Week 69

Dear Family,
I am so sorry, I have no idea how, but I totally forgot to write you. Yesterday we were paintballing in Arad and didn't get back until a little later. I read your email, but I thought that I had written something back....my bad lol. Everything is good right now. I haven't had such a fun district in a really long time, and I have never had a district that all get along basically 100% of the time. It has seriously been a blessing for me to be in this district, back in my old stomping grounds. God knew that He would have to do something special when He took me out of Bacau.

I have kept in touch with my other family, they are so funny. One of the new sisters there was asked by an elder what kind of cake she was eating. "Lemon" "No, in Romanian" (he had just taught her not to say it the wrong way). Here is where the story splits. The Bs say that she said it with an "u" sound...lol....the sisters there say that before she had a chance to finish the word, the Bs said the "u". Honestly, they are both probable, almost even. Those 3 are so funny! (Side note, saying some words in Romanian only a little off can make a huge difference(. I miss them a lot, but I have been having a lot of fun with my district. No one thinks themselves higher than anyone else. No one thinks they are below anyone else, and I have been 100% myself!!! No need to wonder if I have offended someone, no need to worry that someone is going to think that I am weird (who cares) and yup, its been great! 

Today we went paintballing in Arad, it was super weird to be with a lot of the same people (P, H, R) doing the same thing we were doing a little over a year ago. I feel like time has been moving forward so fast, and yet so slow. I haven't been angry ONCE this transfer!!! Annoyed, not so much (today was one of those days when I was losing lol), but not angry. You have no idea, it has been such a long time. 

So cool story, they said that they were never coming back. Guess who came on Sunday AND taught Sunday School? Yup, those guys! It was good to see them.

Talk to you next week!

Elder Ormsby

Week 63

Dear Family,

The conference sounds like it was very informative. I hope you had a chance to have a little fun. How long was the conference? Were you paid to go out there, or was it a "pay or own way" conference? It has been super cold here as well. I was going to talk about how nice the weather is while you all freeze over in America. Then the wind hit. It was supposed to be the coldest winter in 100 years, but up until 4 days ago, it was extremely mild. All the old people were wigging out over it. "Tomorrow there will be snow, tomorrow it will freeze". They didn't know what to think of 5 C. Now its a winter wonderland, except I have to walk in it. Remember all of the really really cold days, where you just want to stay inside with a book, a blanket and some hot cocoa? Yup, every day haha,  but we still go out and get work done. This week we had a major goal of 26 hours of contacting. With BP duties, that was a ton! I haven't been so tired in a while. By Sunday afternoon, I was done with contacting. Somehow we went out again and got a few more hours in. We didn't get 26 but we were darn close!

I don't know about fluent, but I have seen an increase in the last little while. We were given permission to watch Frozen in the movie theaters (very appropriate seeing how cold it is and probably a little joke for our President). It was a way good movie, comparable to Tangled, and all in Romanian. I love Disney movies in Romanian. It helps a lot if you have already seen the movie in English, cause then your brain just matches the two, but I understood a good part of it. I was told the songs were better than the ones in Tangled. I will need to see the English one before I can either confirm or deny that fact, but it was still a great movie. 

Unfortunately English classes haven't been going very well. Blame the weather or what you wish, we only have 1 student that isn't a member. The snow has finally stopped, so I hope we see a few new faces tomorrow. The good news is the woman has stayed for both of the spiritual thoughts we have had so far!

We did find a new apartment for the elders and are just awaiting the contract for the apartment.

I haven't been chosen as the BP yet (still have a little time til we are sure), but so far it is pretty similar to Deva. I do the clerk work again and it is pretty simple and straight forward. I haven't seen a lot of the other side (interviews, welfare etc. etc.) but those are some of the things a BP does here.

Answers for the Love Magnet:

My favorite foods in Romania are Sarmale (if made correctly (I have had some really bad luck with it lately)) and Ciorba cu Borta (stomach soup). They are both really good. But I love suc (juice). It is so much better here than in America, hands down, no contest. Mmmm Panda Express....Arby's.....

I am doing my missionary work and trying my best to obey the rules. I listen to my teachers and I know that I am being blessed each day. One can never have too many blessings.

I am so excited to play basketball in the summer! I am going to play with the friends of a member here in Bacau. It is going to be legit! We don't have a place right now cause there  is about 1 foot of snow outside (probably more).

