Drum Roll Please...

Hello family and everyone! How are you? I'm doing great.

This week was a good one, lots of fun and such. I bet you're all wondering how I'm doing with not popping my knuckles....drum roll please............I haven't popped them at all since I last wrote to you last week. That gives me a total of 6 full days so far of resisting a subconscious urge that I've had for who knows how many years. At least since high school I think. And Adrian is doing pretty good, too. He went for 5 days without one cigarette, and then yesterday he had two :( But that's actually quite amazing considering he's used to smoking 2 packs a day and he lives with his two brothers and mom and all of them smoke all the time. But when people have a desire to do something, they can overcome amazing obstacles to accomplish that desire - and the gospel of Jesus Christ helps of course. It's actually the best help and support you can have in any trail or conflict. He doesn't quite see that yet so he's still going off brute force, but he'll get there as he continues to read the Book of Mormon. That book has so much power in it because it is true. It helps those who are weary, who are tempted, who are discouraged, lonely, excited, happy, sad, confused, or just like to read. I am confidant that the Spirit will touch his heart as he continues to replace bad habits with good ones.

But it's going well. He felt really bad because yesterday my hands were hurting really bad and I just wanted to pop the knuckles to "release" the tension, but I didn't and confined to just rubbing them to try to help the pain go away, and he noticed and said he felt so bad because it was his fault that they hurt since he smoked. I don't know if it was his fault or not, but I'm ok with him thinking that because it will help him do the things that will make him happier - namely to quit smoking and apply the gospel of Jesus Christ in his life.

But exciting news, he came to the baptism that we had yesterday - and we had a baptism yesterday! It was really nice. Mioara was baptized and she is such a great lady. The spirit was so strong - even though they had to do the ordinance 4 times because she didn't go under all the way. It was hard because she's had 2 operations on her back so she couldn't bend backwards very well cuz it hurt her. But finally Sora Lundberg suggested that she knelt down in the water and then it would be easier cuz she wouldn't have to bend back as far to get under the water. That worked really well. She was so happy that she was getting baptized, it was quite touching. There were some people that said "meh, it's ok… she's hurting so just say that it's good" but we can't do that. There is an order in heaven, and so there must be an order in the actions that we do on earth in order for them to be valid in heaven according to God's will, especially when they are sealed by His priesthood power. I'm not sorry that it took 4 times for her to get it right, because it does matter that much, and the blessing is that we know what needs to be done, as did she, and she did it. It was great.

However, I learned that I've gotten really out of the habit of performing piano in front of people. I played the musical number for the baptism and it was really hard and I can't really explain the reasoning. It was great because the Spirit was there and that was what mattered and what I prayed for, but as a performance it was wretched. Of course everyone else thinks its amazing regardless because they don't know better and I was pleased with the spirit that it brought, but man. I have a LOT of practicing to before I do my senior recital which is coming up faster than I like to admit. Sora Hupp was giving me a hard time the other day saying that I have less weeks than she has months left in her service as a missionary. AHHHH! ~breathe~ ok I'm good. No really, I am good. Because as one of my companions would say, we still have plenty of time to do serious damage to the work of Satan. Which is true. All he wants is for everyone to be miserable and to be more concerned with themselves than with others or with God. But as missionaries we are going about doing good, and sharing the message of joy and peace, the thing that if someone would place in their daily living they would never need to feel miserable on an eternal level again. And so, I am happy, because I know why I am here, and I know the plan of God, and that His plan includes me and all of us so that each and every one of us can be happy and have a joy that will last through the eternities. What's not to love about that?

Ok, so a few funny things about Romania. First, I learned yet another saying which we would equate to grabbing someone's ear to get them away from whatever they can't pull themselves away from, and it says "l-a luat de arip" which means that "they grabbed him by the wing" ha! I loved that one.

