Crav, Penco- Nov 24, 2014

¡Buenos Días! 

       So many changes have happened this past week and Penco is so different from Chillan! I have to admit that for the first couple of days, I missed Chillan soo much and all of the people there. We had such a booming sector and last Monday it was so hard to say goodbye to all of them. The members, converts and investigators alike. It was a crazy night running around saying goodbye to everyone with tears shed, but at least technology is amazing and I will be able to keep in touch with many of them. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE so many people over there and I miss Hna Ayuso and Hna Love. We had so much fun together, but enough of things in the past because I am now in Penco!!! Hna Blau (19) is my new comp from Missouri and she is a boss. She`s got about 11 months in the mission and is going to be a great Sister Training Leader. She is very bubbly, obedient, and has tons of animo which I love! She reminds me a lot of my trainer Hna Lovell too. She also loves running, so we are taking advantage of that to get to know the sector better in the mornings and to go running along the beach. We already get along great and it should be a good cambio. 

    I will send some pictures of Penco because it is beautiful! It is a beach town and we have spectacular views of the ocean everywhere. There are soooo many hills though!! We hike everyday up these steep hills and man is it a good leg workout. Way different from Chillan, but I love it. The hermanas before us were great at working with less actives and new converts, but there are 0 investigators so we have just been trying to find as much as possible through the members. That has been a little bit hard, but we have found a few solid people already and are excited to work even more here. It is a really good ward with lots of potential, so lots of things to do. 

   Other than getting lost quite a bit, this week has been great and members have been vital in showing us around a going out with us everyday. I have learned a lot this week about what a successful missionary is. It basically all depends on the Spirit and if we are giving everything that we can while being completely obedient. Also this week I heard that a less-active that I re-activated in Santa Sabina is now the Ward Mission Leader and gave a talk at stake conference about how he remembered Hna Lovell and I and how we was so grateful that we were able to help reactivate him. Ahhh that made me so happy to hear!!! Well I`ve got to go, but I love my mission, my Savior, the gospel, and everything that it implies. Not too much time this week, but I love you all. Stay strong in the faith ALWAYS. 

con mucho amor, 

   Hermana Romney 

A few pics of Hna Blau and the sector. I will try and get some better pics for next week. 

Cherries, Fleas, and Baptisms- Nov 17, 2014

¡Hola desde el sur de Chile!! 

       Wow what an unforgettable week. I don`t even know where to start, but I guess I will start with my favorite part of the week when Ivan and Diego were baptized! It was one of the most spiritual baptisms that I have been a part of and everyone just had huge grins from ear to ear the whole time. They both looked so good in white and when I first saw them, in my mind they were in the temple wearing the same white clothes. That has never happened to me before on my mission, but I have no doubt that they are going to the temple someday and it brought tears to my eyes! Hna Ayuso, Hna Love and I all say that Ivan is going to be a great bishop someday. All went well at the service and us 3 with an Elder sang "Asombro me da" (I stand all amazed) as a special musical number since it is Ivan`s favorite Hymn. Ivan was then baptized by our ward mission leader, Hno Orellana, who happens to be his neighbor with tears in his eyes and then Diego after him. The best part was that Cony (Ivan`s daughter) told us right after her dad and brother got baptized that she felt the spirit and wants to get baptized too!!!! Ahhhh we were sooo happy and she is now set for the 29th of November along with Carmen. Ivan then gave his testimony of how is family was going through a hard time until we came to his house and then everything changed. He gave the most honest testimony about how he could feel in his heart that the church was true and that this is what God wants him to do. Ahhhh he is so golden and I KNOW that Heavenly Father was preparing him for a long time until he was ready and there we were to harvest the crop. I feel like we hardly did anything for him, but it was all Heavenly Father. I feel just like Ammon when he is talking to Aaron in Alma 26:12 saying, 

"Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."

That is another thing that I LOVE about the mission, is that now I feel like I can relate so much better to the heroes in the scriptures!!! 

            Then the bad news of the day: Cambios were today and I am being transferred out of Copihues to go to Krav (Penco) with Hna Blau to train her how to be a Sister Traning leader and to white wash the sector (when they take out both missionaries and put in 2 brand new ones). This will be my third time doing that on my mission! I don`t know hardly anything about Hna Blau except that she is a ginga, but I am excited! On the other hand, I am really really sad to leave Hna Ayuso and Hna Love. I think we have had the most fun cambio together out of my whole mission and have seen so many huge miracles. This week alone we hit the mission standards of excellence in lessons and people at church! Miracles. They both will be staying in Copihues in a trio again for this next cambio with Hna Meyer replacing me. But I guess change is good. 

