Tattoo talk over Sloppy Joe's

HELLO FAM 

I am a bad missionary. This week was tiring. BECAUSE IT WAS SO GOOD. But I forgot to write down a scripture to send you. Sorry that I failed. Next week I will send two :) 

Also this is going to be a short email. Without pictures. Because I still failed to take pictures. Because I forgot to buy batteries every single day. Hahahahahahahaha sorry. My bad. 

OKAY SO HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK

Tania is getting baptized May 27th :) Had a SUPER POWERFUL LESSON with her about the Restoration. She connected all the dots aka she understands. And she came to church. And she loved it. Even if she couldn't hear it....like at all. BUT YA KNOW. WE CAN ALWAYS FEEL THE SPIRIT. AND SHE WAS FEELING IT.

So right now, two of our investigators are on track to being baptized. Tania and Maria. The Lord is working miracles through us!!! 

Okay so here is a REALLY SUPER FUNNY STORY: so we're at the Edward's house (one of the senior couples here) for dinner with Mihaela (our 16 yr old investigator), her brother (19 or 20) Dorin, the Zone Leaders, and a recent convert Ioan. We're eating. Somehow Nirvana (the band from the 90s) gets brought up. Ioan is a huge fan. Elder Edwards is not. Ioan has a tattoo. Of Kurt Cobain's face. On his shoulder. To make a long story short, Ioan didn't want a tattoo of Kurt's face. All he wanted was the smiley face from one of the albums. I will retell this story when I get home. Can't do it justice in the short amount of time that I have now. But just wait. It will make you laugh so hard. :) 

We also met up with this suuuuuper awesome 15 year old girl named Nicole. She was a referral from some of the Russian elders. She is really curious to find truth, positivity, and purpose in her life. LOVE THOSE KINDS OF PEOPLE. LOVE LOVE LOVE. 

Yesterday I made Mac + Cheese for lunch. It was the best decision. Ever. Nothing makes you miss America more than processed powered cheese.

So lots of stuff happened this week.....but that's all I have time for. But don't worry, I was really good at writing in my journal. 

OKAY I LOVE YOU ALL! I LOVE CHISINAU. I pray for you everyday. Thanks for all the love and support the last 8 (already. wow) months. 

xoxoxo

Sora Idiart 

THIS WEEK WAS REALLY GOOD

HEY FAM

MOLDOVA ROCKS

THEY HAVE A DAY SPECIFICALLY JUST TO CELEBRATE WOMEN. Not just moms and grandmas and aunts. BUT ALL WOMEN. HECK YEAH. More to come on that. 

Who is Jesus Christ? Here is a real good explanation. Mosiah 3:5-11. Also. Notice the shout out to His mom, Maria? #Women'sDay

Okay. So. Moldova. Seriously my favorite country. I never want to leave. 

March 8th=Women's Day. You better BELIEVE I'm gonna celebrate this holiday when I'm back in Statule Unite.  Okay so one of our english students brought me and Sora L flowers. Tender. I ended up giving them away to a very sad girl. Which made her smile. Cool :) 

ALSO the 12 elders here in Chisinau did a real nice thing. They prepared a feast for us sisters - there are only 4 of us in all of Moldova - which included poorly cut up fruit and brownies that maybe accidentally had 2 cups of salt instead of two cups of sugar.......but they sang "As Sisters in Zion" for us in Russian and gave us MORE flowers and these little strange hairclips as gifts . . . oh, Elders. 

SO MARCH 8TH IS MY VERY FAVORITE HOLIDAY OTHER THAT CHRISTMAS, EASTER, AND MY BIRTHDAY (which is coming up. Don't forget ;))))))  

Also. Miracles this week. Our investigator Maria is getting baptized!!!!! Unfortunately, her mom is pretty much NOT on board.....so she can't get baptized until her 18th birthday (June 10th). But you better believe Saturday the 10th she will be getting baptized. When we asked her why she wants to be baptized, she gave a very simple and sweet answer: "God spoke to my soul and told me it is the right thing to do." :') tears of joy. Just within the last few weeks of meeting with her, she has made REAL progress. Knowing that God loves you and knows you gives you a real sense of confidence. 

