Hey Everyone!
Things have been going well and I am doing great out here. This week I really focused on changing my attitude and now I am not worrying about anything else really than just doing what I know I should do and making sure I'm continually working on myself. I was getting too focused on what others were doing and I think I was missing out on some of my own things I can improve. But since I've started doing this, my days have been so much better.
I continue to SYL and Elder Garrett continues to speak only English, but it doesn't bother me anymore. Lol, I'm sure we must seem really odd to the Romanians, walking and talking like that. But it's good and Elder Garrett helps me when I get stuck and helps me to speak better. Overall, I am doing really well this week! Elder Garrett wanted to try my study program and got up with me at 6:30 this morning to study! It was really cool. I've really learned a lot from these two transfers with him, both directly and indirectly. Things are going well.
Let's see, a lot of stuff happened this week. Hopefully, I get to it all. First off, last Friday Elder Garrett and I had exchanges with the zone leaders. I went with Elder Ryttersgaard(I had an exchange with him my first transfer) and it was really good. Not that we were able to do a lot. We met them at 3 and then Outreach was at 5:30, so it was a short exchange. But it was good just to be with another missionary, to learn from him and to talk about missionary work and get tips and advice from him.
Then Outreach was the most fun it's ever been! Mostly thanks to the zone leaders, and the fact that we had 9 people(that's a lot for us, lol). They (the zone leaders) taught us two games that were super fun. The first was "apă în faţa," literally water in face, lol. One person has a cup with some water in it and he picks something specific, like a dog. Then he tells everyone the general topic, animals, and he goes around the circle and each person guesses an animal until someone guesses it right and he gets the cup of water in his face. Then it's his turn and he picks whatever topic he wants, from clothes to soccer teams to countries in Europe. It was really fun. The 2nd game is "racecar". Everyone sits in a circle and one person starts by saying"vroom" and each person says that to pass it on. Oh, and everyone has their lips covering their teeth. So you can either say "vroom" to pass it on or make the sound of a car braking and it reverses directions. Sounds lame, but it gets really funny and you're out when your teeth show, basically when you start cracking up. People were seriously crying, they were laughing so hard!
Oh, Thursday, well Wednesday night, my companion called President because my ear had been hurting a little. It wasn't bad at all and I'm perfectly fine now. So President said I should go to the doctor and so I did Thursday. Then I had to buy some Augumentin(?) and some other stuff that's a nose spray. It's pertty lame, especially because it all cost about $40(I know that's not a lot back home) but it is here, and it's all a personal expense. :( I have receipts if you can get money back from the insurance company. I have no idea. Tell and then next week I will send a tape and I can put those in there too. And do I get extra money this month, to cover that medical stuff? I hope so!
Saturday, Elder Garrett and I played a soccer game with Iulian, Cătălin, and Florin, three super cool brothers in our branch. The way it works is one person is the universal goalie and then there are two teams of two each. It was me and Cătălin as a team and it's the first team to get three goals. After each game, the goalie switches places with one of the losing team's players. Cătă and I didn't lose a single game, out of 10! Lol, we dominated, it was tight.
Oh man, I forgot to tell you guys last week and I got a talk and I gave it yesterday. Guess what my topic was? I know you guys will get a kick out of this, especially J. "Daughters of our Heavenly Father." lol. It's from the general meeting of young women, it's in the conference issue. My talk went really well and a lot of people complimented me on my language skills. I can't believe I've had to give two talks already, though! I'm only in my 3rd transfer. No, it's good for me, lol, and I did well, so I'm not complaining.
Happy Birthday, A! You'll have to write and tell me what you got and how your birthday was and when your getting baptized and lots of stuff. I can't believe you're 8! I won't even recognize you when I get home!
Man, S, that video was sooooooooooo good! Dang! Thanks for sending me that or having J send me that. That was really cool to see. Wow, I looked good in those pictures! Oh, sorry, back to you, lol. Just kidding. But really, that video was really, really awesome. Good job! [S made a video in school about her family. It's by invitation-only on YouTube. If you want to see it, as well as J's funny one, email us and we will send you the link.]
