Aug 11, 2014

Buna from Constanta!!

Let me start off by saying... I'm in paradise. Constanta is absolutely beautiful and the people even more so.

Our apartment here is on the beach. Can you believe that? We walk outside, turn the corner and BAM. Beach. This is the view from our apartment. I see this every morning as I study.It's so nice. And in the morning we just go downstairs to the boardwalk for work out.

This morning as we were studying, we thought we saw two dolphins  in the water. We've heard you can see dolphins from the widow sometimes. So, we ran down stairs to get a closer look. Sora Long took a picture and then zoomed  in... turns out they were just two people swimming.. :) but it was an exciting morning!

My companion, Sora Long is AMAZING. She is absolutely hilarious. Our district is fun too. We half the district is being trained right now, so everyone is full of lots of energy. It's awesome. Today we had mici at the church for pday.

The branch here is very small, the members are VERY powerful. I love all of them already.

Right now Sora Long and I working on gaining some new investigators. We've done so much contacting in my first few days here, and we've seen a lot of success already. We've already gained 2 new investigators! One of which we found because we were lost and asked her for directions. We had a great conversation with her as she led us to where we needed to go. We talked about the Book of Mormon and then left her one as a thank you gift :) We went over to her home the next day and had a lesson. She was so good to us! She made us cheese scones, and gave us cookies. 

We had another wonderful lesson with another woman, Aura. We taught her the plan of salvation on the beach near our apartment. It was so cool.

I just felt so blessed. Sitting there on the beach, listening to the waves, feeling so good. We have a good life. Aura is really sweet too. She is very orthodox but is open and willing to hear what we had to say. She said the prayer with her own words. I love hearing people try that for the first time. It's one of my favorite parts of my entire mission.

Leaving Brasov last week was rough, but I'm so happy to be here with these people. I'm also happy because President Ivory told me I can call my cute Brasov member sisters when I want to. They've been calling me too and I love it. I love knowing that even though I'm not in their area anymore, I'll always get to keep them as my friends.

Going to Buc was a lot of fun too. I loved seeing all the missionaries! On the train ride down, I got word that president Ivory wanted me to do another presentation, but this time it was for all the new incoming missionaries.It was SO much fun to be there with all of them. They are a really good group. And Sora Newell (another sister in the mission) and I got to take the only new sister (Sora Black) contacting on her first day in the country. It was so much fun. It started raining really hard though and the only people we could really contact were the people huddled under an awning  with us. haha

Things here are going so well, and I am loving it. Life is so good!

I love all of you so so so so much!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Sora Ralls

August 4, 2014

How do I sum up this week?

It's definitely been amazing, and full of surprises. 

I loved serving with Sora Stewart this week. We were in Brasov from Wednesday to Friday while Sora Honey stayed in Bucharest doing visa work. All went well with her visa by the way! After a long struggle she finally is legal!!  Sora Stewart is going home on Wednesday morning! I can hardly believe it. I am so glad we get to be roommates back up at school this winter :) 

So transfer board came out on Saturday... and it finally happened... they transferred me out of Brasov. When I saw the board I was just in shock. President was so sure just a couple weeks ago that he was going to keep me in Brasov. But he did also say that he needed to fast and pray about it before making a final decision.. I guess revelation told him otherwise.

So now it looks like I'm heading  South East! On Wednesday I leave for Constanta. It's right on the Black Sea. Our Apartment is literally on the beach:) I'll be second transfer training 22 year old Sora Long from Utah. I am looking forward to serving with her. :)

Oh man!! You know what though. When Sora Stewart was staying with me here in Brasov, I woke her up in the middleof the night because I was talking in my sleep. She woke me up and I just told her "Sorry I was dreaming I was contacting in Constanta."  We just laughed it off. I HAD NO IDEA I WOULD BE SERVING THERE THE NEXT WEEK!

I don't know a lot about Constanta other than the branch is amazing and the city is beautiful. I did meet some of the members a few months ago when all the members and missionaries were in Bucarest for district conference. One little 14 year old girl I met (I forgot her name!) Told me she was going to pray that I get sent to Constanta... and I guess she had great faith because it worked!

Sunday was hard. It was hard saying goodbye to everyone. I can't believe how much I've come to love these people in such a short amount of time. I was doing okay with my goodbyes until a few of the branch members started tearing up. Then I lost it just a little.

As we were leaving the church though, I really just felt this calm and comfortable feeling of knowing I have done all I could for Brasov. I did the best I could here. I gave everything I could. I am just so grateful I got to serve here.

As hard as it is to go, I know there are new challenges to meet and people to love in Constanta. 

Oh! Our branch president there has a"I"m a Mormon " video. :) http://suntmormon.ro/mormoni-din-romania/ He's the last one- Alin.

We head to Bucharest on Wednesday Morning, and I'll stay the night because we have the trainers meeting early Thursday morning.

Next time I write I'll be in my new city!

I love you all so so so so much! You've all been amazing examples to me. You're always in my prayers!!

xoxoxoxoxox

Sora Ralls

ps- Today we went to Strada Sforii. One of the narrowest streets in Europe!

July 28, 2014

Buna from the classy internet cafe in Buc-

I don't really know even where to begin... It's been a good week and a crazy week!

