Conference!

Hey Mom,

Sorry if i got you guys all freaked out that I was staving to death lol. I'm really doing fine, i found some noodles at the store so im set for life pretty much. And the members take good care of us here. This past week was a pretty tough one. I had some good days mixed in there but im still rockin a pretty killer portuguese head ache at night haha. Two days ago we met my first drunk guy! That was terrifying. Actually it wasn't bad but it wierded me out a little because he was holding my hands and stuff. Because it was raining and he was tryin to stay under my umbrella lol. Oh speaking of guarda-chuvas, Mom remember the one we bought to take down here? It was a red one. Well actually more acurately its pink. haha. We left them in the front of the church when we were making some calls and i heard the stake president walk in the front door and noticing my little beauty there he asked "Are the Sisters here?" I traded it for a big black umbrella that one of our investigators had lol. She thought it was cute. I liked it but my comp called it muito fag. So it had to go. Conference is this week!! im so excited! And i get to listen to it in English! I'm so stoked. They are having it in our chapel so its really close too. And i heard that Jeffrey R Holland is coming to our mission sometime. I am going to hug that man. Its my life goal i decided. And also some day in the future i will hug Alma the Younger also. Brad! thanks for writing me! I got your email and its been a while since i had a laugh of that quality. I wrote you and jess a letter today so look for it in about a month =P I also started getting some of the mail that was sent to the MTC after i left so Sara i wrote you too. Snail mail is so depressing to think about lol. So we have a few new people that we're going to start to teach and im pretty excited. We have a baptism marked for the 9th of April and that will be sweet. This guys name is Giovani and he's an ex - Buddhist. He gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon by reading the story of Alma contending with Korihor the Anti Christ. He dropped his BOM and flipped to the bent page and started reading. He decided he didn't want to be an anti-Christ anymore. Sweetlove. We met with him the other night because he had some questions that he wanted answered about who chose where we went in this life, whether God sent some children to favellas (ghettos basically) and others were born into the church. And he wanted to know how the mercy applied there for people in situations where they were affected directly by the sins of others and other things like that. Like why children were born with deformities because of the sins of their parents. My companion answered some of his questions and explained about obedience (from what i could tell), and i talked to him about the Atonement and the purpose of getting as close to Christ as we could and suffering with patience, after all, Christ suffered for every sin of every person and he was perfect. I shared with him some scriptiures in 1 Peter and he accepted our responses. Phew. He's realy smart. He restated our answers for us and it made more sense when he said it i thought. Then i started thinking of when i read that scripture in 1 Peter. It was the 5th week of the MTC i think. Then I remembered some other stuff i learned, even before my mission. The time we have to study the scriptures is super important because we are being taught the stuff we need to use later. I remember using things i learned when i was 16 out here. Brad and Jess its really important you guys write down the stuff you learn because right now the Lord is preparing you for people you will meet on your missions. Tonight you might find the principle or scripture or application of one or the other that will lead to the baptism, confirmation and eternal salvation of a soul. All from 30-60 minutes a day. Thats a humbling motivator for me and i really take seriously my study time now! I love you all and sorry for freakin you out haha. But its pretty funny. =]
Elder Romm

