Pitești/Ploiești/Panduri/Mihai Bravu Water 💦Filter Journey: The End ~ România 🇷🇴Mission ~

January 2021

~ Pitești ~

Look at these two adorable Elders! On the left is Elder Truscott  and next to me is Elder Dunford! Elder Dunford is fairly new and he is a hoot; after being with him for less than a minute it seemed like we had known him forever!  He does impersonations and had us all laughing! These young men are so amazing and are gifted and talented and are so great about sharing the Gospel and bringing others Unto Christ!

Elder Truscott arrived around the same time as us and he will be going home this November.  He seemed so shy when we first met him and I asked him if he was afraid of me (as I am a little bit of an extrovert and sometimes get in other people's "space"), he gently and kindly told me that I didn't and we've been good friends ever since 😇! It has been so much fun getting to know him and being around him - he's soft spoken but full of power! On one of our Christmas Zone Zoom meetings, we did a "Share Your Talents" night.  He had everyone shout out different shapes and as we did he created this awesome Christmas tree within minutes (above^^^^)!  He's the District Leader in Mihai Bravu now, so we get to see him a lot! He also is an amazing "banana-nut bread" maker and really looks out for and takes care of his district! We love these boys!

A little MOLD problem

There was some unexpected mold in their apartment ~ not just a little but 3 walls full! I told them to pack up because I am sure the office would send them to a hotel or somewhere right away. 

Unfortunately, they texted back with this photo and told me they were starting to clean it.  I immediately called them and they told me that they would clean a little then go on the balcony for some fresh air then back in and clean some more.  They said they were getting headaches.  I told them to STOP and pack.  I then made a few more calls and the AP's went and took them to an Airbnb until the Landlord could get someone else to clean and spray it.  We had mold issues in one of the apartments in Mihai Bravu last year and the mission office immediately closed down that apartment even though it was a new building. Lots of condensation in these apartments! They are safe and sound now!

It's always fun to see Bill's favorite horse-carts in the smaller towns.  They just journey along and nobody thinks a thing about it when they are traveling on the busy streets with the rest of us.  These horses must be trained so well so as not to continually get spooked.

💛Adorable little Village baby💛

~ Ploiești ~

Ploiești is only about 2 hours away from Pitesti but Billy wanted to get home and sleep in our own bed tonight so we just made a long day of travel and shorter visits. This is one of the many beautiful churches in Ploiesti.  The other 3 pics are outside of where the Sora's live.  It seems a bit sketchy but most all of Romania looks similar to this.  I must say though that Romania is a very safe place to live (and visit 😉)!

Since we were traveling on Sunday and didn't get to take these kids out to dinner we just brought these 2 cities of missionaries big goodie bags! We arrived just in time to watch our Sunday night Zone Devotional, which was so great! I know for the young kids it is awesome to serve a mission but for couples it is just a riot! We get to see all these kids and their cute personalities shine bright ~ Zoom allows us to see and communicate with them all the time whereas without the pandemic we would not have gotten to know all the missionaries so well! Blessings in spite of hard times 💙😇💙.

Sora Sorensen and Sora McAfee are our two Media Professionals! They help turn our pictures and videos into magnificent works of art that we then can post and share with the world. They are both so sweet and fun and do such a fantastic job! 

Elder Nielsen is one of our Zone Leaders and is a spiritual giant ~ everyone loves him and he is so compassionate and fun! Elder Olsen is fairly new and his mother is actually Romanian so it is a blessing that he has the opportunity to serve here in Romania! He seems to be quiet and reserved but I think once we get to know him we will find a fun-loving guy with lots to say! It's always fun to be with all the missionaries and we have been so lucky to have met them all!

~ Panduri and Mihai Bravu ~

We are back to our stomping ground with our adorable District! Up top we have Elder Bradbury and Perrigo, Sora's Sabir and Wilcock and to the far right Elder Firth and Mercer.  It's always the hardest when transfers come along because it is so easy to grow so close to our own district and area and we sure are sad when they leave.  We enjoy having them with us as long as we can!  All the missionaries keep us on our toes and yet there is plenty of laughter during our meetings! We love this group! The lower left hand corner is a picture of a basket full of Mega Image's delicious sandwiches.  After our District Meetings on Friday we either send the missionaries or Bill and I will run across the street and pick up sandwiches for our district.  We then spend lunch time visiting some more!

