All Together Again

After many stops and stalls, Elder Ross arrived at the airport at 10:20 pm. The family had its own struggles traveling the snowy roads to the airport, at one point sliding off the road into a snowbank. Thanks to a couple of good Samaritians, we were able to get pulled out and own our way.

Here we are together!

A Mother's Note

For weeks, even months, our family has been waiting for this day . . .at least we hope its this day that Ross comes home. Its been a nail-biter wondering if the Portland weather will cooperate and allow his plane to fly in.

We have had a slam of snow and ice storms for the past 11 days. It was supposed to be warmer by now . . . I have monitored the Atlanta flight Ross is taking today. On Sunday night, it was diverted to Boise, then landed four hours late - in the early morning hours. Yesterday's flight was canceled. Many prayers have been said, not only for our missionary but for all the holiday travelers who are having their holiday plans altered.

Before I went to bed last night, I checked on his original flight out of Romania. I couldn't go to sleep until I knew he was in the air - the plane left 115 minutes late. Yikes! We think he made his Paris connection.

Now for the final leg of his journey, the flight has been delayed, first for 30, then 50 minutes. They should be lifting off momentarily - fingers crossed.

What a crazy adventure - and yet we are so grateful for Ross' service. We know it has blessed him as well as his family.

Snow Storm

What a week! A snow storm canceled church on Sunday giving us a wonderful family day. With the cold weather, the temperatures didn't allow any mealting so school were canceled due to icy roads on Monday and Tuesday. Once you hit the main roads you were okay; but the side streets, including ours, made it difficult driving.

I had appointments spread throughout the week, which have slowly been canceled. On Monday, I needed to get out of the neighborhood so I ran to the post office (to mail a packet to a client) and get copies for our Christmas letter.

The road conditions this morning are good. The little boys and I drove Clarissa to the airport at 5:30 am. However school was canceled once again because of a snow/ice storm due in by mid-day. So we are snuggled in the house today. In fact, when we got back from the airport, I went back to bed to read and sleep a little more. I have been busy juggling so many things, it feels like my body is in overdrive and needs to settle down.

We had been watching the weather reports and worrying about the predicted storm coming in at the time Jake and friend Adam were planning on driving home. Yesterday morning, Garn said, "I have a crazy idea. What do you think about my driving to get the boys?" (Its a good thing he likes to drive.) Garn would take our Honda Pilot which has After looking at the weather reports, I suggested he drive to Boise and meet the boys there.

Because of the storm coming in, Garn along with Serena and Autumn, left last night so they could beat the storm arriving today. Hopefully, it will be favorable conditions by the time they come.

Last email?

Hey Great People!

This is the LAST email of my entire mission!! Craziness! And I can see why you saved all those questions for last, Mom. Haha, they make me excited to be home. I definitely have mixed feelings about leaving the mission, but I am a lot more ready now than I was a month ago. Things aren't as pleasant here in Bucharest. The other day, two active members were talking about a member from Moldova and were saying things about she's ugly, gross(she's not either in the least), actually much worse language and then they started gossiping about her and her boyfriend. I was pretty infuriated, there are a lot of problems here with gossip and also pride. Of course, there are also super stellar members as well, just more rare.

The work here right now, sadly, isn't going all that great right now. We moved Iulian's date to next Sunday and had a couple of good lessons with him, talking about sacrifice and all the things required of members. We set as a qualifier for his baptism to come to church yesterday with a white shirt and tie. He didn't even come, so he no longer has a baptismal date. The girls, Ela and Daniela, don't seem too interested. It seems they like the social part of the lesson more than the actual Gospel. But probably the hardest thing, the one that makes me the most sad is that Vica in Orhei didn't get baptized. Her dad decided that she shouldn't do it and even though he really dislikes churches and priests, he expressed his pride that he inherited the Orthodox church from his ancestors. He actually succeeded in convincing her of the same and she no longer wants to be baptized either. It saddens me soo much that something so off is being chosen. I mean they know the Orthodox church is not true, but right now the tradition is more important than drawing closer to the Living God. If only she knew the blessings that will come when she's baptized. She's felt the Spirit and she can feel it even more if she follows the Savior's teachings. I think she will realize it eventually, I just hope it's soon. I wrote her, urging her to pray first before she makes a final decision.

