English Class

This week was definitely one of the crazier ones of my life.  No big deal, just the everyday things from being a missionary in Romania.  I ripped another skirt this week. Waddoyado? That is three skirts down, took them to the tailor we will see what happens. 

This weeks English class was literally going to be the best ever we decided to teach the students what a s'more was. Yes! There are people in the world who have no idea what a s'more is.  So we had our class in the kitchen roasting marshmallows over the stove.  (Just as a side note they didn't know what a marshmallow was as well.) When we heard a crash.  We run out and on the ground is our one and a half legged English student with blood in a ppol around his head on the floor.  Elder M was trying to help him up and yelled, "Get Ioan!" So I turned around and got another English student Ioan to come out and help.  They wiped the blood out of his eyes and you could see the gash above his right eye brow.  He missed a step and fell hitting the edging of the wall and cracking his head open.  The ambulance, if you could call it that, took about 30 minutes to come, so the guy ended up leaving in someones car.  Hopefully he will be okay, but I have a feeling that nothing will keep him from showing up to our English class tomorrow. 

We had a lesson with 4 of our new investigators and they are progressing very well. It is so exciting to see the growth of people.  We had a service project this week with a member in the ward.  I deleted all of my mission photos because of a virus, but I got most of them back.  There are some crazy virus' in Romania! Super irritating...  Overall it was a good week:) 

-Sora Long

This week on the district... October 2, 2014

SO my district is so cool!!! They are a bunch of hard working missionaries who are seeing success. 

This week my companion and I received a nasty cold.  I had a fever for a bit, she had a fever for a bit.  And we just were not sure if we could leave the door one morning.  But we had 5 lessons planned for the day. So we decided to complete our studies and see what happened.  We received a talk from Zone Conference and we were asked to study it and apply its principles.  So that morning my companion and I read  In the Strength of the Lord by Elder Bednar.  It is fantastic! (I included it as a link and for my missionary friends it will send you to a missionary safe page and I suggest you print it out and read it this week.)

Anyways, we were sick and miserable and we read this talk.  It suggests that we change the way we pray about things.  Instead of praying for us to be healed from our cold, we stopped and started praying that we would have the strength to leave our apartment and complete the tasks that we had laid out before us. We then left that day and had 4 back to back lessons and taught an English class.  It was an amazing day! I learned that it is important not to pray to have your circumstances changed, but to pray to be strengthened in our circumstances.  Although trials and burdens can be hard to bear receiving the strength from the Lord to carry them, rather than trying to throw them off our shoulders is the better route. Because his yoke is easy and his burden is light. The point of the story is, you too can use this same enabling power of the atonement.  It is cool and I encourage you try it our sometime. 

Also General Conference happened. When you were all snuggled in your pajamas I was watching the first session at 7:00 at night! We had sacrament meeting on GC day and watched one of the sessions for church.  It was so good! We had the opportunity of watching these sessions with some investigators and they absolutely loved the experience.  It was interesting to see the choir.  I have been told that Americans really stand out like a sore thumb in Europe but I didn't believe it until we were watching General Conference and I noticed for the first time the contrast between Romanians and Americans.  Lots of Blondes in the choir and the hair dos are... different... AHahah! 

I have not seen all of the sessions yet since the last one aired at midnight last night.  But so far my favorite part of conference was the talk from Lynn G. Robbins.  His powerful words of having courage really stuck my heart. SOmetimes it is a little difficult to open my mouth and tell people about the gospel and what I know to be true.  I also really liked the idea from Elder Anderson that spiritual questions deserve spiritual answers.

Anyways, I have to go! But here are a few pictures.  I love you so much and I hope you are all having a great time! Know that I pray for you every day. Pa! 

-Sora Long

This is our district pausing our conference to have a small break and we took a picture, literally I think we were going a little crazy, not really sure... 

