Small and Simple Things

 So here are the 5 biggest things that happened this week.

1.) WE LOVE FOTBAL! 

On Monday last week, after I sent out my mass email, I got to go to a Romanian Soccer game!  Woooooo!  Fotbal!  Hahaha we love it!

It rained hrough the whole game.  Timişoara lost. And there were probably only 60 fans in the stadium.  BUT, it was still a super intense game though!  

On Saturday, we also played soccer with all of our investigators.  It was so fun! 

2.) FAMILY HISTORY CLASS! 

We had our first family history class with the members of our church branch. We are using the website "Family Search"  (link below)  where you can look for you ancestors for FREE!  

You can also plug in your family's information if you cannot find it, which adds it to the database, and build a big family tree!  

It's pretty addicting, learning about your ancestors and seeing their photos.  We like to call it "Facebook for the dead" hahah joking but....seriously...ahaha

 We talked to them about the importance of family history and how we need to preserve our memories, photos and records online, so that they can never be forgotten.  

Haha.

Most of the members didn't like the idea of "digitizing" their life stories haha and I thought that was so funny.  It's just the generation gap haha.  I love them all.  

https://familysearch.org/  

3.) GETTING "CROSSED" 

So most people here, when they know we are "Mormons" always cross us, using the "Father, Son and Holy Ghost" hand movement over their chest.  

I thought this was a postive thing like, "Hey, thank you so much for blesing me with the Father, Son and Holy Ghost" kind of a thing.  

So I would always tell the people, "La fel!  Mulţumesc mult!  Aveţi o zi buna!"  ("To you too!  Thank you so much!  Have a great day!").

And then Sora Smith says, "They do that to protect themselves.  They think we are of the devil."

Oh . . . 

Hahaha.  I still think of it as a positive thing though....

4.)  AMERICAN ROOTBEER

The Senior Couple in Timişoara threw a little party this week because Elder Hunt (the Senior missionary) had his 65th birthday in Romania!  

We celebrated by making rootbeer, since they don't sell rootbeer here in Romania.  

Crazy right?  It just doesn't exist here.  

So we got some carbonated water, sugar and the vial of rootbeer flavoring the Hunt's brought with them from Utah and mixed it all up!

Bam.

Rootbeer.  

We had the 3 girls there with us and they had never had rootbeer before.  

They were hooked.  

5.) CHOIR PRACTICE 

All of the missionaries taught out first ward choir practice!  

The Timişoara branch needed more unity and we thought, "Hey, let's unite them through singing!".  

Now when it comes to singing (at least in church)  our branch is a little (a lot) tone deaf.  So we were pretty worried about, you now, assembling a CHOIR.  

We taught them about voice parts (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) and then we all, one by one, sang a line of a hymn, in a given voice part.

Then, we asked the ward members to sit by the missionary they felt sang the way they did (and also if they could comfortably sing the same part).  

We broke down each musical part, line by line, to the hmyn which was "The Iron Rod".    We showed them what it should sound like and taught them how to sing.  

By the end of class, they sounded LOVELY.  

It was a miracle.  

BY SMALL AND SIMPLE THINGS.

I've been in Romania less than two months and it has been rough.  No one likes feeling rejected.  

But, I have this little secret that keeps me going.  

Every day, I find at least ONE thing that makes me happy.  

I always write all of these things down in a little journal of mine.  It helps me remeber that we live in a beautiful world and that there are many incredible things that we often miss, because we are too busy, too stressed and simply because we are "too blind".  

So, my challenge to you all is to not just look, but look UP and look DOWN.  There is beautiful things out there but we have to look for them. 

It might be difficult.

There won't be a neon finger saying, "Hey!  Look at this!" (If only it was that easy).

But, I know you an do it.  And I know that when you do it, you WILL be happier.  

Lots of love,

-Sora Kendall Lee :)

FOTBAL!  With Miss Damaris and Miss Edina!  

My small and simple treasure.  Blossoms in Timi!  

CRAP IS SO GOOD.  It's caviar.  It tastes great on fresh, wheat bread.  

Feeling Useful! Funeral Planning.

This week was crazy!  But hey, that is Romania for you!

We started off the week on Monday with zone conference in Arad, (about 2 hours away by train).  We were there all day and that is why my Pday last week was bumped to Tuesday.  I also was pleased to find that I had received several letters through DearElder (keep them coming!) and a care package from HOME!  Gah!  It just made my whole week.  

Tuesday, we went and played soccer with the elders in our district.  It got really competative haha.

We went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders (STLs) who are currently serving in Cluj- about 6 hours away.  They came down for a day and a half and Sora Smith and I got a new companion for the day!  It was very fun.  We will be going on exchanges with them every transfer.

Sora Drotar was my new companion.  She is a convert to the church and ROMANIAN.  Um, yeah, I lucked out... We also got in a lot of good contacting

Since the weather was incredibly lovely, we went park contacting.  I showed the people we talked to the photos I had of my family.  I used it as an experience to practice my Romanian and the people we spoke to really enjoyed looking at all of them. 

Shout out to my brother Connor.  Every Romanian girl asked if you had a girlfriend.  That is your confidence boost of the week haha.  

We also talked to people about how the gospel of our church teaches us that we have the ability to be with our families forever, that when we die, we can still be a family unit, and that we won't be drifting around up in heaven all alone.  That message really comforted the people that we talked to.  We talked about the Plan of Salvation with people and and most people were interested in our message.  