Next, here in Bucuresti there is a mall called Akia which all the missionaries LOVE. Why? Because it is the only place in all of Romania that you can find a place where they have free refills for your drink. Yes, that is correct, the only place that is slightly American in the way that they will serve their drinks to you. It's really funny because this concept is so foreign to Romanians that they need to have a sign in the cafeteria that explains how the free refills work. 1. choose a cup or a glass to include in your meal. 2. choose the meal that you would like. 3. pay for your meal and for your drink that you have not yet selected. 4. after you have paid, service yourself with the type of drink you would like. 5. if you are still thirsty, help yourself to another drink with out paying any extra, and with out asking, Service yourself and enjoy your meal! Yeah, that's the gist of the sign, and I about died laughing when I saw that they needed a sign to explain something so simple and that just makes sense. But there you go.

Sora Hupp and I are having fun together. She is little miss experiment. We'll be eating our meal and all of a sudden she says "I wonder" and somehow all of her food gets mixed up in ways that you would never think of and it's in her mouth and her face is one of such concentration as she analyzes every particle of taste to decide if it is a successful experiment or not...so far she has yet to fail and the experiments include mac and cheese with grilled pineaple, mac and cheese wrapped up in lettuce ( I actually tried that one and it was delicious) and slices of orange in her bowl of cheerios, yes with the milk. I don't really understand how that one could be good, but then again, I didn't try it. She said it made the oranges more creamy...? I don't know. But it's fun.

And oh my goodness, we see some of the coolest cloud formations from our apartment. Here is a picture of our view.


Tamara, have so much fun on your talent show! I know that you'll do great! I want to hear all about it, so write me after to tell me how it goes! And wow, the weather back home sounds crazy! Here it's just going back and forth between really hot and windy with sprinkle rain. But it will probably become a consistent really, really unbearable heat here in a few weeks. But that's ok. I like it better than the blizzards in Constanta, so we're all good. But I will leave you for this week,

- For all my friends who just started school, good luck! And have fun. I love you all so so very much, and I'll write again in just a few short 7 days.

Love always --Sora Karina

One more quick story, We were bloc knocking the other night going door to door trying to find someone who would want to listen to us, and as is usual for Romanians after you knock on the door they keep it closed and ask "cine?" (who is it?) and you say that you're missionaries and whatever, usually they either open, or say they don't want to listen and you leave. But the other night a lady did that and after we told her who it was she said "you should probably go because there isn't anyone home." I looked at the door confused for a few seconds said "excuse me?" (aka poftim?) but she didn't reply, and when I explained it to Sora Hupp - if she said what I think she said...- we laughed pretty hard. We went back to the same bloc a few nights later and we considered knocking on that door again since there wasn't anyone home the last time, but decided that wouldn't be a good idea lol!

BIG!

The pic is of all of us missionaries and with George and Andrei at Easter in front of the church with our candles.

Hello everyone,

How are you? I'm doing great. Right now everything just seems so big to me. Bucaresti is HUGE!!! It is divided by the state into 6 sectors and by the church into two halves. So I am serving on the western half in the Panduri branch, and I live in Sector 1 which just happens to be the prettiest part of all of Buc. Lucky me. But it is gorgeous. I wish that there were huge parks all over the place like this at home. One of them even has giant push pins all over the grass! Eventually I'll get a picture of that and send it to you, but it made me laugh. All of the buildings are big, there are tons of people, and it is great. The branch is more developed here to the point where the missionaries don't have to be in any leadership positions, or lead the leaders. It's nice.

This is the first branch since my very first area where I haven't had to play the piano or lead the music in church! It is so awesome when you have members that are able and willing to fulfill their callings. It is a bigger branch than what I'm used to...there are tons of people on the branch list, but yesterday about 35 people probably came, and we knew a lot of them were out of town.

Oh, and you'll probably start hearing stories about some people that are known through-out the mission as "crazies" that just happen to be in this branch. Like Bogdon Tudor. During Sacrament Meeting he'll play tic-tac-toe with God...and he wins. Don't really know how that works, but ok.

And on Saturday we had a branch picnic/barbeque which was so fun and really good food. Bogdon came up to me and wanted to know if I had been a hand model because I had beautiful hands. Nope, that's not on my resume. Well, that confused him a bit, and wanted to know if I had been a picture model then...no...well then I had to be a princess...or a top model...or in the movies. Well, after all of those choices were exhausted, he decided to make sure that I had seen the movies and started a conversation about the different types of movies to make sure that I had seen them. I had, and that made him feel better. Now, realize that this whole conversation happened probably 3 times on Saturday because he just comes back anD says the same things he had said before. But yesterday at church he had no remembrance of it, or at least he didn't mention my beautiful hands lol!

