A very special day!

These seven boys from the Alexandria branch attend church in Bucharest today for District Conference. The boys are accompanied by their friend and mentor, brother Matei. These boys are thrilled as they each received brand new suits, shirts, ties, belts, socks and shoes from some of our missionary mom's who wanted to do something special for someone in Romania!







The very best thing about today was the baptism of three more boys in Alexandria.
All eight boys are here in their new suits or their baptism clothes. Elder Ryttersgaard (second from the left) and Elder Haddock (second from the right) baptised two of the boys. The other Elder Matei baptised one of them.

Thank you to the mom's who thrilled these orphan boys with their new church clothes. It was a HUGE surprise to them and they were so happy. 

Kim and Rick...This is for you!

Elder Cavin Nicholson........November 18th! My 21st birthday and one I will never forget! (Like my new tie? A very special member gave it to me for my birthday!) I love you mom and dad and I love Romania!

Church in Alexandria

Yesterday we attended church in Alexandria. John and I were the speakers along with one of these young men on the front row. As we are not "officially" a branch yet, we meet in a primary school, music room. Actually, it's a nice room and we even have a piano there. The music teacher is one of our investigators and he is the organist each sunday. I'm not sure if it's the church or the music he's more interested in! We had 23 people attend. There are 11 members and next Sunday we will have 3 more baptisms. Of the 23 people attending only 4 were women, along with one girl. So far, this is a "priesthood" branch! The touching thing about this photo is that the 6 boys in the picture are all orphans. They have investigated the church, obtained testimonies and 4 of them are baptized. The two who are not in suits are being baptized next sunday along with a young man who is not in the photo. They have no family and are amazing. They have very few worldly posessions and even the suits they are wearing are from the Elders who gave them their own. The suits are way too big but they don't care...they are so happy to have Sunday clothes.
The boy that spoke with us in church gave an excellent talk about faith and the missionaries tell me he spends about two hours every day reading his scriptures and studying the gospel. They own nothing and yet are cheerful and happy and had no expectations from us except to be glad we were there. It was very humbling. So far this branch has the makings of a strong YM organization. Other than that, we have a Sunday School class!
This photo is of everyone who came to church. The couple in the middle (lady holding her scriptures) have also committed to baptism next month sometime.
Some of the most spiritual meetings we have had the privilege of attending have been in small, humble branches like this one. There are no frills and no special hand-outs, treats, parties, etc. but the people have each other. They study the scriptures, reverently hold their sunday meeting and lift and support each other. They are truly an example of people living the gosple and bringing Christ into their lives. Like I said before, we are not officially a branch here but hope to change that soon. The lady in the orange suit is Sora Matei and her husband is on the far right, second row. This couple has made it their goal to have a 100 members within a year! They have been members for several years and used to drive over an hour each way to Bucharest to go to church. They are so excited to see the church growing in their city and are giving of their time, money, food and everything else to see the gosple among the people in their home town. They are true pioneers and are wonderful people. 

Elder Banu gets the first flu shot of the season!

We do everything we can to keep our missionaries well in Romania. Last year I was a big chicken when I found out I had to give the shots but, this year I was an old pro and as you can see from Elder Banu's report in the video clip below, all went well! Rest easy moms! 

Elder Banu and Elder Canfield comment on their flu shots!

Our Couples

Just a quick look at the couples we have serving right now. They are awesome!
Boyles, Facer's. Bakers's, Reed's, Sora Kirkham, Sora Paeamoelotu, Boman's, Wright's, Lund's, Thomas', Bremners's, Johnston's, Lofgreen's and Neiman's (and us!).
Sadly, we are losing the Thomas' and the Bremners within a month! If any of you want to volunteer to take their places we would love to have you and you would love serving here! 

Humanitarian Projects

Several people have asked me what Humanitarian projects our mission has been working on lately. This past month we have had the privilege of donating hundreds of wheelchairs in Bucharest to those who are unable to walk. To see the excitement on the faces of people who are the recipients of these wheelchairs is very touching.

Elder and Sora Johnston (the couple in the third photo down) are our area directors and were in charge of this effort. We are also working on a water project to drill wells in needy villages and a honey project that will make it possible for the many beekeepers here in Romania to market and sell their honey and actually make some money. These projects are very big and are being worked on right now. We hope to see some progress here in the near future. Elder Johnston is 2nd counselor to President Ashby in the mission and as you can imagine, has his hands full! We really admire and love all our couple missionaries. It is amazing how much they accomplish in this mission!

 

We spend a lot of time driving the roads of Romania. It is common for the little gypsy kids to stop us. (especially when we are stuck in road construction or traffic) We never give them money but we always carry suckers and give them a treat. We also gave bananas to these kids and they loved them. The kids were very polite and thanked us when we were through. We thought you might enjoy seeing a minute of this as it is very common in Romania.