Teenage Pregnancy...What?- Dec 16, 2013

Hola todos!! 

  Okay so first off, cambios were today and........ I`m going to have a baby girl! Yep, I`M TRAINING!!! (When you get a companion who is brand new, they are considered your child.) I just finished my own training two weeks ago and barely have 4 months since I entered the MTC! I haven`t met her yet, but I got to see her name and it`s... HERMANA LINO! She gets here tomorrow and I don`t know where she`s from, but I know she is Latina, so we are going to have a good time! Ahh I can`t believe I`m going to have an "hija" and I`m freaking out just a little bit, but it`s all good. If the Lord has Faith in me that I can do it, then I should too. 

     

   This past week was awesome. We were able to teach A LOT of lessons and really have our investigators progress. I went out with a few young adults 4 days this week and that was such a blast! Yes they had no idea really what they were doing and I had to plan and guide everything, but their spirit was so strong and I loved it. I`m hoping it was a good warm up for when my brand new companion comes tommorow! We were able to visit a lot of people and that really is the best thing ever. A teaching missionary really is a happy missionary. The girls who were my companions for the day loved it too and now they are so willing to go out with us again when we need them next time. I could tell that they really were able to feel the joy that we feel when we share the truth. It is the best feeling in the world. 

   

   Miracle of the week: So our main investigators that we have been focusing on is Roxana and her family. Her husband, Ricardo, is a new convert and her two kids Mauricio and Sebastian are working towards their baptism goal as well. Roxana is also a teacher in the Catholic church to help kids prepare for their First Communion. Friday night we had a really good lesson with the whole family and committed them to come to church on Sunday. However, the whole time we never saw them and I was feeling super bummed the whole meeting because I thought they hadn`t showed up. Well turns out, after sacrament meeting, some members told us that they did come, but it was during sacrament and there were guys guarding the door to not make a lot of noise and she didn`t like that so decided to leave. Well it turns out that the Catholic church is right next door to our church where she recently taught at and decided they would go to the Mass there instead. However, later on Sunday night when we saw them, she said that she felt like something was missing when she went to the Catholic church and that as a family they all decided that they like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints better!!! She told us that it was a confirmation to her that our church is the true church and that was where she wanted to be. It was incredible!!! The Lord really does work in mysterious ways and her baptism along with her two kids will be next week, so pray for them!! 

    Anyways, we have been working a lot with the members lately and they have been inviting their friends to a lot of things and to learn about the gospel, so that is so awesome!! Ahh I just love sharing this gospel so much!! We have the responsibility to share the love of Christ so others can feel it too. Just like in 1 Corinthians 15:22, "even so in Christ shall all men be made alive". Have a great week everyone and I love you soo much!! Sorry, I`ll try and write a lot more next week! 

Hermana Romney 

attached the photos:

there are some of my companions and also a member who was my companion for the day and a Family Home Evening with Roxana and her family and the Bishop!!!

Triple Threat Trio- Dec 9, 2013

¡Hola mis queridos!

   ¿còmo estan todos? This week has been a wild ride, but definitely a good one. In the trio we switch off working in both of the sectors everyday and we`ve got a good system going now. We`ve already got a member to go out with me everyday this week, so it will be a little interesting to have different members as my comp, but this way we can do twice the work and help even more of God`s children! It`s definitely heating up here in Concepciòn. Luckily, there is a constant wind blowing; however, this has proven to be very tricky wearing skirts everyday. 

    So this was the first week with my training wheels off!! At times it was a little shaky and unsure of where we were going, but it`s so comforting to always know that we can look to the scriptures and learn from the example of our perfect trainer, Jesus Christ. For all of our questions and doubts, there is an answer in the scriptures. As well we can always pray and receive revelation from our Heavenly Father and confirmation from the Holy Ghost. Knowing that can calm even the most troubled minds. Many times in lessons I have no idea what I am going to say when I open my mouth, but every time I do, without fail, an inspired message comes out which I know does not come from my own thoughts. It is incredible being a missionary!! 