Nope, none of my sisters are with me right now. Sora K is still in Iasi. Sora P is still an STL in Bucuresti and Sora G is with the F family in Ploiesti. Side note, I talked to Fratele F today! He is in charge of all the churches in Romania and sent us a text reminding us of the monthly report. I talked with him for a bit, it was great! Anyways. We are going to be getting sisters here in Bacau next transfer and we need some really good sisters. I am hoping for one of my sisters. It would be so cool! Just Dance Wii will be so fun! You better take lots of pictures!

Like I said, all is good here in Bacau. We found 4 potential investigators by doing some area booking and had a lesson with two of them. They said that they loved the discussions that the missionaries had had with them, but then one day they never came back. Turns out they had gone la tara and got caught in a snow storm. They missionaries were transferred and the people forgotten about. Now they are found again. I really hope they will be able to progress, they are super cool.

Well, that's all for this week!

Love you all,

Elder Ormsby

Weel 62

Dear Family,

First of all, I have been in the beautiful country of Romania for over a year now, how amazing is that? Time has flown by so quickly. One of my friends just recently returned from the Netherlands, which only shows how fast time goes by in the mission. I had totally forgotten about my year mark in the country until one of my best friends gave me a call. We talked about how crazy it was that time had gone so quickly. I still cant get over it!

This week has only renewed my love of the Romanian people. I was given a challenge, last week, by a friend back home. It was to go and find a friend that would last me even after my mission (missionaries don't count). I already have a few people here in Romania that I love a ton (the Fotea family, the S family, etc...), but I needed to find someone new. I have already mentioned them, but I found my new friends, the B family. They are so loving and kind. They were investigators 14 years previous and returned to the church after some really hard trials. They are so dedicated to the church. They love the missionaries, and they are just so solid. The mom is so funny. On Sunday, Presedintele L was teaching Sunday should always feel worthy to pray, when Sora B adds her comment. Then she turns to this member and talks about how amazing it is that people our age would come from our country and try and learn their language. How we need to help the missionaries, but how they have come really far and already speak really well. It was the best part of Sunday. Sora B, champion for missionaries everywhere! Sora B2, another member,  has also become a really good friend. She is the member whos friends I am going to beat at basketball and soccer haha. Mission life is so crazy, and so awesome!

Bacau is very similar to Deva, only with a lot more members. It has about the same as Timi (12 on a good day) and I do about the same things. We have a few priesthood holders, so we don't do everything, but I am the Clerk and 1st Councilor. I pass the sacrament, conduct, and soon will teach.

My comp and I have been really busy trying to find a new apartment for the other elders, and doing the duties of the BP, but this week we are going to try and get 20 hours of contacting. To some that might not sound like a lot, but I'm going to get to try out my juggling skills cause between missionary work and BP work, this is going to be a busy week. We don't have anyone to teach right now. We are starting English tomorrow, and I hope we find some people there. Funny story. Today we were walking home from the church and two girls heard us speaking English. They both turned and started talking to me. I now know how a boy band feels, only on a much smaller level. It was pretty awkward and I don't envy any of those boy bands. Hopefully they bring a lot of friends to English class, but at the same time, I hope they don't cause any problems. Boy bands...

Thanks for the Bday package, I will be on the look out. You shouldn't have to worry about me paying for any packages. I don't know what the problem was, but it seems to have passed. Sora Hill talked with me at Zone Conference and we couldn't come up with an explanation of why it was happening, and then it just stopped. Strange.

 I have my health, for now. I am lucky that it has been the most mild winter on record here in Romania (I heard it was the opposite for you in America). It was supposed to be the coldest, maybe the Germans got the coordinates wrong! No coughing and no being sick. You are right, though. I haven't been sick this many times in such a short period. Remember when I used to get strep  throat twice a year like clockwork? We could have almost timed the day!

Tell everyone to write me! The family, that is.

Love you all,

Elder Ormsby

Elder L

Week 61

Dear Family,

Well, darn it, buy the Charger of course. I looked at the price, they are almost the same! It looks roomy enough, and...oh just pick the Charger! Haha.  That was a dirty little trick you pulled there. I was like O.O. INSANE! My comp was very impressed with the "new" car.

