Week 18,19 and 20 (playing catch up)

Week 18

 

Not much happened this week. Elder C. Scot Grow (General Authority) came and gave us a training. Its crazy how in tune with the Spirit he is. Awesome guy. Me and Elder Schow were knocking doors in an apartment complex and randomly decided to leave and we didnt know why we left cause we had nothing else to do. But apparently 30 minutes after we left the complex there was a big SWAT team stand off with snipers and helicopters and all that good stuff cause there was a guy in the complex holding people up with guns. Good thing we didnt knock his door lol. Other than that it was just another normal week being a missionary. Gotta love it though. Hope everyone has a great week!

 

 

Week 19-Vacation?

 

Well this past week has been crazy. I got emergency transferred (i didnt do anything dont worry) so i am now in the Del Mar zone with Elder Clark. It was super sad saying bye to members and people i have gotten close with but im pumped to be here now especially cause im working where we used to vacation every summer haha. We are in a tiny Spanish branch and my area is huge cause we cover half the stake but my area is mostly Encinitas. I went from white and wealthy in Carlsbad to whiter and wealthier here in Del Mar. Its gonna be great though. Elder Clark is the biggest goofball ever and is hilarious, i cant stop laughing when im around him but i already love the guy. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving week and eats

 

  (When I asked him what emergency transfers are for he replied) They are for when there is a situation that a missionary needs to get out of, like threats or girls or something. Dont worry though cause it wasnt cause of me or Elder Schow.

 

Week 20-Transfers

 

Well Thanksgiving was great. Had to Mexican Thanksgiving dinners and thought i was gonna die i ate so much. They dont let you say no to food.. It was great though im already loving this little branch here. Elder Clark will be leaving this area tomorrow and I will be training a new missionary. Its gonna be an adventure cause i still dont really know the area and its huge. But im gonna get a brand new missionary!

Missionary work is tough. Really tough. But i see miracles every day that i wouldnt of noticed before. Heavenly Father works in crazy ways and he is always there we just have to recognize how he is there with us. I hope everyone has a great week! ( humble Baylor also told his dad they are making him a district leader along with being a trainer. 😬 didn't happen to mention that to me haha)

 

 

The Carlsbad Zone with Elder Grow

Elder Clark and I 

I forgot which week...(Week 17)

MAN. WHAT A WEEK!!!! Me and Elder Schow had dinner with President and Sister Kendrick and they are great. Nice old Texas folk haha Presidents accent is great. This week we were invited to go to "lunch" with some other elders and it turned out to be a 90 year old ladies birthday party with the relief society. It was a lunchean with a room full of very old ladies. "I have never felt more like eye candy in my life" were the words of one of the Elders haha. This week we had Spanish Conference where all the Spanish missionaries got together and had special trainings. The spanish missionaries here are all awesome. We did mission wide exchanges so i was down in Del Mar and Encinitas for a couple of days. I did a lot of service and helping move furniture around this week but i love doing service its great. As members of the church we dont realize how blessed we are to have this gospel already in our lives. It is OUR responsibility as members of this church to share the gospel with EVERYONE. Love all of you hope everyone has a great week

The few. the Proud. the Spanish missionaries

These are my faves. Deana and Aki

Week 16

Nov 2 at 11:46 AM

This has been a really fun week. We went to the temple with our zone on Tuesday and the San Diego temple is ridiculously pretty!!! Then on Wednesday we got a call from our Ward Mission Leader telling us that he needed us to go give a blessing to a less active member in the hospital. So we though we were just gonna go to the local hospital but he drove us an hour down to the San Diego hospital way out of our mission haha it was great. Giving a blessing in a hospital was one of the most humbling experiences ive had. The lady has heart and lung problems and was told she was supposed to die 3 different times. The priesthood definitely works miracles. Later in the week Elder Smith (my mission dad who is now an AP) came on exchanges with me and Elder Schow so i was in my only area so far with my only two companions so far and it was super fun. We biked about 20 miles but every day is leg day in Carlsbad. For Halloween everyone thought we were trick or treaters all day long!!!! It was pretty funny actually. It was a super fun week. "Never give up what you want most for what you want today" love you all have a great week.

 

 

 (These pictures were posted on my mission moms facebook page, his reply when I showed him)

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah how did that picture get on Facebook?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Thats my comp to my right and then those are my favorite Elders in my zone. Elder Trounce the one being weird and Elder Kindmark the one next to me staring at me. They are hilarious and pretty much my best friends right now. Then Elder Schow my comp next to me being weird also, hes a clown but i love the guy. But yes we got to go to the temple and the San Diego temple is the prettiest temple ever ever ever. The celestial room is ridiculous. I had so much fun with these people there. Thats crazy it got on facebook

 

Week 15

Well to start off i am very glad to hear the trophy is staying at home.(Franklin beat Coronado in football in the westside bowl last week) haha i do miss football a lot. But this week was solid. We got some sweet surfing pointers from one of our members who has been surfing since forever. Cant wait to try out his tips lol.

A scripture that really stood out to me this week was Alma 46:12-13. "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children". Even as a missionary it is very easy to see all the evil in this world. It is so important for us all to stand up for what we believe in and defend what we believe in. It can be small and simple, but mostly just by being an example is how we do that. Dont be afraid of what others will think or say of you. 

 

 

{This week he also sent us a paper letter in the mail heres some exerpts}

 

Carlsbad is RAD! My area is all of Carlsbad and part of Oceanside.  Missionary work is super hard but when you have a good ATTITUDE it is easier and fun.Carlsbad is mostly white people and Spanish work is really really hard here but we are doing the best that we can.  I LOVE the ard that I am in.   Its a bilingual ward so there are a lot of English speaking families that joined it to make a stronger ward.  the members are great and it feels like family now. Im getting close with the Smith, Crump, Moreno and Espinoza families in our ward that live in Carlsbad.  They are awesome.I really love being a missionary.  A few weeks back I got on the scale in our apartment and it was the first time in my life where I thought to myself "Dang im getting FAT!" Shocking I know! The scale read 197.7!!!!!!! this food is so fattening Hispanics sure know how to cook though! Beans, Rice, tortillas ans Salsa! But don't worry I cut back and started working out more and eating better  im already back down to 190!  (He left at 176)

 

 

 

 

(A few weeks ago he asked me to send him some Romney shirts for some missionaries, I got on amazon and found some)

Yep, this is what they wanted the shirts for....

Steven, Anchor and myself. The blonde hair blue eyes Spanish speaking clowns!
Dinner at the Crumps house

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}