Iowa to Romania

HEYYYYY YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS???? It is email time!!!!!!!!! This week was full of entertainment and I have a lot to tell you so listen up! Sunday was another great day in the MTC! The talks in our sacrament meeting were focused around the Holy Ghost which really brought the spirit to the meeting. We also got the opportunity to watch a talk by Elder Bednar called "Recognizing the Spirit". I learned really one big thing from that talk and it was to QUIT WORRYING ABOUT IT!!!! If you are given a prompting and it tells you to do something good, then do it. It is the Holy Ghost working among you and you should not doubt that fact. I really loved how even though that talk was years in the past, it stills applies to today! I was also called to be Zone Leader of my entire Zone , which freaks me out cause I am the youngest elder out of all of them but I feel blessed to be put in that position. My zone is gonna rock!!  (A zone is a group of missionary districts, and districts ar...

You know what time it is?? It is email time!!! I finally have had a full week in the MTC so I have a lot to talk about. A lot to talk about and not a lot of time to talk about it so I'll be as precise as possible. Sunday was my first Sacrament meeting in the MTC and boy it was strange having it without little kids crying a bunch! Sacrament meeting was focused on repentance and all the talks were wonderful. The biggest thing I learned from that was that repentance is a happy thing!!! We should be happy repenting and changing our lives for the better. I realize it may be hard, but things will get better if you have a change of heart for the best. I can attest to that fully! Other than that, Sunday was a chill day. We had a devotional and the speakers talked about fully converting ourselves to the gospel. It was really inspiring that we have to be our first convert before we can start converting others.  Monday was probably my roughest day so far. My companions and I had a le...

First P-Day (Cole's Words) HEY EVERYONE!!! I am so excited to finally have a p-day and be able to actually email! My first 3 days were very hectic and crazy but this is only the first 3 days of 6 weeks. Let me lay down some details of my first few days. My name tag with the scary (Romanian) spelling of "Elder" On Wednesday, it was absolutely a culture shock to me. Everyone was saying hello and I felt very loved to be there. But right when I got there I had to go to class, which isn't so bad except my teacher only speaks in Romanian and refuses to speak any English. So my first moments of the MTC were very scary! But after all the scares I learned I am in a companionship with 2 other great elders. Elder Ward and Elder Atkinson are awesome guys and I love it already. My district or class has 7 people going to Romania, 3 elders and 4 sisters. Most everyone is from Utah or Idaho except me and Sister Sheffield so I'm still surviving. Class went well a...

Day 1 (from David not Cole) The day began so early.  We arrived at the Des Moines Airport at 4:30 for a 6:00 Flight.  Checking in was no problem, but it became real that this was the first steps in embarking on this two year adventure. Saying goodbye was hard for all, but we all kept it all together. The itinerary took Cole from Des Moines to Dallas-Fort Worth to Salt Lake City.  He fortunately met up with a couple other missionaries enroute to the Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC). Aunt Lisa met Cole at the airport.  The flight was slightly delayed, but they were able to get out of Salt Lake quickly as his bags were the first off the plane. We spoke with Cole as they traveled to Provo.  He was in good spirits, and proud to have navigated security, connections, gate changes, and all that excitement. In Provo, he also met up with his Aunt Sara and her family (Uncle Simon, Kajsa, Brynn, Maya, Isak) and Uncle Scott and his family (Aun...