So a bat flew through our window and came into our apartment. And he left all these lines on our cealing. I don't think I told that story. Because well I was in the hospital. But short version. A bat flew into our apartment in the middle of the night and the caught it two days later while it was sitting on MY BED! and they through it out the window. It is dead. Although a few days ago we thought we heard another bat fly through the window. I may have taken a white board and sheilded myself. No worries false alarm!

Okay so we took a few pictures of me in the hospital. And hey for being in the hospital I say I look pretty dang good. :)

So the first few are of me in the regular hospital before they took me to the ICU.

the last two are well obviously I am in the ICU. They had to wear those funny outfits.

July 21, 2013

Well goodmorning...afternoon for those that are on my side of the world,

You heard from me not too long ago announcing that I am now out of the hospital! Hooray and it still has just been the weirdest week. For a lot of reasons. Just to update you on a few things transfer board came out this week and I am leaving to Bucharest! I am moving to the big city and am serving in the Panduri branch there. In Buch we have two branches and they have chapels! So I wont be in a little villa anymore it'll be different for sure. So and this next transfer will be a little bit weird as well. We have Sister Trainer Leaders in Buch and they travel to all the other cities in Romania to help train other sisters (basically they are like ap's but for sisters) anyways so we have four stl and they are all in Buch. Well now we have 6 sisters total in Buch. So 4 of us will all be living in one apartment. And I am training (ha training) a mini missionary from Ploiesti who does not speak English. Ha it's going to be so great.

We have a district meeting once a transfer at the Boyds house and we just have a big lunch (and I mean literally a huge lunch) and we find out what is happening for transfers! So when Elder Boyd picked us up I already knew that I was getting transferred after everything that has happened with me being in the hospital I figured they would probably want me closer to the Capital just in case anything happens ever again. And so I asked him and he tells me that I am heading over to Bucharest and I have a little trainer over my name and that freaked me out. Hahaha I may have stared at the transfer board for 30 minutes trying to grasp what on earth Heavenly Father is trying to do to me. But there ya have it I am excited for my new companion (I will definitely start to get a lot better at this language) she is about 24/25 and she has been trying to go on a mission for the last like 2 or 3 years! And she finally has everything settled and her papers should be in and she should be getting her call. And she agreed to be a mini missionary while she waits! Isn't that cool? She wont technically be my companion until about the 4th of August though because she will be in Slovakia for the huge YSA Conference in Eastern Europe.
So many new things in store for this next upcoming transfer!

 

A little about this last week. Well most of it I was in the hospital... and well yeah. Haha I really did have the nicest nurses and doctors and they would just come in just to talk to me. Also probably they wanted to practice English and I wanted to practice Romanian. I learned a new word Doare (hurts) haha. I didn't like how many times they had to take my blood or stick a new IV in me. And they stuck a dang Catheter in my artery in my arm which I don't think is normal cause that hurt. I was super mad I kept telling them that hurts and they looked at me and said no you just feel it. I had to bite my tongue after that. Since that's the Romanian thinking over here haha. It makes for some great stories though :) But in general the hospital really wasn't that horrible and I think that I am extremely extremely extremely blessed. And so many branch members here were surprised they for 1. treated me and for 2. was able to get out when I said I would.

Here in Romania most of the time you have to bribe the doctors a lot of money to even be treated. And then to be let out they try to suck as much money out of the insurance companies as possible, they want you to be completely healed before they let you out. Haha Elder B is going through the same thing right now... he's trying to escape it's great :) But in my case I didn't have to bribe any doctor or anybody to be treated, and one of our investigators also told me that if you don't bribe them they are super mean to you and they weren't that way to me either. I am so blessed. :)

One of our Elder's here is leaving for home in a couple days and so he wanted to go to a rugby game on Saturday that we all went to as a district (part of our pday for today) and that was really fun. I now understand a lot more about Rugby even though I guess they were not good here. It was still fun.

