CRACIUN FERICIT YEEEEEEEEEEET

Wow hello everyone AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mostly this is an email for those who I will not be skyping. So like almost all of you hahaha SORRY SUCKAAAAAS but just know that I love you all. Which is why I'm still writing this email :) 

I read lots of scriptures this week. But the most important is Luke 2:16. "They came with HASTE". I just have so much love for my Savior Jesus Christ. I think about those shepherds. How incredible that they were witnesses of the Savior's birth. Absolutely incredible. But we, just like them, can come with haste unto Him. And we can do it everyday....not just on this SUPER MEGA AWESOME day of Craciun. So grateful. I know that He was born for us. Filled with gratitude. 

Okay so this past week.....I GOT TO SEE MAH GIRL SORA LEE. She came up to visit me in Oradea for an exchange. Incredible. Absolutely incredible. It was so much fun to do some in-field missionary work with the OG comp. 

Me and Sora Pitcher got HECKA rejection this week. So much. May or may not have cried a few times. Then again I have just been a big crier lately. You'd think I was coming up on big changes or something soon....hahahhaha. Lol. Haha. BUT we also met some really cool people.

Let me tell you about a miracle story that happened. PRAYER. WORKS. Heavenly Father listens to me, my dudes. Incredible. So last Monday Sora Pitcher and I met this super cute girl named Priscilla. Got her number and said we would text her. Forgot to save her number. Realized later in the week that we messed up. Sadness. But yeah know what. I just thought, "It's okay. We'll see her later this week." On my exchange with Sora Lee I told her about Priscilla and how I had been praying all morning that we would find her. THEN GUESS WHAT. WE DID. WE LITERALLY WERE LED TO HER. EHMAIZIN. Got her number again. We'll meet up with her sometime later this week. Just incredible. Absolutely incredible. It made all the rejection worth it. So worth it. 

Well here is some other fun news: I'm actually in Sibiu right now. That is another answer to literal tear-filled, pleading prayers. I was feeling very stressed about what we were going to do for Christmas. No one had invited us over/I was feeling very much like a burden/innadequate for my literal perfect human, so kind companion Sora Pitcher.......she was feeling super sick on Friday. So I had a good, long convo with Heavenly Father. Then maybe 20 minutes after talking with Him, the Sibiu sisters called and invited us to come spend Christmas with them. So I talked with our friend/AP Elder Cowser, got it approved, and here we are. It has been a fun day. 

I am just constantly amazed at how aware Heavenly Father is of us - especially in our times of need and desperation - no matter how many times we seem to forget about Him.

OKAY WELL MERRY CHRISTMAS!

xoxoxoxox

Sora Idiart 

not tronky hahaha

sora "dee" <333333

the goodbyes have started and my heart is ripped out :-)

The Isopescu's had us over for dinner. I love these people more than anything. 

The gang - OG comps all reunited 

E BUCURIE IN LUME (It's time to Light the World!!)

Hello family and friends

Well. This week was just jam packed. with music and conferences and sisters and bloc knocking and bearing my "dying" testimony at zone conference and being sick. What a week. Lemme share a really cool scripture first though 

Romans 13:12. IT IS TIME TO PUT ON SOME LIGHT AMOUR BABY. lezzzzzzzzz do it

So we had an exchange with the sisters from Sibiu. I went with cute Sora Sterrett. Sorry I failed to take pictures. The exchange flew by. Did some contacting. Studying. Choir practicing. Lessoning. It was fun.

Then we had 6 other sisters come and stay in our apartment again . . . IT WAS A BLAST. Literally an actual party. We stayed up until like 11:45 (lol don't laugh at me everyone who is NOT A MISSIONARY BC THIS IS LATE) cutting carrots. 

Then we had a great zone conference. Probably the best I have ever been at. Lots of answers to prayers. Like the word Irreantum. At a missionary's last zone conference they bear their "dying" testimony. Because they are dying from the mission. B/c they have to wear normal people clothes again. Weird. Anyways I had to do that. One thing that hasn't changed about me is that I'm still a crier. And an ugly one at that. Hahaha but ya know. . what can you do? I have learned many things on my mission. The most important, for me personally, is that Heavenly Father lives and He knows and loves me. Personally. I really truly do know that. 

