Up on My Feet

Elder Baker, Tran, Hansen, Post, Kimball, Me, Greene, Armenta

  Five more weeks in Dunwoody. I guess the Lord feels like my work here is not yet done. The members of the ward seemed happy to have me stick around for another transfer. There is still a lot of work to be done in this area and a lot of souls to save. I am pretty satisfied staying another transfer. I feel like that I really have a work that I need to complete here. I know that there are people out there that I need to find, and I am going to work so hard to find them.
    Multiple times this week Elder Greene and I spent the whole day on our feet. I have grown to hate the car we drive. I feel like I am in a bubble moving through crowds of people that need to hear the gospel. I told Elder Greene that for a couple of days we are going to ex our vehicle and do missionary work on our feet. We are only going to drive for appointments. This past week has been very successful because of it. We  have talked to loads of people and have found a couple really great people. I feel a lot more like a missionary when I am up on my feet walking around talking with people.
    This was a very good week, we had a lot of lessons and our investigators are really progressing. We took one of our investigators named Mike to go see the Church and the Temple. He loved it so much that he wanted me to take a picture of him with the Angel Moroni in the background. He is a really nice guy. He has very strong Jehovah's Witness beliefs. Learning about what other religions believe I'd say has been one of my favorite things about my mission. It is so interesting looking at the Bible through another religion's eyes. Then deciding for myself, and listening to the Holy Ghost for what is true and who is right.
    
    This week I decided to make a DVD on a member's computer of the Bible Videos that the Church has put out. That way if the person I was teaching didn't have a computer or access to the internet (which is usually the case) we could watch these videos. I have never really taken the time to watch them until I had this idea to make the DVD. I knew the Church had them, and I had heard they were good, and that is why I wanted to make a DVD of them. When I watched them I was overcome with the spirit. I never really liked the Finding Faith in Christ DVD. It is pretty out of date and very cheesy. These videos however are extremely professional, and very moving. The one that struck me the most was the one entitled "Jesus is Resurrected" and it goes over one of my favorite scriptures. It is John 20: 17 and it says, "Jesus Saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: But go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God and your God." This scripture for some reason strikes me so strongly. It is my "James 1: 5". When Jesus Christ says this scripture in the Bible video it struck such a chord in my heart. Does everyone realize that is reading this that we are the Children of God? And what that means!
Death can not overcome us. We can overcome the effects of the fall, and be heirs of the kingdom of God with our older brother Jesus Christ (Romans 8). How amazing that is. I can't begin to tell you how much I LOVE the Bible. It has a place in my heart like no other book besides the Book of Mormon. I can hold a conversation about the Bible like I could music. And if you've ever heard me talk about music, I can really talk.

     I have got to get going. Time is short and it only seems to be getting shorter. P-Days seem to be the quickest days of the week. So much to do, so little time. I love you all so much. The Church is True.

-Elder Ryan Romero

On the Bright Side

  Another Transfer down, another one coming up. Still haven't received a call from the AP's yet, so my guess is I am staying here. To be safe though I think that until I can know for sure that any mail you send this week should go to the mission office in-case I do get transferred.

