Iohannas!

November 17, 2014

This week has been so amazing! And guess what I found out today! Iohannis won the election! He's so cool! He was the mayor of Sibiu and he's from Germany. I hear he was a great mayor, so that's good news for Romania. 

I'll start with our trip to Buc! I was so great. We had a mission conference and Elder Kearen of the Seventy came and talked to all of us. The Spirit that was with him was so strong. I learned so much and am just ready to work harder. The missionaries here are really raising up to the challenge to work harder and are understanding even more their calling and responsibility as missionaries. It's so great to be able to see not only the changes in myself, but the changes in all of the missionaries. 

A lot of the conference was about getting up on time with energy. Luckily for me, I've never had a hard time getting up. I just get up and I'm fine. Today, actually we were going to go running, which we started doing until Sora Bastidas asked me if I had the keys. Our apartment door can be locked without the key, and I've been really good at not forgeting the keys before I lock it. usually one of us gets the keys and the other gets the phone. i thought Sora Bastidas had the keys, but she didn't...haha so instead of going running we had to go all the way over to where the Elders live to get the spare key, which is like a 30 trip. Yep...but we still got up with energy! haha

anyways, but there were a lot of good things that I learned at the conference. Probably one of the biggest being the fact that we need to be happy where we are, but not satisfied. We always need to be striving to be better, to work harder with more attention. That's really something that hit me most, considering I'm going home soon and it would be super easy for me to say, "oh, I've done enough. I can rest and just drift on into the finish." But what's the point in that?! I definitely would not be satisfied looking back if I did that, and I'm not satisfied now with where I am! So I still got a ways to go, and it's wonderful. 

Something I learned most from the conference wasn't from anything that Elder Kearen said, but what he did. In our MLC he invited us all to have a kneeling prayer together. He invited 3 of us to pray, one after the other. He told us that we needed to 'call down power from heaven,' and that's exactly what we did. It was so amazing the Spirit that was there. The things we discussed addressed exactly what we really needed to focus on as a mission. It widened our vision of what is possible here, and the possibilities are limitless! So much can happen here. There is so much potential! 

Anyways, it was an absolutely amazing conference. And I got to see all my kids! Sora Black, Sora Huffaker, and of course Elder Manning. I got a picture of them that I will hopefully have time to send home. I loved talking to Sora Huffaker since I really haven't gotten to talk to her for a while. I haven't seen her for a long time either. It was just so good to see her. Sora Black's doing good too. I still miss her a lot and so it was wonderful to get to sit by her again at conference. I saw Sora Anderson, too! But I didn't have a whole lot of time to talk to her...I was running all over the place afterwards. 

We got to fly back to Oradea which is so much better than the 14 hour train ride. We almost weren't going to be able to, though because everyone but me forgot their passports, but luckily they had their visas and were still able to get on. It was seriously the fastest plane ride I have ever been on. It was so nice to get back in Oradea. 

This last week we spent a lot more time with our less actives. We've been meeting with Sora Isopescu who is doing so well. We went and read with her from the Book of Mormon. She got her scriputres out which she said she hadn't done in three years. The second time we visited her we asked her what she thought she needed to do to come closer to Christ and she was like, "I know I need to pray, and read...and come to church." And we're like, yeah! Exactly! She's started to read by herself again! Oh man, I'm so excited for her. I love her so much. 

We went and saw Sora Tutor in the hospital and brought her flowers. She absolutely loved them. Her husband came and it was only the second time I've seen him. We got to sing to her and her roommate and all of them just absolutely loved it. It brought back a lot of memories of singing to people in the hospital at home. 

This week I was a little discouraged. Sometimes negative thoughts just get to you. I was just thinking about how I've really not seen as much success in my mission as I hoped for in the beginning of my mission, even though I've worked super hard. And I just kept thinking about that and how little time I have left and how little I feel I can still do. I told Sora Bastidas about this and she was struggling a little too, and so we talked about it a lot. Then we prayed together, one after the other, like we did in zone conference. After that we had so much more faith. We are not giving up! We had an amazing weekly planning session and we are going to have an amazing week! 

