Hey Beautiful People!
This week was super busy and insane. We only got 5 lessons the whole week and it was all because we were so busy with tons of stuff: English fliers and sign-ups, zone conference and getting transfer calls.
So, big news first....I'm staying in Cluj!! I'm super excited. I'm going to be with Elder Patterson. He was with us in the MTC, he's one group behind me. Ok, now I have to tell you guys a secret. All this last transfer, the AP's and most everyone else said that either Elder Bringhurst and I are going to be assistant. At the beginning of the transfer, when I had an exchange with Elder Rigby, he went through all the people that I thought could be AP and told me why they wouldn't be, because they're forgetful or don't speak Romanian well enough, etc. Then he promised me that either Elder Bringhurst and I will be assistant. I was in the better position being senior, but it definitely was not something I wanted. I really wanted to keep doing normal missionary work and having investigators. Well, it so happened that neither of us are, Elder Bringhurst is going to Brasov to be a senior zone leader there. But the scary thing is that Elder Jepsen told me that when they finished the transfer board for the 1st time, I was placed as AP!! Later, they had the impression that they were trying to force it so that Elder Jepsen could get out(he wanted to super badly), but it just wasn't right and so our assistants remain Elder Jepsen and Rigby. Whew, close one...
Ok, I saw J's video and it was way good. Thanks a ton, J! I'm super stoked for being at college together and maybe even spending the summer together, making the big bucks. Really, I'm psyched to hear that! Do you think you will work at all when you're at college? I'm pretty sure I will need to, so maybe you'll keep an eye open for me when you're over there. Anyway, thanks a ton for the video! It was awesome.
So, in our district, Elder Smith went from junior to senior, district leader and trainer! He is a way big stud, though, so it will be great. Sora Runyan will be with Sora Shepard. It's kind of weird right now, because Elder Smith and I are the only missionaries in Cluj right now(and the Hakes). Elder Divis left this morning to go to Oradea (so he's still in my zone) and Elder Bringhurst took off to Brasov as well. We found out transfers Saturday morning so that everyone could pack and travel quickly.
In Oradea, Elder Roundy and Elder Manzione and got white-washed out and Elder Wilde is getting white-washed in with a boboc. Oh, and Elder Roundy is a zone leader now in Buch, Sec. 5. Elder Eyre is now district leader in Arad and Elder Divis is taking his place. Sora Peterson is leaving Oradea and Sora Poulsen is coming.
Man, I can't believe it. I'm going into my 13th transfer, very possibly my last one as zone leader and also my MTC sisters are going home in 2 days! I'm quickly becoming very aged in this mission. I have less than 5 months now. President Lundberg sure sounded like he will be sending us (or most of us from my group) home before Christmas.
Speaking of President, he is a really great guy! I like him a lot. He seems to really know what he wants to do. He has a lot of faith in us and expects a lot from us. I'm really excited to go to mission council and to see what kind of direction and ideas he will bring out. His wife is great, too. She gave a great presentation on their history with Romania. She started a foundation here called Bridge of Love, helping out orphans to find homes. Their son, Joshua, is 9 and he is ADHD, no joke. During the conference he did well, but after he went nuts and he never stopped moving and jumping around and having pretend fights with missionaries. He is a kid that would definitely require a lot of patience.
Our English sign-ups were ok, we got about 75 signed up. Yeah, we usually do that many fliers or moer. We got them all out, but it took up a lot of our week. 75 people signed-up isn't a lot, but it should be good. I'm really pumped for really trying to use English to get great investigators and baptisms. I'll be teaching beginners Tuesday at 7pm and Saturday at 11am. It'll be good. For example, in one of my classes there is a family of two parents and three kids and they were asking questions about the Church at sign-ups and also about the Book of Mormon. Let's see if I can't baptize a family this transfer. I've decided, by the way, that I'm not leaving Cluj after 4 transfers without a baptism. I'll get at least one, who knows if more. Doamna Mocean is doing great and so I'll start with her. She was our only investigator at church yesterday, but she is keeping her commitments and she feels the Spirit in every lesson. She's a very sweet lady.
