TRANSFERS

Drum roll please...................................................................! I will be staying in Arad! However, Elder Harrison will be serving as a zone leader in Bucuresti. My new companion's name is Elder Taylor, and I will be training him as a zone leader (meaning this will be his first transfer as a zone leader). He's been in the mission about the same amount of time as Elder Harrison, one transfer less, I think. I've only met him once or twice, so I don't really know much about him but he seemed like an awesome guy and a great missionary the times I did get to talk to him.

Sora Cook will be staying, and Sora Remsberg is getting transfered to Sibiu, which up until now has never had sister missionaries! That will be pretty exciting for her. This transfer there is a big group ahead of me who almost all of them except for one or two are going home this week, so we have 11 new incoming missionaries!! President Hill told me that he is transfering 1/4 of the whole mission to new areas! I'm really excited for this next transfer, and I have a feeling it will just fly by.

Touring an old water tower on p-day
Sora Remsburg,  Sora Cook, and Elder Harrison

Photos from inside a 100 year old water tank in Arad, Romania

Every Friday we have weekly planning where we plan for all of our investigators what we're going to teach them, when we're going to meet, ect. and this last Friday it hit me that I'm actually going into my last transfer. After this, that's it. Kind of a weird thought. I only have six weeks left in the mission! I don't really know how I feel about that. In a way, it's really satisfying though, knowing that I have to give everything I've got for only six more weeks, and then that's it. Earlier on in my mission the amount of time I had left seemed staggering, and sometimes I wondered if it would ever actually end but know that the end is within sight I almost feel like it came too soon. It's like you said mom, there are a lot of things about home that I miss and that I can't wait to go back to, but I have a feeling I will miss Romania more than anything I've had to do without the past two years.






Thanks for sending me Heather's address! I'll send her package as soon as possible. And just so you know, I've already gotten you a set of nesting dolls. They had some at the market place close to our apartment and they were super cheep. Their not the greatest quality, but their hand made and 100% authentic! I was thinking about mailing them to you in a package but I'm afraid of them getting broken or stolen. I know that in the Republic of Moldova they have really nice ones that are hand-made but they are a lot more expensive and I wouldn't have any way of getting one before I go home.

This past week has gone by pretty quickly. We were up in Oradea on Wednesday for a baptismal interview! His name is Christian, he's in his twenties, and he just got baptized last Friday! I conducted the baptismal interview, and his testimony and understanding of the gospel was so powerful! He really gets it. 

Unfortunately things are only continuing to go slowly with our investigators. We've run into R--- a couple times and he keeps telling us that we'll talk later on the phone. M--- keeps having to postpone our apointments for some reason or another; so we've actually been knocking on a fair amount of doors this week. The good part is that we've been meeting some really cool people! This Sunday we were out vila knocking, when a man answered his door and told us he was atheist. Whenever I meet an atheist I'm always curious to find out why they don't believe in God, and this man was open and friendly with us and after a few minutes of conversation let us in his house. 

He said he had a video he wanted to show us that explained why he didn't believe in God, and we agreed to watching it. At first I was a little worried about what I was getting into and the film started with some comedien making some pretty crude and vulgar jokes about God and religion, but that was just a little introduction. The meat of the film was actually really interesting and if anything, strengthened my faith in Christ even more. It took on a historical and scientific standpoint of claiming that Christianity was just copied from other ancient religions. It compared the main gods of the worlds biggest riligions both modern and Ancient, like Helos and Set the Egyptian Sun god and god of darkness, Greek and Hindu gods, and gods from many other cultures.

According to this film all of these major gods had many things in common, like being born on Dec 25 of a virgin with the sign of an eastern star, having 12 deciples, performing miracles, and being resurrected 3 days after their death. He related to the sun being symbolic of all these different "saviors" and the 12 constelations (like virgo, cancer, scorpio, etc) symbolizing the 12 deciples who "follow the sun." The whole take on the film was trying to debunk religion by making it look like it was all based off of astronomical patterns and movements of the sun, earth and constelations but what it did for me was make me realize how "even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator" (Alma 30:44). It was an incredible experience.

That's pretty much all the time I have right now, I wish I could tell you more because so much has happened this week! Enjoy your new art studio mom! That's a pretty big change. What brought it about? Did you get bored again dad? Anywho, I enjoyed the pictures and everything else, especially now that the BYU applicatoin is all done! Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have an awesome week everyone!

Love,
Elder Myers

P.S. Here's some more photos. Today we toured a water tower that's pretty close to my apartment that's over 100 years old! The last one was taken while we were inside the actual water tank!

Happy September !!!

Catholic Cathedral in downtown Arad, Romania

Ok, hang on, you went to Yellowstone?!?!?!? I'm super jelous. I just told Elder Harrison and Sora Remsberg what happened the last time we tried going to Yellowstone. Those are all awesome pictures! I love the King Tut one. Was that in Idaho or Wyoming? Is that actually King Tut's body? That's pretty cool if it is. And Amanda looks so happy! I still can't get over the fact that she just got married. 

Oh, and woopeee for college stuff being done! Thanks for taking care of all that stuff! Now I just have to wait until October to find out if I get  accepted. Last thing, about the whole trip to Salt Lake City/seeing Heather thing, I think it would be awesome for one thing to go and see everyone in Salt Lake, and that would make it a lot easier and cheeper for Heather. It would also be really cool to try to fly her into Durham, but I understand the whole money thing. Also, since she's graduating in December I really want to be able to go to that too, if at all possible. Just some things to think about.

Back to missionary life, this is the last full week of the transfer, meaning that next Wednesday is transfer day. This weekend we'll find out who's going and who's staying. I really hope that Elder Harrison and I stay together one more here in Arad. I wouldn't really want to pack up and move just six weeks before I go home and have to get used to a new city, district and branch. Plus Elder Harrison have a lot of good things going in our area and a lot of ideas for doing things to help get the church more known in Arad. One of our ideas is trying to put on some kind of an interfaith concert. We just met with a guy named Florin yesterday who is a well known composer, danser and actor here in Arad and does a lot of volunteer work as well to talk about some ideas he had for projects that we could do. We'll see how things turn out.

The River Mures (moo-resh) which runs through Arad

As for investigators, it's pretty much the same old story. Everybodies really busy or out of town. We haven't seen R--- once since our last lesson that was back in the beginning of the transfer. Things are just going pretty slow right now, and we're just trying to make the most out of what we've got. However, for some reason the fact that things are going really slow right now aren't really bothering me that much. I think part of it is that I just have a better understanding now about what missionary work is like here, and what beeing a successful missionary really means. I feel like Elder Harrison and I have been working our hardest and doing our best to carry out the Lord's work here. Not to say that we couldn't improve in some areas, because there's always room for improvement, but we're trying our best.

a street Shane walks down a lot -- Arad, Romania

Zone conference went really well! Our presentation went really well, and we both learned a ton preparing for it. Elder Harrison and I also did a musical number of him playing an arrangment of "Come Thou Font" and us singing together. I would send you a video of it or something, but I don't have anything. At the zone conference there was an alloted time for departing missionaries to bear their testimonies and since this was my last zone conference I was one of those who got up and spoke. There was also Elder Martin and Elder Tefft from my MTC group, and a few other elders from the MTC group above me. It was a very spiritually rich conference. As was church yesterday! All the testimonies born were powerful and the Spirit was very strong.

