What a WACKY Week! Oct. 28, 2013

Hola!

     So I`m pretty sure this will probably be the strangest week of my mission! To sum it all up, we got to live in the Pulsiphers (Best senior couple) super nice apartment for a week and then had an emergency transfer to open up a sector one week before real transfers. 

     I`m not going to give any details, I`ll do that after the mission, but basically the area where we were was pretty dangerous and we had to get out of our house as soon as possible. We live with two other Hermanas as well and so all 4 of us had no where to live but with the Pulsiphers. I have no complaints though whatsoever because it felt like we were living in America again and Hna Pulsipher is an amazing cook!! Everything is fine though with all of us and we are all perfectly safe, but they took us out of our house just in case anything more happened. 

      We all 4 got transferred yesterday and luckily I still have Hna Lovell as my companion! We are actually opening up a sector and are now in an area called Santa Sabina, which is apparently the richest area of the mission and is right in Concepcion. We got to our new house last night where Elders used to live and boy does it smell... we have some serious cleaning to do. We are pretty excited to work here though and the sector is HUGE! We are about 75% sure that next week they will probably split us up and put in two more Hermanas in the ward with us, but we`ll see.

      It was pretty difficult to leave my first sector though! We had 4 baptisms lined up within the next two weeks with people we have been working with for a while and I`m pretty bummed I won`t be there to see them, but the most important thing is that they continue forward. I am so excited especially for Mariana who has finally given up her addiction and is so excited for her baptism this Friday. She is sooo cool and she has so many friends in the church so I have no doubt she will be a strong member. (Picture below is of her and the necklace that she made me!) Julia and her two kids Triana and Jose Miguel are in the other picture and they are rock stars. The father Jose Miguel is also excited for his baptism as well, but he works in Northern Chile so he`s not in the picture. Please pray for them though, especially since we won`t be there to help them! 

        Sometimes I don`t understand why things happen and why we had to leave Chillan, but I have faith that God has a plan for everything. We were just about to see the fruits of our labors and then everything was changed. This week I learned that even though I may have a plan for what I want to happen, which may be good, Heavenly Father has something else in store for me. When we submit our will to His, he can sculpt us into much more than we could become on our own. 

      I hope all is well this week with everyone at home and that you enjoy Halloween! Thanks for all the pictures and letters that I absolutely love! Remember to always let Heavenly Father direct your paths. Come what may and love it, because why would you do anything else? I love you all soooo much! 

      

      Hermana Romney 

P.S. I just realized I forgot my camera cord oops...so I`ll include the pictures next week!   

Sharing is Caring- Oct. 21, 2013

Hola!

 

So first off I just want to say congratulations to Blake and Erika on their new baby boy, Greyson! I am so excited to meet him after the mission and can't believe I now have 6 nieces and nephews. However, my companion is the youngest of 9 kids and has 22 nieces and nephews already, so siblings pick up the pace... haha no just kidding, but I am so excited for you two!!

Everything is still going well here in Chillan Viejo. It's really interesting because the whole focus of our mission is changing and I think it's changing all around the world too. There is so much more of an emphasis on members who are less active and recent converts to make sure that there is a real growth in the church. That people don't just get baptized and then go inactive super fast. There is a huge stress right now to work with members and how we as missionaries are there to aid the members in their missionary work. Those of you at home, it is your responsibility to share the gospel with others. It shouldn't be something that is a pain, but rather an act of love to your friends and family. Let them know that you care about them and that you want them to feel the same happiness that you do in your life. It's the simple and small things that make the difference in the end. Don't miss out on opportunities to invite others to come unto Christ. Looking back on my life before the mission makes me realize how many opportunities I had to share the gospel and didn't. I have now committed to always be a missionary when I get back and not miss out on those opportunities!

So sadly Mariana fell again and so we will have to wait a while for her baptism, but we have faith and so does she that she will be able to get through this. She has had such a great change so far though and I LOVE seeing the change that the gospel can make.

Okay so not much time today, but PLEASE share the gospel with your loved ones. I love you all so much at home and keep sending pictures! Keep true to the faith.

 

 

love,

Hermana Romney

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PS - so that one picture of the horse is right next to our house. We live out in the campo and I love it!
 

The Lord's Work- Oct. 14, 2013

Hola todos!

I hope everyone has been doing lovely and enjoying life. There really are so many great things to be enjoyed during our time here on earth! This week I really tried to enjoy the little things in life that make us happy and what a difference it makes.

