Dearest family and everyone,
Hello! How are you? I'm doing well...Sibiu is still gorgeous and we are working hard.
This week was a week full of lessons - though it wasn't with other people, but I sure learned a lot. Even though it was a hard week, it was a good one. I learned tons from our lessons with Casia - she's the 8 1/2 yr old that got baptized on Saturday and the service went great. There were small amounts of people there, but it was good - Sora Staley and I had 2 investigators there and the Elders had one of their investigators that came, and the Spirit was soooo strong.
And teaching her this past week to make sure she was ready was amazing. We would teach her a lesson and the things that she comprehended amazed me. We taught her the Plan of Salvation with a semne (puzzle), and after we went through the whole thing her mom suggested that Casia put the semne together herself to see if she understood. So we mixed it up, and she cleared her throat and began to teach us what we had just taught her starting at the Premortal life and all the way to where we want to be with God in the Celestial Kingdom. She had all the information right and it was stated so simply as if it were fact - she has great faith. It just proves that the gospel of Jesus Christ is simple enough in it's truth that even a child can understand and believe. It was wonderful.
As for everything else, we had a couple of lessons with our other investigators, and they are doing well...not quite understanding everything enough to come to church or commit to baptism, but they are keeping their commitments and we had good lessons there. We found a lot of good potential investigators this week, but all of the lessons that we had set up fell through unfortunately, but we are still trying to find in the situations in which we find ourselves and are begining to understand what more we can do in order to do all that we can do for the Lord to help us with this work.
One thing I learned this week is how pride really does become a stumbling block to the road of happiness in your living. I have been studying a lot about faith, and how pride is what gets in the way of our faith. Ultimately, it gets in the way of us being able to have a good relationship with our Heavenly Father. This was a good week for me to get back in line with the expectations of the Lord and to remember why I wanted to be here, why I am doing what I am doing. It is because I love the Lord, and I have a desire to love His children enough to share with them the knowledge that I have about their salvation. In short anyways, that's what it is.
This branch is really disfunctional and Sundays are more of a day of stress than a day of rest for us missionaries - Relief Society consisted of me and my companion because no one is used to staying for all 3 hours - including the RS president, and we were joined by Serban who is 13 and is in the young mens program, who didn't want to be in Priesthood, and so he came up with us and we had a lesson on Christ-like attributes. It was good, but the whole thing is crazy. But hopefully it will get better each week.
Other than that, I don't have too much to say. I got jenna's letter and I loved it! Thanks love. I will be getting my package probably at this zone conference which is on October 10th. Which reminds me, Mom, can you please call Brianne for me to tell her I wish her a happy birthday on Thursday? That would be awesome. Tell her I love her! And no I don't get to see the RS broadcast, but it sounded good by the notes you sent me. I'll be able to read it in the Liahona that I will get of the conference session in a couple of months. And thanks for taping conference for me again - this time I'm not even going to be able to listen to it in Romanian unless we get the dvd's from the headquarters in germany soon after. But it will be good. Take good notes for me ;}
Anyways, I hope that you are having a good week, I am excited to tell you more things that I learn about the Lord's hand in His work next week, and until then, smile lots! I love you all so so so much!
Love Always, --Sora Karina
Jenna and Shaley and Tamara - congrats on your matches/meets. It sounds like you are doing great! And I love hearing about it. I love you three soooo much. And of course tell Cherisse and Allen that I love them too :D ttyl
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Sibiu
Hello family and everyone!!! How are you all doing? I am doing great.
So I'll start out by telling you a little about the city that I am now in. Sibiu has the reputation as the prettiest town in Romania. I can see why. It is one of the oldest towns, and it is beautiful. It is not too big, but it's not as small as Arad where I was for my first 2 transfers. We usually walk everywhere which gets kinda annoying sometimes, but we haven't quite figured out the bus systems yet for that to be a help. But we get by and all is well.
The work is going well, too. Sora Staley is awesome. She is someone that I've wanted to be companions with since I first got in the country and met her, and now I'm blessed to be able to do that, and we are just getting to work and running and proving our faith, and smiling the entire way while we do it. And the Lord is already blessing us. We got one new investigator referred by a member, who came with us. - That was cool. The relief society president wanted us to go over and meet with the sick mother of a less-active member, and we went, taught her about faith, and she asked us to come back to teach her more about what we believe in. Super cool.
Another something amazing is that one of the goals that Sora Staley and I set right from day one is that we want to find a family to teach, a family that will all be involved in the gospel, and we have been praying for it and working to do all that we can in order to find a family and anyone else that will listen. So we were vila knocking the other night and it started to get cold so we went down a street to find a block (an enclosed apartment building) that we could go and knock. We both felt good about going into a green block that looked decently lit. In it we were rejected at every door that opened except for one where a little girl opened the door, and went to get her dad for us to talk to. He listened to us, all the while in the back ground we see his daughter (9 years old), his son (almost 11 years old), a grandma figure, he told us how they have a 4 month old baby, and his wife who is not against us coming again, but also isn't as interested as he is to learn more. He set up with us to come back the following night.
So last night we went over there, and to our surprise the kids weren't there, but he had invited 2 of his friends over there to listen to us, one who had been an investigator about a year ago but who hadn't been talked to since then. We had an amazing discussion, and it went so well, the Spirit was so strong, and we are meeting with them on Wednesday, this time with his kids. This is the family that we've been praying for, for only a couple of days, but the Lord has blessed us greatly even with the people that we have met on the street that we haven't yet been able to meet with.
It is amazing to see the Lord's hand here in the work. When you don't know what to do or even where to begin, He puts you on a good path and leads you when you just go. And that is what He is doing with us right now. It is so cool.
I know that this church is true and that God really does help us do whatever needs to get done if we will just be willing to take the steps that will get us started - He'll give you the extra pushes you need and carry it the rest of the way.
So the branch here is really interesting. It is small and doesn't quite function properly, but it is here. We have one set of Elders here with us which are amazing - Elder Johnson and Elder Bernier (who I served with in the MTC) and it is going to be such a fun transfer. Elder Johnson is the 1st counselor in the Branch Presidency, and the Branch President is cool, but he's not the most forward "get her done" type guy. Like yesterday when the Sunday school class went on for an hour and a half, (it is only supposed to last 45 minutes) the Branch President just sat there, and Sora Staley and I were with the 2 kids that are there Serban and Casia and the Branch President came to where we were talking with them and just said, "They're not done yet, but I couldn't listen anymore - it was boring." and I was thinking, “ok...you are the one that can stop it...” but it will get better in time.
