Hey Everyone!!
It was a pretty busy week. I spent a day and a half in Orhei with Elder Zemp, then came and spent a day in a threesome with both Elder Zemp and Elder Anderson. We did some service and then had a cool lesson with a investigator girl of the sisters(since they were in Bucharest for several days) that got baptized this last Sunday. Thursday all of our companions came in and, to be completely honest, I wasn't super excited. They're not the usual type of super cool missionaries they send to Moldova. I didn't know my companion before, so I asked everyone and they were all kind of hesitant in responding. I was kind of worried, but it has been pretty good actually.
The companion's name is Elder Woodard and he's from Medford, Oregon. He's in his 7th transfer so the same group as Elder Zemp. He's a smaller guy and not super outgoing, so that's a big change from Elder Hale. We're getting along pretty well so far. I don't think we'll be best friends, but we'll have a healthy, working companionship. :) I'm not sure what else to tell you about him. The others... Elder Zemp is with Elder Thompson(a companionship of Canadians), and Elder Anderson is with Elder Richey, the DL(two utahans). Sora Lovell is training and not enjoying it. Haha, I'm not sure why yet, I haven't really met her boboaca. It's definitely a completely different district.
Friday, we went to Rezina and met with all four of the girls there. One worry I had was that they wouldn't get along well with my new companion, but they did and it was all really good. He taught well, too, I was pretty impressed. Alina is doing so good!! All she wants to do now is be a missionary and bring all her friends to us to be taught. So we talked about that with her and hope it will be happening soon. She said she has even been thinking about two boys :) After the lesson, Irina made us all placinte( a cheese pastry type thing) which were super good.
Sunday was a pretty good day, though I was pretty nervous about it. I had to conduct, confirm Alina a member and give her the gift of the Holy Ghost(my 1st time doing that), bless the bread and water, and then teach Sunday School on the spot with zero preparation. It was great fun. It all went pretty well, though. And Stela came! That was super cool. She talked to her parents and they said she could come to church. She has been progressing super well and I could see her being the first to follow Alina. Irina is doing well, too, but her mom is pretty against us right now. And Mariana isn't doing super good with her commitments; reading or coming to church. We'll see.
As far as the waitresses...it's hard to tell how interested they really are. With Sveta, she works 3 days on, then 1 off, continuously, so she is really tired and has a lot to do on that free day, and she always forgets her phone at home(I talked to her sister, though, who was super nice). We didn't meet with her at all this last week. We met with Liuda(Elder Zemp and I) at Dolce Vita, so we weren't able to have a prayer, but we talked about the Church for over an hour. She said she would start reading the Book of Mormon. We were going to meet on Saturday, too, but she had a ton to do, even had to fill for someone at work for a while. Hopefully, Tuesday or Wednesday we'll meet with her again.
I liked what you were saying, Dad, about having the zone leaders over and having that lesson in the home. I've probably mentioned it before, but one of the greatest needs I've begun to feel since being a missionary, is how much member missionary work I should(and can) do after I get home. That's one reason I am even more interested in international relations. If I lived in a place like Moldova or Romania as a normal person, I feel I could do tons! And really help the Church grow in smaller places. I guess time will tell. The Lord will lead me. In any case, yes! Member missionary work is incredible. And it's so needed.
Great question about where to give my "homecoming" talk....I think I would love to give it in the (old) Ward, actually. That way, everyone that helped me throughout the years can be there.
Ok, well I am going to go now. I am always grateful to be able to write this email. Not only to tell you guys what's going on, but makes me more aware as I review things and pumps me up for the work. You guys are great. I love you tons! Have an awesome week! --Elder Ross
p.s.op! I almost forgot. Yes, I've started to have a suit be made for me and in total it will cost about 150$(this is the max, maybe less). Not bad for a suit tailored perfectly to my body! I'm going to the lady that is making it today and if it's done and I pay her, then I will need to pull money out. I still have about 100$ in romanian RON but the exchange rate is bad, so I will wait til I'm in Romania again to use it(Maybe get gifts for you all :) ) ok, just giving you a heads up.
Bye!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Flight Plans
Hi!
This am we received an email regarding Elder Ross' flight plans. He will arrive home just before Christmas! He might not be worth much for the first few days -- his flight is about 24 hours.
