November 25th-

Mom found it, and sent this screenshot to everyone....

November 25, 2015 - transferred! 

Buna Buna one last time from Arad!

President called on Saturday and I'm being transferred to the city of Craiova!

I'll be serving with Sora Smith from Orem! She's in her 2nd transfer now. I've met her a couple times and she's great. I'll have to say though I was surprised to be going to Craiova. It's been an elders only city and now we're going to be the first sisters to serve there! In other words...."We're gonna be the best sister missionaries Craiova's ever seen!" The branch there has only 4 members including the American branch president and his wife... so it will be a different experience:)  

So we'll be going back to Bucharest tomorrow night, and then I'll be taking a 3 1/2 hour bus ride to Criavoa. 

I'm super looking forward to going to Craiova, but I am so sad to be leaving Arad. My gosh, saying goodbye to the branch was terribly sad on Sunday.  I'm going  to miss them so much! 

We had a few lessons this week- We were able to meet with Anca, Alex, and Eccaterina (who also came to church on Sunday... AGAIN!)  Our lesson with Eccaterina was wonderful. We taught the plan of Salvation. She just told us she felt such peace when were talking about it.  She'll be baptized :)
We also did contacting this week in a little section of Arad called Gui. I love being there. It feels like being in a neighborhood again. There aren't any apartments over there... just vilas. It's one of my favorite places to contact :)
We passed out some Book of Mormons to some wonderful people too.
We also spent some time this week doing office work things in preparation for next transfer. We rewrote and updated  member information for the new missionaries coming in and things like that.

In just a little while Sora Adams and I are going over to Cristina's (remember her? She's the member that's leaving to France on her mission). We're  Going to help her get her luggage and everything to the train station so she can get to the airport and head to the MTC! Hopefully everything goes more smoothly this time.

I can hardly believe Thanksgiving is on Thursday. I have to keep being reminded.  And in the spirit of thanksgiving..... 

http://www.lds.org/search?lang=eng&query=the+divine+gift+gratitude

Something I'm  learning out here is to be grateful for small successes. Since day 1 of our companionship, Sora Adams always asks me at night what 3 things I was grateful for that day. It just proves to us that even on the  hardest days there are always things to be grateful for. :)

I love you all!!!!! Have a wonderful week and great Thanksgiving! 

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Sora Ralls

Here's a picture of Arad's cute little Relief Society. The woman next to Sora Adams is Eccaterina :)

November 19, 2013

Buna Buna!

Sorry this email is a day late, but we had a great time at the Hunedoara castle yesterday! We were only able to stay a couple hours, but it was totally worth the trip! The train to get there and back took 3 1/2 hours, and we played games along the way.

We had a wonderful week last week, and we were able to do a lot of teaching. It's strange because  we've been so busy with lessons we haven't had much time to do contacting. That's so strange to me!

We had a really neat lesson last week with Anca about temples. Our intention was to teach on prophets, but at one point during the English lesson portion of our lesson, we just ended up talking about the Salt Lake Temple. She wanted to see a picture, so we grabbed and Ensign and showed her. She loved it, and it went so well. My gosh, I miss the temple so so so much. I look forward to going again!

We met with Ana again this week, and it was wonderful. We talked about the Restoration again, because she's forgotten much of it since the sisters first met with her years ago. It went so well. 

President Hill sent me an email that I read today, and he told us more about Ana. For some reason, it's not in her investigator record, but President Hill told me that the sisters said "she is one of the most prepared people they'd ever met, and it was just that her husband didn't want her to attend church with the Mormons." Apparently she's also had several baptismal dates.She's never mentioned that to us either. We've met her husband a couple times. He won't stay for the lessons, but he's very kind and lets us teach Ana. We're really hoping things might go a little smoother this time. Ana really is one of the most open, and kind people I've ever met. She always has something to feed us when we come over. And last time, I was wearing flats when we came to her home. She was shocked, and insisted that I put on some tennis shoes she had in the house... then she saw to it that I wore them home... haha:) We just walked to the church (which was super close to her home) and then I switched my shoes back. 