I need to send Sora B a letter, see if my Romanian is as good as I hope. That's cool that her husband spoke in church. One of the new missionaries was at the temple as they were earthquake proofing the place. He described a similar thing as Bro. B did.

I loved watching The Love Magnet's ballet video. She did such a good job! I cant wait to see some more!

Ive been to E a few times, that's quite a drive for work, are you getting some kind of compensation? It will be cool to branch out though. I actually used E-Stim when I was in Sports Med. It is an interesting little box. It never worked on my legs, N turned it all the way up and nothing. I asked her what should be happening and she said my leg should have jumped out of my hip by that point haha. Too much leg hair (haha I can see the readers faces haha).

Good luck to Thirdborn on his project. Tell Secondborn to give me a type. I want to hear how basketball is going.

Fun story about basketball btws. On Sunday, our newest missionary goes up to the members who stayed a bit afterwards and asks if any of them had referrals. This is one way to get referrals, but in my opinion it doesn't work very well. It is a really scary thing for members to give referrals here. They can be ostracized from their family and friends for doing that. Not just a some people, but everyone. So they all said no. Well, I wasn't going to let his courage go to waste, so I added my own. " Hey, I bet that I could beat all of your friends at soccer (bold statement)!" The member was like "Not possible, but how about basketball?" "Perfect, Ill beat them at both!" It will be fun to see what comes out of it. I gotta hit some courts before our game though, its been a while since august.

My new comps name is Elder L. He is in his 13th transfer. He is currently the BP here in Bacau. Super optimistic, super weird and totally awesome. We have had some strange conversations already, and it can only get better. I don't even know how to explain him. Tall, blond, very funny, has a very big vocal range. We get along really well. Bacau is awesome. I love it. This is something I wrote to a good friend " I love Bacau. Read that last sentence slowly and emphasis each syllable. Bacau is probably one of the greatest cities. 3rd on my list here in Romania. The members here are awesome! They are so loving. They have such powerful testimonies, I love them so much.  Most baptisms last year with 100% retention. I love Bacau." Bacau gets a bad name for some reasons.  Someone tried to shut it down in the past and then made it sound bad, but I am here to testify that it is amazing. I am only a DT for now. President will decide next transfer what he wants to do with the whole BP thing.

Love you all, and Ill talk to ya really soon,

Elder Ormsby

This is the Bacau Creep! My goal is to get a picture of all of them before I leave

Largest Orthodox church in all of Romania, weird place to put it...

 Our church building has some historic value to it...but no one really knows what it is

Week 60

Dear Family,

Thank you for clarifying at the beginning of each paragraph what feeling I should expect haha! They fit each line perfectly. I am sorry to hear that the insurance is being a pain. I am glad I never had to deal too much with it while I was in the office. Sorry to hear that your favorite patient had to leave you. Hopefully you will be able to work with him in the near future, but the other story is really cool.  How long have you been working with her? It cant have been very long, so that is a really impressive accomplishment! 

That is Sora L! She is the happiest person on the planet. He first name is _______ (or something close), literally means Sunny! That is so cool that she is in Gs ward. I cant believe that all these people are going home. It is so sad, but life moves on. I think it will be the hardest when my sisters go home. We shall see what we shall see.

Yes! Remind Secondborn to write me, and Thirdborn. I don't remember ever saying that they could stop haha. No pictures for this week. I will tell you why in just a bit. Good for Secondborn for doing the math tutoring. Tell him that his grades are important (say its from me). It probably wont do anything, but eh who knows. 

I am so excited to play bball in the spring. It is so much fun when you are a little bit better haha. Ive been trying to be a more obedient missionary with morning work outs. I am going work on my vertical before summer. 

So, it looks as if my turn here in Iasi has come to an end. I am being transferred to Bacau. It is the weirdest feeling to leave someone you are training, especially since I thought I would have another one with him. I am going to be companions with the missionary branch president. President says that he is "testing the waters". We shall see what that means next transfer. If I stay another one, it means I will be the next BP in Bacau. I am both excited and nervous. It will be like nothing I have ever done before, except when I was working with President F. The other weird thing is that I am going to be traveling by myself on Tuesday down to Bacau. It is a 3ish hour maxi taxi ride, but I will be all alone. It will be the longest time I have been by myself in the last year. Nervous? A little. I might stop a few times to "stretch". Just kidding Mom, no eye rolls now (i hear it now "oh, you little stinker"). 

