8-19-2013
Hello again, I know I say this a ton
but the weeks feel shorter and shorter. It is crazy to me that there is only 2
weeks left in my second transfer. I forgot to mention in my last e-mail that I
got a little food poisoning, not exactly sure what from but I wasn't feeling
good last Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. On top of that the summer heat is
finally starting to hit more and more so now its super hot. Most of our work is
outside so we make the best of it and try to keep cool. This past week I have
had some pretty cool things happen. It all started Tuesday morning when we
called Andrea, that one girl I mentioned who got in the motorcycle accident, to
see if we could meet up with her and teach her a lesson or a spiritual thought
or anything. Anyways she never responded to us so later that afternoon Elder
Cunningham and I went to McDonald for lunch, which unlike America is a pretty
big deal. Usually if you were going to go on a nice date here you go would go
to McDonald's because one, its expensive, and two, there are only certain
things on the menu like a Big Mac or wraps. It’s really weird. Ha-ha so we were
sitting there eating our meal and a worker comes up to us and asks us if we
wanted refills on our drinks. We both looked at her super confused and asked
what she said again. I’m laughing while I'm writing this because it sounds
ridiculous but there is not one place in Romania that would ever give you
refills, so we were freaking out. Ha-ha While we were waiting for our drinks,
Andrea called us. Elder Cunningham and I both looked up into the air just like
in the movie the best two years. Ha-ha it ended up not being as good as we
thought it would because she said her boyfriend is apparently jealous and doesn’t
want her to talk to us. We though that was kinda weird because he knows us and
knows we are good people but that just how some Romanians are. It’s a bummer
but we will try to continue to stay in touch with them.
That evening we had English class,
which went absolutely great. I think those classes are one of the most
effective things we do. We had a few new students this week and the older ones
are consistently coming. I am teaching the Advanced English class this transfer
so it’s really nice because more people participate and actually talk. After we
took a 5-minute break, we invited everyone to stay if they wanted to hear a
spiritual thought. To our surprise, almost every student stayed which was
awesome. We planned on actually giving the first lesson of the restoration and
talk about the Book Of Mormon so that’s what we did. I haven't had a lot of
experiences with teaching lessons yet because we haven't had anyone to teach
but I was really excited. We taught in English, which was also a different
experience because when I think of teaching and talking about the gospel, I'm
always trying to say it in Romanian. It was really nice to be able to speak in
English and have people understand me. We taught about a 20-minute lesson and
it went well! The spirit was very strong and I felt like we taught it in a way
where people were able to understand it. At the end of the lesson, we invited
everyone to take and read the introduction and first few pages of the book of
Mormon. We had 3 people take copies so we are hoping that they will read so we
can talk about it next week with them. Also, one of our students came up to us
and was like, I didn't really understand everything that you were saying so we
plan to meet with her later this week to teach her.
On Thursday we had a very slow day
because it was Sfânta Maria Holiday. It was a very big deal because she is one
of the bigger saints in the Orthodox Church so everyone was celebrating. There
was a huge concert down be the river. We passed it on the way back to our
apartments and it was insane. There were so many people there and everyone is
just going crazy. It is especially hard to do missionary work on those days
because everyone is like why aren't you celebrating or they will tell us to
party with them. Ha-ha we ended up watching a big firework show on the river
that night which was really cool. The very next day I went on an exchange with
Elder Ward. It was a very unproductive exchange because we had no success. When
there are Holidays here it goes on for two days so nobody was out and all the
people we talked to told us to go away. I still learned a lot from Elder Ward.
I have a lot of fun with him and he knows what he’s doing. We were talking the
other night about BYU Idaho for a little bit because he went there a few years
ago. He’s 22 so he’s a little older, but we figured out we lived in the same
exact house up in Rexburg! It was so random and I know some of the people he
knew up there. Small world.
Now, unfortunately some horrible
things also happened this week. So I believe I have mentioned Ozana before. She’s
the 13 year old girl who is super mature. She meets up with the elders to talk
a lot because she feels comfortable with us and is going through a lot of
problems right now. We told her a few weeks ago that she needs to tell her
parents that she is meeting with us because we could get in a lot of trouble if
they don’t know. Usually we wouldn't keep meeting with someone if all we were
doing is talking but it always turns into a religious conversation about God
and how He can help her and fix all the things that are going on in her life.
Anyways on Saturday we were talking to her about Prophets and Apostles and
Joseph Smith. In summary it was basically how without Joseph Smith, we would
never have been able to get the Book of Mormon and the Gospel would not be
restored. She then told us that the first time she opened the Book of Mormon,
it was the happiest moment in her life. We were so happy that she was able to
see the difference and recognize the spirit. She left that evening and we
started freaking out. We ran to the white board like a bunch of crazy people
and started making a list of things we can do to help her. For example-
fasting, praying for her, being more obedient, stuff like that. We were all
super pumped and then we heard a loud knock at the church door. We went down
stairs and it was Ozana and her mother standing there. As soon as we opened the
door her mother just started screaming as us saying that we have no permission
to talk to her daughter or her family. She said that we are horrible people and
that what we are doing is a horrible thing and that we are going to Hell. It
was really harsh and it hit Elder Cunningham pretty hard because he’s a little
sensitive. It is such a bummer because who knows what will happen in the
future. Maybe because of this, Ozana will never come back. Even worse, that
family will now have a bad image of the church and will tell everyone she knows
about it. Just like I mentioned last week, it’s hard to stand up for what’s
right. And all we're doing is teaching about Jesus Christ. It reminds me of all
the many hardships the Saints went through when the church was being
established. They were spit upon and mocked and persecuted but then never
gave up because they knew of the truth. They knew that no matter what God was
with them and would protect them. Even though this week was crazy I am grateful
for the experiences I have every day because I know that God is proud and will
help us through it. I would not be able to do anything out here if I did not
have a strong testimony of my Savior. It would be impossible to stand up for
something that I didn't know for myself was true. I love being a missionary and
telling people what I know. I love telling people that I am only 19 and I'm not
a perfect teacher because it puts me on their level and makes them understand
that I'm not perfect but this message is important enough to be shared.
Yesterday on Sunday we went to the children’s
orphanage. It was so much fun and all the kids were really happy that we were
there. We brought them juice and some balls to play with. We all played soccer
with them in our church clothes. It was really sad to see them all but if felt
good to do some service and make them happy. I don’t have any pictures of them
because the orphanage doesn’t allow us to take any pictures. We are planning on
going back next week and playing with them again.
I love you all. The Church is true.
Thanks again for all your support.
Elder Mayans
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