Hey Wonderful People!
Things are going great here in Cluj Napoca and in the zone of Transilvania. My companion and I were talking the other day how much little we little we knew about Romania before our missions, only the words Transilvania and Dracula. And know we are the two that are in charge of the whole Transilvania zone! It was fun reminiscing a little.
Ok, so this last week was super good! The work is going really well and not just for us, but for the whole zone. Numbers aren't the most important thing, but they are a good indicator of how everything is going and our zone had the best numbers this week out of the 2+ transfers I've been here as zone leader. Everyone is taking their goals seriously and stretching themselves to meet them. It's really cool. And the zone has a batismal date now! The sisters here in Cluj have an investigator named Raluca. She is 25ish and has two kids(and a third that lives in the countryside with her mom) and has been to church 5 times in a row now. She is way cool and is already integrated into the branch.
Elder Bringhurst and I were really happy that we had 7 investigators at church yesterday. We met this super cool lady last Sunday and she is really sensitive to the Spirit. We met her yesterday morning and went with her to church. She stayed all three hours and then travelled home with Sora Pacurar, because they live pretty close. It was sweet. The other investigators were the 4 Militarus(a miracle, because they were going to be gone fishing), Alex and Ionut.
We also found a really cool guy named Ciprian. Actually, Elder Jepsen and Elder Bringhurst found him. We had exchanges with the APs on Tuesday which went really well. Anyway, we went back to Ciprian with Cosmin and it was really good. Ciprian is out of work right now, but he's looking hard and he's not poor, he owns a car. He is also really trying to quit smoking right now. It seems like the Lord has really prepared him.
Last week we made a good portion of that movie and it turned out really well. We have a last scene to do today and then we'll start editing. Oh, and the Hakes' computer is working now so hopefully I can send you the rest of that missionary movie soon. It depends on how long the last scene of the movie takes. We'll see.
It's way hard to believe that President and Sora Ashby are leaving soon. President is a great guy and he showed a lot of trust in us missionaries. He also was really good at motivating us. Other things he does well are that he's super organized and always has a plan. He has a pretty sweet sense of humor, too. Sora Ashby is just one of the nicest people in the world. She's super caring. We'll miss them, but I'm sure that the new President and his wife are going to be great, too.
Yeah, I'm going to burn a pair of pants, I think, for the 18-month mark. They are in ok shape, but they are over a year old and they were less than $20. I've been wanting to get a new pair soon anyway. It'll be sweet. I'll take some good pictures.
Well, everyone, I hope the upcoming week is great for all and that everyone is loving life. You guys are great! I love you!
Elder Ross
Monday, June 23, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Oops - forgot to post June 16th's letter
Happy Father's Day, Dad!!!
To be honest, I didn't realize that Father's Day was coming up until a few days ago. It doesn't exist here. The closest thing is Ziua Barbatului, literally Man's Day, lol. Anyway, it sounds like you had a great day, Dad. You are an incredible guy and I'm super grateful that you are my father and that you raised me and in such a caring and loving way. I'm sure I'll continue to look to you as my example for the rest of my life, especially when I have my own family. I love you.
I'm really glad to hear you guys loved the movie! Unfortunately, I don't know when we'll be able to send the 2nd half. The Hakes' computer got a nasty virus that Elder Bringhurst and I tried to help them bring down, but it hasn't been working. The computer is down and that's what we need to send it to you and also put subtitles on the 2nd half. Even if their computer loses all of the information, we have a copy on a DVD so eventually I will get it to you, I just don't know when. We are going to make another missionary movie this transfer. At least that is the hope.
Speaking of movies, I've been working on one that we are going to make today. This one isn't religious at all, but it should be funny. I guess the spark of movie-making desire came from Elder Bringhurst, because he's really into that. I don't know, I just wanted to spearhead my own little film. We'll see how it turns out. It'll take a few weeks for it to be all done, because of editing and the fact that I only have a little time one day a week. But then I'll send it to you.