THEN FINALLY after months of practice, WE HAD OUR CHRISTMAS CONCERT. I really don't understand what has happened on my mission. But I keep being asked to sing at things . . . The concert was great. It was fun. Very glad it is over. My throat needs a little rest from singing "Joy to the World" in Romanian at full lung and diaphragm and throat power. 

Spent a lot of time with my mission president and his wife: The Hettingers. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. They are my favorite humans. 

Well I love you all. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!! Sing some songs for me. I will sing lots for you. So grateful that a majority of Romanians go to church for this Holiday to remember their Savior :) 

xoxooxxoo

Sora Idiart 

THEY OPENED GUYS! I BOUGHT MY FIRST AND ONLY BOOK IN ROMANIAN TODAY :)

(This translates to: "You Open The Book" and must be like "Barnes & Noble")

I love our apartment it has pretty views

Forgot to hide my camera while the sisters were over

Started and ended my mission with this fellow Oregonian. Papa Giron

Romanians make me laugh . . . they haven't quite left the early 2000's yet. 

One day. But I just really like the coordinating lipstick and sunnies. Classic. 

Grandma wanted a normal picture of me hahahaha, here you go Gma

The actual normal version of the normal pic​

i got myself a latin dancing queen

HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

This week a lot of my studies were focused on the Sabbath Day.  The reasons we go to church include showing everyone how cute our outfits are.....singing really dope songs.....socializing with our friends.....LOLZ NAHHHHHHH. The sacrament helps us to remember the Savior. Remember how we need to improve this upcoming week. Remember to strive better to have the Spirit with us. REMEMBER. The power in that little (really good) piece of bread and tiny cup of water is INCREDIBLE. 

So Sora Pitcher and I are here! In Oradea! YEET YEET YEET. Sora Pitcher is a hoot. I love her. Here are some things about her: she loves latin dancing, running, eating lettuce, drinking Pero, eating a super healthy glutin-free, dairy-free, sugar-free cake for breakfast (they're actually pretty dank......who knew eating not chocolate could taste so good?!?!), she is from Colorado - shout out to Will and Brian, she got bangs to try to teach her hairdresser about the gospel.....who rejected it...but the lady's friend was interested!

She is a ball of fun. We are going to have a great time together.

We had some adventures in Bucharest before coming back, which included being controlled, or having our visa checked . . . many times. Being late to Missionary Leader Conference....lol. And meeting some REALLY nice people who helped us get her luggage from their apartment all the way to the train. By public transport and foot. Incredible. Miracles happen people. 

Here is some exciting news: we had a lesson yesterday with Constanta about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She wants to badly to follow the example of her Savior. So Sora Pitcher invited her to be baptized on Feb 10th.....and she said yes! SUUUUUUUUUUUUUPER CHILL! Very excited for her :)

We also met up with this super cute girl named Katy who is interested in learning more. I love people like that. I love sharing the gospel with others. It makes me so so happy. Yay. MISSIONARY WORK IS 10/10 WOULD RECOMMEND.  

Well. Other than that......we had church for 4 hours yesterday :-) I have developed ADHD on my mission. Could NOT focus basically after 1.5 hours. Rough. But it's okay because we had some left over candy in our missionary closet so the both of us survived.  

Oh also on Saturday it snowed a lot. Gross. I still don't like the snow.....de loc. 

Well there are two guys getting into a fight at the internet cafe so it is time to go :) 

Love you all! You're all in my prayers! ROCK IT ON FINALS JOSHY! LOVE YOU PRAYING FOR YOU. 

xoxoxoxoxox

Sora Idiart 

 Well my most beloved Purtskirt and Gubs DIED this week . . . 

not really physically but in mission slang means they went home 

aka they are listening to music and watching movies and speaking in lots of English/Russian 

and not in Romania anymore :(

I'm really sorry but I just cannot take pictures with normal faces anymore. 

