Orthodox Baptism at the Orphanage

Today at the orphanage 2 children got baptized. Of course it was an Orthodox baptism since everyone here is Romanian Orthodox. This was the first time I have seen a baptism other than my religion. It was very interesting. I had a weird feeling during the baptism and the feeling just made me realize how grateful I am for having the gospel in my life and knowing the truth. It was an interesting service to watch. Very different than baptisms I have seen before. The weirdest part of it all is that they were babies! They were so young. Giovani, he is in my room, was the oldest of the two getting baptized and he is younger than two. The other baby girl was not even a year old! The baptism lasted probably a little over an hour. Shortly after the baptism Andrei left for the apartments. I am torn about this situation. This boy has been so naughty for me! He climbs on chairs and runs out the door and NEVER listens to me. He pulls my hair, hits me and also throws every toy he gets his hands on. You can see he is a little stinker, but this boy just wants love and attention. When he isn't doing all that naughty stuff, he is very lovable. He was always one of the first to greet me when I walked into the door. I am going to miss this little boy, evening the pulling hair part. He was a wonderful little boy who I hope finds a family someday! The orphanage was definitely different after he left. It made me so sad realizing I gave him the last hug I would ever give him. Telling him "pa" made me realize I need to treasure every moment I have with these kids. I want to savor every memory of them.

Giovani is the little boy. The little girl is in Sarahy and Katelyn's room

Between the orphanage and the hospital we met up with Andreea and Aurelia to get Petru's for lunch. Petru's is a pretzel place that is so good. I got a Covrigking! Think of a ham and cheese hot pocket but the ham and cheese is inside a pretzel. It is a hundred times better! I also got covrigi cu ciocolata. That is a pretzel with chocolate inside. It was good but not as good as covrigi cu mere (apple filled pretzel). That is what I normally get. It is super good! I love pretzels.

At the hospital we were able to go into ICU again. Andreea seemed to be doing much better. Same with the other babies. We spent a good amount of time with Eliana and Marian. Marian is from the orphanage and has kidney problems. He mostly played on Sarahy's phone. He loved it. He helped me remember again how smart children truly are. He had no problem figuring out Sarahy's phone. Katelyn painted Eliana's nails. That was fun, plus Eliana liked it. At first she was a little unsure and didn't want her other hand done. Katelyn painted my thumbs to show her it was okay on both hands. I saw Lori again. We don't know her name so we just decided to call her Lori. She hasn't been in the hospital for awhile but we saw her today! It made me happy seeing her again but her diaper was so full. I don't know how long she had been in that diaper but it had gone threw her clothes. Her clothes were wet. Lori also had a bad diaper rash too. It didn't help that she has a bad rash all over stomach, back, arms, and legs too. It was sad seeing her sitting in that wet diaper. Poor baby girl. After the hospital I went to institute. The lesson was taught by Monica. She did a great job! We talked about the characteristics of Christ: humbly, faith, hope, charity, knowledge.

"You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it." -Unknown