5-5-14 The promise of my protection

Hermana Romero sent the following in a personal email to her mother on May 5. We had been telling her in our emails that we pray for her [including her safety] daily.
Today 5/19, she OK'd us to post it on her blog.


I don't know if you and Dad are ever worrying about my safety, but recently, I was reading Mosiah 28 and I thought of you guys. King Mosiah is worried about sending his sons to Lamanite territory to teach the Gospel because of their personal safety (the Lamanites having a fierce hatred and desire to kill all Nephites), but he goes to ask of the Lord. In verse 7, the Lord gives him a promise: "Let them go up, for many shall believe in their words, and they shall have eternal life; and I will deliver thy sons out of the hands of the Lamanites." You have the same promise. I have been called by the Lord to come to this country, and if I am obedient (which I am, ALWAYS), you have the promise of my protection.

Love, your hijita
Hermana Romero

5-12-14 Search for the miracles and the blessings

Mi querida familia!

How can I follow up the Mother's Day skype? It was so lovely to talk
to and hear from every one of you! (As well as to see your lovely
faces...) I hope you all had a wonderful day, especially Mom!

The interesting thing I've noticed is, as I try to think of the
highlights of the week for my weekly emails, no matter how crummy I
felt like the week was, if I search for the miracles and the
blessings, there is ALWAYS something good that came out of it. For
instance perhaps our investigators aren't progressing as much as we'd
like, or they don't come to church, or they won't get baptized, or I'm
not getting along with my companion, or it rained a lot...little
things like that can get you down, but when I think about the
blessings, I remember that Heavenly Father is loving and merciful. And
that tomorrow will be better than today.

One of this week's miracles was our investigator Yanira. She came to
church on Sunday with both of her daughters! (one is a member and the
other is a long-term investigator). They've been reading the
scriptures and praying as a family, and I know that if they keep doing
little daily acts of faith, they will become a stronger family and be
able to make wise decisions (especially the daughters, who are
teenagers).

Another was a lesson we had yesterday with a young man named Robin. He
is a devout Catholic, and when we passed by earlier in the week to
invite him to church, he told us he didn't agree with some of our
doctrine. So we clarified some doctrine, and testified that reading
the Book of Mormon (which he hadn't been doing) and having a testimony
of it is the key to knowing the church is true. If we know that it's
true, the Spirit can testifiy to us that Joseph Smith had the power of
God to translate it, and was consequently a prophet, and consequently
there are modern prophets and revelation, etc. A chain effect
testimony.

In the end of the lesson, he said, "This week I'm going to San Miguel.
I will only bring the Book of Mormon [and not the Bible] and I'm going
to put it to the definitive test. I'm going to read the whole book.
I'll have an answer for you next Sunday." Wow, I was impressed. It
takes a lot of faith to be willing to change what you have grown up
believing, and we are just praying that he follows through on this
promise.

Thank you for all your love and support. May you have an excellent week!
Love, Hermana Romero

PS Forgot to mention one of my favorite things about church this Sunday! Yanira showed up with a little notebook to take notes. And we made little cookies for all the moms in the ward, and they were a big hit!

5-5-14 A beautiful day

My dear family,

The big news of this week is that we finally were able to find and teach Yanira, a woman who had accepted a baptismal date for April (along with her 12 year old daughter who has been listening to the missionaries for months but has never had permission to be baptized) that fell through. It was a miracle.

Friday, we were pretty discouraged because our numbers had been pretty low all week, and we had spent almost the entire day wandering, rather than teaching. One of those days. But we were heading back home and had time for one lesson more. I told Hermana de la T that we needed to look for Yanira and that we needed to gain the confidence of her mom (who takes care of the children while Yanira is working). And some how, it worked exactly like that! We helped the abuela with some household chores, then Yanira showed up and we taught her and she was very interested in learning more. Anyway, moral of the story is that we were guided as to where to go, and that hope is not lost for this family. I believe they will still get baptized. :)

Yesterday was a beautiful day as well. It was a day in which many people who have almost nothing gave us food. I don't think I hardly ever talk about the poverty I have seen here...people who don't have enough to feed their children, but yet we stop by to visit and help them and they give us mangos. Or people who are having a poor day selling and ask us if we want to buy anything, and we have to tell them no, we don't shop on Sundays, and then they give us free tamales. People here are very generous with what little they have and really live the advice of Mosiah 4:24. They are an example to me of love, of what I imagine the Savior feels for us.