I don't know what's wrong with me.

Comp bonding. Sora Pitcher likes to do makeup. 

So she did my makeup at 10:15pm hahahahaha #americasnexttopmodelLOL

i will take more pics this week. sorry. lots of traveling and tiredness :) 

GOOD-BYE SORA ANDERSON :( BUT HELLO SORA PITCHER YEET

HELLO EVERYONE

The transfer has come to an end. So sad. Sora Anderson has left me to go to Bucharest. And I am picking up Sora Pitcher this week! Currently I am in Bucharest. Still with Sora Anderson actually. But yeah. I will be staying in Oradea with Sora Pitcher this next transfer. SO EXCITED. Anyways let me tell you about my week.

Actually here is a scripture. 2 Nephi 33:12. I really feel like Nephi. This is the desire of my heart. I believe and hope that many, if not all, will be saved in the Kingdom of God. 

This week was great. I don't remember much hahaha that seems to always happen come email time. BUT we had some great lessons. 

Maria: taught about the Plan of Salvation. Really we only taught about the Spirit World. I feel so much love for Maria and she has a real desire to know truth. Often times, what we believe is just very different from her beliefs. It makes the lessons interesting. Our lesson made me realize HOW grateful I am for the knowledge that I have about the Plan of Salvation. It all makes sense. All of it. HOW MERCIFUL IS OUR GOD. 

Kubra and Merve: THIS WAS A DOPE LESSON ABOUT THE PLAN OF SALVATION. These girls are our Turk friends. Merve, who doesn't seem interested in the gospel, was suuuuuuuuper interested in the "5 requirements in the life" section of the lesson. Especially botez. Dope. 

Sora Bajo: She is not very active in church. BUT CAME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY HOLLLLLLLA! Anyways we were over at her house for a little (2 hour lol opa) member visit. She shared Alma 29 with us. We read it together. AND MAN. That is a powerful chapter. Go read it. While we were visit with her, I just felt the Savior's love for her. And His desire for her to return to activity. Incredible. These next four weeks we will really be focusing on her. 

Another reason why I can't really remember what I did this past week is because I got 2.5 hours of sleep last night. Sleeper train #11. Except this time without a bed. Just a little elf chair.......so. Yeah. The joys of transportation<33333 BUT HEY PROBABLY THIS NEXT TRAIN WILL BE MY LAST ONE. YEEEEET. 

Anyways, I love you all. Thanks for the prayers. Praying for you. Church is true. Hollaaaaaaaaa

xoxoxoxoxo

Sora Idiart 

ball so hard lol this is how all of my tights look. yolo

christmas lights with andreea and mirela :) 

my queen sora anderson

pretty oradea :)))))))))

Miracles + never making another Thanksgiving dinner in my life :-)

Have you seen this video yet!??!!?!? CLICK HERE TO SEE IT!!  INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We got a sneak peak of it at zone conference earlier this month. I cried. I still cry. HUMANS ARE SO MUCH BETTER WHEN THEY SERVE OTHERS. So this week starts the little advent calendar (BECAUSE WE ARE ALMOST ALREADY IN DECEMBER WHAT)....LETS DO IT. Together. Anyone who actually reads this email - commit to me right now that you will do it with me. Lighting the world with SERVICE AND HAPPINESS AND CHRISTMAS. 

So this week was chock-full with miracles. So many. 

Tuesday we made brownies for a 18 year old named Kati who doesn't come to church very often. We have tried a few times to get in contact with her. Nothing really works. We wanted to invite her to our Thanksgiving feast. So we planned on going to visit her at a certain point of the day when we thought she would be home from school. We're sitting in the church doing a language study - BAM! - prompting to go to her house that very second. So we pack up, decide we will finish language study later, and head out. Miracle after miracle. A nice old lady let us into her bloc. Lived on her floor. Talked to us while we waited for Kati's mom to open the door. Her mom told us she wouldn't be home for another hour b/c school doesn't get out for a bit. As we are about to say goodbye - BAM! - the interphone rings. Guess who it is. KATI. So after two months of trying to meet her, we finally did! YAY! She didn't come to our Thanksgiving dinner, but man. What a testimony to me that if you follow promptings exactly when you receive them, the Spirit will guide you to be at the right place at the right time. 