We have a lot of great members. It might take a while to get to know them, but it will be fun non-the-less. I haven't gotten lost yet, because Sora Hupp knows her way pretty good around here so far. I am a little in over my head trying to figure out all of the metro lines, the busses and bus stations, and getting my bearings. But I still have 5 weeks to be able to figure it out better. Sora Hupp is awesome...she is in her 2nd transfer and is doing great with trying to learn the language. She is from Missouri and served here in Buc last transfer with Sora Slaeman (who is from my MTC group). She is so much fun and has tons of energy for the work, and we are just having a blast so far, and I don't think that will change really.

We have a lot of potential investigators and people that want to know more, but I don't really know them that well yet. I can tell you about 2 people. Cornel got baptized 2 Sundays ago and was confirmed yesterday. He is a great guy. All he is looking for is peace, and it is so fun to talk to him about the gospel, the Atonement, the plan of God for us, the prophet, and all of these things that we have in our religion and he just gets so happy. With almost every principle he says "yes, that's it! That is what gives me peace." Or "all I want to have is peace and be happy, and this is what will get me there." And he's right. Any time we learn truth and apply it in our lives, we will have peace and joy. Any time we live in accord with God's plan and we know that we are doing His will, we will have a greater desire to continue doing this and we will know that there is peace in this life and in the life to come.

The other person is Adrian who is investigating whether that is what he chooses to call it or not. He is very fixed on just knowing what "our point of view" is, not what a book says. We're having a hard time figuring out how we can help him A) feel the spirit, and B) accept truth for truth's sake instead of learning reason for reason's sake. I don't know if that makes sense, but that's what he does. But he is a great guy, and we always have such good discussions with him. hahaha....he gets mad at me all the time for popping my knuckles and my elbows, and I feel a little bad but not really, just because I don't even realize that I'm doing it half of the time until his gets mad - "Stop doing that to yourself!" he says. So after a lesson we were walking with him to the bus stop (we go in the same direction for a while to get home) and I did it again without knowing it and he just got so frustrated and said "can't you just stop that?" and I said "well, it's hard cuz I'm so used to it, and I don't even know when I'm doing it" and he said "but you're ruining your body." Then I got the brilliant idea... "Ok, I'll quit popping my knuckles and you'll quit smoking." and after a long discussion of how that also ruins his body and why do I care - well why does he care about my knuckles - and so on, he agreed that we would have an honesty system and tell each other when we meet how we did. Thus far (since last night) I have only popped my knuckles 4 times. That is quite a difference. I hope he will have the same success (he smokes 2-3 packs a day when he's working...yuck!) But slowly he is starting to listen more, and that is good. We each do that. Slowly we start listening, or starting to think that maybe something matters, and then we realize eventually that that something is the Spirit of God guiding us surely along the path to eternal life - now if only we would just follow it. And that is where we find joy.

Another interesting conversation with Adrian was about God's plan, and I told him that I was excited to live with God again and to have a perfect body and to have eternity in a perfect world. He was incredulous. "No, you should be happy and excited now for this moment and for today. You should have goals here and now that you're working for. And you are perfect because of what you are doing now. You shouldn't wait for things to be perfect, you should be happy and just make them perfect now." I am happy now. I do have goals for now and later in this life. But the majority of what I am doing now I am doing because I have a goal to live with my Heavenly Father again, and I can do that only if I live in a way that will allow me to have that happiness later. I know that God wants us to be happy now. And we find that happiness as we live in a way that will allow us to have a hope for the eternal perspective of things. No matter how much I enjoy today, I wouldn't be truly happy if I didn't know that today would matter later, and it does matter. That is all part of God's plan, and part of our joy as we experience life.

I was just thinking this past week with the year anniversary of Grandpa Coy's journey to a part of home, about some of my memories with him. One thing that I am pretty sure happened every single time we were together was that we went to a restaurant and he took a picture of all of us at the table with his film camera. Heh, I never really knew why he did that every time, but it is something now that makes me smile. But I know that he is still smiling where he is with Grandma, and they are working hard to prepare for the great and marvelous day when we will all be reunited in a world of perfection and happiness, which is built one day at a time here, starting now. I love this truth.