Yesterday at church not too many people showed up. There were maybe 20 members and then like 13 missionaries. President Lundberg and his family, with the assistants, visited our branch. There were some incredible talks, though. Sora Fotea spoke about the Sabbath Day and as she bore her testimony after some great teaching, the Spirit was super strong and it made me a little teary. Don't worry, though, I didn't cry :)

Today we have a Christmas party for our zone and one other. It starts at 2 and goes until 9. We'll have a tie exchange and then musical skits later. We are singing, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" with an added verse of our own, during which we'll have a slideshow going of all the people that were baptized in the last year. Simple, but hopefully good. I'm going to show up, along with my companion, in a black shirt and a white tie. I'll have my black suit and he has his Mafia-looking one. Haha, it will be sweet, we'll take pics. We're also bring extra shirts in case President wants us to change. :P

Then tomorrow we have zone conference from about 9 to 3. It should be good, I'm excited. I always get lots of ideas on how I can be better and how I can draw closer to my Savior. There will be many things, I'm sure, that apply to life back home.

Ok, about plans for when I get back. Yeah, that would be super cool if a few friends came over to say hi. The annual bash, I'll think about more when I get home. I'm crossing my fingers that I don't have to do the fireside :) Though of course I'll be happy to do it...if I have to.

At the airport, it doesn't matter to much who is there. Just the family is great with me. If there were others that wanted to, it would be fine, but I imagine you guys want me to yourself first :). Sounds good to me. Should I wear my most worn out suit or my most beautiful one? The blinger look or the hard worker one? Haha.

There is a chance I'll be at internet next week for a little bit, but I honestly have no idea. Monday morning we are at Cismigiu Park and after that we're pretty much released from missionary work. I don't know who I'll be with or what they'll want to do, so we'll see.

Ok, I want you all to know that I'm SUPER excited to come home. There are a lot of people to see and to give great, big HUGS to. Ok, beautiful people, I love you all and SEE you soon!!!

---Elder Ross

Going well in Bucharesti but its hard to sit down and write

Hey Everyone!

Everything is going well here in bucuresti. I don't know what all to say about life. It's going and pretty well at that. I don't think you understand how little desire I have to sit down and write an email(when I know I'll be talking to you in about 2 weeks), but because I love you so much I'll do it anyways.

First of all, I should clear up that I am not in a threesome. I'm not sure where the confusion came from on Sister McKinlay's end, maybe because there are 3 elders going home in two weeks or when he was talking about his most recent companion, who is now in a three-man companionship(with Elders Rigby and Bringhurst). They are in Sector 2, which is the other side, they meet at the Mihai Bravu chapel. Sector 1, the one I'm in, is the richest sector in Buch. It has the least amount of blocs and is nicer than other sectors. Though that is still not saying a whole lot, it's still crowed, dirty and ugly. . Our big investigators right now are three; Daniela, Ela and Iulian. We had a couple of lessons with Daniela and Ela and they are doing pretty well. They still have a lot to learn, but they are quality investigators. Daniela is the more serious one, she feels the Spirit really strongly and was crying during the fast and testimony meeting. She has expressed a desire to get baptized soon, though she doesn't have a date yet.

Someone that does have a date is Iulian. He was talking to the zone leaders after church. To explain a little, our church is at 9am, the others are at 11am, including the zone leaders. Iulian showed up late so he went to their branch. So they talked to him afterwards, we had already left, and they were talking about baptism, asked him when he wanted to do it and he said Sunday. It sounds good to us, he's not 100% prepared right now, but I think if we can meet with him 3-4 times this week it will be ok. So we'll see, we may have a baptism on Sunday. That'd be pretty exciting!

