Another six weeks have come and gone. I can't express how fast time is moving. It is crazy to think that only six weeks ago Elder Shelley and I were waiting in our apartment to find out where we were going to end up. We are still waiting for that call. I could stay here in Decatur, or go off somewhere else. I wish they would tell us sooner so that I could let you guys know what is happenning.
As time goes on I can feel the world slip away. I can feel the desires of my heart begin to change. It sounds cheezy, I know. That is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ does for you though. I still love music any music from heavy metal to indie rock, I still love to snowboard, I still love to go to concerts, I still love to play guitar, and I still love to talk about politics and conspiracy theories. As time goes on I can feel myself miss those things less and less. I can feel them just slip out of my grasp. I can feel my heart stowing them away until June 20, 2014. I am finding joy in the work. I am learning to trust the Lord with all my heart. This does not mean however that I don't have tough times. It just makes them easier to bear. I am begining to realize that going home from my mission might not be the happiest day of my life. It will once again be taking me from the things I have learned to love, and learning to love something new again. Watching the other Elders that I have grown to love and admire go home is harder than watching my best friends leave on their missions. It is something that I think only a missionary can understand. Watching Elder Hansen, Elder Heimuli, and soon Elder Shelley leave. I am realizing more more and who I want to become at the end of my mission. I don't want to be running towards the gate of the airplane when that time comes. I want to be walking towards it looking back towards my mission reflecting on the change that it has had on my life.
This week has been an interesting week. I will start off with the good news. We have come across two new investigators. Their names are Joe and Josh. Great guys. We met Joe on the train. He is a very very interesting man. He owns a bar down in Midtown. He loves talking to us and is a very very nice guy. Josh is also a very interesting man. Josh reffered himself. His fathers side of his family is all Mormon. He wants to learn more. He is about 80% deaf and can only hear a little bit out of his left ear. He is such a friendly guy and loves meeting with us. Elder Shelley and I are so excited to see what happens with these two new investigators.
Now for the bad news. The Crofts called us Sunday after church and told us that they no longer want to meet with us. They got antied at Church. The baptist church puts Homosexuals, Muslims, and Mormons all in the same bucket. They are all going to hell according to them. In most churches around here, if they find out you are meeting with Mormon missionaries, they will excommunicate you. Or give you loads and loads of anti-mormon litterature and tell you to stop meeting with us.
I love the Crofts. I love them so much. We met with them twice after our first visit. Every visit was so great and spiritual. You could tell that they loved us and their hearts were so open. Mr. Croft thought that our message was facinating and would often say, "It just makes sense." Mrs. Croft told us that she wanted to adopt us. I just don't understand. It just does not make sense to me why? They loved us. They knew that The Book of Mormon was true, they would say it constantly. They knew that our message was true. The hate that other religions have towards Mormons makes me absolutely ill. I love the Crofts so much and hope to somehow continue to teach them. I'll do anything that I can to help them, but people have their own agency.
That is about all that I have for you this week. Things are going pretty well. I hope to hear from some of you soon... Send letters (Not packages. Don't send packages till you have my new address) to the mission office over the next week until I figure out what is happening regarding transfers. I love you all so much.
-Elder Ryan Romero
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