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

March 3rd, 2014

Buna, Buna!

Seriously, the only word to sum up this week is Success.

This week we've had the highest numbers I've had my entire mission. We've gained more new investigators, had more lessons, and more baptismal dates than I ever thought I could have in one transfer.  Last night the zone leaders even had to call us to make sure they heard it right!

As of this week we have 4 baptismal dates. All for March 29th. And yesterday we had 8 investigators at church! Am I still in Romania?

Let me tell you about the amazing people we've been working with.

First, Monica and her 8 year old daughter Larisa. Our amazing member missionary, Sora Pavel, met Monica, and began talking a bit with her about church. Then, Sora Pavel gave her a restoration pamphlet. Monica took them pamphlet home, studied it, and Immediately felt that she needed to be baptized. Later that week when we met with Monica, she went right to it and asked US when she could be baptized.  Solid.

Maria- I talked a little bit about her in my last email. She's Elena's (our recent convert) daughter. We've continued to meet with her this week, and at the beginning of the week she was so hesitant on accepting a baptismal date. Her little girl, one of the 3 year old twins, became very ill and had to go to the hospital to be on an IV for a few days (she's almost finished and home now though!). 

We talked with her on the phone about her little girl, and she seemed very distraught and overwhelmed by the situation. She knows about priesthood power, and we explained to her that if she would like, we could bring a priesthood holder with us, and he could give her a blessing. She accepted.

We went over the next day with our incredible ward mission leader, Marius. After we talked about blessings for a little bit, Marius gave Maria a blessing of comfort. 

After the blessing, Maria had tears in her eyes. She explained to us that during the blessing, she saw a path. The path was white and illuminated. She knew that it was the path that she needed to take her life. Maria accepted the baptismal date of March 29th.

And Raluca. Our 4th baptismal date. Raluca is DARLING. She's 13 years old, and very, very, very, into the gospel. She knows so much, It's so impressive. She started coming to church with Elena Dumitru and loved it from the beginning. Raluca is SO excited to be baptized. At first we were worried because her mother said she could be baptized, but she still needed to get permission from her dad. When we went back over  on Friday, she said her Dad told her she could be baptized She understands everything so well. Her mother agreed to sit in during our last lesson with her, and during the lesson, Raluca taught her mother how to pray. It was the best thing I've ever seen.

All of these people by the way, are in Feldiora, the little sot we work next to Brasov.  Speaking of which.... FELDIOARA IS GETTING THEIR OWN BUILDING!  It's insane.

When I first got to Feldioara, there were just maybe 10 people. Now we have to get a whole new building because we don't fit in the room we're renting out anymore!

Brasov is doing well too!! Yesterday was my favorite Sunday yet because Adriana, Ion and Beatris ALL CAME TO CHURCH. We waited for them in the foyer until church started, but they didn't show up. I was sitting in the chapel, near the door, when I saw the reflection of a green stroller in the window. I walked into the foyer, and sure enough, there they were :) Man. It was good.

They all really enjoyed church. And I have to say how grateful I am to this branch here. They are the most loving, and welcoming group of people. They made that family feel so welcome. 

Sora Bararra and I are feeling so blessed to be serving here at this time when missionary work is just booming. MY GOSH WE''RE SO BLESSED!

Sora Bararra is loving it all too. I love it because she doesn't know any different. She is definitely starting her mission out on the right foot :)

Thank you for all of your prayers! As you can see.... they're working.

I love you all so much!

xoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxox

Sora Ralls

February 24, 2014

I can't believe it's a new transfer already! Each one goes by  twice as fast as the one before it, I swear. It's weird. It's been another busy and adventurous week here in Brasov!

First of all.... Meet Sora Barrera!!!!!!

Sora Barrera is darling. She's 20 years old, and she was born in El Salvador. She moved to Maryland when she was 12, and just finished up her first year at BYU.

Training a brand new missionary has really put into perspective just how much I've adjusted to living here. For example, the other day, she asked me if I wanted ice in my glass... Ice.  I FORGOT ABOUT ICE IN DRINKS. That was a weird moment. Of course then we had to have that disappointing talk about how we have no ice. And how she'll probably not have ice for another year and a half. Sorry girl.

