SURPRISE BAPTISM WHIPPED TOGETHER IN LITERALLY 24 HOURS

HELLO FAMILY WHAT A GREAT WEEK THIS WAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is a scripture to boost your spirits. It boosted mine. It is amazing. 1 Nephi 11:17. I don't really know jack squat about the gospel, life, etc. But I do know what Nephi knew. God loves His children. He loves you and me. He loves the person who cut you off in traffic. He loves the lady who spit on you after seeing your name tag. He loves us all. So lets do a little better at loving others, because He loves them. Also. It's okay to not know everything. As long as we continue like Nephi did: seeking, pondering, asking :)

SO HERE IS THE EXCITING NEWS. CHIRIL GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!! Chiril is the little brother of Adriana, a recent convert who was baptized about a year ago. Chiril couldn't get baptized when Adriana did because he has a little bit less than wonderful, alcoholic mom who would never give him permission, or give Adriana legal guardianship over him....although the mom hasn't been in the picture for the last few years and Adriana has been raising him. Basically call of the missionary companionships have been working and teaching Chiril - every 3 months Adriana leaves to go work in Germany. So we would take turns teaching him, picking him up for church, checking up on him, etc. President Ivory gave the okay to have him baptized, without needing his mom's permission on Wednesday. The other sisters (currently working with him, as of two weeks ago) talked about baptism with him on Friday. And BAM. The next day he was baptized. Basically Saturday was the best day of my life. It was like watching my child get baptized. I literally love him. He is the best. HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE.

Also we had an amazing - final :( - Zone Conference with President and Sora Ivory. I love them. They are the best. Will shed many tears when they leave. BUT ALSO I'M SO STOKED FOR PRESIDENT AND SORA HETINGER TO GET HERE. The thing I'm going to change in my life after the conference is trying to be more FILLED with faith. I need it. The work is hard. But when we have faith, MIRACLES DO HAPPEN. LIKE CHIRIL GETTING BAPTIZED. Amazing. 

That's all for today. Love you all. Thanks for always praying and loving and supporting and encouraging me. I love you and pray for you daily. 

xoxoxo
Sora Idiart 

THE KING AND QUEEN OF THIS WORLD (The Ivorys, My Mission President/wife)

Adriana and Chiril.......power team of Chisinau

Chiril <33333333333333

"Have you ever met two girls from America AT THE SAME TIME?"

Hello dearest family + friends. 

This week was one full of miracles. And empty of pictures. Because I was lazy and cheap and never bought batteries.....but now I have batteries. SO next week you will get pictures. SORRRRRRY :) 

SCRIPTURE: Training. It is all about patience. Sora Nemelka is a boss missionary. Who wants to be able to be the boss-est missionary on the planet. Which is hard to do when you can't understand or speak. So this week, almost every scripture that I read had to do with patience. I repeatedly saw the word "wait" this week. 2 Nephi 6:7. So applicable in our lives. I feel like 1) I wait on the Lord's time ALL THE TIME but in return 2) He is ALWAYS waiting for me to be more humble, teachable, mold-able, hardworking, patient, kind, etc (the list goes on and on....you get the gist). He is never ashamed of us. Let's CHOOSE to never be ashamed of Him. 

Miracles:

DANIELA - We were contacting. In the park. It was a great day. We were on our way to go get dinner. We felt like "Hey let's talk to this mom. She looks kind and her baby is so cute so we want to go talk to the baby" *props of being a sister missionary, it's not super weird to go talk to young moms with cute babies :)* So we talk to her. She invites us to sit down. Have a great talk about the church/Book of Mormon. Set a follow up meeting. MEET WITH HER AGAIN AND SHE TOLD US SHE IS SEARING FOR TRUTH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She has studied with a lot of different churches but hasn't felt at peace. Dudes. It was so awesome. I love her. And her baby Isabella is literally the cutest little baby and so calm and wonderful. Pray for them :) 

MIHAELA + ERIC + GABI + MARIA - So remember our investigator Mihaela? She has been super hard to meet up with - kind of placed her on the back burner. Last Monday we got a call from her saying that she wanted to meet up. WELL she brought friends: Eric and Gabriela. Super awesome 15 year olds. Have a great Restoration lesson with them. They both agree to listen to the lessons. Short version of the story: We pass off Eric to the elders. They hit it off. Gabi's mom says that we can't meet, so she drops us. Eric brought his friend Maria to meet us/start meeting with us. MIRACLE. 

And honestly so many more miracles this week. A unhappy orthodox lady told us to go home, that we were wasting our time, etc. in a very rude way. Threw me off my game for a day. Then a very kind baptist lady named Anne told us the next day, "You are doing a good job here. God bless you." So ya know. It's great. Life is grand. I love being a missionary here in Moldova. 

Thank you for the prayers and love and support. Love you and pray for you :)

xoxoxoxo

Sora Idiart 

Today was Sora Dusenberry's bday. We planned a surprise party for her at the church.

