Romania

Buna ziua.



Everyday we learn something more about Romania and how we will be serving there.  We have talked to several returned missionaries and exchanged emails with the couple we will be replacing.  The young missionaries have a different experience than the senior missionaries.  For one thing we will be staying in the same apartment for the entire 18 months.  Once again, our pile of things to bring has changed.  Everyone we have talked to said to bring taco seasoning, brown sugar, chocolate chips and Hidden Valley Ranch mix. As I will be cooking several meals a week for the young adults I was glad to hear that they have wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables there.  Romania is a country of about 23 million people, with only 2800 of them members of the Church. It has no stakes.  There are 2 districts with 17 branches. There are two chapels in Bucharest.  We hear we will be speaking in Church often.  We have been trying to learn the language but so far we only know how to greet people, ask where the bathroom is and how to ask them to speak more slowly.  Bucharest has a population of 2 million and is located in the southeast portion of the country close to where the Danube empties into the Black Sea.  Of course, I'm sure all of you have heard of Vlad, The Empaler, better known as Dracula who lived in Transylvania which is in the northwest part of the country. One thing everyone agrees on is that the people are wonderful and that we will love them.

Happy Feet!

To help us prepare for our mission we received instructions about what to bring with us to Romania.  This has opened up a huge opportunity for shopping.  We both have more jeans and t-shirts than suits and dresses and we are allowed to bring 1 pair of jeans.  Because we each can only bring two large suitcases plus a carryon, we are going to need to be wise about our purchases.  Of course, shoes that can be worn all day, on and off trains and buses were our first purchases.  Now, on to the rest of our wardrobe.  Let's just say that the words thermal, conservative and waterproof have come up many times on our list.  Fortunately, we can buy boots and heavy winter coats there.  That will save room in our suitcases for esstentials like Dove handsoap and Colgate toothpaste.  La revedere.

And so it begins - the mission call

After a year of preparing to turn in our mission papers, we had our final interview with the Stake President on December 12, 2010.  The call finally came on Thursday, February 3rd, 2011.  We had indicated on a survey that came after the papers were received in SLC that we were somewhat (Brent) and very (Diana) uncomfortable with hot weather.  So when we opened the letter with our call to the Romania Bucharest Mission we just looked at each other and started to laugh.  We will be entering the MTC on April 18 and will arrive in Bucharest on May 3.  We will be working at a Center for Young Adults.  We're not sure what that means but we are excited to go.  Brent, of course, immediately looked up the longitude and latitude of Bucharest.  It looks like the weather will be more like Burlington, VT rather than Salem, Oregon.  We decided to start a blog so that our family and friends can follow us on this exciting adventure.  Let me sign off by saying "buna seara" which means goodnight in Romanian.