Cluj-napoca Romania

6-30-2014

Hey everyone!!!! I don’t really know how to start. ha I feel like I have this problem every week. ha-ha So many things went on this week and I feel like my entire mission changed again. So I’ll start on transfer day which was on my birthday last Wednesday! It was crazy to have my birthday on transfer day because it’s always just a really wild day but I actually had a lot of fun. There were a few Elders that I’m really good friends with that were down in Bucuresti so we all went out and ate at Ruby Tuesdays. ha-ha There’s nothing like having a nice American burger on your birthday. Then I finished packing up all my things and that night I went on an 11 and a half hour train ride to Clij! The train ride was a lot more fun that I expected but I still didn’t get any sleep. The four Elders is my district shared a cabin on the train which has four tiny bunks to sleep on. It felt like they were made of plywood they were so hard and of course they didn’t have the air conditioning going so it was boiling!!! I barely got any sleep and my arms hung out the window of the train so that I would suffocate. ha

So now I’m in Clij and I love it so much!!! It doesn’t even feel like I’m in Romania anymore because it’s a lot different than what I’ve been use to. The city is beautiful with really old churches and theaters everywhere. I’ll send some pictures but make sure to google search Cluj-napoca cuz my camera isn’t good enough. One big difference is that there are a lot less blocks and more houses and villas. It’s great. The people are a lot more polite and they have there own way of living here.

Oh, I also forgot to mention my new companion. I know I already said who my new companion is going to be but I didn’t really know him then. He’s a really good guy and a lot better than I was expecting. Not that I was expecting it to be bad but he’s a little interesting. The hardest thing is that I don’t understand one thing he says!! He mumbles soo much! ha It’s bad... A lot of times I just nod my head in agreement because I have no idea what he said and I’m tired of asking what every sentence is.

As for this week, I’ve been learning the city and doing a lot of English contacting. It’s been a lot of fun and Clij gets crazy at night. There have been public concerts playing in centru every night for the past 3 nights! Tonight Billy Idol is playing. ha-ha There are a lot of college students here so this city is filled with a lot of shops and bars and things like that.

And lastly, yesterday was the first time meeting the branch! It is one of the best branches I’ve been in so far. They are all really nice and have a lot of kids. ha The Branch President is really young and loves the missionaries. I’m really excited to get to know them more and work with them. During Sacrament meeting, all the new missionaries got up and introduced/bore their testimonies so I got to do that. Time really does help with the language. There is a Sister missionary in our district who has been out for 3 days so its weird to see the difference. I remember when I was in that same situation. I hated it. ha-ha Time fies though.

That’s about it for this week in summary. I love you all and thanks again for all the birthday letters and e-mails!!! Love you all and have a great week!

Elder Mayans

Dracula here I come!

6-23-14

HEYOOOO!!!

Thank you everyone for all the e-mails and for all the birthday shout outs!!!! It’s great to hear from everyone and I’m sorry if I don’t get to writing you back. I want to write all of you back but I only have so much time! I love and miss you all! Thanks for everything.

So yeah it’s my birthday this week. It’s really crazy for me because I was in Romania on my last birthday. Time really does fly fast and this past year has been one of the best years of my life! So many things have happened and it’s incredible that it was all just in one year.

It was a really good week and also the last week of the transfer. I only want to hit on a few things because they are the most important but in general a lot of things happened. So we went to Craiova this week for our last exchange of the transfer. I went on an exchange with an Elder that is only in his first transfer so it was really cool experience being with him. I also love the City of Craiova so much so it’s always good to visit. 

English classes ended this week and they were a success this transfer. The class was great and a lot of the people were interested in the gospel. I was able to talk to a lot about the church and give them the Book of Mormon. It always feels good to be able to have a good conversation with someone about the church. Most people on the streets aren’t very interested but that’s what’s so great about English class is that is shows them that we are good, normal people and it gives them time for them to be more comfortable with us. Then when we talk to them about the church they are much more open and interested in what we have to say. Hopefully those potentials will pass on to next transfer. 