Well, I need to go and do everything else that needs to get done today, but I love you all so so very much. Shaley, you looked beautiful in your prom pictures! Jenna, don't forget to tell me about your first date ;} Tamara, good luck on your recital coming up, I know that you'll do great! and can you please tell Brother Larsen that I said Hi! thanks. Mom, I'm glad that you did good on the organ, I know that you will. (I had an amazing thought the other day. After I get home it would be so fun to try and write an organ duet for us! I've never done that, but that doesn't stop anything!) And daddy, I hope that you're business trips and everything are going well, and that you're still getting enough rest.

Oh, tell Austin congrats for me, and the same with Ross and Mimi - I'm so excited for them!!! Pretty much, just tell everyone that I say hi and that I love them. I do love you all so so very much. Romania sends her greetings to you all, and I'll write more next week! Love always, --Sora Karina

ps. just a funny thing, I think that this internet place is the only place in Romania where macs exist, and it's really weird having that type of "high-tech" at the tip of my fingers - I almost don't remember how to use a mac! haha.
Tell Cherisse Congrats on her test! and tell Ally that I say hi.

Another change

Dear everyone,

How are you? I'm doing so good. The baptism on Saturday was great. Denisa was so excited to the point of fidgety nervousness, and she was so excited that when she was in the bazin (portable font) after Elder Schwartz said the prayer she practically threw herself backwards into the water that Elder Schwartz had to react fast to catch her and then Marian who was acting as one of the witnesses helped pull her up to be stable on her two feet. It was funny, but the service was nice.


This is Denisa with her mom and best friend that came to see her baptism and support her.

We are standing in front of the bazin (portable baptismal font).

Denisa bore the sweetest/cutest testimony afterwards. "My only desire was to join the true church and be baptized so that I could follow Jesus Christ. And I know that this is the true church, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that I am following Him now." It was great. There is nothing like seeing a person accept the light of Christ that they naturally have in them and follow it...it changes lives so that they can truly be a part of a better world. We are in a world of turmoil, but there can still be peace - at least spiritual peace, and this is the peace that truly matters, for it is eternal.

When you know that you are living in line with the will of God, and that you are doing what He knows will make you happy, don't you think that you would be able to find true happiness? I attest that it is there to be found both here in this life and in the eternities to come. I am so grateful for the knowledge that our Heavenly Father wants each of us to have, and is willing to give to us if only we would seek to obtain it. And every time we do, there are great rejoicings in heaven. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have that God lives, just as much in reality as we live and as His Son Jesus Christ lives. They love us, and they are doing everything that they can to ensure our salvation. And who's on the Lord's side trying to do all they can? I hope that we all are, for it truly is the greatest work you could ever do.

Funny story that I forgot to tell you about last week. Two weeks ago on our way out from doing internet, there was a security guard at the door (we go to internet at the library) who came out after us and in his broken English said "why you spy me? And in Romanian I responded by saying that we weren't spies, we're missionaries and he said "I no believe you, I no believe you. You spy, now tell me. A little or more?" None. But he wouldn't believe us, and it was really funny. I haven't seen him for 2 weeks though, so maybe he believes us now? I don't know.

This past week we went to the planetarium and botanical gardens - it was pretty. The center just opened last month and the building is so new and modern looking it doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of Romania. It's also set apart on a hill surrounded by beautiful grounds, so it just looks so separated. But we went in and they have a floor of nothing but fish - like the finding nemo fishes and big fish that look like they could eat a small child, all swimming around in glass containers too small for them. They also have a snake exhibit and Elder VanWagner was upsetting the cobras and getting them to strike towards him behind the glass. He just kept laughing and playing with them saying, "oh yes, this one likes me." We were all laughing.

And then we went to walk around on the grounds and we stopped under a tree to sit on some rocks and talk, and there were 2 dead turtles next to the rocks. It was sad. It looked like they had frozen or something in the night. Elder VanWagner was like "we need to go tell the head biologist that he's got some dead turtles out here and he should do something about that." I'm laughing, but you might just have had to have been there to think it was funny. Actually, you just need to know Elder Van.

