Ebeye Finally

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Dear familly,

I am now finally in Ebeye! I was going to be working with Elder Bascum ( Sis Rasmussen cousin ) however I am now working with Elder Koi. Also from NewZealand!

My love for the pacific islands and people has been evidenced of my companions and where I am serving. I am in Ebeye central and as far as best members and success Ebeye is one of the best places to be. In two days everyone knew my birthday and they are very friendly and attend church and do their callings very well. It is a very nice place.

The island is known for being really crowded so I came here expecting it to be really overcrowded but it doesn't seem that way. It seems to me just as crowded as Majuro but maybe that is just me haha. But the elder and sisters that were here left for home so we now only have four elders here. Because Ebeye is small we see both the elders a lot so I might as well be serving with them as well.

My house is the one right next to the chapel. It is a very nice walk to church every Sunday haha.

The two senior couples here are amazing and I like spending time with them. The president is coming on the 27th so I will probably get my packages then. We are going over to the base either on Christmas or the next day so that is when we will Skype. Are there any family still at the house that will be there as well when I Skype? If so that will be cool haha. I love you guys a lot! If you can email I'll be online. Love you!

 -Elder Romney

Ebeye - No Boat - Air Maybe - 2 Letters

Monday, December 1, 2014

Dear Family, 

 

    Last week was a fun week and was really interesting when the Transfer Information came at district meeting. I am being transferred this week to the concrete jungle of Ebeye, one of the most densely populated places in the world. It is right next to Kwajelein, where the military base is. The Burger King and Subway are on the land of the military base but you are allowed to go there whenever which is awesome. Ebeye will be really cool and apparently my new companion is just as awesome as the one I have so that is nice to hear. So that is big news. Apparently on Christmas we get to go on the base somehow and we will still be able to Skype so don't worry about that. I am pretty sure packages can still be sent there. I am finding out if there is an address so it goes directly to Ebeye, if not the mission home address works still and when they get it, they will send it to Ebeye.

 

Another big thing is I finally have decided where to go for college and I have decided to go to Utah State. A big reason was it is probably my smartest choice as I have finally and I might be able to have a job if Uncle Lance will take me. Plus I love Logan and. It will also be the cheapest option as well. 

 

An awesome thing this week happened when me and my companion used Yu-Gi-Oh cards to help the investigator know why a one true church matters and because he was able to understand he accepted a baptismal date. Blue Eyes White Dragon thank you very much! Secretly a Dragon Missionary! Special effect: Conversion.

 

Hearing that BYU finished with an 8-4 record even with all the struggle they have had with injuries and uncontrollable problems it is nice to know we finished the same as oh-so-great-Pac-12 Utah Utes.  Pretty hilarious. Although Utah State getting beaten so bad by BSU sucks but it's still cool to see Utah State doing well the last few seasons, even with the coach leaving to Wisconsin. So that is cool to finally see Utah State contending and doing well.

 

Thanksgiving and the baptism sounds like it was an awesome time. Wish I was there but I am doing a pretty important job. How are the Dattages doing? How's Hayden? I need to email them directly but I don't know if they are too busy and stuff. I love you guys and miss being home and miss spending time with the Dattages and family, which is always something I enjoy doing. And I of course miss all the food with Thanksgiving and the great fast food you get when you are with Unlce Lance haha. Miss you all. Thanks for all the support and all you have done for me.

 

Elder Romney

 

 

Monday, December 8, 2014

Dear Family,

Sorry for the late letter it was a busy and weird p-day. I am still in Majuro just because the boat didn't get back from Mile until today so I will be going to Ebeye on Wednesday. Right now I am with Elder Harris and Elder Kim (my awesome MTC companion) in Batgan (Bah-ta-gahn) which is from the bridge (tallest point in  Majuro) to the Mission office. Really long area and is a bike area so that is cool. I was able to do splits with just me and Elder Kim on the two bikes to our appointments, while Harris was with a member to go contacting and finding. So that was a really cool experience to work with my companion from the MTC. That might never happen again so that was really special and cool. But I get to work one more day with them maybe because my companion is here so I don't know how it will work for tomorrow but Wednesday we leave for Ebeye.