Funny story, Casia is 8 1/2 years old, and she didn't want to get baptized until yesterday when Sora Staley said "Why aren't you baptized yet?" Casia said, “I don't want to." Sora Staley said, “Why not? You could be a sister missionary someday you know.” Casia just shrugged her shoulders. Then at the end of the lesson, Casia said, "Yeah, I guess I could be a sister missionary someday." and Sora Staley said "Well then, when do you want to get baptized?" and Casia said, "This Saturday! It will be my day!" It was so cute.
So now we are teaching her what her parents (who happen to be the branch president and his wife) asked us to teach her to make sure she's ready, and we'll see - we might have a member baptism this Saturday. But what a great start that will be.
Something interesting about opening an area is how you come here and you have nothing. We have an apartment, but that apartment didn't even have dishes, a broom, a mop, pillows, hangers, food of any kind, and things that you usually don't think about because every apartment has them, we didn't have - like a drying rack to dry our clothes on, an area book, any missionary supplies, yeah. It was kinda crazy trying to get that ready. We also didn't have a filter, so we're buying water so that we don't get sick, and that's more money. Fortunately, Sora Staley doesn't always use the monthly sums that we get for food and other essentials, and so she has plenty to get us started, and then I have enough to help us get by. It will work, but until we get it all figured out, it will be interesting. We keep finding things that we don't have when we need them and realize it's not there. he he.
Our first morning of breakfast, Elder Johnson had bought a couple of things for us the day before so that we would have something - we had cereal in plastic cups that we ate with the measuring spoons Sora Staley had brought that were extra at her old apartment, and then ate yogurt with plastic knives, and bread and jam. Wow. I took a picture cuz it was so funny, but I don't have time to show you all now. Anyways, life is great, I'm happy, and all is going well. So much happened in just these few days, but I can't think of what else to say.
Just know that God loves you, I love you all so so very much, and I'll tell you more next week! --Sora Karina
ps Sora Thompson - Felicitar!!!!! Sunt foarte entusiasmata pentru tine! Sunt putin trista ca nu voi fi acolo, dar, sunt sigura ca va fi minunata. Si da, am aflat direct inainte am plecat la arad ca ani a avut 2 fete inainte ea a fost cu lica, si ele si mama anei au fost botezate, si am auzit ca a fost minunat. crazy, huh? am crezut asa, dar totul e bine. Este ciudat ce el a facut, dar nu stiu de ce. Nu am crezut ca a fost o problema...ori cum, ai o zi frumoasa, si sa-l dai pe Eric salut pe partea mea! Si vreau sa stiu cum el te-a intrebat te rog. te iubesc si te-am pupat! --sora Karina
ps. Sora Poulsen - Multumesc pentru email. Tot timpul este bine sa te aud. Ma bucur ca totul merge bine pentru tine. Merge bine pentru mine deasemenea. Si acuma am o opertunitate sa fac ce n-am facut inainte cu un oras nou - sa deschid! Este putin diferit si este greau, dar este posibil, si ma distrez deci este bine. Te distrez cu Castro, Si sa-mi spui ce s-intemple! Te iubesc --Sora Karina
So I'll start out by telling you a little about the city that I am now in. Sibiu has the reputation as the prettiest town in Romania. I can see why. It is one of the oldest towns, and it is beautiful. It is not too big, but it's not as small as Arad where I was for my first 2 transfers. We usually walk everywhere which gets kinda annoying sometimes, but we haven't quite figured out the bus systems yet for that to be a help. But we get by and all is well.
The work is going well, too. Sora Staley is awesome. She is someone that I've wanted to be companions with since I first got in the country and met her, and now I'm blessed to be able to do that, and we are just getting to work and running and proving our faith, and smiling the entire way while we do it. And the Lord is already blessing us. We got one new investigator referred by a member, who came with us. - That was cool. The relief society president wanted us to go over and meet with the sick mother of a less-active member, and we went, taught her about faith, and she asked us to come back to teach her more about what we believe in. Super cool.
Another something amazing is that one of the goals that Sora Staley and I set right from day one is that we want to find a family to teach, a family that will all be involved in the gospel, and we have been praying for it and working to do all that we can in order to find a family and anyone else that will listen. So we were vila knocking the other night and it started to get cold so we went down a street to find a block (an enclosed apartment building) that we could go and knock. We both felt good about going into a green block that looked decently lit. In it we were rejected at every door that opened except for one where a little girl opened the door, and went to get her dad for us to talk to. He listened to us, all the while in the back ground we see his daughter (9 years old), his son (almost 11 years old), a grandma figure, he told us how they have a 4 month old baby, and his wife who is not against us coming again, but also isn't as interested as he is to learn more. He set up with us to come back the following night.
So last night we went over there, and to our surprise the kids weren't there, but he had invited 2 of his friends over there to listen to us, one who had been an investigator about a year ago but who hadn't been talked to since then. We had an amazing discussion, and it went so well, the Spirit was so strong, and we are meeting with them on Wednesday, this time with his kids. This is the family that we've been praying for, for only a couple of days, but the Lord has blessed us greatly even with the people that we have met on the street that we haven't yet been able to meet with.
It is amazing to see the Lord's hand here in the work. When you don't know what to do or even where to begin, He puts you on a good path and leads you when you just go. And that is what He is doing with us right now. It is so cool.
I know that this church is true and that God really does help us do whatever needs to get done if we will just be willing to take the steps that will get us started - He'll give you the extra pushes you need and carry it the rest of the way.
So the branch here is really interesting. It is small and doesn't quite function properly, but it is here. We have one set of Elders here with us which are amazing - Elder Johnson and Elder Bernier (who I served with in the MTC) and it is going to be such a fun transfer. Elder Johnson is the 1st counselor in the Branch Presidency, and the Branch President is cool, but he's not the most forward "get her done" type guy. Like yesterday when the Sunday school class went on for an hour and a half, (it is only supposed to last 45 minutes) the Branch President just sat there, and Sora Staley and I were with the 2 kids that are there Serban and Casia and the Branch President came to where we were talking with them and just said, "They're not done yet, but I couldn't listen anymore - it was boring." and I was thinking, “ok...you are the one that can stop it...” but it will get better in time.
Funny story, Casia is 8 1/2 years old, and she didn't want to get baptized until yesterday when Sora Staley said "Why aren't you baptized yet?" Casia said, “I don't want to." Sora Staley said, “Why not? You could be a sister missionary someday you know.” Casia just shrugged her shoulders. Then at the end of the lesson, Casia said, "Yeah, I guess I could be a sister missionary someday." and Sora Staley said "Well then, when do you want to get baptized?" and Casia said, "This Saturday! It will be my day!" It was so cute.
So now we are teaching her what her parents (who happen to be the branch president and his wife) asked us to teach her to make sure she's ready, and we'll see - we might have a member baptism this Saturday. But what a great start that will be.