Moldova and Back Again: A Tale by Sora Long September 29, 2014

I went to Moldova this week for Zone conference with my district and in total we spent about 24 hours or more on a train or a bus or a cramped car literally going to the capital of the middle of now where Chisinau, Moldova. We went from Constanta to Bucarest by train then from Bucarest to Iasi by train then spent the night with the Iasi sister missionaries. Then woke up the next morning and took a sketchy Maxi Taxi into Moldova.  And it was beautiful.  Just imagine driving through the most beautiful rural place in the world with the smallest, most humble villages.  On the bumpiest hand paved road lined with the tallest green trees with trunks painted white. And add the spice of Romanian Russian almost Bollywood pop songs and a dude with a lead foot driving and you have got the perfect scene for our road trip from Iasi to Moldova. 

The border crossing was the scariest part.  I gave the lady my passport for when I was leaving Romania and she asked me some questions:

"How long will you be in Moldova?"

"Just for today, I will be back in Romania tonight."

"And then when you get back how long will you be here in Romania?"

"For about a year and three months."

"A YEAR AND THREE MONTHS?" She literally yelled that and everyone behind me went quiet.

"I have a visa." And I went to hand her my visa.

"Hem. Next." 

On the train to Iasi we were sitting just a little ways from the Elders when two Romanian police men and a regular looking dude came in and pointed to them saying in Romanian, "This is them, these are the two." Then in English they said. "Immigration police, give us your passports." So while the Elders were hastily digging for their passports I caught the eye of the normal looking guy and pointed to my name tag and said, "Do you want our passports too?" So he took our passports as well.  Were were in the middle of playing uno with this super cool Romanian girl that was sitting by us.  And the girl was very shocked because she had never seen anything like that before from immigration police or any police. All was well they found no problems with our passports and we continued to become great friends with this girl.  When she got close to her stop I wrote my testimony in the front cover of the Book of Mormon in Romanian and we gave it to her.  I hope I spelled everything right... Oh well! But it was crazy!  Even though we were stuck on trains and buses for that long and not able to contact anybody in our area we placed three Book of Mormons into the hands of three very beautiful women.  The first one was on her way to a small village near Iasi for fall break from school.  The second one, Elena, brought cards and taught us Romanian card games while we taught her American card games for three hours and was on her way to start her semester of school.  And the third one was on her way home to Moldova from Constanta to take a year long internship in her home town before finishing school again. The third one was literally stuck in a maxi taxi filled with 15 missionaries and one other Moldovan not including the driver so we got to talk to her about the church and our purpose here as missionaries pretty much the whole way.  Sora Sayre and I sat in the front.  I mean, try having an audience of 13 missionaries listen in while you tell someone about the church for the first time.  A little stressful! It is crazy to see who the Lord lets into our path here.  I don't feel like a minute was wasted.

This is Sora Sayre and I on the maxi taxi to Chisanau last week.

Zone conference was soooooooooooo cool! We had a quorum of the 70 Elder Robert D. Gay come to our conference and his presentation was powerful.  It was really a Zone Conference that talked about miracles.  They are real.  Don't know if you know that but this world is filled with miracles, and sometimes they just get over looked.  We are starting something here as a mission where we are going to pray as a mission 3 times a day at the same time as a mission.  I would like to invite all of you who read this to pray every day for missionaries every where and for miracles.  I would request specific prayers for the Romania/Moldova mission, but that seems a little selfish.  We are praying for baptisms, and for investigators and for the guidance of the spirit we need in order to help others come unto Christ. :) 

On the way back from Moldova we got to go to a duty free store in between the boarders.  This is were every one buys all of their super cheap alcohol, but for 15 missionaries? We stocked up on Pringles and american candy.  The line was huge and no one was buying any alcohol and the guy thought we were weird.  I was at the last of the line and behind me was a Russian looking lady holding a huge bottle of whiskey.  When she put her item on the check out stand the cashier said, "Draga mea!" My dearest! In the deepest voice. I swear he could have kissed her just because he was so happy someone was buying the whiskey! HAHAHA.

