Today I'm writing you from a little internet cafe here in "the jungle" (out here that's what we call Bucuresti )! Last transfer our zone leaders left their car in a dealership in Pitesti to get some repairs done, and the office had us drive it back up to Bucuresti, which means we get to spend our P-day in Buc!! It was weird walking into the mission office - I barely even recognized it, I haden't been there since the day I came into the country! The office elders, assisants and President and Sora Hill were all there and gave us a warm greeting. Apparently Pitesti has been the talk of the mission lately!
Elder Simmons was just called to be the new assistant, so it was really good to see him again! On average though, our P-days have been pretty much the same. We went to Curtea de Arges last transfer, my second time going there. Elder Bateman's uncle drove us out, and it was gorgeous seeing everything covered in snow. We also went out to see a Cathederal in Mioven which is a small town 20 minutes outside of Pitesti. Other than that, we'll mainly just relax at our apartment. It's kind of nice sometimes to have a p-day where you don't really do anything. Mission life is just a consant go go go go.
By the way, I forgot to say this last week, but that story about the Moldovan police officer was incredible! That is such a miracle the way everything was timed just perfectly. Oh and I also remember mom asking me a couple weeks ago where I am in my Old Testament reading, and right now I'm over halfway through 1 Kings. It's been pretty interesting reading all the stories in there. I can't really say that it's always as spiritually fulfilling as reading the New Testament, or Book of Mormon, but it helps me get a better understanding of Jewish culture and also of all the symbolism that exists in Christianity. I've also been reading Jesus the Christ throughout my mission, and am getting close to finishing it. James E. Talmage was an incredibly intelligent and knowledgeable man, and reading that also helps me understand the Bible so much better.
Well, there's bad news and good news. The bad news is that D--- wasn't baptised this Saturday. He didn't pass his batpismal interview. Our zone leader who conducted the interview said that there were a couple things that D--- wasn't totally sure on. We established a new baptismal date for March 3 with him. We feel a lot better about this date, and I think that everything has happened this way for the better. I think it has helped him really see how big and significant getting baptized is. I felt disappointed and frustrated with myself; feeling like I didn't do my part as a teacher as well as I should have, but like I always say hindsight is always 20/20.
We were able to meet up with our investigator D--- on Saturday, and he came to church for like the 5th time yesterday! He's progressing really well. He's been absolutely eating up everything the church has to offer. He's still reading the Book of Mormon, and he's also been reading the Gospel Principles manual and loves it. He's a really inteligent man and humble enough to be taught by the Spirit. In our lesson with him we covered the first half of the Plan of Salvation and he understood everything perfectly. Everything we share with him he really takes it to heart and ponders and meditates over it. Yesterday I sat next to him during church and all throughout the service he was either fixated on the talks being given and lessons being shared, or he was reading from the scriptures. At one point during Sunday School he turned to me, looked me in the eyes and sais "Myers, ce mici suntem. Nu stiim ce se intampla peste o ora." "Myers, we are so small. We don't know what happens in even an hour." The way he said it really hit me. At that point I knew that the Spirit was working deep within him. He was beginning to truly understand the nature of God and the gospel, and I knew that he was experiencing a change within himself. I could see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice, and feel the Holy Ghost close to us.
We also met up twice with C--- and unfortunately he's not progressing very well and dropped his baptismal date for the 3rd. He's going through a tough time, getting a lot of pressure from his family to find a job and to start picking up his life and going somewhere. The problem is, he never graduated high school and has no work experience and no money to go back to school. He's feeling pretty lost and looking for a way to have a stable family life and financial situation. We've been trying to help him see that the thing that will help him the most is putting God first in his life, and seeking His will. Once you do that, then everythying else starts to slowly piece itself together. He told us that he prays every night, but he hasn't been reading from the Book of Mormon or the Bible for that matter and he's just confused. We asked him if he ever prayed to have God show him what He wants him to do, and he said no because he's afraid that what God wants him to do won't line up with what he wants to do.
Hopefully he will start putting more trust in God and relying on Him for help with his family and for finding a job. It was a good reminder to me of how important it is that no matter what, we need to put God first, above everything else in our lives, and how living the gospel really does bless you in every aspect of life. I feel so blessed to have grown up in the gospel and to have these things taught to me since I was a little kid. They have become ingrained in the person that I am today and I know that everything that I have has come to me because of my commitment to living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I know there's probably more to say, but I can't really think of what.....the weather's been warming up a tiny little bit here. At least, it's stopped snowing and the sun has been coming out during the day. I can't wait for spring! Thanks for the pictures of the cats, they looked warm and cozy! Whenever I read Miranda's name it always makes me think of a type of soda that's here called Mirinda. Random thought. I'm glad you've been enjoying so much warm weather. Hopefully it will rain and snow some more though so that summer doesn't turn into a drought. I remember the one winter where it would be up in the 80's in the middle of December and January!
That's awesome that Eli was able to brave out the snowy cold campout. Those were always some of my favorite campouts. I always loved sleeping out in the snow, even if I did freeze half to death most of the time, it just had a sense of adventure that I loved. It's been fun beeing surrounded by snow out here although sometimes it gets pretty old having to trudge through loose slush and slippery ice all day. Thanks for the great emails, hope you have a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Myers
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