Something interesting about opening an area is how you come here and you have nothing. We have an apartment, but that apartment didn't even have dishes, a broom, a mop, pillows, hangers, food of any kind, and things that you usually don't think about because every apartment has them, we didn't have - like a drying rack to dry our clothes on, an area book, any missionary supplies, yeah. It was kinda crazy trying to get that ready. We also didn't have a filter, so we're buying water so that we don't get sick, and that's more money. Fortunately, Sora Staley doesn't always use the monthly sums that we get for food and other essentials, and so she has plenty to get us started, and then I have enough to help us get by. It will work, but until we get it all figured out, it will be interesting. We keep finding things that we don't have when we need them and realize it's not there. he he.
Our first morning of breakfast, Elder Johnson had bought a couple of things for us the day before so that we would have something - we had cereal in plastic cups that we ate with the measuring spoons Sora Staley had brought that were extra at her old apartment, and then ate yogurt with plastic knives, and bread and jam. Wow. I took a picture cuz it was so funny, but I don't have time to show you all now. Anyways, life is great, I'm happy, and all is going well. So much happened in just these few days, but I can't think of what else to say.
Just know that God loves you, I love you all so so very much, and I'll tell you more next week! --Sora Karina
ps Sora Thompson - Felicitar!!!!! Sunt foarte entusiasmata pentru tine! Sunt putin trista ca nu voi fi acolo, dar, sunt sigura ca va fi minunata. Si da, am aflat direct inainte am plecat la arad ca ani a avut 2 fete inainte ea a fost cu lica, si ele si mama anei au fost botezate, si am auzit ca a fost minunat. crazy, huh? am crezut asa, dar totul e bine. Este ciudat ce el a facut, dar nu stiu de ce. Nu am crezut ca a fost o problema...ori cum, ai o zi frumoasa, si sa-l dai pe Eric salut pe partea mea! Si vreau sa stiu cum el te-a intrebat te rog. te iubesc si te-am pupat! --sora Karina
ps. Sora Poulsen - Multumesc pentru email. Tot timpul este bine sa te aud. Ma bucur ca totul merge bine pentru tine. Merge bine pentru mine deasemenea. Si acuma am o opertunitate sa fac ce n-am facut inainte cu un oras nou - sa deschid! Este putin diferit si este greau, dar este posibil, si ma distrez deci este bine. Te distrez cu Castro, Si sa-mi spui ce s-intemple! Te iubesc --Sora Karina
Monday, September 14, 2009
La Multi Ani
My dearest family and friends and everyone,
How are you? I am doing amazingly.
This week was a really good one. On Saturday the baptism went great. Cristina was a little nervous, but she was so happy, and all went well. She even brought a friend of hers who said she's not interested to learn more, but is curious enough that she'll come to church in a few weeks after she finishes a project of some sort. So that's cool.
I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and why it is such an amazing gift, and because other things fell through I also did the special musical number and I played the hymn arrangement with the Savior songs that Mom picked out - you know which one I'm talking about. But everything went great.
The turn out at the baptism was mostly from our English students - there were only about 5 members there and 30 people there all together, and a lot of that number was made up by investigators too which is always exciting.
But she is sooo happy and she gave a really sweet testimony at the end about how God helped her to make this choice, and how she knows that He'll continue to help her in this gospel, and she knows it's true and that because she has the gospel in her life that she will be happier. It was awesome.
And we got some baptismal dates with Elena and Marian her son. Catalina, the daughter, doesn't want to get baptized yet. She says she doesn't like the Book of Mormon, but it's because she's not used to it or "obisnuita" is the word she used, but she came to the baptism with her mom and brother and she sat outside on the couch during the talks and such to read the Joseph Smith pliant, the Gospel pliant, and started the Book of Mormon a little bit. She also said she really liked the ceremony part of the baptism "it was simple, but pretty" she said. I think she'll catch on quick to the desire that her mom and brother have to become a part of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and to come closer to God. Their dad might take a little longer, but I think that if he comes to their baptism on the 26th, there will be no more doubt with him wanting to take the lessons and to join his family.
It's funny because Elena tells her husband every time, "hai, si tu!" come on, you too! and he just says ok, ok, I'll catch up later. And I really think that he will. Last night we were out bloc knocking, and we met this cool guy in his 80s named Dumitru. Cutest old man ever! He got off subject so much telling us stories and helping us understand why he thinks certain things about God and religion, and then when we finally were able to get a word in he said "da! te ascult" or Yes, I'm listening to you. And then he was so attentive until we mentioned something that reminded him of another story. But it was fun teaching him - he gave us some raspberry jam that he had made and it is really good, and I don't know if he'll catch on to the message that we have for him, but we're still trying
And I know you're all dying to know how my birthday went - and it was AMAZING! On Tuesday we have English class, and my class put on a huge celebration for me. Mariana, the loud crazy lady that I have a love/hate relationship with, was the founder of it. Apparently she found out it was my birthday, called our whole class and put on a party for me. She put balloons up, wrote birthday messages for me on the chalk board, lit candles around the room, and covered the floor with rose pedals. She also got me chocolate, a huge 3 liter thing of Pepsi (which is better than the wine she's given us missionaries as gifts the past 2 occasions) and a box of chocolates to share with the whole world, along with a stuffed stag from the "stag of gold" festival that's been going on lately. There's a sound button in the stag that sounds like a baby dinosaur. So funny.
So she gathers our class together to take a picture and positions me on how to hold my flower and the stag, Sora Campbell takes a picture and then Mariana lights a firework in the church building for Sora Campbell to take another picture. Yes, a firework. (If you don't believe me, look at the pictures - Mariana is the bigger lady behind me with reddish hair) And then shoves the firework in my hand for a solo picture, then grabs my camera from Sora Campbell and pushes her to be in my picture. She's crazy and I was laughing sooo hard. Veronica bought me chocolates and Isabella gave me a skirt that is really pretty - very Romanian, and Audi says it makes me "batrana" or old, but everyone else seems to like it lol. And then they sang La Multi Ani. After the spiritual thought Mariana told me it was an obligation I had to play the piano for everyone, so then I had to perform. But it was good.
After that exciting day, I didn't even know what to expect on my real birthday, but it was good. Sora Campbell made me banana clatite for breakfast (something in the middle of a crepe and a pancake) and I got a lot of texts from the members saying happy birthday, and Audi called me at 12:00 midnight which is something they do here in Romania to wish me happy birthday - I was so tired, and she laughed at me, but it was fun. She also bought me a present, and when we went over to her house for a lesson, she put on "happy birthday" by New Kids on the Block because she says she doesn't have a voice for singing and gave me a necklace and a children's Romanian story book. It was awesome.
