Transfer Week

Hello all!

This week is transfers. I'm staying in Timisoara, which was kind of what I was hoping for. Huzzah!

This week, we've been giving a lot of thought to happiness and how we can have it in this life. It's a topic that's been coming up with investigators recently. It's true that Heavenly Father wants us to be happy. Accepting the gospel in our lives and doing our best to follow the example of our Savior, Jesus Christ, is our greatest source of happiness. Even as we do these things, we still have trials. That doesn't mean that Heavenly Father loves us any less. In fact, allowing us to have trials is one way He helps us, and we will never have to go through trials alone. Trials help us to learn and to become stronger. They help us to become more prepared to return to His presence. More than once in my own life trials don't seem that great when I'm experiencing them, but after the fact, I can look back and have an appreciation for those moments because I can see how I've learned,  grown, and become closer to my Heavenly Father. We have to be careful not to let the bad things keep us from seeing all the good in our lives. You can always find something good. I have found that the more you can be grateful for even the simplest of things, the happier you will be. For example, I am grateful for chicks. One of the members of the branch is raising some, and they are adorable.

Something really cool that happened this week: I mentioned Rebeca last week. I can't remember exactly what I said, but we've started to teach her and her friend Andrea. We teach them a little English and then we have a gospel lesson. This week, we read through Joseph Smith's account and talked about his experience. We talked about how God answers prayers and how we can receive knowledge; we can know this church is true. Rebeca related an experience to us that had happened a week previously. We knew that she'd had some questions on her mind and we'd done our best to answer them. I don't know if there were other thoughts or doubts, but she asked a couple of the Elders for a blessing. She told us about that experience, about how as hands were placed on her head and the blessing was given to her that she was filled with the spirit. She explained how she had never felt like that before. I can't remember the exact words she used, but I remember my thoughts and feelings in that moment as I heard her bear testimony. It was so beautiful to me, and I was glad that her friend was there to hear it. These girls are wonderful. I am glad that we've been able to meet with them and that they've been willing.

I'm grateful to be a part of this work. I love my Heavenly Father and Savior. They are such a strength to me. I know they love you, and they will help you in all things. They will support you in your trials, and they will help you to have happiness if you are struggling to find it.

I hope you are all doing well!

Sora Adams

S'more Goodness! =)

                                 

                                                                                              S'MORES!!!!

Buna Ziua!

This week was Sora Heim's birthday. The morning of her birthday, we got a call from one of the branch members telling us to come down to the entrance of our apartment building in half an hour. She had made a cake! We got the cake, and as we were walking back up to the apartment, Sora Heim commented that it was kind of heavy. She weighed it when we got back to the apartment. It was 8 lbs. of goodness. The Hunts made a wonderful birthday lunch for our district as well. Hooray for reasons to celebrate and eat awesome food!

Our last English class was awesome. We had a campfire theme, song songs, told stories, and introduced our students to the amazingness which are s'mores. They're a little different here as graham crackers aren't to be found and marshmallows are scarce. We did find some marshmallows though and lovely biscuits and it turned out great. Sora Hunt played guitar for us as we sang. It was just overall a great lesson. 

English class is one of the ways that we gain contacts. If students would like a little extra help outside of class, we offer to give them a lesson one on one with the understanding that have the lesson will be language oriented and the other half will be religious based. We've had a couple lessons this way. This past week we met with Rebeca and her friend Andrea. I can't remember if I've written about Rebeca or not. She loves the gospel and has a desire to be baptized, but her parents don't approve. Her mother comes to activities with her, but she doesn't have the same conviction Rebeca does. Andrea has been coming to some activities, but I don't think she has had the lessons yet. We taught them some English and then talked to the them about the Restoration. I could feel the spirit so strongly as we taught. I hope they could feel it too. It reminded me how the language of the spirit is the most important language. I may struggle to speak Romanian, but the spirit can still testify. We'll be meeting with them again this week.

I'm out of time for today. I wish I could write more! One thing I do want to add is that we do the best we can and Christ will make up for our inadequacies. I hope all is well for all of you. I also hope that you can all feel of Heavenly Father's love for you. Turn to Him daily. He will strengthen you in your life.

Cu draga,

Sora Adams

New Week= It's #3

                                

                                    This is the Roman Catholic Dome in Piata Unirii in Timisoara.

  According to tourist information on the interenet, Timisoara is known as the city of Parks.  This is a public square.
Another view of the same area:

Welcome to a new week everyone! I hope you all had a chance to watch General Conference and were able to get something out of it for yourself personally. I watched two sessions (the morning sessions) and didn't understand a ton since we watched them in Romanian. I'm okay with that though because the few members that were able to come and the few investigators that came also were able to enjoy it. Plus,  I could still feel the spirit, and we'll be able to see the talks in the Ensign next month. 