We met this couple while English contacting that was very good for myself and Elder A. They were a bit hesitant at first, but then opened up. My favorite part was when the wife asked me where I learned to speak such good Romanian. The husband immediately turned to me with a wink and said "From his girlfriend of course!" I had a good laugh and then explained a bit of what we do here as missionaries and who we were.  They were really polite and reminded me why I like missionary work and gave Elder A a taste of acceptance. I really hope that they come to class on the 21st. They would be great investigators. 

With working hard this last week, we were given a great opportunity. On Saturday, R (a member, who is legit) texted us and asked us what our schedule was like. He then forwarded a message from one of his friends. "Anywhere, it doesn't matter. I need to meet with them. I received an answer and I want to be baptized." We met with him that day and he is very prepared. He used to be an investigator 3 years ago and went so far as to pass the baptismal interview. I don't know exactly why he wasn't baptized, but he is ready now. He was very guided during our lesson, even when I almost messed up a part! There are at least 4 potential baptisms here in Iasi for the next few transfers. I am very excited for Elder A and Elder F.

Love you all,

Elder Ormsby

Week 50

Family!

Ok here is the low down. Four days ago I was prepared to start this email with "Well, looks like I am returning to the office." I hate to say it, but it was such a sad couple of days. The week before I had written President telling him that I am so glad to be out of the office and how hard it was for me. So when he told me that I would be returning to the office for a month I wasn't a very happy camper, but I was prepared to do the best that I could. He then talked to me yesterday with a new plan. Instead of returning to the office, I will have mini missionary from Iasi. A native companion. I'm a little nervous, but think about how this will help my language! It will be so cool! I will still be here in the Aviatiei district in Bucuresti, and we will be full time pros missionaries again! 

Sad news on a temporal level. We were supposed to go to the World Qualifying match between Romania and Greece. The tickets were bought, enough for all of Mihai Bravu and the office elders (including me). I felt really bad, however, that the sisters in our district would be left out. I called President, got permission for them to come and then tried to buy tickets for them and my new comp (i wasn't the one who bought them initially so I wasn't in charge of how many were purchased). SOLD OUT! Except for the 400-600 Ron VIP Tickets. Cant afford that on a missionary budget. Oh well, us missionaries in the Aviatiei district need to find something fun to do.

I am so glad that your Thesis defense went well! That is so good to hear! I am glad that Dad was able to go and support you during your thesis. I laughed a bit when you said that the committee said that they had never seen that before. I have kept you in my prayers with that. When do you find out the results?

So this makes me a little bit upset. The propriatar and his family were taken from us rather abruptly. One of the other missionaries in Bucuresti came up to us as I was talking to a member and basically said "I have sat with them for three Sundays, they are my investigators, your bad". Granted this investigator lives in a different part of the city and we go to the group instead of the chapel, but we were teaching him because of the relationship we had formed while getting that apartment (we gave it to the sisters). It took me the rest of the day to calm down. They were such a cool family and we really like them. I really hope this missionary is ready to work for them.

 Elder P is fine haha. He will do a great job in the office.

Secondborn hasn't written me about Sadies much less a meth head. Give him a little nudge, would ya?

(Mom's note:  we found out about a meth bust two doors down, someone was using meth in a car when busted.  Then last night, someone high on drugs approached Secondborn, asking for a drink.  This is really unusual for our neighborhood.)

Glad to hear that work hasn't been too crazy for ya. "No news IS good news".

I cant believe that Grandpa and Grandma would do that! I was getting ready to write a lot of letters (I am so bad at writing in the field), so I will definitely write them and tell them thank you. That is such a blessing.

Haha! Why would you let Mom watch the Saratov Approach? We were talking about that movie the other day and it sounds really good. Reviews? Did you like it?

I love you all and I am so grateful for the support that you have given for me. Keep me in your prayers, cause you know that you all are in mine.

Love 

Elder Ormsby

(The following pics from Sora Polatis' blog.  Where's Elder Ormsby?  He is there if you look hard enough.)