Other than that we had a service project, and a lot of contacting that we did which was fun, Oh, and President Lundberg and his family called me and sang me a version of Happy Birthday that was really fun but that I had never heard before. All in all, it was an amazing day. (And no, I didn't get the package. It might have gotten there on time, but the Assistants and President were on tour so they didn't have a chance to go to Buc to pick it up. So I'll get it in the future and it will be my birthday again! Yay!)
Also, on the 12th it was Audi's birthday, but we had the baptism, and so Alina put together a surprise birthday party for her on Friday, and it was so fun. She turned 29, and this is the first party she has ever had in her life for her birthday. She was so surprised, and she loved it. It went very well, much to the stress of Alina who was sooo nervous. It was funny. But it went well.
And now for the suspenseful moment...transfer board. Duh du du duhhhhh! I am getting transfered to Sibiu!!! You don't know what that means. Sibiu until now has only ever had 2 elders there, never sisters, and never more than 2 (one companionship) which means that I am opening an area for sisters, and I'm going to be with Sora Staley who is one of my sisters!!! (meaning that we all had the same person who trained us at different times.) I served with Sora Jones last transfer, also one of my sisters (I have 3 sisters in the mission) and so this is going to be crazy and I am so excited. I'm really sad to leave Brasov, but I know that this next transfer is going to be an adventure! Also, for those who might be interested, they closed Timisoara to sisters and are also opening up Deva to sisters, which is in the same position as Sibiu, only ever having one companionship of Elders there. So this is exciting and it will be interesting. I leave and arrive on Wednesday, so next week you'll be hearing from me in a different city! Fun times w00t w00t!
Other than that, this week was great, next week will be great, and I love you all so so so very much! ttyl, Always, --Sora Karina
ps. Sora Thompson! Nu pot sa cred ca o sa merg la Sibiu! wow. Dar oricum, ce faci? Cum merge scoala? Sper ca totul merge bine pentru tine, si tu nu poti sa-mi spui ca crezi ca o sa te casatoresti fara detalii! Vreau sa stiu despre ce ati vorbit! Si, ce s-intemplat cu j.w. Stiu ca stii despre ce vorbesc. Nu o sa vad peste un ani si vreau sa stiu despre ce sa ma rog. Dar, fac bine, si sper ca tu faci bine deasemenea. Te iubesc atat de mult. Succes cu tot, si mai auzim! Te-am pupat! --Sora Karina
How are you? I am doing amazingly.
This week was a really good one. On Saturday the baptism went great. Cristina was a little nervous, but she was so happy, and all went well. She even brought a friend of hers who said she's not interested to learn more, but is curious enough that she'll come to church in a few weeks after she finishes a project of some sort. So that's cool.
I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and why it is such an amazing gift, and because other things fell through I also did the special musical number and I played the hymn arrangement with the Savior songs that Mom picked out - you know which one I'm talking about. But everything went great.
The turn out at the baptism was mostly from our English students - there were only about 5 members there and 30 people there all together, and a lot of that number was made up by investigators too which is always exciting.
But she is sooo happy and she gave a really sweet testimony at the end about how God helped her to make this choice, and how she knows that He'll continue to help her in this gospel, and she knows it's true and that because she has the gospel in her life that she will be happier. It was awesome.
And we got some baptismal dates with Elena and Marian her son. Catalina, the daughter, doesn't want to get baptized yet. She says she doesn't like the Book of Mormon, but it's because she's not used to it or "obisnuita" is the word she used, but she came to the baptism with her mom and brother and she sat outside on the couch during the talks and such to read the Joseph Smith pliant, the Gospel pliant, and started the Book of Mormon a little bit. She also said she really liked the ceremony part of the baptism "it was simple, but pretty" she said. I think she'll catch on quick to the desire that her mom and brother have to become a part of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and to come closer to God. Their dad might take a little longer, but I think that if he comes to their baptism on the 26th, there will be no more doubt with him wanting to take the lessons and to join his family.
It's funny because Elena tells her husband every time, "hai, si tu!" come on, you too! and he just says ok, ok, I'll catch up later. And I really think that he will. Last night we were out bloc knocking, and we met this cool guy in his 80s named Dumitru. Cutest old man ever! He got off subject so much telling us stories and helping us understand why he thinks certain things about God and religion, and then when we finally were able to get a word in he said "da! te ascult" or Yes, I'm listening to you. And then he was so attentive until we mentioned something that reminded him of another story. But it was fun teaching him - he gave us some raspberry jam that he had made and it is really good, and I don't know if he'll catch on to the message that we have for him, but we're still trying
And I know you're all dying to know how my birthday went - and it was AMAZING! On Tuesday we have English class, and my class put on a huge celebration for me. Mariana, the loud crazy lady that I have a love/hate relationship with, was the founder of it. Apparently she found out it was my birthday, called our whole class and put on a party for me. She put balloons up, wrote birthday messages for me on the chalk board, lit candles around the room, and covered the floor with rose pedals. She also got me chocolate, a huge 3 liter thing of Pepsi (which is better than the wine she's given us missionaries as gifts the past 2 occasions) and a box of chocolates to share with the whole world, along with a stuffed stag from the "stag of gold" festival that's been going on lately. There's a sound button in the stag that sounds like a baby dinosaur. So funny.
So she gathers our class together to take a picture and positions me on how to hold my flower and the stag, Sora Campbell takes a picture and then Mariana lights a firework in the church building for Sora Campbell to take another picture. Yes, a firework. (If you don't believe me, look at the pictures - Mariana is the bigger lady behind me with reddish hair) And then shoves the firework in my hand for a solo picture, then grabs my camera from Sora Campbell and pushes her to be in my picture. She's crazy and I was laughing sooo hard. Veronica bought me chocolates and Isabella gave me a skirt that is really pretty - very Romanian, and Audi says it makes me "batrana" or old, but everyone else seems to like it lol. And then they sang La Multi Ani. After the spiritual thought Mariana told me it was an obligation I had to play the piano for everyone, so then I had to perform. But it was good.
After that exciting day, I didn't even know what to expect on my real birthday, but it was good. Sora Campbell made me banana clatite for breakfast (something in the middle of a crepe and a pancake) and I got a lot of texts from the members saying happy birthday, and Audi called me at 12:00 midnight which is something they do here in Romania to wish me happy birthday - I was so tired, and she laughed at me, but it was fun. She also bought me a present, and when we went over to her house for a lesson, she put on "happy birthday" by New Kids on the Block because she says she doesn't have a voice for singing and gave me a necklace and a children's Romanian story book. It was awesome.
