august 25, 2014 letter

This weeks email isn't going to be  very long, because I forgot to take my stuff with me that I needed, so I don't remember what to write!! haha you might things that's kind of funny that I can't remember what happened in just a week, but the days literally start blending in together and you can't really remember much! The days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days, it's crazy! 

But my companions and I are doing awesome, and i'm finally just starting to understand enough Spanish to hold a conversation with someone! This week was really good until yesterday when we had one of the hardest days so far. We were talking about it and we realized that the two kids we were planning on asking to be baptized this week aren't ready... but actually a funny/ sad story about that.  We were teaching the 16 year old boy and it was tough because we couldn't teach him in his house because you can't feel the spirit in there, so we decided to teach him out in the street which wasn't much better because there were little girls running around! At the end I felt the impression to ask him to be baptized, but we had already planned to ask him the next time in front of the font, and there were little girls running around, so I decided to shrug it off and just thought it was my thoughts wanting a baptism. When I got in the car, I told Elder Solano what happened and he said that he got the same impression... so that was bad on our part. i'm still trying to work on always following the impressions the first time that I get them, But its hard to determine the spirit and your thoughts at times, but i'll get there! We also spent a half our getting ripped into by some Catholics and we had to drop one of our investigators because they decided that we can't become gods and that he is just going to be saved by the grace of Christ. So sad for him, but I guess that's what happens when you have your own agency.

Oh and the other day, we were walking in the streets and we saw some kids playing basketball in the street and long story short I challenged there best player to one on one if he would listen to our message for 20 minutes. He agreed and luckily I ended up beating him! It was really fun to just run around and play ball with them! But now they are some of our investigators and we are going to teach them pretty often! It's been a good and a tough week, but I know things are going to pick up and the work is going to catch on fire! 

Love you guys, I know you guys are in the Lord's hands!

Love Elder Romney.

august 18, 2014 letter

Hey guys! I can't believe that I am emailing you already again! This week has gone by pretty fast! So I thought i'd start out by telling you a little bit about my companions! They are some super super awesome guys. 

Elder Ashcraft is the taller white one. he is from hurricane Utah and is the kind of guy that grew up with no tv or anything like that, didn't ever date anyone or tell anyone that he liked them, and ran cross country! hes kind of a more shy guy but hes one of the nicest people you'll meet. hes all about following directions and making sure that we do exactly what we need to which is a really good thing! He's an awesome guy and is willing to help me out with my Spanish whenever he can. and he's been out for a year and a half and will be going home this December!  

Elder Solano and I have instantly become best friends and are just laughing the whole time that we are together! Come to find out that he is an all state quarterback in Washington as a sophomore?? And after they won the state championship he quit and decided he didn't want to play anymore! So maybe I need to get a football and throw it around with him.  He's super into racing cars and fixing them up and he said when I get home he can show me how to do that and teach me about cars if I want to! Oh and he's a convert to the church at the age of 18! He's 25 right now and is going home this October, so I'm with two older experienced people! And Elder Solano is helping me with Spanish and i'm helping him with his English Grammar! But with the both of them they make an awesome group of people and i'm learning a lot from them! 

So we have this game that we play in the car where we try to wave at everyone and try to get them to wave back at us and one day Elder Solano said, "Yell to them that Jesus loves them" so I role down the window and realize that the girl is Spanish and try to yell that Jesus loves her in Spanish but it totally came out wrong and I said "Jesus ama su" which basically translates to Jesus, he love your. haha Elder Solano started cracking up and told me that he couldn't even tell what I said because I said it so fast and it sounded like Japanese! But on a better note, my Spanish is improving so much and i'm being able to participate in a bunch of other lessons now and being able to play a big part. 

We have two guys that we are planning on getting baptism dates for here in the next week or so, so I should have my first baptism soon and many that should soon follow! The harvesting season is coming to an end so it's easier to find people to teach so these next few months are when the work is supposed to explode! Ahh i'm super excited!

I can't wait to hear from you guys soon, and i'm soo sorry to hear about the trees in the front yard, the yard looks nothing like it used to! It's crazy! I hope things are going well and I hope that Tyler's nose gets better! How is Boston? How is Sara's school? Hows work for dad? And yes of course i'll be thinking about you and praying for you to do well on your lesson on Sunday, I know you're going to kill it! Love you mom, you're the best!!

Love, Elder Romney

Oregon is super pretty!

elder ashcrafts desk is on the left, solanos is on the right and mine is right in the middle!

this is our bedroom! haha nothing special. Mine is by the windows

this is the view from our tiny little balcony that we have! Elder Solano and I go out here a lot at night and just talk about whatever! 

We have a little workout place that we try and use every morning. so you know how I weighed 150 after the hospital? yeah, I weigh almost 170 now... holy cow i'm getting fat... haha not really, but i've gotten up to my normal weight and it's not really all that much muscle!

getting ready to email. this was literally taken like two minutes ago!

we have to wash our car!!