We were just in Bucharest for 1 day. We took a train down Wednesday night and then one back Thursday night. Mission council was really good, but it was different than the other two I've had in that it seemed like we covered a lot less. A lot of good things still came out, but even more, I think Elder Bringhurst and I wrote more things from what the Spirit told us we could do for the upcoming transfer than from what people were saying. A huge chunk of it was spent trying to come with a standard of excellence. Most of the zone leaders(myself included) don't see the value in it, mostly because we've seen so many different ones come and go in our missions. After we discussed it a little bit, President Ashby said he was set on having one. At that point, I was ok with, like let's do it and then move on. But some others kept arguing against and the conversation was probably an hour and a half, two hours. At the end, there was a very impassionate throwing out of numbers and a standard was made, probably soon to be forgotten. It was kind of sad that President's last council was like that, but overall it was ok. At least we have some good direction to take to our district leaders( a lot of it like I said coming from the Spirit) and we'll get our zones pumped up for the transfer.
Our week was really rough at the start. Tuesday was one of the worst days in my whole mission. We bloc-kncoked for 7+ hours and we had one single lesson! It was really frustrating and I felt really tired. We got bunged a couple times, one of them when we took a member to a lesson. That's the worst! Towards the evening we went back home for a little bit, mostly because we just needed to prayer and find some strength. I started to pray and I was so exhausted I fell asleep, even though I was trying to pray really intently. When I woke up like 15 minutes later I was still in perfect prayer position, kneeling by the bed, lol. The 2nd half of our week was better, though.
Church on Sunday was so amazing!! Guess who spoke at church?? All three of the Militaru kids and Alex! Each one of them did such an amazing job. I was blown away and the Spirit was really strong. The Militaru's dad was there to watch them. I'm not sure what he thought or felt, but if that didn't touch him(each one of them bore testimony at the end) I don't know what will. We'll see. We're definitely praying a lot for them.
President Lundberg will be here on the 29th of this month. I probably will see him for the 1st time on the 16th of July when we have zone conference(which will be in Arad). Hmm, the Hakes will be here in Cluj for a while, at least as long as I would ever be here. So I'm happy for that. They are the best senior couple ever!
Yeah, summer is here, but it hasn't felt like it recently. It's been pretty rainy for the last couple weeks. The rain just picked up a few minutes ago.Maybe we're not going to make that movie today after all. I don't the work is really any harder at any time of the year than it is at another, with the exception of right around Christmas and Easter. In the summer, because it's lighter longer, we can be in the blocs longer, but in the winter people get mad if it's past 8, or even 7. I am excited for this transfer. We are striving for a lot of success. One of the things that we have started doing as a companionship is an obedience list. We're trying to find things that we aren't perfectly obedient at, then adding them to the list and obeying them. I'm really excited about it and feel that a lot of power and blessings will come from it(D&C 130: 21).
Well, I should probably head out. I hope you guys have a great week and get adjusted to your summer schedules. I love you!!
Elder Ross
p.s. we picked some cherries as part of a branch activity. There are cherry trees at the land where the future capela will be built. Anyway, I tried making cherry bread and it was soo good! Just thought I should brag about that. See ya!
To be honest, I didn't realize that Father's Day was coming up until a few days ago. It doesn't exist here. The closest thing is Ziua Barbatului, literally Man's Day, lol. Anyway, it sounds like you had a great day, Dad. You are an incredible guy and I'm super grateful that you are my father and that you raised me and in such a caring and loving way. I'm sure I'll continue to look to you as my example for the rest of my life, especially when I have my own family. I love you.
I'm really glad to hear you guys loved the movie! Unfortunately, I don't know when we'll be able to send the 2nd half. The Hakes' computer got a nasty virus that Elder Bringhurst and I tried to help them bring down, but it hasn't been working. The computer is down and that's what we need to send it to you and also put subtitles on the 2nd half. Even if their computer loses all of the information, we have a copy on a DVD so eventually I will get it to you, I just don't know when. We are going to make another missionary movie this transfer. At least that is the hope.