This am we received an email regarding Elder Ross' flight plans. He will arrive home just before Christmas! He might not be worth much for the first few days -- his flight is about 24 hours.
English classes, transfers . . . and a baptism!
Hey Everyone!
Well, this week was pretty crazy busy, but very worth it! We went to Chisinau twice, we went to Rezina twice, we had English classes and getting ready for transfers.....and a baptism!!! Alina got baptized yesterday and it all came together so quickly. The end of last week and the beginning of this week we were talking to her a lot about talking to her parents. She wasn't doing it. Then on Monday, Janyela was talking to her and decided she wanted to talk to Alina's mom, too. She talked to her and basically said the Church just wants to make people better and that Alina should be allowed to do what she feels is right. Alina's mom said....of course, why wouldn't I let her, it's her decision. When Elder Hale heard that he flipped out a little bit and threw his camera down and broke it. It was frustrating that all Alina had to do was to say, Mom I want to get baptized, and it would have been ok, but she wasn't doing it.
So Elder Hale came up with a plan(of course we both talked about it) that she was going to get baptized that week. We talked to her and told her we'd be up on Wednesday to talk about it and then on Friday we'd be up with Elder Rigdon and he'd do the interview. And that's exactly how it happened, she talked to both her parents and they accepted it. I also talked to her mom a little bit on the phone and she was really cool. President Carausenco did the baptism(her choice and a good one, I love it when the members are more involved), Tatiana and Janyela spoke and all three of the other girls were there, too, to support and encourage her. It was incredible!! Because we don't have a font in Orhei, we had sacrament meeting there and then we all took a maxitaxi up to Chisinau and had the baptism there, at about 2pm. It was super cool. I talked to the other girls from Rezina(Irina, Stela and Mariana) and they liked it a lot. I'm excited for all of them, because they are progressing really well. Next transfer will be great.
On Wednesday morning, before we went to Rezina, we met with Sveta, one of our favorite waitresses. We went to the church and there we gave her some pictures from Orhei Vechi and then I gave her a Book of Mormon that I had written my testimony in. After that, she said she wanted to have a lesson then and to learn more about the Church. Alright, that's our cue :) So we had a really cool lesson with her and she was really attentive. She even prayed at the end. It was sweet. Later in the week, we were talking with Liuda and we found out that Sveta has two kids!! That one threw me off guard. She does not look like it. I don't know too much about the situation. She's not married (btw, she's 23), she might have a boyfriend but he's not the father. I don't know, but I want to meet her whole family. She lives with her mom and a sister. Let's teach them all. : ) I really want to teach her about the family proclamation. Today is her day off, so we'll try tonight. Fingers crossed.
Saturday night we talked to the other favorite waitress of ours, Liuda, but we didn't have a full lesson like we did with Sveta. We gave her pictures and Elder Hale gave her a Book of Mormon that he had written his testimony in. She had gifts for us, too. We each got a big, framed picture of her! Haha, it made me laugh pretty hard. Then she gave Elder Hale a mug, because he often gets a tea at Dolce Vita. It just happened to have a picture of a couple kissing on it, lol. She is a good girl. I think we'll try to meet with her tomorrow, her day off.
Oh, I forgot to tell you. Transfers....well, super predictable, I am staying! Of course Elder Hale is out because his 90 days in the country run out soon. Same with Sora Jensen, and Elder Flanary, who is going home in two days. My companion for a couple of days is Elder Zemp. Tonight we'll go down to Orhei and then Wednesday morning we'll come back and we'll be in a threesome with Elder Anderson. Tuesday night we'll do English in Orhei, and Elder Anderson will be with a member doing the classes here in Chisinau. Thursday my new companion, whoever it is, will get here in Chisinau. It'll be a pretty crazy week, but then so is every week for the Orhei elders.
No, the sisters don't teach any of our girls. It would be way too hard for them to travel here all the time, especially because they have plenty of work in Chisinau. It's a good thing, too, because then I'd be left with no one. All of our investigators right now are girls, though we have a couple of potentials that are guys. I really enjoy teaching girls. I haven't really done it since Iasi, but they are more open a lot of times and I think just easier to teach. I guess I've always gotten along better with girls, though. Speaking of which, the sisters were doing life predictions and part of that includes how long it will take us to get our first kiss when we get back. For me, they said I will kiss a girl on Christmas!! Not bad, I say. Two days after I get home.
