Little towns and lots of Rain- May 5, 2014

Hey everyone!

   Everything is going great here in Cauquenes and since the town is so small we basically know our way around, so that has been much better! We have seen lots of blessings here and hope to be able to keep exciting the members here to go back to church! We have had some powerful lessons with lots of less-actives and have already seen some of them come to church this past week and hope to be able to help even more. Also as I think I said last week, the people are a lot more receptive and we were able to find 11 new investigators this week! Including a family of 4 with two daughters that love basketball and English so that has been fun! We are excited for them. When we got here the teaching pool was basically empty so we have been working hard to find some more people to teach.

        Also it rained 3 days non-stop this week so that was fun...kinda... haha. But nothing stops the work of the Lord and our energy either! Okay this is going to be a short one today since we get to talk on Skype on Sunday!! And I have been emailing some converts from my past sectors and so family you will just have to wait for awesome stories when I get home :) However, this sector is so much different than my last one and on Thursday we first taught a drunk man (husband of a recent convet...we didn`t realize it until we started talking...haha) then we taught a Gypsee (I think that`s what Gitano is in English?) who started talking some weird language between themselves and the spirit was not there at all and we got out as fast as we could.... then we taught an angry recent convert who was mad about something that another member said about her... so things are always interesting here haha. But really though I love it!! I had 3 different people tell me that I had an "angel" with me and that I should make sure and take care of it. I am pretty sure they meant the Holy Ghost, but it was super sweet.

   Anyways, I love the mission so much and Hna Oronà is amazing and I feel like we are always busting up laughing. I feel so grateful to be here in Cauquenes and to be serving in la mision Chile Concepcion. I love you so much family and that is so happy to hear that you are doing missionary work there at home with the Gladys Knight fireside! Keep up the good work and talk to you Sunday! And I am soooo excited for you Brad and Carli to welcome in my newest niece into the world hopefully this week! 

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Romney

Anita (our investigator!) at church and Nelly

Pic of the little town from a hill that we ran up to in the morning

My sweet Chilean hoodie!
With our district eating an amazing american breakfast with the senior couple (the Scholes) here!!!!

Cauquenes Estacion!!​!- Apr. 28, 2014

   ¡Hola y saludos de Cauquenes a todos!

   So this week was full of many moments getting lost, meeting lots of new members from the Branch, talking with lots of old people, having great lessons, getting lost, and getting lost some more. Hahah so it wasn`t too bad, but Hermana Oronà and I did have a good time trying to figure everything out. Hermana Oronà is awesome as well! She is a convert of only 2 years as well just like my previous companion and her parents aren`t even members of the church either. Just her sister and her, but she is amazing and has such a strong testimony. She is from Uruguay and is 21 years old and loves sports, so we are doing great together, even if I do miss my baby Hna Lino.

       My new sector Cauquenes Estacion is the exact opposite of my last sector!!! I am in el campo!!! Basically in a little town in the middle of nowhere. There are lots of old people missing lots of teeth haha, but very loving and sweet! Every night as we walk home I feel like I am camping since it is so quiet and really dark in some places where there are no street lights. Although every night the stars are super bright and I absolutely love it. I am pretty sure that we were the "big news" that came into the town when we arrived because we talked to the members who told us that their neighbors were talking about us....hahah so you can tell that there is not too much going on here. Everyone says that back in the day the branch here used to be awesome and full of active members, so we are not sure what has happened, but on Sunday I think we had maybe 55 people if we are lucky. The Branch depends a lot on the missionaries and yesterday I had to give a talk in church and teach the class - of course without any anticipation, but then what`s new? Haha at least I have had to do that before in Mexico when Dad would just tell me from the pulpit that I would be giving my testimony :)

       So there are lots of less-actives and the people just don`t have any desire or ganas to come to church. Everyone has told us that the Branch needs lots of love and energy to get back to how it used to be so we are hoping that we can help! The members have told us that they can tell that we have lots of energy and excitement to help and we are hoping to be able to transmit that to Cauquenes. Actually FAMILY: Could you please find some good scriptures that would be good to share with someone who has not come to church in a long time??? I would appreciate it soooo much!!  The people here however are really receptive and they actually stop to talk to us in the street whereas in Concepcion they would just keep walking and we would have to run along side of them, so that is nice! It`s a change, but a great opportunity to grow!

