The Blessing of Being in Romania

Before I update y'all on my life, I would like to take a minute to talk about my pops.  Yes, I call my dad pops.  Ask him about it...he loves it!  I think I have the best father in the whole world.  I know you all think the same thing about your dads but really I have you beat in the father department.  My dad is my rock in life.  I don't think I could every fully express my gratitude for him but I shall try.  I think I appreciate my dad (and mom) more now than I ever have before.  Romania has blessed me with understanding and appreciation especially for my parents.  I am so grateful that my dad (and mom) taught me the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I am so grateful that my father remained worthy to be the priesthood leader of our home. My testimony of the power of the priesthood grew from watching him.  I will never forget how my dad has made sure that I always have the priesthood close by no matter how far away he is from me.  I am grateful that my dad worked (an still works) so hard to provide for our family. I am grateful that he (and my mom) have expanded my world through travel.  I am so grateful that my dad can magically fix any car problem I have even though he is 2,000 miles away and has to suffer through my explanations and reenactments of the problem.  I am so grateful that my dad can make me smile when nobody else can.  I am grateful that he has always told me I am beautiful.  I am most grateful, however, that he took my mom to the Temple almost 33 years ago so my family can be together forever.  Thank you, Pops!  Happy Father's Day. I love you!

Now back to my life!  It is so hot here and I would do most anything for air conditioning or ice cubes some days.  The heat is just zapping my energy.  I am tired all the time but it's all worth it.  I know it's been awhile since I have blogged.  Sorry about that but please don't give up on me.  I have been feeling particularly blessed by my Father in Heaven this past several weeks.  Here are some of the reasons:

1. Orphanage update: Oh my goodness!  It was an amazing week at work.  I am completely in love with one of my little boys.  He has stolen my heart.  One of my best moments while here happened while I was working with this little boy this past week.  I was bouncing him on a big exercise ball and he was loving it.  But we can't just have fun all the time so I was making him repeat words while I was bouncing him.  I would sometimes have to break up the words for him but he was doing pretty well.  On one of the longer words, he pronounced it extremely well and I just said "Bravo! Foarte Bine!"  He looked so happy and just jumped into my arms. I can't even remember the word I had him repeat but I will never forget the look on his face and the hug we shared afterwards.  It makes me feel like my time here is worthwhile.  It was such a simple moment but it changed my entire experience here.  Most of the girls in my internship are devastated at the thought of leaving their kids in a few weeks.  While I will be sad, I hadn't ever felt devastated about it and I felt so guilty.  I didn't understand why I didn't feel as attached to my kids as the other girls were to their kids. So I spent the next weeks praying for my heart to be opened so I could love my kids completely.  God answered my prayers this week.  That little boy told me he loved me the next day and always blows me kisses when he runs off to play.  He will forever hold a special place in my heart.  I wish he could come home with me.

2. Mihai's baptism: Mihai is a young man that the missionaries have been teaching.  He is probably one of the happiest people that I know.  He smiles and laughs all the time.  He doesn't speak any English and well we don't really speak Romanian so talking with him is always fun. Well guess what! He got baptized last Saturday!  Seeing that I don't really speak Romanian, I didn't understand much of what was said at the baptism but I can say that the Spirit was there.  Mihai looked even happier when he came up out of that water.  I am so happy for him.  The next day, he sang with us in church.  Yes, I know it's hard to believe but I sang in front of people! Ah!  I love that Mihai got up with 7 girls to sing a Child's Prayer in Sacrament Meeting right after he got baptized.  It was a blessing to witness Mihai's baptism.  People have such strong faith here even when times are extremely hard.

Mihai is in the very middle in a white shirt next to the elder.

3. Professor's Visit:  The professors came to visit last week.  Oh my gosh!  It was wonderful.  I was super nervous about them observing me and noticing everything I was doing wrong with my kids but it wasn't at all like that.  I got to ask amazing questions and they were so very helpful.  They told me things to do with my kids that I would have never thought of.  Thank you!  We also got to take a trip with them.  We saw a couple of Greek Orthodox Monasteries in the mountains. They were beautiful!  I learned so much about the Greek Orthodox faith that day.  It was a blessing to have my mind opened to a different religion.  Sorry I couldn't take pictures at the monasteries.

Camille and I on the never ending bus ride 

Romanian countryside.  That was so cold, rainy, and foggy.

4. 3rd Nephi:  I appreciate these scriptures in 3rd Nephi more now than ever before.  These are the verses I came across while reading the scriptures in 3rd Nephi 17 this week:

21. And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.

22. And when he had done this he wept again;

23. And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.

24. And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.

25. And the multitude did see and hear and bear record; and they know that their record is true for they all of them did see and hear, every man for himself; and they were in number about two thousand and five hundred souls; and they did consist of men, women, and children.