I withdrew $300 dollars because there is no ATM in Ebeye and I’m flying so they wanted me to withdraw $200 for emergencies and $100 for baggage costs just in case. If I do have to use money for baggage it will be reimbursed. But I don't think I will need to pay anything for baggage, it's just in case.

Yes, I am 100% sure about Utah State, like I said it is the best financially if the Dattages will let me stay with them and also be able to work while I am there. Plus I get to be with the Dattages and be in Logan with great family and a great city so it's just a special place. Another non-major thing is that whenever I have talked about Utah State to anybody I've never heard anything negative; people have always said they loved it and how fun it was to be there. All the other schools I have thought about going to there has been some negatives. So that was just something that I thought about. And it's closer to home than Virginia so that makes you happy right Mom! ;)

This last week has been a bit chaotic so we tried to keep our numbers as good as we could get but with all the Transfers happening and everything you never know what is actually happening until like a few days before. When we transferred to Harris's new area (Batgan) we found out the morning we left so yeah crazy haha. But that is the island way gotta love it. It's all geezy!

I am really excited to go to Ebey it is going to be great, I heard it is a really cool place and the elders never want to leave. I have the address for Ebeye if you haven't sent the packages.

Because Ebeye has the Military base I've heard packages will get there a little faster, but that is just what I have heard so don't know yet. I’m doing well, loving the work and trying to learn the language and just having a blast. Thank you for all you do for me and all your support. It is really awesome to have a family so supportive and doing well. There have been some missionaries that I have met who are here that can't say the same thing so it is really a blessing. By the way I still will get to Skype on Christmas or day before or after. So I am excited for that. Miss you and the Dattages, Love you guys a lot. I will email you again next week. I did get the package. The camera dies pretty fast on cheap batteries haha, but it’s all good. Love you all so much.

Elder Romney

 

2 for one week - Letters that is!

Monday, November 17, 2014

Dear Family,

This week was filled with a lot of lows. It has been probably one of the hardest I will probably have on my mission. There were a few things that really made it hard.

   One is I haven’t been able to get the language down very well and teach very well as a result. I have been learning and progressing but I think it is just my patience. I have always been able to grasp onto things and learn quickly throughout my life. Sports, education, etc (Math is still stupid no matter how much I learn), for the most part I have never had to learn or do something that will take a good amount of time to learn no matter how hard I try. So that has been really hard for me. But I know this is a lesson for me to learn and God is blessing me with a challenge. Like Moses, Jonah, Daniel, Job their lives had trials and struggles but because they endured, because they got through them, they were blessed. In the Book of Mormon there is never an extended amount of time where the righteous people are without wars, contentions, or struggles. But when they are faithful and keep the commandments they are blessed and are helped. Reading and thinking about those stories have helped me maintain motivation to not give up.

 

    Another hard thing for me was trying to know why I was sent here. Like I said before, the language is hard which has prevented me from being the best missionary I can be. Part of your first 12 weeks you have a program to follow and part of that is watching "The District". When I watch it sometimes I have thought, why am I here, if I was in the United States I could be teaching people and going hard as a missionary. Even if I went somewhere Spanish speaking it would be easier because I am so familiar with the language and can understand it better. But the Lord would not have sent me here if I could not handle it and if I could not help preach the gospel and help the people here. Sometime on my mission I will understand my purpose here in the Marshall Islands. So I know that if I endure it and push through, I will be blessed and will become the missionary I want to become and more importantly the missionary that the Lord not only wants but needs me to become to be a successful missionary.

