People are So Great!

 

 

 

We are entering the final week of Sora Modzelewska’s mission. Weird. I’m sure if she knew what I was writing right now she’d say something like, “You have no idea.”

 

We had another good week. We were able to meet with D. I just can’t get over how great she is. We’ve had to move her baptismal date just so we can have a chance to give her all the lessons, and there’ve been a couple of conflicts as she’s going through a divorce right now, but she still really wants to be baptized. She’s still reading the scriptures and coming to church. She’s such a pleasure to be around. We didn’t give her the lesson we had planned on when we met with her because it was clear that we needed to cover some of her other concerns. The lesson ended very sweetly with Elder Boyd giving her a blessing. It was a sweet experience, and the spirit was definitely there.

 

We were able to meet with a couple of our English students one on one. I feel like I’ve been surrounded by such loving and caring people lately. These two women we were able to visit are so loving. They told us they look at us as if we were their own children. They just want to serve us and they are so appreciative and they just try so hard to learn English! I hope that we will continue to be able to meet with them. I think they really appreciate the support and our kindness. I’m just so grateful for them and for the opportunity we have to serve them.

 

We were able to have our Romanian barbecue! That was such an amazing evening. Again, I’m just so grateful for all the wonderful people we’ve been associating with. So we had dinner with our landlord, his wife and baby girl, and his in-laws who live with them. They are such a happy family! It is so clear that there is great love in that home. They were very welcoming. The food was great and we talked for a long time. They’ve been to church before, but they haven’t come recently because of the baby. It was a complicated pregnancy, and now that the baby is born they want to wait for her to grow up a little bit before they try coming to church again. I hope they will.

 

Basically what this week comes down to is gratitude for all the wonderful people here. In our branch as well I can feel the love and support of members. I feel appreciated by them even though I don’t always feel like I manage to do a whole lot. At the same time, I’ve been finding joy in little acts of service. On Sunday, our branch started a full blown primary meeting complete with singing and sharing time, which they haven’t been able to do before. They asked me to come play piano for them. Even though my skills aren’t the best, I could play well enough for the job, and it just filled me with so much joy to be able to help them in such a simple way and to feel of their appreciation. Truly there is great love and joy that comes through service!

 

As a final thought, I’ve been reading in the Old Testament lately, specifically the story of Moses. This morning, I read the bit about the parting of the Red Sea. As Pharaoh was coming after the Israelites and they were afraid for their lives, this is what Moses said to them:

And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will ^ashew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

The Lord shall ^afight for you, and ye shall hold your ^bpeace.

After this, the Red Sea is parted, and the Israelites are brought to safety. His words just struck me. As we learn to rely on the Lord, we can face the future and life without fear. He will be our strength. He will fight our battles. Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.

 

Have a great week!

 

Love,

Sora Adams

 

 

Oh my brother Josh and his fiancé, Heather, got married this weekend.  My "flat Danielle" was there in my place so I didn't miss all the fun. =)  Congratulations Josh and Heather.  Love you. 

 

 

Weekly Adventures in Romania

 

 

We had some good little adventures this week. Last Monday, we went to meet with a less active sister. I believe I mentioned her before. She's the one who's inactive for health reasons, but she's super sweet. She'd expressed with us how she wished her family would accept the gospel, her daughter in particular. Her daughter lives with her during the week because she has work in town and then goes back home for the weekends to be with her husband and kids. Usually she steers clear of the missionaries. That day, someone came to the door that her mother had to talk with. The daughter came and talked to us for a little bit. Even though we didn't get into a religious discussion (it was brought up briefly before the subject was changed), I felt really good about the whole situation. She'd taken a moment to come and talk with us, and I think that's important. We want to serve people. We want to help them. We realize that not everyone is at the same point in their lives as everyone else, but I know that even those smallest of "touches" are important to lift the spirit, to bring people to Christ, or just to make someone's day a little brighter. I'm truly learning the importance of little things. By small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

We had interviews with President and Sister Hill this week. I just love those too. I just immediately felt joy and love just being in their presence. It just radiates off of them! I have no doubt that they care for us and they remind us that we are doing good work and help us figure out ways to improve. I'm so grateful for them.
 