Speaking of movies, I've been working on one that we are going to make today. This one isn't religious at all, but it should be funny. I guess the spark of movie-making desire came from Elder Bringhurst, because he's really into that. I don't know, I just wanted to spearhead my own little film. We'll see how it turns out. It'll take a few weeks for it to be all done, because of editing and the fact that I only have a little time one day a week. But then I'll send it to you.
We were just in Bucharest for 1 day. We took a train down Wednesday night and then one back Thursday night. Mission council was really good, but it was different than the other two I've had in that it seemed like we covered a lot less. A lot of good things still came out, but even more, I think Elder Bringhurst and I wrote more things from what the Spirit told us we could do for the upcoming transfer than from what people were saying. A huge chunk of it was spent trying to come with a standard of excellence. Most of the zone leaders(myself included) don't see the value in it, mostly because we've seen so many different ones come and go in our missions. After we discussed it a little bit, President Ashby said he was set on having one. At that point, I was ok with, like let's do it and then move on. But some others kept arguing against and the conversation was probably an hour and a half, two hours. At the end, there was a very impassionate throwing out of numbers and a standard was made, probably soon to be forgotten. It was kind of sad that President's last council was like that, but overall it was ok. At least we have some good direction to take to our district leaders( a lot of it like I said coming from the Spirit) and we'll get our zones pumped up for the transfer.
Our week was really rough at the start. Tuesday was one of the worst days in my whole mission. We bloc-kncoked for 7+ hours and we had one single lesson! It was really frustrating and I felt really tired. We got bunged a couple times, one of them when we took a member to a lesson. That's the worst! Towards the evening we went back home for a little bit, mostly because we just needed to prayer and find some strength. I started to pray and I was so exhausted I fell asleep, even though I was trying to pray really intently. When I woke up like 15 minutes later I was still in perfect prayer position, kneeling by the bed, lol. The 2nd half of our week was better, though.
Church on Sunday was so amazing!! Guess who spoke at church?? All three of the Militaru kids and Alex! Each one of them did such an amazing job. I was blown away and the Spirit was really strong. The Militaru's dad was there to watch them. I'm not sure what he thought or felt, but if that didn't touch him(each one of them bore testimony at the end) I don't know what will. We'll see. We're definitely praying a lot for them.
President Lundberg will be here on the 29th of this month. I probably will see him for the 1st time on the 16th of July when we have zone conference(which will be in Arad). Hmm, the Hakes will be here in Cluj for a while, at least as long as I would ever be here. So I'm happy for that. They are the best senior couple ever!
Yeah, summer is here, but it hasn't felt like it recently. It's been pretty rainy for the last couple weeks. The rain just picked up a few minutes ago.Maybe we're not going to make that movie today after all. I don't the work is really any harder at any time of the year than it is at another, with the exception of right around Christmas and Easter. In the summer, because it's lighter longer, we can be in the blocs longer, but in the winter people get mad if it's past 8, or even 7. I am excited for this transfer. We are striving for a lot of success. One of the things that we have started doing as a companionship is an obedience list. We're trying to find things that we aren't perfectly obedient at, then adding them to the list and obeying them. I'm really excited about it and feel that a lot of power and blessings will come from it(D&C 130: 21).
Well, I should probably head out. I hope you guys have a great week and get adjusted to your summer schedules. I love you!!
Elder Ross
p.s. we picked some cherries as part of a branch activity. There are cherry trees at the land where the future capela will be built. Anyway, I tried making cherry bread and it was soo good! Just thought I should brag about that. See ya!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Things are going great!
Hey Everyone Back Home!
Things are going great here. We received the transfer fax(that's how it will be from now on, not a phone call) last night. Elder Bringhurst and I are staying together! I'm so glad, especially that I get to stay in Cluj. Of course, I'm way glad to be with Elder Bringhurst again. It's going to be a great transfer. Both Sora Thompson and Elder De Guzman are transferred from the district and they are both going to Chisinau in Moldova. I'm way excited for them, it's a sweet place. Elder Smith will be Elder Divis' companion and he is a stud. He was in my zone when I was in Buch. Sora Runyan is getting a mini this transfer, a girl from Sector 2 in Buch. I don't know anything about her.