Other than that we had a service project, and a lot of contacting that we did which was fun, Oh, and President Lundberg and his family called me and sang me a version of Happy Birthday that was really fun but that I had never heard before. All in all, it was an amazing day. (And no, I didn't get the package. It might have gotten there on time, but the Assistants and President were on tour so they didn't have a chance to go to Buc to pick it up. So I'll get it in the future and it will be my birthday again! Yay!)
Also, on the 12th it was Audi's birthday, but we had the baptism, and so Alina put together a surprise birthday party for her on Friday, and it was so fun. She turned 29, and this is the first party she has ever had in her life for her birthday. She was so surprised, and she loved it. It went very well, much to the stress of Alina who was sooo nervous. It was funny. But it went well.
And now for the suspenseful moment...transfer board. Duh du du duhhhhh! I am getting transfered to Sibiu!!! You don't know what that means. Sibiu until now has only ever had 2 elders there, never sisters, and never more than 2 (one companionship) which means that I am opening an area for sisters, and I'm going to be with Sora Staley who is one of my sisters!!! (meaning that we all had the same person who trained us at different times.) I served with Sora Jones last transfer, also one of my sisters (I have 3 sisters in the mission) and so this is going to be crazy and I am so excited. I'm really sad to leave Brasov, but I know that this next transfer is going to be an adventure! Also, for those who might be interested, they closed Timisoara to sisters and are also opening up Deva to sisters, which is in the same position as Sibiu, only ever having one companionship of Elders there. So this is exciting and it will be interesting. I leave and arrive on Wednesday, so next week you'll be hearing from me in a different city! Fun times w00t w00t!
Other than that, this week was great, next week will be great, and I love you all so so so very much! ttyl, Always, --Sora Karina
ps. Sora Thompson! Nu pot sa cred ca o sa merg la Sibiu! wow. Dar oricum, ce faci? Cum merge scoala? Sper ca totul merge bine pentru tine, si tu nu poti sa-mi spui ca crezi ca o sa te casatoresti fara detalii! Vreau sa stiu despre ce ati vorbit! Si, ce s-intemplat cu j.w. Stiu ca stii despre ce vorbesc. Nu o sa vad peste un ani si vreau sa stiu despre ce sa ma rog. Dar, fac bine, si sper ca tu faci bine deasemenea. Te iubesc atat de mult. Succes cu tot, si mai auzim! Te-am pupat! --Sora Karina
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
difficult, but not hard
Dear family, friends, and everyone,How are you all doing? I am doing great.
This past week was really good, and I had a bunch of fun with it. WE HAVE A BAPTISM ON SATURDAY!!! I am so excited for her. And Satan is working soooo hard to not let this happen. I know he does that with every single miracle that the Lord performs, but it is so apparent here. Not only are her parents against it and she has decided to do it regardless, on Saturday we were supposed to have a lesson with her, and she called saying that she had just found out that she had to go to Bucuresti right then for an emergency with her sister and wouldn't get back until Thursday and her interview is on Friday...wow. But it's ok because her determination to do what is right for what she believes and our prayers are stronger than Satan's annoying plans to get in the way. All will be well. She went to church on Sunday in Mihai Bravu and we fasted together from Saturday to Sunday.
I know that the Lord will hear and answer our prayers. And in the mean time, we're just planning on teaching her the last couple of things over the phone, which she said is perfectly fine. Phone lessons are so weird sometimes, but they work, and the Spirit can be present anywhere with the prayer of faith.
Our other investigators are doing pretty well, too. Elena and her family are awesome. We have had 3 lessons with Elena, 2 of those lessons with her kids Catalina and Marian, and they love our lessons. They are all involved and love coming to church. At Saturday's lesson we invited them to invite their dad/husband to join in our lessons, and she said that he's not very interested, but she called him on speakerphone to ask him to come to church with them the next day, and he said that he would, and she asked 2 or 3 times to confirm to us and him that he would and he said "Alright! I promise, I'll be there, no need to ask me all night" funny. And he did come! He is a great man, and he really liked church.
Their whole family stayed for all three hours, and he said he doesn't know his schedule, but if he's not working he'll come to our lessons. And I found out after church that Elder Lainhart had talked to him before church started and Gheorghe (the dad) said "I'm here because I promised them I'd come...I just hope they don't ask me to make another promise" so Elder Lainhart said, "Well, I know that you'll like church, I know this is true, so instead of promising them, will you promise me that you'll come next week, too?" He thought for a second then said "all right." It was awesome. I'm so excited for them to continue progressing and becoming a stronger family because of it.
We finally had the talent show from Bucuresti that failed last time and we had to come up with something, and so they rescheduled for Friday and it turned out pretty fun. There is a member who plays the electric violin and his pianist couldn't come, so I found out 20 minutes before the thing was supposed to start that I was now playing with him for the show...and we made something up and it was fun and the people liked it.
We also had Zone Conference this past week and it was so good. I learned so much, and it was super fun seeing more of the missionaries and hearing some of their success stories and good experiences that they are having. Always an amazing thing.
This week the VanNoy's are leaving...they are the senior couple here in Brasov, and they are now finished with their mission so they are leaving to go back to California on Thursday...a lot of things will have to change when they leave, but sometimes change is a good thing.
Oh, and something I thought you would think is fun...in English class the other day, the subject was on sports and exercise, and so we were teaching them about the English vocab for some of the sports, and I decided to teach them some of the cheers that we sing at sporting events. We sang them "Take me out to the ball game" and talked about what cracker-jacks are because they had no clue, and then I taught them the volley ball cheer "bump, set, spike it, that's the way we like it....ACE!" type thing, and they thought it was hillarious (including my companion who had never heard that before) and they asked me to write it up on the board so they could have it. So fun!
Which brings me to a congrats for Jenna! That's awesome that you did a 5k in 28 minutes! That just amazes me...and Shaley, I didn't hear about your game, but I'm sure you did amazing as always. Tamara, good job on riding your bike for 6 miles! I don't know if I could do that. And I loved the pics from Winter park...So much fun! Thanks for sending those to me.
So mom, I wanted to respond some to your question from last week about the relationship between doing hard things and being happy. My thoughts had been on that question this past week, and I studied quite a bit on it. Something really interesting is the difference between the definitions of "hard" and "difficult".
Something hard is "something difficult to do, understand, or deal with" and something difficult is "something hard to do or understand." Things might be difficult, but they are only hard if you can't deal with it, and that is where the Atonement of Jesus Christ comes in. If we rely on Him, and trust in His promise to us that we will receive of His joy, then we will be able to "deal with" anything, and nothing is hard, but just difficult.
And so we will be able to do hard things, because with the Lord, nothing is impossible, for is anything too hard for the Lord? No. But Romans chapter 4 brought a lot of neat insight about how faith helps us get through, and the way that faith is persuasive and how when one is persuaded, action is required. But I really liked those thoughts.