On Thursday we got a call from the office elders letting us know that Sora Honey's visa had been approved and that she needed to go back to Moldova to pick it up. We were gearing up to go, and we get a call from President Ivory. We talked about how the work was going in Brasov, and then he suggested that rather than staying in Bucharest, I bring Sora Hebden to Brasov with me so that we could "avoid losing momentum ".

So, On Saturday, after  English class we jumped on the 3 hour train to Buc. Our train arrived in Buc at 6:40 and Sora Hebden and I had a train back at 6:45... So we booked it all through the train station, met up with the sisters, and jumped on the train back. I still can't believe we made it!

Serving in Brasov with Sora Hebden was so much fun. I am so glad President suggested that she come up there because we got SO much done.

It was a really cool experience to serve that short time with Sora Hebden. During our first lesson we taught together I just kept thinking back to the MTC, when Sora Hebden and I struggled so much just to speak the language and didn't understand 1/4th of what our teachers/ "investigators" were saying to us. But 1 year, and 3 months later, there we were again... teaching for real, and actually understanding. I loved it!

The Bairs were also so good to us while we were there in Brasov together. They made it their personal responsibility to make sure Sora Hebden got to see all the good stuff there is to see in Brasov.  They even made us dinner :)

We were planning on being back in Brasov by now, but last night we got a phone call as Sora Hebden and I were on the train to Bucharest. It was Sora Honey and Sora Sayre letting us know that Sora Honey found out she has more visa work to do here in Bucharest on Wednesday. We were surprised

So now, the plan is... I'm taking Sora Stewart back with me tonight to Brasov, while Sora Honey does her visa work here with Sora Bastitas. It's been  insane! But I am so glad We have flexible missionaries and a President who's willing to let this happen :) Brasov is kind of on a roll lately, and we've got lots to do!

We got a couple new investigators this week by the way! One of them is Carla. We met her on the bus. She is very open and told us "I think you have just the right message". We had our first lesson with her in the city square over oreo milkshakes.  It went really well. She agreed to come to church, but something came up. We'll be meeting with her later this week.

Transfer board is coming out on Saturday! I can hardly believe I've been in Brasov for 5. We'll see what happens on Saturday!

Sorry this email is so short! We've got a few things we need to do before we head back to Brasov this evening.

I love you all so much! So so much

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Sora Ralls

July 21, 2014

Buna!

I can't believe it's only been a week since I last wrote home!

So Sora Hebden and I spent a couple more days together in Buc which was amazing. It was so cool just to have that time together to talk about all we’ve learned since we were in the MTC together. On my last night there  we ended up staying up a little later than we should just pillow talking. That morning  I prayed and I asked for help staying awake for the zone conference that day.  Well, let me tell you. I wasn’t tired for a second... this is why- The assistants came over at  about 5:45 that morning to pick us up, then  take us to President Ivory’s then to Brasov. We’d been in the car for a while and just talking about nothing, and then assistants looked back and said „” Oh, Sora Ralls, by the way, you’ve won yourself a presentation at zone conference.” I laughed.. Because in all honesty, I thought it was a joke. But then they explained that  the night before President wanted to change things up a little and switch the presenters a bit.  Okay so that woke me up.

When we got the the mission home, we met the Ivorys for the first time! They are hilarious. They are your typical American family. All of their children were there, but only one Ellis, who’s 11 will be staying with them.

The first thing President Ivory said to me was „”Did the assistants tell you about your presentation today?” I said ”yes.” He said ”Good, I”m going to have them record it so I can show it to other missionaries”.  I couldn't help thinking "...who the heck doesn President Ivory think I am?" And then we got into his range rover and drove back to Brasov with President Ivory, Sister Ivory, and their oldest daughter Abby.

With not much prep time, I really had to rely on the spirit. I asked Sora Honey to go back into one of the classrooms with me when we arrived in Brasov to say a quick prayer.  The spirit took care of it all. The presentation went better than I could’ve done on my own, even with loads of prep time.

And I want you all to know PRESIDENT IVORY IS AMAZING. He is on fire. He is a champion. AND he speaks Romanian.  He seriously makes  us feel like we can take on the world.

My interview with him was awesome. He is really intense, and when we sat down in the interview room, he looked me right in the eyes and asked,  ”What do you have to say to me?” The intensity of it made me want to confess things I’ve never done. But seriously, he is so cool. He told me that that I remind him so much of himself when he was a missionary.. which made me really happy to hear .

So bottom like, President Ivory is super cool.

 We’re changing things up in the mission a little too. So before most of our time was spent looking for new investigators and teaching them, but now it’s divided into 3 equal parts. 2- Finding and teaching. 2-Working with less actives and 3- Strengthening members  and preparing them for the next ordinance.  It all makes so much sense! Some of the sisters and Sora Honey and I were all talking about it, and we feel like what we did with President Hill is build a strong foundation. Many of us found many investigators and introduced the gospel to many. Now that we’ve got that foundation, we’re going to go out and focus on teaching. Solid.

This week we’ve begun trying to organize our plans in that way. It’s been fun to talk to some of the members about the temple and the importance of the temple covenants .. It really makes me excited to go back to the temple when I get home... how we miss it!

So some other exciting news, a giant  fish jumped out of its tank and right at us at the super market. We had to jump to get out of the way and we got fish water on us. I love this place.

Thank you so much for all your support, and prayers! Remember remember you're always in mine!

xoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxo

Sora Ralls

July 14, 2014

Buna Buna!

