week something (22)

First of all the Allen Christmas tree is sweet. Our only Christmas decoration in the apartment right now! Thanks fam I have the best family in the world. Also this past week I saw a lady walking her turtle on the sidewalk. Yes a turtle. The things you see in California...

 

Well you know how I always complained when we had to carol at Christmas time? Now its my favorite. So weird I know... We went caroling as a zone this past week and just being with all those missionaries and singing to people was so much fun and the Spirit was so strong with us. I love this time of year. Its great as a missionary cause people will actually listen to you haha.

 

I hope everyone has a great Christmas season and looks for ways to help others. There are people everywhere who are waiting for somebody to help. I love you all thanks for all the support.

 

Don't worry Mom Del Mar is taking care of me this branch is awesome even though the missionary work is so hard here!

 

Walking around eating ice cream and looking at Christmas lights LOL!

Craziness week 21

 

 

 

This week has been all over the place. I am half training Elder Bucko He is from New York and speaks very little spanish so that has been rough and he doesnt talk alot either but he is starting to open up and we are working it hard. so that has been fun. I met Braxtons cousin this past week so that was crazy. I sang with 4 other youth at our branch Christmas party and it sounded terrible but was so much fun. I saw Jeff Allen at the Christmas concert on  last night and he came and gave me a hug and we are gonna go over for dinner some time haha. Bishop Romney is in the same building as me and i see him all the time and there are tons of other romneys here that im some how related to. Its a great area i love it. Just the work is rough here and the branch is so small. Our branch had the most powerful testimony meeting ever. Its been a very eventful week and it has been so much fun. The days are going by way too fast it needs to slow down!

 

 

Work is harder here but im used to it now so its just normal. Missions are challenging but its life. I have grown so much from what i have noticed and on saturday night i cried to Heavenly Father for the first time. It was probably an experience that changed my mission. I am so blessed in my life with everything and im so selfish for not sharing everything i have with those who are in need, especially the gospel. Thanks for raising me right.

 

 

 

Elder Romney with Jeff Allen (moms first cousin)

California Kingin

Elder Bucko and elder Romney

The worst singing group ever!

Braxtons cousin Brayden Milliner(ex Carlsbad missionary)

Transfer day with the missionaries

Bay helping his new companion

Transfer Meeting

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}

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

Week 7

Well I could complain about a lot of things this past week but "Just another week in paradise" as they say. Charity. That's what I learned this past week. There are people who will yell at you and tell you to go away and argue with you and just hate you for no reason at all. But you gotta love them. That's something I have really been trying to do cause it is hard. I gave a discussion in a meeting this week about charity and it is "the pure love of Christ" as it says in the scriptures. its crazy to think what he went through and still loved everyone. Anyways im working on that and I encourage all of you to try and be more Christlike and love others even if they don't love you back.

 

It was a slow week but we were in another sketch apartment complex and 5 little Mexican kids came up to us and started showing us  around telling us who lives where and just what doors to go to. We told them we spoke all languages cause they were surprised we spoke Spanish and so they asked us to speak all these languages and we just made stuff up and they thought we were the smartest coolest people ever haha. It was great I love kids.

 

Anyways that's all I got from this week, Hope everyone is doing well. Shoutout to Franklin football and best of luck this season

 

Im missing football bad and was thinking how gunner was doing on Friday and wishing I could be playing but I know im doing the right thing here. No baptisms yet but we are close with 3. this mission baptizes like crazy. about 400 last year im not sure how much a month but our goal as a district is 5 but its been slow. Thanks for that email dad, I am working so hard here and im so thankful that you did push me and made me do everything and taught me how to work hard cause it is making this work easier. I love you and miss you guys tons.

Elder Romney and his companion Elder Smith

weekly letter

A pretty slow week but had some good stuff. Went on exchanges with the ZLs and Elder Arrellano who speaks no Spanish so that was a fun day where I talked to everyone and he said "buenas noches" to everyone haha. He is so cool though and just loves the people and will talk to anyone anywhere it was awesome. Me and Elder Smith were biking in a neighborhood and 3 little kids joined us on their bikes and started talking to people with us. We had our own little gang and we raced on the bikes and it was sweet. We ate at a members house this week and he fed us Catfish heads with the skin and eyes and whiskers and teeth and everything, it was so hard getting down but I didn't throw up so that was good. I met uncle Dustins MTC comp Daniel Perez at church, its such a small world!!! I also started the missionary moment in our ward here. In priesthood one person hands out a Book of Mormon that week and tell about his experience the next week at church. Im excited to see how that goes. Not much going on, just still trying to find people to teach so we meet a lot of interesting people. Its fun though. Ill talk to you all next week hope everything is going great and goodluck to everyone starting school!!!