Thanks again for all the pictures! I'm glad that you all were able to have a good time at Yellowstone and visitng Dad's friends in Idaho. I love you all!

Elder Myers

Ceau!

Hey everyone! So first of all..........Amanda Richins is getting married?!?!?! And in Idaho? I'm assuming that's where she's been going to school...which means that she's already graduated from high school and going to college.....my mind just blew. Sometimes I have moments when I realize that I've really been gone for almost two years. All of my memories of people from back home are stuck in my mind as being two years ago, so when I hear about stuff like Amanda getting married it sends my head for a spin.

Well. Thanks for editing all the essay questions! It will feel so good to have everything done with this application! Don't worry about posting up the responses on the application site, I'll do it.

I really liked the drawing for that book your making mom. Whatever happened to that one you were working on getting published? That's pretty cool dad that you get to travel around the country for work meetings and stuff, Dad. Coming out here has really made me want to travel a lot more. When I think about how I've never even been to the other side of America...and that's my homeland! Of course America is really big but still.

You asked about the schooling here and youth and stuff, and actually school doesn't start up here until the first or second week of September. As for youth in the branch, there's not any that are fully active, and there's not really a seminary program. P--- is one of the youth in the branch we've been working a lot with. He's the one we've been giving guitar lessons. It's really hard for the youth here because they don't have anyone else their age at church. We do have institute though. The branch has a several YSA aged members but again, right now only one of them is fully active.

This week went really well. I went on an exchange with Elder Tefft, who is serving in Oradea right now. I brought him back to Arad and Elder Harrison stayed in Oradea with Elder Tefft's companion Elder Sneed. Our exchange went really well! This is my first time really serving around Elder Tefft since the MTC and it was a super fun exchange! We had a lot of catching up to do, talking about people we've served with, experiences we've had and things we've learned. I learned a ton from Elder Tefft. He's a really well rounded missionary and the kind of person who is always himself no matter where he is or who he's talking to, and he's also very direct and honest when expressing his own opinions which is something I have a lot of respect for. It was also refreshing to be able to be with someone who has a more similar upbringing as me. He's from upstate New York and went to a branch that has about 70 or 80 active members. He said that New York is a pretty liberal state as far as politics go, and a lot of his closest friends were either non-members or inactive. Don't get me wrong, I've loved every single one of my companions who were from Utah, but there's something different about them than anything I'm used to. I don't know how to explain it, but there's a tangible difference between someone who has grown up completely surrounded by the church in every aspect, and someone who grew up with only a few other LDS kids in his entire high school.

As for investigators, we haven't been able to meet with R---, M---, or G---. Everybody's just super busy. R--'s been out of the country for the past week or so for work. However, we've started teaching an English student named Ciprian (cheep - ree - on), and the other day we were knocking on doors in our neighborhood when a very nice older couple let us in. This week we've got zone conference here in Arad, and it will be combined with the Cluj zone which includes Cluj, Sibiu, and Deva. Elder Harrison and I are in the process of preparing our presentation, and we also have to take care of all the food and getting everything ready, so this week will be pretty busy. We also have to go down to Timisoara tomorrow morning to attend their district meeting. One of our responsibilities as zone leaders is to attend a district meeting at each of the other districts in the zone to see how they're run.


Thanks for all the pictures, stories and love!

Love,
Elder Myers

Hey All !!!

Thanks for the entertaining letter! It was fun trying to pick out where Dad was quoting Mom and where Dad was just adding his little tidbits. Thanks for the corrections on the application stuff. I finished the rest of the essay questions this week, so I'll email them you today.

Lets see in answer to questions... At the branch party for the songs, I was playing the guitar, and me Elder Harrison and Edi (the branch mission leader) sang. Actually, if you go onto my Facebook profile, you should be able to find Edi or Eduard Morauszky (not 100% sure on the spelling there.) I'm playing on a guitar that we got from the office to use for our lessons and the songs are by this Romanian Christian artist that Edi really likes. 

You asked about how big the branch is, there are about 20-30 people who come weekly. My first few weeks it was more 30-40 but there are several members gone because of summer vacations and stuff like that. That's crazy that school's already starting up this week! Here in Romania it doesn't start until September! Oh and also I remember from last week you asked me when I want to start the guitar lessons, I say as soon as possible! Also, I am not registered to vote, so we'll see what we can do about that. I really want to be able to vote when I get home. I don't really know what party I want to join though. I've honestly never thought about it that much. I've never been that much into politics. 

R--- is doing well. Friday was his birthday and us and the sisters met up with him at the church, ordered some pizza and had cake and ice cream with him! Then right after that we had a lesson on him that was really good and Spirit-filled. He didn't make it to church yesterday though, which is a bummer. He owns his own agricultural company or something like that and is always really busy with work. We actually haven't had any lessons with M--- or G--- because of their work schedules as well. A little frustrating, but not much we can do about it. I forgot to tell you though, do you remember Gigi, the mom of the twin brother and sister I taught with Elder Vogelsberg in Cluj? SHE GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!! It happened a week ago from last Saturday. I was so excited when I read about it in President's weekly email! 

Last week we had our exchange with the Timisoara DL companionship, and this week we'll be doing an exchange with Oradea. Elder Tefft got transfered there as the district leader last transfer so I'm super excited to do an exchange with him! 

You asked about what we've been doing to help people SYL more, and I can't really say that we've done anything that special. One of our zone goals is for every week of the transfer to focus on a smaller rule that people easily tend to forget or break and do our best to keep it and strengthen our testimony of it and the first week of the transfer we focused on speaking Romanian. Other than that, We've just been making sure that we're speaking Romanian outside the apartment all the time and especially on exchanges. It's definitely improving a lot though across the zone and the whole mission. 

That's about it for now. I thought it was cool how you mentioned the relief society lesson on the Sabath, because the lesson was the same here for priesthood and RS! I'm amazed at how the church is organized and united across the entire world! The lesson made me realize how lazy I was on Sundays and how much more productive I could have been, and how awesome it would have been to dedicate the whole day to serving others. Something to look forward to when I get home. 

I love you all and have a wonderful week!

Love,
Elder Myers

OH MY GOSH!!!

That's literally what I said probably close to 20 times while reading your emails! Thanks for the pictures of the nieces and nephews and everyone at Aunt Crissy's. Sounds like you all had a really good time! You can tell Heather that I got her package and have been thoroughly enjoying the delicious snacks she sent me! Also, I will be sending her package today. Quick update on college stuff, today I started with the extra curricular activities questions and I will type up two for you to proofread, mom. Also, on the Work Experience section, I marked the first box (working for the worm farm, Billy Woodward, and also my ROP jobs). And then in the Church Leadership and Awards section, I'm pretty sure I served on the Stake trek planning committee when dad used to be on the High Council. Right Dad? Ok that's it for now. 

