Winter in Romania

For some reason we thought we weren't going to see snow, but it finally came.  This week has been cold and next week is forecast to be cold as well, with highs of -11C and lows of -18C.

We made another trip to Bucharest for our visa's. We love the office Elders, they pick us up at the garra (train station)and take us to the (metro)subway on our way to the visa office.  Where we wait..........

This time they were not ready and we needed to have finger printing done.  So we got that done and then they said to come back in 20 days.  Great.......... So of course we needed to do something fun so we went out for dinner with two other senior couples in Bucharest,

It's always fun to see the cool buildings and architecture in downtown Bucharest.

This is the Arc de Triumph, copied from the original in Paris France. This is located in a large traffic circle in town and very cool.  Here are some other pictures of Bucharest

This last building was being built for the center of communism for the world.  It is primarily empty because of the fall of communism in Romania.  It is the second largest building in the world.

We had a wonderful meeting with our mission president.  He is such an outstanding man.  We loved brainstorming and getting excited about our work.  Stay warm, love Heningers

la Multi An or Happy New Year

This is a picture of our branch on New Years Day.  They love to take pictures of everything.  I spoke in church New Years on moving forward and not looking back in our lives. 2 Nephi 31 :20.   Of course things were slow during Christmas and New Year but hopefully now we will be back in the swing of things.

Here's a fun pictures of my handsome companion.  Our weather has been mild and we have no snow but a few mornings are very chilly and a cachula is required.

We had a real adventure this week trying to find the post office.  Apparently there are 13 postal stations in Iasi so we went to the one closest to us.  They said "oh no you can't mail a package to Canada from this station" so they gave us the address of the one we needed to find.  When we got there they said the same thing "oh no....."  apparently we were not at number 13.  So she wrote down the address again and said see Duane.  Too bad there are no street signs with names of roads in Iasi.  After 3 hours of looking and wanting to give up we actually found it.  Miracle of miracles!!  so our youngest grandchild Lyla may be getting the one and only package we send home from Romania, if it actually arrives.  Happy Birthday Lyla.

This Sunday we went to church in Bacau.  We got up at 5:30 got ready and hopped on the tram-vi to take us to the Maxi-Taxi.  Left at 6:50 for the two hour trip to Bacau.  This is a picture of the beautiful building where they meet for church.

When we arrived at 9am we bought our ticket to go home and walked to the church. 

Church was wonderful, and there were 11 members and 3 invesitagors and 6 missionaries.  The place was packed.  The testimonies were very special and we taught a lesson in Sunday school on "How to teach a Lesson" It went well and our Eng/Rom mix was ok.

After church a new convert was given the Aaronic Priesthood which was very special and we got ready to head home.

The Maxi-Taxi filled up fast and once again 2 ladies had to sit on stools in the middle of the isle.  It was when the driver picked up one more person and she had to sit on the floor for about an hour that I felt so bad for her.

It was dark by the time we got home but it was a great day.  We look forward to going each month.

We send our best wishes for the new year and our love to you all.

Merry Christmas

We had a great Christmas Zone Conference in Moldova with our zone and Mission Pres. and his wife.  It was a great dinner and spiritual feast with our Mission Pres.  We traveled by Maxi-Taxi and it's always an experience of bumpy roads, no available bathrooms and long waits at the border.  This was not the most excitment however--we got stuck in our elevator in our apartment last week.  It broke down while we were in it.  Dan is my hero as he pryed the doors open, unlatched the swing door and climbed out 21/2 feet up.  I don't really want to do that again.

We went caroling on Christmas Eve, when you sing the people bring you in the house and serve food and drinks apples, and nuts and this man really got in the spirit. 

We awoke to the bells on Christmas Day.  Just like the song.  It was the first time in my life that that had happened.  I enjoyed it very much.  The bells were calling everyone to church.

This is a picture of our Christmas dinner.  We had chicken, vegetables, coleslaw.  It was very good.

Dan spoke in church as well, he did a great job.

This is soooo pretty.  They decorate the main street down town with lights and the main square with all kinds of Christmas decorations.

Sorry thats blurry.  It is very beautiful.

This is boxing day, we are on our way to dinner at a sweet lady's home who is so good to the missionaries.  Hope you have a wonderful time with your loved ones celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

We had some nice warm weather and went for a big long walk on P-day.  It was fun.  Here's some of our great missionaries in Romania.

