Sat 3/28/20 ~online family home evening ~ Romania 🇷🇴MissionSat 3/28/20

Saturday, March 28, 2020

We have NOT 😅been called home yet! We have loved being here and serving with these amazing Missionaries and the people of Romania. As we are doing the World -Wide fast, I know we are going to see some great and marvelous things come to pass; it will be so fun to see what happens in these next few months!  These are exciting times. Trust in the Lord because he is the only one that sees the beginning from the end! We love and miss you!

Saturday, March 28, 2020

We just had our official Young Single Adult, Family Home Evening, online through social Media, meeting tonight!

We showed the "The First Vision, Now You Know” and “Joseph Smith’s First Vision” video's. We had YSA's from all over Romania and even though we were small in number we were strong in spirit! What a fun night. Elder Firth had a fun game for us to play afterward - the grand prize . . . you guessed it ~~~ a roll of toilet paper ❤️😂❤️!

At a time with chaos arising in the world lets take time to remember the words of
Gordon B. Hinckley, “Be believing, be happy, don't get discouraged. Things will work out.”

Side note: Have you seen the older video, "The Restoration"? Prizes go out to whoever can spot, Sister Matthews, Mindy Matthews York and Robbie Matthews! Good Luck! Hint: it's about 3 minutes from the start (but don't miss the beginning)!

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media-library/video/2010-07-004-the-restoration?lang=eng 

Next week is General Conference!  It's going to be an exciting one and one we will never forget! You are in our prayers.  The Lord is bringing everyone home to their native country so we know our time will come, just not sure when.  We know He knows the reason even if we can't see it!   https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/general-conference?lang=eng 

Coronavirus ~ Romania 🇷🇴 Mission ~

Saturday, March 14, 20020

😇So far there is no talk about us going home!😇

With the Coronavirus going world wide, last week our nurse here 
in Romania, Sora (Sister) Fillerup (<<< how appropriate it that), asked that each of the missionaries get a 72 hour kit; which is always a good idea. Here is ours:😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 j/k~here is our actual one 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂!

However, this week we have been encouraged to get a 2 week supply of food and water. Bill and I went out together but got separate grocery carts AND went to separate check out registers. This way it didn't look like we we're hoarders.

^^I saw this Cutie Patootie ^^ while I was shopping!^^
We bypassed this area in case someone sneaked a raw bat in there somehow 😉!

We had to spend about 4 times this amount on groceries when we first 
arrived; no need to worry though as it is in lei not dollars ~ it was only 
about $236 today! After checking out we combined our grocery carts and 
took it out to the car.  We have to bring our own bags each time we shop or 
buy new ones.  Needless to say, I always forget them so I buy a few and then 
we fill up our "returnable" 12 cent grocery cart and unload it into the car!

Once we get home Bill stops at the -1 parking area (we use the -2 indoor 
parking garage).
 
He magically appears with the apartments "borrowed" grocery 
cart that someone leaves on the first floor each day (apparently just for us)!

Bill fills up the grocery cart then I take it up to the 7th floor. He then parks the car while I unload the grocery's; once he returns he takes the cart back to the 1st floor! What great team work ~ how lucky are we 😛! 

We are now set for whatever comes our way! We also have 
other everyday regular food for the next couple weeks so 
this will really be for an emergency if we have to self-isolated!

I tried to take a couple pics in the store but because they are big on 
the privacy act I blurred any faces that actually got in!  The stores here 
are not that different than our stores back home; there is a Carrefour, 
just like in Thailand, right around the corner from us. The check-outs 
are a hoot, though. There is no space to pass anyone because even a short 
line goes out into the isle blocking everyone in. This was PRE-Coronavirus; 
there are just extremely long lines and they only have a very tiny space between 
the checkout and the isle. Since the Coronavirus scare it has gotten out of 
control. The sad part is the country is very poor so that the people can't buy 
a lot. I think a majority of them live day to day so they need to shop daily. 

The funniest is that the little carts (that hold 2 carrying baskets) cannot leave the grocery store. Once you unload your groceries onto the conveyor belt you have to go backwards through all the people with your cart and just put it in front of the candy space in the already crowded isle.  It is a crack-up; a bit of a weird system! Since everyone has to do this, unless, of course, you pay the whooping 12 cents to use their big carts (which is refundable) it is just a normal routine.  