I am time and time again impacted by the words of 2 Nephi 2:7, speaking of Christ. "Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin..." I don't like to dwell on the suffering of Christ but I do like to remember WHY he suffered all things. The infinite, pure, selfless love he had and has for us is incomparable. There was no other that could offer himself as a sacrifice, and I am exceedingly convinced that there is no other that WOULD. All he asks of us is "a broken heart and a contrite spirit" and that we keep his commandments. The restored Gospel has blessed my life so much- with an understanding of who I am and my purpose-but greatest of all these blessings is my knowledge of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

Have an excellent week!
Love,
Hermana Romero

PS. Hermana D (sister in our ward who cooks us lunch every day) sends her greetings to the whole family! She is one of the dearest friends I have made in the mission. We love her lots.

4-28-14 I am officially a mouse killer!

My dear family,

Soo we have a little mouse that has been leaving little surprises all around our apartment these past few weeks. Today, I was sitting at my desk, nice and tranquil, writing in my journal when I heard a rustling sound not too far away. There was a plastic bag laying on the ground, so I thought, perhaps it's the mouse under the bag. I took my shoe and sort of tapped the bag a little bit to scare it away because I was too terrified to actually kill the mouse.

Five minutes later, the same sound. This time I knew it was the mouse. I don't know what came over me, but I took my shoe and whacked the bag a bunch of times! Then I started freaking out a little bit. "AHH!" I said to my companion. "I think I killed the mouse. What do I do????"

Well, she's even more scared of the mouse than me, so I had to throw it away! But I am officially a mouse killer. I don't even know how I did it! (Photo evidence attached)

In missionary news...well we've been getting members involved in the lessons we're having and they've been having great experiences sharing their testimonies! We still are having trouble helping our investigators progress, but there are several new investigators that have lots of potential so we're just going to keep on working and trying new things.

This week I'm sending photos, so sorry that the letter's short! Send me questions in the next half hour if you have them!

Love you all (and excited for the Mother's day skype)
Hermana Romero



She sent us these five photos:



For General Conference, I straightened my hair.
First picture of the two of us together this transfer.

[With Hermana de la T ]



We made little snowmen with ice from the freezer

A couple weeks ago, we decided to eat healthier. Then Hermana de la T got sick, so we had to stay in the house the whole day. I got so bored that I made fried tortillas! Caption: "Fried tortillas? A great way to kickstart your diet :)"


"Fried tortillas? A great way to kickstart your diet :)"



Me and Hermana de la T in a ciber

 

 

Me with Hermana G'z - because I love her

4/21/14 que Dios les bendiga

My dear family,

Here I am, once again in a Salvadoranean ciber listening to loud regaton (spelling?). Just so you can picture a little bit of what my life is like. The exciting news of this week is that we have our P day with the missionaries from Ilopango (my old area), so I will be seeing several former companions and friends and playing soccer (my favorite P day activity, tied with writing letters)...pictures next week.

I feel like Hermana de la T and I are really starting to hit a groove here: working with and animating the members, finding new and really positive investigators. We are trying to try new things, as we've been realizing that new ideas are the lifeblood of mission work and allow us to receive revelation for our area. This week we have plans to visit neighbors of members and share videos of Christ and fix dates to return and watch them/share more. We're also trying to organize an activity with the less active nephews of our cook for the following week. I am excited beyond words.

We've also found that we are really finding prepared people. For reasons of vacation, few of our investigators were able to make it to church this Sunday, but one did that we had taught the first lesson the day before! We passed by his house at 7:45 and he was ready, waiting in a white shirt and tie. He said after the meeting, "It's true, hermanas. If it's true you know it." I feel confident that he, as well as many of our other investigators has been prepared by the Lord to be baptized in this time, and to make this sacred covenant. We need to keep working hard (with the members, with the investigators, and ALWAYS talking to everyone and inviting everyone to come unto Christ) this week, and I know even more miracles will happen.

We also got the chance to have exchanges with the sister training leaders which was awesome! I love Hermana G and Hermana P a lot (and as we said to each other at the end of the exchange, I hope to one day be companions with one or both of them!) and it was great to learn from their teaching style and their faith. The three of us went to visit an area where the members are a little bit discouraged about missionary work. But when we went to visit an investigator family, they were so receptive. Afterward, the sister told me, "You can explode this colonia!" I love their attitude of faith, of seeing the potential of this area and I, too, believe it has SO much potential.

I had interviews with [Mission] President G this week, and we talked about faith, power, obedience, and extensive thematical study of the scriptures. (He asked me what questions I had, and these are the themes that came up haha). Hermana G also practiced a new and more effective way to present the Book of Mormon--focusing on the fact that it is a testament of Jesus Christ. She then invited us to, as she had done as a youth, make a covenant with Heavenly Father to read it every day of our lives. I gladly did so that very same day.