And the fruits are already starting to be seen! Today we had a lesson with a girl named Adina that we met in the park the other day. She had so many questions about the Book of Mormon and we answered them and taught the Restoration. At the end we invited her to be baptized on the 5th, and she accepted! That was just absolutely amazing. We had to end because the lesson had already been an hour, but she just wanted to stay longer. She had so many questions! It was so cool. I am so excited for her. We invited her to church and at first she was like, "well, I have church from 9-12...but I think I'll come here this Sunday!" Wooh! I am so happy! I'm not done yet! Heavenly Father is still using me...somehow...haha. 

So, that's about it for this week. Thank you for all of your continuing support and prayers. This is the time I need them most!

Love you all!

Sora Merrill

Sister Trainer Leader-ing!!!!

This week was so great! We went to Arad for Zone Training Meeting and stayed another day to do our exchange with Arad. On the way there I got to talk to this extremely nice lady named Florica. She was going down to Arad to apply for a dentristry job there. She was really cool and we talked a lot about cooking because she loves to cook! She told me how to make Cozonac which is a Romanian specialty. But I actually don't remember how she told me to make it...haha. But I really enjoyed talking to her even though I was half asleep since we had to get up at 4 that morning to get to the train at 5. At the end I gave her a little pass-along card and she seemed very grateful to receive it. I wanted to ask for her number, but she got off the train before I could. But that's ok! I think I made a good impression. 

Zone training was great! Sora Tobler and I gave a presentation about Christlike attributes and how developing Christlike attributes helps us fulfill our purpose as missionaries. It went really well! We really didn't actually do a whole lot for it. We just split up all the Christlike attributes and let everyone else do the teaching! Everyone had really great comments and the Spirit was super strong. 

I had a longosi for the first time there! Longosi are like gogosi exept for longer and they usually don't have sweet things in them. Mine had potatoes and it was sooooooooooo good! I guess longosi are more of a Western Romanian food while gogosi are more middle Romania, but I stil see gogosi here too. 

After the meeting we started our eschange! I went with Sora O'Brien! She is so amazing and just so excited for this work. And she just has such an amazing vision for her area. It was so cool to see a missionary who knows that she's the one who makes her mission. It's not dependant on any circumstance or companion or mission president or anything outside. It's just you and the Lord. And she knows that! She knows what she wants to happen and she is so willing to follow the Lord and His direction.

Something that I really learned from Sora O'Brien is the importance of bearing testimony often and not being afraid to stop for a couple minutes and ponder what the Lord wants us to do and where He wants us to go. There was a time we were walking down the street and all of a sudden she just stops and thinks for a second. She then turned and started walking down another street! One that street we went to a block and found 3 potential families! The first family we talked to a young early-teenager girl opened the door. We told her we were from America trying to learn more about Romanian beliefs and asked if we could do a survey. She said yes and we asked her a couple questions, but then her mom came up and was like, "Nu nu nu nu nu!!! Nu vorbim cu voi!" and shut the door. The next door we was actually their grandpa! He answered all of our questions and said we could come back if we wanted.

After that we moved on and another old guy answered all of the questions and said he would be interested in learning more, too. After Sora O'Brien told me that she wished we could have given the first young girl we talked to an English card. I thought that was a great idea! So we went back up and knocked on the grandpa's door (we had seen his grandaughter go in there right before we left) and gave him an English card to give to his grandaughter! He seemed more than delighted to give it to her. We both felt really good that we did that, and I was just glad Sra O'Brien had that impression to do it. 

The last door we knocked we met this Hungarian couple (they spoke Romanian of course). They were older and the wife was pretty sick and just laying in her bed when we came in. We sat on the floor while we talked to her. She was so so so sweet. She showed us her pictures and we showed her our pictures and then starting talking about the Book of Mormon. And guess what! She already had one! Apparently 8 years ago she went to the English classes and the Elders there gave her one. She had read it, but she said she couldn't really understand all of it because it was in Romanian and her first language is Hungarian. So Sora O'Brien said that she would bring her one in Hangarian to read and Ana Maria (that's her name) was so happy! And I was so glad we could bring her some joy that night. 