 

   Along with that last Wednesday I had put my bag down to play volleyball at the chapel (all courts are outside here, no inside court) and the Bishop ran over my bag before I could stop him, breaking my camera and memory cards with all my photos and busting a buckle on my bag that holds the shoulder strap on. Let's just say that I was tempted and thought about taking a boat out in the middle of the lagoon and creating a temporary no spirit zone (as Brother Earls calls it) and yell my frustrations out for like 10 minutes. But I have no boat, and there is no private place to go rampage except our apartment, and I like having a nice apartment, so I was stuck with myself and my thoughts and just sat down in the elementary school field by the chapel and took some deep breathes, calmed down and went to go do missionary work because we still had a few lessons left during the day and you can't teach people the gospel being full of anger. I did not want my investigators to not have the opportunity to hear the words of the gospel because I was having a really bad day.

 

   So overall this has been a big learning experience for me but it is good for me. I know if I endure the hard things the blessings will come soon after. After all there are still a lot of blessings I have to be thankful for. I love you guys and hope you are doing well.

-Elder Romney

 

 

Monday, November 24, 2014

 

Dear Family,

 

    This week was much better. We were able to get a little more lessons this week than last so that was nice. I feel that we have a few investigators that are just really close to getting baptized. The one couple that was supposed to get married hasn't yet because they were trying to wait for some grandparents to get here from outer islands and its been taking forever so we just asked do you really need to wait and she said no. So they should be getting married soon and that is exciting. We also found a really cool guy that wants to change from being an alcoholic because he really loves his family and wants to be the same person he was when he first got married. But he is having a hard time so we are trying hard to work with him so that he can eventually give up drinking and also become a great member of the church. So as far as missionary work goes I am excited because we might finally have some success for all the work we are putting in.

 

    Last week there was an elder that went home from my trainer’s intake and that was really sad. I had gotten to know him and did a split with him so it was sad to see him have to go home so early. He only made it 8 months. Anytime you hear about a missionary going home it is really sad. You want all the missionaries you see and get to know to return with honor and feel the way Alma felt when he met up with the sons of Mosiah, feeling that joy that your peers and friends are also strong in the gospel. But that is just life and you got to learn from it and use that experience to motivate you to strive to always be obedient. Last week I was in a "Glass case of Emotion!"

 

    This week should be really good. The missionary work should progress more and I’m going to be taught how to play the yu-gi-oh card game so I can play with all the other elders that know how to play. In the wise words of Ron Burgandy: "And in no way is that sad." Love you all and if you need life advice always refer to the Ron Swanson Pyramid of Greatness. 

 

Elder Romney

 

I was not able to get Elder Romney's letter posted last week as I was out of town so it is a 2 for one week!  Happy Thanksgiving to all.  We are very Thankful this year to have our son on a mission learning and growing.

ALL PLANNED

Monday, November 10, 2014

 

Dear Family,

This week went by pretty quickly it seems. I hope I get heaps of weeks like that. Anyways the baptism was last Saturday and yes I did baptize the girl. Her name is Norlina. I started it and then like half way through it like totally spaced it and had this dramatic pause in the middle of it and then finished it, all in Marshallese. So luckily I completed it, but I added this long dramatic pause in the middle, you know, ALL PLANNED! Made it heaps better as a baptism right!

I think the couple is getting married this week. I think we are getting close to getting more baptisms but we have to make sure a few things are cleared up and stuff before that happens. Hopefully we can get them baptized.

We had a quick transfer this week and another elder from Elder Harris' intake came, he is also from New Zealand and he is pretty awesome, really funny as well.

We got to play rugby last week for combined P-Day and it was glorious. It was awesome to play with a bunch of kiwis and run around playing touch. By the time I get home I will probably get better because of the chance to get to have a bunch of polys and kiwis teaching me more and more about the game and getting to play with them. It's really fun. 

Ioue is like a fleshy meat that can be found inside a cocoanut. 

I had to buy a machete and my companion needed one too, but he paid me back already.   The machete was needed for service projects and cutting down bananas and opening coconuts and stuff.  It was my mom’s machete!  (Nacho Libre reference) We did some bush trimming and cut the grass.

Love you guys and hope you have a good week.

