One Crazy Week

Hello everyone, 

Where to begin with my crazy week... 

     To start off I will let you know how I have been doing. I have been doing pretty good. My companion and I get along great. Our personalities are very different, but they compliment each other very nicely. He is a very quite Elder, and I am not. If he talked as much as I did, then there would be just way to much talking. We are quickly becoming great friends. We both have very similar interests in cars and motorcycles. Music... not so much, but we don't need to talk about that. I love finding things that I can talk about with people. I love showing people new things, and learning about new things. With Elder Shelley I have been able to do a lot of both of these. He is a great missionary and really understands the gospel. I learn more from him every day. 
      We have been running every morning. He isn't a big runner (and neither am I) but we are trying very hard to push ourselves in the morning. We both want to be healthier. Elder Shelley's mission is quickly coming to a close, and he wants to look as great as he can when he gets home. I hope to be as fit when I come home as when I came out... I am doing a pretty good job of it so far. 

     Okay... Now time to get to what has happened this week. We went to Shaun's house to check up on him and see how he was doing. As we were walking to his house we noticed a black table out by his mailbox. As his house came into view we noticed that there was charred furniture all outside his house. The windows and doors were all boarded up with blackness spilling from their seems. There was a fire. The house was completely destroyed from top to bottom. The house was made of brick so a structure was still there, but everything else was burnt beyond recognition... We quickly tried to call Shaun but his phone was out of service. We left a note on his mailbox saying that we are there to help, and that we love him. We still have not heard from Shaun... We don't know where he is, or if he is okay. Please pray for his safety, and that we will be able to contact him. 

     The event that I was most excited about this week was going to see Maxene. I was so excited to teach her again. We got along so well every time we talked and I just felt comfortable talking to her. The words I was supposed to say would just come when I was around her. I was so confident that us meeting Maxene was meant to be because I felt so connected with her. I would pray often for her, and I was quite sure that the lesson that we were going to teach was going to really speak to her. 
     As we walked up to her front porch she opened the door before we even knocked on it. She had her Book of Mormon in hand and said, "Hello Elders." As we said our greetings to her she handed me the Book of Mormon and I said, "Do you not want this anymore?" and she said, "No. I don't want to study with you anymore." and I said, "Did something you read concern you? Can we talk about this?" and she just said "No, I don't want to talk about it. We just can't meet anymore." That was the extent of our conversation. We shook her hand and told her that if she ever needs anything that she can call us anytime. She thanked us and went inside. 
     I did not know that I would feel the way I felt after that conversation. My heart was crushed. I don't think that people realize what they are to us missionaries, or at least to me. People are not a number to me. They are not a statistic. We are not there to increase the membership of the Church. We are there to bring people closer to Jesus Christ. We are there to love them, and be their friends. We are there to help them in every step it takes to get to baptism. I was not sad that Maxene denied me to teach her. I was sad that Maxene denied the blessings that I KNOW this gospel can bring into her life. I KNOW that the teachings of this Church can strengthen her family, because I've seen it in my own and others. I KNOW that this Church and the Book of Mormon can bring her closer to Jesus Christ, because I have experienced it! I KNOW that the knowledge of the plan of salvation could bring her hope in times of trial, because I have felt that hope in my life. These are the exact thoughts that went through my mind as I realized what was going on as she handed me that Book of Mormon. She wasn't handing me just a book, she was handing me the only way to find out if what I told her when we first met is true. 
     I love Maxene and all of the people that I teach. I see the truthfulness of the gospel manifest itself in the people's life. Christ's atonement, if used, will change people's lives for the better. I have seen that in the lives of the members and investigators that keep commitments and feast upon the words of Christ. 

     There are quite a few other things that have happened this week that I would like to talk about. I don't think that they would add much spiritually to this letter though so I won't put them into this letter. I love writing letters and telling people about my experiences. So ask me in a letter. 

     I want to leave you with my testimony that I know that I am not perfect. I know that because of Jesus Christ I can have hope to one day become perfect. I can hope to be married in the temple for time and all eternity to the woman that I love. I can wake up each day with the knowledge that I can try again, and I can overcome my weaknesses. Without him I would be nothing, and I could not hope for these things. He took my weaknesses upon him so that I may become strong, and I love him for that. I will try and live my whole life to prove my thankfulness for his sacrifice. 

I love you all.