Out of Oradea, Elder Anderson and Sora Ertel are transferred, the former to Pitesti and the latter to Ploiesti. In Elder Anderson's place, Elder Eyre is getting a boboc. The sister heading up there is Sora Canon, who I know absolutely nothing about. In any case, I'm sure our zone is going to be way tight again.
The last week was pretty good. Not a ton of stuff that went on. We had a pretty good activity on Saturday. I sent you part of a film that Elder Bringhurst and I made to illustrate the importance of missionary work. It took a bit of planning and because of that, we didn't have quite as much time for contacting. But it was way worth it, because it seemed that the members really liked the activity, especially the movie, and they learned how to be better member missionaries.
This week we also made district lunch for everyone. It was a huge hit! My companion made enchiladas(super good!) and I made banana bread and then took leftover frosting from Sora Hake's carrot cake and put it on top. The district must have loved it, because they ate it all. To answer your question, no I don't really cook much at all, lol. I'm still a sandwich maker or sometimes eggs and sausage. We do eat at the Hakes twice a week and those are always great meals so I don't feel much need to eat anything extravagant the rest of the week.
Our investigators are doing well. The Militarus missed church because they had a few day fishing trip. Alex is doing really well, though. We had an awesome lesson with about testimonies and growing his and sharing it with his mom. We are probably going to give him a baptismal date the next time we go. His grandma is way sure that he is ready, too. And this last week the sisters had a lesson with Sora Pacurar and talked to her about maintaining love in the home and raising Alex in such a way. I can't remember if I told you, but in the past when we've gone over there, she would rip into Alex, telling him he always did this, or always compained about that. Anyway, the sisters' lesson made a huge difference!! It is incredible. She still told him when he could do things better, but she did it in such a better way and she built him up a lot more. It was so cool to me, the Spirit was amazingly strong. Alex is getting baptized for sure this transfer.
Thanks for the updates on all the many happenings this week. E and S are amazing for winning frogs. Congrats! You guys have to teach me when I get back. It's one of the goals I have, to become a lot more proficient when I get home. I love the piano, but we only have keyboards here, and of course, I don't really have much time even to practice on those. I'm almost back up to hymn level skills again, though. Jake, good work on everything, seminary, high school, singing, etc. You're a stud.
Yeah, I'm still working out every morning. I'm glad to hear that it is paying off. I feel like I'm getting a lot stronger, but it's hard to see my own progress. I've got to get in top shape for all the ladies when I get home.
Well, I don't have a ton of news this week. We're going to Buch on Thursday for mission council. It's weird because it will be the last time I see President and Sora Ashby. We wanted to fly down, but the tickets are too expensive if you don't either get lucky or buy them enough in advance. So it's the 9 hour train ride, instead of the 40-minute flight. What can you do. Well, have a great week everyone. I love you!
Elder Ross
Things are going great here. We received the transfer fax(that's how it will be from now on, not a phone call) last night. Elder Bringhurst and I are staying together! I'm so glad, especially that I get to stay in Cluj. Of course, I'm way glad to be with Elder Bringhurst again. It's going to be a great transfer. Both Sora Thompson and Elder De Guzman are transferred from the district and they are both going to Chisinau in Moldova. I'm way excited for them, it's a sweet place. Elder Smith will be Elder Divis' companion and he is a stud. He was in my zone when I was in Buch. Sora Runyan is getting a mini this transfer, a girl from Sector 2 in Buch. I don't know anything about her.
Out of Oradea, Elder Anderson and Sora Ertel are transferred, the former to Pitesti and the latter to Ploiesti. In Elder Anderson's place, Elder Eyre is getting a boboc. The sister heading up there is Sora Canon, who I know absolutely nothing about. In any case, I'm sure our zone is going to be way tight again.
The last week was pretty good. Not a ton of stuff that went on. We had a pretty good activity on Saturday. I sent you part of a film that Elder Bringhurst and I made to illustrate the importance of missionary work. It took a bit of planning and because of that, we didn't have quite as much time for contacting. But it was way worth it, because it seemed that the members really liked the activity, especially the movie, and they learned how to be better member missionaries.