We had a super good exchange with the Cluj sisters on Wednesday. I went with Sora Alger again. What a gem. Had a day full of contacting. Honestly, not too much success. But we never felt discouraged! We had a great time and got to bear testimony to lots of people. The cap of the day was our lesson with Maria. We taught her the Restoration. She had some skepticism about a few things, but overall the Spirit was present and strong. It was really cool to just be able to testify and teach doctrine to someone who would listen, but still participate. Just absolutely incredible. We challenged her to humbly pray and ask Heavenly Father if what boy prophet, Joseph Smith, truly saw God the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ. Keep you updated :) 

On Thursday Sora Anderson was very sick :( I swear this last month has been one comp throwing up after the other. Lolz. Sorry. Graphic. But the good thing is that we planned on celebrating Thanksgiving on Friday anyways! Who cares if you're the only ppl in the country doing it, right? Hahaha 

SO FRIDAY WE LITERALLY BAKED AND COOKED FOOD ALL DAY. And I can just tell you now. I will NOT be making my future family a Thanksgiving meal. No way Jose. Nope. We will be going to a soup kitchen to serve other people and then order pizza. But it ended up being really fun. We ate a big meal with the elders, two members, and two investigator friends. We made everyone go around and say what they are thankful for. One thing about Romanians: they will always say that they are thankful for their health - first and foremost. I love them. They are so strange. Hahha :) But it was great.

Anyways that is a run down of our week/I am out of time. Hahaha. 

I LOVE YOU ALL AND PRAY FROM YOU AND THINK ABOUT YOU. Congrats to Eric and RaNae. So excited to meet you. 

xoxoxoox

Sora Idiart 

aftermath of the facemask......................chemical burn. lol. 

meaaaaaaaaal (and yes. that is the church. 

red chairs, red carpet, red curtains, red table cloth. absolutely incredible)

sora anderson's cute idea while we waited for ppl to show up for dinner

MARIANA IS STARTING HER MISSION PAPERS! YEEEEEET! I LOVE THIS GIRL. 

SO MANY MIRACLES, JUST SO GREAT

hello everyone

Here is a video that will make you cry. Because it made me cry. Watch it. And cry. And let's all resolve to pick out heads up, look for others in need, and then help. CLICK HERE!

Literally. Tears. 

So this week was great. We started working with these two really great girls. Very different, with very different stories. One is called Mirela and the other is called Maria. 

Mirela started coming to English classes a few weeks ago. She goes to the Elder's beginner class. Last Saturday after their class they came over to us and told us to go talk to her and invite her to take the lessons. So we did. And we've started teaching her. She's from the north east of Romania (aka what Romanian's call Moldova. Something about me and that blessed word/region/country) and has a THIIIIIIIIIIICK Moldovan accent. Love it. Anyways, she is so great. Has the sweetest spirit. She came to church yesterday. The Spirit was strong. She was feeling Him. Literally incredible. And then she had us over for lunch after church. SHE IS A DANG GOOD COOK. Actually for the first (hopefully not last time) yesterday we were fed like 3 times. Incredible. #blessed Sora Anderson and I are super excited for her. 

Maria is a friend of a church member - Sora Geambasu. She is studying to become a doctor. Super close relationship with God. She came to District Conference last week. Wanted to learn more about the Book of Mormon. In our lesson with her yesterday, we were planning on teaching her the Restoration, but she had some questions about something she read in the Book of Mormon regarding the Plan of Salvation. To sum up - we had a super powerful lesson about prayer and the Pre Mortal Existence. I think I learned more in the lesson, through testifying, than she did I think hahahaha :) BUT I KNOW THAT I CHOSE TO COME TO THIS EARTH. We all did. And we chose to come, no matter the hardships we would face, because we wanted to follow the example of our Savior and return to live with our Father in Heaven. AMEN. Truth. 