I attached a little 3 minute video about the Plan of Salvation ( if anyone wants to learn more about it) -gah it is my favorite.  It just makes me so happy that I can be with my family for time and all eternity.  Gosh.  Just so happy.  

The Plan of Salvation answers the 3 biggest questions in this life:

-  "Where did I come from?"

-   "Why am I here?"

-   "Where am I going after I die?"

I have such a strong testimony of the Plan of Salvation.  This is why I went on a mission, so I could share this happy message with everyone I meet.  

https://www.lds.org/topics/plan-of-salvation/our-eternal-life/video?lang=eng

If you want to dig deeper.....This page, on the left hand collumn, you can learn more about the specific parts of the plan.

https://www.lds.org/topics/plan-of-salvation?lang=eng

This just makes me so happy... I couldn't help but share it!

So lots of contacting occured that day.... after the funeral we attended.

SAD NEWS (bring out the tissues!)

Sora Miţin, the woman I would go read to every week, passed away last week.  When I found out I was actually super happy.  She had been waiting for so long to just "be with God" and she didn't have to be sick any longer.  

Her funeral was very small and all of her funeral goers were very sad.  The missionaries were in charge of getting everything ready.  For some of the missionaries in my district, this was the first funeral they attended.  Sora Miţin looked so beautiful, she genuinely looked angelic.  She even had this little smile on her face.  I thought it was adorable.  

All I could think about was the Plan of Salvation, andf that I knew Sora M was up in Heaven, happy and with her family.  I know God loves us all so much and that he takes care of us.  

Gosh.  Just, I love the Plan of Salvation!

Okay so then, we had a big Relief Society conference in Oradea.  We were there all day long.  One of the activities was sewing blankets for several kindergartens in the city.  

I might not know Romanian but I do know the language of SEWING!  

HA!

That day was the most useful I have felt.  I was so excited that I got to share my talents and my love for sewing- all the way in ROMANIA!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just hopped on a machine, (there were only about 3 of us, including myself, who knew how to sew) and I went to work! 

(Bragging time)  I pumped out 20 blankets!!!!  

*Stands on soapbox*

I would like to thank my Grandma Lee for nurturing my love of sewing.  Thank you thatnk you for all of your patience and time you have invested in me.  In moe ways than one, you have prepared me for my mission.  Love you bunches Grannie!

I would like to thank Mrs. Rhonda from the Joanns fabric strore in Foothill Ranch, California for being so patient with me in sewing class as a 10 year old girl.  Thank you for having trust in me and so much confidence as to let me use you nice (and very expensive) sewing machine.  

*Gets off soapbox*

Well, I have to go, we are going to a real Fotbal game (Soccer game)!  It is going to be legit.  I am so pumped.  

GO ROMANIA!

Te pup, PA PA!

 

First care package!!!!

 Sewing away in Arad!  I love Sora O'Brien!

Spring time in Timi!

ONE MONTH IN PARADISE

I AM IN ROMANIA and I LOVE IT

Seriously.  I love it here hahaha.  Everyone reading this should come pick me up from Romania in 16 months haha.  No joke.  

Yesterday was my one month mark in the country!!!!!!!!

I really wanted to go to a Mexico mission but this...this is where I belong.  It's kind of like the Mexico of Europe and I just LOVE IT.  

ALSO my Pday is today because yesterday on Monday, we were in Arad for a big zone conference with other missionaries.  We got back too late and I ran out of email time.  That is why you are getting this email on Tuesday.

Ok. 

Cool.

So this week.......

Let me start with my English class.  Oh my goodness I love them.  

So my companion Sora Smith and I teach the medium level of English class. We have everyone from middle school students to elderly couples in that class-it is quite the bunch!  This week, we taught our class about how to give directions.  Up, down, left, straight ahead...things like that.  Then, we set up a maze.  We blindfolded members of our class and asked them to direct each other through the course.  It was so hilarious.  They seemed to get a kick out of that!  They asked us about the American holiday of "St. Patrick's Day" and I got very excited because, hey, I am Irish, I live for this stuff haha.  

So I am explaining about four leaf clovers, getting pinched and pots of gold.  One of the students raises his hand and says, "What about those little men?" Hahah and I was like "What?"  and then I said, "Oh my gosh yes LEPRECHAUNS!" Hahaha the English class got a kick out of leprechauns.  They all practiced saying the word hahaha.  It was so great.  I love Romanians.  Everything about America seems to excite them.  

After we had a great spiritual lesson, (see photo below) about how through the support of our families, friends, Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, we can endure hard things.   They had this huge stock pot and the elders kept filling it with water.  They asked one of their students to hold out the pot out in front of him, with his arms locked completely straight.  It was very difficult and he gave up pretty quickly.  But, we all got to represent a person helping this student out.  We put our hands under the pot, giving him additional support.  As more and more of us began to place our hands under the pot, the weight of the pot became more bearable.  

Whenever we are experiencing hard trials it is important that we have a strong support group to help us endure through the difficult times.  So, here is my challenge for you all this week: Who is one person that you can help?  I promise you that even the smallest thing you do, will make a great difference in their life.  

So all of our lessons fell through this week (welcome to Romania).  Then, we call up this cute little girl named Dahlia, who is ten years old.  We do 30/30s with her, her father brings her to class because we want her to learn English.  Usually, her dad never is an active participant, but recently, he has been extremely interested in our spiritual lessons at the end of her English session.  