A little outing to one of our favorite places (the ribs are sooooo wonderful).  This little outdoor restaurant is right by our apartment and by the grocery store/mall.  These two girls, Sora Wilcock and Sora Sabir, are two peas in a pod.  They are both quiet, gentle and full of the Spirit.  They have so much goodness and everyone loves them. Sora Wilcock is a quiet worker and before you ask her to do something she has already taken care of it.  Sora Sabir ordered Mititei (Mici - meech). It is a famous recipe in Romania; it is a sausage without the casing.  It's usually made with ground lamb, pork and beef. I usually don't like any sort of sausage, mainly because of the spiciness, but these little mici's are yummy ~ I can only eat one because they are very filling and loaded with grease 😉! This May we plan on joining the 30 million people who will be enjoying Mici  for "International Workers Day" here in Romania; I'm hoping for a big BBQ with President Doru at the grill!

Elder Matthews frequents this spot regularly and he knows all the workers by name.  He had the Sora's pick up a Harry Potter book and give it to Sandra, one of the employees. Sandra has a little boy and little girl who she loves to read to. She was so touched by this little gesture that she wept and everytime we see her she has so much gratitude.  She is a beautiful woman and now a friend.

Sora Petercsak is from Hungary and is now serving in Mihai Bravu. Today she was on exchanges with Sora Sabir so we got to visit with her.  When she first arrived in Romania she got to stay at our house; it was to her relief because her first experience of Romania was being pulled over by a police officer right after leaving the airport (one of the Elders had the medal to the pedal a bit too much 😂😂😳).  After a good night's sleep we drove her to Sibui where she served 3 transfers.  She is a delight and is continually having to speak in 3 languages: English, Romania and her native language of Hungarian (since there are quite a few Hungarians here in Romania)! 

Here we are driving down the still decorated streets in Mihai Bravu and taking these two cuties out for a bite to eat.  They are going to move into a new apartment complex that actually has a washer and DRYER downstairs (and a nice gym area)! When we first rented it the Elders were living here but there won't be new Elders in this area for about a week so we did the ole' switcheroo today 😏!

Here is their cute, spotless, non-moldy, new apartment! It has one bedroom, bath, kitchen and a nice big armoire in the living room! Sora Smith was just a baby missionary when we arrived and she will be going back home in a couple months 💙😢💙. Sora Petercsak only has a few more months as well.  It is crazy that we have been with some of these young women their whole 18 months of their mission.  Such a fun time for us to see the growth and maturity take place in their lives.

These girls are rockin' the Mihai Bravu area! Between the 2 companionships they were teaching about 15 people and bringing many of them to game night and then to Church the next day.  I'm sure part of their attraction is that they are all so beautiful but it is the beauty within that shines bright and their radiant countances are what are bringing others Unto Christ! Sadly, Sora Smith will be heading home in a couple months ~ she has been instrumental in many baptisms and everyone loves her.  Sora Petercsak is dynomite and even though there is somewhat of a rivalry between the two countries, every Romanian loves her and she engages everyone in great conversations. Sora Northrup is from Colorado and we connected immediately! She has the sweetest smile and is so easy to talk to, she is great at going up to everyone and making them feel important ~ this is a real gift! Sora Gunn is great and full of energy! We love her so much and get to spend lots of time with her! She's staying in Mihai Bravu for a few more transfers training Sora Northrup! 

Sora Saunders (far left) was in Mihai Bravu for just one transfer and was a real delight. She is one of our media missionaries now so we don't see her as much. On the far right is our friend, Tamara.  She's from Norway and her and Oli (her fiance`) have become our close friends and she happened to be with me as we stopped at Sora Gunn's and Saunders to fix their leaking water filter 😯😅😏! The picture in the middle is Billy's favorite place to drive by.  In the winter it is decorated with a zillion Christmas lights and in the summer the fountains continue all the way down the boulevard, in the median and on both sides of the hug sidewalks! Spectacular!

P.S. In the next few months, Romania is getting a different kind of water-filter system; you know what that means . . . a summer road trip 💙🚙💙!