Week 11

Ok so we have all heard everyone say that their mission is the best and how everyone else told them that theirs was the best and so on, but that's just because they haven't been to Romania. I love it here. The people of Timişoară are fantastic and so nice. They just accept what you give them with a polite thank you very much and either continue on their way or else they stop and listen. 

The members here are fantastic. There aren't very many, but the ones that are here have great testimony. They are all very patient with the new boboc and are just a great group of people. I love each and every one of them. 

So, everyone who has been on a mission has had this moment come to them at some point in their mission. One of the days last week, it was ridiculously hard to wake up. Then there was a lot of rocks in the road. People were just saying no, and not listening at all and one of our investigators wasn't progressing. Anyways, I was a little down, and I just thought "Come on, give me someone to teach that's all I want OK, Its not a lot, just something" the thought then came to me of a talk that Elder Bednar gave at the MTC the Christmas before I was there. He stated that we need to have patience, that sometimes we follow the thought process of a beloved blue monster on a childrens tv show. "I want cookie NOW!!!" Sometimes we say "I want investigator NOW!!!" "I want baptism NOW!!!!" Have patience and know that God hears your prayers.  So I took the hint, I said "ok, I get it, how about a little sign, just something to lift my spirits, how about a pink hat. Show me a pink hat and then Ill know that I am doing the right thing and that you care" It was a really hard day ok. So my companion, the ever faithful Elder Harrison, decided to go Block Knocking. Its this thing that we missionaries do when we go door to door in an apartment building. Anyways, I decided that block knocking again didn't sound fun and so I was trying to steer us to Centru, the town square, to go and get some chocolate pretzels  He pulls up short and points out a block. "That one." Ok, so we go and attempt to get in by ringing up to someone. First one tells us its late (730?) and that we shouldn't talk to people at this time. Next one no answer. Third one however buzzed us up. So we go up and knock on the door and are LET IN!!!! We had a really great lesson and left a Book of Mormon with him and his roommate. 

As we were coming home, and I was saying my thanks to my Heavenly Father, we saw someone that looked similar to a gentleman who asked us for a Book of Mormon and a lesson, but gave us the wrong number on accident. We had been looking for him and praying to find him. I told Elder Harrison, "If this is Ioan, it will be too much" AND IT WAS!!! We set up for a lesson and he gave us his address. It was fantastic and really shows that the Lord does love us, we just need to be humble and ask him for help when we are feeling down. 

The next day, it was brought to my attention that as we were walking home, Sora Kelly contacted a lady with a pink hat...I love this work. It really is hard, but everything that is worth doing in this life is hard. I love you all so much and hope that you can read this and understand the little things in life.

Elder Ormsby

Week 10 - First letter from Romania

Well Bună Ziua from this side of the world! 

Well I know that it is 5 am there so I will make this quick. We are here in Timişoară and I am loving it here. The people are really friendly and there is so much potential here. We met three college students here at the Cămin, student housing. They are all pretty solid, studying Computer Science. I really hope that things will be able to progress. Unfortunately, students have exams coming up so it will be harder and harder to get a lesson in.  We were white washed in the area of Timişoară (ask Dad) and then on top of that we had no investigators and no less actives. But we have been blessed with those three and one other. 

It has been a stretch for me not only talking to everyone, but attempting to do it in a different language. Giving out cards on the street is slightly frustrating because you have to say it fast or not at all. Hey Salut, Oferim cursuri gratuite de limbă Englezia. But say that really fast with people walking around you and talking really fast. But let me tell you something. Romania is amazing. There is no way that you can understand that by reading a site or hearing stories. Its been decided, we can all come back here something in our lifetime, cause I know that I will.

 The members here are so funny, patient and just plain solid. There are few, but they can all be described like Peter. They are solid. I hope that you can access the dedicatory prayer for Romania and Molodova, cause they promise some pretty awesome stuff. I hope to be a part of those promises and I know that they can be achieved through the Lord. 

By the way, If the are any spelling errors its because my brain is moving towards Romanian, so no making fun of it. 

OH my trainer is Elder H, who knows BETH AND ROGER!!! He is older than Steph and younger than Spencer, but went to the same school as them in Brigham City and was at the Farewell/Homecoming of Spencer or Tyler. He is awesome. Super patient and just a rockin' Elder. I have high hopes for this companionship. It was kinda hard saying goodbye to the old district, but luckily one of the sisters was able to come to Timi with our group. There are only six of us in Timi, but I know we will be able to get work done. 

Sorry I wasn't able to talk in the Amsterdam airport, it was going to be a $10 call for 4 minutes and I didn't have time to exchange my money. We were snowed in for an hour and then we were off to Romania. Midflight (by the way only had about 2ish hours of sleep total and maybe 3 the night before) I was almost asleep when I hear "Help help, oh somebody help!!!" Turn around and this lady's husband isn't breathing. Already up is Sora P and then all of a sudden he's fine. Awake and everything. Who knows what happened, but it was something you never expect to happen on your flight. 