Lol, yes, Mom, I think you're right. Firstborns really are smarter! I must be a genius then, because my siblings are SUPER smart. That's good to know. : ) [In last week's news, a headline stated: "Study: Firstborns really are smarter than siblings." Other family members mocked the study but I knew Ross would agree with its truth!]
Sounds like everyone is doing well. J's working hard at the nursery, Mom and Dad, of course, are always working hard and everyone else is doing the fine summer. I am, too, but it's just a little too hot when it's 95 and I'm walking around in black pants and a white button-up shirt and tie. Oh well. Everyone have a fantastic week. I love you all!
--Elder Ross
[Ross' English is deteriorating more -- meaning Romanian is taking over. Yea!]
Monday, June 25, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Hey All!
It's only been days since I wrote and nothing really exciting has happened. Well, maybe a couple things. We had a big branch activity on Saturday, Cinco de Mayo. Pretty sweet, huh? Celebrating the Mexican independance day in Romania on June 16th. But it went really good and we had a lot of people there. There was a TON of food and a pinata, which turned out to be indestructible. A lot of people hit that thing hard, including myself. Finally, at the end Elder Woodhouse just started going to town on without a blindfold and....the pinata broke the stick. So we pulled it down and ripped it open. Then I stood on the curb and launched all of the candy into the air. It was a fun activity.
Last night, Elder Garrett and I had a lesson with Gabriella and it went really well. She was asking about what it takes to be baptized and what the interview was and some other things. She said she is thinking about getting baptized in September. It's a ways off, but at least she thinking about it and each person needs their own time to be ready. I'm excited for her! And we talked about eternal families, because she is divorced and she doesn't think her sons will ever accept the Gospel. I think that's a personal specialty of mine, eternal families, so I talked a lot and taught her the doctrine on that. Like how if she does everything that she possibly can in this life, then she will find someone in the next life and have a family. Hopefully, she joins this Church and helps her sons, too, to accept the Gospel.
But on the bad side, this week was really hard for me. I'm just trying to hang in.Usually I have to study by myself for a little bit and try to come up with some things that would help that specific person. I thought my comp was going to start SYLing, but he absolutely refuses to and I won't respond to his English, but he keeps talking anyway and I get more and more frustrated. I just need to work on my patience and refining myself. I know all of your prayers are with me and that makes all the difference. I know it's helped me a lot. Just keep doing it.
Hahaha, I really liked the little announcement about J's Eagle Court of Honor. Quite fitting. Man, it's so cool to hear about Elder S! I'm sure he's tearing it up in D.C.! I'm sure he is a great missionary and he seems like the kinda guy that will do what's right no matter what. He will help lots of people I'm sure.
Yeah, we have a branch mission leader, but he is inactive and hasn't been to church for as long as I've been here. I think we do help branch leaders with training, but the District Leader does most of that.
I do like this new focus of working with members, but I know my comp and I are doing a poor job of it. Our numbers were super, super low this week. Like 6 or 7 lessons and I think 2 contacts. I don't even know what to say to that....we did have stuff going on, like service and the branch activity, but still, it's a joke.
Dad - Happy Father's Day again! Sounds like it was good for you. And like you're getting into golf. I've only played that one time with the priests but it was a blast. It's not nearly as boring as it looks! Thanks for the update on the Spurs! That's pretty cool. Well, you're the best Dad in the entire world. Thanks for all you've done for me(that's a lot!). I love you.
J - Dang, dude, sounds like you owned at football camp! Wow....my brother is a male dancer....that sounds wierd, lol. No, that is really cool. Sounds like you've done well as a thespian and most of all that you won't admit it in public. [J won two thespian awards at the high school awards banquet. One for "best male chorus" and the other for "best male dancer."] How'd your trimester go? Did you get decent grades? Well, have a good week, bro. love ya
L - Thanks for all your great emails and for really helping lift me up. Between you and my family, there's no way for me to feel down for long.
Hey, I sent a letter to you guys for P. I still don't have his address. Want to give it to me? lol. Well, everyone, I'm signing off now. Sorry if this email was kinda down. The mission is hard, but I still do feel like the luckiest man alive! I am soooo blessed! I hope everyone has a fantastic week and I love you all!