But anyways, Funny Romanian moment that I can't explain, but it makes me laugh. During the spring and summer times, so starting right about now, the owners of small shops along the sides of the roads spray water on the cement sidewalk outside of their door and kind of "mop" the sidewalk. It changes nothing except for the color for just a little bit until it dries, but it is part of their opening shop routine, and I don't know why, but it is just so pointless to me.

So now the moment that you've all been waiting for. Duh duh duh Duuuhhhhh! I am getting transferred to Bucharest. It only took me until my second to last transfer to get there, but I'm going. I'm sad to leave Galati, especially since I've only been here for one, but that's ok. Buc (that's short for Bucuresti) will be fun – big - and I'll probably get lost a lot, but fun. I'll tell you all about it once I get there.

The pics are from Easter, a picture of everyone holding up their candles to the words of the priest, and the other is the priest with the "priests in training" all on the stage. I hope you can see it good enough.

I love you all lots and lots, and I hope that all is well at home. A quick shout out and congrats to Alison - I can't believe you're getting married! I'm so happy for you, and If you'll be in Idaho Falls, I'll for sure see you in September. Love you and have so much fun! (For those of you who don't know what that was about, one of my previous companions is getting married in about a month, and I just found out.)

I love you all to pieces, I pray for you always, and I am always grateful for your prayers. Have an amazing day! Always --Sora Karina

surprise: red hair!

Hello family and all the cool people in the world,

Yes, as the subject line says, hair that once was brown is now red, and not “fire truck” yuck red, but a really nice auburn type glowing red. I think it looks rather nice. Too bad it's not my hair, but my companions. Yes, my hair is still the color it's always been (although I have been finding a few white hairs lately ;} ) My companion wanted to dye her hair red - go for it. But then I realized that I was the one that needed to dye it......uh, I had NO idea what I was doing, but it turned out nice, and now I think that maybe I'll go into being a cosmetologist when I get home....or not. But Cherisse will be proud that I did that and did it successfully. lol! Anyways, Happy April Fools!

And Happy Easter! or in Romanian, Paste Fericit! (said pahshtay faireecheat) This week was a good one. We will be having a baptism this Saturday (so exciting) but it's not Lili. She wants to move hers back but we don't know when. However, Denisa is getting baptized on Saturday and she is so excited, she can't stop calling us to make sure she knows when we're meeting and everything else that's going to happen. It is so neat to see how much she wants this. She even defended it to her friends who are Pentecostal when they told her "all you need is faith and to believe in Christ" and she said "yes, I believe and I have faith, and that's why I want to be baptized and follow Christ in everything that He has done." It was neat.

And surely, Christ has shown us the way and is the perfect example for us. And this week has been a great one to remember that with Easter - of course every week is a good week to remember, but it seems a holiday sets time apart for us to remember. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He not only taught us the gospel that would save our lives, but He lived that gospel through obedience to God, through loving all those around him, through His baptism all the way to submitting to the suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. And then He received the blessing of the Father and was given the power to overcome all of these things and seal it with His Life, or the Resurrection. He made it possible for all of us to receive this blessing and I am so grateful that I know that He lives, and that through His grace, and our desire, we will all live again.

Also. I was able to watch parts of General Conference at the senior missionary couple's apartment, which was amazing - not all of it, but parts. (Every 6 months, the Prophet and Apostles and other church leaders speak to the whole church and the world via satellite transmission.) And President Monson's talk about the resurrection was so touching. Hearing a prophet of God testify that the plan of salvation is perfect, that it covers all of us, and that through the living Christ we will all live, strengthened my testimony in a way that is not describable. It didn't change any of my knowledge, and he didn't even say anything that was new to me, but the Spirit of God bore witness to my spirit that what he was saying was true, and it pierced my soul.

I couldn't stop thinking of Grandma and Grandpa Coy, and how happy they will be to be resurrected and sealed to us for eternity, about Elder Davis and Elder Burrows who are now serving their mission on the other side of the veil assisting the work of the Lord by our sides, about all the many friends that I have gained and lost for a time. And then I thought of a quote that was promised to Joseph Smith "Your friends at first are friends at last."