Well, I better go so I can put the pictures up. I hope you all have an amazing week. I'm going to have one here! I love you
-- Elder Ross
p.s. it will be ok with music rules for me to have a CD. I can't wait to hear it! Btw, when did you send my journal? I haven't gotten it yet and I filled up my old one about 10 days ago and am getting behind. If I don't get it at mission council, I'll probably just buy one to use for a while. Thanks!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
English fliers, a wedding and a baptism
Hey Everyone!
We had a great week here in Cluj Napoca, though we had a lot of things to do and that kept us from doing our normal missionary work. Those things include passing out English fliers, participating in Cosmin and Lavinia's wedding, and having a baptism. I'll go into those later.
But before I forget I wanted to respond to some of Dad's email. First of all, it sounds like the trek was really incredible and everyone learned a lot. I wish I could have been there, especially for the "stick pull". I'm pretty sure I would have whooped J. That is really, REALLY cool about the DeHuts. I'm so glad to hear that they are doing well and that Brother DeHut is getting his patriarchal blessing. I've definitely gained an even greater desire on my mission to be a diligent home teacher. I can't wait to get that assignment and go to work loving and helping my families.
Yeah, I do need my debit card and as soon as possible. I just looked at the one I have now and it expires at the end of this month. So, if you could send the new one, that'd probably be helpful. :) Yes, Mom, I saw the pictures from the reunion and my "proxy." Was that the best you guys could do? Haha, no it was great and I'm glad that you guys remembered me. I'm really going to love going to family reunions when I get back, especially after being gone all this time. And yeah, I love the family updates. A lot of times I don't comment, because I don't have a ton of time at internet. But it's great to hear what everyone is up to.
Ok, so this week wasn't the best for Elder Bringhurst and I as far as our investigators go. We met with as many as we could, but the forementioned events as well as an exchange we had with Elders Eyre and Despain from Oradea, we were really busy. And then Sunday was the worst....not a single investigator(of mine and Elder Bringhurst's. The others each had an investigator there) came to church. That was kind of rough. It's the first time it's happened since I've been in Cluj. We did our part, unfortunately they, for some reason, decided not to come. When I called Doamna Mocean, though, she said that she was thinking about us and she knew that she should have gone and she regretted not going. Maybe everything will work out and a lot of people will come next week, the last one of the transfer. Needless to say, we don't have a baptismal date right now.
About Daniel,(he went out to the countryside on Sunday) he is about 30. Not really sure, though. He is doing pretty well with his commitments, except for coming to church, obviously. He is really sincere and feels the Spirit strongly. Yeah, he is married and that is one of his problems, I think, if I can say that. Because his wife isn't too religious and he is scared of her. We always meet when she's not home. We'll see what happens.
Nothing exciting for most of the week. I had a good exchange with the boboc, Elder Despain. He is a cool guy and he's working hard to be a great missionary. We've started handing out fliers, but Elder Bringhurst and I have had hardly no time. We've gotten out maybe 100 and we have 3300 total for our companionship. That's what we'll be doing all day tomorrow, until we catch the train to Arad for zone conference.
The wedding was so great! Cosmin and Lavinia were so happy and they make such a sweet couple. Yeah, they're both members. Last night, they left for Germany where they'll be for a week. They'll be back next Sunday, though, so if I'm transferred I'll get to see them. So the ceremonies started at Cosmin's house(for us, some people started at Lavinia's) at 8am. After everyone had gathered and gotten ready, we hopped in cars and went to Lavinia's where he picked her up. There was a lot of music, they got a lot of pictures taken there and there were desserts and soda as well. After a little bit, we all went to a big park where the actual ceremony took place. This was at 10am. It's ridiculous how short the actual wedding is. They signed up for that time, 10, then waited while 3 or 4 other couples got hitched. The officiator said a few things, asked them for their "I do" and then they signed the paper. The end. After that, there was a cool service at the church(12pm), with talks focusing on the eternal nature of their marriage. Us missionaries and Bianca, Simona and Ilie(from Buch) sang a song on that topic. It went really well and Cosmin was tearing up as well as a few people in the audience. After that was the restaurant, the festivities there from 2pm until 10pm. We stayed until 4 and then left to have a lesson and get out the very few fliers we've gotten rid of. The pictures show the festivities better than I can explain. I'll try to remember to send them all next week.