 

Elder Romney

 

 

(since Elder Romney did not send any new photos this week, here is a nice one of Chancho's mom's machete ;-) )

Ioue (said like "you") eeeew

Monday, November 3, 2014

Dear Family,

The Marshall Islands is a really cool place. The people are really nice, I've never had a door slammed in my face. Probably never will haha. The people that don't want to study with you will just keep scheduling with you, but then try to get out of it, and keep rescheduling because they don't want be rude. It's kinda funny, sometimes a little frustrating because you have to walk everywhere and sometimes it's a pain to have to walk around all over the place only to keep having to reschedule. But it's all good, part of the lord's weight loss program.

We just baptized a little girl named Karalein but her whole family is members and we were just supposed to prepare her to be baptized. We could have a baptism coming up with a less active guy’s wife. We have been working with Richie for awhile to get him back to church and get him married to his wife, and then baptize his wife. They are getting married this Saturday so that is exciting. Also I could be performing, like actually baptizing someone this week; it is one of the sister's investigators and for some reason the girl picked me to do it. I don't know why she picked me I haven’t even met her yet. So this week I will have to practice and memorize the baptismal prayer, I don't know if that's how you say it. So that's been on my mind for a few days already and wondering how I am going to do this.

I am still very much trying to learn the language, it's hard but I have to be patient. I have taught a little bit in Marshallese but only a few sentences. I can share an ok testimony and say a prayer in Marshallese ok, but that's about where I am at. I can start a conversation and speak a little bit but that's about it. Still learning!

My companion and I are rolling along; we haven’t really had a companion inventory because there hasn't been anything we have found that we need to resolve between us. He's funny and we have been quoting movies like Nacho Libre, Monty Python, Anchorman, you know all the good stuff. Also a lot of Key and Peele and Ryan Higa.

Last week, Elder Harris made some Takakau Bread and we were eating it with some butter and jam and I was trying to grab the jam to put it away and fumbled it in my hands and dropped it. It was in a glass jar but luckily the jam kept the glass stuck in it so there wasn't a lot of glass to clean up. Today is a combined P-Day and it looks like we will finally play some rugby. Hopefully my ball comes soon so we don't have to wait until Combined P-Days to play it.

This week were walking around trying to find someone and came to this house where someone was shredding some Ioue (said like "you") and she gave us some chunks and I took a bite and swallowed it but almost barfed in the inside. Luckily I kept my face straight and we walked away and I gave the rest to some dog. I have tasted Ioue before and it was good but this one for some reason tasted bad. I felt like Nacho when he's talking about the food he makes in the beginning and he tastes some and spits it up. That's exactly how I felt.

We were able to get our money on Saturday and went grocery shopping. That's another thing I need to make a shout out for, is for my parents always taking me grocery shopping so I know how to do it well. It was a glorious sight to see a stocked fridge.  Sunday for some reason just felt like a really long day and was some hard work walking around and finding or trying to get some lessons, but we made it. Me and my companion are doing well and working hard. It is such a blessing and great opportunity to be a Missionary.

Elder Romney

 

Ramen is Missionary Food Storage

Monday, October 27, 2014

Hey everyone,

Yes I got the package thank you! It has some pretty delicious stuff in there.   More food like that would be awesome.  A camelback backpack would be cool. Like one that can also hold some stuff in it.

They got Airmaybe to work so we now have our correct area.

I don’t need a filtered water bottle. They gave us one but all apartments have a filter so I haven’t used it yet. Maybe a good supply of some water purification tablets would be nice to have before I get sent to an outer island. There is supposed to be filters in outer islands but you never know if it’s ok because people can't really conveniently go check all the time if you get what I’m saying. 

 I should be able to Skype on Christmas or around there I don’t know exactly how it works. I’ll give more information when I find out. The mission president said that this is how he tries to do it, 4 Areas, 8 companions. You will probably be on an outer island only once, and for as close to 4 months as possible. Usually you will be in an area for 6 months so that is why you will only have about 4 areas.