Speaking of which, Romanians are so afraid of cold weather. It's funny. Mom, you'd fit right in! :)

First of all- They turn off all refrigeration in the winter. So if you want a cold drink, you can't find one... unless you go to McDonalds. They think drinking cold drinks in the winter is really bad for you. Also, if you ever come to Romania and it's windy or even just slightly chilly... remember to wear your tights, or people will tell you to put some on or you'll "catch the sickness". :) I try a lot harder to remember to wear tights now :)

Transfer board is coming out this week! Probably on Friday. I can't believe my 4th transfer is just about over! These transfers go by way too quickly.  If I leave Arad, I'll be a little sad. Just because I love the people and the branch so much. But it would also be exciting to see somewhere new.

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! Thank you for all your prayers! I feel them. You're in mine!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Sora Ralls

Six Month Mark! 

November 4

Salut!

This week was  insane! I can hardly believe it's only been a week!

It's been wonderful, and very very very busy.

On Tuesday we had an exchange with the Sister training leader, and started English classes again. Sora Adams and I are teaching a new Children's English class, and its awesome! We have about 6 people come to this class, so it's pretty small, but SO much fun. Last time we went over animals and next time we're doing colors and numbers.

Our exchange was a lot of fun too. I went with Sora Lund and we did a whole lot of Block knocking. We knocked on so many doors.  We were able to hand out a few pamphlets as well as a Book of Mormon!

Oh, speaking of block knocking, Sora Adams and I block knocked again on Friday. We were on our second building, and rang in to one of the apartments to open the door for us. A guy answered, and then let us in. When we walked in the building, he stepped out of his apartment, and then asked us to come in. He told us his name was Anderew, and he was about 60 years old. He had a whole ton of beautiful paintings in his apartment, done by his uncle. He spoke English really well and was so knowledgeable. While I was there, I kept thinking "this guy reminds me of Uncle Jesse".

He took out his Bible, and asked us if we used one. We told us we did, and then he asked us to share our favorite verse with him. Sora Adams shared Romans 8:16

 "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:"

When He read this, he asked us "Do you believe this?" We told him we did. He  then told us "This is interesting. It's new to me."

Our short lesson with him was just based on that. That we are children of our Heavenly Father. It was simple, but it might have been one of my favorites so far. He invited us back, and we'll be meeting with him again on Thursday.

Sunday was amazing too. We finally had an investigator come to church! 

A couple weeks ago, Sora Adams and I were contacting for our English classes in a park. English contacting is super simple. We just hand out English cards to people in the park and explain briefly.  So, we handed a card to this lady on the bench, and said our usual "Good morning, here ya go. We teach free English classes. The address is on the back." And then walked away. When we were leaving the park though, I felt like we should go back and talk to this lady. Then Sora Adams and stopped and discussed for a moment about how we could go back to her again in the least awkward way possible...

We fnally just went right for it, and asked if we could share something else with her. We had a wonderful lesson right there in the park. She promised to come to church that Sunday, but didn't come. We found her again this week  on Wednesday and she told us she had been sick last week, but would come this week. AND SHE DID!!!! It was amazing. It was fast and testimony meeting, and she even got up and thanked everyone for being so great and welcoming to her. She also asked for prayers.

After Sacrament, We went upstairs with her and one of the members, Sora Piper and had a lesson right there. My goodness. It was amazing. We're meeting with her again on Tuesday! Her name is Sister Roica.

I love weeks like this. I am so grateful to be a missionary! There really is no greater joy than to share the great news of the gospel!

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

xoxoxoxoxoxxxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Sora Ralls

Oh Ps! I hit my 6th month mark! I can't believe it. Time goes by so fast! Our district celebrated by eating Kinder Eggs together. It was perfect. :)

October 28, 2013

Ce Faci!