There are a lot of Christmas activities being planned, but none of them have taken place yet. I'm not sure exactly what, but I'll tell you as they happen. Next Monday we have a missionary Christmas party. It will consist of two zones and then the next day we'll have zone conference. I'm pretty sure I'll still be able to write you like normal that Monday, though. The one after that, probably not. Weird to think that I write probably one more email.

Oh, something exciting I did this week was that I met with President Lundberg and I got my temple recommend renewed! I am really anxious to go back again and feel the great Spirit that is there. Yeah, the 26th sounds great. As soon as possible.

Ok, I don't have much to say. Things are going good here, hopefully have some baptisms and/or people lined up for baptism. I'm always so happy for people that make this step, because it means so many blessings and good changes in their lives. It's also great to say amazing members that live the Gospel how they are supposed to. We have a lot of those in this branch(along with a lot of less strong members but I'm sure they're growing). The branch president is a cool guy, the branch mission leader is incredible and a couple others.

I almost forgot to say!...Yesterday and the day before was a Single Adult conference. It was awesome, because I got to see members from Timisoara, Iasi and Moldova. It made my day. I was super happy to meet them and to talk to them a little. They came to our branch yesterday and it was inspiring to me to hear their testimonies. Things like that make a mission very rewarding.

For real now, I'm saying goodbye. I hope you have a great week. Much love to all!
--Elder Ross

Back in Bucharest

Hey Beautiful People!!

I am doing super well and am getting adjusted to my new area. I definitely miss Moldova A LOT, though, and often think of the people there. It was cool to be able to leave with a miracle.

Tuesday night was when we left from Chisinau to Bucuresti, but that afternoon I started getting a headache. It got worse and worse until I was feeling pretty sick and I had no idea how I was going to make it through that trip. Thanks to the prayers of some special people, I got the impression that I should ask for a blessing from the other missionaries. The second I thought of that I felt really good and for a moment, I thought, ok I guess I don't need the blessing now. Haha. Even though the pain came back, I really felt that the blessing would make everything better. Up to this point I had been laying in bed, groaning and crying to my Heavenly Father... I really felt horrible. But the elders laid their hands on me, first anointing me and then sealing it and giving me a blessing. The Spirit came into that room and I was moved so that a few tears escaped from my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. After that, I felt great and though I could still sense the headache back there somewhere, it was almost completely gone and I had no problems the entire trip(even though I only slept about 2-3 hours). It was a miracle. And the Holy Priesthood is real.

I am serving in Sector 1 right now. My companion is Elder McKinley and he is a champ. He's a good, hard-working missionary and we get along well. We have a few investigators as I've been told, but I've only had the chance to have a lesson with one of them. Iulian is about 40 and he is a former Jew(converted from Orthodoxism and then back, I think). Anyway, he got the Book of Mormon about two weeks ago and he already finished it. He's a cool guy, doesn't know a lot of the Gospel yet, but he could be a great member if he continues to let the Spirit shape him. We also have Daniela and Ela, two girls from English. They're in their late 20's, but they have been coming to church and to activities and hopefully they get baptized soon. I haven't had a lesson yet with them, hopefully soon.

Transfer meeting wasn't as exciting as it was looking to be. Either that or it just didn't affect me as much...To answer Dad's question, Bucharest is divided into 4 branches. And in each branch there are about 4-6 elders and then a companionship of sisters for two branches(they are very busy because of that). In our district there are 6 elders, though two of them are the office elders. The other two missionaries actually live with us right now, because they got white-washed in to this sector which hasn't had that extra companionship for a long time. They are hoping to find an apartment soon. They being Elder Divis(in my district my 1st time in Buch and then 2 transfers in Cluj) and Elder Jeffrey(from my MTC group). The sisters are in our district as well, Sora Poulsen and her boboaca, Sora Kimball. They're pretty cool.