They do give us a debit card, but because it charges you a 3 dollar fee just like my card, we withdraw all of our money and then use it throughout the month.  (Sure hope they don't get robbed or lose their wallets)

The best thing that happened this week was we gave three blessings yesterday and I got to give a haircut and will be practicing more. I want to get my own set of tools so I can get better, you can find some good ones here. It could be my way to find people to teach. Just give haircuts to everybody and then hopefully that breaks the ice and they will take lessons from us.

Ummm nothing really that weird happened this week. Well to you guys it might be weird. Breastfeeding just happens everywhere so you could be in a lesson and they just whip it out. It’s already happened either on the streets or in lessons already so it’s not weird to me anymore.

I have not eaten anything bad yet, but I’ve been eating a lot of ramen because we are waiting for next week to get more money. The problem is the church compensates your monthly payment the first month so I didn’t get the full amount so we are out of money but, we have a crap load of ramen. Ramen for us is our food storage because it is super cheap so we buy a couple boxes of ramen and if we happen to run out of money we have ramen. Good stuff! It’s the best! I get to wake up every morning and make some ramen! I get to sleep in my own bed my entire mission. It’s the best! (Nacho Libre reference for those in that loop)

The kids here are pretty darn cute but then you see what they could grow up into and it sometimes makes you depressed haha. That was kind of mean but it’s true.

 Love you all, got to go.

 Elder Andrew Romney

"Jidik kon Jidik"

Hello,

Right now we have two areas because the other Elders are waiting to get here. We had one Elder who is staying with us because he is waiting to get his companion. Once he gets his companion they will get Rita North and we will have Rita South, so that will be nice.

What I mean by Elders are waiting to get here it's because AirMarshalls (the airline here) always has broken down planes so when they finally fix them they can start to bring the elders back haha. We call the airline here AirMaybe. You would think if the US gave the Marshalls 1.5 billion a year they would use some of it to get either new planes or really fix the planes haha.

So as far as investigators we have like 20 right now and it's a lot of work, and even more walking.

 A lot of the islanders and pretty much everyone tells me that in as soon as like 3 months I could be skinnier and that by the end of my mission I will have lost a lot of weight. So this mission is pretty awesome! Not only do you get to preach the gospel and build character, you also get a free Jenny Craig subscription. The Marshallese program is pretty unorthodox with lots of walking and sweating and low food. So even if you get a lot of food a few times you will sweat or walk it off pretty fast.

This week the electric company did a "routine Check up" where they turn off all the electricity from 10am to 5 pm. but what really happened was it got turned off at 9am and then didn't get turned back on until 10am the next morning! Sucked so bad!

We didn't do service last week so I still don't know about that. I have asked about doing service at the hospital though. There is a man who is LDS, American and served his mission here that is a surgeon here so maybe I can do something I don't know yet. 

The weather is normal like it has been for the week. If there was a hurricane here or Tsunami there probably would be no mas Marshall Islands.

For fruit there is Coconut and Bōb fruit.  Here is a picture of me eating bōb . You don't really eat it, you just chew it and then you suck the juice out. It tastes good but when you chew it it gets really stringy and gets in your teeth haha.   Learn more about Bōb fruit

 

Here is a picture of me eating Bōb

 

The best thing that happened this week was one when the power came back on haha and a couple has committed to getting married. That is a big thing because here people just start families but never get married. So we have to try and get them to do that before they can get baptized, because splitting a family apart would be contradicting to what we want to accomplish as well. I would rather have a family stay together than get a baptism. Which reminds me I need to explain some of the culture.

First, as far as raising children once they get about 7+ the parents don't really care what they do so they just run about the island and do whatever. Which is one reason why teenage pregnancy is a problem! Try convincing a whole culture to do better on certain rules like the law of chastity and word of wisdom, which is a nice challenge haha.

Second, like I said before, marriage is difficult because people will just start a family and not get officially married. It's funny but it can get frustrating when investigators are ready to get baptized but they won't or haven't gotten married.

Third, one year old birthday parties are so big here. It is like a quinceañera with the Hispanic culture. really big. Birthdays in general can be pretty big but the one year old one is huge. And they sing for like half an hour before they do anything else. I told Harris that so far I like American birthdays better because it is one short song and then you can get to the cake/eating part haha.