Hey Family

So my first two baptisms are set for this Sunday! They were supposed to be last sunday but they fell because it's a married couple and the husband is ready but Barbara failed to interview with the ZL. Which i figured would happen because when we met with them i didnt think she was ready. Plus now we have to teach her all the lessons again so i will actually get to be their missionary; even though i don't speak very well lol. Its really a cool experience actually because im such a noob at the language that i can tell when the spirit is really strong during the lessons because all of a sudden i understand every word thats being said and i can make comments which surprise people because they don't expect me to have any idea where i am lol. Its really frustrating though because i might know what to say, but if i say it they wont understand me anyways. And i cant honestly tell a difference between what i say and what they say other than i uderstand what im saying. But im trying. My companion is really patient which is cool but i think he might be to patient. Because i mean i want to work, i really do but its just that the thoughts i have have a difficult time finding their way into word form. And i think my companion is easing me into the work which is frustrating beyond all belief because then i dont feel like im working hard enough to earn the blessing of speaking the language and being able to be a tool in the hands of the Lord to bring as many people as i can a knowledge of the truth. I hope i get to serve in this area again in like a year because this is supposedly the best area in the mission, and the members are super stoked about missionary work and we meet great people but i can't help but think of all those sheep slipping through the cracks because 1. i cant tell them how true it is, 2. i cant effectively communicate with my companion and 3. I haven't lost my fear of Man yet. Im working on it but its so hard to tell if my pace is setting me up for success or failure right now. I also want to come back here when i can speak because there is this little girl that makes fun of me and my portuguese everytime i see her and i want to show her i'm not a moron lol. but for now i am lol. Its really wierd in Brazil, we had an activity last night and they played American music for a few things that people did for the talent show, like the primary fashion show and a few guys did break dancing and the music they used was interesting lol. and the Stake president asked me if they music was good or bad and i had to think about it because it really bad stuff but they deffinitely didn't teach me those words in the MTC. But yes, all the members who know any English learned the bad words first and how to use them. I know because they tell me. Which reminds me, someone should ask Lane Davidson if he served with a Elder Mosiah do Nascimento. He served in Porto Alegre and i think he knows Lane. Which would be cool because he's the only person who speaks english in our wards and because Mosiah is such a sweet name. Especially in portuguese. So i had a pretty cool experience this last week. Theres a scripture at the end of Alma 31 where Alma and his companions go off preaching the gospel and take no thought about what to eat or wear or anything and the Lord provided for them. And we have zero food in our appartment and im always hungry, idk i just am lol. And i was thinking about that scripture and i was like, If that works for Alma then it works for me too because im doing the same thing. So i thought about it and i prayed to have something to eat that night. Then we went to one of our investigators house, the couple that are getting baptised, and out of nowhere Barbara is like, Elder "hoom" you haven't had these yet huh? and she pulls out a package of top romman needle-like thing and she hands it to me and says you have to eat it, its sooo good. i was like oh man no way. Then the next day i went on splits with the zone leader and he kicked my trash, we walked everywhere and it was fetchin sweet i loved it, but anyways, we were sittin in the bus station and i could smell all this food and i was like, i want pizza so bad right now, then when my companion came i told him and he was like yea me too but we dont have money so i was like dang, alright. Then we went to teach Barbara and Raphael again and we were talking with them then Raphael went outside and came walking in with three huge pizzas. No joke. And then also the next day we were walking and i was thinking about this and how sweet it was then i started thinking about more food but i was like no, i dont want to tempt God and be struct with explosive diahrea, but if i were to want something right now, it would be something crazy, like cookies! then i thought no, nobody makes cookies here, how bout a sandwich, but those are about as rare also. Then we were gunna teach a young kid with a member boy and we were walking with them and we stopped by some members house randomly to teach this boy with them and then after the lesson, the Sister brought out grilled cheese sandwichs! i was like oh snap. and then before we left she brought out cookies! i just flipped lol. my companion was like what? and i told him i would explain when i could speak portuguese lol. But i felt all warm and fuzzy that the Lord really does care, and that he is mindful of me and i was dying to tell that story to someone because it was awesome but ningeum fala conmigo em ingles. Ta Bom. Well i hope its all good back in the casa. write me =] Com Grande Amor Elder hoom.

The Field

Hey everyone, I'm out in the field now and its the real deal. My trainer is Elder Gomez, if you think that sounds like a brazilian you would be correct, if you think that he speaks English you would be wrong. Its very interesting lol...I dont know how I'm going to do this right now. We flew in yesterday and right before we left a bunch of people in my distric got a bad cold, I thought I was going to escape it but it doesn't look that way now =[ Its safe to say im pretty freaked out right now lol.