    All the rest of our investigators are going good here and luckily I can trust Hna Ayuso and Hna Love a lot, so they will be in good hands. Oh and President just emailed us today and let us know that we now only have 1 hour to write our families and friends instead of 1 1/2, so sorry folks, but the letters will probably be getting shorter now. And Mom and Dad, our Christmas Skype call will now only be 40 min instead of 1 1/2 hours like last time....lame, but all is well. 

     I hope you all have had an incredible week and next time I will be writing you from Penco. Got to go pack my bags and say goodbyes, but I love you all more than you know and that love only grows stronger everyday. I love my Savior and feel an enormous privilege to be one of His representatives. It humbles me everyday and I can`t believe how lucky I am to know Him and partake of His atonement while inviting others to do the same. 

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Romney 

Ivan, Diego and their family! Yes, Ivan is a Ginger!! 

Playing ball after an Hermana study that Hna Ayuso and I taught.

Getting my shoes shined on the streets. I have always wanted to do that :) 

Ohh and I totally forgot to mention that I have gotten over 30 flea bites this week!!! They itch!!! But whatcha gonna do? And there are cherries EVERYWHERE on the trees and since I am tall, it is really easy to pick them off the trees and so we have been eating them all day erry day.

Matthew 19:26- Nov 10, 2014

¡Hola Hola!

       Isn`t life good? I hope we all can agree that it is very good. I know we have a heavenly father who looks out for us and can work miracles through us if we are willing to do His will. Sunday at church was awesome and it is such a good thing that there are 3 of us in our companionship! 8 of our investigators came this Sunday so Hna Ayuso, Hna Love, and I get to split up and sit with them! We had Ivan, Diego, and Cony (Ivan`s daughter that is going to seminary now) come to church!! Ivan was soooo happy that his daughter finally came with him and she loved it, so we have high hopes for her. She just has big fears to leave her evangelica church with all of her friends, but she is taking huge steps. Ivan and Diego stood up during sacrament meeting as they announced their baptisms this Saturday!!!!! We just have to find white pants long enough for Diego now since he is taller than me! They both told us they are anxious forthis Saturday and can`t wait! Elsa also came who is our investigator that still has to wait for her pareja (boyfriend) to get a divorce and then get married to him before she can get baptized. She knows that everything is true, but is sad that she has to wait to get baptized. Actually it is really cool because Elsa`s daughter is named Scarleth who is a less-active and is the girl friend of Diego. Funny how that happened right?? So we are reactivating her too. Hna Love sat with all of them. 

       Then we had Carmen and Antonella (her 9 yr old granddaughter) come who have baptismal dates set for the 29th of November. Carmen actually almost got baptized about 8 years ago when her son died the day before her baptism.... hard situation there, but she is regaining her faith. She loves the church, but she just has a huge fear that if she starts coming again, that something bad will happen again. Antonella LOVES church and every time that we come. She is adorable. So Hna Ayuso sat with them. 

      I finally sat with Johana and Sebastian who are hopefully getting married this month or the beginning of December. They really want to be baptized too, but their relationship isn`t too strong so we need to work a little bit on that since it is impeding them from getting married right now. They have 2 kids named Maxi and Trinidad. 

     So it was a crazy Sunday to say the least, but incredible. We actually reached the ward goal of having 120 people in church yesterday!!! We are making history here in Copihues. With my comps we always laugh at the fact that we are just like Moms at church since we have to bring snacks and crayons every Sunday to help all of the kids. Good practice I guess haha. Mom, I don`t know how you did it with 6 kids and with Dad having to sit on the stand most of the times, but you really are Wonder Woman. 

     Well I just feel so lucky that Heavenly Father trusts us in teaching so many of his prepared children. We are seeing so much progress and we are constantly running around every day going from one cita to the next. I love it! I recently have learned so much about Diligence. PMG says, “Diligence is steady, consistent, earnest, and energetic effort in doing the Lord’s work. 

      We have made a huge effort to be diligent in all things and the Lord is blessing us for it. I am so grateful everyday to be a missionary and wouldn`t change my experiences for the world. I love you all so much. 

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Romney 

Tennis this morning!!! At zone conference. Playing soccer with the hermanas. 

Ohh and that is my "granddaughter" Hna Lance in the second picture with Hna Lino!