Thanks for everything you shared about your missionary experiences Dad. A lot of the things you mentioned we're trying to impliment. Competitions, games, stuff like that. It's just hard to find what motivates people. I have also noticed that the more I speak Romanian, the easier it comes and the more efficiently I speak it. I also really liked your sailing analogy. By the way that's so awesome you've got the Lido back up! I remember Brother Burner working on it I think the summer before I left, but not much progress had been made from what I saw. 

This week has been really good, really short too. We had to travel to Timisoara on Tuesday and Oradea on Thursday to hold these new "zone meetings" that are being implemented by the Area 70 Presidency. They are seperate from zone conference and happen right after the zone leader council that his held the day after transfers at the mission home. Their purpose is to convey the information gathered from the zone leader council to the individual districts in each zone and to have more training opportunities for the missionaries. It's basically like a mini zone conference, only the mission president and assistants are not required to attend. 

We have a new investigator this week!! His name is R---, and he has a baptismal date for September 29! He was found by the sisters a couple weeks ago, and after they had a couple lessons with him they referred him to us. So in two weeks, he has started reading the Book of Mormon and praying daily, and he came to church last week! In our last discussion, he basically bore his testimony the whole time of how God has shown him that this church is true, and that the Book of Mormon is true. He's so eager and ready to make the changes necessary in his life to be prepared to covenant with God through baptism. It was one of the most spiritually powerful discussions I have ever had. 

M--- finally got back from working in the countryside and we are scheduled to see him this evening. We're also hoping to catch G--- and his family at home tonight after our lesson with M---. 

Things are going really well in general. The branch has its problems, but things are looking good for the future of the church in Arad. This Wednesday the branch is having a picnic/BBQ in the forest just outside the city, and Elder Harrison, me and Brother Edi the branch mission leader are performing some Romanian Christian-rock songs. I don't have a ton of time since I need to type up the question responses, but I love you all!!!

Elder Myers

New Transfer !!!

Hey all! I really enjoyed today's emails. They were very simple, expressive and just what I needed to here (as always). I am really impressed with the progress Dad has made with the garage, it looks really good! I must say though, I'm a little confused as to the purpose of the little structure he's building behind it. Did you just get bored Dad? Or did you decide that since the boats get sheds, why shouldn't the tractor too? Either way I'm impressed. You do realize that you have personally designed and constructed everything on our property, except for the original mobile home part of our house, right? The significance of that never really hit me until just now!

 I'm glad you enjoyed the sunflower pictures so much mom. That was the fulfillment of a dream both me and Elder Harrison have had for our mission, funny enough. When we take train rides during the summer to get to other cities we pass feilds and feilds that go for acres and acres of sunflowers. Romania is one of the worlds biggest producers of sunflowers. I never even thought about the symbolic nature of the photos until you mentioned it. That just makes me appriciate them even more!

So Janelle is leaveing in November for her mission? I didn't even realize she was planning on serving one. That's awesome! And congratulations to Haley! Also, happy birthday to Nana! Your little high tea getaway sounds awesome! 

This week has gone by really fast. Wednesday night until Friday morning we were traveling to and from Bucuresti for the zone leader council which was Thursday. It was really good; very instructive and gave Elder Harrison a lot of direction for our zone goals. How was it being a zone leader for you Dad? Did you have to plan out the zone conferences and set zone goals and stuff like that? Also, just a random question, how much would you speak Italian with your companions? What would you do on P-days? Just curious. "SYL" (Speak Your Language) is something that this mission has been trying to improve on lately, and I was wondering if you had any suggestions. 

So a little clarification on some of the things that have been going on here. The sisters unfortunately haven't had any baptisms. They had an investigator who had a baptismal date, but he recently told them that he doesn't want to meet with them or come to church any more. That was a bit of a tough blow for them. However, this week they randomly decided to call up M---, and met up with him in the park for a lesson. They said that he reads from the Book of Mormon regularly, and believes everything the church teaches! He wants to be baptized but he's a little unsure right now about why we have so many commandments that don't allow us to smoke or drink at all and he's a little concerned about being able to give those things up. He's not any kind of a heavy smoker or drinker, but he told them that it's something that he's used in the past to deal with stress. But, he said that whenever he's in the country (he travels a lot for work) his first priority is meeting with the missoinaries. 

On our side, we have some good news and some not as good news. C---decided to take the casino job in Oradea and just moved there last week. He said he's not really sure how long they will keep him there though, and that it's possible for him to come back to Arad after about a month or so, depending on how things go with the casino. I was a little disappointed in his choice to continue working at a casino rather than taking the watchguard job offer here in Arad, but he did what he felt was best I guess. Until he moves back into Arad, we'll be referring him to the Oradea missionaries. With C---, the professor, we haven't been able to meet in a while. 

I don't know if you've heard anything about the political movements going on over here right now, but basically the whole Romanian government is really unstable right now. This last week there was a referandum vote to impeach the Romanian president. Basically, the prime minister has been firing parliament workers of the Presidnent's political party and hiring new ones in his own, trying to create a political monopoly in the parliament, and now he's been campaining against the President to get him impeached. Like I said, the vote was held last Sunday I think, and even now after the vote it's not clear wether the President will be staying in office or not. Romanian constitution states that there must be a majority vote of all the Romanian citizens to impeach the president. The vote that just recently went through was a majority vote to impeach him, but statistics show that only 48% of Romanian citizens actually voted. It's pretty insane. So anyways, C--- has been really busy with all the Referandum stuff, and he's also got this big project he's working on as well so he hasn't had time to meet. We also haven't been able to meet with M--- because he's been working at a friends in the country side all week. However, we had a really good lesson with G--- and F---! ....unless that was also last week. I honestly can't remember! But we've also started teaching guitar lessons to P---! He's picking it up really fast. It's been a really good oportunity for us to talk to him one on one and get to know him better. We hold a little 10 minute spiritual thought and then after that teach him guitar for about 50 minutes or so. It's so awesome! 

That's pretty much it! Thanks for all the photos and glad tidings! I look forward to more next week. Love you all!

Elder Myers

Note From Lacie

I normally proofread Shane's letters before posting them here. He makes some pretty fun spelling errors that I know are caused by having two languages bouncing around in his head. From now until the end of his mission I'm going to leave the spelling errors in because they show something about how immersed he is in the Romanian language. I don't mean to embarrass him, I just think it's fun.

Happy Birthday!

Elder Myers somewhere between Oradea and Arad, Romania
This boy is after his mother's heart with this photo.

