Brown Eyed Girl Takes on the World: Christmas Cookies = Smiling Romanians!

TO START: We have figured out the secret to getting Romanians to smile- give them cookies!

This week Sora Trebas thought we'd bake a couple dozen cookies and deliver them to our friends around the city! Welp, we rolled up our sleeves and got baking! We have about a dozen really good "friends" around the city that we talk to on a daily basis so we thought, let's make their day a little....sweeter!!!! We have never seen them smile so big!

While on the metro with all of our cookies we attracted some pretty odd glances (these were more glances of awe than glances of disgust that we commonly get) and it was a great opportunity for us to talk to more people!

"Hey, we're Americans and this is a tradition that we have there, to bake cookies for our friends"

"Yes these are cookies"

"Yes we made them"

"You want to try one?"

"We used sugar, flour..."

"Yes, Americans do cook"

"We bakes cookies for our friends, is that something weird here?"

Hahaha basically sums up our conversations with people.

We gave cookies to...almost everyone we chatted with!

Treebs and I got hungry so we decided to order a pizza. It was Treebas' turn to order the pizza and I told her that if she was scared to do it in Romanian, she could order in English. So she orders in English and the delivery man, Addi, is like, "I don't understand you, do you speak Romanian?" OH YES WE DO! So we were laughing and cracking jokes with this pizza man in Romanian. So we hang up and I get this thought, "give him a cookie and a pass along card". So he arrives and gives us our pizza and tells us he will come back up with the change.

So we run outside to meet him, Addi, I'm in my pig slippers and my missionary clothes and we hand over a cookie and a card and wish him a "Craciun Fericit!". And he just gets the biggest smile and says, "You are so happy. People here aren't. You are so different and I really want to learn more about what makes you so happy"

AHAHHDGDUGVAUIAGBVJ!

TIP: Talking to your friends about the gospel is much easier than trying to talk to strangers about the gospel. So, make friends as a missionary. You can change their life just by caring about them!

SECONDLY:

We had Zone Conference this week and I was in charge of decorations for the Panduri chapel. It was a very inspirational Zone Conference and one of the themes was "Be IN Your Mission". And I thought- WOAH! That was our theme for Youth Conference when I was in high school!

So I'm really "IN" my mission. I'm in it to grow, to learn, to love and serve. My whole heart and attention is here and I wouldn't have it any other way.

THIRDLY:

So I wanted to contact this lady on the metro so I sit by her and noticing all of her shopping bags I say to her in Romanian, "Are you excited for Christmas?"

And she is like, "I don't talk to you" in ENGLISH hahahaha I was just partially sad, partially confused and partially humored.

FOURTHLY:

Sora Trebas and I were on the metro (shocker) and I see this lady and in my mind I'm like, "I need to talk to her" but I shake it off because I think it's nothing. But the thought stays and lingers in my mind.

Then, Sora Trebas leans over and whispers, "Sora Lee, do we need to talk to that woman?"

And I was like, "Yes". So Trebas goes over there and talks to her and the woman said, "I know who you are, I've seen you both on the metro". I told her we had Christmas message that we wanted to share with her and she said, "Yes, I will call you, I want to hear it".

Unfortunately we have not been able to get a hold of her but we are praying and fasting for this woman Alina that we may be able to help her.

FIFTHLY:

One of security guard friends in the metro comes up to us one night and he is like, "Hey, do you have anything I can read tonight? I want to learn more about what you believe". The only thing we had on us at the time was the church magazine the Liahona, conference edition. So we stood there in the metro and taught a short 5 minute lesson about how we have a living prophet on the earth today and he has 12 apostles just like Christ had. We told him why we need a prophet and how through a prophet we can learn what the Lord wants us to do.

And he was like, "Thank you, I'm excited to read this"

!!!!!!!!!!!!

SIXTHLY:

One of our ward members got MARRIED! He is from India and she is Romanian, and they are such a cute couple and speak perfect English. We were invited to their reception at the church. Sora Trebas sand a beautiful song and I was the unofficial wedding photographer haha. We just love them! The wife is not a member and we are going to try to begin teaching her the lessons!

SEVENTHLY:

This week we visited our special friends again and had a little Christmas party with them. Usually, there are only a few of the children's parents are there but at this Christmas party, there were 3 new parents. When we walked in, their faces were cold towards us. We continued in our activities. Laughing, dancing and playing games with our friends. At the end, we all sit down and one of the mothers gets up, her face had been one of the hardest, and she says, "When you kids walked through the door, something changed in the room. There was more joy, more happiness..more goodness".

I wanted to cry.

We all explained why we are here serving missions and we bore testimonies telling why specifically we chose to be a missionary. Then, they all asked if there was a day when they could come to church with us...we will be inviting them on Sunday to come.

"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God. " -Mosiah 2:17

I just love service!!!!!!

I'm just loving this mission and I am so grateful for Christmas time and how it is a time for everyone to think more about Christ.

Loving the work, Loving the people and Loving the Lord,

:) Sora Lee