We taught Dahlia about "Alegi ce e drept" or more famously, "Choose the Right".  For all of my non-LDS friends I am sure you have seen "CTR" rings.  I usually always wear one.  So what "Choose the Right" means is basically what it sounds like- make the correct choices.  Choose what is right.  Do good things.  Simple.  To help explain it more, I drew pictures up on the white board.  I divided the board into three lines, each with two photos in each line.  

The first line had a big, blossoming flower and the other side was a dead flower.

The second line had fruits and veggies on one side, and candies on the other side.

The third line had a smiley face and a sad face. 

I asked her to go through these items and circle the better choice.  I handed her the marker and slowly she circled the blossoming flower, the fruits and veggies and the smiley face.  Her dad leaned forward and told her, in Romanian haha, "You are excellent at making good choices, I am so proud of you!"  It was so cute.  We told her that everything that made her happy and feel good was what God wants her to do and she said that she agreed.  

We handed her a matching "ACD" ring and she was SO excited!  I love her.  Cutest Romanian girl.

Sora Smith and I made pancakes for the elders.  I got really fancy in the kitchen and made everyone Mickey Mouse pancakes hahaha.  Then, after, we all went out for Hot Coco hahaha my district is amazing.  

So let me tell you about Sunday.  Sundays are the funniest yet most spiritual days of the whole week.

So my "ward" (congregation) is very small.  So small, it is referred to as a branch.  We have about 15 members and they are all so different.  We have a lot of elderly people and they are very very tone def.  Hahaha.  When we sing hymns in our meetings, they all sing to their own little tune haha it is so hilarious.  I love them all so much.  

I GAVE MY FIRST TALK ON SUNDAY!  

My topic was on prophets and afterwards, some ward members told me that they are very impressed with my accent.  They really like hearing me speak Romanian.  So that was a HUGE compliment!  

So, I do not have a lot of "measurable success" in this mission.  Most of our lessons never occur, baptisms are rare, people refuse to talk to us, block our number on their phones, yell at us...it is hard.  But, at the same time, I know that the work I am doing here is not useless. I might not be able to see the results that I want but that doesn't mean that they will never happen.  It just a matter of time.  

It's like when there is all of this snow covering the ground.  It's discouraging, where did all of the color go?  When will spring come?  But, eventually, little flowers will manage to push their way up through the snow.  It takes time but eventually, we are able to see the result of all of Mother Nature's hard work.  I believe the exact same results will manifest themselves in the Romania/Moldova mission.  Maybe not while I am here, but maybe the next sets of missionaries will be able to enjoy the work I have prepared for them.  

I just have faith in my Heavenly Father and know that as long as I am do what he wants me to do, he will follow through on his end.  

I want to end with this poem by Douglas Malloch.  It is one of my favorites.  

Good timber does not grow with ease:

The stronger wind, the stronger trees;

The further sky, the greater length;

The more the storm, the more the strength.

By sun and cold, by rain and snow,

In trees and men good timbers grow.

I love Romania and I am so very happy to be serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  

Te pup,   Kisses,

Pa-pa!     Bye bye!

-Sora Lee

Spiritual Thought about our supports in life

My district at the BEST HOT COCOA PLACE EVER.  The hot cocoa is literally the consistency of pudding.  

 My Mickey Mouse pancake.  Ya'll be jelly of my mad homemaker skills

Balls of Paint and Green Bean Torture

-------------------Disclaimer the next few post might be a bit out of order! Sorry Sora Lee!--------------------
(Sent March 10th, 2014)
Wow okay this week.  Everything in Romania is just crazy. 

First off:

BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT TO MY LITTLE BROTHER!

18 AND FINALLY AN ADULT!

Someone go hug him for me!

I LOVE YOU CONNOR!

We have gone paintballing TWICE.  I'm addicted.  We had the chance to go on our Preparation Day or Pday, every Monday. The second time was for an activity with our investigators.  Most of them are really young.  Like ages 15-25 so they loved that activity.  I only have 1 welt but several bruises haha.  It is also SUPER cheap here.  It's about $20 and you get 200 rounds of ammo.  After that, it's about $5 for an additional 100 balls. The elders here go CRAZY.  It's terrifying playing with them.  

So we teach English classes here and they are amazing.  In addition to English classes twice a week, we do 30/30 lessons- 30 minutes of an activity and a 30 minute spiritual lesson.  Sora Smith teaches voice and piano lessons and she asked me what I want to teach.  I will be teaching these little girls how to dance and this other little girl I will give art lessons too!  It's fun being able to use my talents and share the gospel at the same time!

So we got this CRAZY referral from the office elders in Bucharest.  There is this woman who lives La Ţara (in the country side) from Timişoara and her husband is in Spain for business and the missionaries there found him and have been teaching him.  The man told the missionaries, "You need to teach my wife this.  She is back home in Romania"  SO WE GET TO TEACH THIS LADY!!!!!!!  Referrals are REAL peple!  Gah!  So pumped.  

But there is some bad news.  

The country side village where she lives is 3 hours away from Timişoara and so we had to get authorization from our mission president because it is to far from our boundaries.  But this ittle town is the CLOSEST to Timi so technically, we are the only missionaries who can go teach her. So we call President Hill and he says, "You have ONE lesson" CRUDDERS.  

We meet with her this week.  I hope it all goes great.  

Fingers crossed!

We also went to visit a less active member, Mama Romina, in La Ţara and we taught her about the importance of prayer and about God is her loving Heavenly Father.  She felt like she was being judged at church by some of the members so she asked us to keep her in our prayers and fast for her the following day, that she may have the faith to come back to church.  