    Lots of miracles have happened this week as well!! I almost missed the bus with all of my luggage and my companion on it, but Heavenly Father hears our prayers and the bus had to make a big U-turn to come back so as I ran out into the middle of the road it stopped right on time! Then we brought an investigator to church named Osvaldo who stayed for all 3 hours of church. We had taught him on Friday and then in the morning on Sunday we went looking for someone else and didn`t find them so we invited him and he said sure since he didn`t have anything else to do! Haha. And lots of other little things that have just always made me realize that God is in control of His work, not me. I freaking love the mission and the opportunity to become closer to my Savior and help more of my brothers and sisters to do the same!!! I love you all so much as well and hope you have an amazing week!! Also thank you everyone for the birthday wishes, finally 20 years old!

 

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Romney

With Hna Orona my new comp!!

Then using my height to an advantage to help pick grapes in one of the many vineyards here in Chile.

With hna Richards from Dallas! Remember her Cath? 
I`ll send more picks of my sector next week!

Bringing the World His Truth- Apr. 14, 2014

¡'Buenos Dias!

 

        I hope this week was just as great for everyone at home as it was here. First off, Javier finally got baptized!!! The first time that we taught him was in December of 2013, but his mom, Maribel, was less-active in the church and it didn`t look like she was too excited to come back. However, their family was in a little bit of a crisis and needed help and so we arrived just at the right time. Well finally after she has become active again and we have taught her son Javier, he was able to enter the waters of baptism and make eternal covenants. His father, Carlos, who has been somewhat receptive also was able to attend and so we are hoping that we can help him follow the example of his son and be baptized as well so that they can become an eternal family and get sealed in the temple for time and all eternity!! Javier was grinning from ear to ear after his baptism and both Hna Lino and I noted that he had a new light to him afterwards and just looked so happy. Also Maribel came up to us after the baptism with tears in her eyes and just expressed her gratitude towards us for all that we have been able to help them do. As well as Javier, it has been amazing to see how Maribel has changed by coming back to church. The first time we were able to teach her she was just so negative about everything and now even she herself says that she sees things in a new light and is smiling so much more. I love seeing REAL change in others when they accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives!! 

        The rest of this week was also great. On Tuesday our District Leader asked us if we would teach the class to everyone, so Hna Lino and I got to teach everyone how to invite people to baptism with a date all in the first lesson! It went great and it probably helped us more than anyone else, but it went good. :) Then the Elders in our ward (who are crazy) decided to invent an activity at the last moment and of course wanted Hna Lino and I to teach the spiritual part so we had an object lesson on Lehi`s Dream and that was fun! Haha. Also we had some crazy fuerte lessons this week with new investigators that we found. Including two people who told us that they did not want to live in this moment and the thing they wanted most was to pass onto the next life. It really is incredible how many people out there need help and need to know that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us so much that he sent His son to the earth to pay the price for our sins so that we can return to live with Him in eternal happiness. I have no doubt that there are so many people out there that need our help and need YOUR help. I encourage all of you to lend out a hand this week to someone who needs help, whether it is physically or emotionally. It will bless your life and bless the life of someone else. 

    Well we have to go since I am going to be the first client of Alejandra (new convert of about 2 months now) who just opened up a massage room in her house. I am excited, yet a little bit nervous about it, but I hope it will at least be relaxing. Haha. Bryce congrats on your new Vocal Point CD release and for reaching #35 on Itunes!!! Daddy thank you so much for always going out with the missionaries there at home and for sharing your study of Preach My Gospel with me. Mom, thank you a million for the birthday package that I couldn`t wait to open up! It was perfect and you always know exactly what I need! Hope everyone is well and I love you all so much! 