Sorry I'm sending a late letter again! We just got out of a lesson with Carmen. Oh my gosh, let me tell you everyone, she is amazing.

We brought Cristina Mesco with us (also amazing) and Cristina just stayed there after we left because they're THAT good of friends already. Between Carmen, Adriana and Cristina, Brasov is gearing up for a VERY powerful relief society. All of them have very young families too.

So things are going well! 

Yesterday we had a really amazing lesson too. We drove out to Rotbov with the Bairs to meet with the Pavel family. They have a couple babies in the family  who were getting baptized in the Orthodox church the next day, so they had a lot of visitors staying with them. One of the visitors actually came in during the lesson and stayed for the whole thing. This visitor's name is Elena (of course). Well, Elena has muscular dystrophy and is one of the sweetest people you could ever meet.  She wanted to know more, so we just had a restoration lesson right then and there. She soaked it all up, accepted a Book of Mormon and promised to read and pray about it.

The only problem with all this is- She lives in Sighisoara which is about 100 and some kilometers away from us. The Bairs said they would love to take us out there any time to teach her, so hopefully we'll get permission to do that soon. She gave us her phone number, address and everything. We just need to talk to President about it all before we head out. Speaking of the Presient, we've heard President Ivory is just awesome. We haven't met him personally yet , but everyone keeps talking about all the energy and drive he has. He also is making some pretty dramatic changes in how the mission is run. We'll be meeting him next week for Zone Training in Sibiu next Tuesday. Oh, and get this. He wants to go on a hike with our district on Wednesday. Cool huh? :)

So Sora Honey's criminal record came in this week! So we're off to Moldova for a few days.  We're leaving right after zone training. We've heard some pretty crazy stories about the Moldova over night trains... we're excited to experience it for ourselves. Aparently controllers come in at like 3 or 4 in the morning, wake you up and check your passports and information and sometimes will go though all your bags. Coooooool. :) Hopefully all goes well with her visa over there. The office elders made it sound like it will be pretty easy, so that's good. 

We've been talking with the Bairs about serve projects we can start doing over here, and specifically in Feldiora. Sora Bair is suggesting some kind of basic health classes we can teach at the chapel over there.  So hopefully we'll get rolling with that soon!

It's been yet another great week! And they keep getting greater.

I love you all so much! You're always in my prayers!

xoxoxoxoxxo

Sora Ralls

July 7, 2014

Buna Buna!

Sorry I'm sending a late letter again! We just got out of a lesson with Carmen. Oh my gosh, let me tell you everyone, she is amazing.

We brought Cristina Mesco with us (also amazing) and Cristina just stayed there after we left because they're THAT good of friends already. Between Carmen, Adriana and Cristina, Brasov is gearing up for a VERY powerful relief society. All of them have very young families too.

So things are going well! 

Yesterday we had a really amazing lesson too. We drove out to Rotbov with the Bairs to meet with the Pavel family. They have a couple babies in the family  who were getting baptized in the Orthodox church the next day, so they had a lot of visitors staying with them. One of the visitors actually came in during the lesson and stayed for the whole thing. This visitor's name is Elena (of course). Well, Elena has muscular dystrophy and is one of the sweetest people you could ever meet.  She wanted to know more, so we just had a restoration lesson right then and there. She soaked it all up, accepted a Book of Mormon and promised to read and pray about it.

The only problem with all this is- She lives in Sighisoara which is about 100 and some kilometers away from us. The Bairs said they would love to take us out there any time to teach her, so hopefully we'll get permission to do that soon. She gave us her phone number, address and everything. We just need to talk to President about it all before we head out. Speaking of the Presient, we've heard President Ivory is just awesome. We haven't met him personally yet , but everyone keeps talking about all the energy and drive he has. He also is making some pretty dramatic changes in how the mission is run. We'll be meeting him next week for Zone Training in Sibiu next Tuesday. Oh, and get this. He wants to go on a hike with our district on Wednesday. Cool huh? :)

So Sora Honey's criminal record came in this week! So we're off to Moldova for a few days.  We're leaving right after zone training. We've heard some pretty crazy stories about the Moldova over night trains... we're excited to experience it for ourselves. Aparently controllers come in at like 3 or 4 in the morning, wake you up and check your passports and information and sometimes will go though all your bags. Coooooool. :) Hopefully all goes well with her visa over there. The office elders made it sound like it will be pretty easy, so that's good. 

We've been talking with the Bairs about serve projects we can start doing over here, and specifically in Feldiora. Sora Bair is suggesting some kind of basic health classes we can teach at the chapel over there.  So hopefully we'll get rolling with that soon!

It's been yet another great week! And they keep getting greater.

I love you all so much! You're always in my prayers!

xoxoxoxoxxo

Sora Ralls

June 30,2014

Salut!

So big news first! We're going to have a baptism on JULY 12th! Carmen is getting baptized! 

On our second lesson with her, we committed her to the date. She said she needed to pray about it and everything to get confirmation for herself (perfect). We called her the next day to see how it went and to set up another appointment. When we asked if felt like she'd received an answer she said "we'll talk about it when you come". We were nervous a little bit.

We came over the next day, and we brought the new senior couple (the Bairs) with us. Carmen then told us "I prayed, and I counseled. I'm prepared". Ahhh we were so happy. SO happy. Carmen is amazing.One of the most amazing parts of all this is that her father is a member, and he is going to baptize her! He is so excited. Everyone is excited. It's just a good time!