The church is true! Thank you for all of your support! I love you all and I pray for you everyday! Don't forget to pray for success here in Romania and Moldova! 

-Sora Long

Headed to Moldova

Hello my friends and family and others!!! 

 I hope your week was just as cool as mine! IT was transfers so I was down in Bucharest picking up my new companion.  Sora Sayre.  She is so awesome! She is from West Jordan, Utah loves everything I love.  I don't understand it, but every companion I have had has amazing hair and it is not fair. 

This P-day we walked this whole city and I showed my new companion our crib! SO much fun! We went to this place to eat that the Elders told us was good and it was... interesting.  I think the Elders were lying 'cause it was gross... The guy gave us this milk drink "on the house." And we sat down and took a sip and it was seriously so bad, but we tried really hard to make our faces look okay for a little bit because he was waiting for us to try it. Apparently it was butter milk, but I don't believe it because I have had butter milk before and it DID NOT taste like that. So luckily it started to rain so we had to pack up our stuff and leave and we took the milk with us because we didn't want to offend the guy who gave it to us for free. And as we were leaving a cute little gypsy boy popped up at my elbow and asked,"Are ya gonna drink that?" I looked behind him and I saw his friend hiding behind a wall.  "Nope." And I handed him my cup. For a split second I thought he was going to pour it all over me, but he carefully balanced the rank liquid and headed back to his friend. His friend was jumping in the air with a smile on his face. "Vrei doua?" Do you want two? We asked and he turned around and said yes. And he ran holding two giant cups of butter milk careful not to spill it on his hands. It was great:) 

This week we will be having Zone Conference and I am so excited! Mostly because it will be in Moldova! What? Crazy right? Our district will be traveling for about 24 there and back again.  And we will be going trough the beautiful cities of Galaţi and Iaşi on a maxi taxi.  Woot Woot!! Road trip! I am so excited! And I hope I get to meet some really cool people on the way there and talk about the gospel.  

The church is true!!! I am so happy to be here and to be sharing this message. 

-Sora Long

Transfer Boards!!! September 15, 2014

This week!!!!!!!!!! 

     So to start off transfer boards came out I cannot believe I am already starting another transfer, it goes by so fast!! And my companion, Sora Ralls, is no longer mine.  To which news I am super sad about.  It is had having good companions and watching them leave.  Sora Ruiz, Sora Ralls, and Sora Quist. love ya all! I love my companions! Sora Ralls and I have had so much fun this transfer and worked so hard, and have become the best of friends. The second shocker, I am staying in Constanta! Weird. I am happy about that though:) These are literally the only members I know in Romania, I love working with them and visiting with them, serving them, etc.  My new companion is Sora Sayre who was the only Sister missionary I remember meeting on my first day in Romania besides my companion.  And she was so nice, even though I am sure talking to my tired jet-lagged self was like conversing with a bucket of nails. Boring.

     This week has been really cool.  We have been let into so many homes to give lessons down here it is almost unheard of.  One day we were cutting through a market and out of the crowd a woman yelled "hey!" We turned around and she came up to us and asked if we were Mormon.

"Yes, we are." 

"What time is church on Sunday?" 

"It starts at 10:00, would you like to meet with us this week to go?" 

"No I can't this week but I will be there next Sunday." 

"Oh good! What is your name?"

"It doesn't matter. Can you get me one of your books?"

"A Book of Mormon?" 

"Yes."

"We have one right here," We of course excitedly pull one out. "You know about this book? That it was written by ancient prophets?"

"Yes, how much does it cost?"

"It is free." 

"Ok, thank you bye!" She got the book, and said she would see us at church next week. 

     It was seriously the quickest conversation, and the fastest contact ever.  I loved it:) It is very strange when people come up to us on the streets because  the church is so small here so we know when someone approaches us it is a miracle every time. I am excited to learn her name at church next weekend.