Hermana Romney 

Pics from the baptism and our Noche de Hogar

Spirituall​y Fed- Apr. 7, 2014

¡Hola Hola!

        Did everyone just absolutely love General Conference this weekend?? It really was so great and just what I needed and I hope what our investigators needed to be spiritually fed. This week our whole focus was on getting investigators, new converts, and less-actives to come to church to see conference. It involved lots of running around to try and pick up as many as we could and getting members to drive them there, but it was so worth it! We wanted each of them to bring 3 dudas or doubts with them that they had about the church or what they should do in their lives and I am excited to meet with them later this week and see how that went. I as well decided to bring 3 doubts and questions with me and all 3 of them were perfectly answered! I really felt like the leaders of the church were talking directly to me. It is incredible how Heavenly Father can answer our prayers! I know that He really wants to answer them and as long as we are listening, we will receive answers to them!

      I have some new goals from conference that I want to work on and one of those is to really build up each of my companions that I am with. I loved the talks on gratitude, communication, the Atonement, loving others, and of course about missionary work!! I haven`t had anyone throw food or spit on me yet like in Elder Holland`s talk, but I can sure relate to that Sister Missionary! There were so many great messages and I wish that we could have another conference next weekend and every weekend after that! During almost every talk that I heard, one of our investigators or a member popped into my head that they need this message or something that would help them. I love the opportunity we have as missionaries to be able to concentrate all of our time and efforts on helping others to be happy and have Eternal Life!

      So turns out Fernanda`s baptism will have to be postponed a little bit. Her grandmother is the one who is a member and supports her, but apparently her Father is second guessing if she should get baptized or not. We had a lesson with all 3 of them this week and we were able to help her Father understand a little bit better the why of baptism and he is committed to read 2 Nephi 31 and pray about it. Hopefully he will come around soon and maybe we will even be able to have 2 baptisms instead of 1! However, Javier is set to go this weekend for his baptism. His mom this week wanted to push back his baptism again until the end of April because they wanted to buy him a big cake and wouldn`t have money until the end of the month to do that... dumbest reason ever haha. If a cake is what is impeding someone to have the opportunity to enter into the Celestial Kingdom someday, then I would gladly use my own money to buy a giant cake to be able to help them to have Eternal Happiness!!! But we cleared that all up and Hna Lino and I will be making a sweet cake for him! :) Evelyn went to conference with her 3 doubts and so we have Faith that conference was able to help her as well! Everyone else is doing good too, sometimes progressing slower than we want, but sure and steady!

       Today Roxana (our convert in December) took my comp and I today to go see the Huascar (a Peruvian boat that Chile captured) so my comp could see something from her country! But of course with our luck it was closed today...hahah but we got to see it from a distance at least and spent all morning with Roxana. Mom I felt like I was back at home going around with my mom again running errands and looking for clothes! It was so nice and I love that family so much.

      Well I love all of you my family so much and I hope that all of you were spiritually fed this weekend with conference and if you didn`t get to see all 4 sessions, I invite you to watch all of them online! Our leaders receive revelation from God for us in our day! How incredible is that! I hope especially that you all can take Elder Ballard`s advice and follow up on talking with others about the gospel and to study Preach My Gospel as well. I would love to hear how your study has been going in PMG as well! Hope you all have a fantastic week and stay strong in the Faith!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Romney

Opps... forgot the pics:

With Roxana, the boats in Talcahuano, and an old Texas sweatshirt in the Ropa Americana.

And the Rain Begins- March 31, 2014

 ¡Hola Hola mis seres queridos!

 

   I hope this week has been great for everyone and Happy Birthday Brielle!! So now here in Chile we have entered into Fall and we had the first big rain storm of the year and it was pouring!! It was also the first time my comp had even seen rain in real life! She is from Lima Peru and it never rains there and so this was the first time she has ever been in rain! She told me she has never even seen lightening in real life either! Crazy! But she was so cute and I thought she was going to melt in the rain at first haha but she`s a trooper and now we just need to go get some good rain boots and we will be ready to go! Also it has gotten colder here so far, but not near as cold as it will be in winter!  