Expect the Unexpected- Nov 3, 2014

Hola familia y amigos! 

       This morning has been great as we went to Consejo with all the leaders and President Arrington who is amazing. Also before I forget Mom, Sister Arrington said that in the Mission President Seminar they saw the Santiago MTC Presidents and she talked to them and Hna Arrington said that she remembered you as she was talking to her. She said that you will have to be giving lots of talks and firesides in Spanish, so work on that Rosetta Stone!!! But don`t worry Mom, you will be just fine and I have no doubt that all of the missionaries will love you and your warm smile there.  

       We talked a lot in Consejo about how we need to be using Family History more in our efforts to retain, reactivate, and baptize. It is something I haven`t done too much of while on my mission, but I am excited to learn more and help our converts and members to do so. There is so much work to be done and thank you Carli for your email this week and how you are doing family history work!!! I want to do lots too when I get home, so I am excited. 

        So this week has actually been full of all kinds of miracles!!!! One of the biggest ones is that Ivan was set for his baptismal date on Nov. 8th (he would be the only investigator that I have ever seen get baptized in 3 weeks since the first time that we really got to teach him), but we went over last night after he went to church that day with his son Diego(17) for the second time and he asked us so polietly, "Hermanas, my son all by himself told me today that he also wanted to get baptized at my side and so I was wondering if there is anyway that we can push back my baptism one more week so that my son can get baptized with me?" Of course we said yes!!!! That was so awesome because we had only been able to teach Diego once before and he has felt the spirit so much at church that he has the desires to come unto Christ. So hopefully if everything goes well, we should be having 2 baptisms next week of some of the most prepared investigators I have ever met. Then his daughter Coni(15) who is really strong in her evangelica church said that she wanted to come to seminary with the youth this week so that will be awesome and I know she will be joining her dad and brother soon and then the mom will follow too since she is very receptive, we just need to strengthen her faith a little bit.  

         Last night we had such a huge miracle too. So I had called about 10 different members with us to go visit both Johanna and Sebastian and Ivan and his family, but no one could. I was just about to give up, when I felt really strongly to call Hna Marlen and we asked her to go with us and if she could be at there house in 15 minutes and she said yeah no problem Hermanas. Soo awesome!! And now I know why no one else could come because she was the prefect member for both of the families! So Johanna and Sebastian still have to get married so they can get baptized and they have been to church now 4 times. Anyways, so at the beginning they said they didn`t want to get married until next year, but Hna Marlen just got on them and was like, "No you have to do it as soon as possible!" And even offered to buy a dress for Johanna because that was something that was holding them back, so it was incredible. They finally decided to get married and baptized this month, so we are excited! Then she gave amazing testimonies to Ivan and his family and then drove us home to make it back right at 10:00 pm to enter our house. Lets just say, we were happy missionaries that night! I hope to be a member missionary just like her someday. 

       I feel like I could go on forever and ever, but I absolutely love being here and being a missionary. This is the most rewarding and fulfilling thing I have ever done in my life and will cherish these memories and friendships for eternity. The triple threat trio is a blast and unstoppable. The Lord is blessing us and I know that we are only instruments in His hands and that this is His work that he is fully in charge of. I love you all so much and feel so lucky everyday to have such amazing support and to have the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. 

Con mucho amor, 

    Hermana Romney 

Sorry I`ll send pics next week. 

Opportunity of a LIFETIME.- Oct 27, 2014

Hola! 

   

        Yet another amazing week in la Misiòn Chile Concepciòn. So not too much time to write this week, but once again we have been seeing how Heavenly Father guides us towards his prepared children as long as we open our mouths. I know that we are instruments in His hands, but we can`t help anyone unless we are willing to be obedient and do His will. On Wednesday morning this last week we met a really prepared investigator named Mirian. We were actually looking for her neighbor Nicole, the sister of a recent convert who is 16 years old, but it turns out that she had to go to the hospital right before because he baby was being born. What...we didn`t even know she was pregnant, but anyways we knocked on the door right next to her and Mirian lets us right in al tiro. She accepted baptism right away and said, " I want to become closer to God and I think He has sent you to me so sure I`ll go to church and be baptized." It was awesome and then we went back on Saturday and told her that there was a baptism at the church right after our lesson and so we invited her to come and she said sure, so she came and loved it. We went to pick her up on Sunday morning from church, but her work called and they made her go right away, so she couldn`t come, but we have hope for her. 