For Thanksgiving, we actually went to an American family that is in our branch. The Le Barges are here, because he works for the Embassy, State Department, something like that. They fed us a great meal, all the normal, fantastic foods that you expect with Thanksgiving dinner. I definitely enjoyed myself. I also had fun playing with Brandon, their little boy, he's about 7 or 8.
Hmm, I don't think I will need to pull out more money, I mean I'd rather not if I don't need to. But it's good to know what I can pull out if for some reason I am short. We'll see what happens.

Today is the National Day of Romania. We went out this morning and saw a big parade. It was cool, because a lot of members went, too, and some investigators. It was mostly military and afterwards we were allowed to climb on and in some of the tanks and jeeps. I'll show you pictures when I get home, I think you can wait that long.

Oh! I got the package, thanks a ton! It turns out there is a really good tailor here and it's also really cheap. I listened to the CD and I liked it a lot. Tell J that and that I shared it with the others in my apartment. And tell him HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I can't believe J is 19! It doesn't seem that long ago when I turned 19, I actually remember it like it was yesterday. I hope you had a great one, J.

Well, I don't know what else to write. I'm going to look up what flights cost to Moldova. I hope you all have a good week and I'll talk to you more next week.

I love you! --Elder Ross

Happy Birthday from G'ma and G'pa J

This is an email Ross' Grandma sent this week. We thought it deserved posting.

Dear Elder RossHappy,

Happy belated birthday! I was think about you last Monday--could you feel it?

I remember talking to your Mom in the labor room a few times as she prepared to bring forth my first grandchild! I remember feeling very poignant as I empathized with the daughter who made me a mom for the first time as she got ready to deliver the first child that would make her a mom! I saw you just a few days later and you were delightful, and charming, of course. What else could a grandchild of mine be??

We bonded when she would bring you to me in the middle of the night to hold you while she tried to get some needed rest. You really were a good baby!

And so the years have flown by--what a great missionary you are--I read you letters to your Granddad every week--he too rejoices in your experiences and spiritual growth. He often gets all choked up with you recounting some of the special experiences you have had. I can believe you are less than a month from returning home. We had originally planned for Granddad at least be be there for your "welcome back" talk--we'll have to hear about it at another time. How about coming down here and giving it to us in person??

Anyway--we sure love you and are proud of you and the work you have accomplished in Romania. I understand that you are in Bucharest for the remainder of your mission. Hope you will be ready to recount all the experiences you have there and relay them to us.

Your "belated" card and gift will be in Oregon waiting for you--I think you will be able to use it.

Keep the faith and do some good every day.

Love Grandma and Grandad J.

Ross' 21st Birthday

Hey Great Amazing People,

My last full week in Moldova was a really good one, but I am definitely sad to be leaving. We'll see what the new transfer(or part of one) will bring for me. Elder Bringhurst called me and was telling a little about it. He's really excited about transfer meeting(everyone has been asked to go down, even those that aren't transferred) so it should be a good one. He hinted that I'll like my new assignment.

I don't really know where to begin with the latest updates. We totally finished up our English classes and they were really good. We have some way quality investigators from them and so the classes served their purpose. Vica for example is doing suuuper good. She was at church again and we've had some great lessons. When I asked her if she had prayed to know the Book of Mormon is true, her answer was just that everything in it seems right and she accepts and believes it so there is no point in asking God this. She has a lot of faith. I really think she will be baptized soon. She's been integrated well into the branch, too. Tatiana and Alina have especially done a great job with this.

