A Sweet Day

Nothing feels better than when the bus pulls up to church in Brasov filled with members from Feldioara and Rotbav.  It means great things are happening.

We had a very special experience teaching this man.  He does not read.  He has worked with animals all his life and is a humble gentle man.  We were not sure how he would receive a testimony of the Book of Mormon not being able to read it.  After the first two lessons the Elders choose to show him the restoration video.  This was marvelous and he could really relate to Joseph growing up on a farm and all the animals.  Then he began getting excited and calling out Adevarat (True, it's true) and then, recognizing God and Jesus he mentioned their names and finally at the end he had tears running down his cheeks and saying Duhul Sfant (Holy Ghost) and pointing from his head to his feet.  He had received a spiritual conversion and it was amazing to witness it visually.  He changed from that time on and continued to prepare for baptism.

 Sweet !!

Super Sweet !!

The bonus at the end was Elder Heninger bringing his homemade banana bread.  

Very Sweet  !!

It was an amazing day and one I will always remember.  The Spirit teaches, testifies and does the converting.  Missionaries are just the tool.  

On the Road

Since all the missionaries write letters to the President each week and he shares some of experiences they have, it was a special surprise to read this experience from President Hill's letter from an Elder serving in our city with us.


The Power of a Senior Couple   “I think the coolest experience was with one of our new investigators. The past 6 months he has said that he will not take lessons with the missionaries, but we know that he has a great respect for the senior couple.  We called them and set up a meeting. The investigator has been coming to church with his member wife for a past couple of months, but his parents are Jehovah’s Witnesses, so he has been very hesitant to listen to us. My companion, the senior couple and I met with the man and I translated. He agreed to have more lessons and even committed to baptism when he finds out the truth of our message. It is really exciting. The Spirit was SO STRONG in that lesson and the senior couple gave great testimony. I felt like I was conducting music in the lesson. We followed the senior missionary as to when to ask him questions, when to invite his wife to bear testimony and when to have the senior couple speak. It was really a cool experience. I know that a year ago, even if I spoke the language as well as I do now, I wouldn't have been able to follow the Spirit like that. Not even close.”

We work with amazing missionaries !!

We had a YW activity in our branch where we stuffed these little soft toys for children at the children's hospital.  It was a fun activity and these bright colors are just what they like.

The pattern for these are on the humanitarian website, it is a great project.

I wanted to get a picture of this traffic sign.  If you can pronounce all these you are doing better than me.  Almost all our intersections are traffic circles which Elder Heninger is getting very good at.  They can be a challenge at times.  You may end up entirely going a different direction than you wanted.   

It's why we see a lot of these on the road....

and sometimes these...

..

Good luck as you travel down the road of life.  Don't forget your map.  Our map is the scriptures and we don't go very many places without them.  It doesn't matter what mode of transportation your using, just don't forget your map!!

Dream Come True

We had an amazing Sunday last week.  All our friends came into church on the bus from Feldioara and Rotbav and we had 65 people at church in Brasov.  It was a dream come true.  After 3 hours of church we had our baptism.

These are some very special people.

With our amazing missionaries !!

Did you know people can change?

People who have either never gone to church or only twice a year can change and go every Sunday.  It is wonderful.  

People who were sad and burdened down can now smile and live with faith.

And no one has changed more than Dan and I.  We may look the same but after working and loving and serving the people of Romania all day everyday, we are profoundly different.

Here is picture of our district just before transfers and lots of change.  It seems life is full of change, we have to change even our very natures.  The one constant thing is CHANGE.  

Good luck to you......on your road to change.

A Little of this and a little of That

It's always a little awkward taking your own picture but we are all we've got most days.

I loved seeing the kids play in the snow.  Check out the sled--love it !!

This blog is somewhat random.

This is not a good picture but you may be surprised to know that I eat regularly and love Eggplant.  This is my Eggplant Parmesan and it was delicious. (Dan loved it too) They also have zacuska made mostly from eggplant and other vegetables which is wonderful.

I remember trying to buy one of these in Calgary and didn't have a clue what to do with it.

 Now on to more important things.  We went to Deva where we gave a fireside and went to church. That is an old fortress on the top of that hill that is just the ruins and they are restoring it.

Decebal is the name of this statue.  He was a king in the year 87AD-106AD He ruled the Dacian's.  He held the Roman Empire at bay through 2 wars.

Decbal means with the strength of 10 men

Here is a giant Orthodox church.

Here is picture of some special friends in Romania.  This sweet lady has great faith and has taught me alot.

We have been teaching her sister and husband the missionary lessons.  She asked her if she would be able to come to church a few weeks ago when we had a baptism.  She said she wanted to, but had no money for the bus to get to town.  So this lady prayed and prayed for her sister and prepared herself for church and when Sunday morning came, in walked her sister and husband.  They had walked out to the highway and we're picked up by a driver and brought in to town.  It was an answer to sincere pray.

There is something totally amazing and humbling when you hear someone pray for the first time in their life.  It is a special experience.  He is a humble man.

I love this picture.  Here is another good friend of ours.  We have truly made some wonderful friendships.

The Lord has brought us to many wonderful people who are accepting the gospel and living by faith.  They are examples of the Lord's love for his children in Romania.

Great Start for the New Year

Today was a very special day.  We had our members and friends from Feldioara arrive for church on the bus and it was so wonderful to have them come to Brasov.

We had two very special Baptisms today and it was super to all be together from Brasov and Feldioara.  I think we had 50 people at church.  Here are  a few pictures.

This the sweetest gal you have ever seen.

We are so excited to be part of these special peoples lives.

It is a privilege to be able to serve in Romania.  We have made some life long friends.

Here are some snow pictures as well.

We are so lucky to serve with Sora Hosking and Sora Cottam.

Some Christmas Pictures for You

I think I fixed the problem.

This is our beautiful tree in Centru, so awesome.

Our super missionaries and fantastic member.  This is Christmas Eve after doing a little Secret Santa work.

The ground here was a serious skating rink.  We were lucky to get across alive.

We had a great meeting on Christmas Sunday and a wonderful program for everyone.

We had our own New Years party, which was so fun.  We made party hats and played Rook til midnight.

This is a cobble stone street with lights all across.  So beautiful.  This is in Iasi.

That's it for our Christmas pictures.  Next for the real important stuff.