     Also this week I was trying to lock the church door but instead I just broke the key in the door? I am not really sure how that happened besides a combination of my talent and the fact that doors in Romania are weird.  But this is the 3rd key to break in a lock from missionaries in our district. Just in the last couple weeks! All of them from different doors!! So of course we get the info to find the best key shop and head to the area to get another copy of a key. We got there and we set our Book of Mormons on the counter and while he was making us a copy he told us that he didn't feel like a book could change someones life, that you can only know about things from God by feeling something inside of us. Holy Ghost? Yes.  We explained that we believe that this book could change his life so we let him borrow it for a couple days to read and we get to go pick it up this week and talk with him about it.  Come to find out we went to the wrong key store that the Elders had gone to twice.  SO. Our reasoning with 3 different sets of missionaries snapping their keys in half was due to the fact that we kept getting our keys copied at the wrong store. The church is true. Or missionaries are just to strong for keys here in Romania.

     Once we left that same key store a gypsy woman started following us and asking for money.  She was holding this little baby and saying "Frumoasa, Frumoasa, un Leu." Beautifuls, beautifuls, one dollar, my baby is hungry. It was actually really scary and I thought we were about to be robbed by this woman or by her gypsy friends who were all watching us.  She seriously would not leave us alone and at one point Sora Ralls and I turned a corner and found a dead end.  The gypsy woman layed her hand on Sora Ralls' shoulder and I pulled Sora Ralls away and told the woman to leave. And we literally ran away.  

     As we were walking a little ways away some gypsy children started begging us and we told them we couldn't give them anything.  (It is illegal for us to give them anything) The little girl followed us for a bit then when we turned away and started walking she poked me in the bum and made a loud squealing noise? I don't know how to explain the sound she made, a trill of her R's really high pitched.  But the point is I actually got goosed by a 6 year old gypsy girl accompanied with some tune-age.

     Then we got on a bus to go to a lesson soon after that and while we were on the bus a group of boys our age started to be weird.  One of them sat behind us and grabbed Sora Ralls' red hair at the end and I snatched her hair away from his hands and we got off of that bus.  But the whole time they kept closing in on us at the far end.  At one point one boy got really close and he was creepy and kept asking us,"Speek English?" and Sora Ralls said "HEY" really loud and the whole bus turned and looked at this kid and they left us alone. 

     That was just a strange day over all...  Just another week here in Romania! I feel like there are times when we are watched over very carefully and guided to get out and steer clear of scary situations.  I feel safer here than I did in Provo. Which is interesting... I love this branch and the people here so much! I miss you all and I hop you have a great week.  This morning was the first day of school and all of the kids were dressed up in suits and dresses and carrying huge flower arrangements to school.  The first day of school here is a big deal!! The kids don't have to worry about picking out an outfit, it is a suit, or a dress. Love ya'll! Bye!

-Sora Long

Inspired Contacting September 8, 2014

Seriously, waaaaaay crazy!! I don't have much time but this week was full of contacting the most interesting people.  One lady we were walking past was looking at a wet part of the street very concerned so I said hello to her to see if we could help.   She had very bad vision and she wasn't sure if the wet road was a hole or a deep puddle of water or a very small amount of wet road.  We told her it was safe to walk on and she was very happy.  She talked with us for a long time and at the end of our conversation really wanted to meet up with us again.  She told us we were her angels and that she could see our light and it was beautiful.  I liked that a lot!!!! Earlier in the mission I got a blessing when I was going through a hard week.  I had been wondering to myself way in the world was I sent to Romania.and in the blessing I was told that I was sent here to Romania because I was a light and that people would see this light and be drawn to it. Then on the street this week I run into a half blind lady who can see the light that we as missionaries hold. I have so much hope for the people of Romania! 

