January 2015 Blog

We recently finished 4 months of our mission.  One would think that after 4 months a person would start to feel more at ease with the work but that doesn't seem to be the case here.  We are constantly being challenged.  We are preparing to move our office from a rather roomy but a little disjointed office in a rather inconvenient area to a much smaller office in the heart of a very nice residential area of the city; a number of embassies are in the neighborhood.  We've (Sister Krisy Nelson really) been packing for weeks (and wondering which box holds this or that because we didn't anticipate needing it) and over a week with half of our furniture.  We move in this week; it will probably take a few more weeks to get settled.  Krisy is starting to get a handle on her responsibilities but I still feel like a novice with mine.

This is our 3^rd “transfer”; ¼ to almost ½ of the missionaries get moved around the two countries for changes in companions and venues to try to help them achieve their personal best and provide the best service to the people of Romania and Moldova (we want them to feel safe but not too comfortable).  We, therefore, get to meet them as they visit the office for reimbursement of their travel, apartment and other expenses.  There is a lot of hugging and laughter as missionaries meet former companions again.  One group of missionaries was particularly boisterous as they were teasing an Australian missionary about his accent; it was hilarious.  Another Australian missionary came in towards the end of the “discussion”, for the missionary at the center of the discussion was holding his own, and said “oh yes, he has a much thicker accent than I because of where he was from in Australia”. 

The Church is celebrating 25 years in Romania; we are preparing for some special services.  Our President feels this will be a special year for us and I tend to agree because the people of Romania are so amazing.  Krisy and I went to a natural history museum this Saturday (it was raining so we didn't want to walk around, our usual Saturday activity).  It was so wonderful to watch the parental interaction with their children at the museum, which of itself was very impressive; the place was crowded (probably because of the rain).  The parents were instructive and engaged with their children and the children were interested in the different, very impressive exhibits.  Now, some may say that these are the types of people that usually do these things with their children but I've observed this is a typical parent-child relationship for these people. 

Our Sunday School class is going well, I think; it originated as a class in English for the youth (all but one speaks English) but has changed to an English class for the non-Romanian speaking members and for Romanian young single adults who do speak English.  We have about 15 students ranging in age from about 11 to 30 (plus two couples in their 40’s/50’s.  And the mission president brings his 12-year old son even if the family leaves after the class to attend another branch.  The class includes a family from Korea; he is here working as an Engineer.  We finally got their 3 teen-age children to speak today so we feel successful.  Teaching, being it in our home or in the church, is the most enjoyable part of the week.  We get to discuss things that are really important; we get to talk about our relationship with our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ and feel the influence of the Holy Ghost as He testifies of the truthfulness of the doctrine.

Last week we picked up a senior sister returning to her home in central Romania after her 4^th temple mission.  She was amazing; she hopes to go on her 5^th mission to Rome after the temple there opens (hopefully within a year).  She speaks some Spanish, German, French, Italian, English and, of course, Romanian (she learned the foreign languages during her temple missions).  We took her out to dinner (a great Romanian, actually Moldovan, chain restaurant); it was funny to watch her pick out food.  She couldn’t decide what to eat and asked us for recommendations.  She didn’t even like what she ordered at first (I think she had forgotten what Romanian food tasted like) but by the end she enjoyed the meal.  The funniest part came when we were paying the bill.  We generally try to tip at the 15-20% level in Romania (10 % is the “maximum” norm); she tried to stop us and picked up (OK, grabbed and wrestled) our money to give it back to us; she said “you don’t respect Romanian money”.  After we explained that so many of our children were waiters and we knew how hard they worked so we tipped at higher levels in honor of our children she was OK with it.

There is a small, but growing, middle class and a lot of poverty.  There are also a lot of Mercedes Benz, Audi, BMW and other luxury vehicles on the road.  But, there are a lot of poor people around.  Sister Nelson (Krisy) visited a very active family just recently.  They lived in a 3 bedroom apartment with the father of the woman and the family of her brother.  Her family has a small bedroom as their “home”.  The husband and wife sleep in this room with their 12 year-old daughter and 1 year old son; they share the “living room” and kitchen with the rest of their family.  Both husband and wife work (she works for the church); they are both well-educated; she is the Relief Society President and he is a counselor in the Branch Presidency.  They don’t make enough money to move out but they are happy.  Unfortunately, this level of poverty/living is more the rule than the exception.  Communist influence is still prevalent.  The people are held down by the bureaucracy, cronyism and corruption.  They just elected a new government with the promise this all will disappear; hopefully it will.  We recently met a former taxi driver; he told us that he quit driving taxi because it was impossible to make a living at it without being dishonest; we believe it (7-days a week, 12 hours a day, $300 a month).  He said that the people don’t know how to come together to make a unified government because they are so busy just trying to survive as individuals.  Another new convert said that a major problem is that it is not the nature of the people to ask questions due to the repressiveness of the older regimes.

Early February Blog

OK; we’ve moved our offices.  We moved from “the minimalist” to the “classy but not extravagant” in a very classy neighborhood as I mentioned above.  It has been a hectic 3 weeks including one week of working part time each day in both offices and several days with computer problems (our hard drive went down the same time as our move so we had double trouble).

We, today, celebrated the 25^th anniversary of the dedication of Romania for preaching the Gospel.  Almost all of the church leaders (branch and district presidents) from around the country (remember it’s smaller than Washington and Oregon combined) came to Bucuresti for training and the celebration and helped us dedicate our new office Saturday evening.  The two Bucuresti branches met together on Sunday and we broadcast the celebratory meeting (it was in lieu of Priesthood/Relief Society) we held to all of the branches.  The meetings felt like we were back in a ward in the states (OK; I usually understand what is being said a little better back in the states).  Elder Nelson of the quorum of the 12 apostles, who dedicated the country originally, sent a video to us encouraging us to continue on.  I am just amazed at the quality of people that we find in Romania; they are so genuine once you get past their “I’m driving/walking” facade.  They are so many highly educated people who, to quote a previous stake president of ours, are “wonderful”; they know the gospel and have strong testimonies.  I have high hopes for the country if the people can overcome a few obstacles.  As Elder Nelson said the future of the country and the church in Romania is now in the hands of the Romanian members as the baton has transferred from the missionaries who support them.

I tried to post the above last week with pics but it wouldn't post; I'll try again now.  Here are some pics.  I apologize if some are repeats.

Some great Romanian FFV (fresh fruits and vegetable)

A typical great Romanian meal; some beans, kabob and coleslaw.

Zone Conference; some great missionaries teaching other missionaries.

A crowded chapel during the 25th "celebration"; it reminded me of home.  The woman in the picture was the first Romanian baptized in the mission about 25 years ago.