Romania, Bucharest Mission: Sept. 2010 - Sept. 2012

Monday, May 14, 2012

I'm Loving it back in Bucharest!

Dear family and friends:

   Hey, it's Elder Lee! So, I'm here back in Bucharest Mihai Bravu with Elder Durand! So far, I have really enjoyed it. The weather has been warm, the branch is awesome as it was last year (now with a few new members), and I love my district. Oh yeah, and I'm in the same apartment as I was in last year! It feels like deja vu or something. There are some fun differences now though, like being around Elder Knapp! It's so fun! I remember last year when I found out he was coming here on his mission. Now, we're in the same district! I would have never imagined where we are right now 5 years ago. It's great to be able to talk to him about all the things we remember from back home, whether it's the ward, school, all the fun things we did, or whatever else. We find ourselves reminiscing about good old times in the middle of other missionaries talking about other things. He's just the same as I remember him, except that now, he's speaking Romanian!

   We have had a fun last few days. I am enjoying being with Elder Durand. He is from the West Jordan area I think. He worked before his mission. He wants to go to BYU Idaho after his mission, in January. He just got back from being Branch President in Deva recently. Elder Cooper was his last companion here in Buc. It's funny, because we're both former branch presidents serving together (not to mention that we were in the MTC together). Also, I am his 6th companion he has served with from our MTC group. He has served with Elder Schroedter in Timisoara, Elders James and Pettit in Pitesti, Elder Nemrow in Constanta, Elder Mikolyski in Deva, and now with me in Buc! It's pretty cool. We get along great and have already talked about our branch presidencies and the stuff we've learned as branch presidents. The other missionaries in the district include: Elder Fonnesbeck, Elder Knapp, Elder Staheli (from Colorado), Elder Green (from Idaho), Sora Hosking (from Utah), Sora Sam (from Brentwood(?) California), and of course, the Wolsey's from Canada. It's great to be around all these fun missionaries. The branch here is super nice to be in. My first Sunday back (Mother's Day) was great. I said hi to a few members that remember me. I've missed this place! The branch president is still Presedintele Bulgarasu. Since I left last year, there have been a few baptisms here. It is nice to sit in the big congregation and not have to worry about conducting and delegating talks and lessons. However, it was a great experience to sit up in the front of that tiny congregation (if you could call it that) in Bacau and conduct every Sunday, as well as give talks about twice a month or more.

   Elder Durand and Cooper taught and baptized a guy named Flavian before I got here. So, he is now our recent convert. I have met him once so far, at a Helping Hands service project we did with all the missionaries and some members from both branches. He's a cool guy, and speaks pretty good english. He works at Oracle, which is up by the office. Other than him, we have a couple investigators named Cosmin and Cristian. We haven't been able to meet with them yet. Mainly, we need to find more investigators and get working with a few more less-actives. There are two or three baptismal dates here in Mihai Bravu (the sisters have one or two, and the other elders have one or two, I can't remember). There are 17 total baptismal dates in the mission. So anyways, the Helping Hands project was fun. It was sort of like the one we did last year. We got in the yellow vests, met at the chapel, then went to a random neighborhood with some empty fields and picked up trash for a few hours. I got a bit sunburned. It was a good time. We have also gone to Sora Gorzo's once or twice. It's good to see her again and eat some of her famous food. The other night, Elder Durand, the sisters, and I went to the Arcul de Triumf because it was randomly open for free to go in and go to the top to see the view of Buc and stuff. We had a fun time. I guess it's usually closed, so it may have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! I'm excited to be back here and try to get back to some busy missionary work again.

   Mom and dad, I enjoyed skyping with you guys. It will be the last time we talk before we do it in-person. Stefan (the member who let us use his laptop) is a great guy, and I'm sure you (dad) had a fun time talking to him a little about your missions in England. I'll be getting your package then in a couple weeks. Thanks for sending it to me. It's good to hear that everyone in the family is doing well. Hope you had a happy Mother's Day mom! I hope you have a good week. Today, we ate breakfast (crepes!) at the Wolsey's, and we might play volleyball or go shopping later. I want to get another suit. Maybe a gray suit. I'm having a ton of fun, but I need to start getting back into the Buc summer missionary work swing of things again, where you talk to tons of people everyday in the parks and meet lots of members and less-actives/recent-converts. It was hard to do any missionary work in Bacau, so I need to get back into the groove of contacting more people again. Congrats to Tyler and Chelsey! I missed out on their wedding! I'm sure it was awesome. I'm happy for them. Well, I'm about done for now. Have a good week, and we'll mai vorbim. La revedere.

Love, Elder Lee

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