You Never Know

A little while ago, we contacted someone in a park. She was very nice, accepted a Book of Mormon, and gave us her phone number. We called her up this week, but she was unable to meet with us. We'll be calling her again within the next couple of days, and hopefully we can work out a time to meet with her. As Sora Heim was talking to her on the phone, a very clear thought entered my mind.

Even if every copy of the Book of Mormon you give out doesn't have a huge effect on the person who accepted it doesn't mean it won't have an impact on somebody they are connected with somewhere down the line.

Stories came to mind that I've heard of people who have discovered the gospel because they found a discarded Book of Mormon that had been given to a family member or friend or they possibly found it in a garbage can somewhere. Obviously, we don't want the copies of the Book of Mormon that we hand out to end up in garbage cans, but what the spirit was teaching me in that moment is that we don't always see the fruit of our labors. What may seem to be a dead end or an unsuccessful contact may actually be the means of some good at some point. We have no way of knowing for sure, but we go forward with faith, hoping that our message will touch even just one person.

Often we don't realize that positive impact we have on people. We may not think we have any influence at all, but as we strive to live the way that Heavenly Father would have us live and as we build our faith and confidence in him, we begin to change. There really is a light that comes from the gospel, and people can see the difference. Our example has a huge impact on people. Just look at all the examples in the scriptures of people who changed for the better because of the example of another. 

Don't sell yourself short. You are a strength to somebody. You can be a influence for good, and I believe all of you are.

Here are some awesome things that happened this week:

- I taught Rebeca and Andrea how to play Jenga.

- Sora Hunt's purse was stolen (which is not awesome) but was returned because it was taken by mistake (that part was awesome). Someone from English class thought it was their bag.

- I gave a talk yesterday in church and sang as part of it. One of the members liked it so much that he said the next time we visit them he's going to make me sing ha ha ha

- We showed a couple Mormon Messages to Rebeca and Andrea and they loved them. Those things are awesome. You should watch them.

I hope you are all have a great Memorial Day. Have a great week!

-Sora Adams

PS:  Danielle mentioned in her letter home that Rebeca was having pretty bad headaches.  As they were talking to here Danielle's companion, Sora Heim, told Rebeca that if she would study the scriptures her headache would go away.  The next time they saw Rebeca that is exactly what she told them, that as she put more effort into studying the scriptures she found she did not have any pain. Not sure if it was only when she was studying the scriptures or if it extended beyond that, but it is still a little miracle that was greatly appreciated by this young woman.

Sora Adams Reporting from Romania

I  feel like so much has happened this week, yet I don’t know what to talk about. Or maybe it’s just I don’t know where to begin!

How about the most exciting thing for me this week? We were having a lesson with Andrea and Rebeca this week. Before we went our separate ways, Andrea approached us and said she had a question. She asked us if we would be having church services on Sunday. When we answered in the affirmative, she said she we would like to come. That was the most perfect thing that could happen that day as that very morning in companionship study we had started to discuss how we could get her to come to church. We were concerned that her father wouldn’t approve of her coming. Sunday came, and she was there! And she liked it. And it was just awesome. I think back to when I first met her and how she is now. I feel like there’s a light growing inside of her, and I hope it continues to grow! Both she and Rebeca are so awesome.

I went on exchanges for the first time this week. I wasn’t sure what to expect out of that, but it went really well. We didn’t have any lessons for that day, so we went contacting. I learned some really good things from Sora Ewell who I was with that day. A cool story about Sora Ewell: when I was in the Salt Lake airport getting ready to fly to Romania, we were all trying to get some pay phones to call home. This man walks past us, stops, and asks us if we are going to Romania. He saw that our tags said “Sora” on them and he recognized that title because his daughter is in Romania. His daughter is Sora Ewell. It was so random, but really fun to meet him. Sora Ewell’s companion is Sora Deruvo who was in my district at the MTC. It was fun to see her again!

Yesterday, we went paint contacting. Sora Heim is very talented in that regard. She painted that illusion where you stare at it for 30 seconds and then close your eyes and you can see Jesus. We set that up in a park and had people look at it. Kids loved it! And it was a great conversation starter!

