Iowa to Romania

Serious(?) picture with me and my new mug with my Mission President's face on it. (From Cole’s dad. Cole was so happy to talk today.  He wanted to thank you for all your emails, your support and friendship.  It is a huge support for him.  He loves you all and apologizes if he doesn’t respond to your emails as quickly and completely as he would like to.  He was so positive and happy.  For sure he misses home, but isn’t homesick, and is really happy with the opportunity to teach others.  He is embracing the culture, the language, and the challenges of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in Romania.  We were so happy to hear his voice and see him face to face.  It was the best Christmas gift ever.  Now on to his letter) Cole in Iowa!  At least on the computer. Merry Christmas everybody!! I love you all and I hope you have an awesome day! My week was pretty great so listen up! Tuesday, we went over to Sora Delia's house and sh...

Hot Chocolate! Hello everybody! This week was an interesting week but it was still great! Tuesday was a very beautiful day in Galati. For some reason, Galati was thinking it was not winter. But I am not complaining haha. But other than the weather, the day was pretty rough. We had 3 lessons planned but only one worked out and that lesson was a very awkward, rough lesson. But we pressed through and started English back up again. However, not many people even came to English and that was pretty awkward. But oh well! Wednesday we visited a member named Sora Prada because she has been having some health problems lately. She went down to Bucharest which was a good for her. But other than that, we really didn't have much go on. Just a simple day for us missionaries. Thursday we had a lesson scheduled with this Atheist but he ended up cancelling and it made all 3 of us frustrated. Us because another lesson fell through and the Atheist because he actually wants to meet and...

Heyyyy my week was pretty long and fun so listen up!! Teach everyone, right? Tuesday I finally became legal in Romania!! We finally finished my visa work which was a huge burden lifted off my shoulders. Because of visa stuff, we had an extremely long and busy day which was not the greatest thing in the world but it means we were doing missionary work right. A busy missionary is a good missionary! Wednesday was a simple day overall. We were able to go over to Sora Delia's house and talk with her about our Christmas play that is going on. The fun part about that trip was I learned that I am Joseph for our Nativity play...Honestly quite weird but hey I need to serve my branch and I guess I need to be Joseph to accomplish that haha. She is also very impressed with how my Romanian is coming along. I called her to set up the appointment that day and she was so surprised that I was the one calling. She said I spoke beautifully and I felt good about that. Thursday was a big conta...

Hey hey hey! This week was super awesome and very eventful so listen up! The Galati Elders Winder, Thomson, Bowen, Dixon Taken as Winder and Thomson are heading out. Tuesday  was a pretty cold day in Galati to say the least. We resorted to showing the Light the World video   (go see it is really well done) to people in blocks which was nice but people weren't the most receptive. However, we did end up meeting with this less active member at her home and we spent some time talking to her. Her name is Emelia and she told us how she's really struggling with family and her living situations. We send all members and investigators a small spiritual thought everyday and she told us that our texts have really helped her. The Lord really does bless us in the small and simple things so let that motivate you to do the small things even if they aren't the easiest things. We finished the night with English and we gave them a simple thought about hope. Hope requires faith wh...

Hello everybody! This week was pretty sweet! Listen up y'all!   Elder Dixon and me and some Christmas Lights Tuesday was pretty normal. We tried to finish visa stuff but turns out we don't have all the stuff to complete that. So I am still illegal in the country so that is kinda scary haha. But it was pretty normal and nothing big happened. Wednesday we were going to have a lesson with this man named Anton but he had to leave like right after the prayer. But he told us that he felt so much peace and happiness when we said the prayer. He really wants to come to church and change his life around because he is raising a daughter by himself. He is a great man and I see a lot of potential with him. We also used the new Light the World video a lot while block knocking and a lot of people are super interested in what Christmas is truly about.   Meal with Sora Briscaru and her son Lucas Thursday was Thanksgiving! But Romanians do not celebrate that so that was sad...

Well hello all you cool people! This week was pretty sweet as usual! Listen up carefully! Tuesday was a pretty normal day to say the least. I had to have a doctors appointment for my visa and that was the weirdest appointment ever. I couldn't understand anything the doctor was saying and I kind of just sat there. But I am healthy!!! Later that day, Elder Dixon and I went block knocking and we met this woman named Dorina. She was very friendly and let us in and we talked with her about families. She then showed us her collection of trinkets and one of them was a little lamp. She talked about it and then out of the blue she told us that she wanted us to have it. This small, Aladdin type lamp. Definitely a weird gift but hey I will take it!   Little lamp given to me by Dorina, a woman we met Wednesday we met another woman named Pina and she is a very interesting person. She is a very sad woman because of all the hardships she has gone through. We were able to talk to he...

Hello my friends! I have officially been out for 2 months! Only 22 more to go but I don't think anyone is counting. My week was pretty great so listen up! Tuesday was pretty uneventful to say the least. Elder Dixon and I were going to go street contacting with this awesome sign we made to get people to come to us, but we took so long making the sign that we didn't actually use it. It kind of stank, but that's missionary life. We also were going to have a lesson with this guy named Marius (who by the way, wants to be baptized!) but he had to clean up a street accident for his job. Kind of a bummer but as long as he has the desire to be baptized, I'm all good.  Our sign we took so long to make (Roll a dice and win a prize!) Wednesday we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders and I went on a short exchange with Elder Redenbaugh (another elder from Iowa!!!!!). We went on a short 2 hour exchange, but I learned a lot and we had great success just talking to ...