     Miracles are happening, the work is moving forward. This week has been a week of what people would call "coincidences", but I'd call it the hand of God. This week has been a really interesting week, but I actually don't have too much time to tell everything that has happened. I will try and share as many as I can.
     This week we had a very good District Meeting. Probably one of the most spiritual ones I have ever had. The Zone Leaders came to my District Meeting this week. They came to report the numbers of the zone. During their report I had the strongest feeling that I needed to completely change what I had planned for District Meeting. I originally planned to encourage my missionaries to work with the Elder's Quorum to find a way to get them more involved with missionary work. I had a feeling that we needed to read the last chapter of John and discuss it together as a District. So that's what we did. This chapter is the one where Jesus Christ asks Peter if he loves Him. We probably all know the story pretty well after listening to Elder Holland's last conference talk. I felt inspired to share this chapter of scripture because I was beginning to fear that missionaries are losing their focus of why they came to do missionary work. I am scared that missionaries are doing the work to gain an accolade, a number to their name. When that is not the purpose of missionary work whatsoever. We should be doing missionary work because we love Jesus Christ, and we want to feed and gather his sheep. If we are doing the work for any other reason, we need to correct our intentions. During the discussion I was so emotional I could barely speak. It was sort of embarrassing but it was something that I felt very strongly about. I fear pride. I am scared of the effect that if can have on missionaries as well as the investigator. It is something that even the best missionaries can get caught up in. In fact, it is probably easier for the best missionaries to fall into pride. It is what destroyed the Nephites, it is what brought down civilizations, and I don't want it to bring down me or the missionaries in this mission.
     Our investigators are doing pretty well. We had three amazing investigators at Church this week. Ward, Beth, and Marcus. I can't quite explain the joy that I feel when I see someone we taught come to Church. It is one of the best feelings ever. I have told you a bit about Beth and Marcus, so I think I'll focus on Ward.
     Ward is a man that Elder Armenta and I tracked into awhile back. We had a prayer with him on his front door step and prayed for his daughter who was having chronic headaches. We had that prayer with Ward and were on our way. After Elder Armenta was transferred Elder Greene and I were visiting a member that lived on the corner of the area, fairly far away from Ward. While leaving this member's home I had a feeling that we needed to go visit ward. It was a strange thought because we haven't seen ward for about a month and a half and he lived far away. When we got in the car I drove straight to his house instead of home for Lunch. When we knocked on the door Ward answered and I barely recognized him. He had a scruffy beard and his head was totally shaved. He seemed very despondent, a totally different person than before. The first question I asked him before even saying hello was, "Ward, is everything alright." My first thought was that his daughter passed away due to something from the headaches, but it turned out not to be that. Ward struggles with a few things and has had a pretty tough life. It turns out that right before us knocking on his door again that things seemed to get a bit more complicated. I won't go into detail, because it isn't needed. We sat in Wards home and talked with him and told him that we are here for him and that our message is going to change his life. I told him that it was no coincidence that we knocked on his door. I know that God sent us there especially for him. I asked him about his daughter's headaches and his eyes got bright and said, "You know what? They're gone. It's a miracle. No medication, no doctors appointments. They just disappeared. After you guys said that prayer, they just left." I told him that God is real, and that he really answers prayers. Ward came to Church this week and loved it. He loves the members and the members love him. I am so excited for Ward and I can't wait to see the Gospel take even more of an effect in his life.

      I had a pretty good Birthday on Friday. It was really weird being away from home for my birthday. The members really tried to make it a great day. A member in our ward passed away this week and his viewing was on the night of my birthday. So things had to kind of get moved around. The Asper's were planning a get together with some of the ward members and the investigators for me, but because of the viewing it got moved to tomorrow. I am very excited to take lots of pictures and share them with you guys.

     That is about all that I have for this week, well all that I have time to share. I love you all so much.

-Elder Ryan Romero

The Untitled Post...things are about the same :)

