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