We went surfing this week (jk I wish) but its our "Jesus board"
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MORE FROM OTHER LETTERS THIS WEEK--
don't think weight will be a problem when I get back but im trying hard to work most of the fat off here. Yes I would like to know football stuff, I miss it so bad and I don't really get distracted. .. So I am gaining weight im at 182 again but its not all muscle haha. My legs are getting bigger though. We took away one of our investiagors coffee so that was pretty cool and now we have coffe in our apartment. The elders here are so much fun and they all say this is the most disciplined mission and I agree, everyone holds eachother accountable and I love it, nobody is lazy. I really love it, it is going by way too fast though haha.

 

One Month!?!?!?

Man time flies. this week was great though. On Tuesday we got put in a trio with elder Cordery. It was his last day on the mission so he just spent the day with us. He was so awesome and confident, I learned to have tons of confidence from him, he talked to every person no matter where they were it was funny. But he woke me up at 5:45 to run 5 miles! not my thing it was terrible. but I couldn't complain cause it was his last day and we ran on the 101 which is right on the beach so it was so pretty and nice. So me and Elder Smith killed him (that's what its called when a missionary leaves) and continued on our way. We ran out of ideas one day cause we are just finding so we went to a Catholic Fellowship Home lol. Surprisingly the leader guy there was cool and let us in so we talked to tons and tons of guys. We met a Russian guy who barely moved from Russia two weeks ago and had the thickest accent ever it was so scary. He told us "Let me go smoke one real quick then we Bible study with the Mormon Book" (make sure to read that in the thickest Russian accent ever) it was hilarious. We went on exchanges this week and Elder Smith that it would be cool for me to run the area for two days even though ive been out like 3 weeks. So I ran the area and everything seemed to go well, I didn't completely ruin evething so we are good. I was with Elder Rodriguez from Spanish Fork Utah. We went to a dinner/lesson with one of our investigators, Steven, who is 9 and hasn't been baptized cause his dad wont let him. His parents are divorced but his mom is an active member and awesome. So we got there and Steven and his little brother Anchor who is 5 were both in there underwear and I felt right at home it was great. I wanted to join them but that's innaproiate for missionaries I guess lol. Anyways we are trying to convince the dad but its not really working. We did sing Happy Birthday to Anchor though and it was so cute. Anyways that's the week. Miss you all!

 

Excerpts from other letters to us this week

"So before I left I found your Book of Mormon from your mission and stole it and took it with me. Its all marked up and has scriptures everywhere and has helped me tons in studying and learning. On Wednesday I was kinda having a rough morning so I prayed and immediately after had a prompting to grab your old scriptures. Opened it up to the first page where you wrote the scripture D&C 121:7-8. I pictured you saying that to me and my day completely turned around and I know it was a tender mercy from god that I opened up to that. "

 

 

Cali

So another week in California. We have no real investigators right now because its a kinda new area. So we contact and knock doors all day long. Let me tell you, you have absolutely no idea who is behind that door you knock. One door an ex-gang, drug dealer/addict answered who was definitely not sober and he was really cool but he kept giving us advice on how to be better missionaries and be more effective in our work. It was awesome. Another door the guy was also not sober. He said "Mormons are my dudes" like 20 times it was awesome. Turns out he is the 15th highest decorated Vietnam Veteran though, he even showed us a picture so that was really cool. Another door two little Indian kids answered who barely spoke English and had really thick accents. I tried showing them a picture of Jesus and they started yelling "no! no! no!" and slammed the door. It was hilarious. Another door an African tribal lady anwered and didjnt speak English and her language was so cool and weird but we couldn't communicate so that was awkward. Anyways you run into a lot of different people, its fun but nobody really wants to listen. I went on exchanges with Elder Stewart my district leader this week. He is 25 and already graduated from BYU and loves eating kale. Weird dude but he was so sarcastic so we got along great. Not much else happened besides in church when the first counselor was conducting he sounded like he was announcing a soccer game so that was hilarious. Im doing great and loving California (minus the hills). I read a talk from David L. Beck where he says "When you lose yourself in serving others, you find yourself. You change and grow in ways that otherwise would not be possible." Everyone needs help and there are people out there waiting!

other comments this week:
"I rode my bike on the 101 next to the beach last night it was so cool! I got your box my comp was surprised at all the protein but I knew it was coming:)"

" Tate,Tell Gunner Joseph smith knew of the theory of relativity before Einstein...look it up its true stuff"


President and sister Kendrick with elder Romney 

First week in Carlsbad

Man what a week. The weather over here is amazing!!! My comp/trainer is Elder Smith. Hardest working, most obedient and awesome missionary ever (according to everyone in the mission). I agree cause he is working me so hard I am exhausted when we get home every night. We are in Carlsbad and part of Oceanside. Our apartment is like a quarter mile from the beach so thats awesome. We run every morning to where we can get a great view of the ocean and its so cool. Why did we never live here? So i got thrown right into the fire. The day i got here i taught to investigators and we contacted/tracted the entire night. Believe it or not i actually talk to people and Elder Smith is impressed with how well I am at contacting. We are on bikes and it is so rough. The hills here are not bike friendly and so steep so i get a great leg work out all day every day. Hopefull Ill have some muscle on them when i get back. Spanish speaking here is basically going in to the sketchy scary places nobody else wants to go in. Im still mainly speaking and teaching in English though. We had dinner at a members house and he is huge in sports so we watched my highlights haha it was so cool. I really do love the work. Being a missionary is actually fun if you have a positive attitude. 90% of the people we contact say no to us (20% not so nice about it) but there are people who listen. When you find that one person that listens it is the happiest feeling in the world. Anyways i hope everyone is doing great. I love California. I love the weather. I love being a missionary. -

 

Elder Romney

 

  (More from other letters this week)

.*** Yes tracting is actually super fun. Believe it or not i actually go up to people and start converstations all day everyday. Yes you have stalkers everywhere. Cali is awesome and im doing great. Its not really a Spanish speaking missions its like half and half so thats cool.