  I can't really figure out how to start this letter. I don't even know what to title this letter as. It doesn't feel like much has happened this week, but at the same time it feels like a lot has happened. I didn't spend much time in my area this week. I focused a lot on my district and helping the Elders in my district strengthen the relationship with the members in their ward. I went on two exchanges this week. I went Elder Tran who is the Vietnamese Elder over the Vietnamese Branch. He is an amazing Elder with an amazing story. Then I did a half day exchange with two sets of Elders who share a ward with each other. I love getting to know the Elders in my District. I know I have said that in the beginning of the past two letters, but I really do love each Elder of my district. We are all becoming best friends and they really respect me as their leader. I am so happy to have the opportunity to help them out and be their friend.
     As far as my area goes... There is the good and the bad. What do you want first? Well Tony and Kim have really been struggling because of Tony's unemployment. We have given him many resources that the Church provides for him use. Elder Grassley and I were the ones that first gave him these resources. Then Elder Armenta and I continued to encourage him to use these resources to help him find a job, but he would never utilize them. Finally I think that it has come to the point where he feels like he is in need of these extra resources and he has turned to us more and more for help. We eventually just took him to a member's home and we sat down until we found a promising lead for him to follow up on. We were successful in finding him one, but I hope and pray that he follows up. I feel like Tony's life is just so hectic right now that it is taking him away from studying and living the Gospel. Satan works in diverse ways, and I know that he is working on Tony and Kim. He is so tricky in making people believe that "If you get this job, and focus on getting your feet set on the ground first, then you can learn and live the Gospel." Which is a completely twisted and backward doctrine. In reality God teaches, "If you focus on learning and living the Gospel, then you can get my feet on the ground." This teaching is a teaching that is has Faith as its underlying foundation, and that is how God works. Satan's doctrine requires no faith whatsoever. I have found throughout my mission that this is the main way that either people fall away from the Church or it prevents them from ever joining.
     Claudie has the same problem as Tony. She is looking for a job and this is preventing her from hearing, learning, and living the Gospel. We haven't been able to meet with her, and she hasn't been able to come to Church due to her job search which seems to consume most of her time. I know that if they can just understand God's doctrine that I shared earlier that they would be able to act in faith and work with us, and come to Church. Then see the evidence of their faith by obtaining a job or some sort of work because of their act of faith.
     Now for the good news. We set another baptismal date with Beth. She is doing well. Her date is for April the 6th. When we first set that date I at first didn't recognize the signifigance of that date. When we were driving back it occurred to me that that is a very special day in the Church. The day the Church was organized. Now that would be a great day to be baptized. We had a baptismal date with Beth and she wasn't able to make it due to some commandment issues. She is working through them though and yesterday talked to the Bishop and things went very well. The bishop feels that she will be able to make it to that date! So that is very good news. We are continuing to work with Beth and pray and fast for her.

     That is about all the news in the past week regarding the people I am working with. This Sunday was Fast and Testimony meeting. I decided to get up and bear my testimony due to the fact that it may be the last chance that I have to do so in the Dunwoody Ward. In my testimony I thanked all the members for being such great examples of the Gospel and how the truth of the Gospel has manifested itself to me in all of their lives. I felt such gratitude for having the chance to sit in each members home and get to know them. I love Sundays, they are my favorite. I love going to Church and being able to feel the spirit that everyone has to offer.

      Well I better get going. I have got a fun P-Day planned out with my district today. I hope that you all have a great Monday. May God be with you!

-Elder Ryan Romero

A Rough Stone Rolling

 This week was a pretty good week. We accomplished most of our goals that we set for the week. We found new people to teach. We taught most of our lessons with a member present. And we regained contact with our investigator Claudie. This week flew by and I just don't know where it went. My mission seems like it is going by in the blink of an eye. I look back and it seems like yesterday I was riding to my first area with Elder Hansen and Elder Heimuli. I still remember the smell of my first apartment and everything about my first area. When I hit my eighth month mark it was the oddest feeling. Thinking that I am a third of the way through my mission just doesn't make sense to me. I just don't know how I will feel when I hit a year. That day is just right around the corner. 
   
    I want to just take a minute to tell you about how much I love all the Elders in my District. As a District Leader I made a promise to myself that I would have a personal relationship with all of the missionaries in my District. I can't stand leaders that put themselves on a pedestal and create a power distance between the Leader and the person they lead. I have experienced that before in my jobs and in the mission. The leaders of mine that I have respected most are the ones that I have been friends with. I feel like I have become best friends with the Elders in my district. I love them so much and they are all great Elders. I feel like that we have all come to grow together and be a team that wants to support each other and make sure that we are all fulfilling our callings. I dare say that we have the best District on the mission. 
    I'll tell you about one of the Elders in my District that I went on an exchange with this past week. His name is Elder Kimball. He is from Cedar Hills, Utah. This Elder love music, clothes, snowboarding, math, camping, and Apple products. I have never connected so well with someone Haha. It was the craziest thing when we went on the exchange and began questioning each other about their life back home. I felt like I was talking to myself. It was great. Unfortunately he has been out for only three weeks, so I will have to wait about eight months to hang out with him back home. He is going to be a great missionary. 

   So I'll tell you about Claudie. Our last lesson with Claudie was about a month and a half ago. Then She told us that she was going to go to Spain for a month. Luckily she is back now and we have been able to get in contact with her once she got home. Gosh, I love Claudie. She lightens my day every time I get to see her. She is from Africa and we just get along so well. We have been able to see her twice in the past week and both lessons went really well. Her neighbor is a member and we have been able to teach her with her neighbor. They are becoming really close. I think that is just a matter of time before Claudie joins the Church. She is so smart and really pieces things together. What we teach her makes sense to her and she really retains everything that we teach her. 

