Hey Everyone!
It was really good to get all of your emails this week and to hear from you all. This week has been a slower one but we have worked really hard so I feel good about it. There were definitely a lot of fun times in this week, too! For starters, last P-day we went ATVing! It was so sweet. Radu, one of the other elders' investigators took us to a course in town and it was really good. Like tons of hills, ditches, rocks, tires, etc. Man, after about 10 minutes(it was 30 minutes and only cost about$12) my muscles were getting sore and it was way hard to use my thumb to push the gas. I was definitely sore for like 3 days afterwards and some of the skin on my hand wore off, but it was undoubtedly worth it. Such a blast.
We also had a branch activity on Friday. It was super fun as well. The BYU girls with a couple of the sisters from the branch made sarmale and fruit salad. So we had a big meal, then the BYU girls sang a couple songs along with Nicu. Silent Night and then a way cool sounding Romanian carol. Elder Dabling also sang a song, I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day, or whatever that song is called. Vasile, a member from Constanta here in Iasi for school, sang and played on his guitar. It was just a really chill activity to just listen to music and to talk(Elder Hardman and I sat in the back with the BYU girls. We've kind of been "their" elders. We always translate for them and help them when they want to visit people. I'll say more about that later :) .) Later, President Popovici called out for some American carols so all of us Americans went up there and sang a couple songs. We wish you a merry christmas and rudolph the red nosed reindeer, a couple more maybe, I don't really remember.
Saturday, we had sport for the very last time. Last week was going to be the last time but Diamanta wanted us to do it for one more week. We went and played basketball again. It was sooo much fun! I pretty much tore it up, lol. There weren't a ton of people there. Elder Hardman, Elder Middleton and myself, Danielle, Christina, Laura and Natasha, well, I guess all the BYU girls except for Alie(she's still reconvering from being sick), Aurelia and Ioana. I was on a team with all girls, naturally, and we whooped the other team pretty good, even though they had two guys, both of which play pretty well. Anyway, it was super fun and it just felt so good to play some basketball.
Sunday, was fun. We had some really good speakers yesterday. Elder Hardman spoke first and he did a really good job. Then Nicu spoke on the power and authority of the priesthood, a really good talk. The last scheduled speaker was Alie and she asked me to translate for her. It went pretty well, I thought. I did a lot better than last time. Still made some mistakes, but it happens. Man, I always get super hot when I'm translating. When I sat back down the first thing I did was take off my suit coat. It must be the mental concentration because I seriously thought it was like 100 degrees. It was good, though and I'm glad I got to translate for her. I translated for the girls during Sunday School, too, and then Nicu taught in priesthood. It was a good 3 hour block.
After church, we went with the BYU girls to Sora Genoveva's place. That was a ton of fun, too. She made us an excellent meal and it was just fun to talk with her and the girls. Oh man, at one point she pointed to Laura and told her to come with her. Then she pointed to me and Danielle, but we didn't know which one of us she wanted. So we figured me, because Laura is leaving today(the others leave next week) and so maybe Sora Genoveva wants to give her something and wants me to translate for her. So I walked in the other room and Sora Genoveva was holding up a bunch of tights(still in their packages) and handing some to Laura. She saw me and was like, what are you doing here, this is for girls! It was really funny and all the girls were laughing super hard. I guess she just had some tights she wanted to give them. They tried them on and then wore them home.
Then one of the biggest highlights of the week was last night. We went to the BYU girls' apartment to give them their Christmas presents. Haha, they were such good presents. We got each of them a shirt that says, Look What I Found in Romania, then below it has a picture of my companion and I. Then below that it says, I Love My Romanian Elders. It was a huge hit, they LOVED the shirts. It was super funny, too, to watch their faces as they all unwrapped their shirts and started laughing. It was soo fun. We hung out with them for a little bit(it was at like 8pm, so we didn't have anything else planned) and just chilled and talked. They are all super cool girls. I'm going to miss them when they go. I'm the one elder that was here when they came and I'll be here when they leave. They've all become really good friends and it's cool to me to know that you can find friends. Who would have thought I'd make American friends(mormon nonetheless) in the middle of Romania.
This week, as far as missionary work goes, was interesting. Our zone is on a probe, like we're the test to see if not counting contacts will improve the work. So, my companion and I worked really hard this week. We were in the blocs almost every single day, trying to find new investigators, new people to progress in the gospel. A lot of our investigators now aren't meeting with us and we don't know why. So we've been trying to find new ones. For example, we still haven't met with Alina. She bunged us two more times, the last one because she got grounded for two weeks and so she can't do anything, not even come to church. She can't use her computer either, so I'll get her email for you, Serena, when she is free again. Gianina was unreachable(turned out she had been visiting her grandmother, but came to church yesterday) and Cristi and Nicoleta haven't answered their phone in a long time. Adriana dropped her baptismal date and said she doesn't want to be baptized, she doesn't understand why there has to be a church. If she has faith, then that's enough. I hate that argument. It's so prevalent here in Romania.
We found one new investigator, an older guy who's really friendly. We've given him a Book of Mormon and he wants to come to church(he was out of town yesterday so didn't come), so we'll see what happens. So of all of our whole week and going to the blocs so much, he was the only new investigator we got. At times that was discouraging, but my companion and I talked about it and we know that worked hard. We're glad that we didn't count contacts, even though we would have had a ton. I don't want that false sense of achievement. But I'm comforted by the fact that I know I worked hard and God knows I worked hard. That's all that matters.
Those are good questions, Dad. I'm not exactly sure what youth do here. To be sure, there are way more activities and youth do a lot more in America. A lot of people play soccer, but for the most part people just hang out with their friends, and if they play sports, then it's with their friends, not an organization or league. That's probably a big reason why so many youth smoke and start really young, too. I've seen 10 year olds smoking, and not just once.
Ok, about Christmas calls, either you guys call me or I can call you. Pick a time when you want to talk. Anytime Christmas Eve or Christmas pretty much works. We won't have much to do, besides watch movies, lol. So pick a time and let me know and we'll plan for that. Questions?
J, sounds like you got some sweet parts in the play coming up. You'll have to keep me updated. You need a name for your group? I didn't even know you really had one, but that is way sweet. I bet you guys sound really good. You should record a song or two and send it to me.
S, I heard your play went really well. You are amazing! I can't wait to see a play you're in when I get home. It's probably less than a year now. That's such a weird thought for me. Because I'll probably come home one transfer early to have time with my amazing family and to make it to school in time, that means I have less than a year. It really feels like I just came out here and now I can count down instead of up, lol. Of course I still I have a ton of time and I'm going to keep working hard and keep giving it my all.
I'm pretty excited for this upcoming week. It will be another really fun one. Hopefully, a really productive one, too. Thursday, we're going to go with the BYU girls to visit President Popovici. That will be so much fun, because he is one of the funniest people I've ever met. Friday we're in Chisinau for a zone Christmas party. Saturday, we have a movie night with a bunch of members and investigators. I'm pretty excited for all these activities. It'll be weird after the New Year when things are quiet and normal again. It will take some getting used to, I'm sure.
Well, you guys are the best. I love you a ton! Have a great week! --Elder Ross
P.S. Thanks for the story of Joseph Smith, Mom. I'm trying hard to build my spiritual muscles!
