Sunday Will Always Come

Sunday was really good! It was great to hear the testimonies of the branch members. The church is true everywhere you go! Sarahy and Chelsea bore their testimonies in Romanian. They did a great job. I think I'm going to make it a goal to bear my testimony in Romanian before I leave. Since it was Chelsea's last sunday we took a lot of pictures at church. Here is a couple!

Litia, Sarahy, and Chelsea

Mihai and Elder Slemboski

The Relief Society

Mihai, Chelsea, Monica, Me, Katelyn, Florentina, and Aurelia (she is on the ground holding the dog)

Aurelia and the Soras

Us and the missionaries. They really are so great!
Sora Moulton, Sora MacDonald, Elder Slemboski, and Elder Whitehead

Chelsea posted this quote from Gordon B. Hinckley on facebook. I loved it! "We know not all that lies ahead of us. We live in a world of uncertainty. For some, there will be great accomplishment. For others, disappointment. For some, much of rejoicing and gladness, good health, and gracious living. For others, perhaps sickness and a measure of sorrow. We do not know. But one thing we do know. Like the Polar Star in the heavens, regardless of what the future holds, there stands the Redeemer of the world, the Son of God, certain and sure as the anchor of our immortal lives. He is the rock of our salvation, our strength, our comfort, the very focus of our faith."

I also really like this one by Gordon B. Hinckley too. I have this one on my computer screen. I read it whenever things seem tough and I need some motivation. This quote always seems to help me. "It is so easy to get discourage while you're here. It seems so natural a thing to drop out or to give in. The way seems so long, the road so steep... My dear young friends, never lose faith in yourselves or in your capacity to do worthwhile things. And call upon the Lord for help that your minds may be enlightened and your understanding quickened. Then go to work with that assurance inside of you that somehow you can do it."

Manastirii

Today we went to 2 monasteries in Iasi. Aurelia came with us to go to the monasteries. She helped us get there too! The first one was the Biserica Mănăstirii Frumoasa. Oh and we did a ton of walking to get to both monasteries.

The inside of the monastery. We really aren't suppose to take pictures but I'm glad Chelsea secretly took this one. I wanted at least one to remember what the inside of the monasteries look like! Of course they are all different but its good to have at least one picture.

So when we went to this monastery they were having some sort of feast/ celebration. Aurelia said this happens when someone passes away. When we walked in the priest was talking/ singing and everyone was gathered in a circle around a table full of food. Everyone had candles and a piece of bread. It wasn't long before someone came up and handed me a candle and piece of bread. We watched this celebration continue for awhile. After being there probably about 20 minutes, the priest stopped talking and everyone started eating. Everyone shared the food that was on the table. It consisted of lots of bread, cake, drinks, and other stuff. People even came over and gave us some cake and offered drinks. All the people were very nice and welcoming. Like I said before, the people are very passionate. It shows every time I am in their church. It was a neat experience. Very different but interesting to experience.

Us sharing bread

This picture is so funny! Me and Sarahy are very attractive haha

The next monastery was an adventure. We went to the Biserica Mănăstirii Cetăţuia. We met a very sweet old lady. We guessed she was in her 70's but we don't really know. She was waiting on the side of the road for people that were going up to the monastery. This monastery is on a hill and is quite a walk. She asked if we wanted to walk through the snow with her. Going through the snow instead of the road saved a good amount of time. We said yes and followed her through the snow. She was a beast! She walked up the hills in the snow like it was no big deal. This lady was incredible. I couldn't believe she was making this walk to the monastery. The trail was no easy one either, especially in the snow. She was a very dedicated woman, thats for sure. She was also very sweet. At the end, after we had made it to the monastery and back down, she gave us all a kiss on the cheek.

As we were walking up to the monastery, we saw this beautiful view. The view was too great to not stop and take some pictures!

I felt like we could see all of Iasi! 

This is the sweet lady on the right.

She even offered Chelsea some of her medicine to help her feel better. This is Aurelia and Katelyn picking some berries, maybe, off of a tree. I'm not sure what the medicine was but it came from a plant. The lady told us it was that one.