I know this book is true, and that through it, we can gain the spiritual strength we need to confront, overcome, and arise triumphant from whatever trial we have. Heavenly Father loves us so much and he wants us to succeed in this life. He wants us to be happy and he wants us to be confident. The Book of Mormon is another demonstration of this great love he has for us. If we turn to the Lord in adversity, he will give us guidance and will carry us through. This is the most important and powerful testimony I can give. That Jesus lives, and he is by our side.

I hope you all have excellent weeks. I love you so very much. As we say here in El Salvador, que Dios les bendiga. [May God bless you.]

Hermana Romero

4/14/14 We have been working a lot

Hola mi querida familia,

If I were to sum up this week in a single sentence, I would say that we have been working a lot, to find investigators that are going to progress (in the process of preparing to be baptized, to be lifelong members of the church, and in being disciples of Christ). Many of our investigators have sort of stalled out...they're willing to listen to us, but not to act. If they don't act, the Gospel doesn't have the power to change their lives, and I know that it has so much power to make our lives better.

But we've had some incredible experiences...a new investigator that we got to know last night that told us her two greatest desires in life were that her daughter could return to live with her and that her whole family could attend church together--which church? Any! as long as it was together. In her prayer at the end of the lesson, she called us little angels. I have a lot of faith that this sweet sister will be an excellent member of our ward soon. :)

In other news, as a mission, we have all started from the beginning of the Book of Mormon, with the hopes of finishing it before President and Sister Glazier finish their time serving as mission president. This requires reading 6 pages during personal study and 3 during the day AND reading in our native language. I'm a little sad to lose this constant Spanish study, but on the plus side, reading in English is delightful. 

We're focusing our study on the fact that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ...And focusing on Christ has been helping me realize how much he is necessary in our lives. He is necessary for our salvation, and also for our happiness and strength in our every day lives. I hope that we can all work a little more in our prayers and in our personal study and in the choices we make in every day life to build upon Christ and to follow his perfect example.

Love you all lots!
Happy Easter!
Hermana Romero

PS. I have a bit of extra time so I'm writing about cultural traditions of Central America for Easter. They don't have the Easter bunny (que sad!) BUT they soak just about everything in honey/syrup and serve it as a snack. For instance, mangos, a tropical fruit called jocote, bread...there's a lot of different options and I like them all! Everyone has vacation during the week before Easter, and since Catholicism is so big here, on Sunday, I saw people selling bundles of palm leaves on every corner. Had it not been the Sabbath, I would have been sorely tempted to buy one and tape it into my journal as a memento!

PPS. Sorry about the lack of photos this week! Somehow I always manage to be using the one computer in the ciber that doesn't read USBs.

I am NOT transferred!

My dear family,

What an inspiring and wonderful week! I loved hearing the talks of General Conference and feel so spiritually renewed. I have learned so much about what it means to be a disciple of Christ: that we must be willing to defend our faith, and to do so with love and respect. I know that we have a living prophet once again and that through him and modern apostles, God really does direct his church, as well as faithful individuals that want to follow him. I have recieved so much personal direction this weekend as I listened to the conference talks, and I invite everyone to think of a question for which they want direction from God. Then, with a spirit of prayer, visit conference.lds.org, pick a talk, and listen. The Holy Spirit testifies to those who have hearts and ears to hear.

"Whoever you are and wherever you may be, you hold in your hands the happiness of more people than you can imagine" (President Henry B. Eyring, Saturday morning session). We have, at the tips of our fingers, the keys to happiness in this life and salvation in the life to come. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we have so many ways to gain access to it. Pray, ask, and listen.

Now for what I'm sure everyone has been dying to hear. YES... I am finally going to, for the first time in my mission, stay in an area for more than six weeks and I have to say, I like it! I finally have the chance to get to know the local members of the church better, gain their confidence, and work with them. I also get to stay to see a few of the investigators I have grown to love get baptized. I am so happy, my friends!

I also have a new companion...Hermana de la T! If that name sounds familiar it's because I already lived with her in Monte Cristo! She is one of the sweetest sisters ever and we are already working really well together in this area. It's just the two of us...Hermana G’i finished her mission and Hermana G’a is in Monte Cristo as the companion of the nurse of the mission. But I know it's going to be a great transfer and that this area is going to keep getting better and better.

Echoing a sentiment expressed in Elder Ronald A. Rasband's talk this past conference:
I love you
I'm praying for you
and thanks for everything you do!
Hermana Romero

PS. My other favorite quote from conference: "Pure Christlike love, flowing from righteousness, can change the world." (Jeffrey R. Holland, Saturday morning).