The next day we finished our exchange. We visited a member who was super super nice. And then we got on the train that night (after doing 'closing ceremonies') and rode on back. It was sooooooooooooo hot! But it was probably one of my favorite train rides I've had. sora Tobler and I talked a lot about some of the best experiences we've had on the mission. We talked a lot more, but then the train started speeding up more and we could really hear each other because all the windows were open because it was so hot. So I just started singing (because no one could hear it...haha) and I just felt so good. A couple minutes later Sora Tobler yelled at me, "Haha, you can't even hear me singing over here!" and I was like, "What?!?! I'm singing too!" ...yep...cool story...

The rest of this week we mostly just English contacted. We also made our travel schedule which took a while because the train times are ridiculous and getting to Sibiu is pretty hard because there isn't a train that goes directly there, but we finally figured it all out. We're going to Cluj this week! Can't wait! 

We also had a great contact the other day. I gave a lady an English card who was waiting at a bus stop. But then she asked us who we were and what church we were with and what we believed and we got to testify a lot about what we believed. I love working with Sora Tobler again because we already know well how to contact and teach together and have a balance. Mariana was the name of the lady and we got to testify so much about how Christ is our Savior and how He loves us and how He has given us another book of Scripture. We handed her The Book of Mormon and she started reading a little bit of it. We just let her read a couple verses in 3 Nephi 11 and she thought it was amazing! We told her we wanted to give it to her as a gift. She said that she normally doesn't read things from other religions...(pause)...but that she would like to read the Book of Mormon because she saw that it talked about Christ and seamed like she could learn something from it. We got to testify again about how the Book of Mormon has power, because it's the word of God. I testified about how much it's helped me in y life to know who Christ is. I was just about to ask for her number when the bus came...ugh!!!!! How annoying. But it was still a really good contact and we got to give her a Book of Mormon! 

Also, I don't know if I already told you this. But every hour in Oradea they play this song (Melodia Iancului) that apparently reminds al the Hungarians that the Romanians won the war when they were fighting over who would get Oradea. Sora Tobler and I love it...except for when it gets stuck in our heads and then we sing it all the time and it gets realy annoying...haha. 

It's so amazing to me how Heavenly Father really leads us to those people who are going to accept some kind of invitation to come closer to Him. I've seen many times this week how He has led us to people who either accepted a Book of Mormon or simply accepted an English card and then told us they would come. "Through small and simple things are great things brought to pass."

Thanks for all the pictures, Dad! I loved them! And thanks so much for the update on everything, Marshall. I kind of felt like I was in the dark on all the changes in our family. I mean, everyone's pretty good at keeping me updated, but sometimes I just really don't know where everyone is and what they're doing! So it was nice to read about your life. And felicitari on all that you and Ashley are doing! 

Also, Happy Birthday to Jude! He's already 1?!?! That's crazy. Just crazy.

La Multi Ani, Tata! Cati ani ai acuma? Am uitat...dar am cunoscut pe cineva care are aceasi zi de nastere pe care o ai tu. Deci, felicitari, multa multa sanatate, fericire, si noroc in aceasta an urmator! 

(translation..exact translation...haha..."To many years, Dad! How many years do you have now? I forgot...but I met someone which has the same day of birth which she have you (adica: you have). So, congratulations, much much health, happiness, and luck in this year following."  

La multi an cu sanatate 

sa va dea Domnul tot ce doriti

Zile senine si fericire

la mult ani sa traiti

mult ani traiasca, multi ani traiasca, 

LA MULTI ANI!

cine sa traiasca, cine sa traiasca

LA MULTI ANI!

Tata sa traiasca, Tata sa traiasca

LA MULTI ANI!!!!

Yep...have fun with that. It's the Romanian Birthday song! 

Va iubesc!!!!

Sora Merrill

Sora Merrill

Well, sorry I didn't right until now. We had zone conference on Monday so we were traveling until today, but it was absolutely wonderful and I loved seeing all my mission buddies and President and Sora Hill!

 

This week was great...I don't really remember a whole lot of what happened. It went way to fast. I feel like after your half way mark time goes twice as fast, which is totally not fair at all.

 

We did service this week for this old guy who has a garden. We dug up some ground and planted some ceapa and it was really hard. Sora Huffaker and I were so tired and sore! It was great to be able to serve him, though, because he's super old and lives alone and doesn't have anyone to help him. he's pretty picky about his garden, though. He kept yelling at us because we weren't digging or planting in straight lines, which we totally were. But that's ok, I'm sure he just wants it to look good. Before we left he gave us a bag of cauliflower and pickles...it was really weird. He also gave us a bag of ant-infested red onions. I really didn't want to get ants in our house, but we couldn't leave them outside our door, so we hung them outside our window...remember that for later.