This WEEK!
I don't even know where to start. Before I left on my mission, I have to admit I might have thought mission life could be mundane and maybe repetitive. Wrong. I don't think I've ever had such great adventures since coming out here. This week was no different.
On Friday, we went with two of the Elders to a little (And I mean LITTLE) town called Sintana. It was about 30 minute train ride. We went to visit two children who were living there with their aunt and uncle. These children's parents had been baptized, but are currently living in Portugal for work. They asked that someone from the church just go out there to make sure they were doing okay.
So, we get off the train into this little town, and the uncle meets us at the train station on his bike. We follow him back to his little house which was about a 45 minute walk outside of this little town. We were on the outskirts of the outskirts. It was crazy. It was like Romania from the 1800's. I'll attach a couple pictures so you can see your yourselves!
So finally we get to their tiny home, and we tried talking to the kids for a bit, but B ( the uncle) insisted on giving us some kind of hour long Pentecostal sermon. No matter what we said or did, we couldn't bring the conversation back to how the kids were doing. Finally, he stops and says "Well we better go to the train station. The last train out of here leaves at 7:00." It was 6:15. We were going to head back to the train station we came from. But B told us he there was a closer one. On the way there we got stared down worse than ever before, (and reasonably so) and 3 or 4 dogs came running toward us along the way.And they were not friendly. The elders had to scare them off. So as if this wasn't scary enough, the sun had just set and we arrived at this little empty white shack with 3 walls. It was obviously not a train station. Apparently we were supposed to wait there and then jump on the side of the tracks when a train came and perhaps it would stop for us. The trains came... and left. We waited there for about an hour It took us a while but we finally made our way back to the actual train station. Luckily there was a train that went back to Arad not long after we made it there :) It was a great night!
This week we also had a couple great lessons. We also got bunged a little, but that's alright:)
Sora Adams and I had a wonderful lesson the other day with a lady we met in the park, as well as with a lady we met today while we were searching for a members house.
Oh! and this week also seemed to have the theme of "Tithing" to it. Sora Adams were contacting in the park on Tuesday and this young man stopped us to specifically ask how our church does tithing. We explained, and then he gave us his number to give to the elders. The next day we had a lesson with a less active member. We decided to go over a conference talk with her, and picked "The Widow's of Heaven" by Bednar. She then told us that she needed to hear these things. She said she hadn't been coming to church because she hadn't been payin g her tithing and she was ashamed. We talked with her about it for a bit, and she's going to try to make some changes. She also came back to church last Sunday!
This week we feel like we've been guiding to a lot of the right things at the right times in the right places without even knowing it. It has been filled with miracles and tender mercies.
Sora Adams also pointed out to me yesterday that on Friday I'll be hitting my 6 month mark! I can hardly believe that. Mission life goes by SO fast. Too fast. I feel like I just left the MTC last week!
I love you all and I hope you have a happy Halloween!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Ps- If you haven't read "His Grace is Sufficient by Brad Wilcox, we would highly recommend it:) And if you have, it's a great time to read it again!! 

October 14, 2013

Salut!!

We saw transfer board on Saturday, and I'm staying in Arad!!! That was a surprise. We have 6 in our district, and 3 are leaving.My lovely companion, Sora Stewart is going to Constansa. We thought for sure I'd leave, or at least we thought Sora Stewart and I would stay together for another transfer here. But nope! I'll be serving with Sora Adams. She's up in Cluj right now serving with Sora DeRuvo actually. I'm going to miss Sora Stewart so much, but I'm excited to serve with Sora Adams too. I am happy to be staying in Arad with this little branch a little longer. 

So, tomorrow we're leaving for Bucharest again! We're taking the night train again and we'll be there early Wednesday morning. And then we'll catch the next night train back at 11:30 Wednesday night. I seriously love this mission. It's such an adventure. 

This week we had a few lessons, we held English classes, and deep cleaned the church. But mostly, we did a whole heck of a lot of contacting, and we had SO much success. We've gained like 5 solid potential investigators. 

I'll just tell you about one of our new potential investigators and how we found him. After church yesterday, Sora Stewart and I were walking home from church, and we were talking... I don't even remember what we were talking about, but we were speaking in English. Then we heard this man from behind us ask "You speak English?" We talked to him for a bit, and this man had lived in London for a while, and is planning on going back next month. We kept walking and talking with him, and we started talking about the gospel. He'd told us he was baptized into another church, but that he felt he'd messed somethings up in his life and had no way to fix them and that he didn't stand approved with God anymore. We assured him that everything can be made right through Christ. I wish you all could have seen his face when we talked to him about the power of the atonement. He is so anxious to feel clean again. We got his information and gave it to the elders.  The elders are having a lesson with him tonight! Everyday I become more grateful that I've been taught these things from an early age. 

Salut!!

We saw transfer board on Saturday, and I'm staying in Arad!!! That was a surprise. We have 6 in our district, and 3 are leaving.My lovely companion, Sora Stewart is going to Constansa. We thought for sure I'd leave, or at least we thought Sora Stewart and I would stay together for another transfer here. But nope! I'll be serving with Sora Adams. She's up in Cluj right now serving with Sora DeRuvo actually. I'm going to miss Sora Stewart so much, but I'm excited to serve with Sora Adams too. I am happy to be staying in Arad with this little branch a little longer. 