-Elder Ryan Romero 


     

Start of a New Transfer

This has been a busy week. I got my new companion on Wednesday. His name is Elder Shelley. He is from Springville Utah and is a nice guy. Him and I get along very well. He has been out 20 months and has had a lot of funny experiences on his mission. I can see us working well together for this transfer. He is fairly quiet, and I am pretty loud. So I think that it works out pretty well. 
     We have had a lot of work to do. Our apartment needed a lot of cleaning up (not because of me of course). Our area book and map needed a lot of work (also not because of me haha). So we have spent quite awhile updating those two things. In the past my area has struggled. Elder Shelley and I are going to make this one of the most productive areas in the mission. We are both very determined people. We are setting our goals high and going to achieve them. 

      I had a great experience yesterday. I had the opportunity to confirm Glovia and give her the gift of the Holy Ghost. I was very nervous to do this in front of the whole congregation. I did a pretty good job though. I just had to speak from my heart and the spirit told me what to say. I am becoming a lot more comfortable in front of the ward. I love all the members so much and am getting to know them all very very well. 
      I had dinner with Brother Berg a couple nights ago and had a great time. He and his wife are so awesome! She really did date Connor Oberst from Bright Eyes! She has all these stories about him and even pictures! My mind was blown. We talked a lot about music and even told me some cool bands to look up when I get home. I gave her the names of a couple favorite bands and told her to look them up. I love the Bergs so much. They make me SO excited to have a family of my own. They don't have much... But they have each other and they seem like two of the happiest people I have ever met. 
      Sad news, my best buddy Brother Lisonbee is moving in three weeks. He is our ward mission leader and is the greatest guy on the planet. He is such a spiritual giant and knows his stuff. He is very close with the missionaries. I was so sad when he told me he was leaving. I hope to stay in contact with him and remain his friend. 

      Remember Maxene? She is the lady I talked about awhile back. I met her on MARTA and I felt really comfortable talking to her. Well we have tried contacting her awhile ago and she was never home. The people home said to come back on Saturday. So that is exactly what we did. We came back on Saturday and knocked on the door and no answer... So we walked back down to the bus stop. A few minutes later Maxene walks down to the bus stop and says "Elder Romero?" and I was so surprised! She remembered my name and even walked all the way down to the bus stop to search us out! She told us that she was sorry she didn't answer the door because she was asleep. She invited us back up to her apartment and we had a fantastic lesson. We talked about the Doctrine of Christ and the Book of Mormon. She looooved it. She was so interested in the Book of Mormon. When the lesson was done she set her own return appointment. Maxene is awesome and I can't wait to become her better friend and help her grow spiritually. 

       Shaun is doing well. He has a baptismal date for September 8th. I think that it will probably be moved back though. He has a fear of coming to church... and church that is a pretty essential thing to becoming a member of the church. To help him over come his fear I invited him to take a tour of the church with us. We took him to the church and showed him all the pictures on the wall and talked about all of them. He loved it. We had a member come with us named Bro Thompson. He is an older man that rips on the saxophone. They really got along well. Shaun got his number and is hopefully going to come with him to church this upcoming week! 

        I am getting better at piano. I can play a few of my favorite hymns now. It is such a treat to have an opportunity to play the piano. I love things where I can see myself improve. I love growing and learning new things. I am learning a lot about many different kinds of religion. I am learning a lot about how churches came to be and what they believe. It is very very interesting. I am learning a lot of stuff from the members too. I found out something AMAZING a week or two ago. A member in the ward knew I was interested into going into Bio-Medical Engineering after I graduate from BYU. He told me that Georgia Tech and Emory medical school have a joint program where you can get your masters in Bio-Medical Engineering and become a Medical Doctor!!!! My two dreams combined into one program!!! I am definitely going to set my goals high and strive towards this.
       
        I  don't have much more time to write. I am doing pretty well. I have been quite a bit more stressed than I am used to and it is throwing me off my groove. Missions are constant change, and I am not the biggest fan of change. I like to get in my routine and stick to it. I know that is something that I need to learn to handle. I know that I have a lot of growing up to do. I can tell that I am becoming stronger and that I have grown up immensely since the start of my mission. I can't wait to see what God has in store for me in the future. I just need to keep having faith that his plans for me are better than the plans that I have for myself. If I can understand that, then this constant change won't seem so difficult. 

       I hope to have some interesting stories for y'all next week. Love you guys so much! Hope to hear from anyone that reads this. 

-Elder Ryan Romero