The kids are in school right now but I feel like all it is is like one big recess. I don't know how good the education system here is. How they do it I don't know yet. But there is a school right next to the chapel or right next to me right now. Maybe all the kids went back inside to do their work now.

If I think of any more I will email them but those are what I can think of currently.

As far as what was hard this week I can't really think of anything. I mean the mission in general can be hard at times and it's never like easy but I guess I'm used to just having hard days? I don't know haha. I want to learn the language like now so I can do better but I have to be patient and learn it. As the Marshallese say "Jidik kon Jidik". Or little by little.

 

love,

Elder Romney

1st Letter from the Marshalls - "sweating all the time is the only problem"

Hey guys! So I am serving in the Rita area, we have one of the nicer apartments, Majuro reminds me of a tropical poorer part of Mexico if that makes it easier to imagine. It's a cool place. It is really hot, but mostly the sweating all the time is the only problem but that will decrease as I get more used to it. Majuro is a pretty interesting and cool looking place. It is funny because their houses aren't that great but they have electricity, at least here on Majuro, and everyone has a cell phone and tablet it seems haha. All companionships have cell phones. I think this mission could have ipads pretty easily at least on Majuro not on the outer islands. (wish for an ipad lately?)

My companion is Elder Brigham Harris from New Zealand. He is awesome. He actually has already been here for like 7 months and he is trainer. A lot of the other missionaries said he is a great missionary and I believe it. He still knows how to have a good time but also works hard and studies hard and is obedient. He has a lot of “Them Some Heavy Words" type of advice from himself or his dad. He's awesome. But we don't have a rugby ball still and it sucks! But we can have one.

Two of the 8 missionaries I travelled with are going to outer islands. One is going to Ebeye and the other one is going to Ebon.

Today is P-Day as well, or our Monday, I don't know what day it is over there.  We are at the church right now because it is free to email. This will probably be around the time I can email on P-day.

It is more humid than Hawaii was, or actually I don't know. Maybe the first day I got here I felt like it was more, but now it is getting bearable.  It rains pretty randomly. Also on rainy days most people stay indoors and sleep more then they usually do. About 1pm-4pm people take naps then go out and socialize then go to sleep at around 8:30 to 9:15pm so we can sometimes get back and plan and finish the day at around 9:15 so we can get ready for bed a little earlier so that is nice when it happens haha.

I am wearing my Tevas, the first 2 days I tried wearing no socks and got some blisters but I just got some moleskin and now am wearing socks so I’m all good there.

The grocery store we went to today was actually pretty close to the prices there. More like a Reams in Springville, around those prices, wasn't too bad there.   It is pretty cheap to eat here though for the most part unless you want to eat really really good.  I have only had one dinner that wasn't our own and it was rice, chicken legs, and some hotdogs. I won't really taste true Marshallese food until I pretty much get to an outer island. Other than that I might have a little food that would be considered true Marshallese food but they eat pretty much like Americans except less or just more simple, heaps more simple but yeah.

I have taught lessons, but I have only said maybe a few sentences. But I can give short testimonies and I can give pretty good prayers.  Church was in Marshallese and my companion had to translate for this white couple so I just sat there and tried to pick out words hahaha.

On Thursday mornings we will do service but because of my intake ( intakes are when groups of missionaries arrive) we missed it.

So I have to go pretty quick here, thank you for everything and all the support. I love you guys so much!

Elder Romney

 

This is me right now

Elder Harris- he has some heavy words

BECAUSE WE ARE GUYS

Elder Andrew Romney leaves for Majuro, Marshall Islands this coming Tuesday October 7, 2014.  He is trunky to leave the MTC and did not seem to want to write too much so I coached some things out of him with some questions.  Here is what I got.

My week was great and it really went by fast which is what I wanted!

What was your favorite thing that happened this week?