Raluca's baptism was great. It was right after the 3 hour block. Sora Condurachi and Mihai Iepure both gave great talks. Calin performed the baptism. It was all really smooth and the Spirit was strong. So later that night, Elder Bringhurst and I had volunteered to take down the the font and to clean up. But when I looked at the tool I needed to unscrew the bars, I saw that it was super corroded. After a lot of hard work we were able to get maybe two screws out. I was kind of overwhelmed. I had no idea how to do it and it didn't seem possible. But the thought came to me to pray and as I prayed the words came to me. I prayed for strength to be able to get it done. Right after that we started going to work and even though a lot of the screws were really hard, we were able to disassemble the entire thing, do all the clean up and put it away. I know that there is no possible way we could have done that without the Lord's help. It was a cool miracle.
Well, I think I'll go now. I hope you all have a great week. I love you!
We had a great week here in Cluj Napoca, though we had a lot of things to do and that kept us from doing our normal missionary work. Those things include passing out English fliers, participating in Cosmin and Lavinia's wedding, and having a baptism. I'll go into those later.
But before I forget I wanted to respond to some of Dad's email. First of all, it sounds like the trek was really incredible and everyone learned a lot. I wish I could have been there, especially for the "stick pull". I'm pretty sure I would have whooped J. That is really, REALLY cool about the DeHuts. I'm so glad to hear that they are doing well and that Brother DeHut is getting his patriarchal blessing. I've definitely gained an even greater desire on my mission to be a diligent home teacher. I can't wait to get that assignment and go to work loving and helping my families.
Yeah, I do need my debit card and as soon as possible. I just looked at the one I have now and it expires at the end of this month. So, if you could send the new one, that'd probably be helpful. :) Yes, Mom, I saw the pictures from the reunion and my "proxy." Was that the best you guys could do? Haha, no it was great and I'm glad that you guys remembered me. I'm really going to love going to family reunions when I get back, especially after being gone all this time. And yeah, I love the family updates. A lot of times I don't comment, because I don't have a ton of time at internet. But it's great to hear what everyone is up to.
Ok, so this week wasn't the best for Elder Bringhurst and I as far as our investigators go. We met with as many as we could, but the forementioned events as well as an exchange we had with Elders Eyre and Despain from Oradea, we were really busy. And then Sunday was the worst....not a single investigator(of mine and Elder Bringhurst's. The others each had an investigator there) came to church. That was kind of rough. It's the first time it's happened since I've been in Cluj. We did our part, unfortunately they, for some reason, decided not to come. When I called Doamna Mocean, though, she said that she was thinking about us and she knew that she should have gone and she regretted not going. Maybe everything will work out and a lot of people will come next week, the last one of the transfer. Needless to say, we don't have a baptismal date right now.
About Daniel,(he went out to the countryside on Sunday) he is about 30. Not really sure, though. He is doing pretty well with his commitments, except for coming to church, obviously. He is really sincere and feels the Spirit strongly. Yeah, he is married and that is one of his problems, I think, if I can say that. Because his wife isn't too religious and he is scared of her. We always meet when she's not home. We'll see what happens.
Nothing exciting for most of the week. I had a good exchange with the boboc, Elder Despain. He is a cool guy and he's working hard to be a great missionary. We've started handing out fliers, but Elder Bringhurst and I have had hardly no time. We've gotten out maybe 100 and we have 3300 total for our companionship. That's what we'll be doing all day tomorrow, until we catch the train to Arad for zone conference.
The wedding was so great! Cosmin and Lavinia were so happy and they make such a sweet couple. Yeah, they're both members. Last night, they left for Germany where they'll be for a week. They'll be back next Sunday, though, so if I'm transferred I'll get to see them. So the ceremonies started at Cosmin's house(for us, some people started at Lavinia's) at 8am. After everyone had gathered and gotten ready, we hopped in cars and went to Lavinia's where he picked her up. There was a lot of music, they got a lot of pictures taken there and there were desserts and soda as well. After a little bit, we all went to a big park where the actual ceremony took place. This was at 10am. It's ridiculous how short the actual wedding is. They signed up for that time, 10, then waited while 3 or 4 other couples got hitched. The officiator said a few things, asked them for their "I do" and then they signed the paper. The end. After that, there was a cool service at the church(12pm), with talks focusing on the eternal nature of their marriage. Us missionaries and Bianca, Simona and Ilie(from Buch) sang a song on that topic. It went really well and Cosmin was tearing up as well as a few people in the audience. After that was the restaurant, the festivities there from 2pm until 10pm. We stayed until 4 and then left to have a lesson and get out the very few fliers we've gotten rid of. The pictures show the festivities better than I can explain. I'll try to remember to send them all next week.
