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