So just a little mission news, this is the last week President Lundberg will be in Romania! He actually leaves tomorrow I think, then President Hill comes in and on the 5th of July we're having a big conference in Arad and we're all going to meet him, so that's exciting! Oh and I just want to say thanks for forwarding Adam's emails to me, it's been really cool reading about his missionary experiences.
So, since Dad asked, here's a bit about the branch's situation. Things have been going pretty well with the two new counselors in the branch presidency (the branch president is still the same) although the second counselor, Levi, is gone to Greece for six months for work. Recently, Elder Simmons and I have been encouraging and suggesting that the branch leadership start doing Priesthood Executive Meetings every week and get a Home Teaching program started up. It's really hard to get things going here because the inactivity rate is so high. In our last meeting with the branch president we saw in him some of the immense stress that must be on him. He is a really good man who has the love and support of a lot of the members, but things are still pretty tough.
The inactive family that we've been teaching we probably will drop them soon because they're not progressing at all. Every week we've been teaching them repentance and forgiveness, and being really straightforward with them, letting them know that they're stopping their own eternal progression by the choices they're making, but nothing has changed. The whole family is trapped in the dealings and pleasures of the world and no matter what we say to them, no matter how strong the Spirit is felt during our lessons, once we leave, so does the Spirit, and they're all back to square one. From their teaching records, this pattern has been going on for years and years. They're at a point where members need to step in and show them love and support or they're not going to come back. So that's been really sad to see.
This week we went out to a little countryside village where the relief society president, Sora Miron, lives to help her clean up her back yard. Last Sunday a section of her house collapsed and so we spent a good chunk of the day helping them clear out all the rubble. That's been pretty big disaster for her and her two daughters, but they're really strong positive people and are taking it all in stride. It felt really good to be able to get dirty, use my hands, and do some hard physical labor; although it pretty much wiped me and Elder Simmons out for the next couple days haha. I don't think I've ever fallen asleep so quickly! But anyways, the Miron family is really cool. Sora Miron is a single mother to two girls, Ema who is like 17 or so and Alecu (Alexandra) who is turning 21 and in August will be serving a mission in Madrid, Spain. They're a really cool family and a huge support to this branch.
As far as investigators go, we had 3 people at church this week! George, Marcela, and Hans. George is one of our english students, has met with the missionaries in the past, and is pretty good friends with Alecu; Marcela is a sweet middle aged lady that we called from an old potential investigator list and had a couple lessons with; and Hans is the guy who was referred to us from Ias like 3 weeks ago! Up until now we had only had 1 lesson with Hans and never really was able to get back in contact with him because he has a crazy work schedule but then one night this week we felt like we should go visit him and he happened to be home! He let us in, and we had a really good lesson about how God helps us through our trials. He told us that God will never put an obstacle before us that we will not be able to overcome and that as long as we are humble and ask for God's help, He will give it to us. I thought it was so cool that he had such a deep understanding of our Heavenly Father and seeing his faith in God. It always amazes me when investigators have an inherent clear understanding about certain points of doctrine and the nature of God that they gain through personal experiences. I love recognizing and seeing ways that God has helped people and ways the Spirit has taught them eternal truths, even if on the whole they are misguided. Seeing those little glimmers of truth and light give me hope for the people of Romania, because Satan has such a strong influence on this country.
Well I don't have much time, but thank you all for your words of love and encouragement. You can let Jennifer know that I've really appreciated the past few emails she's sent me and that I will write the Bradley's a letter as soon as I can. I had some pictures to send you of what we did for p-day today, but I forgot to bring my camera cord so I'll have to send them next week. We went out to this little ski resort town and Ploiana that's up in the mountains. It was so beautiful there, and we went to this restaurant where they serve a lot of game, so we had broiled dear and bear steaks! It was really good. Ok well I hope you all have a beautiful week, thanks for the pictures of Ember and Tristan! Oh and if you could send me my pin code for my debit card that would be awesome, I kind of forgot it.......Love you!
Love, Elder Myers
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