 Most everyone has been patient with me ~ I'm pretty sure if everyone didn't 

think I was just a funny, crazy old lady there would be a lot of screaming going on!

A couple months ago when we first arrived I got in a line with a full regular 
sized grocery cart filled to the brim;  a lady worker yelled at me and told me 
to go to another line.  I proceeded to do this but it was apparently still the 
wrong line. She gently 😏 put me in a longer line . . .  I first thought it was 
because I was using a "20 item-limit" lane but they don't have those, then I thought that I got in a lane that only the "small carts" could use but then I 
saw a big cart ahead of me.  Still haven't figured that one out 😛. I also don't 
think she was 'yelling' at me; that is just how most Romanians speak!!   

Back to the Coronavirus. Like the rest of the world we will not be 
having church or any other church activities, including: English class, 
Game night, FHE, district meetings, etc..  We will still have meetings 
through Zoom and the Elders or Sisters can bring "friends" over to our 
apartment for discussions! All is good and the work will go forward!
 These great instructions are everywhere throughout the church 
(although now no one will see them). I'm sure the kissing picture is for 
all the older generations' cheek kisses (which I think is the absolute 
cutest ~ and probably spreads the virus quicker). But as far as I'm
 concerned I think it was secretly put in because of Bill and me 😍😏😉!

We just finished our resident Visa's papers.  Good thing we both checked out ok; it's quite the process! We had blood-work done, physicals and Chest X-rays. These were 3 different appointment's on 3 different days.  The crazy thing is the first 3 were all in the same hospital area (room).  They didn't seem too busy, especially after the Coronavirus outcry, but it still took 3 days to get all 3 appointments.  First day blood drawn ✅ after our blood was drawn we went back the next day for the physical ✅ and got our blood results ✅. Then 3 days later we did the X-rays and will need to go back Tuesday to pick up the results ✅.  On the 19th we'll take all of the paperwork and results to a different hospital to submit them and get our Visa card.  It was a bit of a drawn out process but I am sure it could have been worse.  Fortunately for me, Billy is great at organizing all of those things (maybe because of all his FBI training).  We also had to pay 3 different taxes and some apartment thing but he has been brilliant doing it all (all I have to do is tag along).  It has really paid off me being sick, sleep deprived and exhausted all of Jan and Feb;  he got in such a great habit of taking care of me and doing everything, that I think 
he really enjoys it and wants to continue doing it. Ain't love grand 💞💑💞!

During all the uproar isn't it comforting to have a testimony of Jesus Christ and especially the Plan of Salvation 😇. We will get through all this chaos and things will be settling down soon.  Even if we are sent home I can mark this down as some of the best (2) months (give or take a few weeks 😜) of my life!  I have loved listening to President Russell M. Nelson, Prophet and noted heart surgeon, as he counsels us during this time of the Coronavirus. In his message, "My Message of Hope and Love for You", it gives the sweet assurance of hope, love and comfort during this time. If you haven't had the chance to listen take the opportunity to do so!  As you listen you will know he is speaking to you from his heart and that what he is saying he has received directly from our loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ! You can't help but love this wonderful prophetic man! 
https://www.facebook.com/russell.m.nelson/videos/199840471336927/

Sidenote: Each summer when we participated in the Hill Cumorah Pageant we would end the evening reciting Joseph Smith's great prophecy that the Gospel of Jesus Christ will go forward no matter what. I love it and know you will, too!

"The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done" 
(Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 142). Prophet Joseph Smith (1805-44).
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/language-materials/36481_eng.pdf?lang=eng

💙😇💙Happy Sabbath 💙😇💙

Getting to know you ~ Romania 🇷🇴 Mission ~

There have been so many new friends we have had the opportunity to teach and get to know!

This is Sora Hansen on exchanges with Sora Gaskin!  Andrew is studying Religious Studies at the University and he was very knowledgeable and such a joy to visit with. It has been amazing to me (who has a hard time remembering where I put my name-tag each morning) what I can recall from seminary classes in Thailand with Mary Phelps.  Her lessons really sunk in and made our conversations with Andrew a delight!  I am so impressed with the Sora's as they share their knowledge of Jesus Christ and of their understanding of all the scriptures.  Sora Gaskin is a very logical person and can relate so well to those who also take on a methodical, analytical approach to learning.  The combination of the Sora's testimonies is so sweet, powerful and perfect! 