-Four square. Four square is like the most important thing other than the spiritual feelings and general authority talks and language and personal study. Foursquare is #bombdiggity. I love playing it and we met these sisters that are super awesome to hang out with at eating time and foursquare. It’s nice to talk to someone other than guys all the time because we are guys so you hardly ever have an intelligent conversation.

What was the most spiritual thing that happened this week?

 -Temple today. I really felt the spirit at the temple today and I believe I had a nice little conversation with Ryker, and it is definitely something I needed.  #RLD33

How do you say “Hello, my name is Elder Romney in Marshallese?”  And Meili wants to know how to say beautiful.

-Iakwe! Eta in Elder Romney. and beautiful I believe is Aiboojoj.

How do you say my family can be together forever?

-good question. I believe it is: Baamle eo am emaron (n should have a line over it making in a ng sound) ippa aolep iien. 

What will you miss the most when you leave the MTC?

-Foursquare and of course personal study. 



My handsome Elder with his MTC District

Elder Pierre

Picture drawn in the classroom last week by Elder Andrew Romney  - Elder Pierre with the Marshallese Bok In Mormon and a moustache'  An empty white board was calling.

"UNGA"

This week seemed to go by probably the fastest, which hopefully according to that logic it means my last week it will go by really fast!

 

The language is coming along. The structure of sentences is just really weird which makes this language hard to learn. The pronunciation isn't that hard, it is but isn't, but it's putting together the sentences that is really difficult. That is, in my opinion, why it makes this language so hard to learn. Otherwise i probably would have a good amount of it down. In the English language there is 4 main demonstratives we use. This, Those, That, There. but in Marshallese there are a bunch. They (Marshallese) are really specific about two things. Location and Numbers. So if there are two or more items next to the person who is speaking then it would sound something like this. Ikanaan men ke. Which translates into "I want those things next to you." But with Marshallese it doesn't directly translate into English. When you do translate it directly to English most sentences sound like caveman English. And dad will be so happy that there is a word that means ok or yes that sounds like when I say unga. It is inne but the n has lines over it which makes the n have a "ng" sound on it like the sound at the end of sing. I will try to speak some when I call you guys soon. It is some weird stuff haha. But I’m just really waiting to go out in the field so I can start learning it better. It's hard to learn it here, the best way to learn it is being immersed in the culture and always speaking it. 

 

(Elder Andrew Romney since he first started to talk as a baby has said "unga" it means okay.  He still says it.  When you tell him something where the response is "okay", what you hear is "unga".  We have teased him forever about his caveman response.  We have even joked before about him learning a language where "unga" meant something.  Who knew that it already existed in Marshallese and it meant exactly what he already said it for.  Meant to be?  We think so.)

I’m going to miss temple breakfast and going to the temple when I have to go to the Marshalls because the temple in our mission is the Fijian temple, so we won't be able to go probably. This week our Tuesday Evening Devotional was spoken by Russell M. Ballard and it was also a bombdiggitty talk. He talked about how all souls are precious in the sight of the lord, and how we need to go and be good missionaries. The spirit was really strong and I learned a lot. To top it off we also will have general conference coming up soon so that is awesome as well. It is also funny because for languages like Marshallese general conference is tape delayed a week so when we get there we will be watching it again, but this time in Marshallese. Luckily we get to hear it in English first. But the general conference after this one will be next April and I will be able to speak it and know what is being said in Marshallese so that is a win win situation.

During our temple walk last Sunday me and Elder Kim brought our umbrellas and we went around and photo bombed as many pictures as we could with us and our umbrellas. We now are dubbed the Umbrella crew because we are masters. It was pretty fun. We have a couple pictures of us, and I will ask some of the other guys to send us their pictures with us photo bombing them, hopefully.

The Umbrella Crew - more shots to come

 

My favorite thing at the MTC has probably been learning the language and talking with Bro. McComie about the Marshall's and hearing his experiences. I also have enjoyed teaching our fake progressing investigators and just got one of them to commit to baptism and the other is going to soon hopefully haha.

Marshall Island Story from Brother McComie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8rJ6-gyZNY

The snack package is awesome and yummy!  Thanks.