It was very fun. Good missionaries here in Chisinau :)

Getting creative........bored of selfies hahaha

Cool sign. Love being in this part of the world. I LOVE MOLDOVA

MY COMPANION'S NAME IS BASICALLY MILKA CHOCOLATE

Hello fam and friends and strangers <3333

I GOT TO TALK TO MY FAMILY FOR 45 MINUTES AND IT WAS STRANGE AND AMAZING. 

This week was great. Quite the adventure. But let's start with a scripture :)

My boy Pavel is just a homie. Hai sa (Let's) turn to Acts 26:17, 18, 22. Keywords: light, help, continue. I LOVE THESE VERSES. They for REAL helped me out these past few days. I love the scriptures. They are gooooood. Read them. Learn. Love. 

So my FLIPPING AWESOME companion is named Sora Nemelka. Which is like milka. She also loves chocolate. Not as much as me, but close. This will be a problem, I'm sure. Also she loves ice cream like me. Too embarrassed to tell you how many times I've had ice cream in the last 4 days . . . hahahahahha moving on.

So here is a bit about Sora Milka: she is from OREGON. Well she lived there the longest amount of time. But her parents currently are living in UT. Which is where she graduated high school from. She is 19 and already a surgical technician. Beast. She's a whiz. Great at Romanian. Good missionary. It's gonna be a GOOOOOD next three months together. Stoked.

Here is something cool that happened: after doing a little limba (language) study, we went to go to a lesson. We were waiting at the bus stop and I said, "Sora. Go find someone to talk to. You can do this." So like .3 seconds later she starts talking to this girl. Basically before I even had time to finish my sentence. BAM. We get her number. We get on the bus and I'm still talking to her - but buses are a little nutzo in Moldova, so Sora Milka gets separated from me. ALL OF THE SUDDEN I JUST HEAR MY LITTLE ONE TALKING TO SOMEONE ELSE ON HER OWN. WITHOUT MY HELP. She gave her an English card. Dude. It was amazing. I was so proud. That's what our week has been like. Full of new missionary fire miracles. 

Sad news: Tania is no longer getting baptized. BUT I do believe that one day, she will be able to hear/see (insensitive but true?) the gospel in the language of her heart. Maybe my granddaughter or grandson will come to the Chisinau, Moldova mission - Sign Language speaking. How sick would that be. SICK.

So fam. That's all I have time for. Love you just so so so so so much. I love the gospel. I love being a missionary. I know that the Church is true - Jesus Christ leads it through our prophet, Thomas S. Monson. Keep continuing. Keep asking Heavenly Father for help. Keep relying on/using the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Keep praying. Keep being really super cool and awesome and the best humans. 

I love you all. Thanks for everything. Praying for you!

xoxoxo

Sora Idiart 

My cute comp <333

FAMILY PHOTO WITH MY DAD (elder Giron) AND MY BABY BROTHER (elder Ditto)

AND MY DAUGHTER (Sora Nemelka)

AND MY NEPHEW (can't remember his name hahahah but elder Ditto's baby). 

#legacy 

(If this joke makes no sense, refer to last week's post

to understand "Family History" of Emma's mission!!)

She has an obsession with dandelions. She stops and picks them everytime, hahah

Changing the wheels on the train at 5AM :)))))))))))))))

(to go b/w Moldova & Romania the train has to be lifted & the wheels swapped out.

Each country has different tracks that don't work together) 

It's not like I wanted sleep or anything!!

Little old blury me, thx to Elder Giron's photography skillz

Chisinau has my heart<33333333

hood rats

Family History

Hello family :)

Here is a scripture. Then I will explain the post title. It's a good one this week. 

1 Nephi 22:25-26 BE RIGHTEOUS. SATAN WILL NOT HAVE POWER. ONE SHEPHERD. CHURCH IS TRUE. 

Alright. So. Your mission "parents" are 1) the person who trained you and 2) the opposite-gender oldest missionary in the district.  So, my parents in the mission are mom=Sora Stanley and dad=Elder Giron. Sora Stanley's mom was Sora Rich (that makes her my grandma. Sora Rich also was my compantion Sora L's mom. So Sora L is technically my aunt. So fun). Elder Giron's dad is Elder Geber-Kai. Elder GK is serving in Chisinau with me. He has been for the last 4 months. We came in together. So because he is Elder Giron's dad, he is my grandpa.  SO get this. This week, we're both getting "babies" (Me and Elder GK). Aka we are training. AKA YES I AM TRAINING AND IM FREAKING OUT BUT IT WILL BE FUN. AND SCARY. AND FUN. (And also, I get to see Elder Ditto from the MTC, for the first time in 4 months AND IM SO STOKED bc he is also training.)

So in short. Elder Gerber-Kai and I are parenting together. We are both of each other's children's parents. #strangefamilyrelations hahahhaha :)

But this week rocked. On Tuesday, we were down in Bucharest for Misson Leadership Council. Best part: BELIEVE THAT YOU WILL BAPTIZE AND YOU WILL. There was a great quote from Elder Anderson that we really focused a lot on, "There is a power that can cause things to happen that need to happen". THAT POWER IS THE LORD. Through our faith, WE CAN see miracles. And we will. Keep having faith. Keep trying. YOU are doing great. Flip. I love being a missionary. 