Week 48

So I was going to stay and extra transfer, which means I wouldn't have left the office till January. President and I had a talk, however, and after a few questions he decided that it would be better for me to leave the office a transfer early. I just wasn't a happy camper in there. The first day that I got out was the best/worst. I was sad to leave the office, but so happy to leave. I am starting up the Aviatiei district in North Buc as the District Leader. I was/am with Elder E, but he will be leaving for Iasi and I will be with Elder P until October 31, then Elder P will become the new office elder and I wont have a companion...I'm thinking about getting a solo tag, like in the MTC. President said a virtual companion would do haha.

The first few days were rough, trying to get back in the missionary mood. But I have loved it so much! It feels good to be talking to people, even if they reject you. Those first few times trying to stop people and having the finger wiggle or being straight up ignored, LOVE IT! Seriously. I am so happy to be out. We still live with the office elders, and I am training them this transfer, so we will see what happens next. We went out chalk contacting with the Panduri sisters, my first time, and it was so strange to be talking to people I didn't have to once again. Eventually I met this really cool couple who knew quite a bit about the LDS church and what we stood for. They told us it was a beautiful religion and they had high respect from it. Due to my gresit I didn't get their number, but they have a card. Hopefully we can run into them again.

We were on the metro and had our CLM (Cartea lui Mormon) out where people could see them (President made a big push for all the missionaries to do this). We were speaking in English and a guy across the metro says "they speak in English, but carry a Romanian book...why?" I turned and said "Cause we speak Romanian...sort of." haha his friends ribbed him a bit before I asked him where he was from and why he was in Buc. We didn't get to anything about religion, but it was cool to see that people really do see us. Sometimes it seems like they go out of their way to ignore us. 

Finally, we were out last night trying to place a few CLMs. We knocked into this guy and he showed us a copy of the Book of Mormon that he received in 1977. It has sat on his shelf for a long time. We gave him a new one and then he surprised us by telling us some of the things that he knows about us. He has a ton of respect for the way that the church does things. He loves how service oriented we are. He is going to come to church this Sunday and we are going to try and meet up with him beforehand.

The beach house sounds great! I am super jealous seeing all the fun stuff that you did. It would be really fun to go to the beach with the whole B family.

Love you all,

Elder Ormsby

P.S. I am so happy, 10/10 easily!

Week 33

It was such a treat to receive those pictures from The Love Magnet and an even bigger treat to get those video clips. 

Sorry that you had to drive back to Idaho without any AC, we have heard about the record heat waves that have been hitting the west. We have had nothing but rain here. Its a little ridiculous. I didn't think I would ever see so much rain at one time, but it has been raining non-stop for the past 2-ish days. It is clearing up now, so that is good. The drainage system here isn't the best, so we have rivers, literally, in the streets when it rains really hard.

I cant believe that A is going to be in the MTC soon! It is so good to hear that more and more people are going on missions. President just told us that we will be receiving 18 additional new sister missionaries over the next 3-9 months! This is some really good news because it means that basically ALL the cities in Romania will have a set of sister missionaries and we might even get multiple sets in every district. Now that would be crazy! 

Good to know about D, I will be sure to add him to my fast. Fasting is such a great gift that we have. I have such a strong testimony about fasting. It is such a simple thing, go without food or water for 24 hours, having a desire(s) in your heart and having faith that, because you are making a sacrifice, God will bless you for your efforts. Before the exchange that I had in Brasov I started a fast the day before. I have had a really hard time understanding people here in Romania. Its mostly because I focus on all the words that I don't know instead of all the words that I do know. But I went into that fast praying that I would know how to help the elder I would be with (who was only a week old in the mission field) and also to have the gift of understanding. Although both of our lessons fell through, I feel that we prepared ourselves for both of them. When we were on our way to one of them we took a taxi instead of the bus...we were a little late. It was one of the best conversations that I have had in Romania. Although he didn't want to hear about the Church at the beginning of the ride, he eventually got curious and then confused on why we would come to Romania, without pay and talk to people. So I told him what we did, why we were here and a little bit about what we did. Although it wasn't a perfect contact, it helped to give me the boost of confidence that said "yes, I do know this language and yes, I can understand them." I know that extra help came from fasting. So many people don't understand how/why we fast. If they did, it would no longer be a chore, but a pleasure.

Office work will be office work. Not much to say except we have done all the visa work, minus the healthcare stuff. We will figure it out as we go. As it is, we wont be able to do anything until we have a few guinea pigs. We need to get a move on it though. 

