Adunare in the Hungary/România Mission

Had a very good day today.  We had a district meeting at about 2:00 pm We covered training and talked about other things.  Then I gave the closing prayer.  I did it in Romanian.It was quit an experience but I survived.  The Elders wanted us to stay for the branch game night.  We told them we had things to do and left.  After getting done with shopping we came home to eat.  After dinner I said to Jamie that I felt that I should go see how things were going at the game night.  When I got there I was suprised to see so many people there.  I introduced myself to everyone present then went into the game room.  After playing a game for a while one of the people from outside the room came in and told me she had figured out who I was.  She told me that she is Janel Andersen cousin and came to say hi.  She went Romania on a mission in 2006 and came back to visit.  It made my day to meet a person that knew who I am and was happy to see me.  Here is a picture.  It was so good to see her.  Her

We know that He sees farther than we do. We know that He can provide for us and others in ways we cannot understand. We know that as we follow His will, even when we do not fully understand why, and even when it is contrary to something that we have planned or even worked toward, He will bless us in ways we cannot now even imagine.   a quote from  a talk by David F Evans at a BYU-Hawaii devotional called Choosing the Will of the Father.

Week 3 of the mission is in the bag.  The week was mostly consumed with the sisters' conference and the details of getting there and back and such. I posted about that earlier.   Friday we met with Elder and Sister Jenkins from Utah, who lives in Hungary right now.  He is a former banker and is here on a finance mission. He oversees the training of all the Branch Presidents. They end up driving a lot and had lots of adventures to tell. Seated left to right: Elder Jenkins, Elder Meek, Elder Andersen, and Elder Wilstead. They are in the Arad church building.  On Saturday, we did what all good Mormons do and went to clean the church.  We thought it had been a while since it had been vacuumed and mopped. Brent doesn't mind mopping, but prefers the sturdy commercial tools for the job.  He had to make do with the mop that was there.  In the evening we went with the Sisters and Elders to visit two families in the ward.  It was interesting to see their homes.  I wish I ha

On Wednesday and Thursday this week, April 19 and 20, the young sister missionaries and I attended a mission conference in Bucharest.   We met at the only "real" looking chapel in the country.  The branches meet in rented spaces that slightly resemble churches, but not much.  Sister Ivory gave a wonderful opening speech about the importance and influence of mothers and motherhood.  It was outstanding.  Great topic for today's young women sisters.  The opening was followed by a yummy lunch of chicken salad, croissants and vegetables, prepared by the senior sisters headed up by our own Sora Ann Winder from Shelley, Idaho. It was beautiful and good. The Ivory's hosted us at the J W Marriot in Bucharest. Here are the printed menu and the appetizer,  a roasted beetroot and basil marinated tofu, walnut hummus and crispy olive bread appetizer. Sister Edwards and Sister Leavitt Chicken roulade filled with mozzarella cheese and sun dried tomatoes, ma

We are both homesick today and faced the day dreading what would happen, but we had a really great day. We attended the Arad ward which usually has about 12 members attending, but because of Easter, some were out of town. We both had someone sitting by us to help us understand what was being said.  We could feel the spirit and the people were kind and seemed happy to see us.   In the afternoon we traveled to Oradea for a special Easter program.  It was organized by the District Presidents wife who loves to sing.  She had a choir of members and missionaries.  They did a fine job.  It was very spiritual.  She showed some church videos along with the singing that really brought the spirit to the meeting. 

The flight to Romania was 9 hours from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam.  We traveled with 3 other missionary couples two of which were headed to South Africa.  The other couple, the Leavitts, were going to Bucharest, Romania with us.  The airline was called KLM, royal dutch airline.  They kept us pretty full of snacks and treats, but no peanuts.  They made an announcement that there would no peanuts served because someone onboard was allergic and they asked that if anyone onboard had peanuts, they should not eat them while on the plane.  Brent kept himself entertained with many games of Texas Hold Em and Black Jack.  Jamie watched Moana, LaLaLand and 4 episodes of Fixer Upper.   We were happy to land in Amsterdam and be able to walk around a bit.  Sadly we were not able to see much of the famous tulip field.  We could see a few from the plane window.  The fields appeared as patches of bright color on the ground.  Soon we were in the air again without the South African missionaries he

MTC Building 2M - 3rd floor for Seniors ONLY This is our first assignment. Jessica and Aela took us to the MTC where we checked in and received our room assignment.  We were allowed to drive right to the door of building .  We were greeted by a bunch of young elders and sisters who took our bags to our room for us.  Then we were off to classes. Our classes were all taken from Preach My Gospel.  What an awesome book it is!  Our returned missionary teachers were insightful and by the end of the first day, I was convinced that EVERYONE needs this experience. And here is the assignment list.  We are group 1.  Assigned to the Japanese couple. We became good friends with the Haras, thanks to our assignment. Here we are with the Leavitts from Taylorsville who are also going to Romania Our study district. 1st row: Sister Lombardi, Sister Wright, Jamie 2nd row:  Brother Arslanian, Brother Zufelt, Elder Lombardi, Elder Wright, Elder Andersen, Brother Holling