Sora Remsberg from California, Sora Skifernets from Bucuresti, Sora Heninger

Elder Heninger feels quite domesticated.  He does dishes everyday, helps with  hanging laundry and even makes banana bread from scratch.  We live a simple life but we like it.  We haven't been here long enough to wear our shoes out but this shoe went to the shoemaker.

This lady is weighing my carrots on her scale.  I love it.  This is common here and we buy most of our produce in the open market and it is Good.  Right now the pomegranates are amazing, and delicious.  The fresh walnuts that ladies like this sit and shell in the market are the best we have ever eaten.

We are on our way to some teaching appointments.  We had some great lessons this week and are excitied about some wonderful people we are working with.  Still no snow, it has been milder than normal.  We are greatful for that.

We are busy with English class we bought our monthly pass (abonament) for the tram-vi so we can hop on the tram-vi at any time and get around town.  We thought it was going to be colder than it is.

Elder Heninger has to give his first talk in church on Christmas day and I have to speak on NewYears day.  I guess we'll have to be getting that ready.(My kids will laugh-they think thats my favorite thing to do)

Chisinau

We had an exciting time going to Moldova

This is down town Chisinau in front of the King Stephan Cel Mare

This is the two big gates and the biserica (church) right across from the government buildings downtown.  It was a beautiful sunny day.

This is a downtown store front in Chisinau, very old euoropean style.

 

We are standing in front of our church in Chisinau, it has a beautiful grand paino.  These are our trainers from Germany-they gave training on YSA Centers.

Here are some shots of Iasi

This is something we see alot,  people feeding the birds.  It kinds feels like Mary Popins.

Here we are getting on the tram-vi going to get groceries.

You may wonder if we do missionary work.  Yes we do.  We had 14 people out to Home Evening on Monday and that was not including the missionaries.  We spent all week rounding them up.

We had meetings training branch leaders and supporting branch members and we set appointments to teach the gospel from our English students. The church has only been here for a short 21 years, since 1990 and we are excited to be here in it's early stages. 

Lots of Activities

We had a great branch activity this week.  We learned how to make the traditional Romanian food called Sarmale.  It is similiar to cabbage rolls but wrapped in sour cabbage leaves or grape vine leaves.  The ladies in the branch made it to teach me and the BYU girls we have here for 4 months.

The meat filling was also put into green peppers

Every semester BYU sends 5-12 students to work in the orphanage and hospital.  This is a great boost to the branch in their musical talents and teaching abilities. 

This cute lady taught me how to preserve red peppers in jars for the winter.  They are delicious.!!She doesn't speak a word of English luckily her son does and he helped out.

Our district went bowling on P-day we had great fun.

Check out the sock covers

We had a great day this week teaching.  We actually taught 4 people with the Elders and Sisters.  It was awesome.  I hope they will read and pray. 

Lastly I will show you the Piatza where we buy fresh fruits and vegetables in the winter.  In the summer it is all outside,

Still Learning

This was a good week.  Our Mission Pres. Ned C. Hill  arrived in Iasi for a visit and interviews.  What a thrill it was to have him and his wife attend our branch for church Sunday.  He carries a huge resposibility as the mission president and leading church authority over 4 Districts covering two countries, Romania and Moldova.  This is a huge job and he is so inspiring with his big happy smile and kind words for all those he meets.

He taught me great things this week as I watched him speak in church in English with a missionary translating.  I learned that as he spoke in English his spirit was strong and powerful and came across beautifully even though he spoke in short phrases and waited for translation.  It is better to speak what I know and can say than worry about trying to say something I wasn't trained for and cannot possibly say.

We rode the train to Bucharest to get our visa's, 14 hour train ride but they were not ready.  So we will make another trip. (you can't call first) This time we had a new train and it was quite pleasant.

We saw the Romanian countryside and enjoyed getting out of town for the day...and night.

This is a sight we see often in Romania.  A wooden wagon pulled by horses.  I wanted to get a picture of the shepherds that we see with their sheep, here as well in the country and alongside the road.  I was unable to get a picture but we saw two groups of them that day.  I cannot see a shepherd without thinking of the Savior.

This is just me walking to church.  We are very excited to attend church in Bacau this Sunday.  It is a town 2 hours away where we will travel once a month to support the branch.  The branch President is a young elder missionary called to serve there and there are 7 active members.  He has hopes to be at 12 members by the end of the month.  We will travel by Maxi-Taxi or( mini bus).  Thank you to so many of you who have written emails and posted comments.  We love you and miss you.