My companion is the distric leader and is a really funny guy I think. Im not really sure because idk I don't understand him lol. We have a really good area though I´ve been told, so im excited to see how that goes. We haven´t gone out yet because yesterday one of the Elders that was Elder Gomez´s companion was being transfered so we just visited some members and a recent convert before he left.

And I also found out that I'm still OCD lol, I cleaned the apartment today because I was about to die. I hope everything is going good back home, We'll see how the rest of this week goes, I hope I get a hang of this soon, things are pretty different than the MTC, I'm wondering which part of the mission they tried to prepare me for there lol.

I love you all! Elder Romm

Hey everyone! So I'm leaving for the Field on march 16 so I'll get you the Curitiba Mission Home address next week if you guys don't have it already. Brad, rock on man. You guys made it to state!? that's really cool. I was thinking about some of your jokes this past week and consequently had several seeming random laughing attacks, I think my district thinks I'm going insane. Hah. They would only be half right. Jesse, I have also been thinking of you, this just makes me cry though. Just kidding. Or am I? I really miss my old companions =[ (Brad + Jess + Dylan) Derlon! you should write me! Seriously though. There is this Elder in my district is a Californian surfer version of you, he cracks me up because he reminds me of you. For example, we were playing basketball and he came to guard me and he was like, "elder romm, just hold still so i can gaze into your eyes." - what the what? I'm pretty sure you have said that to me within the last 6 months. He also looks like the Avatar guy, not the human version. its sweet. Sisters! Steph I cant open your pictures because these computers are way way slow, but you can keep sending them and I'll look at them whenever I get a better connection =] Tell Gordon I say "Dinosaur, green, and Jesus loves you" he'll know what it means, we have a secret language. And tell Clark thanks for drawing a t-rex chasing me! I read the symbolism as the dinosaur as Satan and its actually very encouraging so thanks Clarky! Sarah! How is life? I just wanna say I love you, and also tell Quinners thanks for the email and your translation, made my day =] Shellie how is charly? =] I love you too though just fyi. I don't remember if you asked me a question last week or not, I'm trying to remember...I miss playing wii sword fighting, I tried beating my companion with a broom but it just wasn't the same =[ Oh and Steph ask Jared if he ever served with an Elder Piçonha on his mish for me, thx

Yesterday we had a fireside from one of my teachers uncles, he's and area 70 of Brazil, and so is her dad! its crazy, and also her brother is the AP in the Curitiba mission so we'll meet him when we go there.
I was wondering if you guys could send me the lyrics for I'm trying to be like Jesus, because this has become a favorite of mine. I've been learning and thinking a lot about Christlike attributes lately and it is a cool song. And it makes sense! We are here to follow Christs example, and its really interesting how so much in this world testifies and reminds us of Christ, i read a cool scripture in 2 Peter 19-25 I think it was that talked about patience vs Christlike patience and it makes sense when you think of why bad things happen to good people, that combined with D+C 121:8. I'm trying to be like Jesus. In all i do and say. Its really important in missionary work because people can see our testimonies before we even open our mouths if we have Christ in our countenance. That's what I'm going to work on. that and Portuguese. Nephi didn't know how to build a boat but you know who did? that's right. I love you all choose the right because its the right and you get blessings!