We also had a lesson with the Filip boys this week that was really wonderful. We brought the Bairs with us this time, and they were so well behaved... We talked about the Holy Ghost and how he speaks to us. We did an activity at the end where we set up a course and we blind folded one of them, and then we had another boy whisper to the ear of the blind folded one and guide him though the course. It went surprisingly well.... until the end. Then they just started running each other into the walls.

The new couple, the Bairs are amazing. They spoil us rotten over here. They made us all a wonderful Sunday dinner last night, with homemade bread and everything. We did our language study yesterday at the Bairs home. They just joined in while Sora Honey and I reviewed past and future indicators and conjugation. Oh man, they are actually pretty good with the language. And I have to say, Sora Honey has been doing amazing this week with the language. She even gave a talk in Sacrament meeting yesterday!  She's amazing.

We have a new mission president now! We are now under the leadership of President Ivory. We're excited. Man we're going to miss the Hills, but we're excited. We'll be meeting him soon too, it looks like. Within the next few weeks probably. The Bairs told us the Ivory's are almost fluent in Romanian already... crazy right? They already speak Italian, and they've been meeting with a private tutor very often. We keep hearing "President Ivory is a fireball" from everyone who met him already. It sure sounds like it!

Tomorrow we're going to Peles Castle! That's also part of the reason we're emailing so late. We had to split our p day in 2 halfs in order to make it work. We are going with the Ploisti district which means I get to see Sora Barrerra and her trainee (my "granddaughter"!)

Well, here's to another busy, wonderful week!

I love you all! Thank you for being amazing :)  You're always in my prayers!

xxoxoxoxoxxoxoxo

Sora Ralls

June 23, 2014

Buna Buna!

Sorry to be writing so late, but we just got back from spending the day with the Elder and Sister Bair! They just arrived in Brasov today, and they are taking over Elder and Sora Powell's spot. They are awesome. They're from Boise Idaho. We walked to their apartment, talked with them there for a while, and then we showed them where the grocery store is. After that, they took our district out to pizza! They really are amazing, and Elder Bair cracks jokes just about every 5 seconds. We love them already!

It's been yet another great week in Brasov. This week we gained two new AMAZING investigators The first one is Carmen. Her father is a member here in the Brasov branch, and she came to church with him. She just arrived back to Romania after working in Italy for 6 years as a nanny. Carmen is in her late 20's, and has a little girl, Teodora, and a baby, Ema. We went over to their home (which is stunning by the way) and she fed us cake, cherries, strawberries and fresh fruit juice. My gosh, it was heaven. We're not really used to that kind of treatment :)

We had the first lesson, and she agreed to a soft baptismal commitment. We're having a lesson with her again tomorrow, and we're hoping to set a solid one. Seriously, Carmen already feels like a member. It feels just like teaching Adriana! We feel so blessed.

Our second new investigator lives in a town, about an hour train ride away, called Sfântu Gheorghe. She was a referrel from her daughter who found the church while living in England. We had a great first lesson with her too. In fact, during the lesson she started describing a dream she had to us. She talked about coming to a beautiful glowing tree. When she got to the tree, she picked off the sweetest, most radiant fruit... sound familiar anyone? :) So we got to talk about Lehi's dream a bit with her. She liked that a lot :) We're going to be meeting with her later this week too. It's just a little hard because if we go out there, we have to spend the whole day. The trains aren't very regular. We're trying to work it out to do skype lessons right now. BUT!  Sfântu Gheorghe is a fun town to be stuck in. It's completely Hungarian. There are farrrrrr more Hungarians there than Romanians. All the billboards and street signs are in Hungarian as well.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention transfer board. It came out on Saturday, and just like we expected, Sora Honey and I are staying here together :) 5 transfers strong! I am so happy about it too :)

Oh. I had a funny dream the other day. So, I have the alram set for 6:28, so I can be sure to roll out of bed by 6:30. But one day this week, I stopped the alarm, and was just going to wait for the 6:30 alram to go off... so I started to fall asleep a little bit. When I did, I started to dream that I was asleep in bed, in the Quorum of the twelve's office while they were having a meeting. In my dream though, David O. McKay was the prophet. During the meeting, one of the aposltes got up and said to me, "hey. why don't you show President McKay how you wake up and pray on time in the moring?". SO. I did. It almost beats the time I woke up at 12:18 in the morning, thinking it was 6:30and said whole prayer before I realized it was still dark outside.... Good times. :)

Well, here's to another beautiful transfer in Brasov!

I hope you all are doing well! I love you all so much!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Sora Ralls

June 16,2014

This week... this week .... This week!

I know I'm always saying that the past week went by really fast... but seriously. This one probably has been the fasted. We don't happened!

Let's start with the good stuff

We had another BAPTISM yesterday!

It was quite the day. 

I spoke that morning in Sacrament, and then Sora Honey and I taught Primary. President Mesco was there with us for most of it, and let me tell you... It was the most insane primary class I've ever seen.

Some were wrestling, some were slamming on the piano, some were scattering primary story cut outs around the room... one of them even left and we couldn't find him for 15 minutes. When he came back, he came back with a sandwich he bought at the gas station around the corner. President Mesco was so funny though. He kept us sane as he just laughed about all the chaos going around us. He's awesome.