This week we didn't get an assignment to help on Wednesday so maybe next week. You are asked to do stuff like that and you will get a letter stating when and what you are doing. Oh that reminds me I've also had the fake calling of mail man the last few weeks because I am the only one who can open our box because it is a really bad lock system, or it's just old which makes it bad haha.

Love you all,

Elder Romney

What Elder Andrew Romney might be doing today.......

Directing traffic for all the families who are dropping off their missionaries at the MTC today.

Last week Elder Romney helped direct traffic in front of the MTC as new missionaries were dropped off.

Wednesday is the normal "start your mission at the Provo MTC day".  All the missionaries who have been there a week or so, help out in some way to bring all the new missionaries in.  Trained and ready to go missionaries leave for the mission field on Tuesdays and new missionaries arrive on Wednesdays to take their place.

And here is why there is a need to direct traffic for so many missionaries, more than ever before:

2 Nephi 2: 8-6

6 Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.

 

7 Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.

 

8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.

 

The Lord is Hastening His work

The things you get excited for as a missionary...

Hey Guys!

I’m doing fine. I think the MTC is finally moving faster and I can't wait to go to the Marshalls. We will probably get our flight plans next week or the week after, I can't exactly remember when you get them. I think it's a week before I leave. So it will be a little bit before I get them, but I cannot wait to go. I want to go and get to the Marshalls! I'm starting to just want to get out of here haha.

I feel like the cafeteria is purely plotting to get you fat. Just processed food everyday! Even the vegetables taste like they were from one of those cheap microwavable bags. So I usually go to the "Leftover Line" where they have something from a meal before or something and then you can get rice and the soup of the day. So I have usually been eating rice. And sometimes soup.

I did get sick, but so did a bunch of missionaries, from a viral URI. (upper respiratory infection for the non med speaking, "a cold") So that has kinda sucked. But I think I'm getting better. I also went to see the doctor about my shins because they have been hurting a little more than usual, and he said I shouldn't run or jump for the next 2-4 months. I don't know if I should fully believe him because my shins could be hurting because before I left for my mission I wasn't exactly exercising a lot so they might hurt from the sudden increase of walking and exercising.

Our classroom moved to a different building, I can't remember the reason, but I'm happy for it because now we finally get desks and I think it's slightly bigger. The things you get excited for as a missionary...kinda sad that I’m excited for a desk and different room but whatever. It's the Best! I luuvv It! It's Fantastic!

 

New classroom with desks.  Celebrating with cheek tape that says........

Stripling Warriors

 

I laughed so hard when you sent that Ron Burgundy quote. That was awesome. Except it goes "I’m in a glass case of emotion!." I've been quoting that, some Ron Swanson, and Nacho Libre. I've also been quoting mall cop but not everyone gets it haha.

Oh! The Tuesday Evening Devotional Richard G. Scott spoke and it was awesome. He talked about prayer and it was just a really great talk. I loved it.  It was a quorum of the 12 and it was a bombdiggity talk. Can't go wrong.

I miss my music a lot. I've been trying to remember lyrics to songs and it's hard. It's like you pass through those MTC doors and everything you thought you knew is gone. Like another veil! All my years of learning lyrics has resulted in a no go for being able to sing right now. I think me and Salanoa have sung the same verse to "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" a million and 2 times, but it's all we got! We have like 5 songs we can sort of remember, so those are the songs being sung.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough
 

Love,

Elder Romney

 

(Photo's, captions, links and (edits), by Dana)

(Elder Andrew Romney Loves Music...I took pity on him and sent an email with the full lyrics from this song, he has good taste in music by the way)

 

So, to wrap things up, what did we learn from this letter?

 

The things you get excited for as a missionary:

1. The "Left Over" line at the cafeteria
2. A new classroom in a new building with desks
3. The Temple Cafeteria ..... see Elder Buhler's blog for details http://www.elderjacobbuhler.blogspot.com/
4. Singing songs that you can ??? sort of remember
5. The Tuesday Evening Devotionals with an Apostle of the Lord - very bombdiggity