On exchanges Sora Phillips joined Sora Gaskin and we visited with Lewis at Starbucks ~ I forgot to get a picture of him 😞 but he will be at FHE (Family Home Evening) on Monday.  Each time I was out with the Sora's we would walk a few steps over to Luca's.  It is a pastry shop that has the most scrumptious pastries in all of Romania.  As you can see in many of the pictures (especially those to come) I am not being careful about my pastry intake, which I know I will regret once I come back to the States!  Over here all the grandmas look like a mass of comfortable support that their grandchildren can sit and lean on.  It is easy for me to also take on that quality over here as I can fit right in (unlike in Thailand where I was a size 12 but had to buy XXXLarge and was always being told "You too big" 😳😳😏)!

This is Laundy ~ he is from Nigeria and is so amazing.  He is hilarious and so sweet. He had a wonderful understanding of the scriptures and it was so great visiting with him and teaching him, but mostly answering his questions (of course, as best as we could)! Andrew had some extremely deep questions whereas Laundy and Lewis both have such spiritual depths to them that our conversations centered more around the Holy Ghost and figuring out what it is trying to teach them through the spirit!

This is our friend Constantin with Elders Church and McLaws.  As with many Romanians they live in very small homes.  Their whole house is, if they are lucky, the size of a very small American bedroom. Fortunately, this does not make them sad as they feel blessed about so many things (like, no longer being under Communist regime).  When the missionaries would visit Constantin they could see how his floor was spintering real bad.  Bill decided that that would be an easy fix by us just purchasing him a rug (it couldn't even be very big since his apartment was so small).  You can imagine the joy and surprise he felt when the Elders brought over the rug to him.  He is the cutest and was so grateful for a cushy rug.  He even told the Elders it was softer than the bed he slept on 😊💙😇! 

Isn't he just the sweetest!

This is Derrick, he was the very first responder to Bill's Facebook Video.  He is super quiet but came to church each Sunday before the Pandemic. He lives over an hour away from the church and yet finds a way to get here (Bill had the missionary's buy him a month's worth of bus passes; these people truly have no money and if transportation is the problem keeping them from church we have no problem giving up some soda and candy bars to help them).  The policy for the missionaries is that we should not be giving out money to anyone because we have an amazing church system that has food and supplies available to everyone so we try to be very careful but sometimes the spirit of the law is taken into consideration and is done discreetly and anonymously.

 

I could write a book about all of the lives of the people who we have met here in Romania; it is a rainbow of diversity and all of them have had so many experiences throughout their youth and adult lives that I cannot even imagine it (and the TV bits don't show even a smidgen of their experiences).  Such fascinating people, such fascinating lives!  We are so blessed to be here and associate with so many wonderful people (even, or especially, during the pandemic).

(26) ~ HaPPy MoTHeRs DaY ~ Romania 🇷🇴Mission (PRE-Covid19)

Sunday, May 10, 2020
Sunday, March 1, 2020

Happy Mothers Day to all you beautiful women in my life! You are all such an example to me ~ I've had so many women that have shaped me and helped me to become the person I am today. They range from my own Mother, my Mother-in-law, my Daughters, my Daughter-in-laws, Sister-in-laws, Aunts, Stepmoms, Sisters, Stepsisters, Cousins, Teachers, Leaders, Associates, 'Calling' buddies, Young Women and Friends.  Thank you for being you and for always shining and being such a bright light in my life. I love you and I appreciate you 💙😇💙! Have a fabulous day and know that you have made a difference in my life.

Here in Romania we celebrate Mother's Day on March 1st; the first day of spring.  All the women make all kinds of sweet little gifts for the other sisters in our branch and pass them out during Sacrament meeting. Then during Relief Society we are gifted with all kinds of delicious treats ~ it is amazing, delicious and so thoughtful.  We have such a cute, funny ward.  I still have to get used to their language - not just the words but the way they talk.  It reminds me of the movies made about old foreign countries where everyone shouts at each other even when they are just talking normal.  Even though Romanian is a 'romantic' language it sounds a bit more like Russian or German! I just continue thinking (when they are shouting at me) that they are saying, "I love you jamie, you are the sweetest", this way my feelings never get hurt!  Needless to say it was a fun, flavorful day!

Spring is in the air and there is so much to be grateful for.  I love how all the colors are coming alive and surrounding us as we travel around.  It is beautiful and makes everything bright and gives hope of new beginnings!