I don't know about travel plans. I just called the office, but Sora Nelson wasn't in and she usually knows about that. I will call her later today and make sure it is taken care of. Yeah, after this next transfer, for my last 4 weeks, I will be in Romania. That will be interesting. We'll see where I go and with who when I get there.
Well, I am really excited to have another great transfer here in Moldove and especially in Orhei. I have really fallen in love everyone here and I'm pretty sure it will be harder for me to leave Moldova than when I leave my mission 4 weeks later. Well, I should go. I love you all and hope you have an incredible week! You are in my prayers.
Elder Ross
Well, this week was pretty crazy busy, but very worth it! We went to Chisinau twice, we went to Rezina twice, we had English classes and getting ready for transfers.....and a baptism!!! Alina got baptized yesterday and it all came together so quickly. The end of last week and the beginning of this week we were talking to her a lot about talking to her parents. She wasn't doing it. Then on Monday, Janyela was talking to her and decided she wanted to talk to Alina's mom, too. She talked to her and basically said the Church just wants to make people better and that Alina should be allowed to do what she feels is right. Alina's mom said....of course, why wouldn't I let her, it's her decision. When Elder Hale heard that he flipped out a little bit and threw his camera down and broke it. It was frustrating that all Alina had to do was to say, Mom I want to get baptized, and it would have been ok, but she wasn't doing it.
So Elder Hale came up with a plan(of course we both talked about it) that she was going to get baptized that week. We talked to her and told her we'd be up on Wednesday to talk about it and then on Friday we'd be up with Elder Rigdon and he'd do the interview. And that's exactly how it happened, she talked to both her parents and they accepted it. I also talked to her mom a little bit on the phone and she was really cool. President Carausenco did the baptism(her choice and a good one, I love it when the members are more involved), Tatiana and Janyela spoke and all three of the other girls were there, too, to support and encourage her. It was incredible!! Because we don't have a font in Orhei, we had sacrament meeting there and then we all took a maxitaxi up to Chisinau and had the baptism there, at about 2pm. It was super cool. I talked to the other girls from Rezina(Irina, Stela and Mariana) and they liked it a lot. I'm excited for all of them, because they are progressing really well. Next transfer will be great.
On Wednesday morning, before we went to Rezina, we met with Sveta, one of our favorite waitresses. We went to the church and there we gave her some pictures from Orhei Vechi and then I gave her a Book of Mormon that I had written my testimony in. After that, she said she wanted to have a lesson then and to learn more about the Church. Alright, that's our cue :) So we had a really cool lesson with her and she was really attentive. She even prayed at the end. It was sweet. Later in the week, we were talking with Liuda and we found out that Sveta has two kids!! That one threw me off guard. She does not look like it. I don't know too much about the situation. She's not married (btw, she's 23), she might have a boyfriend but he's not the father. I don't know, but I want to meet her whole family. She lives with her mom and a sister. Let's teach them all. : ) I really want to teach her about the family proclamation. Today is her day off, so we'll try tonight. Fingers crossed.
Saturday night we talked to the other favorite waitress of ours, Liuda, but we didn't have a full lesson like we did with Sveta. We gave her pictures and Elder Hale gave her a Book of Mormon that he had written his testimony in. She had gifts for us, too. We each got a big, framed picture of her! Haha, it made me laugh pretty hard. Then she gave Elder Hale a mug, because he often gets a tea at Dolce Vita. It just happened to have a picture of a couple kissing on it, lol. She is a good girl. I think we'll try to meet with her tomorrow, her day off.
Oh, I forgot to tell you. Transfers....well, super predictable, I am staying! Of course Elder Hale is out because his 90 days in the country run out soon. Same with Sora Jensen, and Elder Flanary, who is going home in two days. My companion for a couple of days is Elder Zemp. Tonight we'll go down to Orhei and then Wednesday morning we'll come back and we'll be in a threesome with Elder Anderson. Tuesday night we'll do English in Orhei, and Elder Anderson will be with a member doing the classes here in Chisinau. Thursday my new companion, whoever it is, will get here in Chisinau. It'll be a pretty crazy week, but then so is every week for the Orhei elders.