So mid lesson, she asks us if you want any food.  I said "No thank you" but she only heard the "Thank you" and told me to go into the kitchen.  So we sit down and she pours me some water and gives me some bread and I'm like, "YES!  This isn't gross food!"  Then, she walks over with this big pot.  Guess what was inside.

My worst nightmare.

Something I dread more than the DMV or milk that is NOT non-fat.  

Green beans.  Oh my gosh I just about died.  

So I hate green beans with a firey passion.  But, I had to be polite so I spooned about 5 green beans on my plate.  The woman saw this and said, "Take more" and she spooned me some more green beans.  

It didn't stop with one spoonful

Not even two.

I had a PILE of green beens on my plate.  

Then, out of the kindness of her heart, she comes over and drizzles garlic juice all over it.

If anyone knows me and my family we try to AVOID garlic at all costs because it will stay in our bodies for DAYS and we will just reak.  

So, I was horrified.  

But guess who choked down ALL of those green beans?  THIS GIRL!  

It just goes to show that God really is helping us every step of the way guys.  

Ha.  Really though.  

So we finish our lesson after that horrible incident and I felt prompted to talk to her.  All that came out was, "Noi te iubim şi eu ştiu ca Dumnezeu te iubeşte al ceva no conteaza" or in English, "We love you and I know that God loves you and that is all that matters".  

Sora Smith invited her to church and we left.  We started our fast that night and got the elders in on it too.

SHE CAME TO CHURCH.  

Amazing.  Another fact:

God IS mindful of our prayers and the desires of our hearts.  

We just need to have faith in him and he will help us.  

Lots of love :)

-Sora Kendall Lee

Some of our elders and the young men from our little branch!

 Some of our investigator girlies!  They are adorable.  They want to be batized but their parents won't let them make that big of a decision until they are 18.  It's too bad because they are so ready.  

Sora Smith and I prepping for our intense match.  Oh.  My heart glasses? $2.  What a steal.  

Aliens and Crap

Hello everyone!  Okay so this week was pretty uneventful.  Hahaha BUT some cool things did happen.

So we had TWO lessons this week.  I know, pretty crazy.  We were going to have 6 but 4 of our lessons cancelled last minute.  Darn it!  The two lessons we had though were pretty amazing.  

Our first lesson was a 30/30 with a young girl named Victoria.  A 30/30 lesson is where we do 30  minutes of an activity and then a 30 minute lesson on the gospel.  Victoria is applying for Cambriage and wants to be an English major.  Her English is FLAWLESS.  I hope that my Romania can become as flawless as her English one day.  The lesson portion also went really well.  She is very interested in learning about the gospel.

So, while tracting, we passed by this group of men and I received many cat calls hahahha it was a weird mix of awkward feelings and happy feelings.  Haha like, "Thank you for the compliment, but you are creepy" Hahaha.  I was even wearing my ugly tracting shoes and they STILL thought I was cute haha.  I call that a successful week.

Kid English went swimmingly well this week because we only had ONE child!  Hahaha Claudiu, the little boy who always comes (who is also Sora Mitin's grandson- the woman I read to every week) is so wild hahaha and he has so much energy.  He is actually pretty smart and super hilarious.  Is it weird to say that I miss my job at Kid's Factory?  This week we start teaching adult English classes.  Crud haha. 

Sora Mitin this week was rushed to the hospital.  She was literally on the verge of death.  She said her goodbyes.  The next day she makes a MIRACULOUS recovery.  This lady has had several miraculous recoveries over a 10 year period.  Her body just does not want to give up the fight.  Go Sora Mitin go!  She told us though, "I just really want to die and live with God".  Haha she is so bluntly honest with us.  So, for her sake, we hope that moment comes soon but it never seems to come. Haha 

Alright so let me explain the title of my email.  There is this family that the missionaries have been teaching here for a few weeks now called the Crap family.  Haha okay get out all of your "she-said-the-word-crap" giggles right now because in Romania Crap is a type of fish. So they were talking with us before our lesson and they asked all of us missionaries where we are from and all the other missionaries said "Washington DC, Utah, Utah" and they didn't know where any of those places were.  Then they got to me and I said "Eu sunt din in California" and they all let out a big "OOOOOOOOOH!" Hahahaha.  

Then, they asked what I thought about Romania and I told them that it is different but a wonderful experience and that I was glad to be here.  And then I said "And I love Sarmale and your bread here is delicious!"  The wife started laughing and she said "Guess what I made for dinner"  SAR-FREAKING-MALE and HOT BREAD.  I just about died.  Tender mercy of the Lord for sure.  

Anyways, since I am a Boboaca (a baby duck/new missionary) I had to teach our first lesson.  So, I had to teach them about the restoration.  I've been in Romania for 9 days and I had to teach a lesson.  The Lord was definitely guiding me through the whole thing.  

It went really well and I was speaking Romania like a seasoned profesional (ha).  But really, it was going really well but, as Romanians always do, they like to go off on tangents.  So I'm getting ready to start the first vision and then one of the sons asks, "Does your church believe in aliens?" HAHAHAHAHHAHA and then they asked if we believe in ghosts and asked us what Christmas in America is like hahhaha.  Oh my gosh I was thinking, "What is going on right now" hahaha.  

It ended really well once the tangent came to an end.  

So yeup that was my week!  I love you all so much!!!!

-Sora Lee

PS Apartment photos will go out next week!