Which leads perfectly into next transfer. I am now being transferred from the big city of Bucuresti to the city of Cluji!!!!!  I know you don’t know where that is but it is a great city and I am extremely lucky to serve there. Cluji is in Transylvania and is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It is one of the prettiest cities in all of Romania and there is a really strong branch there. I will be going there on Wednesday and it is about a 10 hour trip so I will be on a sleeper train for the first time. I will be serving with Elder Jarmen who I don’t know very well but it will be good to get to know him more. So yup I’m going up to where Dracula is!!! I’ll have to update you more when I get there but I heard it’s beautiful and the people are very nice. That means I will be back to a normal missionary!! Thank goodness! haha No it was fun being Zone Leader but there was just a lot of busy work that I had to do and that’s not really my style. ha Now I can just focus on talking to people and teaching our investigators the Gospel!  

The last huge thing that went on was that I participated for the first time in my entire mission three baptisms!!!! They were the investigators of the Elders in our district and it was a really good experience to see someone make the decision to be baptized. I actually went to their house (the people who got baptized) a few months ago and had dinner/a lesson with them. It was cool to see them progress and become part of the branch. They are really good people and you could tell that they were prepared and ready to make such a big step in their lives. 

Well that’s about it everyone. The next time I talk to you I will have a new mission President, President Ivory. I’m a little nervous but it will be great. I’m sure there will be a lot of new changes coming up in the near future. Thanks again for all the love and support. Much love to you coming all the way from Romania.!!!

Elder Mayans

Romanians...honestly

6-16-2014

First off Mom that’s so cool to hear about your experience with Ednas

granddaughters and also her neighbor!!!! You’ll have to tell me how it

goes!!!

I don’t have a lot of stories to tell for this week. It still was a

really good week but we also had a lot of busy work to do because we

had Zone Conference here in Bucuresti and since we are the Zone Leaders in this city we had a lot of things we had to do. We still had a lot of fun with it though and had some good experiences.

Sooooo, let’s start on Tuesday.

Tuesday we had a lot of things to do... so Elder Pouslen and I were in

charge of getting the food for Zone Conference on Wednesday. This was

the last Zone Conference that we would have with President Hill before

he goes home so of course we had to go all out. We ordered food for

about 60 people at a place called Passion which was on the edge of

Bucuresti. The President from our branch told us that he likes that

place a lot so we decided to try it out. It was amazing!!!!! Everyone

was so happy and it was by far the best meal we have had at Zone

Conference! haha President Hills a great guy so it feels good to make

him happy. haha Also at Zone Conference about 6 missionaries gave

their good bye testimonies because they go home next week. It’s always

cool to see other missionaries talk about how much they have changed

on their mission and how fast it went by. It seams like most of them

at that moment truly realize what they have been doing the past few

years and that they are actually going home.

On Thursday I went on an exchange with Elder Daland. We went to Sora

Gorzos house again to do some service for her. She told us that she

would call other missionaries but she doesn’t like them as much as us.

haha I love how she’s so straight forward. If people don’t like someone,

they will tell you who they don’t like. haha So yeah we were there for

a pretty good amount of time. We mostly beat her rugs outside on the

rug racks... They were so disgusting!!!!! So much hair and dirt!!!

After that she fed us some food. The meal was I would say ok but my

stomach didn’t agree so I had the runs for the next three days. I’ll be

straight farward with you just like the Romanians are with me. haha

yeah maybe its a good thing that we don’t have very many food

appointments.

Friday was filled with district meeting and sports night with the

branch. At district meeting we talked a little bit with the branch

President and we came up with a few new ideas to have the members involved in missionary work more. We are going to give them some old names from our area book to some of the members and they are going to try to contact and visit them. Elder Poulsen and I a little later had to

write up some reports for President Hill on every ones status in the zone and what would be good for next transfer.

Saturday we had a really good English class. We have a lot of fun moms

in our class that make it much more alive instead of it always being

quiet and awkward. Romanian are such funny people and we get to

experience a lot of it when we teach English because most of them open

up. Then we had a lesson with a guy named Marian. We haven’t been able

to meet up with him in over 5 weeks but he finally answered his phone

so we got to meet. We talked to him a little bit about what’s been

going on and if he was able to ever read the Book of Mormon. He

clearly said no and that he is not very interested. So we told him

that if he has any questions or wants to know more in the future to

call us. But yeah we dropped him. It’s ok, it happens.