But really, Sora Barerra is doing great. And her fluency in Spanish makes the language learning process go a lot smoother :) 

So our week. On Tuesday, the day before transfers, Sora Bray and I taught the family of 13 out in Feldiora. The mother, Zica, agreed to a baptismal date of March 29th! We actually handed the family over to the elders now though so they are going to be taking care of them the rest of the way :)

Wednesday we went to Buc to go to the trainers meeting and pick up our new companions. Ahhh it was such a happy moment when they read off the trainers names and matched us to our new companions! Everyone was so happy and anxious.

Then we took our 3 and half hour train ride back to Brasov. Sora Barerra slept for most it :). She has been pretty jet lagged but she still keeps going! such a trooper! 

On Thursday we went contacting, and we got stopped by two women who pulled out their Bibles and tried to correct us on somethings. For a few minutes I was a little worried as to where things would go and how they would go, but we managed to find some common ground in our beliefs. We actually got their phone number, and they agreed to meet with us and discuss more.... I think we'll be bringing our ward mission leader to this one though :) We also had another lesson with Adriana and her family. Unfortunately Adriana wasn't there so we just taught Ion and Beatris. It went well though!

Saturday we went out to Feldioara and planned on having a lesson with Elena on temples. However, when we got there, we learned that her daughter Maria was staying with her there now for a little while. Not even 2 minutes after we arrived, Maria picked up the Book of Mormon and looked at us and said "I know  nothing about this Book. Tell me about it."   We had a lesson on the restoration right then.

She has lots of questions, but she's very open. She even came to church on Sunday and told us how much she liked it.  We just need to get her to pray about it now :)

I just want to say how amazing our recent convert Elena is. It's ;only been a couple weeks since her baptism, but already she's given us 3 new investigators. Not only that, but she comes to every lesson with us out in Feldioara. We love her so much.

So that's this week!

Speaking of the group in Feldioara, it's growing like crazy. In fact, they've asked that only one set of elders attend because there are not enough seats for all of them. 2 more Melchizedek priesthood holders, and then we can have a brand new branch! How cool is that? 

If any of you having any tips from when  you trained, or when you were being trained, that would be super awesome!

Thank you so much everything you do ! I love you all so much!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxo

Sora Ralls

February 10, 2014

Buna Buna!

Okay, first things first. ELENA WAS BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!

She was baptized on Saturday, and it was seriously one of the best days of my whole mission (obviously). 

The day started off super hectic and busy. We first had an early correlation meeting, then we had our English classes. During the closing spiritual thought at English classes, 2 of our Elders ran to McDonalds and brought us all back cheeseburgers to eat Super quickly. all 6 of us sat in a tiny tiney classroom eating as quickly as we could, as I also hurried to finish up the talk I was giving at her baptism. Elena came to the church at 1:00 to prepare for her baptism at 2:00.  When she arrived at the church, she looked so happy. She was so excited!

The first thing everyone did was gather around the font and take TONS of pictures :) 

We then went into the chapel, Sora Pavel (Elena's amazing fellowshipper) Spoke on Baptism, and I spoke on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Afterwards we all walked over to the font. Sora Bray and I helped her find the steps and watched her walk down into the water. Ahhhhhh it was so happy!

After she'd gotten dried off, we asked her how she felt. She explained to us how her sould felt like it was "illuminated". 

In closing, we had President Mesco speak, and then Elena bore her sweet testimony.  Seriously, I'm still not over how awesome this day was.

After serving here for 9 months and not seeing a single person in any branch I've served in be baptized, I think I needed to be reminded that it actually DOES happen. Prepared people find the church, they do get baptized. Miracles happen. The church is true!

On Sunday in Feldioara, Elena recieved the Holy Ghost, and our tiny little room out there was filled. Literally, there was not a single open chair. Poor Sora Bray had to stay at the Piano the whole time. Elena is doing great. And we are so excited to see her this week!