Photo 1: The elders made us HOT WINGS

Photo 2: Sora Smith and I make pancakes on Sundays and I thought this one kind of looked like a fetus....hahahaha

Photo 3: Tracting around in these babies.  Plus, look how beautiful the road is!

I am in ROMANIA!!!

UM I AM IN ROMANIA!

Ce este viata mea?  What is my life?!

It took 3 planes, one train and about 5 taxis BUT I AM HERE!

Holy nuggets, where do I even begin.  I haven't emailed in two weeks.

Okay so I was on a plane practically all day.  We landed in Bucharest and we ran all over the town, eating delicious bread, as we went to several different government buildings to obtain the necessary paperwork.  

We (I) ate more bread.

So we meet our wonderful nashas ("Step mothers" - other sister missionaries) for the evening, who let us sleep over at their apartments until the next morning when we are placed in our companionships.  We hopped in a taxi and I practiced my limba Romana with our taxi driver.  He blared Ke$ha really loudly and drove like a mad man haha.  It was fantastic.  

So awesome sleepover with Sora Parker and Sora Parr that night.  I love them.

Next day, we go into the central park and Present Hill reads the dedicatory prayer.  We sang hymns and all were so happy because we all felt the spirit so strongly.  

Um I love Romania. Like this is my second home.  Not even kidding.  It fits me so well. 

So, to President Hill's home we go and we get our new companions!  My companion is Sora Smith and she is from Orem, Utah.  She is funny and also a redhead haha.  

We got to sleep on a NIGHT TRAIN!  It was like something out of Harry Potter..  I am so sorry, I was too excited (and too tired) that I took no photos of it!

I AM IN TIMISOARA!  It is the cutest little gypsy town in the whole world.  There is an Orthodox church building on every corner.  There are also these HUGE gypsie mansions.  What is funny is that on the outside they look so extravagant but on the inside they are incredibly bare.

MY APARTMENT IS INSANELY AWESOME.  We have a staircase.  A STAIRCASE.  I just can't even begin to tell you all how cool it is.  I also have my own bathroom and I sleep in a HUGE bed.  Photos will follow next week once it has been properly decorated.   

So I am all unpacked and I am in the process of decorating my room hahaha. 

We went tracking for English class, we do that quite frequently.  We have these little cards that we hand out to everyone that say, "Free English Classes".  I'm getting really good at passing out these cards haha let me tell you all that I have found my secret talent.  

So twice a week we go over to Sora Mitin's house and we read to her from the Book of Mormon and the Bible.  Yes, we do all of this in ROMANIAN.  I just still can't believe it.  Okay so Sora Mitin is like the cutest grandmother in the universe.  You just look at her and smile.  She is terminally ill with cancer and is completely blind now and is bedridden.  She is a member of the church and just LOVES the missionaries.  She corrects all of our reading hahaha and then calls us "children".  Haha I could tell she was cracking jokes left and right because she would always laugh at herself.  She tells us that she goes out to the disco tech every night and parties hahahahhaaha. 

Sora Smith and I also teach English classes for children on Saturdays.  Perfect for me right?  Well, haha it is rather difficult for me to control children's behavior in Romanian.  I have no idea how to say "No running in the church" or "Please no yelling" or "Keep your hands to yourself" or "Please don't bite the hymn book" Hahaha.  Sora Smith, who has been here for 7 months is a little too passive and was saying nothing as the kids got out of line.  I was sweating buckets on the other hand hahaha.  I would like to thank my job at Kids Factory for preparing me for this moment. A little 4 year old Romanian girl stuck out her tongue at me when I told her "Stop".  That was like a slap in the face hahaha.

Hahah.  It was definitely a humbling experience.  I just look back on it and laugh haha.  

We had the chance to go to Oradea in a maxi taxi to attend a branch conference.  Part of the meeting was translated in English, and the other half was in Romania.  I had like 70% no idea what was going on but how I FELT in that meeting made up for it all.  Never in my life have a felt so much happiness and peace that only the Holy Ghost can bring.  It was incredible.  I an't even describe it...

The elders here are hilarious.  Today we ate hot wings, went lazer tagging and played card games.  They are so funny and their attitudes on everything are refreshing.  

Romania is seriously so amazing.  This really is the best place for me.  I am loving it all and having a GREAT time.  Gah.  I am just so happy.  

The church is true.

The book is blue.

I LOVE ROMANIA!

Photo 1 This huge Orthodox church next to a square where we proselyte in a lot!
Photo 2: My little church building!
Photo 3:Romania bread on our first day in Bucharest!
Photo 4:A Gypsy Mansion

Popcorn & Travel Plans

So in ONE WEEK FROM TODAY, I will finally be in Romania!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHH!

I'm just kind of (really) excited.

THIS WILL BE MY LAST DAY OF EMAILING IN AMERICA!

We received our travel plans in our mailbox on Friday!  Here is my itinerary (if you care to know) haha

Monday January 17th 

4:30am: depart MTC for Salt Lake airport

8:35am:  Delta Airlines flight to Minneapolis, Minnesota

12:20pm:  Arrive in Minneapolis

3:15pm:  Delta Airlines flight to Amsterdam, Netherlands

Tuesday, January 18th

6:35am: Arrive in Amsterdam, Netherlands

9:20am: Fly to ROMANIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1:05pm: Arrive in Bucharest, ROMANIA!

So yeah I'm on a plane for a full day haha

So last Monday, I got to go off campus and get my new retainers fitted.  It's always nice to have a change of view ya know?  So the man who drives the shuttle is kind of our best friend, Brent is the best, he has driven Sora Parr and I to all of our appointments.  He was the lucky shuttle driver who got to see me while I was all drugged up post wisdom teeth surgery.  