We were also walking home one day and my companion Sora Ralls said,"I feel like we should contact this family." So we circled back and contacted them. It was a crazy windy day and it was really kind of hard to hear him speak. He also poured us a glass of home made cherry alcohol and we had to decline. The grandfather was so excited we were there and he said that he had a Book of Mormon and had already read 100 pages of it.  He told us he thought it was a beautiful story and nothing more. We asked if he had prayed about the book to know if it was true and he said, no of course not. So we shared Moroni 10:5 with him and invited him to pray about it. As he was reading the scripture the wind stopped. And everyone focused on the words.  I felt the spirit so strong and I knew that we were suppose to be there at that time to contact this man and his family. We left the family and we will be following up sometime this week.  It was so cool to know that small action of knocking on his door and inviting him to pray was a really important moment in someones life.  I know that for a fact because I felt it when we read that scripture.  The church is so true! The principles it abides by are pure, simple, and the way to true and exquisite happiness. All it takes a little guidance, or a little bit of faith to know whether or not it is true. And I know it to be true with all of my heart.  There would be no purpose of my being in Romania if that was not true. I love you all! I hope you are all safe this week! And I give you the challenge to tell somebody something about the church. 

Heart, 

Sora Long

Cat with a Mustache September 8, 2014

Guess who is getting baptized?!! 

No, not Roger the Turtle.... Our investigator!!  Vlad!

We love this kid Vlad! He is so sweet and we have been teaching him and his mother since I got here in Romania.  On Saturday we asked him if he wanted to be baptized and he said yes.  He is so excited and so is his mother. The first baptism I will see in Romania will be in 2 weeks, and it will be with this little cutie right here.  There were so many miracles that lead up to this point and many more to come I am sure. It is amazing to see the progression of people in the gospel and notice how it changes their lives.

    This week has been non-stop awesome! We have been working so hard to get to know the members of the branch here in Constanta so we have been having lessons non-stop.  There is also a lovely member of the branch here who got her mission call to the Birmingham, England mission speaking English so we have started having lessons with her to prep her for that. 

From left to right Elena, Sora Ralls, Me(of course) and the future missionary Andreea.  Are we not cute!? We have such a strong branch together! And these two girls have been so helpful to me with Romanian and tons of other stuff I will be sad to see Elena leave soon for school and Andreea leave soon for her mission. 

This week as we were headed to a lesson a boy sort of yelled at us in English, "Are you here to save us?" And I literally looked over my shoulder to see who he was talking to, but of course it was the English speaking missionaries. Sora Ralls responded ,"I don't think God wants to destroy anyone." So we started talking to him about the gospel and came to find out he actually liked our church and had been introduced to the missionaries in Spain and even attended a few sacrament meetings. Sora Ralls handed him a pamphlet  with our contact information on it. As we were talking to him our bus came up and I turned to Sora Ralls and said,"Our bus is here!" I then proceeded to hop on the bus. As I turned around I watched as the bus doors closed behind me and Sora Ralls was still on the street talking to this kid!!!! She turned to look at the bus just in time to see it drive away with me inside it. So I waved.  It didn't take me long to get a little frightened.  I looked at the people on the bus and ALL of them were staring at me.  They know we go two by two.  I started pacing a little bit because I couldn't remember what I was suppose to do in this situation. The bus came to a stop and I looked up to see we were at a red light.  When I looked in the bus drivers rear view mirror he had a scowl on his face and I just looked up at him and pointed to the door.  I could see him role his eyes as he pressed the eject button and I jumped out of the bus and ran to my companions side as fast as I could.  She didn't notice me running up to her so I grabbed her arm very softly and freaked her out a little.  She had been contacting the same kind for the full 60 seconds we were split apart.  What a good missionary!! 

I love you all so much!! I know school is starting about now-ish, so good luck! You are looking sharp in those polos.  Happy Birthday to Baby Wesley this week and if I forgot anyone else's birthdays... sorry about that. 

And just as a last fun picture, I found a cat with a mustache this week.  Remember I have no access to photoshop, this is real life down here in Romania, a cat with a mustache!! I still am not sure why I was laughing so hard at it!! HAHA! I also probably should not have touched it... YOLO.

Love, 

Sora Long