I am Learning!

  I am growing. I can feel it. Physically, I think I've grown an inch. Spiritually I've grown a mile. My first journal is filled up. I have successfully wrote in it every day since I've been out. I occasionally look back and read my old entries. There are a lot of differences between the new entries and the old ones. My hand writing has improved quite a bit, haha. Most of all I can see the change in myself from these old entries. I won't go into too much detail, but the mission does amazing things for an individual. I still have a long way to go. I look at all my friends in the mission that are going home soon, or have already gone home. I look at Elder Heimuli, Elder Hansen, and Elder Shelley and I wonder what they were like when they first came out.  It makes me so curious as to what I will be when I am finished with my mission. There is so much for me to do, so much for me to learn. It is crazy to think that I am still in the beginning of my mission because I feel like I have already done and learned so much.
     My new mission President, President Harding, is absolutely amazing. He reminds me so much of my Dad it's almost as if I never left home. You can tell that President Harding has a deep love for all his missionaries. I was invited to go to a leadership training meeting this Wednesday. I don't know for sure why I was invited to go because I am not in a position of leadership. My guess is that I will be training next transfer. At this meeting I got to hear him speak. His vision for the mission is to make missionary a better person, therefore making a better mission. That is the whole purpose of Preach My Gospel. I am so thankful to have him as a mission president. I know that I have become a better person because of his influence.
     I have been really sick over this past week. My sinuses have been clogged and my ears won't pop. It is very annoying. I feel like I just got done being sick, and now I am sick again. I don't know what my problem is. I probably keep getting sick from all the stupid germs on Marta. I had dinner with a couple doctors and they took a peak inside my ears. They said that they are pretty swollen up and I should probably go get them checked out. So I probably going to go do that pretty soon.
    
     As far as missionary work goes it is the same as last week. We have been trying and trying. Still not much success. I know that God has plans for me though and I have seen them throughout this transfer. If I would have gotten transferred last transfer, then I would not have been able to see what happened to my recent converts. I would never know that Gaki has become such a strong and active member of the church. She attends every single week. She goes to all the activities and brings her grand kids. We have grown so close and she truly loves me and is thankful for me. I would have never known what happened with Brian. Brian had to move to North Carolina to take care of his children while his ex-wife cares for her mother who had a stroke in Tennessee. I am so thankful that God chose to keep me in this area and give me the opportunity to watch the seeds I planted grow.
     I have been able to help a couple less active members regain their activity in the Church. One of those people being a man named Ray. He has had a very tough life. I can't go into detail, but just trust me, this man has a tough life. He went to the doctor a couple months ago and found a growth under his chin and around his neck. The doctor said that it may be Lymphoma and that he needs to go see a specialist. When I first met Ray he wanted a blessing before he went to go see the specialist, so I gave him one. We met with Ray on a consistent schedule and a few months past and he still did not make an appointment to see the specialist. I told Ray that if it is cancer that time is not your friend and you need to find out what it is as soon as you can. He shared with me his concern about finding out if it was cancer or not. He told me that he just doesn't want to know. He said that he didn't have much to live for anyways so he just didn't care. I felt so sad for Ray, I wanted to help him so badly but I couldn't make him call the specialist. Last week he called me and told me that he made an appointment to go see the specialist. I was so happy. Then yesterday I walk into the chapel and I see Ray for the first time. My joy overtook me and I ran to him. The first question I asked was, "did you go to the specialist" and he said "yes, and they determined that it wasn't cancer." It was one of the first times that I saw Ray smile genuinely. I was so happy for him I gave him a big hug. I was so happy to see him at church. I was so happy to see him taking steps to getting a better life. These are the moments in my mission that I just want to press pause and live in forever.

     I hope all is well back in SLC. I love you all and miss you guys SO much. I hope to hear from you over the next week.

     Last thing I'll say is that I am proud to be a Cougar. I think that I was the only BYU student in the crowd of missionaries that was allowed to go to the game. You can bet Bronco could hear me from our nosebleed seats. I am so happy that I got to go to that game. GO BYU!

Love you all. The Church is true, Jesus Christ Lives.
Elder Ryan Romero

Transfer time-

     It is the start of my third transfer. Time is truly flying. It seems like yesterday I entered into the mission home and met President Snow. Time is moving fast and I want to savor each moment I get in the mission field. I have been looking back at my journal and I read some of my older entries. I can already tell a change in me and my thoughts. I hope to keep changing. 