Then we had the baptismal service, right after church. The boys were SO GOOD during their baptism. 

Each one of them laughed as they went down under the water. It was funny and cute :)

The best part of the whole thing though, was to watch each one of the 4 boys go up to the podium and bear their testimonies.  All of us were so impressed with the things these little boys said. Ionuti, the oldest one talked about how different he felt the first time he came to a sacrament meeting here. He said that he felt every person he met that first day had something special about them, and that he thinks it was the holy ghost that made them that way.

My gosh I love these little boys!!! We are so happy for them!!!

Now two of them are preparing to receive the Aaronic priesthood pretty soon!

We can't wait to go visit them again tomorrow and talk about everything.

We also had Zone Conference this last week in Bucharest. It was very bittersweet as it was the last one we'll have with the Hill's. I am going to miss them so much. They were so uplifting and inspiring. They talked of how difficult it is to be missionaries and members in a place were the church is still so new. They left us with such an upbeat and optimistic message of hope and endurance.

President Ivory will be here sooner than we know it! We're all excited. A lot of missionaries are worried he'll ban Coke... haha we'll see :)

So, on a not so awesome note, Maria left again. Boo. Lame.

We told her we'd come over that Saturday. When we called that morning to confirm, she didn't answer. Elena's phone was off so we couldn't talk to her either. We just decided to head over, and when we got there, we just found Elena peeling carrots in the yard. She was really upset. Then she told us that Maria's husband came that morning, and Maria left with him again. So.... that's that. We're confused by her a little bit, but we still lover her. She really loves this gospel. She studies  it so much, and loves everything about it. She was always asking such good questions and telling us the things she learned as she did the reading assignments we'd leave. Dang it. But we think she'll get everything together eventually.  For now we'll just continue to pray for her.

Other than that things are perfect over here. We're loving Brasov as much as ever. I'm hoping to stay another transfer. We'll find out on Saturday if that's the case! This place is seriously feels like home to me.

Oh, and the Filip family have some really cute little rabbits right now :)

​

I love you all so so so so so much. You are all amazing examples for me, and you're always in my prayers!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Sora Ralls

June 2, 2014

Bunnnnaaa!

We've had yet another awesome week. This one went by particular fast.

We've had a hefty load of lessons this week and we've loved it.

On Thursday we had an exchange with the sister training leaders in Bucharest. Guess who I went with... Sora Stewart! My companion from  Arad. It was really cool.  When we served together, we were rather "young" missionaries together. I was only in my 3rd transfer and she was in her 5th.  Now I'm in my 9th and she is in her 11th. It was cool to see how we've both grown so much. Teaching lessons together went so much smoother. And we were both so much more confident in our contacting approaches.

We had a couple recent convert lessons in Feldiora. It was fun to take Sora Stewart out there and show her what it's like. 

These last few days have been pretty rainy, but the day of the exchange it was especially wet.

Sora Stewart and I stepped off the bus and walked as quickly as we could to Elena's house. Her house isn't too close to the bus stop, and after just a few minutes, it looked like we'd just came up out the pond. We were laughing the entire time. When we got the the twin girls tried to help us by shaking out our  skirts and drying our hair with a rag. :) 

We've had a couple good lessons with the Filip boys this week. It's been hard to meet with them because Sora Filip has a difficult work schedule. We've had to set their baptismal date back until the 15th so they can be fully prepared for their baptism. They are looking forward to it :)  

We had the elders with us for one of the lessons. They were going to teach the boys on prophets a bit more, and what it means to "follow the prophet" and then we were going to take over and teach the word of wisdom. While the elders were doing their part, sora Filip leaned over to us and whispered a question. Sora Honey and I talked with her for few minutes, and then when we looked up, the boys had all left.  The elders were just sitting there looking a little confused.  They said "I'm not sure if we did too well.... after the lesson they asked if Joseph Smith is God." 

We all just laughed. We cleared things up on Saturday :) 

This week has definitely had the theme of prayer attached to it. We've done spiritual thoughts, and lessons on prayer this week. I also presented on personal prayer in district meeting. I've loved it. I have learned so much.

It becomes more apparent to me everyday  of my mission that really Heavenly Father doesn't really ever need to me to talk at Him but rather with Him. 

As I've been studying this  and working on this, I talked to Sora Stewart about it on our exchange. She showed me a prayer journal she had, and I loved it! She helped me start my own. I have loved using it too.  You just write in the journal the things your grateful for in that day, your desires, and your questions, and then leave a place to write your answers  after your prayers.

 It looks like this for example

i.e.)

Gratitude:

Chocolate milk, Perfect weather, Good companion, MoTab

Desires:

To be a better missionary, to know how to help so and so, etc

Answers:

And then you just write whatever feelings, thoughts and ideas you have here while you pray and after you pray.

Guys, it's cool.

Yesterday we had a really good fast and testimony meeting. All four of the Filip boys came, and Andriana and Beatris came again.

In Sunday school they asked Adriana to say the opening prayer, and then Sora Filip to say the closing prayer.

They both did  it beautifully.  I thought about how these two lovely ladies and how it's just been fairly recently that they've learned to pray in that manner. Talking to Heavenly Father directly, using their own words, and closing in the name of Jesus Christ.   I love being a missionary. That's all.