We had dinner with one of our less-active BFF's, Lariska, this week. She is from the Netherlands. She is my favorite human. During dinner we talked a lot about trials and challenges we have. Our trials and challenges are specifically given to us to handle. Our hardest trials may be easy for others. They may be unmanageable for others. Same principle applies for other's trials in our perspective. You just have to keep going. This mission may always seem happy and positive from my emails, and it truly is, but I also go through hard things! The thing that matter in the end is how we react to our trials. Will you choose to learn from them or will you choose to let them break you. GOD DOES NOT GIVE YOU THINGS YOU CANNOT HANDLE. YOU GOT THIS. 1 Corinthians 10:13

So anyways, I love you all and I pray for you all and I hope that you all have a great week. I am happy and healthy and JUST SO HAPPY TO BE A MISSIONARY. Thank you for the love, support, and prayers. You guys are the best. 

xoxoxoxo

Sora Idiart 

Also...sorry about this pictures this week. The batteries in my camera died. And I kept forgetting to buy batteries. And I forgot to buy them this week. BUT enjoy this video of the elders singing and then also our english student Petru with the flowers he bought us. Hahahaha. ​

NOTE FROM SARAH: I couldn't get the video to upload.  I think it's too big.  Just imagine some really bad, monotone singing from these cute missionary faces.  I responded to Emma's email, telling her the whole world celebrates Women's Day and this was her response: "psh. we never celebrated it like they do in moldova. ppl get school off. like high school was out for the rest of the week and college was off for the day and like many women didn't have to go into work. basically stores closed to be able to celebrate women. so great. "

Sometimes we get really lost when we visit villages

HELLO EVERYONE

Here are some scriptures for you to read. They are very good. I read them many times this week:

Helaman 10:4-6 - Guys. He is God. You are you. He knows your name. Let that sink in.

Jeremiah 16:16-19 - another refuge one. SO GOOD

John 14:18 - Niciodata (NEVER) will He leave you. POWER OF THE HOLY GHOST BABY

John 12:46 - Get out of darkness. Believe in Him. 

John 10:3, 11, 14 - Dude. He knows us. Do we know His voice? 

Here are some highlights from the week:

1. We rearranged all of our furniture with the help of the other sisters in preparation for our guest (most on that later). So......... That was a huge PAIN. But also, it looks great. And I get a heck of a lot of vitamin C in the morning. BECAUSE THE SUN IS SHINING ALL THE TIME HERE !!!!!!!! GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST, PEACE ON EARTH GOODWILL TOWARDS MEN. 

2. I love the sun. It is so warm. I think the tights will finally come off, after a long 5 months of keeping my little legs warm. HALLELUJIAH. 

3. We got very lost when traveling la tara (IN THE COUNTRYSIDE). BUT eventually found the house of the investigator that we were looking for. We left a cute note. Will attach pics. Turns out she moved to Moscow for 2 months - these people just leave without telling anyone....like all the time. BUT her daughter went to go pick up a box of stuff, because now she has to live in Chisinau while her mom is gone - also happens a lot - and she saw our note and texted us :) tender mercies. 

4. WE HAD A NORMAL HUMAN LIVING WITH US FOR 3 DAYS. We got a call from President Ivory on Tuesday telling us that a family friend of theirs is living with them in Bucharest for a few months. But he wanted her to come to Moldova to live with us over the weekend, instead of having her go to Ukraine with Sora Ivory and Ellis (their son) for Ellis's basketball tournament. Her name is Claire Tempest - funny thing. I met her sister once time at BYU. Small world. ANYWAYS: She came and lived with us and did missionary work and IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. 

5. I learned that I need a lot more meekness in my life, if I'm ever going to be a successful missionary, mom, wife, daughter, sister, well basically just human in general. Good stuff :) 

6. Also for Family Night - aka the weekly YSA (Young Single Adult) activity - we went bowling. I hate bowling. But. I won. So I guess that now I hate it less. Because I'm super good (I got 91 hahahaha)

So that is my life. Mostly all of our investigators/friends could not meet up with us this week. Very sad and a little frustrating, BUT ALL IS WELL. The work still goes on :) 

I love you all and pray for you everyday! 

