11 July 2011, Romania
Monday, July 11, 2011 by Sora Jay
Buna,
Sounds like some crazy things happened this week. I think Sally lives in too dangerous a place. It wasn't a super good week for me either, though.
We went out to a mini Zone Conference in Arad on Tuesday to meet the new president and his wife. They are super cool, and super smart people (plus they're noobs so they listen carefully to everything the experienced missionaries say). It was probably the most positive Zone Conference I have ever had because of the President and his wife. I'm sad that I won't be able to be here to see how things go. It was cool to go back to Arad, it was my first city and I was last there about a year ago. I still knew my way around the city, except for the tramvai lines because they changed. I was able to get a delicious vanilla croissant from the bakery by my old apartment, and they have introduced a new item, the caramel croissant, which is almost just as good. It was kind of depressing to go there though, and exhausting. We had to take a night train and get there at five in the morning and then start getting ready for the conference because there were six girls in the apartment so we had to start getting ready early. I slept a little bit before we left but I was still super tired. After Zone Conference we had to wait until midnight to catch our train back to Brasov so we went contacting in Arad. All the people there are super nice. That's what was depressing. Back when I was in Arad I didn't know how good I had it. People here aren't quite as nice, nor have I been in any area where people are that nice since then. I have also gotten a little tired of my companion this week.
We made some headway with that Pentecostal family we've been teaching, Family Nitsu. We had had only contentious lessons recently where they tried to show us a bunch of verses in the Bible and fight with us. We never fought back, and we always tried to bring back the subject to what we had planned but it never worked. But, when we met with them last I told them that they weren't listening (at least the dad). He said that he was listening and then asked a question and I said "I already answered that question like five times, obviously you weren't listening, see." Sora Bedebone said it was kind of scary when I raised my voice at them and told them to listen. When they tried to read more verses from the Bible I told them we already knew what was in there and wouldn't let them share it (because they just wanted to be contentious). It went on like this for a little while and we told them again that they had to pray to find out the truth. I told the dad that it took all the self control I had to keep from showing him all the things I knew in the Bible because I knew that it wouldn't help him know the truthfulness of our message anyway; he would just try to explain it away the was he had done with the few verses that I had shared. Finally the dad got a little smile on his face and said "I have an idea, you guys pray to know if there is something special about our family and our beliefs, and we will pray to know if Joseph Smith was a real prophet." I felt okay saying "da" and right after I said it the evil spirit of contention left the room and we were able to finish nicely. The son, Oni, asked in the closing prayer to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet. (They told me to expect my answer to come in a dream, and that I will see their family in my dream and if they are healthy it means that the way they practice religion is true but if they are unhealthy they don't have all the truth. That night I had a dream and there was a decrepit priest sitting in a wheelchair at the end of my dream, whereas I was very healthy and giving people tours of the city.) Nothing could ever make me believe that the Book of Mormon isn't true and that Joseph Smith wasn't a prophet of God. I don't need a dream to tell me what the Holy Ghost already has dozens of times. Anyway, we all left happy and comfortable, knowing that God would show us what to do. My week got a lot better after that lesson.
That's all the time I had.
Love,
Sora Jay
Sounds like some crazy things happened this week. I think Sally lives in too dangerous a place. It wasn't a super good week for me either, though.
We went out to a mini Zone Conference in Arad on Tuesday to meet the new president and his wife. They are super cool, and super smart people (plus they're noobs so they listen carefully to everything the experienced missionaries say). It was probably the most positive Zone Conference I have ever had because of the President and his wife. I'm sad that I won't be able to be here to see how things go. It was cool to go back to Arad, it was my first city and I was last there about a year ago. I still knew my way around the city, except for the tramvai lines because they changed. I was able to get a delicious vanilla croissant from the bakery by my old apartment, and they have introduced a new item, the caramel croissant, which is almost just as good. It was kind of depressing to go there though, and exhausting. We had to take a night train and get there at five in the morning and then start getting ready for the conference because there were six girls in the apartment so we had to start getting ready early. I slept a little bit before we left but I was still super tired. After Zone Conference we had to wait until midnight to catch our train back to Brasov so we went contacting in Arad. All the people there are super nice. That's what was depressing. Back when I was in Arad I didn't know how good I had it. People here aren't quite as nice, nor have I been in any area where people are that nice since then. I have also gotten a little tired of my companion this week.
We made some headway with that Pentecostal family we've been teaching, Family Nitsu. We had had only contentious lessons recently where they tried to show us a bunch of verses in the Bible and fight with us. We never fought back, and we always tried to bring back the subject to what we had planned but it never worked. But, when we met with them last I told them that they weren't listening (at least the dad). He said that he was listening and then asked a question and I said "I already answered that question like five times, obviously you weren't listening, see." Sora Bedebone said it was kind of scary when I raised my voice at them and told them to listen. When they tried to read more verses from the Bible I told them we already knew what was in there and wouldn't let them share it (because they just wanted to be contentious). It went on like this for a little while and we told them again that they had to pray to find out the truth. I told the dad that it took all the self control I had to keep from showing him all the things I knew in the Bible because I knew that it wouldn't help him know the truthfulness of our message anyway; he would just try to explain it away the was he had done with the few verses that I had shared. Finally the dad got a little smile on his face and said "I have an idea, you guys pray to know if there is something special about our family and our beliefs, and we will pray to know if Joseph Smith was a real prophet." I felt okay saying "da" and right after I said it the evil spirit of contention left the room and we were able to finish nicely. The son, Oni, asked in the closing prayer to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet. (They told me to expect my answer to come in a dream, and that I will see their family in my dream and if they are healthy it means that the way they practice religion is true but if they are unhealthy they don't have all the truth. That night I had a dream and there was a decrepit priest sitting in a wheelchair at the end of my dream, whereas I was very healthy and giving people tours of the city.) Nothing could ever make me believe that the Book of Mormon isn't true and that Joseph Smith wasn't a prophet of God. I don't need a dream to tell me what the Holy Ghost already has dozens of times. Anyway, we all left happy and comfortable, knowing that God would show us what to do. My week got a lot better after that lesson.
That's all the time I had.
Love,
Sora Jay
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