      Then right after our lesson with Mirian, we were walking and just talking to everyone who passed us until we ran into Erica who talked to us for about 15 minutes and just started crying so much. She told us how she used to have so much Faith until her husband left her and her 3 kids and now she doesn`t have any food to even give her kids. We testified how this gospel can help her and that God has not abandoned her. At first she didn`t want to let us come visit her, but she finally agreed that we could come next week, so we are anxious to be able to help her. There have been so many moments like that where all we had to do was open our mouths and that way God could give us the words to say and the way to help her. 

        On other news, Ivan is a complete stud and loved church again this Sunday. He even brought his 17 yr old son too who doesn`t like any church, but said that he really liked our church and wants to come back again next week! Ivan has been reading the BOM every night and is progressing well for either the 8th or 15th of November for his baptism depending on his work. Ivan is actually a red-head and doesn`t look Chilean at all, but he reminds me so much of my oldest brother Brandon! He has the same mannerisms and Brandon you are just a blonde version of him, so that has been cool and he thinks it`s funny. Haha. (BTW, Mom told me you and Brittani are going to Thailand... whatt??) Anyways, Johana and Sebastian also came to church again and they are hopefully getting married here soon so they can be baptized. 

     Also Flavio and Pilar both got callings this week in church and they are so excited to work and so are we to help them keep progressing in the Gospel. 

       Last thing, we had a ward movie night where we watched the Saratov Approach and boy did that make the tears flow! I love watching movies about missionaries because we can relate so much and I loved their determination and the confidence that God would free them. All 7 of us missionaries at the end bore our testimonies and there wasn`t a dry eye in the house. The spirit was so strong as we all gave witnesses of miracles how our Heavenly Father has protected us and that Christ really suffered for all of sins. If you haven`t seen that movie, I recommend it! 

    Love you all so much and have a great week! 

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Romney 

      From a service activity with all of the missionaries and I helped paint that whole wall behind us at a local cemetery! 

Trust in the Spirit- Oct 20, 2014

Hola!!

     So this week has been amazing and we have had so many miracles
happen. I am convinced that it is because we have Hna Love with us and
there are always miracles when you are with brand new missionaries.
Our trio has been going GREAT and we all 3 get along great and have
had no problems at all, so that makes me so happy. Actually my fear is
that maybe we get along too well and are constantly laughing instead
of being a little bit more concentrated in the work, so that is a goal
of ours to be better! It has been interesting having Hna Love with
mini-cambios, but she is awesome at helping and I think it`s a good
way for her to learn. On Tuesday we had a mini-cambio where another
brand new hermana came to my sector while Hna Ayuso and Hna Love went
to another and that was quite a riot. Probably one of the strangest
mini-cambios I have had due to a few problems the new missionary is
facing, but we had a study with us 5 and things have been getting
better.




      This Sunday was probably one of the most stressful Sundays I
have had here on the mission. So we had 3 investigators come: Johana y
Sebastian, and Ivan (his family couldn`t come this Sunday, but they
will the next). While we were all sitting in sacrament meeting, there
were sooo many kids making so much noise!! We had the kids of Flavio
and Pilar coming over to us every 5 seconds wanting to play and others
that had toys that made loud noises, so us missionaries were a little
bit stressed trying to make it a spiritual experience for our
investigators. I don`t think I have ever prayed so hard for our
investigators to feel the spirit in chuch. It was Ivan`s first time to
come to church and he is so ready for the gospel!! He is a successful
buisness man and when we invited him to baptism on our first visit
this week with him and his family he said, "Yes, that is what I want"
and it was so amazing! He accepted a date to be baptized for the 8th
of November, so we are hoping it all goes well. Anyways, so we were
really worried that he wouldn`t like it when church ended, but he told
us, "Hermanas I`ll be here next sunday for sure and I`ll make sure to
bring my family too." It was so awesome and such a relief to us. Then
we went and had a visit with Johana and Sebastian that night and they
told us that they just want us to teach them and that this is what
they want. They even told me that if everything goes well, that they
will be married and baptized before I leave this sector!! Their
homework is to pick a date when they want to be married and then get
baptized shortly after and it was incredible. Of course they all still
have doubts, but the desire is there and I feel so grateful to have
found these people and to teach them now! It is incredible how the
Lord is in charge of His work and even if church is a little crazy,
the Spirit still can testify that these things are true. So I learned
a big lesson this week to not stress too much and just trust in the
Lord because He will work miracles if we are doing all that we can.