--Elder Ross
It's only been days since I wrote and nothing really exciting has happened. Well, maybe a couple things. We had a big branch activity on Saturday, Cinco de Mayo. Pretty sweet, huh? Celebrating the Mexican independance day in Romania on June 16th. But it went really good and we had a lot of people there. There was a TON of food and a pinata, which turned out to be indestructible. A lot of people hit that thing hard, including myself. Finally, at the end Elder Woodhouse just started going to town on without a blindfold and....the pinata broke the stick. So we pulled it down and ripped it open. Then I stood on the curb and launched all of the candy into the air. It was a fun activity.
Last night, Elder Garrett and I had a lesson with Gabriella and it went really well. She was asking about what it takes to be baptized and what the interview was and some other things. She said she is thinking about getting baptized in September. It's a ways off, but at least she thinking about it and each person needs their own time to be ready. I'm excited for her! And we talked about eternal families, because she is divorced and she doesn't think her sons will ever accept the Gospel. I think that's a personal specialty of mine, eternal families, so I talked a lot and taught her the doctrine on that. Like how if she does everything that she possibly can in this life, then she will find someone in the next life and have a family. Hopefully, she joins this Church and helps her sons, too, to accept the Gospel.
But on the bad side, this week was really hard for me. I'm just trying to hang in.Usually I have to study by myself for a little bit and try to come up with some things that would help that specific person. I thought my comp was going to start SYLing, but he absolutely refuses to and I won't respond to his English, but he keeps talking anyway and I get more and more frustrated. I just need to work on my patience and refining myself. I know all of your prayers are with me and that makes all the difference. I know it's helped me a lot. Just keep doing it.
Hahaha, I really liked the little announcement about J's Eagle Court of Honor. Quite fitting. Man, it's so cool to hear about Elder S! I'm sure he's tearing it up in D.C.! I'm sure he is a great missionary and he seems like the kinda guy that will do what's right no matter what. He will help lots of people I'm sure.
Yeah, we have a branch mission leader, but he is inactive and hasn't been to church for as long as I've been here. I think we do help branch leaders with training, but the District Leader does most of that.
I do like this new focus of working with members, but I know my comp and I are doing a poor job of it. Our numbers were super, super low this week. Like 6 or 7 lessons and I think 2 contacts. I don't even know what to say to that....we did have stuff going on, like service and the branch activity, but still, it's a joke.
Dad - Happy Father's Day again! Sounds like it was good for you. And like you're getting into golf. I've only played that one time with the priests but it was a blast. It's not nearly as boring as it looks! Thanks for the update on the Spurs! That's pretty cool. Well, you're the best Dad in the entire world. Thanks for all you've done for me(that's a lot!). I love you.
J - Dang, dude, sounds like you owned at football camp! Wow....my brother is a male dancer....that sounds wierd, lol. No, that is really cool. Sounds like you've done well as a thespian and most of all that you won't admit it in public. [J won two thespian awards at the high school awards banquet. One for "best male chorus" and the other for "best male dancer."] How'd your trimester go? Did you get decent grades? Well, have a good week, bro. love ya
L - Thanks for all your great emails and for really helping lift me up. Between you and my family, there's no way for me to feel down for long.
Hey, I sent a letter to you guys for P. I still don't have his address. Want to give it to me? lol. Well, everyone, I'm signing off now. Sorry if this email was kinda down. The mission is hard, but I still do feel like the luckiest man alive! I am soooo blessed! I hope everyone has a fantastic week and I love you all!
--Elder Ross
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Re: Waiting to Hear
Note - Last Thursday, we received a short email from Ross which read -
That is why the letter came a bit later this week.
Hey Everyone!
It has been an exciting week and a half! It's been very busy and there have been many great experiences. No, my P day will remain on Monday. This week we had zone conference and then Tuesday we teach English classes(that was actually our last class) and so that's why I'm writing you today.
To start off, last Wednesday, one week ago, Elder Garrett and I had AP exchanges. They called us the night before at about 10pm and said they were showing up at our apartment at 7 in the morning. . .