Anyways, when I was all drugged up, he told me he would take me to get a Frosty from Wendy's, which I really wanted, but never happened, because he had to go drive another companionship to an appointment.  

So he takes me to the orthodontist to fit my braces, and the orthodontist gives us all slushies- mine was blue raspberry just FYI.  So after the appointment we get in the car and Brent says, "Let's go to Wendy's" Hahahahahahah!  So we all went to Wendy's and it was quite an adventure.  

On Wednesday we got to be hosts again and escort new missionaries into the MTC!  I absolutely loved doing that!  I get to host new missionaries again this week and I am so excited.  So to the people who don't know what a host is: A missionary host is the elder or sister missionary who is waiting at the curb, when the missionaries' families pull up to the curb to drop them off I take your bags, reassures your family, drop their bags in their room and then take them straight to class haha.

We taught Oleea and Andrei again, both have committed to baptism and they will be baptized on Saturday.  Although they are acting, it still brings me so much excitement knowing that I can teach in a completely new language and that the Holy Ghost is real and that it is here to comfort and guide us.  In one week I will be out of Utah, no more practice, and I will get to be in somewhere in Romania, teaching others about the gospel of Jesus Christ and explaining to them that the gospel is the reason I am so happy.  I just cannot even wait.  

So my district of Romanian suror (sisters) is so tight.  It is going to be so hard saying goodbye to them in Bucharest.  I will eagerly be awaiting for transfers and hopefully soon, I will have the chance to be companions with one of them.  Currently, there are 16 sisters in Romania and none of them are leaving any time soon so that is super exciting!

Every night, all of the suror gather in my room and we have a popcorn party where we lay our a huge bed sheet, pop bags of popcorn, play uno and talk about our day.  It really is such an amazingly fun time with my suror!  We have a "Costco" display on the spare bunk bed, it's pilled high with treats we receive from our care packages.  98% of our pantry is here because of Sora Parr haha.  So we always joke around and say, "Hey, can you grab me something from the pantry?" ahhahaha.  

This is my last week in America!  So if you have any letters you want to send, send them my way!

I AM FINALLY GOING TO ROMANIA!

No More Wisdom (Teeth)

So this week in the MTC I had the pleasure of having not one, not two, but ALL FOUR of my wisdom teeth removed.  Would you like a back story?  I figured you would.

So it all started two weeks ago.  My mouth was just really achy and I figured it was a cavity. I've never had a cavity so I turned to my companion, Sora Parr and my honorary companions, Sora Barrera and Sora Robertson and basically told them, "Hey, my back teeth really hurt, do you think it's a cavity?" They all started busting up.  They told me that you don't usually feel cavities.  I thought they were losers haha so I still assumed it was a cavity and went to bed.

So next morning I wake up and the OTHER side of my mouth hurts.  Okay, this is weird I thought.  So that night, I tried to put in my retainers and they just wouldn't fit.  Weird again, because I wear them every single night.  So I figured something was up and I made an appointment with the MTC orthodontist to get everything checked out.  

So I'm at the orthodontist and it's this cute little office all decorated like Balboa Beach, California.  They are playing "worldy" music and Sora Parr and I took it as a tender mercy of the Lord.  We accidentally started singing along to Ke$ha, which made the dental assistant staff start busting up.  We immediately stopped singing when we realized we were having a mini jam session.

Okay back on topic, so he looked in my mouth, tries to stick in my retainer, and says, "Hey, lets take an x-ray to check those wisdom teeth". Um okay sure.  The x-ray was brutal.  Two of my wisdom teeth were beginning to breach through the gums and the other two were close behind.  

"YIKES! Sister Lee you are going to need all four of these out stat"

And that my friends is the story of how I had my wisdom teeth removed in the MTC.

I am doing GREAT and feeling FINE.  I've been told I'm not that swollen, another tender mercy of the Lord for sure.  I had my teeth out on Thursday and I tried to go to class on Friday.  I was about 20% mentally there in class haha and my teachers admired my dedication but told me that I needed to go home and rest haha.  

So pre-wisdom teeth extraction, I got to be a host and escort new missionaries into the MTC!  It was a great experience.  It reminded me so much of the day I was dropped off, one month ago at the MTC.  All of the moms were bawling.  Mom did you cry as you drove away?

Otherwise, it was a pretty mundane week.  LOTS OF LOVE!

-Sora Lee

BIRTHDAY SHOUTOUT TO MY GRANDPA LEE!  I love you SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! :)

I Speak Spamanian

Haha.  So this week started out quite lovely.

My lovely companion and sister-from-another-mister Sora Parr rolled her ankle in gym.  So now she is on crutches and I am her beacon of hope when it comes to helping her go up the stairs haha.  We have decided that this was a life lesson: Sora Parr needed to learn how to take help from others and I had to be more charitable haha. She is hobbling along just fine.  We always tell her, "Keep Calm and Crutch On".

So we got a new simpatizant (investigator), who was my teacher Sora Wilson.  Her "role play" name is Oleea and she is so cute.  More on Oleea (Ohlaya) later.  We also received ANOTHER simpatizant, Andreea (Andre) who is my teacher Fratele (Brother) Francin.  We teach them both every day.  It really helps us learn the language. Our teachers role play as people that they taught while on their missions in Romania, so basically they take on a new personality, new life events and new struggles.  Both of our simpatizants are extremely different.  Oleea is much easier to teach haha and Andrea asked us, "Do you go to the Disco-tech here?" Hahahaha we started busting up in our lesson.  Our teacher's acting was so good, he never ever breaks a smile or laughs while in character.   We didn't know how to say, "We aren't allowed to, we aren't here to party, we are here to work" Hahaha so we just said, "No, we are missionaries, no" hahahaha.