I hope you all know that Heavenly Father loves you. I feel like I say that all the time since that’s one thing I actually know how to say in Romanian! But it’s also true. Something I’ve learned (and I think maybe I’m re-learning) is that a testimony doesn’t have to be this big elaborote thing. You can share your testimony in a single sentence and it can have more power than anything else. Live in such a way that your testimony shines through you and the things you do. Often we don’t realize the light we are giving off, but it’s there. People can see a difference when you love your Heavenly Father and Savior and you’re doing all you can to follow them. You are all such wonderful people, and I’m grateful that you are a part of my life!

Have a great week!

Sora Adams

Gratitude

This week, I'm grateful for technology. It was so great being able to talk to my parents over skype yesterday. Also, the day ended with fireworks, so I'm pretty sure it was the best day ever.

This past week was very busy. We had interviews with our mission president on Tuesday, zone planning meeting on Wednesday, and then we got to take a trip to Bucharest to pick up my visa. Sora Heim and I compared our visa pictures. I told her she looks like an assassin. She told me a look emo. Pretty sure her picture is cooler. Ha ha. Usually we take a sleeper train when we go to Bucharest since it takes so long to get from  here to there, but we decided to come back on a day train so we good see the countryside. Great idea! It was so beautiful!  (Sharing pictures below)

 We had a couple good lessons this week, including one on the train. Apparently as we were boarding the train to go to Bucharest, we were followed by a murmur of "Mormons. Look, Mormons." This peeked one man's interest, and he came and spoke to us for a while. He asked us what we believed. We told him about the restoration and he accepted a Book of Mormon. I know we have badges to help point out who we are, but even when we aren't full time missionaries, we should strive to live in such a way that reflects who we are--children of a loving Heavenly Father and disciples of Christ. It's amazing what people notice and learn from you.

We visited some members from the branch this week. Sora Heim has been trying to help me talk more, so she gave me lead of the short lesson we gave them. We talked about prayer and why it's important. I shared D&C 10:5. I know that as we turn to Heavenly Father daily that we will have the strength to withstand Satan and overcome all temptations and trials. It was a good lesson. The spirit was there, and that's the most important thing.

I hope you are all doing well! I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here! Have a great week!

Love,

Sora Adams

Isus a inviat!!

Yesterday was Orthodox Easter, which is a bigger deal here than the Catholic one. It's been fun celebrating with people the last few days. I think everyday since Friday we've participated in egg tapping (I'm not sure how to spell what they call it, but that's a good explanation). In this tradition, each person takes an egg, one says "Isus a inviat," the other replies "Adavarat a inviat," and then they knock their eggs together. Whoever has the cracked egg loses. Traditionally, and most of the ones I've seen, the eggs are colored red as a symbol of the blood of Christ. We were talking to a girl from our English class and her mother about some traditions the other day. According to tradition, you knock eggs after midnight, so when it's officially Sunday, and then you eat a meal of lamb and such. Saturday night we were able to attend a midnight mass and take part in a candle lighting ceremony. We attended the ceremony with the Blaj family (Rebeca and her mother and sister, Nicoleta and Tabita).

We were able to have some good lessons this week. After lessons, one of the first things I do to evaluate how it went is to ask myself if I felt the spirit. Even though I can still only do things very simply where language is concerned, I try to follow that spirit. Even if I only get a couple sentences out in broken Romanian, if the spirit is there, the message will get through. On Saturday, we had a lesson with Iulia and her mother, Daniela. Those are the two I mentioned above. We had the Hunt's with us (the branch president and his wife who are also missionaries). It was cool to see how the spirit was working with us. The most evident thing was that we could all understand each other. Also I think when it comes to teaching, especially when you are teaching with someone else, that the spirit can prompt you when to speak and when to stay silent and let your companion speak. I've been wanting to talk more, so as we were having this lesson I kept thinking, "Sora Heim is doing all the talking. You should say something." But no words came. I didn't feel prompted to talk. But then, suddenly, the prompting came. It was just like, "Okay. Talk now." It was simple. It was short, but I said what I could and it all worked out. I'm grateful for the spirit. The Lord is definitely a part of this work.

There never seems to be enough time to say all that could be said, but I hope you are all doing well. Remember to turn to the Lord in all things and He will be your strength.

Until next week!

Sora Adams