That goes out to Eli and Heather!! Thanks for the pictures you sent. It was so wierd seeing Nathan and Orson (is that right? I totally can't remember their names now) and his brother. Everybody's so big!! I'm really sorry to hear about everyone getting sick....didn't Heather get sick the last time she was over there too? But I'm glad that it all had a good end result. Its amazing when you can see all the little things Heavenly Father does for us every day to help us out and teach us something new. I thought it was so awesome too the things you said about Heather helping Eli out. It's so awesome that she has gotten so close you all of you in the time that I've been gone. You probably all know her better than I do by now! Oh, and congratulations to Travis and his new bride, that is so exciting! 

So..............transfer information: the Arad district is staying exactly the same! I'm staying here with Elder Harrison and Sora Cook and Sora Remsberg are staying together. It surprised me when I found out that I'd be staying, since I only have two more transfers left and I've been here for 3 already. I thought for sure I'd be transfered out, but I guess I'm still needed here. I guess at this point its even possible for me to just stay here until I go home! I'm really excited and happy to be staying with Elder Harrison, he's definitely one of my favorite companions I've had so far. We've got a lot of good things going with investigators and the members we're working with; it would have been really sad if I had left. 

So here's the update. We're still teaching C---. Last week was pretty crazy for him. His boss told him they will probably move him to a management position at a casino in Oradea, and he got a job offer from someone else to go work construction in France for a few months which pays a lot better than what he's earning now. Then also, President Banatean told him of a job offer for a watchgaurd job in Arad that pays just as good as his current job. And he has to decide this week what he's going to do. We had a lesson with him on receiving revelation and how we can receive guidance and direction for specific things in our lives. We encouraged him to pray about the whole matter, to study the scriptures, fast, and do everything he can to keep all the commandments. So far things seem to be going well, and it looks like he'll end up taking the gaurd job here in Arad. That would be perfect because he would be out of the casino, in a much better environment, and he would also have time to come to church on Sundays!

Shane taking a break from teaching to catch a baby mole -- of course?

We also met up with M--- again and he is doing really well. He's already in the Isaiah chapters of 2 Nephi! He hasn't been able to come to church yet because he has polio and walking is really hard for him but tonight we have an appointment set up with him and we're having a member come who drives a car in the hopes that they can get to know each other and the member will be able to give him rides to church. M--- is such an amazing guy! He doesn't have much going for him financially or socially really, most of his family live in Italy and his wife left him years ago, but instead of his life's problems making him angry and unhappy, he has taken everything in stride and is trying to make the best of things. He also just gets the gospel. He understands it better than almost any other investigator I've taught before.

We're continuing to meet with F--- and bit by bit she's opening up more to us. At our last visit she said that she loves having is come because the time she spends talking to us is really relaxing for her and it fills her with peace and happiness. Its amazing to see the Holy Ghost's influence work on other people. 


Last of all, I don't know if I told you last week about the family we met a week from last Saturday. We were on our way to see if a member was home that we had been trying to visit when a man outside his house pulling weeds out of the sidewalk stopped us and asked what church we were from. He invited us inside and we ended up talking with him and his family for a good hour or so. It wasn't any type of official lesson or discussion, but it was a really good time to just get to know them. We left them with a restoration brochure and they said we were welcome back any time. This weekend we went back there and had an awesome lesson with them! They are very humble, kind and loving people. The father's name is G--- and the mom's is F---. They have two teenage sons as well, but I can't remember their names right now. They seem to be some of the few "middle class" Romanians I've met. They've got a nice house, but not huge or super extravagant, and they have an Audi SUV type car. The dad is a used car dealer and sells mostly German makes. The first thing I noticed about this family is how in their home was this wonderful feeling of peace, and love. As we talked, the Spirit was immediately invited in and this wonderful couple listened to us and shared with us their own beliefs and standards. G--- seems like a great father and husband, and his wife a loving mother, and the two teenage boys were really nice, friendly, clean cut guys. It was so refreshing to talk with them. I felt like I was at home. They are also people who know the Bible really  well, but are very humble about their knowledge. They've been to a lot of different churches, F--- had even studied with the Jehova's Witnesses for a couple years, but they don't really hold themselves to any church. We had a great discussion about the restoration of the gospel and how there was a great apostasy after Christ and the apostles' ministry. He had actually dog-eared that part of the brochure so he would remember to ask us about it. 

Basically I'm so happy to be serving here in Arad, it is an amazing city and I love the branch and the missionaries. Thanks for sharing everything from your week, especially everything you had been experiencing dad. I feel like I can relate to a certain extent the things you talked about. Well I have to go, but I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week free of sickness and stress!

Love,
Elder Myers
P.S.
Photos:
1. a baby mole I cought in the park during the branch sports night activity
2-4. On our way home from exchanges with the elders in Oradea we saw a huge field of sunflowers. They are all over this country! 

Happy Pioneer Day!!!

Elder Myers and Elder Harrison cruising the streets of Arad on P-day!
I think this was taken during a photo scavenger hunt the sister missionaries planned for last week.

I always forget how eventful the month of July is! Indepedence day, birthdays left and right, Pioneer day, and who knows what else. I'll have you know that I bought myself a nice brand new birthday suit (this one is grey) and some nice shoes that I plan on keeping in good condition so I can still wear them when I get home. I'll send you a picture next week. Also, thank you mom for the bio on the last guitar teacher. It sounds like David Elke or whatever his name was is still my best option as far as getting ready for the auditions goes.

And thank you for all the pictures!!!!!!! I loved them! That is so cool that Jodi and her kids and Heather were all able to be there together! I'm sorry to hear about things going south with Jodi's work. Pass on down to Heather that I haven't received her package yet, but I'll probably get it at transfers. That's so awesome that she can stay with you all for a week! Even if it's not as much as you were all hoping, it's still pretty awesome and I'm still pretty jealous. Give her my love and lots of hugs from me!

This week! Was a week of lots of lessons not getting set up or falling through for some reason or other. But that's ok! Because this coming week is going to be awesome! This is the last full week of my 14th transfer. (This is where my jaw drops mentally and my mind is blown because I only have two transfers left.) This has been such an awesome transfer! This is one the best districts I've served in (even though I probably say that for just about every district) and I'm going to miss it. I'm thinking there's about a 95% chance that I'll be transferred out of Arad since I've been here for 3 transfers and with only two left, leaving me here for 5 would be a lot, but it would be silly to keep me here for four and then send me to  a new city for just one transfer before I go home. I don't know, we'll see! Honestly, I'm ready for whatever comes. I wouldn't mind finishing off my mission here, but I have a feeling that I'll be moved.

We were only had one lesson the whole week, and it was with Florica (floor - ee - ca). It was a good chance to get to know her more and learn more about what her concerns and needs are spiritually. She told us that she doesn't belief in an after life and so we talked about the Plan of Salvation for a few minutes and assigned her Alma 40 to read which talks a lot about the resurrection. I love those chapters when Alma gives his last words of advice and councel to his sons. It gives you a lot of insight to the kind of person Alma was, seeing how he handles his relationships with his sons.