Church is true! Tell your friends :)

xoxoxo
Sora Idiart

fun trio :) (Me, Claire Tempest and my companion, Sora Langenstein)

Here is me. I am in a village. I am lost. I am not cold. BECAUSE OF THE SUN :)

One of my fave members - Mariana. LOVE HER TO PIECES. 

Best Trio + Stefan cel Mare. What a man. Legend.  Also yes. I did wear all blue . . . 

I realized the errors of my ways after leaving the apartment. Got a lot of looks that day. 

lil old me

Notes #middleschooldayzzzzzzz

Me and Claire <33333

"Neature" 

Here is my zone, during zone conf. I'm next to President Ivory, Blue tie, front row. good man. 

LA REVEDERE TO THE MANE

Hello family.

I cut my hair. Hahahahahahaha.

SCRIPTURE TIME. Fam. This week I read a set of verses that are changing the way I will live my life. The way I will finish the rest of my mission. John 6:66-69. TO WHOM SHALL WE GO IF NOT TO CHRIST?!?!? Who can I turn to and receive as much love and guidance and comfort and stability and help, if I'm not turning to Christ? The answer is simple: NIMENI. (No One) I am so grateful for my Savior and for the love and guidance and support I CONSTANTLY receive. I also know that He truly loves you. Individually. He loves and knows you. 

Anyways, this week flew by! So much so that I really just can't even remember what happened. Hahaha but I will try to do my best to explain :) 

There are some DANG GOOD PEOPLE HERE. Moldova. Love it. One of our members, Iulia, is THE SWEETEST LADY. She's in her late 20's. Loves cats. So much. Remember how I was junior year of high school? Yes, that much. We had a lesson with her on Tuesday. She hadn't been at church the previous week (19th), and so we were a little worried about her. At our lesson she explained that she was having some MAJOR plumbing issues in her apartment. It cost her lost of time, money, and stress. Sora Langenstein shared an awesome spiritual thought - totally off script from what we wanted to share - and Iulia left feeling loved and with an assurance that everything would be okay. The Spirit man. He's a cool guy.

ALSO IT WAS MIHAELA'S BIRTHDAY. So we went out to get dessert. Ice cream and chocolate cake - which I will not be eating for the next month, thanks to my wonderful comp who likes to test my pride and bet me ridiculous things . . . like no sweets. AKA no chocolate. ANYWAY, we were at our fave, Andy's Pizza. Sora L and I both had a prompting that we should teach cute little 16 year old Mihaela the Law of Chastity.....over cake and ice cream. Brought back memories. @mom hahaha BUT IT WENT GREAT. I have never seen anyone take the Law of Chastity as great as she did. She is golden. She also told us that once she receives the answer from God that she needs to be baptized, she will be baptized. She doesn't want to get baptized just because we want that for her. SHE IS SO GREAT I LOVE HER SO MUCH. 

Lots of great contacting with the other sisters - Sora Stader and Sora Sterrett. Love them :) 

Also. We went to an outskirt village to visit an investigator. So much fun. Very humble. I love these people. 

I love you all! Thank you for the love and support and love and love and love :) I feel it out here in baby Russia. Greatest place. Nowhere I'd rather be. 

I LOVE YOU ALL. I AM PRAYING FOR YOU!

xoxox

Sora Idiart 

When you go to a Russian Salon and they cut all you're hair off . . . JK.

The guy who cut my hair spoke Romanian. And a bit of English. 

AND GOODBYE TO DRY DEAD HAIR. It will probably grow back in time . . . 

because I am going to stay on my mission for an extra 5 years hahaha

Dessert with cutie cute Mihaela :) 

Also my wardrobe has doubled since becoming Sora L's comp. Hallelujah! 

It was SO WARM this week. Sora L bronzed her whitey-white legs.......with bronzer. Hahah

A lady was selling a Russian BOM (Book of Mormon) for 35 lei . . . 

now we know where all of our stolen BOMs have gone. 

Found a literal troll doll HAT on the bus. 

This guy is from Germany *shout-out to Sister Case*. 

He came to BOTH sacrament meetings on Sunday. Really cool guy. Named Matais. 

Every Sunday we have "Family Dinner" with the other Sisters in Chisinau.

We made homemade noodles. They were pretty flipping good. 

I AM NOT A GOOD HAGGLER

Hello my humans. HOW IS EVERYONE?