So this past Monday we were in one of our usual areas just contacting when out of nowhere, I turn around and see this dog coming full sprint out of his gate right at me. It was about to jump up at me when I took off the other direction not knowing what to do but to run! It was a big black dog and the only thing going through my mind was that I did not want it to bite me because then I would have to go through a series of shots to make sure it didn`t pass on any disease. So... "I RAN FOR MY LIFE" (Sweet Brown black woman voice - Youtube it), screaming as I sprinted about half a block!! I tried to kick my feet up behind me hoping to scare him away. Finally I guess he gave up or something because he stopped after a while. However, the neighbors started poking their heads out of their windows probably wondering why there is a 6 ft gringa (white girl) sprinting and screaming down their block...oh well maybe it will give us more publicity? Hahaha well we actually don`t need more of that, but lets just say I was a little freaked out and maybe carried around a rock in my hand for a good while after just in case...

The rest of this week was pretty good though! I definitely learned a lot about humility and that this is no doubt the church of Jesus Christ. Everything works out so much better when we are guided by the Spirit and are humble enough to admit that the Lord knows better than us. We had a lesson with member this week where my companion and I barely even said a word. The member and Mariana (our investigator) just talked together all about her conversion and it was EXACTLY what Mariana needed! Mariana has been dealing with an addiction but has been clean for more than a week!!!! Super pumped for her baptism this Friday! Anyways, the member had never even met Mariana before, but it was such a testament that this is the Lord`s work. We are only the instruments in his hands and have to be humble enough to not do what we think is correct or maybe what we had planned, but instead what the Spirit is telling us.

Well I hope all is well with everyone! Happy Birthday Erika and Sister Asay and Happy Anniversary Brandon and Brittani (thanks for the letter too!!!)! Thanks Mom for the package and all of the wonderful letters in it!!! I love you all so much and don`t be afraid to do what is right and follow the spirit.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Romney

Pictures:

1) At our ward "Show de Talentos" with completos!! Our ward mission leader wanted to take a picture of me with them....maybe for publicity to sell more?? Still unclear on that one haha

2) Having to leave notes and homework for investigators in front of their door through the gate while trying to throw rocks on the papers so they don`t fly away.

Conference- Oct. 7, 2013

Hello everyone!

    Wasn`t conference just incredible? It really is such a privilege that we have to be able to know what exactly it is that God wants us to hear. That was one of the amazing things that we got to share with contacts this week is that we have a prophet and 12 apostles today just like in Christ`s time. I´m not sure if anyone else noticed, but they sure talked A LOT about missionary work and getting the members to work with their ward missionaries. So if you haven`t done so recently, please take Brother Nielson`s advice and go help your ward missionaries, they will appreciate it so much and especially if you invite some of your friends over for a Family Home Evening with them. If you are already helping them out, then keep up the good work! I now realize the importance of it and am committed to help the missionaries wayyy more when I get back!

     All of the talks were just fantastic!! This was the most enjoyable session of conference I have had yet! I really enjoyed Elder Vinson`s talk during theSunday afternoon session all about how the Lord wants us to build the Faith to turn to him during our trials to know how to solve them. That`s why He allows bad things happen to us. As a 19 year old girl, I know that I do not have much power, if I did not have the help of my Heavenly Father, this work would be impossible. But when we combine forces with God, we will be so much more effective and have more power than we could ever imagine. I like to think of it as a wind current - Heavenly Father has his current full of righteousness blowing in one direction and when we are disobedient and try and go against it, then we won`t have as much power. But when our current and God`s current are moving in the exact same direction, then we will be infinitely stronger and do things we never thought possible. 

        This week was a good one though. It was kinda crazy too since we had to take a random trip to the center of Concepcion to have my companion tested for Tuberculosis. It`s not dangerous to me at all, but there is an Hermana who has active Tuberculosis and has to be isolated for about 4 weeks....that would be horrible as a missionary, I feel so bad for her! My comp lived with her for a while before and had to get tested for it just to make sure, but no one here has the test so I think she will get it next week or something. I really don`t think there is any risk that she has it, but at least we got Dominos pizza (best thing ever here!!)  when we had to go to Concepcion! So that was crazy, but otherwise all is well! 

    Seems like everything is great at home! Awesome that all of my nieces and nephews were able to go to Disney World! Send some pictures! Mom and Dad enjoy your cruise this next week with Mumphy and Pops, send them my love! You all are so great and keep the faith! Love you tons. 

   Hermana Romney 

P.S. the picture is of our sweet ghetto curtains that we made out of a poncho and a sheet in our new house since we don`t have any that aren`t transparent...  

the other is "our" dogs that follow us around frequently named Rosy and Roldi.... BTW the dogs here are CRAZYY and are everywhere! They will bark so loud out and just about give me a heart attack when it`s late at night and we can`t see anything....