    I have really been getting consumed in missionary work. I am really getting the hang of things that we tough for me at the start of my mission. I am getting really good at working with people and using the members in the missionary work. I think that I am getting really good at uniting people under a purpose and helping them work towards that purpose. I am learning so much in the mission and I just can't want to see how much more I learn in the time that I have left. 

    Brother Asper is teaching me so much. I have learned so much about the scriptures, history, and life because of him. He is like my own personal BYU professor. He is honestly the most intelligent man I have ever met. His mind is just astounding. It is inspirational. I learn something new about him everyday. He grew up on a farm in Oregon. Later in his life he worked on the Lunar Module and met Neil Armstrong. He is just the most amazing person that I have ever met. I asked him if I could write his biography for him and call it "From the Farm to the Moon" I think it would be a New York Times top seller. 
    The people that I have met on my mission is what has affected me the most. The relationships I've made, the lives that I have seen change. I just know that God is so real and that he truly loves all his children. 

    Well I got to get going. I don't know if anyone really reads this anymore haha, but it will be a good thing for my kids to read. I love you all so much! 

-Elder Ryan Romero 

A Rough Start

This week was definitely a test for Elder Greene and I. I think that he is learning right at the start of his mission that things don't always go as planned in the mission, but I hope that he notices that when someone closes there door on us, God is opening a door for us somewhere else. This week has been full of bad luck. Brother Asper told us, "If you guys didn't have bad luck this week, you wouldn't have had any sort of luck at all!" He was there for us every step of this rocky week lifting our spirits and buying us girl scout cookies.

     This week everyone of our appointments fell through. They either canceled or just weren't there when we would knock. We had promising people bail on their comittments with us. To add on top of all of these people falling through, my iPod got stollen right out of our car while we were in a lesson. It seems like things were just coming at us one after another after another. This week was pretty Grim. At times I seriously felt like just giving up and falling on my knees. Door after door slammed in our faces. It really tested me, and I am sure that it tested Elder Greene. Now I know that this letter may be starting to sound like a downer, but please keep reading. God is good, he loves his children, and I know that he loves me. I knew this doctrine to be true, and I know that God's love will manifest itself in my life in many ways. While everything seems to be going wrong, and the walls on my mission life seemed to be crashing around me. I realized that I just need to change my point of view.

      The thing that has really kept me going was the relationships that I have built here in the Dunwoody ward. The relationship with the Aspers, the Wombles, the Beavers, the Kellers, the Bishop's family, and the Bennett family. I realized as everyone is rejecting me, and how Satan is wanting me to fail. I have a team of people here, back home, and in heaven rooting me on and wanting me to succeed. The Aspers, I can't even describe to you how much I love this family. My heart is filled with love everytime I step foot in their home. I know that my relationship with Brother and Sister Asper will last till the day we day and long after that. They are my parents in Georgia. When these members noticed how tough of a week that we were having they really stepped in and picked us back up. God's love for me manifested itself through the saints of his church.

      This letter I don't want to go into too much detail about the details of this week, because I pretty much covered everything that has happened. Although, I do want to tell you that I know without of a shadow of a doubt that this Church is true. Even if I leave this area without baptizing a soul, I will leave this area with a stronger testimony of the truthfullness of this restored Gospel than I've ever had before. This Church is true, and I am going to do all that I can to proclaim the truthfullness of this Gospel to the world. I have learned so much from the members of this ward and from my own personal studies that this Church is in fact the Church of Jesus Christ restored to the earth. More importantly I have had the spirit wittness to me that it is.

       I have learned so much on my mission, and I have room to learn so much more. Every day I learn something new. I am so excited for tomorrow and for what I going to learn from the scriptures. They are an endless source of knowledge. They are so true, and we need to read them.

 

       Well I hope that everyone back home had a good week. I hope to hear from anyone that reads this soon! I love you all so much and miss you all so much.