I love you all so much!!! You're always in my prayers!

xoxoxoxoxooxoxoxox

Sora Ralls

May 26, 2014

Buna Buna!

I can't believe you went to the Powell's homecoming! I love that! AND you sat next to the Bakers. That is so funny :) They are all such wonderful people. I'm glad you got to meet them!

We've had another great week! It felt like a long one.

We had zone training in Sibiu on Tuesday. That's always fun.  We talked about the importance of goal setting, and using members in missionary work. Always good!

We've had lots of lessons with recent converts. Elena gave me some pictures of Vasilicu :) Oh! Great news about Vasilicu by the way. I meant to tell you last week, but I forgot to mention it. Cristina (Elena's other daughter) just started the adoption process to adopt him! It looks like Vasilicu might be moving to Italy in the next little while.

We've also had some really good lessons with our investigators. We had a really funny experience on Thursday.

So, we had a potential investigator, Florintina. Florintina met with the sister missionaries last year at a church tour contacting event, but she never had a lesson with them. We got in contact with her, and set up a lesson for Wednesday at the church. We waited for a bit, but she never came.

We got a hold of her, and she said she'd missed her bus so she wouldn't make it.

On Thursday we had a lesson set up with Ani, another one of our investigators. We waited for Ani at the church. We'd planned to meet at the church at 12:00. 12:15rolled around, and she still hadn't shown up. Just a minute later, the smallest, cutest, little lady who looks (and acts)  like she's from an old indie film walks through the doors.

It was Florintina! She said she was walking by and saw the open gate. So she came in!

Not 5 minutes later, Ani walked in!

So we taught them both together. :)

Ani has been investigator for a while now, so she knows somethings about the church. As we sat down at a table all together, the first thing that came out of Ani's mouth was "So, your church used to be full of polygamists. Explain to me why"..... Poor Flornitina. 

We just touched on it long enough to calm concerns, and then we told Ani we'd talk more later.

The rest of the lesson went okay, until Florintina brought up that she'd heard our church does Baptisms for the dead. Not understanding what it was exactly, Ani got a little freaked out.

Again, we touched on it just long enough to resolve concerns, and moved on.

It surprisingly ended up being an okay lesson after all though! :) But I think we'll be meeting with them separately from now on.

Church yesterday was really cool. We had 3 investigators come (Including Adriana and Beatris!). And we also got one new potential investigator we'll be meeting with hopefully tomorrow! She's the daughter of one of the members here and she is SO sweet. She loved coming to church. It was the first time she'd ever been. Her name's Carmen.

Adriana and Beatris l loved church. They fit in SO well it's amazing. It's like they've always been a part of it.
In Relief Society, the teacher asked "Why do you study the scriptures?"

Adriana raised her hands and she said 

"I started reading the scriptures everyday since I started meeting with the girls. Now that I've been doing that, I feel like I know what God wants for me and my life. I know what I need to be doing".

Ahhh Iove them.

After Relief Society, Adriana, Sora Honey and I were all waiting outside the primary room, Cristina (the teacher) saw us and told us to come in.

Beatris was answering all kinds of questions and she even said the closing prayer! She's always been nervous to pray.

Ahhhh it was just the best day ever.

Oh. And I spoke on missionary work in sacrament meeting too.

About Adriana and Beatris's baptism though, it looks like we're gonna push it back a week. They still have to finalize the marriage papers. But they are going forward!!!

Things over here are just great. great great great. This is as good as life gets.

I love you all so much! Thank you for all that you do!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxo

Sora Ralls

May 12, 2014

Buna Buna!

This week has gone by so fast! I feel like we hardly had time to breath some days. It's been wonderful though! The highlight of the week was absolutely Sora Filip's baptism yesterday (holy cow.. that was yesterday?). 

Her baptism was beautiful. The morning was a little crazy, trying to take care of all the last minute details, but everything at the ceremony went so smoothly (miracle)!  Sora Filip was so happy. All her her grandsons were super excited too. Oh, and all 4 of her grandsons now have a baptismal date for May 31st! 

We had a lesson with Sora Filip this morning. She told us that immediately after her baptism she felt "at liberty". She felt like she'd been freed from something. I loved that. It was true too. She'd been freed from any guilt, or any burden she'd been carrying for a while.

It made me so grateful for the knowledge of the  Saviors atonement. I'm grateful to know that there is nothing to heavy, or too big for the Savior to lift off our shoulders if we just ask Him.

As for the rest of the week, we just ran from lesson to lesson. I especially am loving the new convert lessons. It's been amazing to see these people grow like they are.

At Elena's this week, one of her little twin granddaughters (Elena) sat right next to me, and folded her arms, all ready to pray. Then, she pulled out her Book of Mormon, as we did. She even flipped through the pages when we did. My goshhhh... I just love those girls so much!

We've meet with a few new really cool people who we'll be setting up lessons with this week. Hopefully our investigator pool continues to grow!

Oh! And transfer board came out on Saturday. I'm staying! I'll be training a new missionary again. Sora Barrera will be headed of to Ploiesti! Luckily, she's not too far from me, and I'll get to see her at Zone Conference :)

I love you all so much! You're always in my prayers!
xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Sora Ralls

March 10th, 2014

Buna Ziua!

We don't have much time today, so this might have to be a shorter email. But we've had yet another amazing week!