      Another thing that I realized this week is that a big reason why
I needed to come on the mission was to know my Savior better. As I
read the scriptures and really feel the atonement working in my life,
I feel so much closer to Him than I ever have before. I mean I grew up
in the church, but I have never studied so deeply and realized how
much I really do need Christ in my life. My mission has given me a
perspective of what is really important. I am reading Jesus the Christ
and absolutely LOVE it and should be finishing it soon. I have been
trying to read it slowly to really take in everything and apply it to
my life and it has been going great. Ahhh this gospel is the best.
Everyone needs the comfort that it brings us!!

    Well, time is up, but I love you family and thank you for all of
your prayers for me and our investigators. Chau chau!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Romney

    Pic of Gigi (was less active who now went to the temple on Sat and
wants to be a missionary!! We made that little name tag for her :))

Parenthood and Weddings - Oct 13, 2014

Hola familia y amigitos, 

     This week has been pure joy to the point of exhaustion! Seriously so much happiness and I don`t think I have ever been this tired in my life. I absolutely love it though and I feel like we do sooo much everyday which is exactly what we want as missionaries. First off, meet Hermana Love, our "hija"! Ella es puro AMOR no mas....haha!! She is from Gilbert, Arizona, 19 years old, loves sports and music, tall, and so excited to work. She is awesome and all 3 of us just have a blast together!! Hna Ayuso is basically my best friend in the mission and now Hermana Love just adds so much spirit to the companionship so we are exhausted everyday, but so enjoyable and full of laughs every second. So of course being new, Hna Love has a very limited Spanish vocabulary, but she is not afraid to talk at all! She just goes up to everyone and lots of time they don`t understand her (which makes me laugh a lot) but she`s ready to learn. It is really interesting that Hna Ayuso and I both are training her and we decided it is the perfect practice for parenthood. We both have different training methods, but both are good and we compromise to do what we feel is best for her. Weird, but good. 

      This Tuesday in District class we had to say which movie our comps would be. Hna Love said I was Lego World (never seen it...haha) but apparently everything is cool there and Hna Ayuso said I was High School Musical because I liked to play basketball and sing.....hahah pretty funny but true. Then I said Hna Ayuso was Dr. Doolittle because she always talks to all the animals on the streets haha and then Hna Love was Bring it On because she is just so excited and has the energy of a cheerleader. So now you can sort of imagine our companionship. :) 

    

      Thursday morning was so amazing as Hna Ayuso and I were witnesses for Flavio and Pilar`s wedding!!!!!!! They finally got married!!! Us three did Pilar and Martina`s hair and make-up for the wedding (that`s why it`s good there are Hermanas too :)) I had to sign for them and they were so happy. We took lots of pictures for them and it was so special. 

      Then Saturday night Pilar got BAPTIZED and we had a ward activity/celebration for their wedding!!!! It was an unforgettable day and Pilar was so emotional. She told us afterwards that when she got baptized, that the water filled her ears and all after her baptism she could hear a chorus of angels singing and she just felt pure peace. So cool! She bore her testimony after to lots of her family members who are less-actives and a few non-members that she hopes they can feel everything that she is feeling in this moment and to experiment the same peace she feels.

     Then the ward made a huge 3 layer cake for them and they had a huge party afterwards that the ward threw for them. It was so awesome to see the ward come together to put something on for them since they don`t have too much. We had lots of fun too! They thanked us so many times and now want to share the Gospel so much. So cool to see how the Gospel of Jesus Christ changes people. Family I wish you guys could have been here to see it, but I really hope you get to meet this family someday. Mom, I gave them the nice silver CTR rings that match that you sent me as a wedding gift and they loved them, so thanks for those! 

     Then last highlight of the week was that Johana and Sebastian came to church yesterday with their two kids for the first time!! They loved it so much and want to keep progressing, we just have to get them married too.....but at least we are experienced at that now. 

    I literally am so exhausted and I think am getting sick since I have gotten a few headaches which I never get, but the work is going great and I am happy. There is no time for that sickness stuff....haha. Thanks Brielle for sharing your experiences of sharing the gospel with others and Mom and Dad you too!!! I love that!! Oh and all of your thoughts on General Conference. Glad you guys loved it just as much as I did! Keep it up and I love you all so much. I know Heavenly Father loves each and everyone of us and can work miracles. 

Con mucho amor, 

  Hermana Romney 

Pics of the wedding and the baptism!