The view from the top

We made it! This monastery was built between 1669- 1672. This building is over 300 years old! This monastery was built on a hill because it was used for fighting.

Aurelia said they go up there to ring the bell to let people know it was time for church.

This picture is so funny! Look closely at our faces

The inside of the monastery. This one was a lot smaller than the others I have been in. The church just had music playing, no priest talking or people singing. It was nice to be able to look around. There was a ton of pictures inside.

Yesterday we got invited by the Bodaru family to have dinner. We ate dinner at the Bodaru's house with the Soras. Sora Bodaru made sarmale, a very common Romanian food. It looks kind of like this. The sarmale I had at the orphanage looked like this. The one Sora Bodaru made was wrapped in leaves so it was green on the outside. I really like sarmale! Its really good.

After we ate Brother Bodaru, who is an older man, turned on music and started dancing. He made all of us dance together. After that he started dancing with us one on one. Chelsea said that was a very Romanian thing to do. Here's a video!

After that Sora Bodaru shared some songs she had wrote. They were very good and powerful. Her testimony is very strong. She was baptized a couple years back but her husband doesn't let her go to church anymore. That does not stop her from having a testimony though. Her testimony showed in her songs. She is a very good example to me. She even bore her testimony in English and she doesn't even seem to know very much. She said if she can bare a simple testimony in English than we can do it in Romanian. 

The people in Romania are such good people. They are very strong and must have hard lives. The church here is so small in Iasi. I can't imagine how it must be to only have a few members in a city. They are very dedicated and I am so blessed to know them. All the branch members are so sweet and they teach me so much. They are all good examples to me.

I saw these two pictures on facebook and I just loved them. Reading these helped me a ton.

Thank Goodness Its Friday

Florin went to a foster family! I am so happy and glad but sad that he is gone. He was so cute and so much fun. He always gave me so many kisses. I didn't know he was leaving either, so that was kind of hard when he was just gone. I am hoping that Teo will give me pictures at the end of the kids that have already left, Florin, Marien, Vasile, and Andrei. That way I can at least have a picture of them! This is the outside of the orphanage. The wall tells the story of Thumbelina.

Since Marien and Vasile left, two new little boys came into my room! Mihai and Florin. They are so adorable, but aren't they all. These two haven't started crawling yet so they are a bit younger than the other kids in my room. I got to feed Mihai and when I was feeding him all the kids huddled around me to watch. Teo was so helpful and started feeding the baby. Anytime one of the other kids tried to help she would say "lasa" that means let go. She thinks she is the boss. After I was done feeding Mihai, Teo wanted to hold him. So we went over to the bed/ couch in the room and I put Mihai facing Teo. I was sitting right by Mihai so I could hold his back to make sure he didn't fall and I could keep an eye on Teo. She was so nurturing with Mihai. I thought it was really good for her to interact and play with Mihai. She plays with dolls all the time but an actual baby is different. She was very nice and soft with Mihai.

Florin

 Mihai

Walking home from the orphanage

The hospital today was good. Some of the kids that have been in the hospital yesterday weren't in the hospital anymore so that is good. We visited with Natalia, a girl that is almost 8. She was alone in the hospital and we left her a coloring book and crayons. She was so happy after we left. Her face was like she just woken up on christmas morning and saw all the presents. I am glad we were able to brighten up her day. The 3 babies in the one room were still there. We were able to change their diapers and hold them for awhile. We also visited Gheorghe and Andreea. Both of them seemed like they weren't feeling well. Poor babies. There was a new baby in the hospital. In her room she had two other girls. One seemed about 11 or 12 and the other seemed around 20. They were really funny. Katleyn and I tried to talk to them in Romanian. They understood us for the most part. The little girl who was around 11 talked so fast! She knew we didn't speak very well. Katelyn kept saying "okay" and the little girl kept laughing and saying okay! haha they were a lot of fun.

Gheorghe laughing!

That night we had dinner at a pizza place called Dumneasca. The pizza there was really good! I liked that the knife said pizza and it was like my own little pizza cutter. After pizza we had ice cream and gogosi and watched She's the Man. A successful friday night indeed.