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