On saturday we had a miracle find! We were on our way to visit a recent convert, when a man pulling weeds out of the sidewalk in front of his house stopped us and asked us about our religion. After a few minutes he let us in his house and we met his wife and two of his teenage sons. They were all very nice and easy to talk to people, curious about life in America, and also in the things we believe. Before we left we gave them a Restoration brochure and took down their phone number. They said we were welcome to come back anytime and that they would also love to have us over for dinner!! That doesn't happen every day! That was just one more reminder that Heavenly Father is always watching us and always blesses us when we do our part.

Last Wednesday I had my exchange with Elder Green in Timisoara. It went really well in the sense that it was a really good oportunity to catch up and get to know him better and find out more about how things are going in the Timisoara district. He's got a lot on his plate. The branch president there is a missionary from the other companionship, but Elder Green is the district leader, the branch president's 1st counseler, the Elder's Quorum President, and the branch clerk. So, he's kinda stressed. On top of that the work is going really slow in his area. They don't have any investigators or members to work with and for the exchange we spent the majority of the day contacting through parks. Brings me back to the good ol' Brasov days.

That's it for this week. Thanks for all the photos and loving words. Every week they give me a little pick me up and help me get ready to face the rest of the week ahead of me. Have a wonderful week everyone, I love you all!

Love,
Elder Myers

Thanks Everyone!!!

Happy Birthday to Elder Myers and Timea!  Arad, RomaniaElder Harrison on left, sister missionaries with branch member, Timea,

Thanks for that cool email, mom! Your's was pretty cool too, Dad. I loved the detailed discription of your boating adventures! I got emails from Aunt Chrissy, Sara Bradley - she said that YSA missionaries got into contact with Lynzi!! I had tried sending her a letter several transfers ago, got it was sent back saying the address I had was invalid so I don't know how to get into contact with her. Is she back living in the Chico area?

I also got an email from Jenny Wilson, who is from Australia. She was in my district when I was in Brasov with Elder Simmons. Totally unexpected, but really cool! Yesterday at church President Banatean announced in sacrament meeting that it was my birthday. It's also a member's birthday, Timea. She's a YSA member here but doesn't come to church very much. She had invited us to her birthday party on Saturday evening that was with just her and all of her closest friends. I felt really grateful that she didn't think it was weird to invite us missionaries to her party - especially since it was with all of her closest friends! That meant a lot. We made her some delicious peanut-butter criss-cross cookies.

Today for p-day the Sora Remsberg and Sora Cook have apparently planned out the whole day. They planned some kind of photo scavenger hunt, and all the missionaries from Timisoara came up too! Oh, and just so you know, I should be getting the package you sent today or tomorrow. The Walquists were down in Bucuresti last week and picked up all our mail!

So, here's what happened to the six lessons. A lot of them fell through, and the ones that did happen haven't really gone anywhere, but, this week has been really awesome!

I don't know if I told you about M---, the Italian man, but we had a lesson with him and A--- and it went really really well! M--- seems like a really good hearted man, and someone who's seen his fair share of challenges and trials in his life. He said that he had already read the whole Restoration brochure, and was up to 1 Nephi 9 in the Book of Mormon! He had a lot of really good questions that, through the help of the Holy Ghost we were able to answer them in a way that he understood. He really thought about everything we said, and I don't know how to explain it, but he just gets it! He has a true desire to find out from God if everything we're telling him is true or not.

This Sunday was probably the highlight of the week. One of our investigators, C--- (the college professor) came to church! He stayed for sacrament meeting and sunday school, but had to leave after that to go to a presentation. He participated in Sunday School, which lesson was on priesthood, which was so perfect! He seemed to completely understand everything from the comments he made. R--- didn't make it, his work schedule changed this week because one of his co-workers is on vacation so he has to work this week from 7-5-ish. He usually works every other night or something like that. However, we're scheduled to meet up tonight and have a lesson.

After church Sister M--- invited us over to her house that evening to visit with her husband. Her husband has been inactive for about two years, and within those two years has not accepted visits from anyone in the church except the occasional senior couple, so the fact that he let us come over was a complete miracle! I have never seen Sister M---so happy and extatic! In the visit she told us the whole history of the branch practically and shared a photo album she had with all the members and missionaries all the way back to 1999, when they were baptized. I saw a picture of Sora Petrisor, one of my MTC teachers in a photo of a group of members who were going to the temple! She was very open and loving to her husband as she shared her testimony and asked him "what can we do to help you come back to church?" It was one of the most powerful and touching moments I've had on my mission. Through her, I saw the power and connection that comes through making covenants in the temple (Brother and sister M--- have 3 girls and they were all baptized in the same year and later were all sealed together in the temple). At the end of the visit, Brother M--- agreed to let us go over and visiting them weekly. That was probably one of the best birthday presents I've ever had; just having that miraculous experience.

Now we're heading into the last two full weeks in the transfer! This week we'll be doing exchanges with the district leader companionship in Timisoara, Elder Green and Elder James. They are both one transfer ahead of me, and Elder Green was my zone leader for a couple transfers when I was in Brasov! I'm really looking forward to this week, and continuing to work with the people we've come into contact with and have gotten to know.

Oh yeah, and before I forget, I haven't done my endorsement interview with President Hill yet...I kind of forgot when he came up for interviews, but I'll have other opportunites at transfers or zone conference. Thanks so much mom, for getting all the application stuff done!

I love you all and have an awesome week!

Elder Myers

P.S. I just attached the two cheesiest photos of the week. Enjoy!

Happy 21st Birthday Shane

Today is Shane's 21st Birthday.
Lacie, Ember, and Tristan made this banner and sent it to him. We're excited that next year when his birthday rolls around, we can all be together to celebrate. 

Hey All

Well, Happy 4th of July everyone! I can't remember if I said that last week or not. Here in Arad we went to the Walquist's apartment and had a hamburger BBQ with with potato salad, chips, veggies, ranch, and rootbeer made from extract, sugar and club soda. It was an all American lunch! Thankfully Elder Harrison and I were back to 100% by then. We got some type of flu bug. Fever, upset stomach, diarrea ( I have know idea how to spell that anymore) but it went away after a few days. It's been pretty hot all week long, averaging around 100 F, sometimes a little over, sometimes a little under. Our apartement has no air conditioning, just a stand up fan that we have blowing on us at night and during the day. I'm pretty sure I've been drinking an average of at least 3 liters of water every day! We're pretty much constantly swetting. All the time. Very few places in this country have good air conditioning. But, you get used to it. And besides that, I've been getting a killer missionary tan! 

This week we were able to meet up with C---, and Edi, the branch mission leader sat it on the lesson as well. It was our best lesson yet with C---. We're still working on helping him strengthen his faith and act on it. He's been reading from the Book of Mormon and praying every day, which is really good progress for him! We're also trying to encourage him to come to church and find a new job. Right now he works at a casino and it's not a very good environment for someone who's trying to change their life to live in accordance with the Gospel. We also had a really good restoration lesson with a man named Cociuba (co - choo - ba). He's a professor at one of the universities here in Arad and had been to English classes a couple years ago. He was very open and sincere and easy to talk to, and it was one of the best restoration lessons I've ever had. He understood everything really well. Most people get hung up on the concept of priesthood authority, but he seemed to understand it. He said he would read from the Book of Mormon and pray about it, and he also said that he would come to church. He couldn't make it yesterday, but hopefuly next week he'll make some time. 