 

I got your package! Thanks so much. I haven't finished reading the talk, but I liked the pictures and the butterfly thing and the skittles. Multumesc frumos!

 

We had a couple cool lessons this week. We met with Anca and Valentin. Valentin is so cool! They both have so much faith! We taught the Plan of Salvation and they just want to make it to the Celestial Kingdom so bad! Valentin always says that you have to be 'rich in your heart' with faith in God, even if you're not very rich in real life. I love that so much! He accepted a date to be baptized on the 2nd of May.

 

We haven't really been able to meet with Cristina much this week. We went over there once to make gogosi with Lenuta and them, but we more had a lesson with Lenuta's brother-in-law instead of Cristina, which was kind of frustrating because although he's an awesome guy, we really weren't able to talk to Cristina at all. We haven't been able to meet with her since because her mom's been sick in the hospital and she's been sick, too. I pray for her so much and Sora Huffaker and I just know that we're doing all we can for her.

 

We got to meet with Ileana this week! She's probably one of my favorite people I've met here, not that I have favorites...I just always say I do...for everything. Sora Huffaker thinks it's pretty funny because every time I share a scripture or something I always say it's my favorite...I just like everything! But anyways, Ileana is so sweet! She just got back from Italy so it was the first time meeting with her for 3 weeks. Our message was more of just, we love you and just really care about you. She came to church on Sunday! She always really likes it when she does come, and she loves everything we teach her, but she's still holding on to the Orthodox religion, mostly because it's a cultural thing and her family has always been Orthodox. She's not the only one like that, and I totally understand how hard it would be. Of course I don't understand completely, but anyways, that's why we just had a "We love you and care about you and just want to help you" kind of lesson, because I think we were kind of fourcing her too much, and Sora Huffaker agreed that that's what she felt Ileana needed. She is just the sweetest, nicest lady I have ever met.

 

On Sunday we had Branch conference, so President and Sora Hill came and spoke. It was so good! The Spirit was so strong! And there were so many people there! We invited our English students and probably 6 or 7 of them came! It was simply amazing! Everything just went so well. I tried to translate for Sora Hill during Relief Society, but it was so hard! If you miss one word, you're completely out for 2 minutes, or at least that's how it was for me. It was so hard, but I think I got most of the important things at least.

 

After we got to ride a maxi taxi to Arad. We stayed in a hotel with the Oradea and Timisoara missionaries. It was so fun! zone conference was just amazing, too. We're going to start doing more Family History contacting. They church is starting to digitize the Romanian records, soon, so that more of it will be online. Right now there are very few records on Family Search, but within a month or two there will be a whole lot more! Sora Huffaker and I were really wanting to try contacting with it, and now we really can! It's going to be great!

 

President Hill also talked a lot about Our Purpose as missionaries, and how our success isn't measured by how many baptisms we have. Rather it's more important for us to serve those around us, to bring comfort to those in need, to lift up the hands that hang low, to love the people, and to be Christlike. The best way to bring happiness is through the Gospel, but something that Sora Huffaker and I talked about a little today during companion study was that we first really need to show people that we truly care about them. Once people see that, then they will trust us enough to accept what we have to say. Some people will be really open to what we have to say in the first place, but most people do need something that tells them that they can trust what we have to say, and the Spirit will testify to them of the truth of our words.

 

I just love conference. I love seeing everyone together! All of my companions were there! And I really got to know a lot of people a whole lot better, especially the Cluj missionaries. After conference we went to Cluj to spend part of our PDay with them. We took a 5 hour train ride with them and pretty much just talked to them the entire way. It was so fun! They're all awesome missionaries. We went paintballing there yesterday morning. It was so fun! I was awful, but there was one game where I killed at least three people. Other than that, I pretty much was just good at dieing. But it was so fun. I got shot in the face probably at least 5 times. Sora Huffaker was awesome! She was one of the people who shot me in the face. Don't worry, we had masks. Man, that was so fun. We really needed that. I have an awesome bruise on my leg, too.