No, the sisters don't teach any of our girls. It would be way too hard for them to travel here all the time, especially because they have plenty of work in Chisinau. It's a good thing, too, because then I'd be left with no one. All of our investigators right now are girls, though we have a couple of potentials that are guys. I really enjoy teaching girls. I haven't really done it since Iasi, but they are more open a lot of times and I think just easier to teach. I guess I've always gotten along better with girls, though. Speaking of which, the sisters were doing life predictions and part of that includes how long it will take us to get our first kiss when we get back. For me, they said I will kiss a girl on Christmas!! Not bad, I say. Two days after I get home.
I don't know about travel plans. I just called the office, but Sora Nelson wasn't in and she usually knows about that. I will call her later today and make sure it is taken care of. Yeah, after this next transfer, for my last 4 weeks, I will be in Romania. That will be interesting. We'll see where I go and with who when I get there.
Well, I am really excited to have another great transfer here in Moldove and especially in Orhei. I have really fallen in love everyone here and I'm pretty sure it will be harder for me to leave Moldova than when I leave my mission 4 weeks later. Well, I should go. I love you all and hope you have an incredible week! You are in my prayers.
Elder Ross
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
A Super P-Day . . . and interested investigators
Dear Great People Back Home!
This week was a pretty full one, especially today. We did a lot and we had a super good P-day. The weather has turned a little bit warmer again, too, which is nice. The transfer is almost over and next week I'm sure I will just be telling you that my companion is transferred, I am staying and the rest of that stuff. Moldova is predictable like that with the transfers.
I'll tell you about today first since it is the freshest on my mind. Today the whole district went to Orhei Vechi, a monastery, a cool hike, some cool caves and a church. It was super fun. Elder Hale and I took our favorite two waitresses from Dolce Vita, Sveta and Liuda, lol. We were talking to Sveta Friday night and it came up somehow. We casually asked her about it, not really thinking she would be able to, but she was pretty excited about it and talked to Liuda, and they decided to come with us. So it was us 8 missionaries, Sveta and Liuda, and Janyela(the sisters' investigator that got baptized yesterday. It was a blast and I took a lot of pictures. Afterwards we went to Dolce Vita and Sveta was actually supposed to be working today so she started and was our waitress. She got someone to cover her until then just so she could come with us.
Later night there is a birthday party for Janyela and Elder Zemp so we came up to Chisinau and that's where we are right now. The party is pretty soon but hopefully I get a lot written to you guys.
Yesterday was a super good day, too. Even there there were only 16 of us at church in Orhei, it was ok, because Alina and Mariana were at church in Chisinau. They went there to see the baptism. Janyela had a really similar situation with her parents as does Alina and so she has talked to Alina a couple times and Alina was super excited to see the baptism. I think it has really pumped her up for her own, which will hopefully come soon. An actual date is still pending. Even Irina really wanted to go, but her mom forbid her. So the situation with her has changed. Now she really wants to learn more and to come to church, but her mom is against and is holding her back. We'll see what happens.
Elder Hale and I went up to Chisinau last night to watch a session of conference. They get it live there so I saw the Sunday morning session. I won't lie, some of the translators are horrible, something that I didn't really notice as much before. It was actually painful at times. But for President Monson at the end, a Romanian was translating and so I understood that one perfectly. It was a good session and I look forward to reading the rest of them.
Our Rezina trip to our 4 girls was good as always. This time, again, we didn't have anywhere to meet and so after playing basketball with the girls for a little bit, we talked on a bench. They are all doing well and are all progressing, all 4 of them. It's really cool to watch. We came up with a plan for Alina to talk to her parents. She was going to pray, read 2 Nephi 4(her favorite chapter), pray, call Janyela and get pumped up, pray and go talk to her parents about baptism. One flaw, she followed the steps but when she called Janyela, they talked on the phone too long and then it was too late for Alina to talk to her parents. .....Girls....Hopefully she talked to her mom last night. I need to call her later.
English is going well. We still have about 15-20 people in all of our classes. Every Saturday at 2pm we have an activity. It's right after one of our English classes and this Saturday, about 10 investigators stayed for the first part of it and the spirtual thought. After that, a lot of people had to leave, but two girls stayed and played more games with us and two member girls for probably almost 2 more hours. It was cool. Though one of the girls was super flirty and wanted us. Oh well, what can you do.
We don't really have any new investigators yet, but one guy that stayed a little bit for our activity, said he is really interested in religion and that he likes to learn more about what our purpose is in life and where we come from and so on. I think I know where he might be able to find some of those answers, lol. I gave him a Book of Mormon and a POS pamphlet but he didn't really have time to talk. We'll try calling him and meeting with him before class.