You know who else I'm grateful for? Our landlord. Recently his been coming by a lot to help us fix up things in our apartment (like replacing our faucet that was spewing water everywhere). He's a really great guy, and we've been meeting different members of his family. He is a former investigator, but he and his wife told us that they'd like to come to church again, but they want to wait until their little baby is a little bit older. I hope they start coming again! Also, they were super impressed with how well Sora Modzelewska and I cleaned up the place. They said it's the cleanest they've seen it in the past 10ish years. It's crazy to think missionaries have been using it for that long. Anyway, it just made me think how even the simplest of things can make a big impression. They also said we could have barbecue with them as a reward. Hopefully that works out. Let that be a lesson to all of you. Clean space equals barbecue.
 

We had a great lesson with D this week. It was unexpected, but we were very glad to go and see her. We talked to her a bit about prophets and how they lead us and the importance of following them. We then taught her about the word of wisdom. We were anticipating some issue with this doctrine, but there wasn't a single one. She understood it and basically said she wouldn't have trouble keeping the word of wisdom as she doesn't drink, smoke, or do any of the other things listed there either. We were so happy. She is just so wonderful, and she's been such a joy to work with. Will be meeting with her again tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it!

 

 

Friday we had exchanges. Sora Gerhartz and Sora Stapley came to see us. They are both awesome. I'm glad we were able to spend that time with them. We did some contacting, and I actually felt pretty good about it. I think it may be the best I've ever been at contacting. We met this wonderful woman who is from Cluj, but we talked to her for awhile and she wants to read the Book of Mormon. We left her one, of course :)

 

On Saturday, the branch had a talent show. That was so fun! There was a lot of singing, playing of piano, impromptu break dancing by Elder Barclay. It was a good time. I wasn't planning on sharing a talent, but I ended up singing, which I think went well. I rather enjoy singing.

I'm so grateful for this my Heavenly Father, for my Savior, and for this gospel. I'm grateful to be here in Romania, a place I never thought I'd ever be, but I know that this is where I'm meant to be at this time. I'm so grateful for all of you as well, and I hope you are all doing well!

Cu drag,

Sora Adams

These are some pictures from our other "adventures". We went to the salt mines, yes there are salt mines, and around the city.  Enjoy!! =)

 

 

 

 

Whom the Lord calls he qualifies

I cannot believe it's already August. What's up with that? Tomorrow marks six months since I reported to the MTC. I've decided it must be celebrated somehow. I'm not entirely sure how yet. Maybe ice cream or some other sort of delicious edible substance? Only time will tell. 

We had some really good lessons this week. We met a couple of times with  the woman with a baptismal date. She is just the sweetest thing. I always feel the spirit when we meet with her. Plus there is an  amazing couple , The Boyds,that have come with us every time we visit her. They just have such love and such a sweet spirit that radiates from them. Seriously, senior couples are the best. We sang "Have I Done Any Good in the World Today," and she seemed really touched by that. She wasn't able to come to church yesterday because she had to work, but we'll definitely be setting up a time to meet with her again.

We've also started meeting with Ann. We met with her the first Saturday I was here, and I'll be honest, I didn't think it was going to go anywhere. She's had a lot of trials in her life and she was convinced that she has absolutely nothing to be grateful for. She was very skeptical of our message, and I just thought she wasn't interested. We called her anyway, and she agreed to meet with us again. We met with the member who had referred her to us, and it was a very good lesson. While we were walking with her to the church she mentioned that we should call her every night and ask her what she's grateful for. So that's what we've started doing! Especially when we have trials in life, I know that it's hard to find things to be grateful for, but they are there, and I can testify that every single one of us are children of a loving Heavenly Father and He sent His son to atone for us. Through our Savior, we can have everlasting happiness as we act upon His atonement and strive to do the best we can. Anyway, so we are helping Angelica to see that she does indeed have things to be grateful for. Her biggest trial at the moment is that she's been out of work for 2 years. We have someone in the branch though who is going to help her find a job. She came to church yesterday for the first hour. We'll continue to meet with her.

