Christ is Risen!

Hristos a inviat! Christ is risen! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. I know I did. We got together with the entire district and the two senior couples here and had an Easter dinner. I ate enough food to last me the entire week. Worth it. If you haven't seen the Easter videos put together by the church yet, you should definitely check them out atlds.org.

This week we spent some time getting a residency permit for Sora Sayre so she can stay in Moldova longer. You can only stay for two transfers without one. Looks like she could be staying her for awhile. I won't be getting one as I only have two transfers after this one. I'll be heading back to Romania for my last transfer. Anyway, we met with a lawyer and had Sora Sayre's blood tested (to find out what type it is), took a trip to the American embassy, and met with a member who helps us with bills and things. We got all that taken care of just in time to have it completely processed and good to go before her time in the country runs out. 

We were able to meet with some members this week, one of them being the branch president's family. They have two little kids who are adorable. We went into their apartment and took a seat on the couch and immediately their kids start going back and forth grabbing all of their toys to show us what they have. They were so funny. As we began our spiritual thought though, the feeling in the apartment changed. A peace filled the room as we talked about our Savior and all that He did for us. It was really cool.

The other two members we visited are less actives. The first of the two has a physical disability that makes it hard for her to come to church. I enjoyed getting to know her, and despite the hardship, she has a desire to come to church again. She is a such a sweet woman. She's interested in learning how to do her family history, so hopefully we'll be able to help her with that. We'll be meeting with her again this week.

The second member we visited teaches people English for a living. She's also an artist. She does sketches of people and water colors of flowers and things. She's interesting to talk to and will tell you exactly what she thinks. She's pretty awesome. She also has a cat named Richard. What makes Richard so special? He loves hard boiled eggs. We brought one over for him. It was so funny to watch him perk up just at the sight of the egg. When the egg was actually cracked open, Richard started to beg a little, rubbing against this member's leg and making cute little noises. His flattery paid off and he finally received his egg. I think he approved of our visit. 

Oh I forgot. We had another visit as well with an adorable little family! The wife is a member but the husband isn't. They have two little girls. It was great to visit them and to see a picture of the temple and of Christ hanging up. The husband only speaks Russian and we only speak Romanian, but it all worked out. He can understand Romanian okay, but can't speak it. In the end he was very willing for us to return and visit.

To conclude, I like to bring things back to our Savior. I went on an exchange with Sora Kelly this week and one of the things that we talked about was the atonement and applying it into our lives. She told me how she's recently been realizing how the atonement not only just for the forgiveness of sins. Being on missions, sometimes it's a lot easier for us to realize just how many weaknesses we have. It can be very easy to be overly hard on ourselves. But the thing is, Christ knows about those too. He knows our weaknesses. He knows how we feel when after something happens we look back and think, "Why did I do that? Why didn't I do it this way?" We're not perfect beings yet and both He and our Heavenly Father know that. But because of the Atonement we can eventually become perfect. Christ will help us down the road to perfection. He will strengthen us in our weakness. He can because He understands them perfectly. He's proud of the efforts we make even if we fall up short. He will pick us up and help us to do better the next time. I'm so grateful for a Savior who understands me completely, and because He does He knows how to heal me, strengthen me, and bring me back to the Father. Jesus Christ lives. He really did pay the price for our sins. He really did die for us and He rose again. Because of that, we too will rise again from the grave. We will become resurrected beings. This life is not the end. Because of Christ, life has purpose and meaning and hope!

I love you all! I hope you had a great Easter.

Love,

Sora Adams

Reaching the Promised Land

Hello. Hello. Hello!

I hope all is well on the homefront. Here's the latest from Moldova. It's been raining like crazy. Well it actually isn't that bad except for this main street that's right by our aparment that could use some drainage help. The other day, the street was pretty much a river. We attempted to cross it at the end of the day, looking for shallow spots. Yeah. That didn't work. We made it home with drenched feet and lots of laughter.