 

After paintballing we had to run to the autogara to catch a bus back so we could get there in time for English. We made it! But we didn't have time to change so we were all sweaty and gross on the way back. We were all super tired, too. It was so worth it, though. We got back to Sibiu and had to go straight to English. Luckily we did have time to change, but we hadn't really planned anything so we just did a review and Sora Huffaker and I totally figured out a spiritual thought 2 minutes before we gave it, which actually turned out pretty good.

 

Yep, I can't really remember a whole lot else this week. It was mostly just a very tiring week, but it was so good! I think the most important things I learned this week, though, is the importance and necessity of daily repentance, especially being a missionary. It is so important to have the Spirit with you. Although I often feel the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, there are times where I make mistakes that limit my ability to have that companionship. They're not big mistakes, but I've noticed that the longer I put off repenting of them, the more prideful I get, and the less I feel the Spirit. But I've learned that if I repent quickly, the Spirit will always be with me. I can repent anywhere at anytime! Yes, sometimes repentance takes more time than just saying sorry to someone, but it is so important. When you don't repent, your heart hardens and the Spirit can't enter in, because there's no room there. It is so good to feel that Spirit. The Spirit testifies of Christ and His Atonement. It's real! It is the realest thing on earth! And anyone can feel it, just repent, or think about Christ. The Spirit will be there!

 

Yep, that's this week. It's been great! Next Saturday we find out if I'm leaving. Elder Baielli and I think I'm going to Iasi to be a Sister Training Leader, but nobody knows. Maybe I'll stay one more transfer here! That would be awesome!

 

Again, sorry I'm late. Don't be worried, we're all fine.

 

Love you all!

 

Sora Merrill

A couple of things I've learned on my mission...

Well, in 2 days I'll only have 9 months left on my mission. Being half way is the weirdest thing ever. I feel like I just got here yesterday! But because I am halfway, I was really pondering this week all the things that have happened since I've got here, and all the things I've learned, and they're not few, I can tell you that much. You know, I don't really feel like I'm really that much of a different person, just more refined, and probably a lot more happier. I made a list of that things that I've learned so far (I had a goal to write down at least one things I've learned every transfer, but I kind of failed at that, so I decided to do this). I thought I might include some in my letter today:

 

1) Heavenly Father loves all of His missionaries and is grateful for all of them. He's proud of every effort we put in and understands our weaknesses. He doesn't expect us to be perfect, but does ask that we try our best and leave the rest to Him.

 

I think I really learned this at the end of my third and begining of my fourth transfer. I had spent a lot of my time beating myself up when I only saw the things I had failed at doing that day. It was really hard for me to really give myself credit for the things I was doing well, and therefore impossible for me to think that Heavenly Father was glad with my efforts. Although I knew He didn't expect me to be perfect, I wasn't exactly sure about what He really did expect me to be. But then on an exchange with one of our Sister Training Leaders, she reminded me of the truth that Heavenly Father loves all of His children, and especially all of His missionaries. He is so proud of us when we simply open our mouths. And Even on days that are hard, where we don't even want to go outside, He is still proud of us when we do, when we put in the effort that we can, and He blesses us significantly! And when He does bless us (which is every day) we need to show gratitude, which leads perfectly into number 2...

 

2) If you look for the blessings, you will find them!

 

This is something that just continually amazes me. I have to thank Ashley for helping me with this one. She got me started on really looking for blessings in my life. But I think in my first transfer I really started looking for the blessings Heavenly Father had blessed me with every day. Some days it was really hard, all I wanted to do was go to sleep. But I would always try to think of at least one good thing that had happened that day, and I always found one. Most of the time, once I got started, I could think of a lot more. Doing this strengthened my testimony so much that my Heavenly Father loves me, and He loves His children! This is His work, why would He want to hinder it? Every day I thought of just a couple of things, and it testified to me that Heavenly Father is leading this work, that He isn't only blessing the lives of the people here, but He is blessing my life, by using me as an instrument in His hands. There are always blessings to be found! I think I even found the most joy in the smaller blessings, because it showed me that Heavenly Father is in every aspect of this work, even the small and simple things. 