     The start of this new transfer is quite slow. We don't have very many investigators... Yet that is how the start of last transfer started and we had faith that we could be successful and we were. Last transfer we were the most successful area in our zone. I am confident that God will provide a way for us again to be successful. I know that with enough faith anything is possible. 

     Conference was fantastic. Sadly, this is probably the first time I have stayed awake for all 5 meetings of conference haha. I payed very close attention and took a lot of things from conference that I am going to apply to my life. I am so thankful to have prophets, seers, and revelators who we are promised will not lead us astray. While watching conference you can feel the love and guidance from our Heavenly Father working through his appointed people. This world is chaotic, and we need the guidance of our Heavenly Father. I just feel that if the whole world could watch conference and listen to the speaker's guidance. The world would be such a better place. 

     The big announcement. Woman can now go on missions at age 19, and men at age 18. This was a bigger announcement to me than the new Iphone! This is AWESOME! I have a couple of friends that are girls that have previously told me that they were thinking about serving missions. I don't know if any of them are reading this but if so, GO! Go on a mission, and serve the Lord. You will not regret it, and you will be forever blessed for it.Our Sisters in the mission are amazing and are very successful missionaries. I am so thankful that the Lord has made missions more accessibly to woman in a probably more convenient time in their lives. I know that to many woman this is probably the best news they have received. I can't wait to see what kind of an affect this is going to have on missions around the world. 

     Brian and Gaki and doing pretty well. Brian has had a pretty tough week, but the members of the ward are helping him out. Gaki is just awesome. I can truly feel her love for Elder Shelley and I. She is a great lady. I can't wait to see what they come to accomplish in the time I have left to serve in this ward. 

     The transition of transfers is a pretty slow time. I wish I had some awesome stories to tell you. The truth is the past couple days have been very slow. We keep praying that things will pick up in our area and that we will find more people to teach. I'd ask for your prayers. 

     I love you all so much. God be with you till we meet again! 