Well, that is the update from the beautiful Republic of Moldova. I will talk to you guys more next week and know that I love you. Have an incredibly awesome week!
--Elder Ross
PS Oh! And Liuda and I think Sveta, too, though for sure Liuda is interested in knowing about the Church. It is our goal this week to give both of them Books of Mormon. I am really excited. It will be super cool! Talk to you later. Ross
This week was a pretty full one, especially today. We did a lot and we had a super good P-day. The weather has turned a little bit warmer again, too, which is nice. The transfer is almost over and next week I'm sure I will just be telling you that my companion is transferred, I am staying and the rest of that stuff. Moldova is predictable like that with the transfers.
I'll tell you about today first since it is the freshest on my mind. Today the whole district went to Orhei Vechi, a monastery, a cool hike, some cool caves and a church. It was super fun. Elder Hale and I took our favorite two waitresses from Dolce Vita, Sveta and Liuda, lol. We were talking to Sveta Friday night and it came up somehow. We casually asked her about it, not really thinking she would be able to, but she was pretty excited about it and talked to Liuda, and they decided to come with us. So it was us 8 missionaries, Sveta and Liuda, and Janyela(the sisters' investigator that got baptized yesterday. It was a blast and I took a lot of pictures. Afterwards we went to Dolce Vita and Sveta was actually supposed to be working today so she started and was our waitress. She got someone to cover her until then just so she could come with us.
Later night there is a birthday party for Janyela and Elder Zemp so we came up to Chisinau and that's where we are right now. The party is pretty soon but hopefully I get a lot written to you guys.
Yesterday was a super good day, too. Even there there were only 16 of us at church in Orhei, it was ok, because Alina and Mariana were at church in Chisinau. They went there to see the baptism. Janyela had a really similar situation with her parents as does Alina and so she has talked to Alina a couple times and Alina was super excited to see the baptism. I think it has really pumped her up for her own, which will hopefully come soon. An actual date is still pending. Even Irina really wanted to go, but her mom forbid her. So the situation with her has changed. Now she really wants to learn more and to come to church, but her mom is against and is holding her back. We'll see what happens.
Elder Hale and I went up to Chisinau last night to watch a session of conference. They get it live there so I saw the Sunday morning session. I won't lie, some of the translators are horrible, something that I didn't really notice as much before. It was actually painful at times. But for President Monson at the end, a Romanian was translating and so I understood that one perfectly. It was a good session and I look forward to reading the rest of them.
Our Rezina trip to our 4 girls was good as always. This time, again, we didn't have anywhere to meet and so after playing basketball with the girls for a little bit, we talked on a bench. They are all doing well and are all progressing, all 4 of them. It's really cool to watch. We came up with a plan for Alina to talk to her parents. She was going to pray, read 2 Nephi 4(her favorite chapter), pray, call Janyela and get pumped up, pray and go talk to her parents about baptism. One flaw, she followed the steps but when she called Janyela, they talked on the phone too long and then it was too late for Alina to talk to her parents. .....Girls....Hopefully she talked to her mom last night. I need to call her later.
English is going well. We still have about 15-20 people in all of our classes. Every Saturday at 2pm we have an activity. It's right after one of our English classes and this Saturday, about 10 investigators stayed for the first part of it and the spirtual thought. After that, a lot of people had to leave, but two girls stayed and played more games with us and two member girls for probably almost 2 more hours. It was cool. Though one of the girls was super flirty and wanted us. Oh well, what can you do.
We don't really have any new investigators yet, but one guy that stayed a little bit for our activity, said he is really interested in religion and that he likes to learn more about what our purpose is in life and where we come from and so on. I think I know where he might be able to find some of those answers, lol. I gave him a Book of Mormon and a POS pamphlet but he didn't really have time to talk. We'll try calling him and meeting with him before class.
Well, that is the update from the beautiful Republic of Moldova. I will talk to you guys more next week and know that I love you. Have an incredibly awesome week!
--Elder Ross
PS Oh! And Liuda and I think Sveta, too, though for sure Liuda is interested in knowing about the Church. It is our goal this week to give both of them Books of Mormon. I am really excited. It will be super cool! Talk to you later. Ross
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