5. Bird Invasion:  I don't know if this is really a blessing but it was funny.  We left our kitchen window open when we went to FHE on Monday.  Whoops.  When we got home there was just a bird chillin' in our kitchen.  Ew.  Chelsea had to get it out because there was no way in this world that I was going out there.  Only in Romania. God was trying to be funny that day!

Sorry that was so long.  I hope all of you are doing well.  I love Romania!  I feel like I have been here for forever yet I feel like I just got here. I can't believe that I come home in jut five weeks.  Thank you for all of your love and support.  I appreciate all the prayers in my behalf.  La revedere!

World Records and Child's Prayers

Such a good week.  I think this past week was my favorite week in Romania! I think I finally grew to truly love the kids in my room at the orphanage.  They will always have a special spot in my heart no matter where I go and no matter what I do in life.  I have never been so happy even though I am thousands of miles away from my home and my family.  I have never felt closer to my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I have felt continually surrounded by His love.  While holding the cutest little baby boy in the hospital, I started singing "A Child's Prayer" to him.  He was so calm and just melted into me. I felt surrounded by the love of Heavenly Father for that little boy.  It is a moment that I will never forget.  For those of you that don't know the song I was singing, it goes like this.

Heavenly Father are you really there?  Do you hear and answer every child's prayer?

Some say that heaven is far away, but I feel it close around me as I pray!

Heavenly Father, I remember now, something that Jesus told disciples long ago

Suffer the children to come to me. Father in prayer, I coming now to thee.

Pray, He is there.  Speak, He is listening.

You are His child.  His love now surrounds you.

He hears your prayer. He loves the children.

Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of heaven.

This has become one of my favorite songs while in Romania.  I know that Heavenly Father hears the cries of every single child.  He has angels watching over each child, especially those who are alone in this world.  I know that and have felt their presence as I have rocked babies who have no one in this life.  I know that I am bringing the love of Christ to these children even if I just spend 20 minutes a day with them.  I love the children  and I love being here!  

This week was so much fun!  Friday was Children's Day.  I have never been more proud of my little kiddies. Also, just a little side note...I have always asked my mom why we don't have kid's day when we have Mother's and Father's Day?  I think we need to follow the Romanian's example.  Three of my little boys danced and two of my older girls sang.  Chelsea and I were like proud little mommas.  The workers worked so hard to make the day possible.  We got to have cake and dance to the music.  It was so much fun.  Pretty sure it is one of my favorite days so far.

On Saturday, I helped break a world record.  I am going to be in the Guinness Book of World Records.  The city of Iasi broke the world record for setting off floating lanterns.  We sent off over 12,700 lanterns last night.  My life was Tangled last night...minus the boy...I guess I need to work on that...I almost set some people on fire...whoops.  It was so much fun!  Here are some pictures of my recent adventures!  La revedere!

Here is a picture of the Merry Cemetery that I told you about last week.  

This is a picture with the Bed and Breakfast owners

 Favorite taxi driver ever!

 We had the very top bunk on the train...SCARY!!

 Roommate Pic at floating lanterns!

 Crazy girls

Me and my lantern 

Look at those lanterns behind us!

View of the sky!

Weekend Adventures

This is going to be a long post so prepare yourselves.  Just so much happened this weekend and trust me...it's all very entertaining.  First, I just want to talk about what I good day I had in the orphanage today.  It took a month but one of the little boys learned my name today.  I almost cried when he finally said it!  It was a long month of him yelling the wrong name and expecting me to answer.  Yes, can you believe that I have been here a month already.  YIKES!  Another little boy, who is deaf (let's call him Jack), likes to push the kids in wheelchairs around but today he accidentally tip one of the kids over and the little boy in the wheelchair (let's call him Sam) hit his head.  Chelsea and I weren't fast enough to catch Sam.  The deaf little boy looked very concerned about Sam and one of the workers brought us a wet, cold cloth to put on the large goose-egg forming on the Sam's head.  Jack walked over timidly and helped hold the washcloth on the other little boy's head.  It was so tender to see Jack be so sweet.  I was very proud of him today.  I also love the workers in my room.  They care about the kids and I love watching them interact with the children.  Sometimes, they can be intimidating because I don't speak the same language as them and communication is sometimes difficult but I am always amazed at the patience and understanding they have.  I am grateful for each one of them.

Back to this weekend.  We took our first trip out of Iasi!  I am so grateful I got to see more of Romania and the region we visited was absolutely beautiful.  All 14 of us hopped on a train and traveled to Maramures which is the Northwest region of Romania.  The train rides were long and we were all exhausted by the time we arrived but it was am amazing weekend full of culture and adventure.  I love Romania so much more now.  So here begins our adventure....

