All the purple translations are my add ins. ~Sarah)
HELLO HELLO HELLO FROM ARADDDDDDDDD!
Can't flipping believe that it's already week 5 of the second transfer.........uh. Can I stay a bulboaca (girl duckling) forever? That'd be sweet.
OKAY THIS PAST WEEK WAS WAYYYYY HARD BUT ALSO...MIRACLES?!?!? YA!
First things first. Everyone. Click this link HERE and either read or listen to this speech. I've been reading it so much this week. I've found great comfort and strength. LITERALLY JESUS CHRIST LOVE YOU. AND ME. AND US. AND NOI TOȚI! (All of us!) How beautiful and comforting is that? So read it. If you're struggling, you'll feel our Savior's love. If you're not struggling, you'll feel our Savior's love. READ ON MY FRIENDS!
SO! Really funny story. We (S. Stanley and I) were on a tramvai (train) Monday night. Pretty packed full of people. Sitting across from this older lady. Sora Stanley complimented her on her little ascot-y type scarf (Sora Stanley LOVES them so much. She has like 20. Wears one everyday lol so cute love my comp). The lady looks at us for a second kind of quizzical. Looks at our name tags. Looks back at our faces. Then says "Do you really like it?" and Sora Stanley replies "YES!". So then the lady takes it off and says "Then it's yours". She then keeps insisting that Sora Stanley take it if she really likes it. Says "God bless you both," kisses our cheeks (European air kiss thing that reminds me of all my frenchies. HOLLAAAA IF YOU'RE BASQUE haha), and gets off. !!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHHA !!!!!!!!!!!!! ISNT THAT AWESOME ?!?!??!??! ARENT ROMANIANS THE BEST?!?!??! HAHAHAHHAH I was laughing so hard when she got off. Really. I couldn't control myself. BUT THAT IS SO ROMANIAN!!!!!!!! They are so kind and giving and loving. Really. Even though mostly we see a hard and reserved exterior, THEY ARE GOLDEN! So now Sora Stanley has 21 little silky scarfs. (pic will be attached hahahah seriously. So much fun)
Okay regarding my subject line. Hahaha. So one of our members, Sora Lidia, lives in a way sketch part of Arad. I think I've mentioned this before. You have to cross some train tracks to get to her apartment. In our Area Book it says in big bold letters "DO NOT GO TO ARADUL NOU WHEN IT IS DARK. NOT SAFE". It actually says that like everywhere in our apartment hahaha. So obviously S. Stanley and I went there last night past sun down. Hahaha it's starting to her dark here at like 6, and we had a dinner appointment with her and the elders. But the elders had already been in that area....so S. Stanley and I pretty much sprinted from the tramvai stop, across the train tracks (almost biffed it haha running in a skirt is uh not safe), and then sprinted through all the non-lit, creepy neighborhoods. I FELT SO ALIVE. I LOVED IT. But we won't be going back at night without taking a taxi/scheduling for a non-pitch black time haha. Don't worry. We were very much on our guard. And sprinting. So. Super safe, mom :)
Okay. Charity. That is the Christ-like attribute that Sora Stanley and I decided to work on this week. AND MAN DID I FEEL IT. Every week we go visit a less active/recent convert (baptized two years ago) named Maria Stanciu. She is a sweet lady. LOVES missionaries. LOOOOOOOVES the gospel. Loves God and Jesus Christ. She has had a really hard past few years. Her teenage son was murdered three years ago. The killer was never charged. Really hard experience for her. The Plan of Salvation has helped her out TONS. But she suffers from some pretty nasty depression. This past week was a way hard week for her, because the beginning of November is the Romanian holiday to remember the dead. When we went to visit her, she wasn't her normal happy self. Earlier that day during comp study, Sora Stanley and I decided to share a message with her about the resurrection based off of the "Because of Him" film that the church came out with a little bit ago. Click HERE if you haven't seen it. As I sat next to her to show her it, I WAS SO OVERCOME WITH A LOVE FOR HER. I can't describe it. But sitting next to her I KNEW that Jesus Christ knows her. And that He was felt the pain she feels. And that because of Him, she WILL be able to see her son again. So everyone knows I'm a cry baby right? Hahahaha somethings never change. I cried practically the whole lesson. She told us about her son and his story. Cried. Sora Stanley testified of the resurrection. Cried. I testified of the Savior's love and support for her. Cried. She asked me to say the closing prayer.....THE ONE WHO HAD BEEN CRYING THE ENTIRE LESSON!!!!!!!!!!!......did it. Cried. But the Spirit was putting Romanian words into my mouth that I didn't know. By the end of my prayer everyone was crying. Hahhaa. The Spirit was SO TANGIBLE. So powerful.
I LOVE SORA STANCIU. THIS LIFE IS HARD. PEOPLE SUFFER TERRIBLE AND HORRIBLE PAINS. WE GO THROUGH SOME REALLY HARD TRIALS. All of our trials are hard...for us! BUT GUESS WHAT MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY. We have a loving older brother. He sacrificed His life for us. He suffered for our pains and sufferings. I don't believe this...I KNOW THIS. I know it with all my heart. And how grateful I am for this truth. Let me tell you a secret. I hate rejection. I hate being rejected by these people OVER AND OVER AGAIN. It hurts. Really bad. But I KNOW that there are people suffering here in Romania. They need to know that Jesus Christ knows and loves them. And so I put on a big smile and keep knocking on doors and climbing flights of stairs.
Missions are rough my dudes. I know I say this every week. But it's true. BUT THEY ARE SO WORTH IT. I LOVE THESE PEOPLE. I LOVE THIS GOSPEL. Keep the commandments and keep trying! YOU CAN DOOOOO IIIIIIIIIT (Nacho Libre voice). Praying for all of you. Thanks for the love, support, and prayers :)
xoxox
Sora Idiart
VICTORY! Hahaha
Lady Bugs are black and red here.....IS THAT NORMAL?!?!
FROST PEOPLE !!!!!!!! :(((((((( It is so cold. Hahha.
But the nice thing about the cold is that there are no more mosquitoes.
Those suckers are bad here.
VISA BABYYYYYY. It's official. Staying here for a year and a half.
Sad I couldn't smile in my visa pic.....look like a crazy killer. Lol.
Dinner......when you don't have time to make food. Wasn't too bad hahah
Just some cuties shopping on Preparation Day....HOLLA
I just recieved a copy of this picture from the mission office! It was taken my 2nd week in Romania, I met the Apostle Dieter F. Uchtdorf. It's dope. Too bad I look silly hahahaha
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