Elder Harisson and I have been doing a lot of contacting this week, just trying to find people to teach, and it's starting to pay off. Yesterday he called up all the former investigators in our phone and set up 6 six different appointments for next week!!! That's pretty exciting! The sisters have also established a baptismal date with one of their investigators for the 21st, so we're all really excited about that as well. Also, Sunday evening we had a miracle happen on our way home. We were almost onto our street, when a young man across the street sitting next to an older man called us over, asking us to tell them about our religion. We talked to them for a good 10 or 15 minutes about the Book of Mormon, and about how the gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed us and our families. They both felt like it was no coincidence they had seen us that evening. The young man, Alin (ah - leen), said that lately he'd been feeling the need to go to church. The older man is from Torino, Italy and has been living in Romania since '93. He said that he has a brother in Italy who has been recently meeting with Mormon missionaries as well! We set up an appointment to go over to his place tomorrow evening! 

So, things are starting to pick up! Elder Harrison and I have been working really hard, and I feel like this had been one of my best transfers so far! Interviews with President Hill went really well as well! He's such a loving, happy person, and his wife too. I always go out of my interviews with him feeling really good. It's weird to think that I'll only have one more before my final exit interview before I go home. Oh yeah, I got my travel itinerary as well. Weird. Looks like I'm going to be traveling alone for most of it! From what I've heard most of my group will be flying into Paris and then into SLC. I've been trying not to think about going home as much as possible. 


Thanks for the information about the guitar teachers! I realized reading the bios that the second one, Tobin Roye, was one of my music theory teachers at Chico State! But from the descriptions, it sounds like the first one, David Elke would be better for preparing me for the auditions. I didn't get my package at interviews, which probably means that I won't get it until next transfer, but it's all good. 

Hope you all have a great week, and happy sailing! I love you all!

Elder Myers

Happy July!

In two days it's Independence Day! We have plans of celebrating it with an all-American BBQ! Today for p-day the whole zone went out to Lipova. The zone has changed a ton and now only me and one other missionary have been there. It was a lot of fun, but really hot, I got a good amount of sun.

That's a bummer mom and dad, that you didn't get to go to trek, but it sounds like it was better that way for Eli. My mouth dropped open when you told me about the letter from me I had written to him when I was on trek, I had completely forgotten about that! I don't remember much of what I had written, but I do remember saying that I would probably be on my mission when he read it. Wow, that's really incredible. I'm glad he appreciated it and that it helped him. I remember trek being one of the most spiritually powerful experiences I had as a teenager.

Things are going pretty well with me and Elder Harrison. He's actually in his 9th or 10th transfer. When I had said he was in his 3rd I was referring to his 3rd as a zone leader. It's actually pretty average for someone his age in the mission to be a zone leader they are usually chosen anywhere from their 9th or 10th transfer up to their 14th or 15th.

We were able to meet with T--- once again over a juice and this time we were able to learn more about him and his religious views. He never has been a super religious person, and his family started going to this one church here in Arad because they were good friends with the pastor or priest there, but recently there's been a really big scandal where T--- found out that a man was steeling a lot of money from the church, so his whole view on churches and religion is kind of shaken up and its a subject he tries to avoid as much as possible. Which is really understandable. I was glad to be able to learn about that so that at least now I understand why he's not very interested in the church.

We weren't able to get as much done as we had hoped this week because Elder Harrison and I were both sick Wednesday and Thursday, and a little into Friday. No worries though, I'm feeling much better, just with a little left over digestive issues. Elder Harrison is doing well too, although he's on a strict potatoes, bananas and rice diet on doctors orders. He's been having degistive problems for a few weeks now, and he's pretty sure he got some intestinal worms from drinking unfiltered water. But he's a trooper about it, and you'll never hear him complain a bit. He just keeps on working hard! So, we haven't been able to meet up with very many people this week, but it's all good. I'd rather be healthy than have lessons.

This week President and Sister Hill are coming to Arad for our interviews with President! It feels like I just barely had interviews with him! I'm looking forward to it though, I always walk out of an interview with President Hill feeling really good. He is one of the most loving people I have ever met.

Happy fourth of July everyone, hope you all have a fun time celebrating! I'm looking forward to this week, and everything that will come with it! Thank you all for your love and support, and thanks for forwarding that letter to Heather! Until next week!

Love,
Elder Myers

Ceau

That's actually how  Romanians spell "ciao." Man what a week it's been! It barely feels like it was a week. Spending two whole days in Bucuresti kind of threw my inner clock off and made it hard to get everything done we had planned for the week. My new companion, Elder Harrison, is awesome! He's from Brigham City Utah, is in the same MTC group as Elder Cox, and this is his 3rd transfer as a zone leader. He's a fantastic missionary, speaks Romanian like a champ, is a hard worker, but also knows how to have fun with the work. Oh yeah, and he plays the guitar! Usually when you get a new companion the first week can be a little awkward as you try to get to know each other and get a feel for each others' styles, but it hasn't been like that at all with Elder Harrison. 


The new boboaca (bo - bwa - ca) is really cool too. Her name is Sora Cook, she's from Sandy Utah, and looks like she could easily be Sora Remsburg's sister! And yes, after her first day of church she definitely had the what-did-I-get-myself-into look. But she's going to do great, she already knows the language really well for having barely come into the country. I can tell this is going to be a super fun transfer! Oh yeah, before I forget, I just got an email from Heather, thanks for forwarding her letter! I was going to tell you last week that I had sent it to you because I didn't know if she would still be in Rexburg or not. Apparently she is. Oh well, is she still planning on staying with you all for her seven week break? And thanks for the college update, I just found out that we will be having interviews with President on July 5th so I can talk to him about it then. 

This week we were still able to get some things done, even though our week was cut a little short. We met up with T---i at the church and had a lesson with him! It was focused on the Book of Mormon being a source of guidance and help in raising a family. He's a married father of two kids, and his kids mean everything to him. He's such an awesome dad! I'm not really sure how much of what we were trying to get across he understood, but we're still keeping in touch and he actually said that he wants to meet up again this Friday or so. Hopefuly he will be willing to meet at the church again. It's proving a little hard to break out of the just "friends" sphere to teach him the gospel in a formal setting. After the lesson we had with him, he gave us a ride back to our street in his restored vintage sky blue '62 VW bug! It was so cool! He had to pick his kids up from ping pong practice, which was really close to where we live so he offered to give us a ride. He also is planning a p-day for all of us to go to the country-side and have a picknick and play some frysbee! He's  incredibly nice. 