Anyway, the exchange went super well! I went with Elder Despain and I'm so glad I did. I learned SO much from him. He is a really, really good missionary. He has a really good way with talking to people and has a real passion for the work. It really got me fired up again for the work and helped remind me my purpose and why I am here. We did a lot of little things that I haven't done since I was with Elder Selck, which make a huge difference. Like actually planning our lessons out, tailored for each individual, and SYLing the whole day. That was one of the coolest parts. Elder Despain is a missionary that really strives for the Spirit and takes the work seriously, but he's fun to be with too. I know I'm a different person than him but I saw a lot of qualities that I really liked and want to apply. It was also a good reminder for me of how missionary work should be. It definitely gave me some fire.
Then Thursday we had the district meeting that changed the mission, lol. Our whole mission is switching from the focus of proselyting and finding through our own efforts to working with members and using referrals. This is a huge change from before, when we NEVER met with members unless they were a recent convert or a less active. I am really excited for this and I'm glad I'm here at a time to see the change and help make it happen. When I was at internet and wrote you that short email, I was typing up a list for each companionship. We divided the member list in thirds and now we are trying to work with all those people and build them up. The retention rate of members here, after only one year after baptism, is like 35%. Hopefully, with the focus on members, we can help more stay stronger, bring back some that are lost and get solid referrals thtat will lead to solid people being baptized and staying.
Then Sunday, there was a district conference in Arad. All the members from Timisoara, Arad, Deva, Oradea and Cluj were there. Elder Selck was there and it was really good to see him. I talked to him for a while and he is doing really good. I miss that kid. That was a really good transfer with him. I just didn't realize it until it was over. Anyway the conference was really good. President Ashby spoke a lot and so did Elder Roth, a Seventy from Austria. Then that night we stayed in a hotel and the next day we had zone conference, which is always awesome. I learned a lot and took tons of notes. And I escaped the 10 minute talks again. I'm not sure if I told you but there are at least two 10 minute talks by missionaries each zone conference, drawn out of a hat. I haven't had to give one yet, but Elder Garrett had one this time. So that is the sum of my last week and a bit.
Oh, we started teaching a new guy, Mihai. He is the son of a recent convert. He's a little bit slow but he is a really great guy with a pure heart. I think we can get him baptized. We'll see, I guess. Oh, and we started working with a less active who has fallen far. He doesn't even believe in Jesus Christ anymore. I don't understand how that happens. Satan must have worked hard on him. Since you said something about Lord of the Rings, that's what I'm thinking about...we need to smack him with the Spirit and draw Satan out of him, just like Gandalf drew Saruman out of King Theoden. Something like that.
[I had found this quote from another missionary mom.
J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings -- "The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet it is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: Small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."
The quote corresponds with Alma 37:6 – By small and simple means the efforts of these elders and sisters really can "confound" the wise and help the kingdom roll forth!]
Man, I can't believe some of the stuff I see out here. I mean, stuff I hear that Elders are doing. One elder watched a the third Pirates movie at an investigator's house. What kind of example is that for that investigator? Then last night my companion was talking to an elder on the phone and that elder said he needed to make a list of rated R movies to see when he gets home. Ok, that is sad! He said something like he deserves it after two years of serving. He deserves something else and I'm a missionary so I'm not going to say it, lol.
Yeah, my new district leader is doing good. I like him a lot. He has a really huge love for the people and the country. He seems really good with people too and is really funny. I like him a lot.
Well, it sounds like everyone is super busy, which is good! Oh, I almost forgot... Happy Father's Day coming up Dad! I hope you have a good one and that mom buys you something good and says it's from me. Thanks for all you do, Dad! I love you and you have always been a great example and friend to me!
Everyone have a fantastic week and I love you all! And yeah, L., I'm still at my specific address for at least 4 weeks so send me a letter! I can't wait. Have a good one, everyone!
---Elder Ross
Ok, I'm here really quick typing up something for our district...the whole mission has changed! It's nuts. Just wanted to give you a heads up that P day next week is Wednesday, not Monday. Have a good one
--Elder Ross
--Elder Ross
Hey Everyone!
It has been an exciting week and a half! It's been very busy and there have been many great experiences. No, my P day will remain on Monday. This week we had zone conference and then Tuesday we teach English classes(that was actually our last class) and so that's why I'm writing you today.
To start off, last Wednesday, one week ago, Elder Garrett and I had AP exchanges. They called us the night before at about 10pm and said they were showing up at our apartment at 7 in the morning. . .