-Elder Ryan Romero

Big Big Week

Sunday Sept 30,2012
Bishop of Decatur ward, Ryan, Brian, Gaki, Elder Shelley

  Brian and Gaki and now members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were both baptized on Sunday before Church. Yesterday was one of the happiest moments I have had so far on my mission. I had the opportunity of baptizing Gaki, and confirming Brian. Brian was baptized by the Bishop and confirmed by Elder Shelley. It was such an experience that I will never forget. 
     The baptism started at 8:30 AM before church. We could not do it Saturday as we originally planned because Brian had to work. We had to baptize them this week so that they could receive the Holy Ghost this week in sacrament meeting (because next week is conference). Neither Gaki or Brian has source of transportation. Finding them transportation was not extremely difficult. The Bishop was going to pick up Brian and Gaki's daughter was going to bring her. When we got to the church Brian was there but Gaki wasn't. I was very nervous due to the fact that the baptism started in 5 minutes. I called Gaki and asked if she was on her way. She said that her daughter hadn't picked her up yet and my heart immediately sank. She lived 15 minutes away from the Church... I thought the first person that I was going to have to opportunity to baptize was not even going to be there! I said a quick prayer in my heart, and no later than 10 minutes later I see Gaki, her daughter, and grand daughter coming down  the hall. They must have been driving pretty fast. 
      The baptism got started pretty much on time. Gaki can get dressed quick. I sat down in the seats in front of the font with Gaki on my right and Brian on my left. I look over at Brian and he had his head down praying. I look over at Gaki and she turns to me with a big smile and says,  "I am giving my life to God." When Gaki said this it really struck a chord in my heart. Our only worry throughout teaching Gaki was her understanding of what we were teaching her. She is from Africa and her English is pretty broken. So when we'd ask her what she learned from the last lesson, she had a tough time communicating in English what she had learned. When she turned to me and said "I am giving my life to God" I realized that her understanding of what we have been teaching her is better than anyone's. She knew exactly what she was about to do, and she knew exactly why she was doing it. She had felt the spirit during our lessons and that is what confirmed to her that what she was doing was right. Regardless of our teaching skills the spirit is the best teacher, and it testified to Gaki that what she was doing was right. 
      Brian was baptized first. Right when he came up out of the water he said, "Yes!" He was so happy to be baptized. When I opened the door to go into the side of the font to baptize Gaki, Brian was there just weeping. I gave him a big hug and he said, "I love you man, thank you." When I stepped down into the water and showed Gaki where to stand I was very surprised by Gaki's calmness. The last two women her age that I have seen getting baptized were very nervous to go under the water. Gaki was not scared one bit. I turned to her and asked her if she was ready and she said that she was. She went down into the water and came right back up. I asked her how she was and said "great!" with a big smile. We went back and got changed and then came and sat in the seats in front of the font. When I sat down Gaki turned to me and said "I gave my life to God." Later Glovia told me that Gaki was saying to her daughter and grand daughter that she loves it here and she is never leaving. I was so impressed by Gaki and Brian's dedication to following Christ's example. 
      The baptism finished about 20 minutes before sacrament meeting. Before Gaki was going to be confirmed she decided to scare me again by just disappearing. Sacrament meeting started and Gaki and her daughter were no where to be found. I was so stressed I couldn't help but laugh. Five minutes into the meeting I get a call from Gaki and I go out in the foyer and there she is with her daughter. Her hair was put down into braids and I immediately knew why she left. Her hair was pretty wild after the baptism, so they had to go do something about it. Haha. In sacrament we had three confirmations. Gaki, Brian, and HINDILLO! Hindillo was baptized on Friday! Three people that I loved dearly were about to receive the Holy Ghost. Hindillo was confirmed first by the bishop. Then Gaki was confirmed by Elder Shelley. Goodness, I love this lady so much! Right after she was confirmed she gets up and I go in for a handshake and she pushes my hand away and just give me a big hug! I was took me by surprise but it was so touching. It was then Brian's turn to be confirmed by me. It was absolutely an honor to confirm Brian. He has been waiting for this moment most of his life. As I was confirming him you could tell that he was getting very emotional and I just know that it is because he knew his search for the truth was over. After I was done confirming Brian he gets up and give me a big hug too. 
       After their confirmation they stayed up on the stand and were presented to the congregation. You could see the joy and excitement in all of their faces. When the Sacrament Hymn started Elder Shelley and I look at each other and just smiled. During the sacrament I felt so at peace. I knew that I had done a good job and that Heavenly Father was proud of me. Yet I knew that none of this happened because of my own efforts. Gaki and Brian were placed in front of us by God. There is no doubt in my mind about that. They were prepared by the Lord to hear our message and all we had to do was bring in the harvest. I am so thankful that God let me have this experience. 

      When I came out on my mission I was scared that I might not get a baptism, that I would not be a successful missionary, or that I might not affect anyone. I am so thankful for choosing to come out here and serve God. I am so thankful for the experiences that he has given me. I have seriously had the best start to a mission that anyone could ever have. I am so blessed. 

      I hope that y'all enjoyed this letter. I hope to hear from everyone the upcoming week. I am not being transferred so my address is not changing this transfer. So don't be scared to send me TONS of mail. Haha. 

I love you all sooooo much. 

-Elder Ryan Romero 

Sending E-mail from the Hospital...

 Don't worry I am fine. We were asked to give a child a blessing this morning. They said that it was an emergency so we rushed over. Right now the child is having tests done so we have some extra time so we decided to email from these computers. Pray for this child. He Cystic Fibrosis and they are most likely going to have to remove one of his lungs. I am very nervous to give this child a blessing, but I know that the Lord will do whatever he needs to do.

     This week was a pretty good week. We had to move Gaki and Brian's baptismal dates to the 30th because Brian has to work on Saturday. So we are going to do it Sunday before Church. They are both very excited to be baptised. Teaching both of them has been a privilege. I am so thankful for their spirits and the joy that they have brought into my life.

      I don't have too much time to write today because they don't allow us a ton of time on the computers here in the hospital. I also don't know when they are going to call us to give him a blessing. I want to talk about just a few things.

      I want to tell you about Glovia. Glovia and I have become very very close over the past weeks I've been in Decatur. I have had such a great start to my mission because of the examples in it. Elder Hansen was a great example of a missionary and a leader. Brother Berg has been a great example of a strong member. Glovia Pride has been a great example of a strong recent convert. Her willingness to help other people in the ward and he desire to learn are so Christlike. I have been pretty sick over the past week and she brought me Orange Juice this morning. Simple things like that just astound me. It has been a pleasure to get to know her and to have a friend like her in my life.