    So we had a few amazing lessons with Roxana and her family and her and her two kids should be getting baptized in two weeks so they can join their father in being a member of the church of Jesus Christ. I love that family so much and feel so privileged to be teaching them! We really did have a "miembro escogido" come with us who used to be in the same situation two years ago! It was amazing and she is finally willing to really read and pray everyday. 

    Okay so there`s no time left and I`ll write about the other investigators next week, but everything is going great here in Santa Sabina and we`re going to have another fun week in our triple threat trio. I hope everyone is remembering to constantly be praying and reading the scriptures so that we can become the people that God wants us to become. I love this gospel soooooo much!! I don`t know where I would be without it in my life. I love you all!! 

con mucho amor, 

Hermana Romney  

         

Pic: Family Home Evening with Roxana and her family and another member family!! *WOULDN"T UPLOAD

Finished training: now an "orphan" and in a trio.- Dec. 2, 2013

Hola familia y amigos! 

    ¿Còmo estan todos? So today has been just a rush of emotions. First off, my mom is "dead" and I "killed" her! (That`s what they call it when your trainer completes her mission and I was her last companion.) I said goodbye to her this morning and since she is leaving two weeks before the cambio (to spend more time with her parents in Argentina), I`ll be in a trio for two weeks with the other two Hermanas in our ward. It`s weird to even think about being here with out Hna Lovell, but it`s time to grow up now and I`m excited for the change. I already miss her so much and am so grateful for all of the things that she taught me.I will admit though that having your companion go home is just about the most "trunky" (homesick) thing ever. For a while it felt like I was going home with her too, but that is definitely not the case haha. I`ve got lots adventures ahead of me and lives to change!! Also I am done with my training and no more 12 semanas for me! However, these next two weeks I think will be quite interesting. I`ll be with Hna Batuirtè from Brazil and Hna Skirvin from California. They are both superstars and it should be a good time. The only thing I`m sort of freaking out about is that we will still have two sectors and one companionship. We share the ward, but we have to keep both Santa Sabina A and Santa Sabina B alive and full of investigators for when my new companion comes in two weeks. Juggling both will be quite a task, but the plan is just to go on divisions with as many members in the ward as possible and have faith that Heavenly Father will help us. 

        With it being Hna Lovell`s last week, we wanted to finish strong and that`s just what we did. We ended up completing the mission standards of excellence and gave our sector a kick-start. There was even a mini-cambio thrown in there where Hna Alvarez from Nicaragua came to our sector while my trainer went to hers. We had a pretty good day planned ahead of us full of lessons with members, but of course they all fell through (common quality of Chileans, I love them to death, but dependability is not one of their best qualities haha). However, as always, God had a better plan for us ahead where we needed to help and find those who need the gospel at this moment. I`ll tell you we sure walked a lot that day, but Heavenly Father put incredible people in our path who we were able to share the redeeming message of Jesus Christ with. If we are just humble and willing to accept the challenges of life, we will be shaped into the people that God needs us to be, to help His children. 

     Funnies: (This section is dedicated to my girl Sister Asay :) haha)

- This week I learned that Panitas (Chicken liver) tastes like dog food. AKA - nasty stuff that no one should eat. That`s where napkins, pockets, and good distracting conversation comes in handy. Successfully saved my stomach and taste buds with that one.

-  We found a wallet this week in the street and obviously wanted to return it. We looked for the guy`s house for about an hour until we finally found it. We knocked on the door and only his mom was home and as soon as she opened the door I started telling her that we have been looking for her for a long time and she immediately cut me off and said no, that she didn`t want to hear anything. Again we tried to tell her that we were missionaries and once again we were cut off. After the third time of her practically yelling at us and telling us not to insist, we whipped out her son`s wallet and she immediately felt so bad and started telling us to come in and if we wanted juice or something to eat. Bhaha she felt so bad which of course we told her that it was okay and it was totally normal, but boy I sure hope she`ll think twice the next time missionaries come to her house.   