Oh, and airplane food in Europe, while still airplane food, is so much better than peanuts cookies or pretzels  Think cheese and tomato croissant sandwich, beef and potatoes, breakfast.  It was so weird,  they fed us dinner (beef and potatoes) and then an hour later, woke us up for breakfast. Not that there was much sleeping for this Elder right here. Oh well, I'm fairly over jet lag, only took about two days or so, but it didn't hit me nearly as hard as some other missionaries.  

Alright family, this is all for now, but I will talk to you all soon, love you.

Elder Ormsby

Week 9 - Arrival in Romania

Dear Brother and Sister Ormsby,

I'm so sorry the first attempt to get you this email failed.  I'm trying again.

Elder Ormsby arrived yesterday safe and sound (after a 2 hour delay in Amsterdam for a snowstorm) with his 5 fellow missionaries in the Bucuresti airport.  Sister Hill and I were so happy to see them.  They were a bit tired but glad to finally be in Romania.  We had a wonderful dinner with them and then sent them to spend the night with other missionaries in the city.  Today we all met at Cismigiu Park atop a little hill where in 1990 Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated the country for preaching the gospel just a few weeks after the fall of communism.  This afternoon we gave them instruction and introduced them to their companions. 

Elder Ormsby will be trained by Elder H and labor in the city of Timisoara.  Elder H just served as my assistant, so he's a wonderful elder.

Thank you so much for sending us such a wonderful, faithful and well-prepared missionary.  We love him already and are so pleased he came to our mission.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at this address.

Attached is a photo of the arriving group with Sister Hill and me as we stand on that hilltop in Cismigiu Park.

With much appreciation,

President Ned C. Hill

Romania/Moldova Mission

Week 8 - Get ready to leave for Romania

Well its been a while everyone, almost 2 months to be exact and the time has come to say goodbye to the MTC. We are heading to ROMANIA!!! So apparently the new group of Romanians that came in about 3 weeks ago said that they googled Romania when they received their call. Would you like to know what popped up? Yup it was the Youtube video of me opening my call and this blog...so if you happen to have just received your call and don't really know what to expect when you hit the MTC let me just give you a little heads up. You have the coolest teachers ever! There is no comparison, there aren't any substitution, I'm sorry if you think that I'm wrong, but I'm not. 

You have Fratele B who is amazing at relating to the missionaries and great at making sure you understand the things that are being taught. He makes sure that everyone is happy and there aren't any contentions in the group and helps to smooth it over if there are any. He would also be the reigning champion at charades if we played that here at the MTC. He makes every single story from his mission incredibly funny through all of his gestures and facial features. 

Then you have Fratele V who is from Romania. His humor is out of this world. If you think he is laughing at you, just know that he is actually showing how much he loves you, and he probably is laughing at something you said. Such as Porcent instead of Procent. One has pig in the word and one means percent and only one of those has meaning to the Law of Tithing hahaha. He has a lot of great ideas on how to teach and wont beat around the bush when telling you of something that you shouldn't do on your mission. 

Then you have Sora W who cares about you very much. We were one time learning how we say we wake up or go to sleep and the times and we (sisters and elders) told her that we weren't exactly on the ball. She sat there, quite and thinking and then pulled out the white handbook. She made us promise to get to bed on time and/or wake up on time, and at the time it made me slightly angry. But then I realized exactly what she was doing, she didn't yell at us or berate us, just simply told us that we would be blessed. She knew of the promises of exact obedience and loved us enough to correct us in our behavior. 

Then there is Fratele F, that brother is so excited and happy when he teaches, you can only be excited and happy about learning and going out to learn. It is so much fun listening to him talk about all of the things that we can do and how cool it is that we have the power and authority to do it.  He has made me want to be a better missionary and gives plenty of great reasons to be here on a mission. 

You also have Sora W and Fratele S. Unfortunately I wasn't taught by Fratele Sandberg, but Sora Whiting would occasionally come into a lesson. She is very patient and good at asking questions that make you think about what you just learned about. That's all the Romanian teachers and I want  you to know that I didn't give them justice in this blog. I guess you'll just have to come and learn from them yourself here at the MTC. I know that I have had such a good time here at the MTC and I cant wait to go out and experience it.

In only 3 days 12 hours and 13 minutes I will be on the bus heading for the airport, and only 23 hours later I will be in Romania. I cant wait to email/write you all from Romania and I hope and pray you are having a great Thursday.

Week 7 - pictures only

(Note from Mom:  No email this week, just a lot of pictures Elder Ormsby downloaded.  The Love Magnet (Elder Ormsby's little sister) asked her brother to send pictures of the MTC.  She wanted to see what his room looked like, what the food looked like, and who his friends were.  The Love Magnet has Down syndrome and doesn't quite understand the whole gone-for-two-years thing.  She does understand what missionaries are.)

The Love Magnet reads about the sister missionaries in the district and thinks that means they are her new sisters.  She was so excited, she has been asking if we could have sisters in our family for a long time.  We sent a care package of The Love Magnet's favorite treats to the sisters.  This pic was pulled from one of their blogs.