Elder Solano is my personal servant (;

first letter from the mission field. august 11, 2014

Well i'm finally out here on the mission! This is crazy! I love this way more than I love the mtc! I have some awesome companions who love to work hard and who know what they are talking about! My two companions are completely different! Elder Solano is super fluent in the language and just loves to blast the music in the car and to have fun and relate stories of himself to other people and Elder Ashcraft is all about the little things and making sure that we do everything completely perfect and to a T. With them as my companions they make an awesome whole and are able to teach me the best of both of them. So on the 7th I had an interview with the mission president and I found out that I was paired with the zone leaders, which if you don't know is the second highest position behind the AP's, so i'm able to help them out with stuff and the call me the AZL (assistant zone leader). 
On the first day we went tracting and we went up to the first door and knocked, and Elder Solano looked at me and said, you've got this one. Keep in mind, they didn't ever teach us how to do this in the mtc... like how to do door step stuff or meet people in the street, just how to teach lessons. So I was pretty nervous already. But when they lady opens the door, I was rudely awakened to her yelling at me and ripping my head off and saying that she hated the Mormons and that she didn't want anything to do with us. And I just kind of looked at Elder Solano, and he just said "you got this" so I stepped right in and started telling her about the church and that she had the wrong idea about us and that we are just here to help (keep in mind she's saying stuff in Spanish and I can only pick up half of what she's saying she's speaking so fast) and she just keeps going at me, but I kept being persistent. After a grueling few minutes, Elder Solano starts laughing and I realize that she is a member and that he was just pulling a joke on me and wanted to see how I would react in that situation. He said that he was super impressed by me and that he loved how I stood in there and wasn't afraid! 
Then we played some soccer that night with some people, and you'd be surprised, with all the Hispanics, I wasn't too bad! I scored quite a few goals actually!! on the 8th we went tracting and found an awesome guy who wants to get closer to God and change his life, but he's super catholic, so we are trying to show him that the Book of Mormon can help him do that and that it will help him change his life. But he said that he wasn't buying it and said that we need to show him that there is something in the Book of Mormon that clarifies what's in the bible and maybe he'll read it. So that's what we are going to do today, and i'm super excited for that! 
On the 9th Elder Solano made me talk in zone conference, so I decided to talk about the story when Moroni took some of his army to fight the laminates but when they went into battle, the laminates "fought like dragons" and how Moroni had to go and change their mindset and remind them of what they are fighting for, that they are fighting for their homes, and wives, and children.  I related this back to us, because right now, is what they call the dry season for baptisms because everyone is working in the farms during the day and it's really hard to find people to teach. So I told them about the challenge that we were given by president this transfer, that every companionship baptize at least one person. I told them that president was our modern day Moroni and that he was calling us to remember what we are doing and what we are fighting for and that we can do these things and we need to fight against the adversary who is destroying us right now.  Elder Solano after told me that he was super super impressed by my talk that I gave to them!  
On the 10th it was Sunday and we had our first investigator come to church in a long long time! They haven't been able to get anyone to come to church in the past couple months, but this Sunday we were able to get an awesome humble guy who is 20. He loves the way we help him feel and the way that he felt at church, the only problem is that he needs glasses and without them he's practically blind, so he can't read the book of Mormon, so he's waiting for his prescription to come so he can progress more!! But he is an awesome guy and I think that we can get him and his brother baptized super soon here! i'm so excited for him!  it's awesome out here in Oregon and its so so pretty. I'm not exactly in the prettiest spot right now, but I love it here. The people are awesome and everyone is super friendly! We have a car, but the president decided to take all the Ipads away because people weren't using them correctly, so i'm going old school and sticking to paper! I guess I wouldn't know any different though, because I never had one... but dad was right, its like a whole other thing out here, because I can barely understand people. But i'm trying my hardest, and my trainer actually said that i'm super far for a greeny and that he's really impressed! I'm loving it out here, and I hope things are going well back at home! Love you guys!!
Love Elder Romney

these are my new companions! the one on the far left is Elder ashcraft from Hurricane Utah, and the one in the middle is Elder Salano, who is originally from mexico city, but moved here a little while ago! They are the zone leaders and they are super awesome guys!!

email from president samuelian

Dear Brother and Sister Romney,

Sister Samuelian and I were so pleased to get to know your missionary.  Shortly following his arrival, I interviewed him.  He is most impressive and will be a real asset to the Oregon Salem Mission! Out of all the assignments a Mission President has, none are taken more seriously than the assignment of their first companion and trainer.  With inspiration from our Heavenly Father, your missionary has been assigned to labor in the Gervais Spanish Ward but living in Woodburn, OR.    He is part of a threesome.  His trainers are Elder Jonathan Colin Solano from Kennewick, WA and Kaden L Ashcraft from Hurricane, Utah, both seasoned and well respected missionaries.   They are Zone Leaders.

We have attached a photo of them all … they will make a very good team in the Lord’s service.

As I mentioned a few days ago, please send all letters or packages for your missionary to the Mission office listed below.

Elder Spencer Romney

700 Deborah Road, #260

Newberg, Oregon 97132

We thank you once again for raising such a good man.  He will be a good missionary.  We will take good care of him as will the Lord.

Kind Regards,

President Michael Samuelian

Sister LuAnn Samuelian

Oregon Salem Mission

Spencer's Comps

President and Sister Samuelian

Temple group to the Portland OR Temple

pictures from august 4, 2014