 

3) "Work will work when wishy washy wishing won't" --President Hinckley

 

This may be my favorite quote of President Hinckley's. This is probably something I believe in most. I love to work! Especially in this work! I love coming home at the end of the day super tired, because I know that that means I've been working hard. And I have a very strong testimony that that harder you work, the more the Lord will bless you, because you show Him that He can trust you with what He asks you to do. Although you may still have slower weeks, He still is blessing you. Just keep going! (Also, see the above section). "Run hard and to the tape," as Elder Holland said in that great talk that mom sent me, probably my first or second transfer. 

 

4) Have a Just Do It additude

 

Ok, so I'm not trying to quote Nike, this is definitely just something I have had to put into practice as a missionary, and it works! It's actually something I feel like I learned before my mission, but here it just works so well! I just remember always having to do hard workouts in track and a lot of people would just complain and grumble and really not put in their best effort, and I have to admit, sometimes I was that person. But then I realized that if I just did the workout without complaining and just started as soon as possible, it would be over a lot sooner and I would feel really good after! The same is in missionary work. So many times I would be so scared to talk to someone on a bus, or call someone on the phone, because I was afraid I wouldn't understand or wouldn't know what to say or it would just be awkward to talk to the person next to me because no one does that here and they would just think I'm weird. But everytime I would "Just Do It" everything would be better than if I didn't, even if I didn't understand. Because I saw that even if my effort was kind of whimpy, or I completely forgot how to speak Romanian when I tried to talk to someone, Heavenly Father blessed that effort (again, see the above sections). It's always just better to do it! 

 

5) First love, then correct

 

This is something I've really seen while being on my mission. I've realized that it's going to take a lifetime to really develop Christlike love for everyone. But I know that Heavenly Father will give us that love if we ask, and if we truly strive to have it. As a missionary, and just in general, no one is going to change if they don't first feel love. Something I've really pondered throughout my mission is how Heavenly Father speaks to me. Every time I feel a prompting from the Spirit, or receive a confirmation that something is true from the Spirit, it is always through my feelings, one of those feelings being uncomprehensible love from my Heavenly Father. I've really come to understand that people don't do anything, unless they feel that it's right, or good, or that it will make their life better. yeah, Heavenly Father could just make something make sense in our mind, but without feeling, it's very unlikely that we're going to do anything about it. Chirst was the perfect example of how to help people change, and He still is. He first gives us His love. His love is always there. And because of His love for us, He corrects us. It cannot be done in any other way. If you want anyone to change, you must first love them. I could go on and on about how important love is! I could go in 20 different directions from here! And I've learned that it's the same with the investigators we have. They're not going to change unless we show them love and until they really feel the love of their Savior for them, which comes as they pray, read their scriptures, come to church, and repent! Seminary answers, they're great folks. But It's so true, that is how we can feel the love of our Savior more fully in our lives. And I know that's true from personal experience. 

 

Well, I could keep going, but I guess I should also tell you a little bit about our week! Because it was fantastic!

 

We had many many really wonderful lessons this week! Who should I start with...

 

I'll start with Traian, because he's so cool! He's 87 years old and we block knocked into him last week, I think. Anyways, we went over there again to give him a Book of Mormon, because he wanted one, but we didn't have any...I can't remember why. We went back over and taught him the Restauration and actually talked a lot about authority and how the church is set up, because he had a lot of questions about that. He thought it was really cool and just really likes how we're so excited about this work. He saw that we really care and that this means a lot to us. He agreed to come to church, but said that he probably wouldn't be able to this week because he was getting back surgery, but that he would come the next week. But then yesterday, guess who showed up! He did! He said he saw in the Book of Mormon 'Duminica la ora 10' and was like, "well, might as well go!" and He came! And he loved it! He still says he's Orthadox and that he'll stay that way, but that he'll come every Sunday! He is so cool, but he smells really bad of old man. 

 

Next! Mirela. She is so cool. She's super shy, though, and it's really hard for me to read people, so sometimes I have no idea how she's feeling about what we're saying. But she told us in our last lesson that she knows it was just an "intamplare" that we came to her door and she has so much real intent, it's crazy! She is such a huge blessing! That was kind of a crazy lesson because she had gone online and had read about tithing and our member that we brought with us kind of went off on that and we were just sitting there like, "We haven't even taught the Restauration!" It was scary, but all went well and turned out great and she's still awesome. 

