Vine Toamna!!!

Brasov, Romania

Here comes fall! The weather's coolling down, the leaves are changing colors, and everyone's stocking up on their peppers, garlic, eggplants, onions, cabbage and who knows what for their winter stocks. It's hard to believe I'm hitting my year mark in under a month!! There are only two more weeks left in this transfer, and I have no clue what's going to happen next. I'm 98% positive that I'll be leaving Brasov, but as to where I'll be going and what I'll be doing, I can't even guess. 


Right now, I'm just looking forward to a new week. A new week with new people, new possibilities, starting fresh on a new slate. To be completely honest, Elder Cox and I have been tried a lot this week. This whole transfer, really. We now literally have zero investigators. W------, our miracle block knock lady called us yesterday and said that she couldn't continue to have us over. Her son found out that she's been investigating our church and that if she changes religions he will completely dissown her and stop supporting her. She lives off a pension that is 2000 ron less than what just her monthly rent costs and so has no way of supporting herself. She was really sad when she told us about the whole situation and you could tell that she wished things were different. I was left speechless on the phone and didn't really know what to say or think. That is so backwards and cruel. Usually its the parents that threaten to disown their kids for joining the church but instead, an old lady's own children who are the only people that can help and support her threaten to cut her off? The same person who raised them and supported them their whole lives? If that's not the work of Satan, I don't know what is. 


Just a few days before we had a lesson with her and a member who came with us. We taught her about the five steps to the Gospel of Jesus Christ -- Faith, Repentence, Baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End, and really focused on the necessity of being baptized by the proper authority, which was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. We asked her if she continued to find what we were teaching her to be true, if she would be baptized, to which she readily said yes. But now, of course, that's a completely different story.

On the bright side, we had a potential investigator come to church yesterday. His name is Andries and is friends with a former branch president in Timisoara, has a Book of Mormon and knows a fair amount about the church. He left after the 2nd hour, saying that we'd keep in touch. He didn't really say anything else and we're hoping that he wasn't turned off by something someone said. 


Raul's baptism is still on for this Saturday, and General Conference is this weekend!!!!!!!!! I can't wait! We're really hoping that we'll be able to bring a lot of investigators to it. It's the perfect missionary tool because the investiators get to see the prophet and apostles that we allways talk about, and they also get to see that there is much much more to our church than a group of 20 Romanians that worship together every week. There is such a power in the words spoken at General Conference. Then zone conference is this Wednesday and I'm looking forward to that as well. Zone conference has always been a time of encouragement for me, and a time where I can recieve more guidance and help on things that I could be doing better.

I'm sorry I don't really have very much to say this week. I'm really trying to think and focuse on all the positive things that happened, because there really was a lot of negative. This has been a really challenging transfer for me and Elder Cox, but we're both learning a lot about working hard, relying on the Lord, following the Spirit, and understanding the will of the Lord.

Brasov, Romania

Oh, a cool contact we had this week was with this guy named Virgil. He's in the Army and has done a tour in Iraq. We found him in the park just sitting on a bench and we both felt prompted to go talk to him. I asked him if he believes in God, and he said yes. Then I asked him what things make him listen to God's will. He thought about it, and said that no one has ever asked him that before. Then Elder Cox and I continued asking him qestions that eventually opened him up to talking a Book of Mormon and to seriously study and consider what we were saying. Some of the things that he said that really stuck out to us were how he doesn't agree with child baptism. He was born Orthodox and baptized Orthodox when he was a baby, and he doesn't think that's right because at that age you're not aware of the meaning of baptism and the promises to God that are associated with it. We told him how through modern revelation we know that someone must be old enough to make the decision for themselves whether or not to be baptized, and what church to be baptized into. He really liked that, and throught that common thread we were able to teach him a watered down version of the Restoration of the Gospel through Joseph Smith. He seemed genuinely interested in it all, and took a Book of Mormon. I really hope we'll be able to meet with him again. I'm just not sure how long he'll be in the area since he's part of the military.

Well, I'll let you know how things go at zone conference with my song. It will be just me playing it on a guitar. I"ll get someone to record it on my camera and then send you the memory card for it. Thank you for all your constant love and support, and I hope mom's having an awesome time in Georgia with Nana! Oh and thanks for the money update on my account. I love you all, and look forward to hearing from you next week!

Love,
Elder Myers

P.S. I've attached some more pictures that I've taken just around the city. The last one is a shot down the top of the stairwell of a 10 story apartment block.