So, tomorrow we're leaving for Bucharest again! We're taking the night train again and we'll be there early Wednesday morning. And then we'll catch the next night train back at 11:30 Wednesday night. I seriously love this mission. It's such an adventure. 

This week we had a few lessons, we held English classes, and deep cleaned the church. But mostly, we did a whole heck of a lot of contacting, and we had SO much success. We've gained like 5 solid potential investigators. 

I'll just tell you about one of our new potential investigators and how we found him. After church yesterday, Sora Stewart and I were walking home from church, and we were talking... I don't even remember what we were talking about, but we were speaking in English. Then we heard this man from behind us ask "You speak English?" We talked to him for a bit, and this man had lived in London for a while, and is planning on going back next month. We kept walking and talking with him, and we started talking about the gospel. He'd told us he was baptized into another church, but that he felt he'd messed somethings up in his life and had no way to fix them and that he didn't stand approved with God anymore. We assured him that everything can be made right through Christ. I wish you all could have seen his face when we talked to him about the power of the atonement. He is so anxious to feel clean again. Everyday I become more grateful to know what I know. My heart breaks for the people here who think once they've done something wrong, it's over. There are so many people we meet who are looking for forgiveness, but don't know how to find it. I am so grateful to know that we never have to carry our burdens alone, and that we always will have a chance to start over once we are willing to take the steps to begin. The Elders have a lesson tonight with this man, and they're looking forward to it:)

We also did chalk contacting again this week. I'm going to miss chalk contacting so much once it gets to cold to do it anymore. It is such a good way to find people. They're always so curious as to what we're all doing and ask so many questions. I LOVE IT.

I love my mission, I love my companions, I love Romanian food, and I LOVE ALL OF YOU!

Have a wonderful week!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Sora Ralls

October 7, 2013

SALUT!

Alright, let's talk about conference! Wasn't it awesome? I'm actually trying to listen to the afternoon sessions right now. They do conference weekend a little differently here in Arad. On Saturday, the branch members and the missionaries met up at the church at 7:00 pm to watch the first session. Then, on Sunday, we all met at the church at 5:00 pm to have a two hour long sacrament meeting and then we all watched the Sunday morning session together. So I haven't been able to watch the afternoon sessions at all until right now! So yes, conference so far has been awesome. There's never been a better time to be a missionary, or a member missionary!

This week has been super great. On Wednesday, we had an exchange with the coordinating sisters. I went with Sora Polatis. We did a little bit of contacting, and we had two lessons. One with Cristina, for mission prep (she's the member who's about to leave for France!) and one with Elvira and her mother, Simona. We had a lesson of prophets, just to make sure they were understanding from our last lesson, and also so that perhaps they'd be a little more enticed to come to the church for conference. They didn't come, unfortunately, but things are still going well! 

We also had a couple lessons with Anca. That's going well too. She tells us that she really only lets us teach her because we teach her English, but seriously, I think we're slowing getting somewhere with her. Last time we met with her she told us she started reading the pamphlets we'd given her. prrrooogreess. 

The Elders here just got their investigator to commit to a baptism date. They're super excited about it. The only thing is is that the date the investigator agreed to commit to is in May of next year. Haha. They're thinking and hoping that it will happen a little sooner though:) Their investigator's name is Irinel, and he found the church while he was serving in the military in Iraq.

Sometimes I think things are progressing so slowly here. But then I realize; Oh my heck. I'm in Arad, Romania, and I'm going to church. With other members. Of all places! There's a branch in Arad Romania! The work. It's definitely moving. 

So this morning, we all went to LIPOVA for Pday. Talk about adventure! Lipova is a little town that's about an hour train ride out of Arad. We pulled into this ity bity town and then walked about an hour to get to the Lipova fortress. And then we took a pretty steep hike for about 30 minutes. And then we were there! I'll include some pictures:) My gosh, it was so so so cool. There was no one else up there but us. We climbed around, and took lots of pictures:)

Transfer board comes out on Friday!!! This one is particularly exciting for me because I'm the most likely to be transfered out of our district. it's very bittersweet. I LOVE. This district I'm in. And I LOVE Sora Stewart. We all have so much fun together! But I've been here at least a transfer or 2 longer than anyone else here. So, I might be bouncin out pretty soon. If I go, It will be exciting. But if I stay, I'll be super happy too. WIN WIN!

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

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxox

Love,

Sora Ralls