Anyway, the exchange went super well! I went with Elder Despain and I'm so glad I did. I learned SO much from him. He is a really, really good missionary. He has a really good way with talking to people and has a real passion for the work. It really got me fired up again for the work and helped remind me my purpose and why I am here. We did a lot of little things that I haven't done since I was with Elder Selck, which make a huge difference. Like actually planning our lessons out, tailored for each individual, and SYLing the whole day. That was one of the coolest parts. Elder Despain is a missionary that really strives for the Spirit and takes the work seriously, but he's fun to be with too. I know I'm a different person than him but I saw a lot of qualities that I really liked and want to apply. It was also a good reminder for me of how missionary work should be. It definitely gave me some fire.
Then Thursday we had the district meeting that changed the mission, lol. Our whole mission is switching from the focus of proselyting and finding through our own efforts to working with members and using referrals. This is a huge change from before, when we NEVER met with members unless they were a recent convert or a less active. I am really excited for this and I'm glad I'm here at a time to see the change and help make it happen. When I was at internet and wrote you that short email, I was typing up a list for each companionship. We divided the member list in thirds and now we are trying to work with all those people and build them up. The retention rate of members here, after only one year after baptism, is like 35%. Hopefully, with the focus on members, we can help more stay stronger, bring back some that are lost and get solid referrals thtat will lead to solid people being baptized and staying.
Then Sunday, there was a district conference in Arad. All the members from Timisoara, Arad, Deva, Oradea and Cluj were there. Elder Selck was there and it was really good to see him. I talked to him for a while and he is doing really good. I miss that kid. That was a really good transfer with him. I just didn't realize it until it was over. Anyway the conference was really good. President Ashby spoke a lot and so did Elder Roth, a Seventy from Austria. Then that night we stayed in a hotel and the next day we had zone conference, which is always awesome. I learned a lot and took tons of notes. And I escaped the 10 minute talks again. I'm not sure if I told you but there are at least two 10 minute talks by missionaries each zone conference, drawn out of a hat. I haven't had to give one yet, but Elder Garrett had one this time. So that is the sum of my last week and a bit.
Oh, we started teaching a new guy, Mihai. He is the son of a recent convert. He's a little bit slow but he is a really great guy with a pure heart. I think we can get him baptized. We'll see, I guess. Oh, and we started working with a less active who has fallen far. He doesn't even believe in Jesus Christ anymore. I don't understand how that happens. Satan must have worked hard on him. Since you said something about Lord of the Rings, that's what I'm thinking about...we need to smack him with the Spirit and draw Satan out of him, just like Gandalf drew Saruman out of King Theoden. Something like that.
[I had found this quote from another missionary mom.
J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings -- "The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet it is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: Small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."
The quote corresponds with Alma 37:6 – By small and simple means the efforts of these elders and sisters really can "confound" the wise and help the kingdom roll forth!]
Man, I can't believe some of the stuff I see out here. I mean, stuff I hear that Elders are doing. One elder watched a the third Pirates movie at an investigator's house. What kind of example is that for that investigator? Then last night my companion was talking to an elder on the phone and that elder said he needed to make a list of rated R movies to see when he gets home. Ok, that is sad! He said something like he deserves it after two years of serving. He deserves something else and I'm a missionary so I'm not going to say it, lol.
Yeah, my new district leader is doing good. I like him a lot. He has a really huge love for the people and the country. He seems really good with people too and is really funny. I like him a lot.
Well, it sounds like everyone is super busy, which is good! Oh, I almost forgot... Happy Father's Day coming up Dad! I hope you have a good one and that mom buys you something good and says it's from me. Thanks for all you do, Dad! I love you and you have always been a great example and friend to me!
Everyone have a fantastic week and I love you all! And yeah, L., I'm still at my specific address for at least 4 weeks so send me a letter! I can't wait. Have a good one, everyone!
---Elder Ross
Monday, June 4, 2007
Hey Everyone!
Things are going pretty well out here in the land of vampires and the new transfer is under way. The new District Leader is super cool, Elder Jaynes. He is in his last transfer, but he doesn't seem too trunky, which is good. He has a lot of ideas for the branch here so I'm exciting to see some activities start happening. Elder Middleton was a good DL, but it's nice to have a change. He is in Bucharest now. Elder Selck, my first companion in Romania, is now a Zone Leader! He is a super good missionary and I learned a lot from him. We worked really hard together. Lol, I predict he goes AP later in his mission.