M---l didn't come to church, and he hasn't been answering his phone, but that probably just means he's been in Hungary. He travels quite a bit for work. We also haven't been able to meet up with C--- or the V---'s yet but we have a lesson scheduled for this evening with C---. We've had a lot of hours full of contacting people on the streets while trying to find inactive members or with other objectives in mind, like finding an affordable newspaper to place an add for our English courses, going to different colleges to either advertise there for English, or to see if we would be able to give a presentation on the Church in a Religion class. So far no luck. Most of the schools are closed for summer, and I don't really know if the universities here do summer courses. 

Thanks for everything, really. I can't wait to get my birthday package! Hopefully I will be able to get it before next transfer. If not, then it will be just like having two birthdays! That's so crazy that Brandon Balderston just left for his mission! Wow! That is really cool. Well, I love you all and hope you have a wonder full well-weathered week! I heard that it's supposed to cool down into the 70's for us too. It's been mid to high 90's all week which with the humidity here makes it feel like over 100! Till next week!

Love,
Elder Myers

Transfer Week

Hey everyone! Sounds like you all had a good vacation time. I was surprised to hear that it got up to 105! It's been getting pretty warm here the past couple weeks, but I don't think it's broken 100 yet. Of course with the humidity sometimes it feels like it! A drier heat is so much more tolerable.

Well, I've got all the transfer information! So I will be staying in Arad, and Elder Nilsson will be going to Bucuresti into a district where he will be with three other missionaries that were all in his MTC group! My new companion will be Elder Harrison, who was trained by Elder Nilsson about a year ago. I'm really excited, Elder Nilsson says that Elder Harrison is an awesome guy.

On the sisters' side, Sora Schuld will be serving in Cluj (I'm so jealous) and Sora Remsburg will be training a new sister missionary here in Arad! That will be exciting. Having brand new missionaries always adds a fun touch to a district. And guess what???? I'm going to transfers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I haven't been to transfers since I went into Pitesti, so I I don't know  half of the missionaries here since they're all younger than me. Wierd right? It's still wierd for me to think of myself as one of the old missionaries. I'm excited to be able to see some new faces and old ones. Elder Laherty has still been in Pitesti this whole time, he actually just finished training a boboc and he's getting transfered out to Alexandria, so I'll be able to see him at the train station on Wednesday. When I refer to transfers, I mean on transfer day, the first Wednesday of each transfer, everyone who's getting transfered to a new city goes down to Bucuresti no matter where the are serving -- to get their supplies, new companion, etc, and then they travel back to their respective cities. So transfer day becomes like a huge gathering of missoinaries at the Bucuresti train station. It's so cool!

So flying into Chico airport sounds like it's the best option. That's what I was pretty much thinking of doing. I'll let Sister Patton know that today. There was just one more thing, she needs Presdident Brown's email address. I think she sends the travel plans to you and also to him since he's the stake president.

What has happened this week? Well, we were unable to meet up with M--- for a lesson, but he did come to church again yesterday! We also met up with T---, who is a friend of Elder Hyatt's (the current assistant to the President) from when he served in Arad, and had a talk over a juice. That seems to be one of the main ways people socialize here, they meet up at a bar or a cafe and just sit and chat while having a drink. We invited him to church, and also asked him if he would like to meet with us at the church building to talk more about the Book of Mormon. He happily agreed, and when we told him that Elder Nilsson was getting trasnfered, he was really sad and said that Tuesday he would take us out for a pizza before he left. T--- is such an incredibly nice man! He's been married for a while and has two kids, and seems like a really awesome dad. He also knows decent English, so whenever we meet up he likes to talk to us in English.

On the other end, we haven't been able to meet up with C---l because he's been too busy with work. But, we found 2 new investigators! We were knocking a block, and this very nice friendly older couple by the name of V---  let us in almost right away! The wife talked the most, and she seemed like a very positive, happy person which is so nice to see! She would just smile, and laugh and was really easy to talk to. A good chunk of the lesson was focused on the ways that God works in our lives, and how Christ's atonement has had an influence on our lives, and then connecting that into the message of the Book of Mormon, how it testifies of Christ along with the Bible, and how it came about through the Prophet Joseph Smith. We asked them if they had ever had an experience in their lives where they had seen God helping them through trials and Mrs. V--- told us a story about how some years ago, her mom was home alone when to men broke into the apartment and murdered her right on the spot. She said it was a very traumatic experience for her and was very hard to go through. She told us that since then, we were the only strangers she had ever let into her house. However, she also said that it strengthened her faith in God because she felt Him lifting her up and helping ease her sorrow and burdens. It was a very humbling story and the Holy Ghost's presence was felt strongly by all of us the whole time. We left them with a Book of Mormon and an invitation to read it and pray about it, which they said they would do and we set up for us to return the next week. 

We have also had a lot of little experiences here and there that just reminded me that Heavenly Father is always watching out for me, and reminding me that He knows best and that if I just rely on His guidance, then everything will work out. I think that's the hardest part, always seeking the Lord's will instead of just going off of what you think is best. I have found though, that the more I seek after the Holy Gost's guidance, the more I am aware of my thoughts and actions being guided. Of course, only if I let them be guided. It's one thing to recongize and hear the promptings of the Spirit, it's another to actually do what He tells you. That's the hard part. I love the verse in Doctrine and Covenants 88 where the Lord instructs us to always "be anxiously engaged in a good cause" and to not be "slothful" in our doings or wait until we are commanded to do something. As disciples of Christ, we should always be looking for good causes to engage ourselves in and ways we can serve our fellow man.

That's my tidbit for this week. Oh, ok, so yeah, birthday package requests. Well, I will be out of vitamins and alergy medicine, probably be the end of July, so some of those would be nice; and dried mangos, let me think......of course!!! I loved the ones you sent me for Christmas! Other than that, I was actually wondering how much money I have in my checking. I kind of need to buy some new summer slacks and a new suit eventually. I've already gone through one of my suits, and the other is thrashed. I've had to do some make-shift mending jobs on it myself! Oh yeah and I'm going to need new shoes and probably a couple shirts as well. Wow that sounds like a lot! .....but it's all going to be put to good use. Just let me know what kind of a budget I've got to work with. I love you all and can't wait to hear back next week!!

Love,
Elder Myers

Hey All

Well, heading into the last week of the transfer! I'm a little nervous about what's going to happen next transfer, but I know that whatever it is, it will be good. My guess is that Elder Nilsson will be the only one who leaves and I'll get a new companion, but we'll see. It was really fun hearing all about Adam's homecoming and your trips down to the Bay Area, and all the pictures were great! 

June 5th one of Shane's best friends, Adam Voss, came home from his mission to Japan.