My goal for this upcoming transfer (6 weeks) is to see one of my friends walk into the waters of baptism. To change their lives, to live more in accordance with God's laws - WHICH HONESTLY ARE THE ONLY THING THAT WILL BRING YOU TRUE HAPPINESS, I PROMISE - and to make promises with Heavenly Father. That is my goal. I have the faith that it will happen. Satan is working hard on us out here in this part of the world - he is powerful. BUT there IS a power that causes things to happen, that need to happen. That power, is the power of God. The power of the Holy Ghost touching the hearts of men. The power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, healing and cleansing and comforting us. 

I AM SO STOKED! This is gonna be a GREAT transfer. I am super sad to not be companions with Sora L, but the good thing is.....SHES STAYING IN CHISINAU SO I WILL STILL SEE HER ALL THE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh happy day :)

Alright.

I know that the work I'm doing out here is not in vain. I love my Savior. He loves me, but mostly He loves you. Praying for you, as always.

xoxoxoxo

Sora Idiart 

Classic "I'm having a baby (getting a new companion to TRAIN,

straight from the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah,

so lets find those old birthday balloons in the kitchen drawer" picture

(also I'm gonna be hecka cute pregnant, someday)

Majestic Sora L. Love these little weeds :') 

Flying down to Bucharest with the Zone Leaders.

Elder Kramer is CONKED and Elder Savage was deeeeeep in the scriptures

(pretty sure also sleeping). It was an early flight in their defense hahah

District lunch on Friday before finding out about transfers

<3333333333 THE EDWARDS ARE MY FAVORITE HUMANS. 

I think I met a Duke of England named Richard this week #hearthalfwaylocked hahaha jk #alltheway

So hello family. 

This letter is going to be short b/c I have HECKA pics to send. But pics are what people like anyways, right? Also I only have like 10 more minutes hahaha #opa

SCRIPTURE TIME:

I have a small obsession with the word continually, as of late. I was reading about the tree of life this week. Something that I've always wondered about in that story is the difference in the people who stay true and those who fall away.....after eating the fruit. Nephi uses two words - clinging and continually (holding fast). Dudes. I had an epiphany. Clinging=fear based. Continually holding fast=motivated by love and a continual desire to be obedient. I LOVE THE SCRIPTURES. LET'S ALL DO A BETTER JOB AT BEING SOMEONE WHO CONTINUALLY HOLDS FAST INSTEAD OF A CLINGER :)

One cool experience. We have an investigator named Nadia. She is super cute. 23. Successful. BEAUTIFUL. Seriously the most beautiful person I know. And a real truth seaker. She's studied with a lot of different religions. Anyways. We were planning on doing a nice, full restoration lesson with her. But PSYCH. The Spirit was like, "Nah surori (sisters). You're gonna do a nice, full Plan of Salvation/Happiness/BEST PLAN EVER lesson with her." So we did. She's praying about what day she should be baptized. Most likely it will happen this month or next. She's golden. Super prepared. Keep her in your prayers!

This really is the true, restored, full gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth. I am so grateful to be teaching (somedays, attempting to teach and just getting spit on hahaha) the gospel to the people in Moldova (probably my last week here because I think I will get a new assignement and be transfered next week. . . sad). I LOVE THIS WORK. IT IS SO HARD AND TIRING, BUT SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD. Praying for you all. Thanks for all the love and support. 

xoxox

Sora Idiart 

Oops.  Here is the story about Richard. We were contacting. Almost done. Had only gotten rejection. Hard morning. See this guy with a super nice camera. I say to my companion, Sora L "Wanna ask him what kind of camera he has?" She goes "Nah" then a few seconds later she turns around. Goes and asks him in Romanian. BUT HE IS FROM ENGLAND WITH A SUPER GORGEOUS ACCENT. And then we talk to him for a bit. Give him a card with the church website. Told him to talk to missionaries when he returns home. Let's just say he was an English man, who had a scruffy beard, one black earring, and the most beautiful accent/face I have ever seen.  It turned out to be such a good day :) 

The Iasi sisters came up for an exchange (Iasi, Romania is 108 miles from Chisinau, Moldova).

Had a blessed day. FULL of contacting. Because all of our lessons canceled on us.

So fun. Really. Probably one of the best days of this whole transfer. 

dude. my homie. told us his brother had been to utah once. #churchistrue+hisschoolisBYU ;)

We went to a Seventh Day Adventist church

(would have been awesome had is not been in Russian.....waste of time lol)

and this dude played the accordion the entire time. goals. dreams fulfilled. 

QUEEN!!!!!! Iulia. Recent convert. 

Came to church and said "Sister! I did my hair today. We are taking a picture!" #selfieduh

Picture from last weeks Sister's Conference: my favorite humans. Elder Trottier and Sister P. 

We were on a bus and this chubby little Russian kid wanted to take pics on my camera.

I was terrified that he was gonna drop it hahaha but gotta hand it to him. 

He took some gems ;) hahahahaha