'd let you know he is doing great. My husband and I are amazed that this is his first area as he is so polished and has such a powerful presence. The other night at dusk, I saw your son and his companion riding their bikes along the coastline towards their apartment, I had such a feeling of appreciation for them and the long distances they put in on their bikes to get places. Oh, and your son can sure eat!

Thanks for sharing your son with us here in CA. 

Happy fall. 

Sincerely, 

Autumn Crump}

Week 11

Where do I even start........ First of all i got the worst in grown toenail ive ever had and i couldnt get it out so i had to go to the doctor. Dr. Dustin was a memeber and just a super awesome guy, he got my toenail out and then asked if i wanted surgery on it real quick so i said why not and so he just did all kinds of jamming and cutting and chemicals and it was a real fun time in the doctors office. But hey ill never get an ingrown on that toe agian so we are good. So because of that i couldnt walk for a couple days but that doesnt matter if you are a missionary. So i limped around very very slowly for a couple days this past week. We ran into a Christian rapper on the bus and he just started rapping when he saw us and we got into it and it was awesome haha. We ate dinner with a member and i asked for "poquito mas" but that was a mistake casue those words mean nothing in this culture so i ended up gaining 6 pounds at dinner (yes i weighed myself befoer and after) but i wont tell you what my actual weight is right now. We walked past Carlsbad high school on friday night and they were having there Homecoming game and man it was so great watching that and they have a sweet stadium!! I also invited an investigator to Catholic church this past week so yeah that was interesting and not sure why that happened but i guess we will see. Basically its been a crazy week.

 

Anyways on a more serious note I am very thankful for my weaknesses and failures. I wish i had realized earlier that the way i learn is from failing. I have been scared to fail my entire life but its been over these past weeks i have realized that the way i learn is by messing up and trying again. I also realizzed how selfish i am and how much i need to humble myself. Ether 12:27 has been my favorite scripture that i have read tons of times. I have so many weaknesses and i am thankful for them though because i am learning so much. I am in the process of trying to humble myself so that those failures will eventually turn into strengths and succes. Hopefully it doesnt take too long but i guess we will see.

 

Thats it for this week thankjs for the emails and love.

 

Love and miss you all

Week 10 rain☔️

Well i had my first day of being a missionary in the rain. It rained allllllll day long but that doesnt mean anything. It was fun though cause people still wouldnt let us in and there was nobody on the streets so when we saw someone it was a miracle and we would do everything we could to talk to them. We had Zone Training this week and after all the Elders went to a place called Tip Top they have the best hamburgers ever there and we met the boss, Big Jon, and he hooked us all up wit free food!!! Thats alot of food for 15 Elders.

Carlsbad California is not the ideal place for Spanish missionary work. It is a very very white place and so we are in the same sketch neighborhoods everyday casue thats where the few hispanics are. Its great though cause im starting to know people. Other than that its been a slower week

                          Me and elder Schow being rad like usual

                                            My favorite sign so so far, we see signs like this all the time

                                                       Me-Elder Stewart_Elder Schow

Week 9

My new companion is Elder Schow and I love the guy. We are already such great friends and work so hard but joke around and have so much fun doing it. He is from Michigan and has been out about 14 months. We already have plans to come back and learn to surf after, one of the members here got us pumped about surfing haha. Well this past week was record heat for the past 30 years or something and it was ridiculous with the humidity, I sweat about 19 and a half gallons when we were biking. Man these hills are rough in the heat. Every day is leg day here in the Carlsbad mission. That's not a joke. This past week was crazy with transfers and everything going on but we are all calmed down and ready to go.

This past week me and Elder Schow hammered the topic of "Where faith and knowledge meet" in our comp study. We studied that and talked about it for like 5 hours this past week. Its really interesting stuff. Basically in summary of this deep and long study: we hope for a better future based on our knowledge of our past. Our knowledge is not always perfect but faith doesn't require a perfect knowledge. All we have to do is take the knowledge we have and strengthen our faith with that knowledge and hope for the best even if it does require a leap of faith not knowing what will come. Our goal is to turn our faith into knowledge but we will never be able to achieve that if we don't ACT. I encourage all of you to ACT and take that leap of faith to the next step in your life even if you aren't sure what the outcome will be. So yeah that is Elder Romney and Schows break down of that. Thank you all for the emails I love hearing from everyone and sorry I cant answer you all. Take care I love you all.

Elder Romney with new comp Elder Schow on transfer day. 

Week 8 (1st transfer)

Well a great last week of the 1st Transfer. The Elders in the Carlsbad zone drove down in the mission van to play the Del Mar Elders in basketball. It was so much fun but we killed them. We drove by Sea Bluff and the Donut Shop. So this week me and Elder Smith fixed 9 flat tires, it was terrible. Transfer calls came and Elder Smith will be leaving me and i will be getting a new companion tonight at transfer meeting. I met Leland last night, he is 13 and has a condition where his bones are  soft and he has no strength. So he wears a full body cast and is in a wheel chair all the time. But we just visited and talked with him for about half hour and he is such an inspiration, he doesnt let that condition stop him he swims and does karate and is just the happiest kid. It really made me appreciate what i have been blessed with in my life and made me realize i cant complain and when i do complain there are people everywhere who have it worse.

So i have about 15 minutess of email time today cause its just a packed day so i will answer everyones email next week sorry. but "Boys get sent foreign to become men. Men get sent stateside to become leaders". Not trying to offend anyone just the people here are not the most humble at all and its tough. But i am working hard and trying to shape myself into the person that Heavenly Father wants me to be. "True love requires sacrifice" is a quote that really stuck out to me this past week. The biggest sacrifice ever was Heavenly Father sending his Son here on earth to suffer and die for us. I cant even imagine how hard that must of been for him but being out serving a mission has made me appreciate that sacrafice so much. Sorry i couldnt email much this week but love and miss you all.

ps i got my first hard part in my hair lol