Zone training was also this week. Week went to the beautiful Sibiu where I just came from. That was exciting. One of the things that stuck out to me from the meeting is that two people can do anything as long as one of those people is the Lord. We also had our own little miracle. On the way to Sibiu, Sora Modzelewska left her journal on the maxi taxi by mistake. I don't know about you, but that would be one of the worst things that could happen if it were me. I would be so heartbroken. At the same time, she felt a sense of peace, like she would get it back. Sora Lund said a prayer for her, and her prayer was answered! When we were trying to figure out arrangments to get back to Cluj, the driver from that morning came up from behind us out of nowhere, and he had Sora Modzelewska's journal! I tell you, if something is important to you, it's important to Heavenly Father.

Okay , last but not least, I've been thinking this week about how the Lord qualifies us for the work. I don't just mean missionary work. I mean anything He may require of us. So often we may feel like we aren't capable of facing something or serving Him in some capacity, but I know that He wouldn't call us to do something if He didn't know we could do it with His help. He doesn't set us up for failure. One of my favorite examples is the story of Moses. This is what we read in chapter four of Exodus:

 10 ¶And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but Iam slow of ^aspeech, and of a ^bslow tongue.

 11 And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who ^amaketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?

 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy ^amouth, and ^bteach thee what thou shalt ^csay.

And we can definitely see that Moses was strengthened and guided to lead the children of Israel from Egypt. Though he felt inadequate, Moses was qualified by the Lord.

I have also found another story I love which illustrates this concept as well, and that is the story of Enoch. The stories are similar in that Enoch feels inadequate. He can't even speak well. How can he call people to repentance? Here's his exchange with the Lord as found in Moses 6:

 31 And when Enoch had heard these words, he ^abowed himself to the earth, before the Lord, and spake before the Lord, saying:^bWhy is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people ^chate me; for I am ^dslow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?

 32 And the Lord said unto Enoch: Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy ^amouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good.

One of my thoughts when I read this was, "Gosh, I sure hope people don't hate me because I'm slow of speech!" I know they don't though, so we're all good there. What I love most is seeing the transformation of Enoch which we see in the very next chapter:

 13 And so great was the ^afaith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them; and he ^bspakethe word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the ^cmountains fled, even according to his command; and the ^drivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so ^epowerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him.

Just like Heavenly Father gave these two men strength to perform His will, He will do the same for us. Sometimes it may seem so much easier to go along with the crowd rather than stand up for what we know to be right, but hard as it may seem in the moment, how much better it will be for us to take a stand. We will look back at that time and be grateful that we did what was right rather than what was popular, and Heavenly Father will give us the strength to overcome such temptations. Even after we've served in a calling for a while, we may still not feel like we are qualified, but the Lord will shape you. If you go forward, trying to act according to His will, you will have success, and you are probably doing better than you think you are. In fact, I can pretty much guarentee it. Again, Heavenly Father doesn't set us up for failure. If we want to know if we are doing what we should, if he's happy with our efforts and actions, all you have to do is ask. Go to Him in prayer, and He will guide you.

I hope you are all doing great. As always, thanks for your support and strength!

Cu drag,

Sora Adams

This is a view from our "patio" deck area. It gets really hot so we spend a lot of time out here.  This is a straight down shot that we can see.  You can see my tanned tootsies.  The heat has been a lot for me to handle.  A couple of weeks ago I had to elevate my feet and soak them in cold water because they were so swollen it concerned my companion and the older missionaries.  They are doing well now!