Pictures from Romania

Another week down

We only have one more week of this transfer! That is nuts the last five weeks have flown by.

This week was packed. We started doing 30/30 lessons with a mom and a daughter. We had a great lesson with them about the restoration. I was struggling with the language SO BAD! Then the mom said I don't understand the need for this in my life. Then Sora Allen bore one of the most powerful testimonies of the gospel I have ever heard in my entire life. She was crying, the lady we were teaching was crying, it was INTENSE but AWESOME. The spirit was so strong. It was a testimony to me, that Heavenly Father will get his work done no matter, how inadequate his servants are, as long as we are doing all we can, He will make up the rest.

We got to Bucharest for Zone Conference this week, it was amazing. President Ivory invited a friend of his from England to come and speak to us. The Rutley's. Brother Rutley is a member of parliament, NBD. They were incredible, him and his wife spoke to us about building the kingdom and what we can do build up our part of the kingdom. It was really cool and made me think about who I need to be, and what more I need to do to help build Heavenly Father's kingdom. One of my favorite quotes from them was, People spend all their lives trying to figure out their purpose, we as members of this church already have the divine gift of knowing our purpose, thus we can spend all our lives accomplishing it. 

Sora Ivory spoke all about our journey and preparing ourselves for the journey. She is incredible, every time she speaks I am taught exactly what I need to hear. I loved seeing everyone. There are so many different kinds of people in this mission when we all get together, it is never boring.

So funny story for the week, On wednesday we somehow ended up with three dinner appointments. We had one in the morning with Sora Matei, she fed us the best sarmale I have ever had. Then Sora Simon for lunch she fed us a four course meal, complete with an insane amount of bread and desert. Then we had another lesson that night and they fed us ciorba which is soup and a plate full of mash potatoes and chickem. THEN the other soras called us and invited us over to their new apartment for dinner. I literally ate more food that day than I have ever eaten in my entire life! It was rough. But we are so blessed to be in Ploiesti, with so many awesome members. We had 55 people aty church on sunday. I almost cried. The chapel was almost full, it was such a beautiful sight to see. This branch is exploding, the members were so happy and President Musat asked everyone to fast for english classes next transfer because that is where the last three baptisms have come from. Seriously it was an awesome sunday!

Well my peoples I am signing off, love you so so much!

Sora Armstrong

LISTEN UP PEOPLESSSSS!

What a week. Wow, where to start? Well Happy Valentine's to all. On saturday we ran to the store beneath our apartment to get a coke zero for Sora Allen and the security gaurd asked us where our "iubiti" were which means our beloveds. I just looked at him and said Statele Unite because I did not him to offer to be our iubit. haha Another super funny story that happened this week was Sora Allen got hit on hard core in the bus one day. The guy was actually pretty good looking, he was like picking hair off her jacket and promising to catch her if she fell, just being very smooth. It was super funny. So we got off the bus and we are laughing super hard Sora Allen is all red in the face from blushing so much. Then we get on the bus a couple hours later and we see this same guy walk out of a pastry shop, so I am like "look it's your iubit" as sora Allen turns to look this girl walks out of the pastry shop and cuddles up to the guy. This smooth dude totally had a girlfriend! What a scum bag! We just about died we were laughing so hard. It was so classic. Basically this week has just been a week of love I guess. 

Some awesome things happened on the missionary work side of things as well. We had about 55 people at church yesterday. Two of the less actives Sora Allen and I have been working with came. It was branch conference so we had President Iachimov a member of the district presidency come. He gave an incredible talk about motivition versus inspiration. He talked about how inspiration comes from God with the spirit. When we are inspired we are inspired for the right reasons and a change occurs us. Through inspiration we become better permanently. Motivation comes from other sources that cannot change our hearts, people can be motivated by fear or money. Because these cannot bring us true joy they do not evoke the same dedication from us that inspiration does. Later that day Andrei our branch mission leader asked us what inspires us. I said the words of prophets and apostles because I know they are directly from God. I also said being a good example to all my siblings and cousins is a huge inspiration for me. So thank you to all my family for your inspiration, sometimes when sleeping in till 7 sounds tempting I just think "if I had all my awesome cousins and siblings watching me right now what would I do" Then I hop out of bed, get on my knees and start the day. You guys mean so much to me, and I think about all of you all the time! 

Okay so this week we started doing 30-30's with a mom and her daughter from english. It was awesome, we introduced the Book of Mormon to them and challenged them to begin reading it. Seriously there is no better feeling than testifying of the Book of Mormon it was awesome. We also had an incredible lesson with Sora Nasatase, she used to be super active but they have not being coming to church recently so we have been visiting her. We read a chapter in the Book of Mormon and discussed it. She told us all about what a hard day she had had at work but as soon as we walked into her apartment she felt more peace. She was so grateful to us for all the work we do. Hearing her say that meant so much. Sometimes us missionaries just need a reminder that people do appreciate us and care about us. We felt so much love from her it was incredible. 