     Well I hope that everyone had a great thanksgiving and happy birthday Mom!! Please keep Karen, Roxana and Ricardo, Nicole and Maria Eugenia in your prayers! I love you all so much and keep sending me pictures of the family! Remember to be good so that you will be happy.  

con mucho amor, 

   Hermana Romney   

Pics: 

- birthday cupcakes we made for Hna Baturitè

- A less active family that we reactivated and they now call us "their" missionaries :)

- Birthday celebration for our investigator Karen (shes in the purple)!

Love Your Neighbor- Nov. 25, 2013

Hola, buenos días family and friends, 

      This week should be an exciting week at home with all of the Thanksgiving festivities going on! Sadly they don`t celebrate that here, but every one of our lunches with members is about the quantity that one would eat on Thanksgiving, so I´m not too bummed about the food part haha. I think I am finally getting used to the food quantity by now. We eat so much for lunch at 1:30 and then nothing for the rest of the day until a snack when we get home at 10, so my stomach has been struggling, but I think it´s finally getting used to expanding and then shrinking everyday. Good news is that now that it´s basically summer here, there are little fruit and vegetable stands everywhere and the fruit is sooo good! It´s like the fruit we used to get in Mexico, so that makes me really happy!  

      Anyways, this week has been a really good one! We had our "ward conference" this week and there was activities everyday in the church which is prime for missionaries and bringing investigators. On Monday we had a family home evening in the chapel with the whole ward and we had 2 whole families of our investigators come! We brought Roxana and her family with us and then Claudia and her family came because one of the members, Margarita, invited them. Margarita was so happy when she saw that they came and she came over to us and was so pumped and was beaming with joy. Margarita is usually pretty shy, but one day we went over to her house and did a practice with her on how to invite her friends to activities and it totally paid off! That has got to be one of the best things - seeing how the members become the missionaries and the joy that it brings to them when they see their loved ones finding happiness in the gospel.

     So we almost had a super cool moment this week. We had a mini-cambio and as we were just contacting the people that walked by, we ran into a mom and her two kids. We then taught her at a nearby park where her kids were playing and she just moved to Chile a month ago from Venezuela. It´s not normal to see a very dark skinned person here, so for a second I thought she might be from the US, but nope definitely not. Anyways, her daughter is named Shaneska (my favorite name I have heard here yet) and she accepted baptism and a date as well, but she didn´t remember her address and we have been trying to call her, but no luck. Super lame, but hopefully we`ll run into her again.  

        Also this week we found the sweetest girl named Nicole who is 16 and her mom who are super prepared to hear the gospel. On our first lesson, we talked a lot about families and they both had tears running down their faces. You can tell that they both want that happiness and unity in their family that only the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring. On our second visit, we brought a joven-cita member with us named Stacy and as we walked in Nicole was so excited to see Stacy and apparently they know each other from school! The spirit was so strong in that lesson and it was an instant connection. I am so grateful for the spirit and how it guides us to have inspired thoughts and make inspired decisions.     

      Especially this week I have learned how important it is to love the ones who are closest to us. The other Hermanas and especially our companions need to know how much we appreciate them and how much we love them constantly. I think sometimes I get so caught up in helping our investigators that I forget to think about the ones who are really close to us. Most of us I think can be guilty of this. We get so caught up in school or work or even our callings that we forget to love those who are closest to us. I encourage all of you if you haven´t done so recently to tell the ones who are closest to you how much you appreciate them. To slow down and take the time to do so because those are the people that matter most. Here on the mission we see so many examples of families who don´t do so because they are caught up in work or what not, but the deepest happiness really does come from the family. 

       I have been eternally blessed to have the family and friends that I do. I want each of you to know how much I love you and appreciate you. I know I don´t say that enough and I definitely didn´t before the mission, but you all mean the world to me. I love you all and remember to constantly stay rooted in the gospel of our savior Jesus Christ. He has given us the example and has shown us the greatest example of love. Have a good Thanksgiving week! 

Hermana Romney 

 

P.S. my trainer Hna Lovell has only one week left in the mission!! Crazyyy and I´m going to miss my "mama" so much! She´ll actually be going over to Argentina to spend Christmas with her parents since they are mission presidents in Neuquen! Sweet right?? We had an instant bond. 

Pics: one from the newbie conference which was amazing! Another of a texas cow a member had in their house!