Couple's Conference in Brasov

May 5th through May 9th we held our annual couple's conference in Brasov. Attending were (left to right), the Edwards, Hanson's Watson's, Hake's, Ashby's, VanNoy's, Jessee's, Bryson's and Sora Hirghiligiu. Unfortunately, the Jacob's and Sora Nelson could not be with us....we missed them!

Elder and Sister Watson organized and planned a wonderful conference for our group. The Watson's finish their mission the end of June and we want to thank them for their wonderful missionary service and a great conference.

The conference consisted of training for YSA, Outreach, Branch and Auxillary training, SA, Humanitarian work and how we can help and Public Relations. Everyone also gave a short Bio of themselves and several gave wonderful talks on assigned subjects. We learned a lot and when finished were able to spend a little time socializing. The photo above is in Poiana, Brasov where we had a wonderful, traditional Romanian dinner. Sora "H" (as the missionaries call her) stands in front of a wooden Orthodox church in Poiana.

In Brasov's centru Sister Winkler and Sora Ashby met up with Iuliana. Sister Winkler had met her that morning with the sister missionaries and had a serious talk with her about her life and the church. A few days later, Iuliana called President Ashby to tell him she was meeting with her branch president to talk about going on a mission. We are so happy for her.
The couple's were spoiled with delicious lunches during their meetings.

President and Sora Ashby met the new group of BYU girls from Iasi who are serving for the next three months in the Orphanages there. These girls are a wonderful asset to the branches where ever they serve. They jump right in, hold callings, teach, plan activities and are almost unofficial missionaries with the work they do. We were excited to meet and see this new group of girls. They will be a great asset to the members and missionaries in Iasi.

Not all the couple's went to Peles castle but, those who could fit it in on their way home, made a stop there. It is a beautiful place and was built by King Carol...a man who did much to build and strengthen Romania.


Another successful conference....a time to get to know each other and strenghten one another with our testimonies and teaching.

Transfer Day (Again!)

Transfer day was on April 30th and we lost another four great elders! Elders Valentine, Banu, Canfield and Selck visited Cismigiu Gardens, had dinner at the Ashby's, a great fireside together and said their farewells. We will truly miss these powerful young men in our mission.

Elder Valentine got a horrified look on his face as the reality of letting go his "tie" with the Romanian Bucharest Mission really hit home.

Our new bunch of missionaries arrive! We welcome Elder Bailey, Elder Barclay, Elder Eliason and Sora Shepard. Who is that woman next to Sora Ashby, you ask?.....Sister Geri Winkler....Sora Ashby's sister who came in with these incoming missionaries to visit the Ashby's for two weeks! We are excited for this new and enthusiastic group. However, of the four new missionaries, two of them lost their wallets enroute to Romania. I think they learned a hard lesson on watching out for pick-pockets!

Sora Shepard takes a little snooze before heading out to Transfer meeting and finding out who her first companion will be!

Last, but not least, we received another new and wonderful couple in the early part of April when Elder and Sora Edwards arrived as our new Humanitarian couple in Bucharest.

Easter in Bucharest - April 27th

The Office elders, Rose and McKinlay, the Assistants, Linesenmeyer and Jepsen and President and Sora Ashby attend an Orthodox Easter Mass. We had to dress casual and not wear out name tags out of respect for their service. It was very interesting and amidst the hundreds of people there I realized that these elders were the ones who held true priesthood power....a humbling thought.

Easter eggs are colored red to represent the time when Jesus died on the cross and his mother, Mary, was in the market buying a basket of eggs when she got the news. She hurried to the cross and set her basket beneath her Son. The wound in his side dripped blood onto her basket of eggs.

President and Sister Bucur fed the Assistants and the Ashby's an Easter dinner in their home after we attended a special Sacrament meeting in the Ponduri building. Elder Jepsen and President Ashby "break" eggs together. President Ashby's egg beat out all of our eggs!

The Bucur's were generous and kind and made our day very special.