My Rezina girls are doing really well right now, too. Stela and Irina were both at church and I'm pretty sure they're doing well with their reading. I know Irina has been, less certain that Stela has been, but I hope so :) It's going to be hard for Irina to come to church again as her mom isn't too supportive of her coming, but she's a suuper good girl and I'm sure the Lord will help her find a way to be where He wants her to be. The two of them are the best friends that I gain in Moldova and I'm going to keep in touch with them FOR SURE. Actually, I'm going to send them this family letter for the next month :)

Asa ca vreau sa le spun...ca sunteti minunate! Sunt foarte recunoscator ca am putut veni in Moldova sa va cunosc. Imi place asta cum pot sa scriu si familia mea nu intelege nimic. Li-e pasareste :) Vreau sa va spun acum ca sunt mandru de voi. Ati reusit mult in privinta spirituala si desi sunt incercari intotdeuna in jurul nostru, Tatal nostru Ceresc va va indruma in continuare PE MASURA ce il urmati pe El si va puneti credinta in El. Si sa-mi scrieti!! Cel putin Stela pentru acum, daca tu, Irina, vrei sa astepti. Atunci cu atat mai mult va fi dorul meu de tine ;) Haha, ok, aveti o zi nespus de placuta!!

You asked, Mom, who I plan on keeping contact with; I kind of have a good-sized list: Irina, Stela, Alina (not sure about Mariana), Vica, Nadia, and Tatiana. We'll see, there might be a couple more. There are still about 15 investigators, not all of them way strong right now, hopefully they'll be able to pull them all in as they start a new transfer. Besides Stela, Irina and Vica, Nadia was another investigator at church. It was her first time and I hope she liked. She's a really cool girl and hopefully Elder Woodard and his new comp will be able to continue teaching her. So 4 investigators at church, it was a high for me in Orhei! A good way to go out.

My talk went pretty well, I think. I didn't really get much feedback from people, but I felt good about it. President Carausenco wasn't able to come because he was sick, so I conducted again. I really enjoyed church, there was a good Spirit. I was just sad to say goodbye to everyone. I did get a couple hugs, though :).

Ok, I don't have a whole lot of time to write more. I actually had 10 new emails today! A high I haven't had in a long time. It was way good, just left me with less time to write. I go down to Buch tomorrow evening on a train with Elder Zemp. I'm in Chisinau already with my bags all packed. It's always strange to me that my entire life fits in two pieces of luggage... The others will be going down with Oleg in the van. As far as Thanksgiving, I have no idea if I'll have much of a celebration. It all depends on what area I'm put in and what the missionaries there want to do. A senior couple in the area would proabably mean a super good meal.

Well, everyone, thanks for all your emails and birthday wishes. Have a fantastic week! I love you!!

--Elder Ross

Last week in Moldova - Tough week ahead

Hey Everyone,

Thanks a lot, Mom, for all of your help this week with my classes. I am really glad that everything worked out and that I was able to get my schedule how I wanted. Tell J that would be way sweet if we had a class together! Thanks as well, Mom, for the great update on everyone. I love hearing how everyone is doing and pretty dang soon I will hear it in person. Mixed feelings with that...

I am super sad, though, that this is my last week here in Moldova. I have loved this area so much and the people here are amazing. I've made some of the best friends I've had in my whole life. I really think next week will be hard for me, but I should adjust ok.

I've thought a lot about my future recently and what I want to study, what I want to go into as far as a profession, and I've thought a lot about Moldova. Besides the fact that I feel really good being here, there are a lot of opportunites for new businesses here and my plan right now is to come back here for a month in the summer and study that out(and work on my russian), and if it is good to come back for a month once a year. So for that reason I'll need to be really good with money and makes a decent amount. Living there is really cheap, the biggest hit is the flight over and back, but it is way worth it in my mind. I just thought I'd share my plans/hopes.

This last week was a pretty good one, super busy again. We got some more new investigators(giving us 15 now which is super good) and we are pretty pumped about that. You asked about Vica. She is doing SUPER good, she's read most of 1 Nephi, she came to church again and will keep coming(she likes it a lot) and we've had some great lessons with her. I'm really excited for her, just sad that I'm going to miss a lot of it. We're meeting her tomorrow night with another younger girl, Adriana, who is also super cool, just that she is out of town most weekends and so hasn't come to church yet.

