2nd Week in Romania

Hello Home! How are you all doing? I'm doing wonderful. Arad is so beautiful and I am enjoying walking the whole city to find people to teach.

One of the people we are teaching is Bogdon. He is amazing. We are hoping that he will be baptized before the end of the transfer. He has almost quit smoking, and he has received answer to his prayers that he should get baptized. But he told us “before I wanted to be sure that I should get baptized. Now that I'm sure, I want to be sure that I am completely ready.” He's so awesome, and it's fun to teach him...he understands everything really well and his countenance has changed so much since we've been teaching him. You can really tell that he is living the Gospel in his life. It makes such a difference that you can actually see a light in him that wasn't there before. It's amazing what living true principles can do for you and your happiness.

So last week I told you that I would be having my first experience in the blocs. I did, and it is crazy. The entire Europe missions have been challenged to testify first thing in a contact. So before you even say “I'm a missionary” they open the door or you stop them on the street and say “hello. I know that God lives, and that He has a plan for you. We have a message about....” or whatever you want to bear your testimony about. Think about what you can testify directly of (a living prophet, eternal families, scriptures, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is restored... you can think of lots and lots) and that's what we present them with first off. It's really fun being able to bear your testimony to X amount of people each day, but there are some people who hear you say “I know that God li...” and they shut the door in your face, or keep walking without acknowledging your existence. And then there are tons of people who say “I was born Orthodox and I will die Orthodox, so it's pointless to talk to me."

Some of their excuses for why you can't talk to them are hilarious. Like “my family is sick” or “everyone in this house is old” or “the guy in the apartment is loud” or “I'm sorry, it's too late to talk about religion (when it's 7pm)” Yeah, it's funny. But there are some good experiences when the people will listen, even if they don't act on it, they listen.

Oh, and I have to tell you about the bowling alley. It's little, just 2 lanes but full length. And instead of there being a little machine to take the pins and set them up, the pins are on strings! So when you hit them they kinda flop around, and then the strings lift them all up and then set down the ones you didn't hit. It's so fun to watch. P.s. My score was 145. Boo Yeah.

Another weird thing is that all of the old people color their hair weird colors. The majority of the older generation like Grandma and Grandpa's age have light purple or bright orange hair. Occasionally you'll see a spring green or baby blue head of hair, but the purple and orange are the most common...don't know why they do it, but I see it every day.

And one of my favorite things here is the Piata (said peeyatsah) which is basically your fresh flowers, fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, fresh eggs, and a whole lot of other stuff every day. So amazingly good. We've had a lot of salads and they are delicious! But you need to bleach all of your fruits, veggies and eggs before you eat them. And also filter your water before you drink it. So it adds a little time to the cooking process, but the food is still really good.

Probably one of the funniest things is my name. Everyone makes mention to me about how Karina is a first name in Romania, and isn't that your first name? And many times it takes a LOT of convincing from me and my companion that it really is my family name (I tell them that my first name is LoAnne) and it always ends with “wow, people in Colorado are weird” lol! Sora Thompson and I always look to each other and smile, it's a never ending joke that no one will get except for us! But it's fun. So many people made mention of it, and a lot of the youth in our branch call me just Karina without using Sora, and so yesterday the Branch President asked me to introduce myself in sacrament meeting because I was new to their branch. And as one of the things I told them that Karina is my family name, so it is weird, but true. So funny.

And Easter is this Sunday...I know it was yesterday for you, but here we celebrate the Orthodox Easter which is this Sunday. I'm excited because we get to go to the midnight service on Saturday and take part in all of their traditions with the red easter eggs that they hit together (like in My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and the salutation to everyone instead of hello for the next 40 days or so is “Christ Resurrected!” and the reply is “True He Lives!” So cool. But I'll tell you all about the Easter service and such next week.

Ok, a few more neat experiences. We have been teaching a girl named Ani and her not-husband Lika and they have 3 kids, and we are having an FHE with them tonight (excited) and they need to get married before she can get baptized. She has been wanting to get baptized for quite a few months now, but I guess it's not ok to get married before Paste (pashteh or Easter) and so hopefully they will get married in 2 or 3 weeks. But she is praying more and will be ready as soon as they get married. Tonight with them will be fun. We are going to teach them about the Procolmation to the world on families and how families can be together for eternity. Basically it's a little lesson to teach them how to hold FHE on their own each week. Another one of our investigators, Amalia, teaches a gradininta class which is kids 8-11 in school. She suggested that she bring her kids that she teaches to the vila (the building where we have church because we don't have a chapel) so that they could see that there is more than just the Orthodox church. So she brought them, and we taught them how to pray, and had a lesson on how they are children of God. We taught them the first verse of “I am a Child of God” and they loved it. “inca una inca una!” (Again again!) they said that so much, and they learned it pretty good. Then we gave them each a plastic plate for them to draw a happy face on it and to write the words “Eu sunt copil al Domnului” ( I am a Child of God) around the sides. It was so good...and the kids made us little plaster easter eggs that they painted and decorated as a thank you gift. It was so sweet. Amalia loved it too.

Something else that is going on here is the Moldovan Revolution. I don't know how much you've heard of it there in the US, but Moldova was having elections, and the Communist party won again, and it happened because of a corrupt voting system, and the day they won, about 10,000 people gathered for riots and to contend with the outcome of the elections. So now there is a mini revolution going on in Moldova, which is about an 18 hr train ride from where I am right now, and Sora Kiriyama, one of my companions from the MTC is serving in Chisinou which is in Moldova. So the missionaries are fine, they just had to stay in their houses for 3 or 4 days before the riots settled and have to stay away from all the government buildings. They can't leave because currently all borders in Moldova are closed off for those who wish to enter, and they were closed for those who wanted to leave, but I think the outgoing borders opened either today or will later this week. Crazy. But all is safe and well, so don't worry about it.

But I hope that all is well at home, that the spirit is strong and that you are all having fun. Tell Alley and Josh and everyone in the ward and neighbors and pretty much just tell everyone that I say HI! And that I'm doing great.

I love you all very very much and I'll write with more fun stories next week...Let me know what your fun stories are!

This gospel is true. It is the only way that we can find a fulness of happiness. There are other things that can make us happy, but not completely. God Lives. Jesus Christ Lives and they are involved in our lives. Their arms are open to all who would go to them, and that will never change. The Atonement is real. I have not only seen it work in the lives of those I teach here in Romania, but it has changed my own life as well as I have turned to my Heavenly Father for help in my times of need, and He has never refused me. He will never refuse anyone, and I know that through prayer and the scriptures, we can feel His love for us and find those answers for which we seek. I love this Gospel. I love the Lord and it is so important for us to share what we know to be true, to reach out to all those who don't have what we have so that all of God's children can have the opportunity to come to Him and to find the light that is available to have in their lives through God. We have a living Prophet today who guides the world, and our message is for all who would listen and receive it. I know it is true. I testify of it every day. Live it, and share it. I love you all, and I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

--Sora Karina