This week was great. Change is great. Change is hard. It is hard leading a big city like Chisinau! But it is very, very, very fun. Sora Langenstein and I are having a great time. I read some SUPER MEGA TARE (this translates literally as "hard," but maybe it's Romanian slang for solid or something?!) SCRIPTURES this week that just gave me a lot of perspective on life.

2 Samuel 22:3

Ezekiel 11:16

Find sanctuary in Him. He is perfect and ready to heal, safe, redeem, rescue, etc. MAN, I'M SO GRATEFUL FOR MY SAVIOR AND ALSO FOR MY HEAVENLY FATHER.

So more about this week! 

Mihaela is doing great. We're reading the Book of Mormon with her every night. Honestly one of my favorite parts of the day. She is just SO WISE and understands and interprets the scriptures SO WELL. Serious pleasure. We also had a super cool experience with her watching the 20 min Restoration video, in Russian. I understand a few words now. Haha AMAZING. But while watching it, FAM, I just had SUCH A STRONG FEELING of the love that Heavenly Father has for her. And that if He knew Joseph Smith by name, He knows her by name. And me. And you. And everyone. Great.

One of our new investigator friends is named Maria. She is the best friend of a boy, Ioan, who got baptized on Saturday! What a blessing that I have see 3 baptisms since coming to Chisinau. The Lord's hand is in the work. Maria is super cute and fun and open and wanting truth in her life. Like I said, THE LORD IS IN THE WORK. I am SO SO SO SO SO grateful to be able to play even the smallest part. And by smallest, I literally mean minuscule. 

Alright, also this week rocked because the sun came out and it was +5 Celsius for like two days this week. I LOVE THE SUN. I NEED TO LIVE SOMEWHERE WHERE THERE IS ALWAYS SUN. 

Okay and so we also went to the piata today. Found out I can't haggle to save my life. I will work on it. Gotta get myself a nice fur coat for cheap. Hahaha :) 

I love you all. Thank you for your love, support, and prayers. Keep the commandments. John 13:17.

xoxox

Sora Idiart 

I did haggle this down a little.... Saved myself $20. Which is a heck of a lot in Moldovan lei. 

 Hmmmm...... This is how all my tights are. #workinHard

hahaha, I found this while at the tourist piata today.  It made me laugh very hard. 

Notice Stalin or Lenin. or whichever one of the Russian leaders on the right

 SHOUT OUT TO SORA PURTSCHERT. And Sora Strader.

Who found this Lindt Hazlenut Coco Bar. . . The size of my arm. 

Heaven. Don't worry. I mostly shared it with others. 

But also probably ate half of it on my own. . . opa. 

"I GOT SUN SHINE ON A CLOUDY DAY"

Another One Bites the Dust

Helllllllooooooooo family! 

What time is it?! Scripture time. Okay so Micah 7:8. So good. So true. And also 1 Nephi 17:13. Christ will always lift us out of darkness, lead us, and be our light if we are diligently trying to keep the commandments. So keep them! Yeet. But really. These two scriptures gave me real insight and power this week. Christ definitely lifted, lead, and illuminated my week :) 

So. News. Sora Schow left me last night :') transfers were this week. She is going back to Bucharest! Crazzzzzy. She will be my Sister Training Leader, so I still get to talk to her :) but something I am learning about myself. I HATE CHANGE. Hahaha ironic, since I'm asking people to change their lives, everyday. But still. Change is hard. But soooooo good. My new comp will be Sora Langenstein. She is dope. Very stoked. Also very scared to be leading Chisinau. Because it's a huge city. This will be an adventure, my friends.

SERIOUS MIRACLES THIS WEEK.

Tania, our deaf investigator, wants to be baptized! Still not super sure how this will all work out. But! We are going to figure it out. Keep her and us in your prayers :) 

Also! Mihaela wants to be baptized! Yay! Miracles! The power of the Spirit and repentance is TRULY working in our sweet friends. I love these people.

ALSOOOO! Galina came to church! And loved it! She told us that she has never felt the Spirit of God so strong in any church before. Booooooyyaaaaaaa. Surf's up my friends. 