 

Anca and Valentin! Anca's a member, but her husband/ boy friend (because they're not actually married because they don't have enough money) isn't a member. But this last week he expressed to us that he really wants to be baptized, so we started teaching him. he can't read, but Anca reads with him and their daughter every night! They are so adorable. Our last lesson we asked him to pray, and he wouldn't because he said he wasn't ready, but him and Anca prayed together and he said he felt so good and that he was so sorry he didn't pray with us! They are just so cute. He already has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Church. It's so cool. 

 

Cristina! She's doing awesome. We did the stop smoking program with her, and although she hasn't quit completely, she's doing a lot better. she's also cut down on drinking coffee. She wasn't able to come to church yesterday because she had a fever. Ugh! We are convinced that the adversary is trying so hard to keep her from coming. But we're not giving up, and neither is she! She is just so great. We love her so much!

 

We also found this former investigator when we were block knocking the other day. She is so cool! She used to live next to the Elders 2 or 3 years ago, but then they changed apartments. She absolutely loved them, though. She called us one day after we had gone to lunch with Eugen and invited us over right then. So we went over and found out she had made lunch for us (ciorba de salata). It was good, just like any ciorba, but we were already full from eating with Eugen. And then she's like, "I'm going to make you clatite, too!" and she did. And we ate probably 7 clatite each because she just kept making them and giving them to us and even though we said, "This is going to be my last one" she said, "No. You can have one more!" She probably did that 3 times. We felt so fat afterwards. It was kind of awful, but she was so cute! I love her so much! Her name is Maria, I think I forgot to say that. 

 

Yesterday at church we had a very interesting Sunday School lesson. It was on how to improve your marriage (or in this case, prepare yourself for marriage, since everyone in our branch is single except for like 2 people). It was so hilarious! One guy, who has a crush on me and Sora Huffaker and makes it really obvious, kept slipping our names into all of his comments. He also kind of tried to turn the class into a dating advice discussion. Sora Huffaker and I just kind of sat there, and I think both of us were just tuning him out. We kept looking over at the Elders and they were trying so hard not to laugh. It was so hilarious! But Sandu did a great job turning the class back to the real purpose of the lesson. Oh man, it was just hilarious, and slightly awkward at the same time, but it was great. 

 

Oh yeah! And we called Ileana yesterday and she was so excited to hear from us! She's been on vacation and we haven't been able to talk to her at all. I was so excited to talk to her and she was so happy that we called. She kept doing these cute little excited laughs while we talked to her. it was so cute. I love her so much!

 

Yep, a whole lot more happened, but I really don't have much time left. I love you all! I hope everything's going well! 

 

Love,

 

Sora Merrill  

Chef de viata: Missionary Work

I learned so much this week! And there have been so many miracles that they're absolutely impossible to count.

 

First off, we met with Cristina this week! She's our investigator who had a baptismal date, but who we weren't able to get ahold of last week. We learned that she hardly ever answers her phone, but she answers texts! We had two wonderful lessons with us this week. We didn't bring up her getting yelled at at church the previous week, but she didn't seemed phased by it at all. In fact, she said she wants to go again! So that was a miracle! And it took a lot of stress off my back. We realized that we're really going to have to teach her a lot simpler. One of the days we went over she had just found a "Stories from the Book of Mormon" book and had started reading it a couple minutes earlier. She absolutely loved it because it had pictures and she could understand what was happening in the stories. I loved just talking to her really simply and helping her apply it to her own life. You could see how touched she was by the story of  Lehi and his family and how much Lehi loved his family and how obedient he was to the Lord. She didn't come to church yesterday, but we're going to visit her tomorrow!

 

I got yelled at on the phone this week! It was the first time that has ever happened to me. I was really really confused the whole time, because I wasn't exactly sure what she was saying. Also, we had met her on the street a couple days before and she was seriously the nicest lady ever. So I wasn't exaclt ysure what had happened. I thought she might have thought we were just some punk teenagers making prank calls or something, so we decided to go over there, just to make sure she really knew who we were. So we did, and she was a lot nicer in person, but she still didn't want to talk to us at all. Apparently her friend that had walked by us had told her some negative things about us, or something. We tried to explain kindly that perhaps not everything was true, but she wouldn't really let us talk. So we just said goodbye and went back to the bus.