Sorry Brad and Jess, I got your letters this week lol, I sent one back to you so in 20 days check the mail. I'll be in Curitiba i think... So this last Friday was the day we went proselyting for the first time. We had been talking about it for a while but we didn't practice at all until the day before! That had me worried but I will tell you of the power of fasting and prayer. We wanted to be able to understand people and we wanted to find people that would listen to us, so we decided we would fast the Sunday before we went. The morning we were supposed to go proselyting I was way nervous. Our teacher took us out around Casa verde and we each had 2 BOMs and a couple pamphlets. We went up to this little park area and he told us we had 3 hours and told us that our first contact will be the hardest and that we just had to do it. Before we went we made little weird goals just to make sure we would talk to people. I put that I wanted to talk to a Dad with two kids, two teenagers, and an older woman on the street. Me and my companion said a prayer and we went out. We walked around the block before we decided to talk to a Lady with her granddaughter out in front of her house, she rejected us. At least I think that's what she did. Couldn't really tell. So we went back to the park to talk with Irmão Diniz and ask him how to say rejection in Portuguese. He told us to go talk to a group of teenagers because they would most likely laugh at us but they would listen, so we went. There were 4 guys and 1 girl. We were talking with them and I was just laughing and joking with them because I knew they probably wouldn't understand me so I just told them that we were missionaries and asked them if they had talked to missionaries before, they hadn't so I was like sweet! And just kinda told them we would teach them about the church. They laughed. So we started talking about God and found out none of them went to church, we were teaching about the book of Mormon and I noticed one kid that was really listening to me so I started directing the lesson towards him. I told him what a prophet was and bore my testimony to him about how the book of Mormon is true, and told them that it was the reason I was here, it was the reason I was trying to learn Portuguese because I found the truth and that they could find it too. I told them how happy I was because of the words of the Prophets and how they showed me a better way to live and that the joy I have now is because of and through this church. I gave the one kid (Clayton only with a Portuguese twist on the name) a BOM and showed him Moroni 10:4 and committed him to read, and he said he would. While I was talking with him and showing him the scripture another kid asked where I got the book from, so I told him it was translated through the prophet Joseph Smith and that it was an ancient record of the people in America. Then he got really quiet and I should have noticed then but I didn't, I was to focused on the other kid. So we left them and were walking across the street at the north end of the park when my companion was like, we should go back down that other street. (the one we just crossed) and I was like, yea, lets go. So we went back and when we were next to the park one of the teenagers came running up behind us. It was the one who asked the question about the book. His name is Julian. Julian said he had a question about that book I was holding, and so I started to explain again where it came from but then I stopped. I felt like I should ask him how he was feeling. I didn't expect that he would open up to me or anything but this is what he said. "I feel really bad. There are some things in my life that I just don't know what to do about and I want to know about that book." I can help you with that I said. I opened up to Mosiah 24:14 and had him read it aloud, I bore my testimony to him that in the BOM is another way, and that his heavenly father loves him and I just told him that I knew for sure that he could have peace and happiness in his life because I could see it in my own life, I gave him Moroni 10:4 and told him that if he would ask God if what I told him was true and what he was reading was true that he would get an answer. I gave him the missionaries number and told him to call them, that I know their message will help. That was just awesome. I did it all in Portuguese and he understood me and I understood him and I could tell he could feel something I could just see it in his face. I've been praying that he calls the missionaries and I feel good about it. We also, right after that, talked with a young guy on a bench and found out that he had taken 3 discussions but the missionaries finished their missions and nobody had talked to him again. He still had his BOM and he said that it was really interesting to him, we sat and talked with him for about 35 minutes, he was trying to learn English. He was a family counselor and worked with kids and helped them workout their problems with their family and other things like that. He said he used stuff the missionaries taught him in his work because it worked and he found it really interesting. How gold is that. We gave him a plan of Salvation pamphlet and gave him 2 nephi 2. He wanted us to come to his house later but we told him we were noobs and told him he could call the other missionaries and he said he definitely would. That was so amazing. Then we talked with a catholic lady whom we couldn't understand for squat so we gave her a plan of salvation pamphlet and said goodbye, then we talked with a guy and two kids who was a lawyer and who had lots of member friends and loved to talk about Joseph Smith, he had a BOM so we gave him a Restoration pamphlet and he gave us his card and told us that if we need anything in Brazil he would help us out for free. Basically I am all jacked and ready for the field like you wouldn't believe. I've been hitting the books super hard lately and I have come up with an idea. I am going to assign u guys to look up some stuff so I can see what you all find just for fun. That way I can see if you can help me and I'll teach you what I learn about it too. Everyone study faith this week. Not primary answers lol, get into it, I've done a little bit and its really really sweet. Okay I gotta go but I love you guys and I'll see you later =]