Merry December ~ România 🇷🇴Mission ~

December 2020

Our December was filled with love, laughter, activities, service, friendship, (a little head-cold; NOT Covid 😷) and total and complete J♡Y!

December is the time for giving and here in Romania there are many kind and compassionate people that go the extra mile to give service and show kindness to others.  One Sunday we were waiting for Denise (she takes the Metro to a spot and we pick her up there for church) and this little lady was just sitting in front of Luca's; (the very best pastry shop in the whole wide world 😋; bar none)! We were just watching her and then this lady came up and took off her nice, warm coat and gave it to her and helped her put it on.  Then another lady handed her a pastry.  I mentioned in the last email of the two separate bus ladies who gave water and a bag of chips to a homeless/mentally unstable man! There are so many people throughout the world who are Christ-like and do things out of the goodness of their hearts - such great examples to me: service and love are contiguous 💛👼💛!

Not being at home to do family or friends gifts was kind of sad, but Sora Falslev and I decided we needed to put together gift bags for all 56 missionaries plus a few friends (our missionaries couldn't receive any gifts from home as our mission office is not located in Romania 😞)! Sora Falslev did the majority of the work making all the handouts to wrap around the goodies! With Elder Falslev we had an assembly line and put them all together ~ it took a couple days but was so much fun to be with them and work together on this fun project!

The best of all was that we had new missionaries coming in from Hungary and so there were a lot of exchanges and transfers at the train station! This made it possible for me to go to the train station and spend a good portion of the day greeting the arriving missionaries and sending off some departing ones and giving out ALL the missionary Christmas bags to the missionaries at the same time ~ astonishing and fun! We only had one bag left where the missionary didn't come through Bucharest but his companion shared his and we will get his to him soon! It made our month very Christmasy and jolly!

Christmas Eve we went to Marilena and Vlads home and brought over some goodies for them.  I can't express enough the love I have for these two people.  Vlad cracks me up (I think he is about 38); he has this amazing singing voice and he is the best son to Marilena.  It is just the cutest ~ I love to watch him watch out for her; he holds her arm as they walk across the street and makes sure she has received dessert after game night and is always making sure she is happy, etc.  It is so precious.

Marilena is the best mother, friend and spiritual leader that I know.  She sacrifices her time and energy and does all she can whenever anyone asks her to do anything. I love these two kindred spirits (and I want to take them both home with me)! 

Always good times with Sora Gunn and Tobler and their infectious laughter and happiness! Even though Marilena lost her husband 13 years ago and has raised Vlad by herself, she has made sure he had the best love and support a mother can give.  She used to be a teacher during the communist regime and has many fascinating stories. She loves to dance and sing with Vlad and has more energy and gumption than me (or anyone I know at her age)!  She speaks English fluently; which is a blessing to me.  We had a very, merry time with them tonight!

Romania goes all out at Christmas time with the lights and decorations and the depictions of Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus ~ it is so beautiful and every corner that you go around you see more spectacular scenery celebrating the birth of the Savior. It's truly lovely!

Christmas Day we woke up and finished with the preparations for our Christmas brunch! We were picking up Ovi and Tamara a little early (she's from Norway and Ovi is Romanian), but as we started driving we realized our tire had gone flat.  I hopped out of our car and called an Uber and headed for the church and Billy fixed the tire and then went and picked up Tamara and Ovi! 

We had the tables all decorated the night before so I just had to add a few finishing details then when everyone started arriving we all settled in the kitchen for any last bit of food preparation!

It was such a lovely day; we started the afternoon off by watching the phenomenal video:

 The Child Christ: The Story of the Birth

This new video presentation of the story of the birth of Christ describes in beautiful detail the sacred events found in the Bible about the birth of Jesus more than 2,000 years ago.  Observe the long journey of Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem. Witness the astonishment of the shepherds in the field of Judea. Feel the joy of the Magi as they knelt before the Light of the world - our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXWoKi5x3lw

A must see if you haven't already 💙😇💙!

After the video we went around the table and shared our testimony of what touched us about this sweet and miraculous video of Jesus Christ.  It was truly the best part of December.

We visited, sang and shared stories of Christmases present and Christmases past. 

It was nice and relaxing and hopefully brought a bit of home to everyone.

I don't know what it is about 'white elephant' gifts but I just love them (even if or maybe especially if I bring all the gifts 😉).  Most everyone was too polite to take someone else's gift but we fortunately had a few that made the game exciting and fun!

What a delightful way to spend Christmas day with people we love and cherish! 

BUT . . . it wouldn't feel like Christmas without all these Cutie Patooties! Everyone joined us for a Family Zoom call and it was loads of fun ~ the grandbabies are getting so big and some of Mindy's boys are practically men! It was a joy and delight to see them and visit with them! How we love and miss them all 💖😍💖!

Seventeen of the most adorable beings on the earth ~ we love you you guys to pieces! 

💖💙💚💛💜💖

~ Our little Cutie Patooties ~