Raluca's baptism was great. It was right after the 3 hour block. Sora Condurachi and Mihai Iepure both gave great talks. Calin performed the baptism. It was all really smooth and the Spirit was strong. So later that night, Elder Bringhurst and I had volunteered to take down the the font and to clean up. But when I looked at the tool I needed to unscrew the bars, I saw that it was super corroded. After a lot of hard work we were able to get maybe two screws out. I was kind of overwhelmed. I had no idea how to do it and it didn't seem possible. But the thought came to me to pray and as I prayed the words came to me. I prayed for strength to be able to get it done. Right after that we started going to work and even though a lot of the screws were really hard, we were able to disassemble the entire thing, do all the clean up and put it away. I know that there is no possible way we could have done that without the Lord's help. It was a cool miracle.
Well, I think I'll go now. I hope you all have a great week. I love you!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
A Better Week!
Hey Great People!
Yeah, this week was a lot better than last week, just because we had lots of great chances to work hard and to find some people that are interested. Also, this last week we had some fun things with Elder Smith's birthday, my companion's and my 18-month mark and the 4th of July. God bless America!
The big highlight of the week is gaining a sweet investigator. His name is Daniel and we went to him last Monday. We actually first found him two weeks before that but we weren't able to meet again until last week. Anyway, he blew us away with his openness to the Spirit and his willingness to do what it takes to draw closer to God. Daniel told us how he wants to work with us, haha. He said he'll read about 20 pages from the Book of Mormon in between visits(plus any chapter we might assign to him) and that he wants to meet at least once a week, preferably twice a week. He also said that soon he'll be in concediu(meaning he has like a month off from work) in which he'll still be at home and then he wants to meet 3 times a week if possible! No complaints from us. We went again Friday night and we took Mihai with us. We had such a good lesson on the Plan of Salvation. He is super smart and remembers stuff really well. He was impressed, too, that he can be with his wife in heaven. As many people believe, he thought everyone would just be single angels in heaven. Mihai was talking to us afterwards and he said he was really impressed with Daniel and thought that he was really open and smart. Mihai said he'd be happy to come again and just listen, haha. We're going back with him on Tuesday and we definitely won't let Mihai just listen. Unfortunately, Daniel wasn't aware that he could bring his little girl to church and he was stuck baby-sitting. Well, at least now he knows and he should be there next week.
We had an exchange with the elders here in Cluj. My companion set up a sweet day with Elder Smith in which they had 4 lessons scattered throughout the day, a pretty sweet set-up. I went to Elder Divis' area and we had one lesson at 7pm....so we bloc-knocked for probably 5 hours and had virtually no success for almost all of it. At the very end we got one lesson, but in the end the guy was firm in his belief that no of the churches are true, it doesn't matter if you are part of one, you just need to read from the Bible and live it. The lesson they had set-up was a really cool new investigator, though. His name is Gabi and he was really excited when we gave him the Book of Mormon. He said he that by this next Sunday coming(a week and a half from when we met with him) he would be done with reading it, 100%! Pretty impressive. He said he couldn't make it to church this Sunday, but that he'll be there this next Sunday coming up. A way solid guy.
So I didn't end up burning my pants. They were still good enough and I couldn't imagine buying another pair. So Elder Bringhurst burned one leg of his pants and I burned the other. It was a pretty good compromise, because he was 5 pairs of pants(he has 2-pant suits) and some of them are pretty nasty actually. I'll send pictures sometimes.
I started putting subtitles in the rest of our missionary movie, but unfortunately, viruses started taking over the Hakes' computer again. They lost their connection to the internet and so Calin took it to his house to work on it. Because of that I wasn't able to finish and to send it. We have it backed on a CD, so it's just a matter of when. It will get done eventually.
For the 4th of July we had a big lunch at the Hakes'. We had barbecued chicken, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and best of all, a cherry pie. I was a great meal and a good way to celebrate our great nation.
