Romania 30 Aug 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010 by Sora Jay
Hey everybody,
I got all your emails about the river rafting trip. That's cool.
Today I got to ride a bike for the first time since February. They have free bikes that you can ride at the parc, and they wouldn't let us play football so we checked out some bikes and rode them around. It was fun.
Maybe you all know, but this week was the Kiev, Ukraine temple dedication and we got to watch the broadcast because now it is the closest temple to Romania. I realized that I know a lot of Russian words (or Ukrainian) because they are the same in Romanian. I have no idea about the grammar though, except for little things that Jesh told me like declension and conjugation, and diminutive, which also all exist in Romanian. People think that I am from russia a lot of times when we talk to them, and maybe I'll get to serve in the Republic of Moldova where you have to know a little russian to do contacting. Anyway, President Monson was hilarious. He said a whole bunch of funny things and you could tell when he left the script because the translator would just look up and speak, and look uncomfortable. He was like missionary age, but he did a really good job even translating the jokes that President Monson told. When he finished his talk he almost sat down before he remembered that he needed to dedicate the temple. He talked a lot about families, and I hope that all of the Romanian members were listening because there are tons of part-member families here. That's something that we really want to work on, but it's hard because we have limited access to members because of missionaries who were disobedient in the past.
I didn't know that everybody was praying for Tom to get his visa. It probably is a really good experience for him to learn to teach by the spirit better in English before throwing in a different language. He will be even a better strength to the Brazil mission when he arrives because he will be experienced. My companion was getting frustrated because we don't have lessons very often like the lessons that she had in the MTC (with a golden investigator, in a quiet, clean place, with the ability to communicate perfectly). But you, and the investigator, can still feel the spirit when little kids are running aroung screaming, or when you're sitting on a bench next to a busy highway, and even when you can't understand what people are saying to you. They're good lessons, just different. I don't know how it is in Texas, but I think it is a good experience for Tom. Plus, then he'll be so much more grateful when he gets to Brazil and has ten baptisms every week. But, I guess I'll pray for him to get his visa sooner, because it's cool to be in a foreign country and that's the mission that he is called to.
I've heard a lot about Jensen and that he's really cute; you can send me a picture in an email, somebody. I would like that.
The special training that Ed isn't getting yet is already sort of filtered into the MTC experience, it is just a lot more intense out here. There is nothing actually different from the lessons in PMG or the stuff you learn from it, there are just some things that they want to emphasize, like following the spirit, teaching lessons not people, and helping people to make and keep commitments.
We have been keeping miracle journals since the beginning of this transfer. There is a lot of cool stuff in there that I could tell you guys about. Mostly about being in just the right place at just the right time so that we could find somebody who was ready to listen to us, or even who was searching for us like one inactive member that ran into. I probably should choose one and tell you about it each week, but I didn't think to bring the journal with me to internet today.
We are working toward the goal of 200 baptisms this year, and so far we have 86. We have been doing really good so far because we have gotten a lot more baptisms this year every month than we got last year, but we still have a ways to go; which is why we have been keeping miracle journals.
Love,
Sora Jay
P.S. I would like a copy of that talk that Ed watched (by Elder Bednar) if you can find it.
I got all your emails about the river rafting trip. That's cool.
Today I got to ride a bike for the first time since February. They have free bikes that you can ride at the parc, and they wouldn't let us play football so we checked out some bikes and rode them around. It was fun.
Maybe you all know, but this week was the Kiev, Ukraine temple dedication and we got to watch the broadcast because now it is the closest temple to Romania. I realized that I know a lot of Russian words (or Ukrainian) because they are the same in Romanian. I have no idea about the grammar though, except for little things that Jesh told me like declension and conjugation, and diminutive, which also all exist in Romanian. People think that I am from russia a lot of times when we talk to them, and maybe I'll get to serve in the Republic of Moldova where you have to know a little russian to do contacting. Anyway, President Monson was hilarious. He said a whole bunch of funny things and you could tell when he left the script because the translator would just look up and speak, and look uncomfortable. He was like missionary age, but he did a really good job even translating the jokes that President Monson told. When he finished his talk he almost sat down before he remembered that he needed to dedicate the temple. He talked a lot about families, and I hope that all of the Romanian members were listening because there are tons of part-member families here. That's something that we really want to work on, but it's hard because we have limited access to members because of missionaries who were disobedient in the past.
I didn't know that everybody was praying for Tom to get his visa. It probably is a really good experience for him to learn to teach by the spirit better in English before throwing in a different language. He will be even a better strength to the Brazil mission when he arrives because he will be experienced. My companion was getting frustrated because we don't have lessons very often like the lessons that she had in the MTC (with a golden investigator, in a quiet, clean place, with the ability to communicate perfectly). But you, and the investigator, can still feel the spirit when little kids are running aroung screaming, or when you're sitting on a bench next to a busy highway, and even when you can't understand what people are saying to you. They're good lessons, just different. I don't know how it is in Texas, but I think it is a good experience for Tom. Plus, then he'll be so much more grateful when he gets to Brazil and has ten baptisms every week. But, I guess I'll pray for him to get his visa sooner, because it's cool to be in a foreign country and that's the mission that he is called to.
I've heard a lot about Jensen and that he's really cute; you can send me a picture in an email, somebody. I would like that.
The special training that Ed isn't getting yet is already sort of filtered into the MTC experience, it is just a lot more intense out here. There is nothing actually different from the lessons in PMG or the stuff you learn from it, there are just some things that they want to emphasize, like following the spirit, teaching lessons not people, and helping people to make and keep commitments.
We have been keeping miracle journals since the beginning of this transfer. There is a lot of cool stuff in there that I could tell you guys about. Mostly about being in just the right place at just the right time so that we could find somebody who was ready to listen to us, or even who was searching for us like one inactive member that ran into. I probably should choose one and tell you about it each week, but I didn't think to bring the journal with me to internet today.
We are working toward the goal of 200 baptisms this year, and so far we have 86. We have been doing really good so far because we have gotten a lot more baptisms this year every month than we got last year, but we still have a ways to go; which is why we have been keeping miracle journals.
Love,
Sora Jay
P.S. I would like a copy of that talk that Ed watched (by Elder Bednar) if you can find it.
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