   This week we got two new Elders in our ward who came from the mission in Venezuela since all of the foreigners got kicked out, so we are back to 6 missionaries in the ward again! So this week was really good and we were able to work really well with the members. It is kind of nice to stay in a sector for a while because you get to know everyone really well! 

    Okay so I really don`t have much time to write this week, but Fernanda is progressing so much and so is Javier and we are still set for their baptisms on the 12th. Also Fernanda drew a picture of me which I will attach in the email! She calls me Hermana Robney.... but close enough!! Haha she says I am a Rock Star because I played my Ukelele for them one time and she really liked it haha. 

   This week I had to give a talk in church too about baptism and the Holy Ghost and it turns out that I think I talked for about 15 minutes or maybe longer.... I didn`t even realize that the time had gone by so fast and then the Bishop had to put a note up on the pulpit to tell me it was time and I needed to finish... hahaha. I realized that I am really used to teaching lessons and not giving talks..... but it turned out well in the end!! I mean when you ask a missionary to talk about Baptism and the Holy Ghost, I have a lot to say!!! Hahah. But I wanted more than anything to invite all of the members to invite at least one person to General Conference this weekend! Ahhh by the way I am soooo pumped for Conference! Mom and Dad I am jealous that you are going to witness it in person, but I am so glad that we will be able to bring a lot of investigators to see it as well. That is my invitation as well to all of you this week, that you can invite a friend who isn`t a member or perhaps a less-active to the conference so that they can hear from a Prophet of God. I love you all so much and stay strong always in the Gospel!! 

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Romney 

Pics: The drawing, celebrating Hna Skirvin`s birthday with Chinese food, and our converts taught us how to make Chilean Sopaipillas!!! Soo Good!
 

I am a Missionary and Representative of Jesus Christ - March 24, 2014

¡Hola Hola! 

    ¿Còmo ha sido este semana para todos? It`s been another great week here in Santa Sabina and the mission is just as great as ever! So many great memories made and life changing moments that I will remember forever. This past week as we had breakfast with the Mission Presidents and the other Hermanas in our zone, it hit me that I am now one of those missionaries who I looked up to when Mom and Dad were serving in Mexico. I remember that I always had so much admiration for all of those missionaries who came over to have their last supper before they went home. They always had such strong testimonies and funny stories that they would tell. Well this past week it hit me that I was one of those missionaries telling funny stories and laughing till it hurt while President Arrington would translate for his wife just like Dad used to do for Mom! It hit me that I now have my own crazy stories to tell and experiences from the mission that will affect me for the rest of eternity. However, I still have lots of time left and lessons to be learned in the next 11 months, so bring it on! 

    This week was so much better than the last! We were able to have Javier, Fernanda, and Evelyn come to church all with a date for the 12th of April! Fernanda is the grand daughter of Alejandra who got baptized last month and just came to live with her from Antofagasta, so we are excited for her! She is one of the best investigators I have had. Our first lesson we left her the pamphlet for the Restoration and she read all of it in two days and underlined every word that she didn`t understand and answered all of the questions in the back!! She has read everything that we have left her and she is so excited to get baptized and go into the "pool" as she calls it! And she is only 9 years old! It is crazy how she does things that not even adults do...! She just has the purest desire to follow Jesus Christ and we are pumped for her. Evelyn is progressing like crazy and is already in Mosiah 21 of the Book of Mormon! Javier is doing great too and we even had an activity this Saturday where we played basketball with the other Elders, some members, and our investigators! 

       

     So this week Hermana Lino has been learning lots of English. This week we focused a lot on the pronunciation and for the whole day we had to practice how to say words in English that start with an S. For example to say "stop" she would always say "estop" or "estart". Haha. It cracks me up, but she has been getting so much better!!! 