Sunday!!! Really good Sacrament Meeting!!!! I had to translate for

Sacrament and then teach the Sunday school class. There were a lot of

people in Sunday school class so I was a little nervous. We had a lot

of solid investigators in it too. It turned out to be really good. We

talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy and a lot of the

investigators participated and had a lot of questions. Good stuff!! We

even had this one lady we never saw before raise her hand and say that

she is very happy she came to this church today and I would like to be

a member of this church if I can in the future! All of the

missionaries faces in the room were in shock. haha it was awesome and

it was funny because President and Sora Hill were in the room but had no

idea what was going on because they don’t understand Romanian. haha

That’s the week!!! I love you all and hope your getting ready for

summer!!!!! It going to start getting really hot here so I got to get

ready. haha I miss you and you’re in my prayers!

Love, Elder Mayans

Epic Week

6-9-2014

Ok so here it goes! Crazy epic week this week and I have a lot to say.

I’ll try not to write too much but we will see how it goes!

SOOOOOOOO.....

On Tuesday of last week we had to do some less active work. We had

three less active members that we needed to visit but we never get all

the information on exactly where they live so it is always an

adventure and we ask a lot of people for directions. We searched forever

and couldn't find anyone! It was really frustrating. After a few hours

we were super tired so we decided to take a little break and sat on a

park bench. While we were there this random guy walked up to us and in

perfect English said, who are you guys and what are you doing here? We

were like well that is a great question. So, we told him how we are

missionaries for our church and we talk and teach people in Romania

more about our church. Then he basically said, yeah that’s great and I’ve

seen you guys for the past 15 years and I always wondered who you

were. He also said that he has been having a tough time lately and he

could use some help from the man upstairs! It was amazing!! We were so

happy and got his number. He’s probably around 25 and super nice. He

also almost started screaming when I told him I was from California!

haha He was very jealous. ha We are super excited about him and we

think we are going to at least have a few lessons with him. Right

after that we went to English class which also went well. After class

I talked to one of our students about our church and he took a Book of

Mormon and said he would read it! At the end of the day on Tuesday I

was really happy and I haven't had that much success in one day in a

long time!

Wednesday we had an exchange with the APs. I was with Elder Lex from

Austria. He’s great. We got invited to lunch from a member in our

branch. His name is Brother Lee, he’s from korea and his whole family

is living here in Romania for three years due to English. They are the

people we mostly translate for every Sunday. Anyway he took us to

Pizza Hut and it was soo good because he bought so much food and kept

saying, I think we need another salad, I think we need another pizza..

Its ok?? haha It was hilarious!  He doesn’t speak English very well but

we mostly talked about Korea, his family, way and ping pong! haha He

said in broken English that I am number one ping pong player in my

section of Korea! ha So I have a match set up to play him this next

week, I’m nervous but we will see how it goes. haha JK I’m going to get

destroyed by a professional Korean ping pong player. haha Then the

rest of the exchange we just did some contacting in the south part of

Bucuresti.

On Thursday we got on a train and headed up to Pitesti for another

exchange. Yup two exchanges in a row. Unfortunately because the train

times were a little messed up we didn’t get very much time up there but

with the time that we had we went to their district meeting and did

some contacting around the city. It’s a little weird in Pitesti right

now because all of their investigators that they have right now live

in a city about 45 minutes outside of Pitesti.

Friday, we had district meeting which took a very long time and wasn’t

very good. The district is good but everyone kinda does whatever they

want and we are not very united. The sisters most of the time have

crazy ideas that always conflict with everyone so since Elder Poulsen

and I are so close we usually just do are own things. That night we

had Friday sports night which was really good!! We had the most amount

of members show up and also we had a few investigators. It was a

blast. We just played soccer and then had a little spiritual thought

afterwards.

Saturday.. I don’t remember.

Sunday- was really different. In the morning we went to Brother Dobre

house and picked him up for church. Brother Dobre is a really old man

in a wheel chair. We are going to be wheeling him to church every week

from now on. It’s a pretty good walk too, about 30 minutes. He’s really

funny because it’s hard to understand him and he always tells you where

you need to go and what you’re doing wrong. Romanian streets and

sidewalks are a piece of junk here so it makes it really difficult with

a wheelchair. Then we had Sacrament Meeting which went well and then

Poulsen and I went with a few members to a little village outside of

Bucuresti (about 45 minutes) and had another Sacrament Meeting out

there with a few members and some of their friends who aren’t members!