Okay so seriously, the spirit here is so strong.  I went in to teach Oleea with my companion and we were preparing her to be baptized.  She has been going to church for 3 years and reads the scriptures daily as well as regular prayers.  But for whatever reason, she has not been baptized.  So during this lesson, we decided it would be best to get to know her, not prepare a structured lesson and just talk.  So we are talking and i just get this spiritual promting to ask her about her mom.  So I said, "How is your mom doing?".  Oleea started crying and told me her mom was sick and she is very Orthodox and doesn't support me wanting to become Mormon".

Woah.  Sora Parr looked at me and whispered "Wow"

Yeah.  WOW.

So I just kept talking to her.  I was totally prompted by the spirit.  I really was just putting sentences together, thinking about how to say it in English, and then translating it into Romanian.  It was insane.  I understood EVERY word Oleea was speaking and I kept telling her, "Ele dicisie a fii botezat este dificil mult dar, dicisie a fii botezat este foarte importanta.  Oleea noi facem te ajutam".  Translation: the decision to be baptized is very difficult, but the decision to be baptized is very important.  Oleea we can help you do this".  

Then we asked her to be baptized.  We set the date in one month from now.  I said the closing prayer and as we are getting ready to leave, Oleea comes up to me and gives me the biggest hug, tears in her eyes and says, "Multumesc mult", "thank you so much".  

And then I lost it hahaha.

I cry more in the MTC than ever before.  The spirit here is so amazing.  Like, honestly, it's the reason why I am having so much success.  So Andreea when we taught him, he told us that he just feels so alone.  He said his family left him and his girlfriend is just everything he has.  He is in high school and he is just struggling.  So we were talking to him and we told him that no matter what, God is always there for you.  He said that he doesn't believe in God and he asked how we know there is a God.  So I start bearing my testimony, telling him that I know God exists because I have told him things I have never told anyone about.  I thought I was doing great, then my companion started laughing and I looked at Andreea and he just looked so confused.  

Sora Parr leaned over and whispered, "You just said everything in Spanish" ahahhahahahahah.  I could not believe that haha.  So I speak Spamanian quite fluently hahaha.  

So we had TRC (Teaching Resource Center), where we go and teach random people who speak Romanian (usually they are BYU students who served missions there) and we just go in and teach them a lesson according to the promptings we receive by the spirit.  No notes, just scriptures.  I was freaking out.

But it went great.

So so so great.

So I before I left on my mission, I was blog stalking this one sister missionary.  I seriously blabbled like crazy about Chrissy (Kristina) Hall, she just got home from serving a mission in Romania!  We met up in LA and had lunch.  Well guess what?  She was one of the investigators!  I didn't teach her but the other Surors did!  She saw me come out of the classroom and just hugged me like crazy!  It was so nice to see her!

Tomorrow Sora Parr and I get to leave the MTC to go to the orthodontist, I think my wisdom teeth decided to come in!  Hahaha so tomorrow I get xrays to check their growth status haha wish me well!

Locked Out, Sugared Up and Feeling Fine

Holy smokes,

I have survived yet ANOTHER week in the MTC.  

And I only have 4 more weeks left until I am in ROMANIA!

Okay so funny story......Last night me and my companion Sora Parr and the other Romanian Soras in my room, Sora Barrera and Sora Robertson were up talking and giggling like crazy. We had consumed vast amount of candy (thanks to Sora Parr's friend who sent our district yummy treats) For some reason we all couldn't fall asleep (because we were all on a sugar high) so we were just laying in the bed with the lights off, busting up.  Okay so we started laughing so hard it got to the point where we all really had to go to the bathroom and as always, girls must go to the bathroom in a big herd.  

So we all walk out of our apartment, laughing like nuts and then we hear, "click" as our door swings to a close.  Hahaha.  It was midnight and we just got locked out of our apartment. Hahaha we immediately started laughing, not a drop of fear came over us.  Usually, we put the stopper in the door when we go in and out but since our brains were fried, we had forgotten to do that.  Eagerly, we searched for a bobby pin, you know, so we could get all "secret agent" and try and pick the lock open.  That FAILED.  Haha so it got to the point where we ran to the red phone at the end of the hall which connects us to the front desk.  Sora Barrera was talking to the receptionist about getting us back into our apartment.  We were all so exhausted so of course we had that crazy laugh still going.

"Shoot" she said, "We have to walk all the way to the main building, then they can give us the key".  Okay so that doesn't sound bad right? WRONG.  It was about 5 degrees outside and we were all in our pajamas. We had no access to our coats or shoes because well, they were locked in our apartment haha.  For those of you familiar with the MTC, my apartment is down at the far end, by the big flags, towards BYU campus and I had to run to the main building, with the big glass windows and the check in desk, IN MY PJS. For my non LDS friends, it was the same distance as probably 2 football fields.  Only one of us had slippers on and the rest of us dug through the clothing donation bins to try and find something warm to put on hahaha.

