6-9-14 The big halfway point

Dear family,

Super duper news! We had a lot of success with the service project! We ended up finishing an hour early because more people showed up than expected and we got the local government mobilized at the last minute with two huge garbage trucks. After the service project, we had requested that a sister from the ward bring a lunch for everyone that came to help, but because a few people bugged out early, we ended up with 9 plates extra. Hermana Hernandez and I sat in the kitchen of the chapel with our tub of food, despondent and wondering what we could do, when the elders in our zone began, one by one, offering to buy an extra plate and bring it home with them for dinner. I'm so often inspired by the goodness of others to answer the call of those in need. It reminds me of the pure love that Christ has for us. (I just wanted to share this story with you because I felt so grateful in this moment).

Yesterday we contacted a new family. They were very closed-minded, but we just bore our testimonies and taught the lesson. Afterwards, we were walking to another appointment, and Hermana Hernandez commented that we should pray for them that evening, that the Lord would open their hearts and make them want to pray to know if these things are true. I loved her faith in this moment! Sometimes I just want to give up on people because they don't accept the Gospel right away, but really, it's the Lord who converts them. I am learning daily how much I need to put my trust in him. :)

This week I completed 9 months in the mission... the big halfway point! Up until recently, I have felt a great anxiety that I'm not doing enough to achieve what the Lord wants, because I haven't been seeing the results I expected. But I realized that I'm just in the process of learning (as Hermana Caal said a few months ago, "You learn and learn as a missionary, and when you finally become the perfect missionary, it's time for you to go home.") and that I am trying my hardest. I have been giving it my all these past few weeks to help this area become stronger and to find new people, and there isn't anything more I can do than work and pray.
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Thanks to everyone for your love and support! I can feel it from over here :)

Love,
Hermana Romero

6-2-14 Some incredible experiences

Hello everyone!

This week has been...a little stressful! We have been working with a less active family to plan a multizone service project in our area for this Saturday and it has been hard moving the papers so that all the details in order. Every day, pretty much, I am praying that the Lord will help me be less stressed out and that I can trust that He will help us sort everything out. There are so many things in life that are out of my control and I want everything to work out perfectly and for all the pieces to line up. But I have learned to focus on what is in my control and trust that everything else will work out for the best.

We've had some incredible experiences sharing the Gospel this week. We had an incredible first lesson with a family a couple weeks back (that we found when we stopped to serve their neighbors...then we went to help them and they invited us in! It was incredible because usually we have to ask people if we can share a message with them, but with this family they requested it of us! During the whole first lesson, the mother kept asking how she could know if our message was true and what was God's church on the earth...exactly what as a missionary, I wanted to hear!) and this Saturday we returned to teach them again. From the beginning of the lesson to the end, it was ANOTHER super powerful lesson! When we asked if they had read the pamphlet we had left with them, they had...and the mother asked us what were the requisites for baptism! They didn't accept a baptismal date because she doesn't want to get married...but I feel confident that she will one day soon. I left from this appointment with a great increase of faith that the Lord is preparing people for us to teach.

We also met with our bishop this Sunday. And, to be honest, our bishop flat out told us he was discouraged with the members in the ward and there were many unwilling to accept callings or complete with them. We gave him a bit of a pep talk and promised that we were willing to do our part to help. And then--and I think this was key--Hermana Hernandez commented about his missionary plaque that he had on his desk. He started to remember his experiences as a missionary and a bishop he had who was very consecrated to his calling. I think this memory will inspire him and remind him of his potential to do good and help his ward progress. We all left feeling the spirit and feeling very enthused. I am so grateful for the chance to be serving in this ward. It has a lot of room for improvement, but leaving the ward stronger than I found it is part of my purpose. I know that, with Hermana Hernanadez and the elders in our ward, we are all going to help motivate the leaders, members, and less actives of this ward.

I hope that you all have a wonderful week. Remember that God loves you, more than you can imagine. You are his child. He has prepared the way for you to return to him, but He is waiting for you to make the choice to follow this path. I love you and I pray for you often.


Hermana Romero

5-26-14 It's HOT here

Dear famsauce,

I am feeling so loved this week! Thanks for your support, your prayers, and your delightful news. I'm glad to hear that all is going well and that Heavenly Father is looking out for you! Life's always changing here (and yet staying so much the same that it does NOT feel like time is passing)...such as we recently changed our language study to the evening hours to make more effective use of the morning hours. Little things like that require adjusting because one is used to doing things a certain way, but the Lord inspires our leaders. I have learned to appreciate that so much on the mission.

As far as missionary work, I would say probably our coolest experience was teaching a family this week (a mother and daughter) because the daughter was struggling to read a paragraph as part of the lesson and her mom was so sweet and encouraging: "You can do it, baby!" And the next day, the daughter came to church with us and was so excited (and patient when we had to say goodbye to a lot of people before took her home). I love the people I get to know on the mission.

I've been reading in the Book of Mormon and it surprises me how much it applies to my life. I'm reading a part of the book of Alma where it talks about wars, contentions, and wars and was not expecting to find anything about my life or missionary work, but as I read, I recognized in the example of Moroni fortifying the cities he already had (strengthening members and less actives) and building new cities (converting) and strengthening them as well (retention) a model of missionary work. I share this as an example of one way that the Lord speaks to us according to our needs and our faith, through his inspired scriptures. He will answer your prayers...he has answered mine. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be on a mission and strengthen my own personal testimony of the Restored Gospel, and I hope that I can help others to have the same testimony one day.

Funny story of the week. So, like I said, it's HOT here, and one day this week it was pretty much unbearable (my companion uses an umbrella to protect her from the sun...in the beginning I was laughing at her, but recently I have been considering bringing my umbrella with me while we proselyte). About midday, a man biked by us with a bucket upside-down on his head. We could not contain our laughter. By the way, I love Hermana Hernandez a LOT. She is one of my favorite companions to date on the mission...we have really spiritual experiences together in lessons (and she has such a strong testimony!) but at the same time, when it's time to laugh, boy oh boy do we make each other laugh!

Hope you all have an excellent week!

Hermana Romero

5-19-14 Sunny San Miguel!

 

Dear family,

Guess who's in a new area? Just guess!

I am in the most beautiful part of El Salvador...called San Miguel! It's also famous as the hottest part, but luckily we're starting "winter" here so the weather hasn't been that bad. More than anything, I am loving being out of the city for the first time. I love my new ward, Roosevelt, and there is a lot of work to be done here. AND my new companion, Sister Hernandez, is great! She's from Honduras and we get along sooo well!

This week we've had some incredible experiences looking for new people to teach (the constant struggle of missionary life haha) including a moment when we helped a family clean up their cut grass and they AND their neighbors said we could return to teach them later on. I love this country so much and the people here! It's going to be a really great transfer.

"This is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul unto repentance; and my joy." (Alma 29:9). I have always loved the idea of being an instrument in the hands of God. It is so humble, recognizing that it isn't us that brings the success, it's him. It's also the idea of loving God so much that you want to do His will. These past few weeks, I've been thinking about the importance of our motives...Not only being obedient to the commandments like a list of rules, but loving him enough that it is your desire to do what he asks.

In a zone conference a few weeks ago, President Glazier spoke of the parable of the talents, what motivated each servant. He asked us what kind of servant we want to be: one that is motivated by fear or one that is motivated by love? I know now that I want to serve the Lord with all my might, mind, and strength. I have to work hard, try to do things different and better, but I feel great happiness being a missionary.

Thank you for your love and support and your prayers. It gives me so much strength to remember how many people love me "back home"!
Love,
Hermana Romero

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.