This week was zone conference. It seems that we talked a lot about love and how it can be applied to the work. We also talked about what it means to be a successful missionary. I've been thinking about both those things this week. I've been studying love because I have to speak about it this Sunday (wish me luck!). There are a lot of references you can find in the scriptures. One I liked is found in Moroni and says that perfect love casteth out all fear. Something else I found in Preach my Gospel is that love leads to action. When we love the people around us we serve more, we're happier, and we're not so self centered. When we truly have charity we have the ability to change lives. People can tell when you love them. It's evident in what you do. Likewise,  people can tell when you love Heavenly Father and our Savior. Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." As we strengthen our love for Him, our actions will reflect it. We will become more like our Savior not because we have too, but because we want to. It becomes part of who we are.  We don't have to demonstrate our love through grand actions either. Sometimes the simplest thing makes all the difference. In last conference, L. Tom Perry shared a letter that he'd written to his mother back in 1945.  Part of it talks about how he was so grateful for all the little things his mother did for him--cooking meals, spending time with him, etc. As I think about my own parents, I think about how there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that they love me because of our relationship and all the many small (and sometimes huge) ways they've served me over the years. Thanks, Mom and Dad. You probably don't even think about all the little things you do or know that they've had such an impact on me. You should know. I'm so grateful for you.

In this way we can also know of Heavenly Father's love for us. He's given us everything, and if we look, truly look, in our lives we can see His hand everyday. If you're feeling down, take a moment to think of how Heavenly Father has blessed you.

Yesterday, I had a cool experience. After conference, we got on the bus towards home. There was this woman sitting across the aisle from me. This feeling came over me that I needed to talk to her. I'll be honest, I kind of tried to ignore it. I have a hard time talking to people sometimes and especially with the language barrier it takes a lot more courage then just randomly talking to someone back home. I'm working on it and I know that I'll get better and that Heavenly Father will help me. Anyway, this went on for quite some time. The feeling grew stronger and stronger. It was kind of overwhelming. It was like my chest was going to explode. I don't know how else to describe it. I battle with myself for much too long I'm sure. I knew that if I didn't say something I would regret it as there was no doubt that the spirit was prompting me. Still I hesitated. Finally, I turned to Sora Heim and said, "Do you know what we could say to her? I feel like we should talk to her but I don't know what to say." 

"What do you want to say?"

"I don't know."

"Tell her you feel like you should talk to her."

And that's what I did. We weren't able to have a very long conversation, and it didn't lead to an investigator. I can't honestly tell you why I was meant to talk to her, but I left that bus feeling so good just because I knew I had done what Heavenly Father wanted me to do and had tried my best to do it. 

I know that Heavenly Father guides us in our lives. I know He loves us. I know he loves the branch here in Timisoara. I can feel it. I hope you all recognize Heavenly Father's love for you as well. I want to continue to strive to recognize that spirit in my life and act on it. I made a note in my study journal this week to always act on promptings and don't hesitate for in that hesitation you may miss a great opportunity to bless someone. 

I hope you all have a good week. 

-Sora Adams

Week 2 and All is Well

                                                                     This is the Timisoara Metropolitan Cathederal.


Greetings friends and family! How are things on the home front?

Yesterday was Easter! We didn't really do anything to celebrate (that's okay because we get second Easter because of the Catholics and the Orthodox church), but I did take some time to think about my Savior and all He has done for us.

I've been thinking a lot about hope lately. You should all read what Preach my Gospel says about hope under "Christlike Attributes." Also read Ether 12:4 and Moroni 7: 41. It is through the gospel and the knowledge that we have of Jesus Christ that we can have hope even when times are challenging. Our Savior and our Heavenly Father have definitely been helping me and lifting me up. Christ really is everything. It is through Him that we can have forgiveness of our sins, which we all need to free us from the guilt and sorrow and to make us whole and able to dwell in Heavenly Father's presence. Through Him we will all be resurrected. It is also through Him that we will have eternal life, which means we will be able to live with God, be as He is, and have the greatest joy. We will also get to be with our families for eternity. I love that promise. In a devotional by Jeffery R. Holland at the MTC, he said, "Heaven would not be happy even for God without family." God loves us and wants us to succeed and return to Him. That is why He provided a Savior. How grateful I am for Christ's willingness to accept that role. Without Him, we could achieve nothing.

Not only did He take on the sins of the world, but he took on our infirmities, our sickness, our pain (see Alma 7 I believe). What great comfort that is in times of trial. He knows exactly what we are going through because he's experienced it Himself. He knows what we need. He knows we can make it through hard times. Turn to Him. I promise you that He will be there and He will strengthen you. Things won't always go as you plan, but everything will be okay. Have hope.

Something else I was thinking this week is how it can be really hard sometimes to see our own progress especially if we aren't where we want to be immediately. Things take time. We don't like that, but it's true and I think it's actually better that way. Many times it seems others see your progress much easier than you can. Do not become discouraged. Give yourself goals and then give yourself small steps to reach those goals. By small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

As far as investigators go, things are a little slow in that regard, but we are trying to reach out to people.  We taught a couple lessons this week. We were going to have another but it was canceled. We're not entirely sure if those we taught are fully interested, but we plan to continue to contact them and teach them if they will let us. I think they will. We're hoping to make some connections through English classes. We had our first English class on Saturday. Sora Heim and I teach advanced English, so we basically concentrate on having conversations, getting them to talk and use the language. We only had two people in our class, but it was a lot of fun. There was a bigger turn out for the Beginner and Intermediate classes, so hopefully some connections can be made there too.

General Conference is this weekend. I hope you are all looking forward to it as much as I am! I won't be able to understand a lot of it since I'll be watching it in Romanian, but I'm still super excited for it and I know the spirit will be there. I hope you'll all be attentive and be prepared to write down anything specific the spirit whispers to you.

I love this gospel, Heavenly Father, and my Savior. I hope you are all doing well. Until next week!

-Sora Adams