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

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