We had zone training meeting this week. All the missionaries in Moldova came down to Chisinau. It was pretty great. There's been a big push to start using family history in contacting. I haven't really tried it yet. That's what part of our training was about. I love family history, and I'm excited to get to do it again when I go home. It's a little more tricky here as many of their resources haven't yet been digitilized, but steps are being made in that direction and there's still the old fashioned way of doing research. Anyway, I hope that's something that will catch fire here. We also spoke a lot about making goals and making Heavenly Father a part of that. I'm sure I've talked about that before, but I really do know that we receive extra strength as we bring our goals to the Lord, whatever they may be, and He will help us to achieve those worthy goals. 

We were able to have two lessons this week, both with people we'd met with the week before for half English, half gospel lessons. Our first one was with a middle aged woman. We had asked her to read the introduction to the Book of Mormon and she had! And she expressed some interest in continuing to read. We talked to her about the Restoration. She was very attentive. Sora Sayre and I both felt very good about it afterwards. We both took part in the lesson (Sora Sayre was so happy to have been able to speak), and even though we're not perfect with the language I felt that the spirit was with us adding power to the words we could say. I felt the spirit later as I reflected on the lesson later and felt that Heavenly Father is proud of us and our efforts. This woman wants to meet with us again and to show us all of her pictures from when she went to the Holy Land. 

The second person we met with is a college student. We had planned on talking to her about the Restoration as well, but it turned into more of getting to know each other and talking about different traditions here versus in America. As we were talking with her, we both felt that it was okay that we didn't go with what we had planned as we both felt that this was something she needed to help build up things before we continue on with more of our message. And she was able to ask us a couple of questions about how we do things, so we had the opportunity to bear testimony on a few principles such as prayer. She stayed for our sports night afterwards. (Our sport was spoons. It was still wet outside.) I'm hoping she'll come to more things in the future.

So we have institute here in Chisinau. This week we've been talking about the book of Ether in the Book of Mormon. (Side Note: Institute, like church, is half in Russian and half in Romanian. It's quite the adventure. I'm starting to learn some basic Russian words. Hello. Goodbye. Thank you. That sort of thing. End of side note.) We talked about the Jaredites and their experience of building the barges and crossing the ocean to the promised land. I really liked something that the teacher pointed out. She noted that when the Jaredites arrived after almost an entire year of being in this barges at sea that they immediately gave praises to their Heavenly Father. We talked about how it couldn't have been easy to make that trip. There's a few things I've thought of that makes me grateful that I didn't have to make that trip... But I love what our teacher said. She said that the Promised Land was even more beautiful to them because of the trials they had endured and overcome. It made me think of life in general and how I feel that that applies to certain aspects of my life. Some things are more sweet to me because of the trial. I have learned some precious truths and gained greater trust and assurances as a result of some of the trials I've had to face. In my mind I thought of the Celestial Kingdom as my own promised land, and I thought of how beautiful it will seem to me to arrive, to be greeted by my Savior who will tell me, "Well done. You made it." And then to be there with those I love for eternity. The trials are worth it if that's what is waiting for me at the end, and I know that if we are faithful, that IS what is waiting for us.

How grateful I am for this gospel and to know that this life is not the end. Every life will have trials,
 but we can have peace and hope through our Savior. Because of Him, all is not lost. Because of Him, we can have everlasting life. I testify that He lives and loves us and will strengthen us in our trials. He has taken on all the pains of the world. He will lighten our burdens if we allow Him to.

Have a great week!

Sora Adams

Greetings from Moldova!

Greetings from Moldova!

Although similar to Romania, I definitely have adjusting to do. There's a lot more Russian here. I can buy dairy products in bags instead of tubs. Sometimes I speak to people in Romanian only to be greeted by blank stares because they only know Russian. But so far so good. It's beautiful here. My district is great. I'm serving with senior couples which I love. All of the investigators and members I've met so far are amazing and full of smiles. Basically I know I'm going to love my time here.