The Rezina girls are doing pretty well. Irina still has problems with her mom and so she wasn't at church on Sunday. Our special lesson with her on Thursday went really well and I feel that we shouldn't keep talking directly about how she needs to come to church, that she already knows this and that pretty soon she will be back. I'm sure it is really hard having to fight her mom like that just to come to church. Stela wasn't at church either this week as she was in Chisinau. We should have arranged for someone to meet her and take her to church there, but it slipped in our minds. Mariana was at church, but she wasn't at our lesson on Friday. I think she is going through a hard time right now. We'll see when we talk to her on Thursday.

We were going to meet with Ghenadie, but a wrestling competition came up(he's a wrestling coach if I haven't mentioned that) and so it didn't work out. It went through Sunday so he wasn't at church either. Victorina and Angela(Alina's sister and mom) are doing well. They didn't come to church because Angela had a sore throat, but I'm going to pull the card that this is my last Sunday so they should be coming this week. They really did want to this week, just that she was sick.

We clean the vila every Saturday so that it is clean for Sunday. The branch is supposed to be in charge of that, but everything runs a little bit worse because the branch president can't set the example, living in another city and all. I don't know if I could still do the Hora [a Romanian dance], it's not too complicated, though. We'll see.

I haven't mentioned too much about my companion, because there's not a lot to say. I don't really get along too well with him and he doesn't work hard. I've only had one companion that was harder than him. In any case, President promised me in my interview that he'll send someone really good up here, so I'm sure Orhei will still be ok.

Haha, funny that you ask, my apartment is probably one of the worst in the mission. We don't have a water filter so we have to buy water from the store. Probably not healthy, because when you know your water costs money you don't drink as much. Also, we don't have a washing machine, which is a huge hassle, having to do laundry up here in Chisinau. The apartment itself is small, has a horrible, little shower that runs out of hot water after 5 minutes, and comes with a landlady that is kind of crazy. At least we have a place to sleep, though, and we have heat! Count your blessings.

On Sunday there were 13 of us, not real good, but ok. Two investigators, Mariana and Vica. Alina taught Sunday School and did a great job. I conducted the meetings for the last time, yay! Next week President Carausenco will be doing that and I will just speak. It will be great.

Ok, I don't know what else to say. I love you all and have a fantastic day!!!

Love, Elder Ross

A Super Good Week

Hey Everyone!!

This last week was a super good one and I enjoyed it a lot. The work really seems to have moved forward as well. We traveled a lot, of course, but not quite as much as the last two weeks, which was nice. I think I'll move through the week chronologically so as not to forget too many good details.

Tuesday in our first English class, only three girls showed up. It was Elena and two of her friends, both named Tatiana(we'll call them Tatiana and Tanya). So instead of a spiritual thought I asked them if they had a little time and if we could have a lesson. We did and it went super well, Elena already had a Book of Mormon, but we gave the other two girls one, and then we set up with them for the next day.Only Elena and Tanya came the second day, but Tatiana was busy and would have been otherwise. The girls had done their reading and are looking to be really good investigators. They wanted to come to church, but with Saturday being Orhei Day, there were too many festivities and such going on. Probably this next week! Also Wednesday night, after we met with the two girls, we had a lesson with Ghenadie, that super cool guy I gave a Book of Mormon to like a month ago. We have our first male investigator!!! It went well, he's a really good guy and I think he will be open to the Spirit. He would be the next branch president, I have no doubt.

On Thursday we organized a branch activity for the youth. Eight of us went to Orhei Vechi and we had a way good time. It was my companion and me, Matt, Stela, Irina(from Rezina), Irina(from Orhei), Tatiana and Diana. We were up there for most of the day and I was able to see a couple spots I didn't see the first time. Mostly, it was super good for the member girls to get to know Stela and Irina better.

Ok, I don't remember if I've told you much about Tatiana's back problems. She has a super bad spine and for quite a while has been trying to get an operation funded. There's even a website, though I think it might be a little outdated. You can look, it's www.agiftfortatiana.com Anyway, everything came together and she is going to be getting her operation towards the end of this month. The hospital and the doctors are doing everything for free. It's been pretty exciting and we have been spending a lot of time helping her translate and communicate with people in the States. I think within a week or two, she will be gone.