Let's see what else happened this week....

We had a reallly great lesson with Adriana and her family. We watched the resoration DVD and talked about prophets. She told us at the end that she knows the church is true. She said she has "an instinct" and she just knows it. She says she's not quite ready to commit to a baptismal date, but she said she will as she feels more prepared. Brasov is booming!

We also had a branch talent show this week. All of us missionaries prepared a hymn to sing. We got there, and only about 7 people from the branch showed up, but it was a lot of fun :)

We got about half way through the song when one of the elders started laughing, which led to 2 elders laughing, and then all of us ended up losing it. Including the branch members. It was okay :)

Oh! We also had interviews with President Hill this week, and that was great! It's always good to see President and Sora Hill. President metioned to me in my interview that he'll be sending Sora Bray out and keeping me here. I'm glad to be staying, but I am going to miss Sora Bray so much!

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

xoxooxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Sora Ralls

And we ordered a pizza this week. Kind of awesome. 

February 3, 2014

Servus!

 What a crazy, busy, awesome week we had! This week  we literally witnessed a miracle. On Thursday Sora Stapley and Sora DeRuvo came for exchanges.  Sora Stapley and I had a lesson with Elena, our investigator who had a baptismal date for February 8th.  We had a lesson plan all ready, but as Sora Stapley and Elena were getting to know each other, it came up that the man that Elena has been calling her husband, is not actually, legally her husband. Sora Bray and I had been planning on teaching Elena the law of Chastity this week, thinking it wouldn't be a problem seeing as we thought she was married and everything. SO.  Sora Stapley and I did the chastity lesson right then and there, seeing as it was kind of urgent.

At the end, we explained to Elena that she could not be baptized without either marrying the man, or moving out. She looked at us and said "I'll get married.” She explained that she wouldn't have the money to marry him until later in the month. Then we talked with her about it a little more, and she told us she didn't actually love the man she'd been living with. He said he wasn't good to her and that she only lived with him out of absolute necessity. I've never left a lesson feeling that awful.  It just seemed like there was no way out, and we did not want her to marry this guy.

We called President Hill explained  that all we can do is teach her the standards, and let her make her decisions. So we just waited.

On Sunday, Sora Bray and I headed out to Feldiora  a little early so we could meet Elena at her home and walk with her to church.

We got there, and she was all ready with her little granddaughter Mirella.

We were just walked out her fence when she looked at us and said "I actually don't live here anymore. I just have to come back and get my things sometimes".

I. was. Shocked.

She explained that thanks to Elena Pavel, our member we've been bringing to Elena's lessons with us,  she'd found a tiny home she could live in for a year.

Elena was so happy. She was so happy. I will always remember that look on her face when she told us that she no longer lived there.

I am so amazed. I AM SO AMAZED. Elena had been living unhappily with this abusive man for 9 years, and now finally she had gotten out.

I absolutely went on trying to tell Elena how happy I was for her for maybe 5  minutes without making any sense. Note to self:Excitment makes Romanian much harder. 

Elena is amazing. I wish all of you could meet her.

I am also so grateful for our member Elena Pavel. Without her this would have not even been possible. Just another testament to the importance of members being involved in missionary work! This miralce never could've happend if she weren't involved.

 So now we're planning a baptism for February 8th again! We are so thrilled, but Elena is even  more so.

 Other than this, we've had some other great lessons with the family who lives in our block, A few others here in Brasov, and  with a family we're teaching in Secele.  We've also  been doing a good amount of block knocking this week, and we've actually had a lot of sucess! Unfortunetly, all but one of our new potential investigators is a guy, so the elders should hopefully be getting some new investigators this week :)

Tomorrow President is coming for interviews!

I LOVE  YOU ALL SO MUCH! Thank you for your prayers! They're working!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Sora Ralls

Elena's twin granddaughters :) 

 Oh and today we spent some time at Bran Caslte :)

Knowing how much I love cats, my district got me this for my halfway mark :)#creepycat

4/6ths of the best district in the world