We left Iasi on Wednesday and caught a train to a small town called Dej Calatori and had a two hour layover there.  We then caught another train to Baia Mare where we spent a couple of hours exploring the city.

 Roommates!!!

 We are excited for our first ever legit train ride!

 Our sleeping compartment

We were suppose to catch a bus from Baia Mare to Vadu Izei, the small town where our bed and breakfast was located, at 9 am but the bus didn't end up leaving until 2 pm.  We were able to explore the city of Baia Mare instead.  

 I was grateful to be off the train!

 This cute man that Aislynn is walking with us is our bus driver.  He let us keep our bags on the bus so we didn't have to carry them with us all day long.  he was super sweet and decided that he needed to help us find our way in the city.  I wish you could have all witnessed 14 of us following this one little man, who by the way looked like the man from the movie, UP. He helped us buy a map and find a place to eat. 

 We spent some time in the Center of the city and it was beautiful.  I don't think these pictures can do it justice.

 Roommates!!

 This is the biggest chicken I have ever seen.  I mean look at it!  It's like a killer chicken.

Some of us went to a village museum and this is the picture from the top of the hill.  

Then we got on the bus.  Man, I thought I wasn't going to survive that bus ride.  Like I mentioned earlier, the bus driver took extremely good care of us but his driving terrified me.  First, he played the same four Romanian songs loudly the entire two hours we were on that bus.  Secondly, he was at the front of this huge bus dancing and it's a stick-shift bus!!  Then we started going up the mountain that we had to come back down.  he took corners so fast that I thought I was going to die!!  I was so grateful to arrive in Vadu Izei.

 Camille and I were bus buddies.  We tried to sleep but that was basically impossible.

 Straight from the 70's

So on our way, we passed many villages and beautiful country side.

Our bed and breakfast was in a small town called Vadu Izei.  I felt like I was on parade while walking through the town.  People would come out of their house and just watch us pass.  Some of them would ask us where we were from and get really excited when we said America.  I guess the people don't see fourteen American girls traipsing through the middle of their town very often. We made it to our bed and breakfast but there were already some guests staying there for the night so four of us had to go stay at another place (which I do believe was the bed and breakfast's mother's house).  It was this random house in the downtown of Vadu Izei.  I thought maybe we would never make it back to our group.  The lady was very nice and kept offering us things and among them was Tuica (homemade Romanian alcohol).  We tried to refuse but she wouldn't take no for an answer...No worries, we DID NOT drink it.  

 Isn't it beautiful?!?

 Very deceiving because it was in a water bottle....

The next day, we decided to walk to Sighet which was like 6 km away.  I walked like 4 miles...I am very impressed with myself.  We went to a Anti-Communism Museum and then hopped on this bus with a bunch of teenagers to visit the Merry Cemetery.  The teenagers loved us and I have never felt so popular in my life.

Sorry but I don't have any pictures from the Merry Cemetery but basically the headstones are colorful and the inscriptions on the headstones are funny.  Here is a picture of Angela and I in the church located next to the cemetery.  We wanted to buy and light a candle at the church.  There was a box of candles, some matches, and a bowl for money.  We looked at the sign and I convinced Angela that is .50 lei for the candle and another .50 lei to light the candle.  If you look at the sign this makes perfect sense.  Pret Lumanari=Price to light the candles and Candle's Price=the Candle's Price.  Angela was like are you sure?  I told her that I was absolutely positive but then proceeded to ask her if she could lend me the money because I didn't have a lei.  She put 2 lei in the bowl and we talk our candles.  We are walking out the church to find someone to take a picture and we run into Aislynn and Cortlandt.  They wanted candles too so we take them back inside and I explain to them that it is 1 lei because it is .50 lei for the candle and .50 lei to light the candle.  They both just looked at us and then proceeded to point out that the sign was in English and Romanian and said the same thing in both languages.  As soon as I realized our mistake a I started laughing so hard that I cried...I made everyone in our group come look and I learned that Angela and I aren't that stupid.  I was telling the story and people were like I don't get it...it is 1 lei for the candle and to light it.  Then I watched my group, one by one, understand the sign.  I know it doesn't sound as funny to you but it made me cry because I was laughing so hard.  Don't worry...Angela took back a lei.

The Merry Cemetery was located in this tiny village that we had to take a bus to.  We had no idea when a bus would come back through the village so we just had to wait and try to flag some kind of bus down.  Aislynn had tried to flag other buses down but the drivers would just wave and keep driving.  Then this large blue and green truck stops to let people off and I just see Aislynn running towards it.  The next thing I know she is waving us over and we are all running towards this random truck (she later told us, she thought it was a prison truck...thanks Aislynn).  We hop on the "bus" and it is all these delightful old men coming in from the fields.  We successfully hitchhiked. The picture above is me on the truck and the two picture below show you what the "prison" bus looked like.