This week we also made district lunch for everyone. It was a huge hit! My companion made enchiladas(super good!) and I made banana bread and then took leftover frosting from Sora Hake's carrot cake and put it on top. The district must have loved it, because they ate it all. To answer your question, no I don't really cook much at all, lol. I'm still a sandwich maker or sometimes eggs and sausage. We do eat at the Hakes twice a week and those are always great meals so I don't feel much need to eat anything extravagant the rest of the week.
Our investigators are doing well. The Militarus missed church because they had a few day fishing trip. Alex is doing really well, though. We had an awesome lesson with about testimonies and growing his and sharing it with his mom. We are probably going to give him a baptismal date the next time we go. His grandma is way sure that he is ready, too. And this last week the sisters had a lesson with Sora Pacurar and talked to her about maintaining love in the home and raising Alex in such a way. I can't remember if I told you, but in the past when we've gone over there, she would rip into Alex, telling him he always did this, or always compained about that. Anyway, the sisters' lesson made a huge difference!! It is incredible. She still told him when he could do things better, but she did it in such a better way and she built him up a lot more. It was so cool to me, the Spirit was amazingly strong. Alex is getting baptized for sure this transfer.
Thanks for the updates on all the many happenings this week. E and S are amazing for winning frogs. Congrats! You guys have to teach me when I get back. It's one of the goals I have, to become a lot more proficient when I get home. I love the piano, but we only have keyboards here, and of course, I don't really have much time even to practice on those. I'm almost back up to hymn level skills again, though. Jake, good work on everything, seminary, high school, singing, etc. You're a stud.
Yeah, I'm still working out every morning. I'm glad to hear that it is paying off. I feel like I'm getting a lot stronger, but it's hard to see my own progress. I've got to get in top shape for all the ladies when I get home.
Well, I don't have a ton of news this week. We're going to Buch on Thursday for mission council. It's weird because it will be the last time I see President and Sora Ashby. We wanted to fly down, but the tickets are too expensive if you don't either get lucky or buy them enough in advance. So it's the 9 hour train ride, instead of the 40-minute flight. What can you do. Well, have a great week everyone. I love you!
Elder Ross
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Busy week here
Hey Everyone!!
Wow, I can't believe how busy your lives are! Especially yours, J. Nice job on the scripture mastery, by the way. I hope you guys have a great week finishing everything off and maybe even getting a little time to rest afterwards. Maybe? It's crazy to believe that the school year is finished and during next school year, I get back.
My week was pretty busy, too. We had a lot of things to get done that weren't necessarily missionary work, at least missionary teaching. For example, we spent just about a whole morning trying to find tortillas for Sora Runyan's birthday lunch that the Hakes threw for her(she turned 22). Well, we didn't even find them, which was lame. We lost more time because the AP's asked us to go to the autogara(bus and maxi-taxi station) to check times for traveling to Sibiu to see if we could get Sibiu in our zone next transfer. There are frequent buses and it's fairly cheap, but we found out later there was a kink in the logistics in one of the other cities, so the Transilvania zone will probably remain the smallest zone in the mission. And then on Wednesday, the sisters and us had exchanges with the sisters and two of the elders in Oradea. We got to the gara and I went to pull out my zone funds from the ATM...and they weren't in yet. They were supposed to be in a few days earlier, but it didn't happen somehow. So we didn't have money to get tickets for our train. We grabbed a taxi, hoping to make it home, grab my personal money and make it back in time to make the train. Well, we thought we did, but it turned out to be a train to Oradea that left 20 minutes later and arrived in Oradea 2 hours later! It was a personal train, meaning it stops at every little village or crossways even. So by the time we got there we couldn't really get back to Cluj in time to do any missionary work, so all of us stayed in Oradea. I was with Elder Eyre and even though we had two lessons to go to, we got bunged on both of them, so we contacted the whole day. It was actually pretty fun. We even villa knocked, which is basically knocking on houses. The first time in my mission, but it was sweet. Kinda felt like a states-side missionary.