We've gained 3 new investigators this week... All of which have baptismal dates! Two more for March 30th (we've had to move all the baptismal dates to March 30th because  all of the presiding authority won't be available on the 29th), and one more for April 12th.

Our first two are Nicoleta and her son Adrian. Nicoleta just walked into church last Sunday. Apparently she know's Elena Pavel, and decided to come see what "her church was all about". We got Nicoleta's phone number, and met with her on Tuesday. Elena Pavel came with us and was a huge help. It's so nice when our investigators already have a friend in the church.

After just a few minutes, Nicoleta's 27 year old son, Adrian  walked in the room and stayed for the rest of the lesson. We extended the baptismal date to both of them and they both said yes :)  They are both so great! And  Nicoleta is probably one of the cutest people I've ever met. She is always telling us how much she loves us :) We love her too.

Our other new baptismal date is Georgeta. She also lives in Feldiora. We were on our way to Elena Dumitru's when we ran into her. She was chopping wood in her yard. We had a few extra minutes, so we offered to help. Thank goodness she said no, because frankly neither one of us know how to chop wood.... But we did end up talking with her for a bit, and then we asked if we could return and talk with her after our lesson with Elena. She agreed.

We came back about an hour later, and the elders came with us. We didn't have much time before our bus back to Brasov left, so we just discussed the basics, and the Book of Mormon. We extended the baptismal date, and then taught her to pray. We asked her to say the prayer at the end, and she did it! However, she didn't say it out loud. We just saw her lips moving, so we kept our eyes closed for about 5 minutes as she prayed. When she finished she told us that she "didn't want to open her eyes because she felt so good". She has a little problem with smoking, so her baptismal date is set to April 12th to give us a little more time to work things out :)

Things here in Feldiora are just bumpin. Yesterday we had 52 people at church. Some of us had to stand because there are not enough seats anymore. How awesome of a problem is that? It's the biggest congregation I've been in... and it's not even a branch yet. Most of them are investigators or friends or family of members.

Brasov is doing great too! Cristina Mesco from the branch is now practically BEST friends with Adriana. :) She came to a lesson with us last week, and after the lesson they went over to the couch and just had girl talk for like an hour. It's perfect :) They didn't come to church yesterday though because they were in Moldova. But hopefully they'll be there next week!

On Thursday we had an exchange! I went to Feldiora with Sora Peterson, and Sora Barrera did some work here in Brasov with Sora Bischoff :) Both those sisters are amazing! And it's always so fun to show new people the city.

On Saturday night, Sora Barrera was not feeling well, and wasn't sure she could make it to church. So we organized our first split!  Sora Barrera stayed at home with Sister Powell  (Sister Powell is AMAZING), and I went out with Ema Miron. Ema is in her last year of high school, and has been thinking of a mission so she was excited to come on the split. She was such a great help! And it felt so natural to be her companion for the day. If she does go on a mission, she'll be great. :) She had cute questions too. Like "Can I paint my nails if I am a missionary?". It was fun :) Sora Barrera is also feeling MUCH better now. So we're happy about that :)

And that's that! We've also had some wonderful lessons with our other investigators this week. They all continue to progress which is a miracle!

Thank you for your prayers! We need them over here!

I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week!

xoxoxoxoxoxxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxcxooxxoxo

Sora Ralls

May 5, 2014

Oh, Sunday was funny. We'd challenged Sora Filip to her first fast this week. She did it! And she did so well... even despite the fact that our branch brought out cake for everyone during Sunday school (what the heck... temptation much?). She stayed strong:) 

She loved church. And she had some beautiful insights to share during relief society.  She is so looking forward to her baptism (Now on Sunday).

And this  was my last Sunday translating for Sora Powell :(  It was a really emotional Sunday as they said good bye to all the branch members.

Oh! We'll be meeting with a new investigator on Wednesday. Her name is Claudia, and she came in to church with some other investigators. She has such a genuine interest in what we believe. She is so kind, and open. We're excited to meet with her!

Church in Feldioara was great too :) The heat has been off for the last few months, and with the rain in it's been pretty cold. I love to see all those members sitting there all close together with their coats on. They are willing to come to church, no matter the conditions!

I am really going to miss them so much. They leave Brasvov on Wednesday. 

We're putting together a little memory book for them with notes from branch members and missionaries they've served with,

Today we went to Bran Caslte with the missionaries from Bucharest and Ploiesti.  It was so much fun! (I got your postcards Cinnamon!)

We're going to have a pretty packed week 

This week was a good one! And I'm so happy I got to see all of your lovely faces!!!

I love you so so so much!

xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxox

Sora Ralls 

April 27, 2014

Buna!

It's been a long week, but it's been a good week! 

I'll start with some great news! Sora Filip will be baptized on May 10th :) Sora Filip... There seriously is no  one like her. She's incredibly selfless and loves everyone so much.  The members are excited  for her. Ahhhh she's already so powerful. She will do so much good for this branch :) 

Last week we were also able to go back and teach Cristina (Elena's daughter) and her husband. It went so well. In fact, they even gave us all their information so we  could give them as a referrer to the missionaries in Italy. They wan to learn more!

We think they'll be baptized over there :) They told us to call them if we ever go to Italy, so that "We could all go to church together". :)

So, Vasilicu, the little boy in this picture is Elena's other daughter's son. He lives in an orphanage up in Dacia, but he got to come stay with Elena and the family for Easter. 