Thanks for sending that transcript to BYU, I just need a few more things and it will be off for review. I am taking my time (cause I have a lot of it). We will see what happens there.

Love you all and I hope that all is well. Make sure Secondborn and Thirdborn write me!

Love Elder Ormsby

 The rainstorms are huge in Bucharest.  This was taken from the office window.

The streets become rivers.

Elder Ormsby showing he still has the wherewithall to brave the elements.

Week 32

OH man, that punk. Whenever anyone asks what I would eat if I could have anything from back home (that isn't mom's cooking) is Arby's and pizza rolls.

I didn't get the chance to see the broadcast, but I will be sure to watch it sometime this week. It is so interesting that when we prepare a talk, it is us more than anyone else who progresses from the words that are spoken. I have found that writing a talk always helps me to understand something better, answers a prayer or is something that I needed to know. It is also a good way to learn a new language ;).

The past week has been ridiculously crazy. Last Monday we had the chance to take the President and his wife to go and renew their visas. We waited in line and then had to wait a little longer for one last piece to the packet. As we start to give the visa stuff over, the man behind the window states that "a receipt is not a good enough proof of purchase"...whodasay what? After we fixed the matter the next day, our President took us to the Hard Rock Cafe as a little thank you. He expressed his appreciation, as did his wife, on all the work and trials that we go through here in the office. They had no idea what went on behind the "office scene". 

Highlight of the week. I had the chance to go on a road-trip  to Brasov. The "apes" (still cant get over that one haha) decided to go on exchanges with us office elders, and then go on exchanges with trainers and trainees. Elder Preece went to Constanta with Elder Speth and the Mihai Bravu sisters (who were also going on an exchange in Constanta), and I went with Elder Lasater to Brasov (Ya his name is really Elder Lasater...like Psych!!!).

 It was great to drive in the mountains, so pretty on the way there. Big cliffs, lots of green and the great conversation. Elder Lasater is a riot. We reached Brasov just as a massive storm rolled in and soaked everything. Luckily we were still in the car driving when it stopped.  We needed to grab something from a store so we hiked over to the nearest one, grabbed what we needed and then made our way back to the car to grab our stuff. On the way back lightning started to strike really close...as in flash BOOM, no second count. We get back to the car just as is starts to pour. The Elders lived a good half mile away, with no streets we could drive on. So we grabbed our overnight stuff, plus an air mattress for me, my pillow and a bag full of packages and letters for the sisters. I decided to put all my stuff over the bag, towel then bed on top, to keep the water off of the letters and what not. Who wants a wet letter. It was raining so hard, I have never been that wet outside of swimming and showering. Instantly all of our cloths were soaked. We didn't bring any coats, so it must have been a sight seeing 2 nicely dressed guys walking down the street with the heavens opened. People were giving us the weirdest looks, it was so funny. We would say "good evening" to people as they huddled beneath their umbrellas that the cafes have. We got a few good laughs from that. As we were nearing the Brasov elders apartment we passed another cafe full of people under the umbrellas. They gave us a round of applause for walking through water. You couldn't help but laugh at everything. When we finally go to their house/apartment we tried to lay out all our stuff so it could dry. I literally had to pour out my shoes (they were still wet the next day and I had to walk around with wet feet). So much fun! 

Brasov really is beautiful, the mountains make it all. I feel that if I had a P-day in Brasov, I would have found it even more beautiful, but we didn't have a whole lot of time for sightseeing.  I had the chance to have an exchange with one of the new elders. It was so crazy and fun to be with someone who was younger in the mission than you and to know that if someone asked you a question in Romanian, you were all on your lonesome. Did you know that if I wasn't pulled into the office, I probably would have been a trainer. Crazy! Now I have till November/December before that could potentially happen again. 

Well, that has been my week. We were going to take a picture of us totally soaked, but my camera took a little dip too, so I thought it best if we didnt turn it on...and I forgot. Hard to remember stuff when there is a swimming pool in your shoe.

Love you Lots and have a great week,

Elder Ormsby

 On splits in Brasov.

 Getting a little goofy on the drive to Brasov.

Elder Ormsby's MTC teacher came to visit.

Showing his sister that he did indeed get her letter.  She misses him SO MUCH!