Anyway, moral of the story, we were busy, but we made it all the way to thursday afternoon having only one lesson on the week(since we were in Oradea, they got all the lessons because it's their area). After that, though, we got a lot more and had a really solid end to our week. Church was amazing on Sunday, something like 57 people! I think that's what Sora Hakes said. There were a few visitors, like one RM and his gorgeous wife(that's why you work hard ; ) ), and also a daughter of one of our members here and her fiance came. They both live in the States. It was cool to have our vila so crowded, even if there were only 7 total investigators there, five of them ours; the Militarus and Alex.
We had another bloc-knocking member exchange and it was good. I went with Cosmin and unfortunately we only had one lesson and it was with a blind man, lol. Calin and my companion got 5, though! At least it gave Cosmin a greater appreciation for missionary work. He kept saying he couldn't believe how hard it is, and how much no one wants to listen.
Alex is doing really well. He is a sweet kid. I think he will call his mom next week or soon after that in any case. Our next lesson we are going to talk about how he can share his testimony with his mom and how he can talk to her on the phone helping her to understand how important it is to him. Alex's grandma is a great lady, she is always willing to go with us on lessons. Yeah, since she became a member or before, when she was an investigator, she just took Alex with her, since she is in charge of him and they live together. Unfortunately, sometimes she is really harsh with him and puts him down and tells him he does certain things badly. The sisters teach her sometimes while Alex is at school so they are going to teach her about raising kids in a loving, constructive atmosphere.
Cosmin's friend, Bogdan, went to FHE this last week, but he didn't come to church yesterday. I talked to Cosmin and he said he will tell us when we can help. The two ladies we met are just really busy. One of them bunged us. She said she would like to go to church with us and so we set up to go with her, since we live close. We got to her apartment and rang at the interphone. No answer. So we called her and she answered and said she didn't want to go today, but that we go by later that night. We didn't, because I hate visiting people on Sunday that didn't come to church. It shows that it was ok that they didn't come. We'll see what happens.
This morning the whole district went on a big hike. We took a bus to this canyon outside of Turda, which a smaller city outside of Cluj. We hiked around for a while, took some pics, stopped and had lunch, explored a cave, crossed some cool bridges and came back. It was a fun adventure. I'll try to remember to put up pictures next week. Btw, next week we'll know who is transferred. I can't believe that! I really, really hope I stay. I'll be way sad if I don't. We'll see. It'll be different without transfer meeting, but we'll make everything work out.
Yeah, I think my clothes and shoes are doing all right. The insides of my shoes are pretty worn, but I just got some new insoles and put them in. That helps a lot. I think I'm alright on the clothing department. The only thing is that I still want to come home with a bling, european-tailored suit. I've put aside enough from the money I accidentally took out last month, so that is going to happen. : ) I'll let you know if I need anything. I'm really happy with how everything has held up, especially garments. My suit is a bit tattered at parts, but that's ok, that's what makes it look like I worked hard. It gives it class.
Well, I'm going to bounce. I hope you guys have a great week and I'm sure it will fly by, because of how busy you will be. Oh, and J, good luck on your multiple singing appearances. You'll tear it up. I love you all!
Elder Ross
Wow, I can't believe how busy your lives are! Especially yours, J. Nice job on the scripture mastery, by the way. I hope you guys have a great week finishing everything off and maybe even getting a little time to rest afterwards. Maybe? It's crazy to believe that the school year is finished and during next school year, I get back.