It was amazing and were were in a tiny house in a village having

church service. Epic moment! Then they fed us some delicious foods.

soup, mystery meat, and some greasy potatoes. Incredible!!! Once we

got back to Bucuresti we went to another dinner appointment. I

probably got fed the most this week. We went to Sora Gorzos house

again, that old lady member that I sent a picture with about a month

ago. She’s still doing great and we are actually going to do some

service with her this week and clean her house.

Today for P day, because it was so hot, we went bowling at the Mall

and then went to McDonalds.... again. It’s cup season here in Romania. A

free coca cola cup with every purchase of a meal. 6 weeks, 6 cups...

gotta collect them all. ha

Love you all and hope you have a great week!!! As you can tell I am

still very busy and getting a lot of things done. We also have Zone

Conference coming up again this week on Wednesday so we have a lot of

planning to do. The Church is so true and I love being a missionary!

Nothing like it.

Love you!

Elder Mayans

Romania

6-2-2014

Hello my Beautiful family!!!!!!!

I don’t have an absolutely amazing email to write this week because I

don’t have much too say but everything is perfect and I couldn’t ask for

anything better. So for the most part I’ll just quickly recap on a few

things that went on. Oh it also sounds like all of you are great and a

lot of things are going on. I love all of your emails.

So first off we were able to have a lesson this week with someone. It

was a little interesting but good and it’s a good story. These three

guys came to church a few weeks ago out of nowhere and stayed the

whole time. We talked to them for a little bit and figured out that

one of them is a member but is inactive and nobody has ever seen him

before. They seemed really nice so we got their number and they were

willing to meet so we said we would call them. Then for the next few

weeks we tried calling but the number didn’t work so we just thought

they gave us a fake number. Then last week I decided to call one last

time before giving up on them and for some reason they answered and

were like why haven’t you called us?! ha We were like yeah we tried. ha

Anyways, so we went over to their apartment on Wednesday to have a

lesson. Their block was really far away on the other side of Bucuresti

but was super nice. It turned out that this member, Dan, brought two

of his friends and his girlfriend over so that they could listen to us

and become Mormons. ha Long story short, they were not interested at

all except for one of his friends who actually payed attention and

took a Book of Mormon. Everyone else was kinda joking around and doing

whatever they wanted. So we talked to them for a while and then gave

them a restoration lesson. After we finished, Dan was like ok now tell

my friend here about the word of wisdom, and my girlfriend here about

the law of chastity. Elder Poulsen and I looked at each other and were

lie ok... It was kinda weird but hopefully his one friend wants to

know more so we can meet with him privately.

Then that night we got on a maxi-taxi to Alexandria again to go on

another exchange. So Thursday we were there with a few Elders. I’m

pretty sure I’ve told you about Alexandria before but its a really small

city with about 2 streets. There are not too much to many people that live

there but the missionaries have been finding a lot of success

recently.

Friday and Saturday we had a lot of just busy work to do because they

tried to scam us on our apartment bill so we had to do a bunch of

stuff for that. Plus, it started to rain a lot this weekend so nobody

has been outside. Saturday night we had someone from the Area seventy

come and talk to us and the members about family history and more

things we can do with that.

Sunday we had church which was really good. I think Sundays are my

favorite because you get to see all the members in action. The members

are great here and it motivates me to work harder when I see them

because church is struggling here and they need more members so bad. I

had to translate again which was hard as always but I enjoy it. Also

there was a couple that came to visit from America. He served here

about 11 years ago and it was cool to talk to him and his wife. They

were crazy and you could see that he was really excited to be back

visiting his mission.

Sorry, it’s not the most interesting week. I’m doing great and miss all

of you guys so much. Have a great week and all talk to you next

week!!!!! The Church is true!

Elder Mayans

Mom.. hey I don’t know if you have sent my package but if you haven't

can you put something in there that will help me not be so tired. Its

been a lot worse than just being tired from being out all day. I’m like

literally trying not to fall asleep sometimes. haha If you could do

that that would be great. love you!!! best mommy ever