I know that the Lord is with us in this work. I also asked my mission president out of curiosity for what he would say, and this was his response: "As to the question you asked me to ponder, I think there is a link between those two things: doing hard things and happiness. The first thought I have is that doing hard things makes us more humble. Humility inevitably leads us closer to God and getting closer to God will bring happiness into our lives. Several years ago, on a trip home from St. George, Sora Lundberg and I penciled out a list of things that our family does - a sort of mission statement. One of the items on the list was: "Lundbergs do hard things." We are, really, no different than most. However, we do not shrink from doing what is right and that is, on occasion, hard. At the same time, though we are not always in a perfect state of harmony and bliss, we are, by and large, a happy family. I attribute at least part of that to the fact that we do hard things."
His statement about being in harmony and bliss reminded me of something we learned in Zone Conference about how we need to learn all we can, work all we can, and get all the experiences we can with the opportunities God gives us. "ignorance might be bliss, but it's not salvation" and sometimes we just need to remember that God knows us, He knows we can do these things, and He'll be with us through all of it.
Anyways, I got to go now, but I hope that you all are having a great week, I'm looking forward to a great week, and I love you all so so so very much! Always, --Sora Karina
This past week was really good, and I had a bunch of fun with it. WE HAVE A BAPTISM ON SATURDAY!!! I am so excited for her. And Satan is working soooo hard to not let this happen. I know he does that with every single miracle that the Lord performs, but it is so apparent here. Not only are her parents against it and she has decided to do it regardless, on Saturday we were supposed to have a lesson with her, and she called saying that she had just found out that she had to go to Bucuresti right then for an emergency with her sister and wouldn't get back until Thursday and her interview is on Friday...wow. But it's ok because her determination to do what is right for what she believes and our prayers are stronger than Satan's annoying plans to get in the way. All will be well. She went to church on Sunday in Mihai Bravu and we fasted together from Saturday to Sunday.
I know that the Lord will hear and answer our prayers. And in the mean time, we're just planning on teaching her the last couple of things over the phone, which she said is perfectly fine. Phone lessons are so weird sometimes, but they work, and the Spirit can be present anywhere with the prayer of faith.
Our other investigators are doing pretty well, too. Elena and her family are awesome. We have had 3 lessons with Elena, 2 of those lessons with her kids Catalina and Marian, and they love our lessons. They are all involved and love coming to church. At Saturday's lesson we invited them to invite their dad/husband to join in our lessons, and she said that he's not very interested, but she called him on speakerphone to ask him to come to church with them the next day, and he said that he would, and she asked 2 or 3 times to confirm to us and him that he would and he said "Alright! I promise, I'll be there, no need to ask me all night" funny. And he did come! He is a great man, and he really liked church.
Their whole family stayed for all three hours, and he said he doesn't know his schedule, but if he's not working he'll come to our lessons. And I found out after church that Elder Lainhart had talked to him before church started and Gheorghe (the dad) said "I'm here because I promised them I'd come...I just hope they don't ask me to make another promise" so Elder Lainhart said, "Well, I know that you'll like church, I know this is true, so instead of promising them, will you promise me that you'll come next week, too?" He thought for a second then said "all right." It was awesome. I'm so excited for them to continue progressing and becoming a stronger family because of it.
We finally had the talent show from Bucuresti that failed last time and we had to come up with something, and so they rescheduled for Friday and it turned out pretty fun. There is a member who plays the electric violin and his pianist couldn't come, so I found out 20 minutes before the thing was supposed to start that I was now playing with him for the show...and we made something up and it was fun and the people liked it.
We also had Zone Conference this past week and it was so good. I learned so much, and it was super fun seeing more of the missionaries and hearing some of their success stories and good experiences that they are having. Always an amazing thing.
This week the VanNoy's are leaving...they are the senior couple here in Brasov, and they are now finished with their mission so they are leaving to go back to California on Thursday...a lot of things will have to change when they leave, but sometimes change is a good thing.
Oh, and something I thought you would think is fun...in English class the other day, the subject was on sports and exercise, and so we were teaching them about the English vocab for some of the sports, and I decided to teach them some of the cheers that we sing at sporting events. We sang them "Take me out to the ball game" and talked about what cracker-jacks are because they had no clue, and then I taught them the volley ball cheer "bump, set, spike it, that's the way we like it....ACE!" type thing, and they thought it was hillarious (including my companion who had never heard that before) and they asked me to write it up on the board so they could have it. So fun!
Which brings me to a congrats for Jenna! That's awesome that you did a 5k in 28 minutes! That just amazes me...and Shaley, I didn't hear about your game, but I'm sure you did amazing as always. Tamara, good job on riding your bike for 6 miles! I don't know if I could do that. And I loved the pics from Winter park...So much fun! Thanks for sending those to me.
So mom, I wanted to respond some to your question from last week about the relationship between doing hard things and being happy. My thoughts had been on that question this past week, and I studied quite a bit on it. Something really interesting is the difference between the definitions of "hard" and "difficult".
Something hard is "something difficult to do, understand, or deal with" and something difficult is "something hard to do or understand." Things might be difficult, but they are only hard if you can't deal with it, and that is where the Atonement of Jesus Christ comes in. If we rely on Him, and trust in His promise to us that we will receive of His joy, then we will be able to "deal with" anything, and nothing is hard, but just difficult.
And so we will be able to do hard things, because with the Lord, nothing is impossible, for is anything too hard for the Lord? No. But Romans chapter 4 brought a lot of neat insight about how faith helps us get through, and the way that faith is persuasive and how when one is persuaded, action is required. But I really liked those thoughts.
I know that the Lord is with us in this work. I also asked my mission president out of curiosity for what he would say, and this was his response: "As to the question you asked me to ponder, I think there is a link between those two things: doing hard things and happiness. The first thought I have is that doing hard things makes us more humble. Humility inevitably leads us closer to God and getting closer to God will bring happiness into our lives. Several years ago, on a trip home from St. George, Sora Lundberg and I penciled out a list of things that our family does - a sort of mission statement. One of the items on the list was: "Lundbergs do hard things." We are, really, no different than most. However, we do not shrink from doing what is right and that is, on occasion, hard. At the same time, though we are not always in a perfect state of harmony and bliss, we are, by and large, a happy family. I attribute at least part of that to the fact that we do hard things."
His statement about being in harmony and bliss reminded me of something we learned in Zone Conference about how we need to learn all we can, work all we can, and get all the experiences we can with the opportunities God gives us. "ignorance might be bliss, but it's not salvation" and sometimes we just need to remember that God knows us, He knows we can do these things, and He'll be with us through all of it.
Anyways, I got to go now, but I hope that you all are having a great week, I'm looking forward to a great week, and I love you all so so so very much! Always, --Sora Karina
Pe bune (for real!)