*** Elder Smith my comp is awesome he is such a great missionary. No slacking with him! Biking these hills are so hard!!!

Pictures from people

Pictures I was sent this week from cousins and random people! I think I'm gonna love this mission!! I got word from mission ladies his first area is Oceanside and his comp is Elder Smith. So exciting. Can't wait to hear from him tomorrow!

Last Day of the MTC..California here i come!

well mtc is over! thank goodness i started loosing my mind a little. i leave tomorrow morning at 3:30 am... so early im not ready for that. So this week was awesome. We feel like veterans and on Wednesday when all the new missionaries got here me and my roomates had so much fun making fun of them when we said "welcome to the MTC" cause we feel like we have been here for years already. My roomates and companion are awesome. We got another Elder in our room Elder Bates who is a convert and he is hilarous and my favorite. "days feel like weeks and weeks feel like days" according to him and its so true. The days are so long its hard to remeber things. I have learned so so so much and feel like a real missionary and feel ready to go out to the field. Aaron Machens companion from Mexico City is one of my teachers, we were buds. Let me tell you guys about the power of prayer. So Wednesday night some clown in our room turned the air down all the way and it was freezing, all we had was a little sheet but we were all too lazy to turn the air up. So we all got maybe two hours of sleep at most. We woke up late and rushed out the door and forgot to have companion prayer and my companion forgot to say his personal prayer. The day was terrible horrible and everything else bad. We were falling asleep in class all morning and were so out of it and didnt understand anything. At lunch i even announced to my roomates "worst day of the MTC so far". I asked my companion if he had said his prayers that morning and he said no and then i told him we didnt say comp prayer. He then said his prayers and we said comp prayer. We immediately felt better and we went to get the mail right after. He had gotten a letter in the mail from his brother (he is a convert and his family is anti mission so big deal) and i got a package full of cinnamon rolls from the Machens. It completely turned that day around. So PRAY. Also shout out to the Machens.

We watched meet the mormons Sunday night and the football part made me so sad. I didnt realize how much i miss football and i cant wait to be back to play. But im doing great and happy and ready to leave to Cali. The church is true everyone. I love and miss you all. 

Elder Romney

 

     Baylor with Ben Kendrick former basketball "cougar" teammates!

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Random Pictures

From Mo the service Supervisor

Dayna Peck saw him walking around the Provo Temple

From his teacher I assume saying " Your son is headed out tomorrow! Brace yourself, theyre headed to the field"

This week I have received random texts from different people sending me pictures of Elder Romney. I love it!!

Pictures from Entering MTC

 

Baylor left on July 15,  he flew from El Paso to Salt Lake City and My cousin Brad Heap picked him up at the airport and took him in to the MTC.  these are pics from that day!

 

 

 

 

 

The MTC

hello people of the free world. where do i even start... This has been the craziest busiest week ever. On my flight up i had a layover in denver and was sitting alone in the airport sad and what not when a group of 20 missionaries coming home from their missions in Texas came up and introduced themselves to me. It was something so small but made my day 1000 times better and was truly a blessing. Then walking through the airport in Salt Lake seeing all their families pick them up was awesome and exciting. i got to the MTC fine thanks to brad. I was put in a trio and thats hard but i love them and we get along so well. Elder Herrera who is 21 and a convert is headed to houston texas and Elder Thompson is going to Paraguay. My days are waking up at 6:15 going to class eating going to class eating going to class eating again then studying. i am exhausted by the end of the day. I speak spanish all day long and feel the spirit all day long and i love it. The holy ghost is so strong here. i am learning so much, more than i ever thought was possible. The sisters are very emotional and alot of sweet spirits here. they cry about everything, the elders in my district had to give a sister a blessing and it was such a powerful experience. Dad was right about MTC basketball players, everyone was an "all-star'. My zone president is President Call and he is from the colonies and knows merideth and grandpa. I really need to change my last name though cause i get asked 80 times a day if im related to mitt. We went to the Provo temple and going through with my district and comps was amazing, the spirit is so strong with them. Believe it or not i love it here. The people are great and its like going to church 12 hours a day but somehow enjoyable. I am doing great so nobody worry, believe it or not i havent even cried yet. thats all i got from this week, love you and miss you all but i am doing great.

Elder Romney

                                                     His 2 comps are the middle 2 behind him.