Oh, and Sora Sayre is awesome. I'm second transfer training her, but I seriously feel like it's the other way around. She's got everything together. She's making efforts to speak (we try to speak as much as we can in Romanian) and take part in lessons, and she's doing great. She serves everyone. Seriously, the first thing she thinks in every situation is, "How can I help?" She is a great missionary and I'm grateful for this opportunity to serve with her.

We've already been able to have a few lessons. They were 30/30 lessons. I'm not sure if I ever explained what those are, but they are lessons where we teach English for the first half and then talk about the gospel for the second half. Each person we met with accepted a Book of Mormon if they didn't already have one and agreed to read the introduction so we can talk more about it later. We were able to set up future lessons with most of them, and we're looking forward to meeting with them again.

General Conference was amazing. I hope that you were all able to view the sessions. They were all shown at the church at different times so I was able to see them. The last session wasn't but I was able to watch that earlier today at one of the senior couple's homes. If you didn't have a chance to see it, I highly recommend that you make some time this week to do so. You can watch it all at lds.org. How blessed we are to live on the earth at a time when prophets and apostles are upon the earth! One of the things that stood out to me was the emphasis on loving and serving each other and how we can bring people to Christ through extending love to them. It made me wonder what I can be doing so that people can feel more of the love of our Savior through me. I want people to feel that because I've felt it, and there's no greater feeling then feeling loved. As one of the apostles said, the best way to serve our Heavenly Father is to serve His children, and I think that's the best way to help bring them onto the path towards our Heavenly Father's presence. 

Some talks that I liked in particular were those shared by President Uchtdorf, President Monson, and Elder Bednar. I loved how Elder Bednar explained how we are strengthened and healed through the Atonement not just as far as sin is concerned but with all of our pains and sorrows. He read one of my favorite scriptures concerning the Atonement:

 11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and ^aafflictions and^btemptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will ^ctake upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

 12 And he will take upon him ^adeath, that he may ^bloose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according tothe flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to ^csuccor his people according to their infirmities.

I know that through the Atonement of Christ we can receive strength to overcome not just sin but our weaknesses, our fears, and our heartache. All three members of the godhead work together to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." All three of them want us to make it back to our Father in Heaven and will help us get there. I hope we will follow the great counsel of all those who spoke this weekend, that we will love and serve one another, that we will live in thanksgiving daily, and that we will be faithfully obedient, knowing that whatever Heavenly Father commands is for our benefit. Another thing I loved was the assertion that we were saved for this time--that we were prepared! We were taught before we came to earth, and we are given the tools to return. None of us were sent here to fail.

How grateful I am for this gospel and for our Savior who makes all things possible. I know that Heavenly Father is aware of each one of us personally and He will send angels to bear us up just as He has promised. Life is good, and it's preparing us for something even better, an eternal life in the mansions of our Father with all those whom we love. When times are rough, remember that you have a savior who suffered all and will lift your burdens and lead you back to our Father.

Have a great week!

Sora Adams

So Long Bucharesti!

 

After just one transfer here in Buc I'm heading off for a new adventure in a new place. In fact, I think I'll take a step out of Romania for a bit. Do you remember how my mission is the Romania/Moldova mission? Well, they're sending me to Moldova. I'm going to Chisinau! I'll be second transfer training. I was pretty shocked, but I'm also really excited. I hear good things.

This transfer we had a little initiative to use piano lessons as a means to meet with part member families or nonmembers in general. Sora DeRuvo and I haven't had the opportunity to do any of these lessons until this week. There's this great member who's here for school. (She's been a member for a little over a year and was actually taught by one of my former companions.) She came with a friend for lessons. It was so great. Sora DeRuvo taught her friend while I got to talk to her a little bit. They only had a certain amount of time so we didn't get to talk about the gospel or anything, but that's okay because apparently we made an impression. We received a text later from this member telling us that her friend loved us and how kind we were and couldn't stop talking about us. She showed some interest in coming to activities and institute. Hopefully that will work out and Sora DeRuvo will continue to work with her.