We had our normal friday Rezina trip which went really well. We first had a lesson with the girls; Stela, Irina and Mariana. It went well, we talked about the Sabbath day, the Word of Wisdom and also what they think about baptism. No definite conclusions there, but we had a really good discussion on it. Then we had a lesson with Victorina, Alina's little sister. It was a lot of fun, she's a super cool little girl and she said an awesome closing prayer at the end(we helped her write out a prayer outline). She's going to be reading from the children's Book of Mormon with Alina. Then we had a lesson with Alina's mom, Angela and it also was super good. She's been reading a lot out of the Book of Mormon. We started the Plan of Salvation with her. Neither she of Victorina came to church on Sunday, but when they do I think it will be a really big step. It was a good day. We missed our bus back to Orhei, but then out of the blue, Ghenadie pulled up and gave us a ride!! He had been doing some business in Rezina and stopped when he saw us. That was definitely heaven sent!

Saturday was busy with English, then cleaning, then a lot of eating, haha. We went to Dolce Vita, ordered and then Tatiana called us and invited us over to eat(being Orhei Day, everyone prepares tons of food). We were disappointed, because we couldn't just leave the restaurant, but we didn't want to miss free food. So, we ate quickly, then walked nice and slowly home, stretched a little, got warmer clothes on(it's starting to get way cold) and went and pigged out at Tatiana's. It was super good. Then that evening we met Elena, Tanya and Tatiana in centru where there was a concert going on. Concerts are way different here, a lot cleaner and family friendly to be honest, and I liked it a lot. The girls taught me how to do a traditional Moldovan dance, it's called a hora. It was a blast. After that, we met with the member Tatiana and helped her with some translating again. I was outside a little bit, while my companion helped her and Stela came over and I talked to her a little bit. She was in Orhei for the celebration, because she has cousins here. On Friday we had talked to her about coming to church and she said she would try, but she didn't think she'd be able to. We talked about how it was important and it's kind of a trial of her faith, and her priorities. Well, she had texted us later and said she and her mom were going to Chisinau, so she wouldn't make it. The next day, Saturday, she texted me again and said, "what? are you some kind of magician?" Somehow those plans didn't work out and she stayed in Orhei and came to church. There was a lot of praying that week and I guess that was the Lord's will for her. I was glad to see her there.

Speaking of church, Irina is going through a rough time with that right now . She texted us Saturday night and said she had good news and bad news. She was going to come to church, good news, but it was going to be her last time, very bad news. So I actually felt I should fast for her and I did and we talked to her a bit, Saturday, Sunday at church and also later Sunday evening. She's gone back and forth on whether she wants to keep fighting for coming to church, because it's really hard with her mom. But I really felt inspired when I was talking to her and it led to setting up a special lesson with her for this Thursday. Also, Stela is doing really well and is going strong and wants to help Irina so we are going to have her help us teach. It should be super good for both of them. I'm excited.

Church was good, there were 19 people. We had 3 investigators, Stela, Irina and Vica, an English student that we haven't even had a lesson with yet. She liked church a lot, said she'll come again next week and we're meeting with her after English tuesday evening. The Telfords came from Chisinau and spoke and I translated for Elder Telford. When we went up to the front, he started talking in Romanian(he's learned just a little bit) and I decided to be a wise guy and I translated into English. Everyone was laughing, it was super funny, I didn't expect such a good reaction :) I need it, too, I was nervous and it was a nice icebreaker. The translating went really well. The Lord helped me and it was almost flawless.

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do for that application. I definitely do not have any time to make a video of a teaching situation and I don't even know what I'm supposed to do with the language evaluation. Maybe in two weeks when I'm back in Romania I could do it. Could you give a little more information by then?

Thanks!! Well, I should bounce. I hope you all have an incredible week. I love you tons!! --Elder Ross