Sunday was pretty good, though only 4 investigators came to church: Alex and 3 of the Militaru's(the mom, Gabi and Maria. Cristi was on some kind of trip). The worst was when at the end of sacrament meeting(there were some great testimonies given) President Condurachi stood up and proceeded to give an anti-"every missionary a member" talk. I could believe it! He said that all the members need to do is to pray, come to church and activities and not worry when others don't come. And then the Lord will bless the missionaries to have success knocking on people's doors. I can't think of anything more the exact opposite of Elder David A. Bednar's talk, Ask in Faith. Apparently, during FHE he also said that God created demons and that resurrected people can put their bodies aside, both clearly false. We are going off with the Hakes this week and we'll translate for them as they talk to him.
The 28-year old girl, Valentina, went to the countryside again on Sunday. She's still really cool and open, it just hasn't become a priority yet. We also didn't really have a chance to meet with her, because she had things come up. I believe that they were legitimate but we haven't been able to give her to the sisters yet because of that.
This next week should be a good one. We are really striving to get a baptismal date and also to get a lot of investigators at church. It should be a good one. We have an exchange with the other elders in Oradea and I'll be with the boboc, Elder Despain. Man, I can still remember like
yesterday when I was the boboc going with the zone leaders! This Sunday Raluca will get baptized which will be sweet, especially that her boys will get to grow in the Church. Also, Cosmin and Lavinia are getting married this week. So I'll tell you all about the ceremonies and traditions next week. I'm excited for them.
Well, all of you have a great week. I love you tons!
Elder Ross
Yeah, this week was a lot better than last week, just because we had lots of great chances to work hard and to find some people that are interested. Also, this last week we had some fun things with Elder Smith's birthday, my companion's and my 18-month mark and the 4th of July. God bless America!
The big highlight of the week is gaining a sweet investigator. His name is Daniel and we went to him last Monday. We actually first found him two weeks before that but we weren't able to meet again until last week. Anyway, he blew us away with his openness to the Spirit and his willingness to do what it takes to draw closer to God. Daniel told us how he wants to work with us, haha. He said he'll read about 20 pages from the Book of Mormon in between visits(plus any chapter we might assign to him) and that he wants to meet at least once a week, preferably twice a week. He also said that soon he'll be in concediu(meaning he has like a month off from work) in which he'll still be at home and then he wants to meet 3 times a week if possible! No complaints from us. We went again Friday night and we took Mihai with us. We had such a good lesson on the Plan of Salvation. He is super smart and remembers stuff really well. He was impressed, too, that he can be with his wife in heaven. As many people believe, he thought everyone would just be single angels in heaven. Mihai was talking to us afterwards and he said he was really impressed with Daniel and thought that he was really open and smart. Mihai said he'd be happy to come again and just listen, haha. We're going back with him on Tuesday and we definitely won't let Mihai just listen. Unfortunately, Daniel wasn't aware that he could bring his little girl to church and he was stuck baby-sitting. Well, at least now he knows and he should be there next week.
We had an exchange with the elders here in Cluj. My companion set up a sweet day with Elder Smith in which they had 4 lessons scattered throughout the day, a pretty sweet set-up. I went to Elder Divis' area and we had one lesson at 7pm....so we bloc-knocked for probably 5 hours and had virtually no success for almost all of it. At the very end we got one lesson, but in the end the guy was firm in his belief that no of the churches are true, it doesn't matter if you are part of one, you just need to read from the Bible and live it. The lesson they had set-up was a really cool new investigator, though. His name is Gabi and he was really excited when we gave him the Book of Mormon. He said he that by this next Sunday coming(a week and a half from when we met with him) he would be done with reading it, 100%! Pretty impressive. He said he couldn't make it to church this Sunday, but that he'll be there this next Sunday coming up. A way solid guy.
So I didn't end up burning my pants. They were still good enough and I couldn't imagine buying another pair. So Elder Bringhurst burned one leg of his pants and I burned the other. It was a pretty good compromise, because he was 5 pairs of pants(he has 2-pant suits) and some of them are pretty nasty actually. I'll send pictures sometimes.
I started putting subtitles in the rest of our missionary movie, but unfortunately, viruses started taking over the Hakes' computer again. They lost their connection to the internet and so Calin took it to his house to work on it. Because of that I wasn't able to finish and to send it. We have it backed on a CD, so it's just a matter of when. It will get done eventually.
For the 4th of July we had a big lunch at the Hakes'. We had barbecued chicken, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and best of all, a cherry pie. I was a great meal and a good way to celebrate our great nation.