Vasilicu is one of the sweetest, and most well behaved little boys I've ever met in my life. He even saved Sora Barrera and me from two dogs as we were walking up to their home.

As Cristina and Elena were telling us about how he'd have to go, they hugged him so close and so tight. It was so hard for them. It was hard enough just to watch. 

At the end of our lesson, we all knelt down and said a prayer. As everyone stood up and started talking, we were able to just talk with Vasilicu for a few moments.  What do you say to console a little boy who is leaving back alone to an orphanage he dreads? There's not really much you can say.  We were able to remind him though that he has a Father in Heaven who loves him very much. That he will never be alone. We reminded him that he can pray and talk to his Heavenly Father, and he will listen. Every time.

We got Vasilicu's address so we can send him little letters and things. He has such a tender heart.

Other than that, we've had a few more investigator lessons, and a whole heap of recent convert lessons. Those are always fun :)

On Sunday we had district Conference in Bucharest! We got up at 4:30 to make it to the bus and  arrive there by 10:00. The bus rides with the branch were INSANE. and Hilarious.  If you want to get to know who people really are, sit on a bus with them for 8 hours in one day. One fo the members tricked another one into eating Styrofoam... he told her they were american treats.
Then 2 of them pretended to be missionaries and contacted every single one of us on the bus... that.was.weird. And we loved it. :)


It was  also so much fun to see all of the other missionaries. Ahhh I love it so much! I saw Sora Hebden, Sora DeRuvo, Sora Bray, and Sora Steweart. Man, I have been blessed with the greatest companions.

Tomorrow President Hill is coming for interviews! Our last interviews before he leaves... Boo.

And we just found out this week that the Powells will be heading home a little earlier than expected too. Man, we're going to miss all of them.

I love you all so much! Thank you for your prayers and support!!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Sora Ralls

April 7, 2014

Buna!

Yet another awesome week has gone by! We've been so busy and going from lessons to lesson... only this time all of our lessons are in Brasov!! How the heck did this happen?

Since the most of our investigators got baptized, we didn't have much of a teaching pool left. But after a few prayers, we've gained a pretty good amount of work again!

We're now teaching Ani who walked into the church during district meeting a little while ago. She'd met with the sisters about a year ago, and wanted to start taking lessons again. We met with her on  Tuesday, and we'll be meeting with her again later this week.

We're also teaching Maria. Maria contacted US. We met Maria on the street on Tuesday. She stopped us and grabbed my arm and asked how she knew me. We explained to her that we walk this street a lot. We explained who we were, and immediately she invited us to meet with her. We went over there on Friday, and she made us a perfect Romanian meal.

She was so funny too. She insisted on having us wear these large, winter vests after we started eating because she said it was too cold. Maria also came to both sessions of general conference. She also has made BEST friends already with one of the branch members, Corina..... with her everything is almost too easy :)

We've also gained a few more potential investigators we'll be meeting with this week, Including woman who walked in during general conference out of curiosity. She was thrilled when we told her we could come to he home and teach her more :)

And speaking of general conference, wasn't it awesome? I loved President Monson's talk at the end of the Saturday Afternoon session.

I really liked the way they do conference here in Brasov. We all went to the church from 7:00-9:00 on Saturday to watch Sunday morning session's live, and then we came back on Sunday, and we watched Saturday afternoon session, and then Sunday Morning session. We had a break for a little while in between sessions, and we all had lunch together with the branch members from Brasov and Feldiora.

We also played with the Boomerang I got in Peles which is now stuck on the church roof.

It's okay. It was 5 lei. :)

We've had a great week! 

Thank you for all your love and prayers! I have the best family in the world.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxo

Sora Ralls

March 31, 2014

Salut!

WE HAD FOUR BAPTISMS YESTERDAY! We still can't believe everything worked out the way it did. We took the bus out to Feldiora every day this week, and then after took the bus to Rotbov so we could meet with Monica and Larisa. We've been doing 4 lessons a day in 3 different cities, so as you can guess, we had absolutely NO downtime this week. It felt like we'd have a lesson and then immedietly we would run as fast as we could to catch the next bus. We would eat all of our meals while traveling. I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE WE WERE ABLE TO DO IT ALL. It was insane. It was the most exhausting and most rewarding week of my entire mission.

Sunday was an absolutely perfect day. I wish all of you could meet all of these wonderful people!

So many people came to see the baptisms!

Little 8 year old Larisa was the first to be baptized. She was so nervous. But she couldn't stop laughing afterwards. :) When she got up to bear her testimony, she said "I just want to thank God that He showed me the path back to Him."

Raluca was second. This 13 year old girl is going to make a perfect sister missionary someday :)

Monica was third. We've never seen her happier in her whole life. She told us after her baptism "It's like I've forgotten all my problems today".

Nicoleta was last. She was so worried about Leve having enough strength to bring her up out of the water. He did it with no problem. After her baptism we asked her how she felt and she said "Now, I feel better." (Sorry it's blurry!)

 Seriously. Yesterday was amazing. I don't know what else to say other than that. It's amazing. These people were all prepared before we got to them. We are so grateful we were able to work with them! 

Oh! And transfer board came out, and Sora Barrera and I are staying together! :) We're so happy.

Here's to another amazing transfer!

I love you all so much!! Thank you for your prayers! We can feel them.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxxooxxo

Sora Ralls