(If any of you did not get to see this and you would like to hear a prophet of God, you can go on the internet to: lds.org then select “gospel library” then select “General Conference” Then it will say: “Select a language to start watching” You will probably want to select “English”. Then it will give you choices of which session to see. President Thomas S. Monson was the last speaker in the Sunday AM session. So, after selecting “Sunday AM” it will give pictures of the speakers and the choir below the screen in the order they presented. Just hit the right arrow to scroll over to President Monson and click on his picture with his name below. I hope you will make time to do this! It was amazing!)

I know that joy is found here on the earth through the knowledge and conviction available to us through the Spirit of God. Joy is promised to us to continue beyond the grave and into eternity. This eternity is physical, it is not just a dream or a wish, but it is a reality that will be realized to each one of us, and I am looking forward to that day when the fullness of joy that I have strove to apply in my daily life will be found in my eternity. This is possible for each one of us, and this because of God's everlasting love and Christ's infinite atonement. How wonderful it is to know that God has not left us - His children - without a way to come home.

So for Easter… We went to the midnight mass at the big Orthodox church, which was different than last years in a few ways, - one of which being that I could actually understand a big majority of what the priest was saying. For those of you who don't remember from last year, what happens across the country is the groups of priests go inside the big church to receive the "flame of Christ" which is then held in the priest's hand on a candle or lamp, or however that priest decides to do it. Then in large grandeur they all come out of the church singing their chants and the priest commands all to come and receive the light of Christ, the light of heaven, and he lights the candles of the people near him (everyone has a candle) and then they light the candles of the people close to them and so on until the light has spread to each and every person in the crowd. And the crowd is HUGE just to let you know. It is neat symbolism The light of Christ is inside each of us and can be received as we strengthen our faith on true principles, centered on Jesus Christ, and then act upon them under the direction of the restored priesthood, or authority of God the Father. So then he sings with his choir, and the crowd sings their part a million times.

Translated version - Christ resurrected from the dead, the dead on death stepping. And those from the grave, life, He is giving them. That's it. The part about the stepping, to erase confusion, that's one way that they say "to break" like if you break a law, they say that you step on the law. So there you go.

And then the priest gives everyone his advice for the year about how we can keep the light of Christ alive in us - complete with his words of how they should believe the truth given to them and not seek for more, because the truth they have is all that exists, (which is sad advice because it is not true - light will always add upon light so that our understanding can continue to increase. This is God's plan and His way) but he also says good things like how we should serve one another, search the scriptures, and follow the admonitions of Christ. He ended his speech by admonishing all to not say "hello" or "buna ziua" for 40 days, but to replace it with the greeting "Hristos a inviat" (Christ resurrected) with the response "adevarat a inviat" (truly He resurrected). And so that's what we do now. On the street we remember Christ's resurrection in our greetings with others. That’s neat.

So as for the temporal Easter, The Easter bunny did come to me and Sora Hardy, but he couldn't find any baskets in our apartment, so he just put some treats in one of our cooking pots and mixing bowls - he obviously couldn't find any good hiding places in our apartment either because it was just left on our kitchen table. But it was probably safest there so that the cockroaches wouldn't get them lol. But we had fun.

It was a really good week - I'll try to send pictures next week. Our normal internet place was closed for the Easter holiday, and these computers don't let us put ‘usb’ chords in it or anything. Anyways, I hope that you all had a lovely Easter full of joy.

Oh, before I go, funny Romanian thing for the week - they have some of the weirdest superstitions, and I just found one of them yesterday: If someone brushes a broom on your legs, superstition states that you won't get married. I found it out because Sora Hardy was sweeping and accidentally brushed against my legs when she passed. Andrei, an investigator that was at church with us, freaked out. Sad day for me...but I think I'll be ok. But it was funny. Sora Hardy then teased him to no end trying to touch his legs with the broom - he was pretty good at deflecting it so he's still safe. Anyways, I love you all so so very much, and I'll have more stories for next week. Yay, I love stories.

Always, --Sora Karina