This last week was pretty good, nothing too exciting. SYLing isn't really happening much. I tried to set a goal to just SYL with my companion up until lunch and so far it's only worked a little bit. Usually he just doesn't talk period and so that way he is still SYLing(in the sense that he's not speaking English) without actually speaking much Romanian. I still have a HUGE desire to learn the language as much as I can. I would go without speaking English EVER if I had a companion who was willing to do that. Hopefully, one day.
The work went ok, though. It was an average week. We met with Gabriella again and talked about what she really believed. She believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet but not that this church is the only true church. She believes that parts of the Book of Mormon are good, but she isn't sure about all of it. She is really hard to work with, because she exercises little faith. We don't really have any investigators who are progressing too far along the path toward baptism, but we found a super cool lady two days ago that seems like she will take off. She read the Restoration pamphlet we gave and marked up stuff in it and asked us questions about it and really wanted a Book of Mormon, which of course we gave her. She takes her committments very seriously and that is pretty hard to find here. I'm excited to continue to teach her.
Last Thursday or Friday, Elder Garrett and I gave a member a blessing. She has a kidney infection and was in a lot of pain. I got to anoint her which was the my first time in any language. It was really cool and as Elder Garrett gave her a blessing we could feel the Spirit going through us, edifying us, as it went to her. It was a sweet experience and I haven't heard how she's doing, but I'm sure she is better, at least more than she would be if we hadn't given her a blessing.
Man, last Tuesday, at the gara(train station) we almost got robbed. Some guys tried to work one over on us. One guy came over and starting talking to us about tons of different things, really trying to keep our attention. He was just talking to Elder Garrett actually. Anyway, his buddy was standing about 5 feet behind Elder Garrett against a column, obviously waiting for a chance to slice open Elder Garrett's backpack or something and try to jack his stuff. I just stood staring at that guy. He had some super shifty eyes and could not keep eye contact for even a second. The guy trying to keep our attention kept poking me with something, trying to get me to turn more to him and not pay attention to the other guy. I just ignored him and lol, I was too intimidating, I guess because the shifty guy finally walked away and all of a sudden the other guy ran out of things to talk about. Strange coincidence huh? lol. Not on my watch, punk.
Sounds like a lot of fine arts are going on in the family. Plays, choirs, recitals. Sounds like they all did a great job, too! E's song must be from Peanuts, which I actually really want a Cd of. Do they have that? Their music is really good and classical, I especially like the theme song. Lol, if you ever want to send me some music, there's an idea. That and the Lord of the Rings soundtracks. Don't worry, that music is all legal. I can listen to classical, MoTab(duh), Disney music, and some movie soundtracks(really have to pay attention to the Spirit on this one).
Speaking of stuff to send me, I would LOVE to get some letters to my actual address out here. I'm still here for at least 5 more weeks and yeah, that would be nice. Do it, you know you want to. Thanks! Oh, and random, but I will need stick deodorant sometime. It doesn't really exist here, at least not of good quality. Some good Old Spice would be wonderful.
Dad - Thanks for all the information and for helping me understand more about the priesthood and how it works. Thanks for your always supportive emails. They really are a help to me and will continue to hang in there and to do my best.
Mom - Sounds like you had an amazing temple experience! I'm pretty jealous. Thanks for always keeping me updated and being interested in how the work is going over here. It's great to always have people I can talk to and get advice from. Hopefully, I help you guys out, too!
J - Good luck with the ACT. Tell me how you do. You'll tear it up!
W - Thanks for the email buddy. I love getting emails from you! I'm doing very well. Have a good one, buddy. I love you.
Oh, I almost forgot. I just made a new email. It's a gmail account. It's almost the same start but with a 7. So you guys can start writing me there. I just thought I'd try it out, because everyone has gmail here. Well, everyone have an amazing week! I love you all very much. Peace
--Elder Ross
Things are going pretty well out here in the land of vampires and the new transfer is under way. The new District Leader is super cool, Elder Jaynes. He is in his last transfer, but he doesn't seem too trunky, which is good. He has a lot of ideas for the branch here so I'm exciting to see some activities start happening. Elder Middleton was a good DL, but it's nice to have a change. He is in Bucharest now. Elder Selck, my first companion in Romania, is now a Zone Leader! He is a super good missionary and I learned a lot from him. We worked really hard together. Lol, I predict he goes AP later in his mission.