Later that night, we got invited to learn Romanian dances and so we headed over to Ramona's house.  We danced the night away to Romanian music with the whole neighborhood.  I felt like I was in the movies.  Things like this don't happen in real life!  It was so much fun and the perfect ending to an epic day!

On Saturday (bless your heart if you are still reading this!), we had to travel home but on our way out of Vadu Izei we stopped at a little grocery store for ice cream.  The owner had met some of our girls a couple of days earlier and invited us to come get ice cream.  We walked in and she refused to take any money for the ice cream.  She gave all 14 of us a FREE ice cream sundae.  Her and her children talked with us for about an hour while we waited for our bus.  She gave us each a lighter that had her store name on it so we would always remember her.  

 Me, Michelle, and Meghan with our yummy ice cream!

 So on our way home we rode in a Maxi Taxi built for 13 people.  There were 25 of us in there.  Joy! As you can see Leigh had the privilege to ride between the driver and passenger's seat in a dinning room chair. 

On our way home! Meghan Cortlandt, Nicole, Angela, Michelle

Oh my gosh!  We got through that!  Sorry it was such a long post this time but the trip was pretty unforgettable and I didn't want to leave anything out.  I am overwhelmed by the hospitality we received while traveling this weekend. Romana and her family, the owner of Gabimoni, a random police officer, the bus drivers, the men on the "prison bus", the couple who owned our bed and breakfast...so many people showed generosity and kindness towards us!  I want to thank all of them.  I wish I had picture of these people but they are other girl's cameras.  When I get them, I will be sure to post them so you can put faces to all these wonderful people I just told you about.  They are people I will never forget.

I am grateful for all of your prayers in my behalf.  It's been a challenging week and I am sick again.  SURPRISE!  I do believe this is the third time in the month I have been here.  It's just frustrating because I have to stay home and even when I go to the orphanage when I am sick, I can't give my all to my kids.  Anyway, I am doing well besides a sore throat and cough.  Love you all!  La revedere!

  

Dancing the Night Away!

I have decided to only blog once a week.  It't too much to keep y'all updated more than that.  Sorry!  This week was much better than last week in regards to working.  I feel like I finally got the hang of things and know how to work in my room.  I don't feel awkward when I walk in the room or with my workers anymore and I know my kids in my room better.  It has been a little hard this week because they all have been sick and they have been whiny/grouchy as a result.  Our workers totally like us better because Chelsea and I gave them hand sanitize from Bath and Body Works.  The workers have been much nicer to us ever since.

This week we got stuck in a huge thunder storm.  It was crazy.  We were at institute and the storm was so loud we couldn't concentrate/hear the lesson.  It has been a crazy week.  It's been so rainy and cold some days which is so nice after the heat wave we have been suffering through.  When it isn't rainy, it gets hot and sticky.  Last night the thunder was so loud, it startled me awake.  There was a man with a rather large camera filming the storm while we were walking by.  Who knows, maybe I was on the Romanian news....

  Camille, Leigh, Me, Chelsea, and Aislynn

Yesterday was Rachel's birthday!  Happy Birthday, Rachel.  We went to dinner at this Arabian Restaurant and it was AMAZING.  Can I please eat there every day????  We had pita bread, humus, pizza, little mixtures of goodness, and french fires.  I thought I died and went to heaven.  I can't believe it took us four weeks to eat there.  Thank you to Rachel for choosing to eat there for her b-day!  

Today was a great day.  We didn't do much this morning but the rest of the day was great.  We went to a baptism at the branch.  I haven't been to a baptism in almost year.  I love to see the Church growing.  Today, the missionaries shared the First Vision in Romanian.  It was amazing to still feel the spirit even though I couldn't understand.  I have a confession though...(my dad won't be pleased but it's to be expected) I bought two shirts on the way to the baptism.  It only cost me $15 for both shirts.  You can't be that! Also, there was a cat just chilling in the dressing room.  I didn't know if it was real or not until I saw it blink and then I jumped sky high.

 We like to pretend to pose for pictures so we can get pictures of other people behind us.

 This is quite the Gypsy skirt

Tonight, we went to an arts & crafts fair tonight.  It was way cool to see all the traditional crafts of Romania!   I spent way too much money today...Don't tell my parents.   We joined in the traditional dancing too! This might be my favorite experience of the week. It was so funny but everyone gathered to watch the American girls dance with the Romanians dressed in traditional clothing.  While we were dancing in a group, this random man grabbed me and whisked me away.  I had no idea what was going on!  Don't worry, there is a video for you enjoyment.  La revedere, y'all!

 Cultural Palace

 Camille, Me, Leigh, Nicole, Aislynn, Chelsea

 We bought corn husk dolls! 

Chelsea, Camille, the Artist, Me, Nicole, Leigh

 This man really liked us.