Week 25

Well, unfortunately I cant give you any pictures this time either. We are in a slightly shady cafe and need to wait for the library to open. Its closed because of Easter. Easter is a different time here in Romania. Yes we celebrate the Orthodox Easter. In the whitehandbook it states that Christmas and Easter are the best times for missionary work. It is the opposite here in Romania. People are reminded, at those times, that they are orthodox and become very unreceptive to missionary work. 

But this weekend was really cool. My new companion, Elder R, is awesome. He is so weird and crazy and just an all around funny guy/elder. 

We had the chance to have the President and his wife and the assistants over for interviews. So I really wanted them to have a good meal because I understood how hard it is to be on the road for a week or two at a time and so I made a roast in the crock pot at the church. Unfortunately the plug wasn't working and we didn't know until two hours before they got there. So it was into the oven and a prayer. Really annoying, but it still tasted really good and I feel like they appreciated it. 

For Easter, you can say "Isus a inviat" and then some one will reply "Adevarat a inviat" It means Jesus resurrected, True he resurrected. Which is kinda fun. There are a lot of other traditions, but usually in the East of Romania. I didn't go to the midnight mass because the one that we would have gone to was really small. I really would like to do it next year in a bigger city (but will go even if I am still in Deva). 

Mom, I just want to say how proud I am of you. Every missionary knows what you are doing and that you are the best cook in the world. So you might have some visitors when I get home. Not so sure on the skyping time yet. We are going to find out by Thursday and will let you know ASAP. Love you all and hope all is going well. 

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 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 3 - with pictures!

Another week has come and gone here at the MTC. Not a lot has happened in the last week. December 1 is National Romanian Day, I don't know if we ever were taught what exactly it was for, independence or just a day to party, but we taught our investigator the Plan of Salvation...we keep forgetting that just because it makes sense in our minds, doesn't mean it will make sense to them. For our other investigator Anca, we taught the first vision, which is memorized. Most definitely had help from on high remembering that one. My best friend sent me a letter that day, and if you know anything about him this will come as no surprise, he put princess stickers on the back.

We had our first fast Sunday here at the MTC and it was fantastic. Hearing the testimonies of all my boboci noi was a great experience. We watched the Christmas Devotional. It is always good to hear the words of our prophet, Thomas S. Monson, although I really like Uchtdorf's talk as well. That evening we watched the movie the "Testament". The movie is about life in America before Christ came to them, the last days and such. For me, it is always hard to watch Jesus Christ as he has nails set in his hands, wrists and feet to the cross. 

Tuesdays are the best days, next to P-days, in my opinion. This is the day that you give service to another building by cleaning it. You don't have to get dressed until lunch time and gym is right after the service. We have an elder here,  Elder Jack, who is from Micronesia. He is a boss at volleyball. He stands at a whopping 5ft 3 and can still lay down the law. we had Elder Evans of the Seventy come and talk to us during the Tuesday Night Devotional. He basically gave us a pep talk on missions. My favorite part was a quote by Elder Holland (always a good thing). He says " Salvation is not a cheap experience". It is so true, before the devotional we were reading up on prayer and my favorite part was the definition in the Bible dictionary. You should all look it up, cause I won't do it justice, but it basically says that when we pray we are accepting blessings that God is willing to give us and that prayer is some of the required work to receive blessings.

Anyways, I am so thankful for all of you and I cant wait to get to Romania, I just have to learn the language first. Just so you all know, letters are heaven sent here at the MTC (hint hint). If any of you see Timtams, and know what they are, we have a few Australians around here that want to do some slams. Just a thought. Anyways thank you all again, and I am so grateful to be here on a mission.

-Elder Ormsby

P.S. Here is the First Vision in Romanian. There are no accents on this computer so bear with me.

Am vazut un stalp de lumina exact deasupra capilui meu, mei luminos ca stralucirea soarelui, care a cobarat treptat pana cand a stat deasupra mei...Cand lumina s-a oprit asupra mei, am vazut doua Personaje, ale caror stralucire si slava intreceau orice descriere, si care stateau deasupra mei, in aer. Unul dintro Ele mi-a vorbit, chemandu-ma pe nume, si a spus, aratand catre celelalt "Acesta este Fiul Mei Iubit, Asculta-L"

Elder Ormsby with his two companions and the sisters also in the district

If its a little off, well its early. and a pday