Well there is my update for the week! I hope everyone is doing super well. I am so grateful for all the experiences I am having here the bad and the awesome ones. I know this church is true! 

Love you!

Sora Armstrong

Winter Is Back!!!

Familia si Prietenii mele

Ce Faceti? Winter is back here in Romania. We had a solid blizzard this week so that was fun, the wind was nuts. I felt like I could have just jumped up in the air and flown home to you all!

We got to celebrate Sora Allen's birthday this week and it was so much fun. I took her running in the morning so the other soras could get the apartment ready, they put up a Happy Birthday sign set all her presents up and started making breakfast burritos. When we got home they had this giant popper thing that popped off and it scared the heck out of us but it was great. Then Andrei our branch mission leader told all the members about her birthday so all day long people were calling and wishing her a Happy Birthday. She got more calls on her birthday here in Romania than I did at home! Then Sora Musat called me and she invited us over for a surprise party for Sora Allen. So I told Sora Allen we had to help with Andrea's homework and we went over there. She fed us dinner and then they brought out the best chocolate cake I have had so far in Romania and sang her La Multi Ani. Sora Allen almost cried and so did I. It was just so amazing seeing how much the members loved us and how they all went out of their way to make Sora Allen's day here so special. It really meant a lot.

This week the entire world was sick. We kept on getting calls saying people could not meet with us because they were all dying {romanians exaggerate illness a lot} so we did a lot of service this week. Saturday we got a call saying a family that we visit in the branch needed a prescription fufilled but could not get into the city to fill it. So we went out there to get the perscription. This was the day of the blizzard so Sora Allen and are just trekking through snow and winds to get this perscription. Then we made it back into the city got it filled and headed back out there in more snow and more winds and gave it to them. It was an adventure for sure and we took some pictures to document our dedication haha. I just wanted a pair of skiis so bad so we could just ski everywhere but the white handbook says no winter sports so Sora Allen wouldn't let me.

This past week we have been going through our phone and calling random potential investigator numbers and man it is terrifying. Sora Allen coaxes me into making the call and I have to explain to them in Romanian who we are and invite them to meet with us. Sometimes I end up just chucking the phone at the Sora Allen and she finishes out the call. We have had some cool experiences though. We have been able to set up with a few people just from reminding them about how they met two random american girls on the street that want to talk about God. So we will see how that goes.

I have been thinking a lot this week about our Savior. Sometimes I get to wrapped up in trying to figure out how I can be better without inviting my Savior to help me be better. I need to remind myself that I do not need to do this alone, that because of the atonement, He can help me change my heart. I think it would be incredible to be able to view others as Christ views them, to be able to feel that same love that He has for them. If I could master this, I would never say an unkind word, or never let my selfish desires get in the way of what they need. I am so grateful for the experiences I am having here. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to learn to love.

Love you all have a wonderful week!

Sora Armstrong

Time is Flying by in Romania

Wow, yet another week in Romania. Seriously, time in the mission field makes 0 sense, there are days that feel like years, then there are weeks that feel like hours.

This week we visited a lot of members. President Ivory came to the Ploiesti branch and bore his testimony and taught third hour in Romanian. It is pretty incredible, he is a great example to us of someone that is 100 percent dedicated to these people and this mission. We talked about the need to strengthen the members here, so many of them have sacrificed so much for this church. These people are the pioneers of the church here in Romania and I am so humbled to have the opportunity to serve them.

We met with a in-active woman this week and we discussed the Book of Mormon. She bore her testimony and she said "when I read it, I felt it was true" wow was that refreshing hear. I know that Heavenly Father gave me and Sora Allen that experience to remind us that there are people here in Romania, ready for this gospel and that through the Book of Mormon they will find the truth. 

This week we did a lot of English Contacting, this means walking up to the people on the street and just telling them we teach free English, our zone leaders challenged us to get as many numbers as we can from people so that we can call them today and remind them about English. Being the insanely competitive person I am, I got way into this. One day after about 2 hours of walking around just asking people for their phone numbers we took a break. It just hit me, I thought who would have thought that at 19 years old I would be walking around Ploiesti, Romania offering free English classes to random people on the street and having conversations with them in Romanian? That is nuts, but I am doing it and I am LOVING it. 

This email is a little short I am sorry. But let me just tell you how much I love the Romanian people. These people are strong, they are resilient, they are incredibly, frustratingly stubborn, but at the same time they are so loving. Rarely do you walk into a Romanian's home without being offered food and juice. I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to be here for this opportunity I have to share my testimony of my savior Jesus Christ with those choice spirits that the Lord has prepared. 

I love you all! Thank you so much for the prayers and the kind emails!

Va iubesc!

Sora Armstrong