We ended up having one final exchange this week. It wasn't required, but we discovered that if we want we can go on exchanges with the other STLs in Buc. We decided we liked that idea so that we could talk to someone else about our goals and learn from each other. I did an exchange with Sora Bischoff who is still quite young in the mission. First of all, I am so impressed with her language skills. I was actually a little intimidated at first ha ha. I should have jotted down notes on all the things we learned and the insights we shared because I feel like we had really good conversations and I can't think of any of them right now! Anyway, it was a great sunny day, and we found this great park, so we got some good contacting done. We actually met some really cool people. No one was really interested in learning more about our message, but for the most part they were still really nice. Even if people aren't ready to hear more about our message I just hope that we can have a touch for good in their lives, and if the only thing they learn in that moment is that people from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are nice people then I'm okay with that.

We had a great activity on Saturday with the Korean family in our branch. Have I mentioned the Korean family? Well in case I haven't I will tell you now. First of all, I love them. I can't get over how much a love them. They are amazing. This is why. They've only been here for a few months. They don't know any Romanian and the only one who knows a bit of English is the father. And yet they come to church every single week. They spoke in church last week and the spirit was so strong. They obviously have such strong testimonies. I believe they moved here because of work. Anyway, our activity on Saturday was to make some Korean food with them and then feast all together. They taught us to make sushi (no raw fish) and there was some noodle dish and some meat dish that I couldn't tell you what it is, but it was very delicious. I helped by cooking up the meat. Sister Lee and I couldn't communicate except for the few words we could both understand (okay, off, salt, that's pretty much it). She had Brother Lee tell me a few things, but for the most part it was just hand gestures, smiles, and laughs. As this process went on, my heart was just so filled with love for this woman. She's beautiful, has a great smile, and we were able to get along despite a major language barrier. Basically it was just great to share in their culture with them, to include them, to just be united as branch members in love and fun. Basically that was one of the highlights of my week.

I feel that there are many small little thoughts I want to leave with you as I draw near to the close of this e-mail. Perhaps I can fit it all in.

Thought 1: Look for the tender mercies of the Lord in your life. I promise you that you can find them daily. Some days they may be harder to spot, but Heavenly Father is a part of your life. You are literally His child, and He is very aware of you. Even in hard times if you have your spiritual eyes open you can see those little tender mercies. Maybe your trials won't be taken away in that moment, but Heavenly Father never requires you to go through those trials alone.

Thought 2: Prayer is a very real thing, a very real connection with our Father in Heaven. He answers our prayers. Maybe it won't be in the way or timing we expect, but He always answers.

Thought 3: We don't always know all the answers and that's okay. Not everything will make sense to us now with our mortal minds. Things just take time to be learned and we are all on different levels. We don't all have the same mind. As we seek answers and come to the Lord with our questions He will guide us and add upon the knowledge we have. He knows us best, therefore He knows how to teach us best and what we are ready to learn.

I think that'll do for now. I know that perhaps sometimes I repeat myself, but these are the things I feel like sharing again and again because they are true and I see them in my life. Last but not least, I am so excited for General Conference this weekend! I can't believe it's been six months! I'm so excited. I didn't get to hear the women's conference, but hopefully I'll get the chance soon. I encourage you all to take time for General Conference. We have been blessed with a prophet on the earth in our day who guides and directs us. I know that if we follow the counsel shared in this meeting that we will come closer to our Father in Heaven and our Savior and we will remain on the path towards eternal life. Do not take this opportunity for granted.

I love you all. I pray that you will find comfort in times when life is hard and that you will be able to see the tender mercies of the Lord in your life. Open your heart to Him. He will hear you. He will bless you. He will not forsake you.