      Well I have got to go, but this I am so glad that all is well at home and I got my package from home today!! Thank you so much mom and thank you cousins and family for the sweet Valentines notes. It made my day for sure! Also happy late birthday Blake! I love you all sooooo much and continue to keep sharing the gospel in anyway you can! 

Hermana Romney 

Pics: 

From our zone activity making a pyramid, our activity playing basketball, and my comp Hna Lino is a Wiz Kid at doing braids and did this one in my hair yesterday!!

Little things for Granted -March 17, 2014

¿Hola hola como esta la mejor familia en todo el mundo?

  So this morning we just got back from eating gourmet French Toast at the President`s house with all of the Hermanas in our zone! Then we decided to do a little bit of yoga and breathing exercises, which was sooo nice. It was super American and I loved it. I`ll send pics next week. 

Funny moment:

    So one of the members named Hermano Jorge is soo hilarious and is just a little bit of an odd ball. You know the type that usually every ward has one of them haha. But I love him so much and he always calls my comp Machu Picchu (because she is from Peru and that is the bottom part of Machu Picchu) then he calls me Wayna Picchu (because that is the tall mountain that is on top of Machu Picchu....hahahah) Anyways, he always jokes about our height difference and right after Sacrament Meeting, he comes up to me and stands on one of the benches to say hi to me while everyone was still basically sitting down... hahaha oh Hno Jorge! 

          Well this week was a little bit more of a tougher week; however, whenever we serve the Lord, it always is a good week! We will start with the good miracles and things that Heavenly Father has been blessing us with. So our investigator Hector (the one we met on New Years and called us later) came to the baptism of an 8 year old kid in our ward and said he felt the spirit so strong there. He said he really pays attention to energies that people give off and when we talked to him later about the baptism, he said he felt such a good energy there!! That when he was inside of the church that he felt like there was a bubble protecting us and he felt really good inside. He was also so impressed that the little kids could understand so much and were so spiritual. It really made me think about how we take those little things for granted. We really have such a great opportunity to be able to go church and feel of the spirit that many people don`t ever get to feel. 

         Also it has been amazing to see the difference of kids that have grown up in the Gospel and those who haven`t. It is a huge difference and the kids of the members are usually well-behaved and have a special spirit about them, whereas those who aren`t are usually pretty wild haha. Even in the familia Pino Peña (new converts as of December) have changed soooo much!!! It`s incredible and it really is so important to raise children in the Gospel and to teach them the plan our loving Heavenly Father has for us! Hector is doing good now and even called the other day to thank us for everything because his life has gone so good since we have started to meet with him and he has started to feel happy again. Before his Faith in God was very little, but now he says that he knows God exsits!  Life really does get better when we have Faith in Jesus Christ!! Another example is Hno Pedro (recent convert of November) has Parkinson's. Before his baptism, I remember the first lesson we had with him he kept shaking and looked pretty miserable to be honest. He could hardly walk and it was hard to understand him when he talked. However, after his baptism, he is able to walk so much better and he looks so much better than before. When we went to visit him this week he was making jokes the whole time. He knows that he changed after his baptism and has such a strong testimony!! Ahh this Gospel is soo true and real! 

    So a bummer this week was that Hna Lino has been pretty sick these past few days, so that is always hard, but she is a fighter and is trying not to let it get her down. Then yesterday it rained right in the morning for church and in the morning we got 3 calls in a row from all of our investigators calling on us to say that they woke up sick and weren't going to be able to come....ahhh something has got to be in the air that is making everyone sick!! But what do you do? You keep pushing along and confront the hard things in life with buen animo! I invite all of you to reflect on your life and think of how the Gospel has blessed your lives and then go and share it in whatever little way you can so that others can have those blessings too!! I love you all soooooo much!!! 

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Romney 

Picture of the hole in my running Nikes..... luckily we found a less active family that fixes shoes and so he fixed it for me and we were able to teach them at the same time!!! 

Then my sweet foot tan!!!! And no that is not dirt... 

And the Chilean sunrise that we see every morning from our balcony!