This last week was pretty good, nothing too exciting. SYLing isn't really happening much. I tried to set a goal to just SYL with my companion up until lunch and so far it's only worked a little bit. Usually he just doesn't talk period and so that way he is still SYLing(in the sense that he's not speaking English) without actually speaking much Romanian. I still have a HUGE desire to learn the language as much as I can. I would go without speaking English EVER if I had a companion who was willing to do that. Hopefully, one day.
The work went ok, though. It was an average week. We met with Gabriella again and talked about what she really believed. She believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet but not that this church is the only true church. She believes that parts of the Book of Mormon are good, but she isn't sure about all of it. She is really hard to work with, because she exercises little faith. We don't really have any investigators who are progressing too far along the path toward baptism, but we found a super cool lady two days ago that seems like she will take off. She read the Restoration pamphlet we gave and marked up stuff in it and asked us questions about it and really wanted a Book of Mormon, which of course we gave her. She takes her committments very seriously and that is pretty hard to find here. I'm excited to continue to teach her.
Last Thursday or Friday, Elder Garrett and I gave a member a blessing. She has a kidney infection and was in a lot of pain. I got to anoint her which was the my first time in any language. It was really cool and as Elder Garrett gave her a blessing we could feel the Spirit going through us, edifying us, as it went to her. It was a sweet experience and I haven't heard how she's doing, but I'm sure she is better, at least more than she would be if we hadn't given her a blessing.
Man, last Tuesday, at the gara(train station) we almost got robbed. Some guys tried to work one over on us. One guy came over and starting talking to us about tons of different things, really trying to keep our attention. He was just talking to Elder Garrett actually. Anyway, his buddy was standing about 5 feet behind Elder Garrett against a column, obviously waiting for a chance to slice open Elder Garrett's backpack or something and try to jack his stuff. I just stood staring at that guy. He had some super shifty eyes and could not keep eye contact for even a second. The guy trying to keep our attention kept poking me with something, trying to get me to turn more to him and not pay attention to the other guy. I just ignored him and lol, I was too intimidating, I guess because the shifty guy finally walked away and all of a sudden the other guy ran out of things to talk about. Strange coincidence huh? lol. Not on my watch, punk.
Sounds like a lot of fine arts are going on in the family. Plays, choirs, recitals. Sounds like they all did a great job, too! E's song must be from Peanuts, which I actually really want a Cd of. Do they have that? Their music is really good and classical, I especially like the theme song. Lol, if you ever want to send me some music, there's an idea. That and the Lord of the Rings soundtracks. Don't worry, that music is all legal. I can listen to classical, MoTab(duh), Disney music, and some movie soundtracks(really have to pay attention to the Spirit on this one).
Speaking of stuff to send me, I would LOVE to get some letters to my actual address out here. I'm still here for at least 5 more weeks and yeah, that would be nice. Do it, you know you want to. Thanks! Oh, and random, but I will need stick deodorant sometime. It doesn't really exist here, at least not of good quality. Some good Old Spice would be wonderful.
Dad - Thanks for all the information and for helping me understand more about the priesthood and how it works. Thanks for your always supportive emails. They really are a help to me and will continue to hang in there and to do my best.
Mom - Sounds like you had an amazing temple experience! I'm pretty jealous. Thanks for always keeping me updated and being interested in how the work is going over here. It's great to always have people I can talk to and get advice from. Hopefully, I help you guys out, too!
J - Good luck with the ACT. Tell me how you do. You'll tear it up!
W - Thanks for the email buddy. I love getting emails from you! I'm doing very well. Have a good one, buddy. I love you.
Oh, I almost forgot. I just made a new email. It's a gmail account. It's almost the same start but with a 7. So you guys can start writing me there. I just thought I'd try it out, because everyone has gmail here. Well, everyone have an amazing week! I love you all very much. Peace
--Elder Ross
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