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).