So we get to the main building, wearing random borrowed clothes haha and the man at the front desk said, "This makes for a fun evening" hahaha.  We explained our story, how we all went to the bathroom together and the door shut behind us.  The man receptionist and the man security guard started busting up, "No problem Sisters, we completely understand, girls always have to pee together don't they?"  So they were nice and not mad at us at all and we got a loaner key and got back into our apartment.  That was such an experience.

GEORGE!  Sora Parr and I finished teaching our investigator George.  The lessons went incredibly well.  It gets to the point where we can complete understand what he says.  Sometimes we don't know how to answer and that is when the Spirit really guides the whole lesson.  So I had no idea how to say what I needed to say, so I opened up my Romanian phrase book (I call it the little gray book) and it just so happened to be the page that I needed.

It was such a blessing.

So we had been hesitant on giving George a Book of Mormon, just because we didn't want to seem all pushy.  So it comes to our third lesson and he flat out asks, "Can I please have a Book of Mormon?".  So Sora Parr's responsibility was to bring George's copy but alas, she forgot it hahaha.  So we had to tell him "next time, we forgot it" hahaha.  So then the fourth lesson, our last lesson teaching him, we invited George to be baptized.  Why not right? It's our last lesson might as well.  And he said, "I want to read more of this book before I will get baptized.  But when you come speak to me, you bring me so much peace and happiness.  You are so happy and I can tell that this gospel is something great.  This is definitely something I want in my life.  Will you come back tomorrow and teach me again?"  We told him that we would come back, even though in real life that was our last lesson with him. 

 In our review from George he said that he loves having Sora Parr and I come teach him, more so than the other Soras.  He said that we actually listen to his needs,and then help him, where as just teaching him a random message.  That made Sora Parr and I feel really good because we always struggle to put lessons together for him.  I can't wait to actually be IN Romania.

My Romanian is coming along quite well, I can pray in Romanian, bare my testimony in Romanian, recite the first vision and say my missionary purpose.  It really is amazing how much I have learned in only 12 days.  For my non LDS friends, you can read about the first vision below, as well as my missionary purpose so you know what the heck I'm talking about haha.

A missionary’s purpose is to: “invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end” (-Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service)

The first vision is: "When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" This is Joseph Smith's account of what he witnessed after he knelt in prayer and asked Heavenly Father for help

So I got to meet the most amazing people this week!  All of my LDS friends will be jelly!  President Bednar came to speak to us, as well as Sheri Dew and the General Primary President Sister Wixon!  It was great being able to personally meet LDS celebrities-haha.

So at gym the other day all of the Soras were trying to make a basket from the half court mark.  Me, trying to be all funny, decided that I would try to throw it over my head, as I stood backwards, and try to get the ball into the net haha.  Guess what?  I GOT IT IN THE BASKET!  Everyone in the gym must have seen it too because they all erupted in a big, "WOAHHHHHHHHH"! Hahaha.  Yeah, the MTC has enhanced my life in more ways then one.  I might have to sign with the NBA when I come back from my mission!

I am loving the MTC.  Shout out to Erika Hanson for writing me!  She is DA BOMB.  

I am so glad that I am serving a mission, I know that this is exactly what I need to be doing right now! 

La revedere si te iubesc!

Goodbye, I love you!

-Sora Lee

Greetings From the MTC

GREETINGS FROM THE MTC!

Okay so seriously the MTC is HARD but it's amazing.  Holy cow so much has happened in the past five days so I have no idea where to begin!

First off, my district, so all the missionaries going to Romania/Moldova (9 of us), ARE ALL SORAS!  There are NO ELDERS!  It is AMAZING!  We are all such amazing friends.  We all get along SO WELL it is such a blessing.  So my companion Sora Parr is basically my long lost sister.  We see eye to eye on everything and we are practically the same person.  Holy cow I am just so grateful, seriously so grateful she is my companion.  

So "drinking through a fire hose" is what they call your time in the Missionary Training Center.  You are pounded with information left and right and it's all coming at you hard and fast.  So I'm in class all day.  The second day in I kind of had a mental breakdown haha, it's a long story and I'll write more about it later.  No joke, (7:30am-9:30pm, with 3 breaks for breakfast, lunch and dinner at 40 minutes long) and I have never had so many headaches before in my life haha.  My teachers ALWAYS and ONLY speak in Romanian haha that was such a shock but I am learning it so fast.  I know how to pray in Romanian and put together basic sentences.  We sing songs in Romanian and it just sounds so beautiful, even if we aren't the most amazing singers.

My district is so fun and my zone is even better (for all my non LDS friends a zone is a larger group of missionaries.  My Romanian District is paired up with other districts.  Are you following? Hahaha) The other 2 districts we are paired with are going to Milan, Italy and Rome, Italy.  These districts are so funny.  We all just love and support each other.

I will write more later today so feel free to email me with your questions and I will respond back!  I'll be sending photos soon!  I have to go eat breakfast and then we get to go to the Provo temple!  It will be such an amazing experience to be there with my district!  I love them and I love ALL of you!

I'm happy, seriously so happy.  "Let your faith always be stronger than your fear".  I know that God places people into your life to help you and strengthen you.  I know that my relationship with you all and my relationship with my district/zone will help me become a strong missionary.  Thank you for your support, it really keeps me going.

La revedere eu te iubesc!

Goodbye and I love you all!

- Sora Lee 

PS YOU NEED TO WRITE ME.  Shout out to ALLI KENCK for being the only person who has sent me a letter!  Out of all the Soras in my district I receive the least amount of mail. Me:1 Them: 2,879.  Help a sister out!  Write me through DearElder.com.  Varog! Please!