And honestly. When we show the Lord we are willing to put forth all of our effort, especially on the last week of the transfer, He magnifies and doubles our efforts. We found 4 new people to teach this week. FOUR! How grateful I am to be a missionary in this part of the world. There are people willing to make positive changes and searching for truth.  

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!! Keep trying. Keep improving. Keep repenting. Let the Lord guide you. Rely on His atonement to help you make changes in your life. UGH YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST I SERIOUSLY LOVE YOU ALL. Praying for you every single day. Every minute even.

xoxox

Sora Idiart 

So cute when she's upset with me :') <3

Going into a cathedral to escape the cold. 
Sora Schow wrapped her head really nicely, and I just kinda threw my scarf over my hair.....opa. 

 "Eagles don't flock" with one of my fave members, Carina. Amen. #Merica

Grillz of Chis. Owning things. 

Breaking things (mostly in our apartment). 

Living the life. Spreading the word of God. 

Salami or Ice Cream ????? Idk. Tastes good though

HELLO.

So here in Moldova they sell ice cream. It is good. But it comes in what looks like salami packaging. But don't worry. It was ice cream. We ate it all. See attached picture. Peach flavored. Also, really cheap. I like Moldova. Hahaha :) 

ANYWAYS . . . HERE IS A SCRIPTURE FOR YOU. Moroni 9:25. Sometimes, no matter who you are or where you are, you need a little lifting. Let Christ lift you up. Let Him. This scripture just made me really happy this week. It also made me think of how when we used to play on the trampoline and one of the little cousins would fall down and start crying, we would sing "When you fall down, you just have to get back up" and dramatically throw ourselves (Josh and I) on to the tramp to make them stop crying. Principle still applies. But sometimes it can feel like we can't get up on our own. So rely on the Savior to help you. He's willing and waiting! 

This week was suuuuper interesting. Sora Schow and I went to Lasi (eastern Romania) for an exchange with the Sister Training Leader, Sora Nicol and Sora Langenstein. Little hiccup trying to cross the border . . . so. Our MaxiTaxi driver had a dog with him. You're not supposed to do that. So our group of 6 people had to find another car to cross the border. The four people we were with got in this SUPER sketch van (grateful it wasn't us). Yeah. The border people told us to get into a random man's car. Didn't feel super safe doing that. Called the Lasi sisters. Told them there was a hiccup. Phone stopped working. The other sisters called President Ivory. ANYWAYS we eventually made it into Romania. Safe and sound :) gave the guy who drove us 15 lei and a Book of Mormon #PoorMissionaries. 

In Lasi....I ate Mexican food. That almost tasted like Mexican food. Amazing. Cried a little bit.

Also! There was a protest! A very large one, the night we were there! Probably didn't exactly obey the white hand book when it says to stay away and not take pictures. So I will attach some pictures. Hahahaha oops. I repented, don't worry. 

I think I may have mentioned our recent investigator Galina before. This week we had a great lesson with her. We gave her a Book of Mormon last week. She's already in 2 Nephi 21. DOPE. 

I love the Book of Mormon. It is changing my heart. It will change your heart. Promise. 

Well fam, that's all I have time for. I love you! Pray for you everyday :) 

xoxox

Sora Idiart 

(Salami) Peach ice cream. Yum.

Ba ce faci (kind of translates to like duuuuude. what are you doing). Yes. Cutting ice cream. 

 Introduced Sora Schow to my true love when we were in Lasi:

SALADBOX. I'm opening one in Provo in a year. 

Sora Nicol and Langenstein <3333333 

Standing on a frozen lake. Very cold. 

This morning the power went out at the restaurant we got breakfast at 

(thank heavens for the schedule changes<3) . . . 

so they brought over a candle. Romantic breakfast w/the SISTAS of Chisinau :) 

(starting with me and then going clock wise: me, Sora Schow, Sora Sterrett, and Sora Jerez)

Protest Picture 

(Note from Sarah: If you want to read about the people protesting corruption in the Romanian government, click HERE.  It is not good.  For the last week, hundreds if thousands have been protesting.  They were set off by some underhanded moves the government did at 3am to change laws decriminalizing abuse in gov't, as long as it's less than $50,000 and the leaders are allowing all their friends recently jailed for corruption to go free.  What Emma witnessed was relatively small, but in Bucharest it's huge.)