 

I was actually really kind of hurt from that experience. We hadn't done anything wrong! Why was this lady yelling at us? I wasn't angry or anything, just really hurt. After that I just wanted to go to internet (because we get an hour and a half each week to go listen to talks and such on lds.org). I did not feel like talking to anyone, I just didn't want to do anything! Plus, earlier this week I was just struggling to get myself to talk to people. I kind of found myself at a wall of discouragement and exhuastion where I was so tempted to just turn inward and give in to my own desires. At this point I looked over to my companion sitting across from me on the bus. She had her Cartea Lui Mormon open and was reading it. At this point I was seriously about to cry because I was so tired. I was trying to fight this entire week to just keep going, to fight my natural man of just relaxing and going out but maybe not trying super hard to talk to people. At this point I was really close to just giving in, to just allow myself a little bit of time to just relax and think about myself (which is fine from time to time, but probably wouldn't have been the best decision for me). But when I saw Sora Huffaker reading her CLM, a scripture came to my mind in Alma 26:27--

"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamenites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."

 

Or in other words, as I read them in my mind:

 

"Now when my heart was depressed and I was about to go to internet, the Lord comforted me, and said: Go amongst thy brethre, the Romanians, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." 

 

As I read this, my heart was comforted! Yes, it did still hurt a little that the lady still yelled at us, but I was also reminded of something I had been reminding myself this entire week: that Heavenly Father has prepared hearts here. He knows where they are, and they can only be found if we are out looking for them. 

 

So we decided to do what we had planned to do for our back-up: to go back to some blocks we had "carded" the day before (or just left cards on the door without knocking or anything and coming back at a later date). So we did, and no one answered. Ok, a few people did, but none of them were interested. our second to last door agreed to take our survey, but really wasn't interested at all. while we were talking to him, the door behind us had opened, because some people were leaving. I was really afraid to knock on it, because you know, it's kind of awkward if the person had saw us, and then opened to us again...I don't know. I was really nervous. But we did it anyways, and she let us in! We did the family sondaj with her and she described to us how strong her family was. How her daughters love each other so much and how they talk to each other every day. She told us about how her husband had died three years ago. I could tell she really didn't want to talk about him: she misses him so much. I simply bore testimony to her that families are forever, and that we know this through a book: the Book of Mormon, and through revelation to modern day prophets. I didn't even have to ask if she would be interested in reading it. She asked if she could have a copy! She said she would read it and call us when she has time to meet! We asked for her number, but she said she is always really busy and doesn't like it when people call her, especially if she's teaching (she's a Romanian language professor). But she was really sincere and said she wanted to learn more. So I really hope and pray that she will call us. But if not, it still showed me that Heavenly Father is always preparing hearts and that it is so important for us to keep trying, even when our hearts are depressed, and He will give unto us success. 

 

I saw this even more at the end of the week. There was one night where we were only block knocking for an hour and a half and we got 3 potentials! It was awesome! When we were counting up our numbers at the end of the week, we saw that we recieved 9 potentials for this week! Ok, it really has nothing to do with the numbers, but look how much the Lord has blessed us! We were also looking at how many lessons we want to have this week, and we have so many amazing potentials, some of them have already agreed to meet with us! We are going to be so busy this week! I am so excited! My excitement for missionary work that has been somewhat absent for the past week and a half or so has returned! Sora Huffaker and I are working together better than ever. She is so amazing! She is really helping me learn to teach more simply and be more in tune with the Spirit. I am absolutely extatic about this week! And we have interviews this week! (We didn't have them last week because I guess it snowed about a foot in Buc and a lot of the roads were closed) and we have exchanges too! I love exchanges! And I'm going to be with Sora Polatis, which I am so excited about because I love her to death! 

 

Anyways, I just love my mission. I love how much Heavenly Father is in this work. I love it...I just love it! 

 

so, that's probably about all I can write. Thanks for all your letters! I still haven't gotten my birthday one's because President didn't come last week, but I'll probably get them this week. 

 

Also, Melanie and Adan, I love that talk so much! And we were thinking about using it! 

 

Va iubim!

 

Sora Merrill