Have a wonderful week.

With love,

Sora Adams

Let The Sun Shine In

Hello one and all. I hope you are beginning to see some sun where ever you find yourself in the world right now. We are very happy that tights are no longer a necessity. Well, according to us. Older women keep commenting on our naked legs and saying, "Aren't you cold?" When we tell them we're fine they comment about our youth. I love these people. They make me smile.

We had our final exchange this week with the other set of sisters here with us in Panduri (Panduri is a section of Bucuresti. There are two districts here: Panduri and Mihai Bravu.) I had my exchange with Sora Hovey, and she is great! We had some cool experiences together. One was during our contacting time. I'll be honest, even after all this time it's still a little hard for me to go up and talk to people. I really have to push myself to do it sometimes. And it paid off because we met this wonderful older woman named Carmen.

 She was sitting by herself on a park bench. We approached her and asked her if she would take our survey. She invited us to sit down next to her, and we began. We learned so much about this woman! She is so faithful! She told us a lot about herself--how she's a 

widow, how her only child lives far away and can't come home to see her, things like that. Her faith was very evident as she told us how God helps her through her struggles. She talked with us for a long time. As she did, tears came to her eyes. She then told us about how she had had a dream the previous night where she was eating grapes. When she woke in the morning she asked God why she would cry as apparently having a dream where you eat grapes is a sign that you will be crying. She then said that in that moment she understood why. She told us we were angels sent to her from God. Afterwards, we helped her get to the bus that would take her home. As we were helping her to walk I just kept thinking, "This is what it's all about." I was amazed that she was so touched by us when I didn't feel like we had even done much of anything. Even so, I know the spirit was there with us, and I'm so grateful for opportunities to serve! Sora Hovey and I were both really touched by this experience.

Sora DeRuvo and I also had a lesson this week with a woman that she and Sora Fletcher met in a park. The lesson didn't seem to end so well, and the woman seemed to have no further interest in meeting with us. So you can imagine our surprise and joy when she showed up at the church a few days later wanting to meet with us! We haven't been able to set up something yet, but we're hoping that will go through!

On Saturday we had the chance to go to a member's home and help them with their garden (think big garden not wee little garden). We were out there for a few hours working the land. Well, mostly I was gathering twigs and putting them in bundles, but still, it was good work. It's always nice to have opportunities to do service. We don't get a lot of it here and we always enjoy it. There truly is great satisfaction in it. We all had a picnic together of roasted chicken and rolls. The chicken was served by tearing it from the full body with bare hands. That's the way it should be eaten :) It was a great day.

In other news, we had zone conference this week. We spent a good amount of time preparing for that as we had a 45 minute presentation with the other STLs and we prepared a special musical number. It was great to see everyone, to feel of the spirit, and have encouraging words from President Hill as he assured us the work is moving forward and we are doing good things here in Romania. He told us that we are blessing the lives of these people and that's what this gospel is all about. He also said that we are fulfilling the role we were sent to do. He also assured us that we have the right to ask Heavenly Father to know how we're doing.

 This is something I know to be true and something that applies to us even when we aren't on missions. It's so easy to get discouraged and to think that we aren't doing enough or that perhaps we aren't as good as Brother or Sister so and so. We may be afraid of what other people think of us, but the only opinion of us that matters is Heavenly Father's. We are His children and He will love us no matter what. And if we are afraid that there is more that we can be doing or something needs to change, we can turn to Him to know what that thing is or to receive the encouragement that we are doing better than we think we are. If we do have something that needs changing in our lives, He will help us to change it. I have come to see more and more how Heavenly Father really does have a hand in our lives every single day. If you strive to look for those moments, you will find them.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Cu mare drag,                                                

Sora Adams

Package from home!!!
 Thanks for the socks Sister Peterson!!



And taffy from Leavenworth from Dad!!!