We also had an exchange with the Sibiu sisters, over in Sibiu. Which meant lots and loooooooots of traveling...again. Lolz. 16 hours in a nice little bus. BUT ALSO SO MANY MIRACLES THERE! We had 16 hours of straight contacting between the two companionships to tackle. And tackle we did. Lots of rejection, but surprisingly A LOT of success. We met some cool people, who include: Alina and her dad, Anca, Ana, Petru, and Denisa. Very very fun. 

OH AND WE WENT OVER TO MARIANA'S HOUSE WITH MIRELA AND THE ELDERS AND LEARNED HOW TO MAKE SARMALE AND CHIFTELE. SOOOOOOOOOOOO YUM. SOOOOOOOO FUN. 

Okay I love you all. Praying for you. Thank you for your extra prayers this week. We could feel it. 

xoxoxooxox

Sora Idiart 

America. What.

The only picture I took during our exchange in Sibiu........best doughnut I have ever had no joke.

 

Lies. I also took this in Sibiu. This is for you mom. #AKisthebiggeststatenotTXsorryJess

a whole bunch of pics of the cooking night. too lazy to title them. plus i think that these emails don't go on a blog anymore.......so i will title them when i get home hahaha oxoxox ​

Not enough square footage for 8 sisters :-)))))))))

YO FAM WAZZZZGUUUUUUUUUUUD

Here is a great quote that President Hettinger said during District Conference yesterday: "We just need to feel the Spirit and act" AMEN. But literally. How true is that. If you feel the Spirit prompt you to talk to someone, help someone, smile at someone, give someone a Book of Mormon , be a little kinder, be a little more humble, work a little harder, etc..... ACT. Oh wait. Those are all things I need to do :) hahaha well maybe some of you aren't perfect yet (doubt it) and receive similar promptings. Hai sa facem, da? 

Well this week was so interesting. Some of the highlights include:

Exchanges with the Arad sisters.....IN ARAD. HECK YEAH PEOPLE, I GOT TO GO BACK TO THE LOVELY, FLAT CITY WHERE I WAS "BORN". It was so joyous. Nothing has changed. It is all the same, with the same kind people. I went with Sora Folsom. She is flipping bomb. Her Romanian is better than mine and she has been here for like 3 months....whoops. Whadyado. Hahaha :) but we went to go visit their investigator, who used to be my investigator way back in the day, Mariana. She continues to be hung up on the fact that she was already baptized, blah, blah, blah. Authority and priesthood have never fully been explained to her. Sora Folsom and I decided to talk about that. And we are pretty sure it clicked. We will see. She is stubborn and lovely and I love her. 

Other cool things happened after that, but then I got super sick. And threw up. Lots. And too high of temperatures. Almost made it a full 18 months with no barfing....which is very impressive considering the strange things I have eaten. 

So then lots of resting and recovering. I slept probably a straight 24 hours. 

Then we had a super fun game night with President Hettinger. We played Mafia. Good turn out. I have never seen a bald man laugh as hard as President did. Except for maybe Spencer Higginson. 

AND THEN ALL THE WEST SISTERS STAYED IN OUR APARTMENT ON SATURDAY NIGHT before District Conference. Which meant sleeping on the floor round 98237450923456. It was a blast. Did some good block knocking. Met some super awesome people who want to know more about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ :) 

ALRIGHT LOVE YOU ALL. You're in my prayers like deobice 

xoxoxoxox

Sora Idiart 

 cool moon

I slept here for many moons :')

Not a moon, but her name starts with an M... MARIANA :) 

You know you're in Arad when....hahahhaha 

yeet

MAH QUEEEEEEN SORA MOGOS :)

Mission tour zone conf pics :) luv these humans