We were able to meet with one of our amazing investigators D and D. I guess D was out of town la tara with a bunch of friends and we called to meet up with them and they just were so happy to meet with us. We had an amazing lesson about how to receive revelation and how we need to pray and ask God and do the things He has already commanded us like reading the Book of Mormon to receive answers and to just have that knowledge. The spirit was so strong and D looks at us and is just always in Awe saying I am 45 years old and I don't know any of this how is it possible that you two are so young and you just know. It was beautiful and she agreed to pray about the Book of Mormon and read it and put it into practice. And then on Sunday she came :) She looked so beautiful it was absolutely wonderful! We had the district presidency come and talk this Sunday and it was absolutely perfect for a lot of our investigators! They talked a lot about how you can gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon and how you can loose your testimony if you aren't actively refining it. It was just a beautiful Sunday :) I am really going to miss Cluj a lot.

 

Cluj literally has one of the strongest branches here in Romania and they are so loving. My heart breaks a little to leave these wonderful members who I love so dearly. Because I do they are wonderful, and powerful. Gosh I am just going to miss them so much!

I love you all so much. And am grateful for you all and your prayers. I have felt your prayers and I am continuing on :)
Cu dragoste,

Sora Stewart

July 18, 2013

 

Well...

Hmmm not sure where to start off here with this extremely awkward letter ha. And I can't tell you how many times I have thought of what I wanted to say and how I can explain what happened to me because oh gosh... weirdest weirdest weirdest most difficult week haha. And this will be short... or at least I will try to be... because I will write again on P-day. But they said I was allowed to write today to say, "Hey I'm out of the hospital and my lungs work great now :)"

Anyways... A little about what was happening with me obviously I went to the hospital. I thought I was fine until Monday night and I just was gasping for breath and I called Sora Hill and then she got scared which made me more scared! So it must have just meant that I sounded really bad and the Senior Couple here the Boyds (Can I just say how much I adore them. They are absolutely amazing!) came and got me from my apartment and drove us around at night trying to find a pharmacy that was open it was probably around 9:30 at that time. And I think I freaked out the pharmacy ladies because they practically threw an inhaler in my hands. Which helped me last through the night and the next day we went to go get a chest xray. Which they only had a dang hospitals. So we end up going to the emergency room where I sit there with an IV and a little mask thing with medicine for 6 hours. Gosh and I thought that was long. haha.
So after I am done with my treatments and I am breathing a tiny bit better by now... the doctor comes up to me and says you are improving but not like you should be and I hink there is something else wrong with you so I called the ambulance and they are going to take you to another hospital. Which was a little more then I can take haaa. Grateful I have a great district and people looking out for me here.

So I get transfered to another hospital 2 actually, but I end up staying the night at one where I have a great roommate, she was cute I liked her. I even had her say prayers with me that night :) Anywho the next day comes and I have a bad reaction. And they end up taking me down to the ICU because I had a hard time breathing for a half an hour and that was scary. So when I am down in the ICU which they make everyone dress in those funny outfits that are supposedly "Sterilized" they tell me that my lungs were just so infected and that I did have pnemonia which was just a great and dandy thing for me to hear. Haha. And so they told me that I would end up staying there for a week. Gosh and I just am thinking to myself how am I going to do anything. So I was there for a week and I got out today! HOORAY! I can't tell you how happy I am to be able to go and walk around. They wouldn't let me do anything in the hospital and I am just super grateful that I have such a loving district and they came to see me everyday so I wouldn't die of bordam... and so I could know of all the other things that happened that week.... like...

1. A bat flew into our apartment.

2. The Boyds' grandaughter became Sora M's new companion.

3. My investigator D came and saw me in the hospital (I was there to witness this obviously)

4. Sora M and R caught the bat and threw it out the window... we think it's dead.

5. The bat walked on my bed which means that I now have to sterilize that so I don't get rabies and end up in the hospital... again.

6. We had a picnik... how do you spell that???? Piknic... picc. anyways... for our branch for the 20th year of the mission being opened here!