My week was pretty busy, too. We had a lot of things to get done that weren't necessarily missionary work, at least missionary teaching. For example, we spent just about a whole morning trying to find tortillas for Sora Runyan's birthday lunch that the Hakes threw for her(she turned 22). Well, we didn't even find them, which was lame. We lost more time because the AP's asked us to go to the autogara(bus and maxi-taxi station) to check times for traveling to Sibiu to see if we could get Sibiu in our zone next transfer. There are frequent buses and it's fairly cheap, but we found out later there was a kink in the logistics in one of the other cities, so the Transilvania zone will probably remain the smallest zone in the mission. And then on Wednesday, the sisters and us had exchanges with the sisters and two of the elders in Oradea. We got to the gara and I went to pull out my zone funds from the ATM...and they weren't in yet. They were supposed to be in a few days earlier, but it didn't happen somehow. So we didn't have money to get tickets for our train. We grabbed a taxi, hoping to make it home, grab my personal money and make it back in time to make the train. Well, we thought we did, but it turned out to be a train to Oradea that left 20 minutes later and arrived in Oradea 2 hours later! It was a personal train, meaning it stops at every little village or crossways even. So by the time we got there we couldn't really get back to Cluj in time to do any missionary work, so all of us stayed in Oradea. I was with Elder Eyre and even though we had two lessons to go to, we got bunged on both of them, so we contacted the whole day. It was actually pretty fun. We even villa knocked, which is basically knocking on houses. The first time in my mission, but it was sweet. Kinda felt like a states-side missionary.
Anyway, moral of the story, we were busy, but we made it all the way to thursday afternoon having only one lesson on the week(since we were in Oradea, they got all the lessons because it's their area). After that, though, we got a lot more and had a really solid end to our week. Church was amazing on Sunday, something like 57 people! I think that's what Sora Hakes said. There were a few visitors, like one RM and his gorgeous wife(that's why you work hard ; ) ), and also a daughter of one of our members here and her fiance came. They both live in the States. It was cool to have our vila so crowded, even if there were only 7 total investigators there, five of them ours; the Militarus and Alex.
We had another bloc-knocking member exchange and it was good. I went with Cosmin and unfortunately we only had one lesson and it was with a blind man, lol. Calin and my companion got 5, though! At least it gave Cosmin a greater appreciation for missionary work. He kept saying he couldn't believe how hard it is, and how much no one wants to listen.
Alex is doing really well. He is a sweet kid. I think he will call his mom next week or soon after that in any case. Our next lesson we are going to talk about how he can share his testimony with his mom and how he can talk to her on the phone helping her to understand how important it is to him. Alex's grandma is a great lady, she is always willing to go with us on lessons. Yeah, since she became a member or before, when she was an investigator, she just took Alex with her, since she is in charge of him and they live together. Unfortunately, sometimes she is really harsh with him and puts him down and tells him he does certain things badly. The sisters teach her sometimes while Alex is at school so they are going to teach her about raising kids in a loving, constructive atmosphere.
Cosmin's friend, Bogdan, went to FHE this last week, but he didn't come to church yesterday. I talked to Cosmin and he said he will tell us when we can help. The two ladies we met are just really busy. One of them bunged us. She said she would like to go to church with us and so we set up to go with her, since we live close. We got to her apartment and rang at the interphone. No answer. So we called her and she answered and said she didn't want to go today, but that we go by later that night. We didn't, because I hate visiting people on Sunday that didn't come to church. It shows that it was ok that they didn't come. We'll see what happens.
This morning the whole district went on a big hike. We took a bus to this canyon outside of Turda, which a smaller city outside of Cluj. We hiked around for a while, took some pics, stopped and had lunch, explored a cave, crossed some cool bridges and came back. It was a fun adventure. I'll try to remember to put up pictures next week. Btw, next week we'll know who is transferred. I can't believe that! I really, really hope I stay. I'll be way sad if I don't. We'll see. It'll be different without transfer meeting, but we'll make everything work out.
Yeah, I think my clothes and shoes are doing all right. The insides of my shoes are pretty worn, but I just got some new insoles and put them in. That helps a lot. I think I'm alright on the clothing department. The only thing is that I still want to come home with a bling, european-tailored suit. I've put aside enough from the money I accidentally took out last month, so that is going to happen. : ) I'll let you know if I need anything. I'm really happy with how everything has held up, especially garments. My suit is a bit tattered at parts, but that's ok, that's what makes it look like I worked hard. It gives it class.
Well, I'm going to bounce. I hope you guys have a great week and I'm sure it will fly by, because of how busy you will be. Oh, and J, good luck on your multiple singing appearances. You'll tear it up. I love you all!
Elder Ross
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