"I am Leaving on Tomorrow!!"

Hello!!! 

This week has by far been the best.  I am so ready to leave the MTC but I think I am almost use to it! The is a Hermana Gutierrez who is the cutest stinkin' sister in here.  Everyday she has a cute skirt on so I tell her everyday,"Such a cute skirt Hermana Gutierrez!!" She is serving in Japan:) Well today she was wearing a dress and I said,"Cute dress sister Gutierrez!!"  

She replying in her cute English,"It is not a skirt it is a dress, awww thanks!! Guess what I got my travel plans!!"

I said," When are you leaving?"

"ON TOMORROW!!!!" hahaha:) She was so excited, I wish I was leaving "on tomorrow" She says she will look for the Owiagi's (sorry I don't know how to spell the name) So that will be pretty fun. 

We did some street contacting, meaning we walked up to English speaking Elders and sisters and just went off in Romanian about Jesus Christ and how it was true then asked them to read the Book of Mormon. That was probably my favorite part about this week:) It was great to see the looks on these missionaries faces, and when you got to someone who didn't even speak English it was even better!! :) 

Ok, mom you asked for some Elder stories.  Haha:) The Elders in our district got into some serious trouble last week.  They were bouncing a bouncy ball in the residence when the custodian came in and grabbed the ball and said, "You can't bring your own exercise equipment to the MTC." That was the first sign of trouble.  The next night the German Elders (Who live right below the Romanian Elder's rooms) Called campus security "claiming" (And by claiming I am pretty sure that they actually were really loud) that the Elders were too loud. So the Varstnici had a knock from the security officer at like midnight. "GO TO BED" haha:) And that is the worst that has happened.  So far they have actually been pretty good!! Elder Weaver gives me candy every day, Elder Avila makes me smile and Elder Christensen is helping me out with the language a ton.  All in all we have a good set of Elders:) No one is going to be going home anytime soon. I included some pictures of them:) 

Yesterday Elder Quintin L. Cook was the speaker during our devotional and it was awesome:) I always listen for the apostles promise when they do come, and his was really amazing.  He said that because we are missionaries everyone we love will be blessed and that this blessing was endorsed by an apostle of the Lord. So, now I really do have to love everyone so that they are blessed.  So I love you all I really do!! The Lord is now blessing all of you and I invite you this week to notice the tender mercies of the Lord in your life, at least one of them.  Love you all! Alden, Dalan I loved your letters this week they made me laugh so hard!! I miss you all and I have been writing a ton of hand written letters to people, but I realized I do not have your addresses!! I wrote one to Noah and Isabel, and to Ian and Wesley. So I need your addresses!! Please e-mail them to me. And PLEASE I beg of you, send my dear Elder mail while I am in the MTC:) (That is to you Kenzie, and Jade) I make an end of this weeks e-mail.

(None of the pictures she sent are coming in correctly.)

Love, 

   Sora Long

I am a Black Hippo

(This was Kylins email last week. Sorry for the delay)

Hello Family!! And ... Others:) 

This week at the MTC has been tons of fun:) The food is still terrible, I still feel sick, but I think I am use to it now.  Can't wait for the artisan bread from Romania!!

Romanian is coming a long ok! I still have a long ways to go, but I can feel the help of the Lord everyday. We learned possessives and a lot of other things this week, but my Teacher Fratele V. from Romania covered his face and said: "Luka eu sunt Tatal tau!" (Luke I am your Father) Killed us all, well those of us who understood it the first time:) Then killed the second half of the class after it was repeated a bunch of times.  I am actually able to pay attention pretty much 100% of the time during 6 hours worth of class and more of studying.  

To answer some of the questions I have gotten:

-No, I do not have a problem with not flirting at the MTC, the Elders here are like 12.

-Yes, Volleyball is awesome!! There is a girl going to Romania with me who actually plays for a college and she told me she was shocked to hear that I didn't try out for any colleges and I would certainly have made it onto a team here.  The more I play with her, the more I feel like she isn't lying because we are about the same level of awesome volleyball skills.  Who knows, in another life I could have been a volleyball star:) 

-Next week I am skyping with actual church members in Romania who will pretend that they are investigators. Yikes!! Scary!!