 

-Elder Ryan Romero

Fresh out of the Factory

My new companion is named Elder Greene. Yes he is a greenie, and his name is Greene. He must be so tired of that joke by now. He is from Bountiful Utah, another Utahn. The members keep saying, "Another one? Does Atlanta only get missionaries from Utah?" Well I think that they make a good point. Most of the missionaries out here are from Utah. Elder Greene is extremely quiet, and pretty shy. He doesn't have to much to say but I am sure that is because things are so new to him. He is a great kid, and has an outstanding testimony that could silence a room. He is going to be a great missionary. 
      Alright, I'll get down to the meat of this letter because I don't have too much time. As a greenie, I had to play a prank on my new companion. Seeing that I have been in the area 12 weeks now I have grown really close to the members and they were in on the idea of me pulling a prank on my fresh new companion. I am particularly close with a member named Brother Beaver. He is a professional DJ and is also studying Mechanical Engineering. We get along really well and he is just a character, funniest person in the ward. So he agreed to help me pull a prank on my baby. Our first time "tracting" we go to Brother Beaver's neighborhood. We are driving down the road and I tell Elder Greene, "When tracting you want to look for houses that have a lot of cars, especially minivans. That means a family lives there." I said this knowing that Brother Beaver has two BMW's, a Volvo, and a minivan all parked outside of his house. So when we passed his house I said, "Oh yeah, jackpot." While walking up I asked him if he would like to do the door approach, and he agreed to. When we walked up to the door and knocked Brother Beaver comes to the door in a pink sweater with his hair combed neatly to the side and said "Hey boys, what are you doing out in the rain? You are going to get all soaked. Come on in come on in. Meet my companion Bryan..." Haha. You can probably guess what Brother Beaver was playing the role of. Bryan is a guy that goes to the YSA ward that is currently living with them (but of course Elder Greene did not know about this). Elder Greene looks and me and I look at him (then immediately I turn around so that Elder Greene can't see me bust up laughing). Brother Beaver allows us to teach him and Bryan a lesson. To make a long story short, the lesson was extremely awkward. Haha. Everytime Elder Greene would look away Brother Beaver would look at me and just wink and start laughing a little. At the end of the lessons when we say our goodbyes Elder Greene goes in for a handshake and Brother Beaver goes in for a hug. I couldn't hold it in any longer and started to laugh out loud. Elder Greene still had no idea what was going on and I didn't tell him until we got back in the car. He thought that it was so funny. He was stunned, he had no idea that it wasn't real. He was impressed that I was able to keep my composure for the entire lesson. I think that overall it was a very good experience for Elder Greene. It turned out to be a really really good practice lesson for him. Because I wouldn't be surprised if he ran into that exact situation later on his mission. 
      Regarding the work, things are going okay. It seems like a few of our investigators have dropped off the face of the earth. It has been extremely hard to get ahold of them. We haven't had much luck. We haven't been able to talk with Tony and Kim since the last time we spoke with them. We weren't able to meet with Beth last week. I know that God will provide as long as Elder Greene and I are doing the things that we are supposed to do. I am doing my best to be a good example to Elder Greene and teach him all that he needs to know for the mission. I have been teaching him a lot about the Bible and how it is one of your best tools down here to relate with people and how to use it to help them understand the Restoration of the Gospel. He still has quite a bit to learn. But I think that he is progressing. 
      
      I am learning a lot over these past couple days. I can see that this next transfer is going to be one that is really going to change me. It is really going to test all that I have. I know that God has a lot in store for me, he has a lot of growing for me to do. I continuously think about who I am, who I am becoming, and who I want to be. There are so many things I need to change. There are so many things that I want to fix. I just know that God is in control, and that as I obey and do what he asks me to that he will take care of all those changes, and he will fix in me what needs to be fixed. I know that what God can make out of me is far greater than what I could ever make out of myself. 
      This transfer I am really going to work hard to put it all in God's hands. Everything that I have I am going to do my best to give to him. 

     I hope that everyone back home is doing well. I miss you all so much. May God Be With You Till We Meet Again. 

Elder Romero with Elder Armenta

Ryan and Brother Asper

Brother Asper and Ryan on the Guitars...Elder Armenta likes to dance

Thug Shot

 

The District

My mom away from home

The family that changed my life The Aspers