Oh my gosh, of course Tommy is dating an LDS girl, and OF COURSE she has a friend serving in Romania haha! Such a small world...I'm not sure who it is though. I didn't recognize the name at all, but I can look at the mission roster we have back home. Also, I got an email from Heather today, and she said that she'll be staying with all of you for her 7 week break! Jealous!! That's really nice of you to let her stay there. Of course, I can't say I would expect anything less. :) Man, 7 weeks, that's a whole transfer and a week! Of course these days 2 transfers barely feels like one. Especially when you stay together with the same companion for two. I'm almost in my 14th transfer!!! I can't even explain what that means. It's soooo wierd. I know I've probably said that many times before, but each transfer goes by faster, and I'm realizing more and more how little time I have left. I've been trying harder and harder to just focus everything on my calling because once I start thinking about time.....it's hard to stop. I realize all the ways that I've grown and progressed, and then a realize everything that I still need to improve on. Hopefuly by the end of my last transfer I'll finally really know how to do missionary work. Is that how you felt dad? 

This has been a good week, we were able to meet up with a former investigator  V--- for the second time. He's been an investigator for 4 or 5 years, and from the teaching record, it seems like he's always had the same problems and hasn't yet been able to overcome them. However, from our last lesson I feel like now is a critical time for him in that he already knows everything he has to do, and he understands why he needs to do it he just acks the faith to truly repent and change his life. He told us that he recognizes that, and he wants to have a stronger faith, so that's what we're working on with him. Building his faith. I feel like if he puts the effort in and has the right desires he could completely turn his life around. He's already so close. He seems like a really good man, just caught up in the world like everyone else. 

Also, M--- came to church yesterday for the 6th time in a row!!! I talked with him a little after church to try to establish a time when we can have a formal lesson with him and he was more than willing to set a time up. Also, P--- the 14 year old less active guy we've been working with came to church as well and stayed for the first two hours. In one of our last lessons we set a goal with him to prepare himself to go to the temple with his mom in the fall. The branch president has also been trying to set up an interview with him for the Aaronic Priesthood. P--- is a really good kid, but as a teenager going to church isn't his favorite thing to do. 


As far as Alex goes, I asked Brother Moldovan about him at church and he said that he had left Romania and was back in LA. So, that's the end of that chapter with Alex, but I will definitely keep in contact with him when I get home, and hopefully remain friends and become better friends. 

We went to another funeral this week. This time it was for Ghita's (gee (as in geek) - tsa)  mom. She had been sick with some kind of tumor it sounds like and passed away Tuesday night. Ghita is a recent convert that we've been teaching for a while, and he asked us to come to the funeral. This one was an Orthodox service and all in Romanian so we could understand everything this time. It was very similar to the last one we went to. It made me very grateful for the Plan of Salvation and knowing that families are meant to be eternal. 

This week we will find out about transfers, and then bam, before you know it the week will be done! Sounds like good progress is being made on all the college stuff. In connection to housing stuff, I'm not sure exactly what I want. I think I would prefer something off campus, and there are a few missionaries here that I would love rooming with and will be going to BYU at the same time. I'll have to talk to them and start seeing what kind of details we can work out. Thank you so much for getting all of this taken care of for me! When I first started doing the college research stuff, it started to distract me from my work here, so I'm so incredibly grateful that I don't really have to worry about much because you're doing practically everything. Thank you!!! I love you all, and I'm glad that the MRI results weren't too bad on mom's ankle. Have a wonderful week, and know that I'm keeping all of you in my prayers. 

Love,
Elder Myers

Happy June!

And Happy Birthday to Allyson!! I forgot to add that in last week. Sooooo that means she's.....26 right? Or 27? I feel horrible, I don't even know how old my sister is. I've never been good with birthdays or names or stuff like that. Either way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Well, I'm glad to hear that everything went well this past week. Thanks for sending all the pictures! It was great seeing Uncle Chris looking so good. So Uncle Mo got bored trying to restore that old Camero Z-28 and decided to just go buy a Corvette huh? Holy smokes that thing looks fun! I'll definitely be making some visits there while I'm at BYU..... I'm also really glad that mom's leg is getting better, and I'm glad she enjoyed the photos! Actually the first thing I thought of when I saw the snap dragons is when I planted some around the tree in the front yard, so we were both totally on the same page.

This week for me has also gone by really fast.      

 Oh, first off before I forget to mention, Brian Passentino - Elder Passentino that is - emailed me with a referral from a couple in Argentina who live in Romania! That is so crazy! He sent me two different adresses, one for Bucuresti, and the other for Brasov.

But back to my week. On Tuesday we had our first two investigator lessons since being in Arad! one was with a former investigator, and the other was with a really nice man who let us in his apartment while we were block-knocking. We still have yet to meet with either of them for a second time, but it was sooooo refreshing to be teaching the Restored Gospel with someone who had never heard of it before!

Then on Thursday we went to a funeral for a less active member's grandmother. It was an interesting experience. A lot different from any of the funerals I had been to back home. It was held outside in the cemetary in front of a church, and they had everyone gathered around the open casket (but the body was covered) as two priests gave their sermon. Most of it was in Hungarian so we didn't really understand much, but the parts that were in Romanian were very uplifting and hopeful, talking about how the deceased had passed on to a better place, and how Christ overcame death for all of us. I'm pretty sure it was a Catholic service. The Hungarians here are usually Catholic, and plus the priest's robes didn't look Orthodox. Orthodox priests usually wear all black robes, and the Catholic priests that I've seen here wear mostly white with maybe some gold or other colors.After the sermon, the pall-bearers carried the casket to the grave sight and everyone followed, carrying these big wreaths of pine branches and roses which they laid on top of the grave after it was filled.

Then, a few hours later zone conference started! It went from 6-9 Thursday night, and then from 8am-4pm on Friday. It was great seeing other missionaries  i know and get to know some new ones, and the presentation Elder Nilsson and I gave went really well. Then Saturday was Elder Nilsson's 21st birthday! We had a small party as part of our lunch break after English class. The sisters made some cookies, and I made some brownies, and Elder Nilsson opened a birthday package his family mailed him.

Today for p-day the sisters set up for us to go play tennis with Marcel! And after tennis Marcel invited us over to his place for some ice cream. We sat out on the lawn that we had helped him plant (which is looking pretty good!) and Sora Schuld had us all talk about our favorite memory with Elder Nilsson. So far it's been a really good day!

That was the essence of this week. A little more about my return date, I'm pretty sure that the 24th is official because it was brought up in my last interview with President Hill. Either way, I'm pretty sure next transfer they'll be making up my travel plans. You'll probably get them towards the end of July or so. But enough of that, there's still two whole weeks left in this transfer! I can't believe Adam is coming home on Tuesday!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's soooo crazy. Say hi to him for me, and let him know that I'll be writing him back soon.

I hope all bodes well with mom's MRI scan, and tell everyone hi, and that I love them all and miss everyone from back home. I'm just trying to do my best and work hard. Zone conference gave me a lot of things to think about, most of them being ways I can improve. I always leave zone conference with a mixture of excitement and confidence, mixed with humility as a lot of my weaknesses  come to my attention. It seems like that's usually how large doses of the Holy Ghost make you feel. At least me, anyway. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week! I wish you health and only good, as the Romanians say!

Love,
Elder Myers