-The is my half way mark in the MTC, I think that is scarier than the last point!

-I will be in Romania on my Birthday:}

Our class building has broken sewage problems or something this week, so that has been fun to walk into our building and take a whiff of something that smells like it crawled into the sewage pipe, died, was brought back to life and died again. So we have been studying outside and, guess what!! I like that better than when the class room didn't smell! So bonus!! My branch is a combination of Romania/Moldova missionaries and Italian missionaries. There is a sister here going to the Milan Italy mission from Paris, France and this week she told me and another girl what animals we reminded her of.  She told Sister Allen that she looked like a cute tiny bunny rabbit, and she told me I reminded her of the hippo, Gloria, off of Madagascar. Which I think is pretty fitting:) I have the personality of a Black Hippo! And it is awesome (snap).  

We had a really strong moment in our classes where we had to explain why the restoration was important to us.  Of course we all said, "because we have the gospel?" at first, but our teacher Sister R. (who is awesome) really pushed us hard to find the real reason why it was important. I seriously sat there for a full minute before it hit me and I shared why it was important. 

 "The Restoration of the gospel is important to me since because of this I know there is a God.  Joseph Smith's experience eventually drove me to my knees to ask for the truth. And He is not just a God who sits up there and eats popcorn while wars wages on in Ukraine, or a family is torn apart by tragedy.  He is a God who is a Father." 

Somewhere is here I started crying and apologized for being such a girl, tears testify of the spirit,  "A Father who loves us with all of his heart and wants nothing better than to have us return to him.  I know that God will answer prayers because he answered Joseph's, I know that God answer prayers because he answered mine.  And that is why the Restoration is important."

After I said that I looked over at an 18 year old Elder in my district and saw he was crying, so I cried more cause he is adorable and small and just adorable! And he said,"Sorry!! I am such a girl!!" We all laughed so hard and all the sisters were crying, I swear everything becomes 10 times funnier in the MTC. And this Elder bore the sweetest freakin' testimony I have heard. This work is amazing! This church is true! And there is a God who loves each and everyone of us!

Yesterday we had a great devotional, I wish I remembered his name!! but I don't... Anyways he talked about how as missionaries we need to be like Christ in the sense that Christ sought out the one from the 99 sheep, but he didn't just find it tie a rope around it and lead it back, he put the sheep on his shoulders and carried him back to the fold and stuck him in the middle of it.  With our investigators we are asking them to break addictions and step away from there lives and in some cases even their family in order to come closer to Christ, and if we want that to happen we have to carry them.  Be with them the whole time through their addictions and troubles.  I really liked that!! Sometimes in the MTC I get a little down trodden because we just study here all the time and I want to serve people! I can serve my companion, my teachers, my zone and district, but I cannot wait to actually serve the people in Romania. 

Another thing he talked about was the difference between belief and conversion.  He said we can be good missionaries or great missionaries just by being penitent. He shared the example of the apostle Paul and how he, as an apostle, denied Christ three times before the cock crowed.  But realizing he did this broke his heart and he became penitent.  The speaker compared the Paul found in the gospels, to the Paul found in Act chapter 2.  He changed from "One with little faith" To a strong witness of Christ, one who lifted up his voice, expounded on scripture, and baptized 3,000 people!!!! If an apostle can be more repentant and have that much success than so can I! My mission is to minister to the people of Romania, and although I cannot speak the language (Dad, that sentence you sent me in Romania, yeah... no idea what it meant) or don't completely understand there culture I am more than ready to lift and carry them closer to Christ. This week my challenge to you:) Is to minister unto others, truely learn to love those around you and show it through service. Will you do that? 

Great!! Thanks!! That was the best answer to a commitment I have seen yet!

I love you so much! I miss seeing your faces and watching Downton Abby with my mom, but this is such a great opportunity.  I would not change my mind about coming to this crazy place, even if they promised to go back and change the story line in Downton Abby when they killed off Matthew Crowley that one time. Nothing would change my mind about being able to serve as a missionary right now and I cannot wait until I get to the field. Bye! 

Heart, 

Sora Long