Sunday was pretty good, though only 4 investigators came to church: Alex and 3 of the Militaru's(the mom, Gabi and Maria. Cristi was on some kind of trip). The worst was when at the end of sacrament meeting(there were some great testimonies given) President Condurachi stood up and proceeded to give an anti-"every missionary a member" talk. I could believe it! He said that all the members need to do is to pray, come to church and activities and not worry when others don't come. And then the Lord will bless the missionaries to have success knocking on people's doors. I can't think of anything more the exact opposite of Elder David A. Bednar's talk, Ask in Faith. Apparently, during FHE he also said that God created demons and that resurrected people can put their bodies aside, both clearly false. We are going off with the Hakes this week and we'll translate for them as they talk to him.
The 28-year old girl, Valentina, went to the countryside again on Sunday. She's still really cool and open, it just hasn't become a priority yet. We also didn't really have a chance to meet with her, because she had things come up. I believe that they were legitimate but we haven't been able to give her to the sisters yet because of that.
This next week should be a good one. We are really striving to get a baptismal date and also to get a lot of investigators at church. It should be a good one. We have an exchange with the other elders in Oradea and I'll be with the boboc, Elder Despain. Man, I can still remember like
yesterday when I was the boboc going with the zone leaders! This Sunday Raluca will get baptized which will be sweet, especially that her boys will get to grow in the Church. Also, Cosmin and Lavinia are getting married this week. So I'll tell you all about the ceremonies and traditions next week. I'm excited for them.
Well, all of you have a great week. I love you tons!
Elder Ross
Sunday, July 6, 2008
18-month Mark
Hey Everyone!
That's pretty exciting that you guys get to be at a family reunion. I'm sure it will be a blast for you. Life here in Cluj isn't too exciting right now to be honest. This last week was kind of a low, a lot of things not working out and not too many people coming to church. One of the new investigators we were working with went home for summer vacation and isn't back until October. A lot of things are going to slow down pretty quickly in that Cluj's population is cut in half as all the students go home.
Church wasn't super great, mostly because there were so few investigators. Last week our district had 13 investigators and this week we had 2! Of our 7, only Alex was there yesterday. I have no idea where Ionut and the Militaru's were and Doamna Mocean said she wouldn't be able to make it this week.
The week of missionary work wasn't that great, either. We didn't have a ton of lessons and stuff just went a lot slower it seemed. We did have to spend big chunks of two days making the English fliers that we'll be giving out in a couple of weeks and that hurt us. My best day was actually Saturday when I was in Oradea on exchange with Elder Manzione. We worked pretty hard, had 6 lessons and actually found this guy that is a former investigator that wants to learn more and to come to church. He's a young father and he has a bling house. Hopefully everything goes well with him.
Elder Bringhurst and I did find one really cool new investigator this week. It was sweet because it was at the end of the night and we just finished with a lesson and it was like 8:20. We totally could have gone home and that would have been normal. But I said, hey let's try one more scara(part of a bloc with about 10 apartments). On the very 1st door we knocked, this really cool girl, 28 years old, let us in and we had a way quality lesson with her. She's really open and really wanted to read the Book of Mormon so we went back the next night and gave her one and had another good lesson, talking about prayer and how she can get an answer from God. This week we'll go over with the sisters and then they will start working with her. Needless to say she is actually super attractive. I really hope she continues to progress. She could be golden.
Well, the week is over and a new week has started. It really is a new beginning of sorts, especially with a new mission president. The office elders told me that President Lundberg is a really cool guy and that they are excited for what is following. We're going to work hard and try to make this a great week.
Raluca's baptism is on the 14th of July. I have no idea who will baptize her. Probably one of the members. That is always the best anyway. As district leader, Elder Divis will do the baptismal interview.
Well, too be honest, I don't have much to write. It was a really boring week. No great updates at all. Thanks for those way funny stories about J and his phone. That made me laugh. I hope you all have a great time at the reunion. I will try to send the rest of the missionary video. I'm not sure we'll have time, because today is Elder Smith's birthday and we're all kind of doing what he wants. I think we might have some time to get over to the Hakes' and send it, though. We'll see.
I love you guys. Have an amazing week! I love you!
Elder Ross
Monday, June 23, 2008
June 23, 2008
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
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
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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