     The other thing that I wanted to share was a thought that came to me after sacrament meeting on Sunday. The thought came because of the lack of transportation our ward has. Over 60% of our ward has no transportation. So a lot of members carpool with each other. I don't really like asking people for things when I don't know how to repay them. I had to ask a lady named Sister Holder if she could give Gaki a ride to Church. Gaki's original ride fell through so she needed a way to get to Church. I felt very bad asking Sister Holder to give Gaki a ride because she was on the other side of town, but she was really the only person whose car wasn't already full. When I asked her she said she would without hesitation. I was so thankful but felt so sad because I didn't know how I was going to repay her. All I could do was just thank her, but that just didn't seem like it was enough. She wasn't asking for anything in return, nor did she expect it. I felt so in debt to her yet I knew that she wasn't expecting anything in return.

     My realization came in Priesthood when I was thinking about how I could repay Sister Holder. I realized that there was not much I could do. I could be nice, and show kindness and gratitude towards her action, but if she ever needed me to pick up someone I wouldn't be able to do it. I hated that feeling. So I kept thinking and I eventually started to think about Christ and compared Sister Holder's sacrifice for me to Christ's. That "in debt to someone" feeling grew tremendously. I realized that I will never ever be able to repay Christ for his sacrifice for me. Nothing that I ever do for him will come close to what he has done for me. My eyes immediately began to tear up and I felt really stupid. The lesson wasn't even about Christ or very emotional. I was just having a moment. Haha. I realized what Sister Holder had done was follow in Christ footsteps. That is all that he asks of us, and that is all that I can do.

     Well I have to go now. I hope to hear from all of you soon. I love you all so much.

-Elder Ryan Romero

Time Flies By

Random Georgia Picture

     This week has been a great week. Quite a few awesome things happened. We have an amazing new investigator, who also has a baptismal date. Gaki has a baptismal date. I have learned so much this week and I can't wait to share some of what I have learned in this email! 

     First off, let me fill you in on me and Elder Shelley. Still best buds. We are just two peas in a pod. Haha. We work so well together. He reminds me a lot of my brother Taylor. He has a very similar style in his humor. I love being around him. Going on exchanges is tough. I always like to be back with my buddy Elder Shelley. Recently we got an awesome bread recipe from another Elder. The bread is so easy to make. You just take flour, salt, yeast and water. Mix it all together and let is sit over night. Then just pop it in the oven in the morning. We have done this quite a few times over the past week for breakfast. It is awesome having fresh bread in the morning. I am running out of honey though. I looove honey. 
                                                                               Elder Shelley and Elder Romero

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     Okay, now time to get into the good stuff. Our new investigator's name is Brian. He is sooo awesome. Brian walked into the Church one Sunday. A couple days prior he was sitting by the sign outside the Church after having a terrible experience with his Ex-fiance. While he was sitting by the sign he had a feeling that he needed to go into the Church the upcoming Sunday. So he did, and he met us. I have never met someone so prepared to hear the Gospel. I have not heard of someone so prepared to hear the gospel. Of course I have only been out 3 months, but Elder Shelley has not met someone so prepared to hear the gospel either. 

      You cannot judge a book by its cover. My first impression of Brian was not the best, but I was too quick to judge. When we sat down with him and actually started talking we were quick to discover that this man has been searching his whole life for the truth. He has been studying the only scripture he knows, the bible, and has studied it DEEPLY. I have never met someone so learned in the bible. When we started to talk to him about everything that The Latter Day Saints believe. Baptism by proper authority, the laying on of hands, the gift of the Holy Ghost. Not one thing surprised him, or was even new to him! He has been searching for a church his whole life that has taught this, and has finally found it! He understood the Restoration and the need for it. Teaching the Plan of Salvation was a breeze. He named all the kingdoms before we even got to it! He told us every step of the Plan of Salvation before we even got to it. This man has never once studied the Mormon church, but he has studied the Bible. In the Introduction of the Book of Mormon it says that "We believe the Book of Mormon to contain the fullness of the everlasting gospel, as does the Bible." So many people say that our beliefs contradict what is said in the Bible. THAT IS SO NOT TRUE. Just talk to Brian Haha. We invited him to be baptized first lesson and accepted. He will be baptized on the 29th of this month along with Gaki. =)

      I don't really have too much to say about Gaki. Haha. She is just a great lady. Very quite, but very humble. She has a deep desire to do what is right, and she knows in her heart that this is right. She wants to see her family again so badly. She loved hearing about the Plan of Salvation and hearing about how she can be with her family again. She is going to make us FuFu the next time we come over. I have heard quite a bit about that African dish and I don't know if I am crazy excited for this meal... Haha. I am excited for the experience though! 