Baptism and Priesthood Blessings

First of all, we had a baptism on Saturday! It was a really sweet experience and I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to be there and to show my support for Roxana as she took this important step in her life. Roxana comes from a part member family. Her father is a member but her mother is not. At the beginning of the transfer, we were told that her mother had decided that if baptism is what Roxana really wanted then she would let it happen. The other sister in our district (Soras Fletcher and Hovey) began to teach her the lessons. The baptismal service was held an hour after our English class. We always give a little spiritual thought at the end of class, so a couple of elders talked about baptism and invited our students to the service. A few of the parents stayed with their children from our kid's class as they were curious how it was done. The kids were so adorable and sat with Sora DeRuvo and me. Their little chorus of amens was adorable. The three other sister missionaries and myself sang “How Great Thou Art” for the service. As we sang, I literally had chills. I could feel the spirit there, and I was so glad to look out into the congregation and see in their faces that they could feel it too. After we sang, Roxana was baptized. All the little kids squeezed their way up front. After it was over, they all spoke to each other in excited voices, saying, “I want to be baptized too!” The whole experience was just so sweet all around. Roxana shared her testimony and it was just so great to see how happy she was. Best day ever.

We were able to go see our investigator and her kids again this week. They are amazing. The assistants came with us so that they could give them blessings. This family really is so great. They've been praying together and reading from the Book of Mormon. The girls were very proud to tell us how far they'd gotten. We talked to them about the plan of salvation. We hadn't planned on giving them a baptismal invitation, but the lesson was going well, and it seemed right. We asked them if they would be baptized after they have received answers to their prayers that this church and our message is true. They all nodded their heads in agreement. We kept our cool as Sora DeRuvo expressed the importance of finding the answer for yourself. We were pretty much partying on the inside. We won't be able to visit with them again for a little bit with all this hospital stuff they have to do, but I really hope they follow through and that they recognize their answer. I have confidence in them! Afterward the elders gave the girls blessings of health. It was so cute because then their little brother really wanted one. Of course they gave him a blessing as well as their mother. What sweet words were expressed!

I am so grateful for the priesthood. It's something that Sora DeRuvo and I have been talking about lately. It's such a wonderful gift and yet another proof of God's love for us. The priesthood truly is the power and authority of God. It is a very real power, one that we can have in our lives. I am always touched when I see these worthy young men administering to people here, righteously using the priesthood which has been given to them. I am so grateful for the worthy men in my own life who have blessed me so much. The priesthood is such a great strength in our lives and will give us blessings, power, and strength to return to our father in heaven.

We had another exchange this week in a wee little town called Alexandria. Seriously, working with the sisters is great. They are such a strength to me. I don't think they even realize it. We actually had a really cool experience as we went out contacting. Well, first of all we just met some really nice people who were willing to talk with us for a moment. When we came to the last home of the street we were contacting on, a nice woman came to the gate. We were doing survey contacting (we conduct a survey with a series of religious based questions). The last question helps lead us into discussion about the Book of Mormon (if there were another book of scripture outside of the Bible would you be interested in reading it). At first this woman seemed very against the idea that there could be any other scripture or that it is even necessary. We began to tell her more about it, but she still didn't seem very interested, and I felt like I was starting to fumble over my words a little. Sora Bray came in with a nice save and we were able to finish our explanation and leave her with our testimonies. After we had testified, she said she would be willing to take a copy for curiosity sake. She made sure we understood she was only curious, which of course is fine. When she realize we weren't going to force anything on her, it was really cool to see her countenance change. She want from being on guard with little to no interest, to inviting us back over some time to have a glass of suc (juice or pop) and talk with her. She was really nice. It was a really cool experience.

In closing, if you get a chance this week, please take some time to read this talk by Richard G. Scott. And thanks to Dad for sending it to me! It is amazing, and I really needed to hear some of the things in there. I hope that it can be a strength to you as well: https://www.lds.org/ensign/1995/11/trust-in-the-lord?lang=eng

As always, thanks for your love and support. Also, Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

                                            Soccor!

