Elder Romero's Blog: 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.