Hello everyone!!! How are you? I am doing great. Things are going well here in Brasov Romania, and I hope that they are going well over there wherever you are, too!
This week was a good one. We got 5 new investigators this week which was so fun - 3 of them is a family, a mom and 2 kids and they are such cute kids. Catalina is 14 and Marian is 11. The mom is Elena and she says that she knows the Orthodox church is not true and wants to change her religion. Her husband isn't involved and I don't think he cares too much, but she is still willing to learn and is excited about reading the Book of Mormon.
The other 2 are a mom and a daughter who were former investigators and we called them up and they said that we could teach them again. I have never really taught a former investigator before and it's a little different, but it's still good to have people to teach. I love teaching, it is so fun to see people change their lives. But it's also very enjoyable to go out and find those people who are willing to listen to your message - it is hard work, but it is a good work, and when you have the Spirit of the Lord with you, it is always fruitful even if no one listens to you. I love it!
All of our other investigators are doing well. It is difficult that Cristina still doesn't have a baptismal date, but she's doing good. Her mom doesn't want her to get baptized because she doesn't understand why she needs to get baptized again and can't just go to the church she likes without "joining", and she isn't really willing to listen to the reasons. But we talked to Cristina and she wants to get baptized, has a strong testimony, and in reading the interview questions with her, she is prepared to be baptized and we told her that. So now we are praying for her faith to be strengthened enough for her to take that step and overcome the fear of family problems. She also has her baptismal calendar and we are going to fast with her this next sunday and we told her to fill out the calendar when she's ready in a way she feels comfortable. Anyways, she's doing well enough, and is still progressing. So hopefully we'll get her going sometime soon.
Also, Audi is one of the less actives here and I love her so much. This past Sunday she substituted for the youth sunday school class and she actually brought her own scriptures and taught a decent lesson. It was awesome to see. I also gave a talk and it went pretty well. Audi knows English really well, and so she helps us with our mistakes that we make in Romanian. A week ago, she decided that she was tired of repeating the same mistakes to us and so now if she corrects us on something that we needed correction on before, we owe her a piece of candy. Funny! But she's racking up the goods, I already owe her around 7 or 8 pieces from the past 3 days. But she helps me a lot with the language, and she helped me with my talk. After I translated it she looked over my mistakes and said "Vie, Sora, who ever taught you to speak Romanian like this?" (Vie = Woe) But I really didn't do that bad, she just enjoys making fun of me. It's all right - I get her back all the time.
So for anyone who wants a fun language tip, Romanians love vorbe, or sayings. "Pe bune" is one of them, and it literally means "on goods" because bune is the plural form of good. If you have many questions that are good, you use bune to describe them. But the meaning of pe bune is "for real". I love it. Another one is "Vie de capul meu." which means "woe is my head" or "Oh my goodness" with a slightly negative connotation. There are so many more, but I'll share them another time. Pe bune ;}
Oh! And I got a package from you mom! Not the birthday one yet, but the one with the letters and pics of Cherisse and Alley, and CHERISSE IS SO PRETTY!!! I love those pictures they are awesome. And Tamara, thank you so much for my P-day fun package in the letters, I am excited to do them one of these p-days when it's raining so we can't go out to do stuff. I will have to think hard of another Romanian song that I can send you - But I'll figure it out eventually.
Today for Preparation Day we went to Adventure Park. I went there last transfer too, but I don't remember if I told you about it or not. It is like an adventure course up in the trees that you are connected to safety wires by a harness and there are obstacle courses in the tops of the trees and zip lines and puzzle type things that you need to do to finish a number of courses and it is so fun! (Mom and Dad if you are able to come out here in the end we are going there because I know you'll love it!)
Today was Elder Harvey's 20th birthday so we went there to "celebrate" and he had a blast! Something fun that my companion and I have been doing lately is at the end of the day we name the miracles that we saw in that day. It has really been fun to reflect together the tender mercies of the Lord that we have seen, and to better recognize His hand in our daily lives and in the work where He is ever present.
I really don't know if I have much else to tell you, but I know that this Gospel is true, and I know that God loves each and every one of us. He wants so much for us to return to Him, and the instructions of how to do so are in the scriptures. Our decision is to study them, treasure them, and follow them steadfastly and unflinching so that we can receive His help in all that we do on the path that leads back home to eternal joy.
I love you all so so very much, and I pray for you all always. I have felt your prayers and I am so grateful for them. Hope that you have a great week! Always, --Sora Karina
ps. Debbie ( cred ca timpul este destul ca sa-ti chem Debbie) succes cu scoala!!! Sper ca totul va merge bine cu tot! Si Sora Jones mi-a spus ca ai ceva sa-mi zici? Ceva bun? Vreau sa stiu!! Dar ai o zi buna si mai auzim!ps. Sora Poulsen (timpul nu este distul inca lol!) Ce faci? Hey, Ap's mi-a zis ca daca poti, Sora Oraz vrea sa stie daca pachetul ei a ajuns in siguranta cu tine...nu stiu despre ce vorbesc, dar daca poti sa vorbesti cu ea, sau sa-mi spui si pot sa vorbesc cu Ap's ar fi minunat. Multumesc, si sper ca ai un weekend minunat!!!
Ps. Mom - you had questions for me:Question: Do you get to print out your e-mails and read them at your leisure, or do you have to sit at a computer and read everything at once? I can print them out, but it costs more and it's just easier to read them at the computer, so that's usually what I do. Is your time on the computer limited? My time is limited to whatever schedule we have for the day - I pay by how much time I'm here, so it usually is just 1-1 1/2 hours. What if you get lots of mail, and your companion doesn’t? Is that akward to make her sit and wait for you to read everything? We usually get equal, plus, I read and type faster so it's usually not that much of a difference. Can you print out pictures, or do you just get to look at them that once?Again, I can print out the pictures, but I usually don't and just look at them once, but I love looking at them! And your trip sounded like so much fun! Brought back memories of my Senior year of HS when we went to DC for choir festival and I saw a lot of those things. I didn't go to the spy one which is really the only one that I was sad to not have time for. But it sounded awesome! And that is crazy that Scott Varley and Patrick Laing both got married! Tell them congrats for me. And also, thanks for your thoughts on Stake Conference. I want to study that question a little, and if I have time I will tell you what I come up with ;} That's neat about Cherisse's and Alley's callings - I know that they are the perfect people for that calling. They will do awesome. And if you want to print off my letters for Cherisse, that would be great, although I do want to surprise her with a stamped letter from Romania at her new house when I get the time. Oh, and can you please get a valid address for me of Lindsey Kemp? I sent her a letter and it got sent back to me grrr, so let her know I'm trying and I want to hear from her how things are going. Thanks! And I love you so much mom...have a great day! --Sora Karina
This week was a good one. We got 5 new investigators this week which was so fun - 3 of them is a family, a mom and 2 kids and they are such cute kids. Catalina is 14 and Marian is 11. The mom is Elena and she says that she knows the Orthodox church is not true and wants to change her religion. Her husband isn't involved and I don't think he cares too much, but she is still willing to learn and is excited about reading the Book of Mormon.