Love,

Sora Adams

Lots of Work to Do

                                                        We had another busy week.

We had two exchanges, one on Wednesday and one the following day. We started out by going to Pitesti. The sisters there have been visiting a part member family that lives outside of town. It takes an hour and half to get there, so that took up a good portion of our exchange! We went all together and taught the family who are amazing. They are so happy and funny. One of them just got baptized yesterday! It was so great. Once we got back from the lesson, we had to do what we call "closing ceremonies" where we do apartment checks and talk with the sisters about a few things (goals they want to set, etc). Then we had to catch our train to make it to Craiova that same evening. While we were in Craiova it rained all day. My feet got really wet. Turns out my boots are wearing out. We did some English contacting and Sora Newell and I had a 30/30 (half English lesson/half gospel lesson). We met with two girls who volunteer at a hospital together. They seem really nice and they had even read the introduction to the Book of Mormon like the sisters had asked them to. We reviewed that and talked a little more about the Book of Mormon and what it is and invited them to pray to know of it's truthfulness. They were hesitant to commit, so we bore our testimonies of the strength and blessing that it is in our lives and promised them that it will bless their lives as well. I really hope that they give it a chance.

I really enjoyed visiting with the sisters and sharing experiences with them. I learned some good things from them, and I hope I was able to help them out in some small way. Sora Gee got me to thinking about how we are chosen to be here on the earth at this time. She talked about how one of our roles is to share the gospel, and how she believes we were excited to take on that role. We have such great missionaries here. I'm looking forward to working with more of them!

We haven't been able to meet with one of our investigators again. Timing just hasn't matched up with our exchanges and all the doctor visits with her kids. We're hoping we'll be able to visit with them later in the week.

Other than that, we're teaching children's English and we've actually got a good turn out. The hard thing is that we have a couple of young ones (4 years old) mixed in with some older ones (11) and some of the older ones are bored. I think some of the other older ones just like knowing the answers so it's okay that they've had a lot of review so far. It's hard to find the balance, but we'll figure it out. I think we're going to try and find more games/songs to teach them. They should help keep it interesting.

Oh, cool story. The other day we were out contacting and someone behind me said something about Mormon. I didn't catch what they said, but Sora Deruvo did because it was Italian. She turns around and asks them if they're from Italy which they are. They strike up a conversation. It was a girl and her mother. The girl looked at Sora Deruvo's nametag and recognized the name. Turns out this girl was in the same EFY group as Sora Deruvo's sisters some time back. Small world, huh? 

One thing I've been thinking about this week is attitude and how it really does make a difference. I was impressed when we visited the sisters that although things aren't always easy and they definitely have some tales to tell that they were still laughing and smiling. They were having fun. I was thinking about it also as I did some bloc knocking this week (knocking on apartment doors). I'll be honest, it's not my favorite thing to do, but as I tried to look at it with a better attitude and took strength from my companion, it really wasn't so bad. I realize that a change of attitude is sometimes easier said then done. I think part of it comes down to creating the habit. Being happy and not grumpy honestly is a skill that can be developed. There will always be hard things that we are faced with in life. We can either focus on the negative and be grumpy and sour or we can face adversity with a smile on our face, recognizing the good that is still in our lives and the little tender mercies that God blesses us with. Smile. Laugh. It's healthy, and you'll enjoy life so much more! There's always something to be grateful for in everyday. For example, today I am grateful for biscuits, dry streets, e-mail, an awesome companion, senior couples who can cut hair (I chopped mine off today), etc. Like all things, it takes practice and Heavenly Father will help you as you come to Him with a sincere desire.

Love you all! Have a great week. We should be nice and busy again with the rest of our exchanges. I looking forward to it.

Love,
Sora Adams