November Interviews!

Elder Rakozy and Elder Waters each brought me a bouquet of flowers!

I always look forward to having the Bucharest missionaries come to our home for interviews. We gather in the kitchen, eat cookies, and discuss many different topics. Imagine what a surprise it was when Elder Waters and Elder Rakozy showed up with flowers for me. Aren't they sweet missionaries!!!

Lunch with the Girls!

Sora Rees, me, Sora Thompson, Sora McKnight, Sora Jones, Sora Dillon and Sora Poulsen

The sister missionaries called and invited me to go to lunch with them on Preparation Day. They had also invited the senior sisters that work in the mission office. We took the Metro to a restaurant that had wonderful Romanian food. It was fun to get away together, talk, and have some good laughs!

Special Day in Sibiu! November 2, 2008

Elder Castro, right, baptizes Luminita!

President Carpenean celebrates his 30th birthday!

Joshua gets a ride on a member's bike as he waits to go to the birthday dinner.

Lundberg family with Luminita and her daughter!

President Lundberg, Joshua, and I went to Sibiu for a very special day on November 2. We had not attended that branch yet, so we were thrilled for the opportunity to go there and mingle with the saints. After Sacrament Meeting, the branch president's fiance, Luminita, was baptized. The couple will be married the end of December. It was a very special baptism and a beautiful day. After the baptism, we were invited to President Carpenean's mother's home for dinner. It was

President Carpenean's 30th birthday.

Baptism in Sibiu--November 2, 2008

FILLING THE FONT!

The water first begins at the bathtub! (Note of interest: The key to the bathroom had been lost for some time but the night before the baptism, the key was found and this bathroom was able to be used again!)

A bucket is placed just outside the bathroom door to catch leaks from where the two hoses are joined together.

The tubing is supported by kitchen chairs as it makes its way to the backyard.


The portable font is right outside the door of the building. Elder Benson, Elder Castro, Elder Anderson, and Joshua watch the water pour in in preparation for the baptism that day.

We never realized how easy we have it in Salt Lake to prepare for a baptism. The warm water is typically turned on a few hours before the baptism and the font is filled. Those coming to see the baptism gather around the font in a nice warm church.

There are 4 churches in our mission, so a similar routine takes place when people are baptized in Bucharest, Brasov, or Ploiest. However, the many other areas of the church in Romania and Moldova use a portable font called a bazin. We had a beautiful baptism in Sibiu on Nov. 2, and the font was set up outside the building we use for church.

Happy Halloween!!! October 31, 2008

Joshua informed me that this was the worst Halloween he had ever had. I thought that since there was no school that day, that he got to wear his costume at home, and that we went to McDonalds for dinner, he would have thought it was great. However, when he found out that night that he couldn't go trick or treating because no neighbors would have candy and be prepared for his arrival, he labeled this holiday as "the worst." Two things then happened that saved the day. I found whatever candy I could find at the mission home and he trick-or-treated to our house five times in a row. Then shortly after that, the doorbell rang and there were four scary ghosts at OUR home. They came in and we found them some treats and Joshua said that this really was memorable because he never got to go to the same house five times or have such unique trick-or-treaters come!

Joshua holds up bag in front of spider-webbed door.

Elder Roundy, Elder Bringhurst, Elder Stromberg, and Elder McBride are pretty scary! Thanks for the visit, Elders!!!

Elder and Sister Oaks come to Romania! October 28-30, 2008

We had the privilege of having Elder Robert Oaks, President of the Europe Area, and his wife, Sister Gloria Oaks, come to our mission for a few days. Elder Oaks taught the zone leaders at mission council the first evening, and then instructed all the missionaries in the mission the next two days at zone conferences which we held in Bucharest. Elder and Sister Oaks also presented a fireside one night for the members in Bucharest and the surrounding areas. It was wonderful for all of us to have them here! We appreciate their guidance and leadership!

Elder Nightingale, Elder Smith, Elder Grimmius, Elder Rigdon, and Sora Smith

Group gathered in front of the church after zone conference.

President Lundberg, Sora Lundberg, Sister Oaks, President Oaks

Mission Council with Elder and Sister Oaks! We set a timer for this picture, and the light reflected off the red book. It's the best photo of this group we had to offer!

On October 25-26, we made a quick trip to Braşov for a District Conference. It was great to see the members and missionaries who had come for this meeting. On the way home, we were able to see the beautiful Castle Peleş in Sinaiă. We took a few pictures and decided we need to travel through town again sometime when we can go on the tour of the castle.

International Days at International School of Bucharest!

Joshua with buddy, Cristof, who is from Hungary!

Little guy from Greece told us he just loves to eat fish. He then proceeded to take a big bite of the top half of the fish, smiling as he crunched! Joshua could not believe it!

Indian, Joshua, and Cowgirl represent the country of America!

Students from around 45 countries attend Joshua's school.

It was fun to see the wide variety of native costumes from so many countries!

The week before Halloween, Joshua's school had a two day celebration called "International Days." The first day, parents of students from various countries did six half-hour long presentations about their native country. I was asked to do one on America. It was fun to have the classes rotate in, receive a stamp on their "passport," and then learn some things about our great country. I did a power point presentation showing patriotic symbols and also talked about the early settlers, the holidays, the food, and sports. I was able to get some good props from the American Embassy. The kids seemed to enjoy it.

The second day, people were asked to bring some sort of food from their country to share. There was also a parade of the children dressed in their native costume. Each child was encouraged to participate.

I tried to think what I could make that would be good for a "tasting table." I finally made a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies. When President Lundberg and I arrived at the school at the appointed time, the tables were all around the foyer with a sign stating the name of the country. There was one empty table with a simple "U.S.A." sign. The other tables had beautiful cloths, flags, posters, brochures, and tons of food spread on them. My huge tupperware bowl of chocolate chip cookies on a plain table looked a little sad. I had no idea that I was in charge of a table. The props and decorations I had used the previous day were at home. So, I set the cookies on the table and we walked around, sampling other countries foods. I was a little too embarrassed to even stand by my table, so after a few minutes, I whispered to President Lundberg that the missionaries would love the cookies and we slipped over to the table, pulled the sign off, and ran the cookies to the car. There were so many tables that nobody noticed and we will be more prepared next year!

We tried to decide what the native costume of America was so that Joshua could participate in the parade. The four things we came up with were Uncle Sam, American Indian, cowboy, or baseball player. Fortunately, when I was at a big store here (Kind of like a Costco), I went to the toy section where I found three boy costumes. One of them was an Indian costume, so I bought it. Joshua was in line near the end of the parade, but when he came through carrying the USA sign, he was with a little girl dressed as a cowgirl. She lives in Romania, and her mother is Romanian, but her father is American. It looked cute to have the two of them representing America.