The other 2 are a mom and a daughter who were former investigators and we called them up and they said that we could teach them again. I have never really taught a former investigator before and it's a little different, but it's still good to have people to teach. I love teaching, it is so fun to see people change their lives. But it's also very enjoyable to go out and find those people who are willing to listen to your message - it is hard work, but it is a good work, and when you have the Spirit of the Lord with you, it is always fruitful even if no one listens to you. I love it!
All of our other investigators are doing well. It is difficult that Cristina still doesn't have a baptismal date, but she's doing good. Her mom doesn't want her to get baptized because she doesn't understand why she needs to get baptized again and can't just go to the church she likes without "joining", and she isn't really willing to listen to the reasons. But we talked to Cristina and she wants to get baptized, has a strong testimony, and in reading the interview questions with her, she is prepared to be baptized and we told her that. So now we are praying for her faith to be strengthened enough for her to take that step and overcome the fear of family problems. She also has her baptismal calendar and we are going to fast with her this next sunday and we told her to fill out the calendar when she's ready in a way she feels comfortable. Anyways, she's doing well enough, and is still progressing. So hopefully we'll get her going sometime soon.
Also, Audi is one of the less actives here and I love her so much. This past Sunday she substituted for the youth sunday school class and she actually brought her own scriptures and taught a decent lesson. It was awesome to see. I also gave a talk and it went pretty well. Audi knows English really well, and so she helps us with our mistakes that we make in Romanian. A week ago, she decided that she was tired of repeating the same mistakes to us and so now if she corrects us on something that we needed correction on before, we owe her a piece of candy. Funny! But she's racking up the goods, I already owe her around 7 or 8 pieces from the past 3 days. But she helps me a lot with the language, and she helped me with my talk. After I translated it she looked over my mistakes and said "Vie, Sora, who ever taught you to speak Romanian like this?" (Vie = Woe) But I really didn't do that bad, she just enjoys making fun of me. It's all right - I get her back all the time.
So for anyone who wants a fun language tip, Romanians love vorbe, or sayings. "Pe bune" is one of them, and it literally means "on goods" because bune is the plural form of good. If you have many questions that are good, you use bune to describe them. But the meaning of pe bune is "for real". I love it. Another one is "Vie de capul meu." which means "woe is my head" or "Oh my goodness" with a slightly negative connotation. There are so many more, but I'll share them another time. Pe bune ;}
Oh! And I got a package from you mom! Not the birthday one yet, but the one with the letters and pics of Cherisse and Alley, and CHERISSE IS SO PRETTY!!! I love those pictures they are awesome. And Tamara, thank you so much for my P-day fun package in the letters, I am excited to do them one of these p-days when it's raining so we can't go out to do stuff. I will have to think hard of another Romanian song that I can send you - But I'll figure it out eventually.
Today for Preparation Day we went to Adventure Park. I went there last transfer too, but I don't remember if I told you about it or not. It is like an adventure course up in the trees that you are connected to safety wires by a harness and there are obstacle courses in the tops of the trees and zip lines and puzzle type things that you need to do to finish a number of courses and it is so fun! (Mom and Dad if you are able to come out here in the end we are going there because I know you'll love it!)
Today was Elder Harvey's 20th birthday so we went there to "celebrate" and he had a blast! Something fun that my companion and I have been doing lately is at the end of the day we name the miracles that we saw in that day. It has really been fun to reflect together the tender mercies of the Lord that we have seen, and to better recognize His hand in our daily lives and in the work where He is ever present.
I really don't know if I have much else to tell you, but I know that this Gospel is true, and I know that God loves each and every one of us. He wants so much for us to return to Him, and the instructions of how to do so are in the scriptures. Our decision is to study them, treasure them, and follow them steadfastly and unflinching so that we can receive His help in all that we do on the path that leads back home to eternal joy.
I love you all so so very much, and I pray for you all always. I have felt your prayers and I am so grateful for them. Hope that you have a great week! Always, --Sora Karina
ps. Debbie ( cred ca timpul este destul ca sa-ti chem Debbie) succes cu scoala!!! Sper ca totul va merge bine cu tot! Si Sora Jones mi-a spus ca ai ceva sa-mi zici? Ceva bun? Vreau sa stiu!! Dar ai o zi buna si mai auzim!ps. Sora Poulsen (timpul nu este distul inca lol!) Ce faci? Hey, Ap's mi-a zis ca daca poti, Sora Oraz vrea sa stie daca pachetul ei a ajuns in siguranta cu tine...nu stiu despre ce vorbesc, dar daca poti sa vorbesti cu ea, sau sa-mi spui si pot sa vorbesc cu Ap's ar fi minunat. Multumesc, si sper ca ai un weekend minunat!!!
Ps. Mom - you had questions for me:Question: Do you get to print out your e-mails and read them at your leisure, or do you have to sit at a computer and read everything at once? I can print them out, but it costs more and it's just easier to read them at the computer, so that's usually what I do. Is your time on the computer limited? My time is limited to whatever schedule we have for the day - I pay by how much time I'm here, so it usually is just 1-1 1/2 hours. What if you get lots of mail, and your companion doesn’t? Is that akward to make her sit and wait for you to read everything? We usually get equal, plus, I read and type faster so it's usually not that much of a difference. Can you print out pictures, or do you just get to look at them that once?Again, I can print out the pictures, but I usually don't and just look at them once, but I love looking at them! And your trip sounded like so much fun! Brought back memories of my Senior year of HS when we went to DC for choir festival and I saw a lot of those things. I didn't go to the spy one which is really the only one that I was sad to not have time for. But it sounded awesome! And that is crazy that Scott Varley and Patrick Laing both got married! Tell them congrats for me. And also, thanks for your thoughts on Stake Conference. I want to study that question a little, and if I have time I will tell you what I come up with ;} That's neat about Cherisse's and Alley's callings - I know that they are the perfect people for that calling. They will do awesome. And if you want to print off my letters for Cherisse, that would be great, although I do want to surprise her with a stamped letter from Romania at her new house when I get the time. Oh, and can you please get a valid address for me of Lindsey Kemp? I sent her a letter and it got sent back to me grrr, so let her know I'm trying and I want to hear from her how things are going. Thanks! And I love you so much mom...have a great day! --Sora Karina
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