     I know that God is watching out for me. It is quite obvious that he is placing people in my path for me to teach. I have always wanted to have those wild missionary experiences where people are prompted to talk to you. Quite honestly, I didn't think it would ever happen. I was lacking in faith. This past week has been amazing and only because God made it that way. This Church is so true and I am realizing it more than ever. I am so thankful to have been called to the specific place I have been called to. I have no doubt in my mind that revelation from God has played a role in why I am where I am. 

     Well, I love you all. I hope that you all are staying true to the faith and growing in Christ. 

-Elder Ryan Romero 

Two months in the Field

Today is my two month in the field birthday. It is crazy to think that it has been two months since I left the MTC. It seems like forever ago, and at the same time it seems like yesterday. When you let the world slip away, time really doesn't seem like it makes sense anymore.

Good news. We found Shaun! Bad news (and kind of good news) he got a job and we are having a tough time meeting with him because of his work schedule. He wants to meet with us but he works about the same schedule as we do. We are praying that we can meet with him as soon as possible. He is such a good guy. He works very hard and is trying to make a better life for himself. He is a prime example of someone who is humble and ready to hear the gospel.

This week overall was a pretty good week. Elder Shelley and I are best buds. Haha. We get along so well. I am so lucky to have had such great companions. We have been trying to get a little creative with the stuff we eat. We both don't like to eat unhealthy stuff so we have been attempting to make our own concoctions... We tried to make some Mexican chicken. I got this recipe from the Spanish Elders. The recipe called for 3 Chipotle peppers... but I like my stuff spicy so I put in 2 cans... Bad idea. I miss my blendtech blender. The blender we have at the apartment is terrible and the bottom came off while I was chopping up the peppers. Our apartment was a mess.

We have a new investigator, and she has a baptismal date! Her name is Gaki. She is from Africa and was once a Jehovah's Witness. She is a great lady and has a huge heart. She is really searching for the truth and looking to get on the straight and narrow. Her baptismal date is Sep 29. We are so excited for her. Her understanding of gospel principles is a little slow due to the language barrier. We have people in the ward that speak her language so we are going to have them come with us to help us out. She is progressing very well though. We are going to get Glovia to be her fellowshipper. Haha, you can't not love Glovia.

I don't have a ton to write in this email. This week kind of just flew by and wasn't super eventful. There were a lot of crazy things that happened on MARTA this week though. A man spraying cologne in his mouth and blowing his beer all over, a woman screaming bloody murder, and everyone dressed like fantasy characters for dragoncon. There has been a couple more weird events but I don't want my mother to worry about me too much. All I know is, public transportation is entertaining.

To end with a spiritual thought I wanted to talk about something I learned this week regarding how to become a better missionary. At district meeting we were talking about Preach My Gospel and how it is different from how they used to do missionary work. PMG focuses on the missionary first rather than the investigator. I realized that Preach My Gospel is meant to build is into better people, therefore making us better missionaries. The best missionary was Jesus Christ. The more like Jesus Christ I can be the better missionary I can be. I shouldn't have my focus to be more like an Elder that I admire. My focus should always be to be more like Jesus Christ. I love the Attributes of Christ chapter in PMG. I am trying so hard to develop those attributes and apply them to my life. I know that if I can become a better person, I will become a better missionary. I have already been able to tell a difference in myself and my attitude towards everything. The atonement of Jesus Christ is real, and is meant to change people and make them better. STUDY IT, and APPLY IT. I challenge anyone that reads this to go and read the Attributes of Christ chapter in PMG and strive to develop those attributes.

I must go now. I love you all so much and hope to have a spiritual filled letter for y'all next week.

-Elder Ryan Romero