7. Sora M got a new companion (a mini missionary named C)

8. Elder B now is in the hospital... poor guy he has the same symptoms as me.

 

Gosh do I have a lot to write about. But that's just kinda the synopsis of what happened to me. I basically just spent a week studying the old testament which is what I am studying now (Super fascinating I love it) and reading General Conference issues and listening to talks by Gordan B Hinckley on my Ipod. Lots of spiritual growth over here :) But yeah. I am okay :) Actually that's a lie I feel fantastic I have felt horrible for a few weeks where I had to stop and sit on the ground to breath and now I can breath regularly! Gosh it's great. And I am clean :) They didn't have showers where I was... so I feel great now. And ummm what else. :) Life is just great. I love it and I am so grateful. Nothing to make you feel humble and more grateful then spending a week in a hospital! And I had fantastic nurses. I really loved them and they were super sad to see me go which also made me a little nervous since they did not want me to leave they wanted me to stay another week and I laughed and said NO I am leaving thursday. But they want me to come visit them. Dangit I should have made them a thankyou note! Anyways. I feel great I am so ready to get back to regular missionary life and to walk. (They wouldn't let me leave my bed by myself until like 2 days ago) and Transfers are coming up and I know I am getting transfered... secretely don't know where I am going but I will be leaving Cluj. Which makes me sad because gosh I just love Cluj we have so many great memories together. But I am also excited to have a new companion and be in a new area and see how other branches function here. Because gosh Cluj has seriously one of the strongest branches here in Romania I am just going to miss it so much.

I love you all so much. And I am super grateful for you all. I felt your prayers and I feel the blessings that have come. Thankyou so much. You have no idea how much you all mean to me!
Love,

Sora Stewart

So I cook... a lot here. Mom I would love more recipes please :)
And I tried to open a can of tomatoes and it just got everywhere. You can't even see it very well in the picture but it was all over the drawers and the wall and the counter and well all over me.

Picture of cluj from the "book man's" apartment. He is the man who binds everybody's books here. He does a great job.

 

Pictures of Centru. We went there contacting this week. It was bloody hot.

 

Pictures of Centru. We went there contacting this week. It was bloody hot.

 

My companion love to dance to the music on my ipod. haha she makes me laugh.

 

I still like my girly things :) haha Jess I still paint my nails all the time!

She wanted jumping pictures. Hahaha she is too funny.

July 8, 2013

Goodmorning again,

Well this week has been a struggle for me because well I'm having some health problems.... For the past couple weeks I have just been coughing and coughing and coughing and just not being able to breathe. Then this week it has completely disrupted my sleep and so I told my district leader about it. And he thought that I had walking pneumonia which about scared the pants off of me.  So finally with the persuasion of my district leader I called Sora Hill and then I had a call from a doctor in Germany that helps with the missionaries in Eastern Europe. Well after talking to the doctor he told me that I don't have pneumonia (thank goodness) but he said that he believes I have bronchitis. Which just wasn't the news I was hoping for. But I am now on some antibiotics and some vitamins and what not. So I pray that I will get better. Although yesterday... man church was hard yesterday. And so I asked if I could have a blessing and I was feeling a bit better yesterday.

Anyways we were able to fit in some lessons this week with D and her daughter D and an eternal investigator named T. And T pronounced (Te-ah) just recently returned from America where she was a foreign exhange student. Well her teaching record goes on for days and days. And so we were able to meet up with her and it was such a good lesson. Obviously for investigating the church for forever and ever we weren't really sure what we should talk to her about. But we wanted to meet up with her to try and help her not give up on the church when she moves to England (for college). Anyways the lesson was just completely directed by the spirit and we really began to just teach to her needs. We were able to talk about our conversion stories and how we know that Heavenly Father loves us. It was so AMAZING. And by the end of the lesson she basically just stared at us and kept saying it's like you guys are reading my journal or are following me. Haha it was funny. But she agreed to start reading the Book of Mormon again and she seemed really excited to go back through her journals and experience the feelings that she had previously felt.

We were able to meet with D once this week, I wasn't really able to get around much the other appointment we had, but they really are just the cutest people I have ever met. And it was so sweet that when Sora M called to cancel our appointment on Sunday we get a call from D and she just wanted to know how I was doing and if she could do anything for me. I love it here I really do. Despite what difficulties I am having right now.

I don't think that I have ever felt so much love ever before! On Sunday all of the members could tell that I wasn't feeling well. Something about the fact that I wasn't smiling. :) Anyways and they just all came up to me and they were just amazing. The relief society president Sora H (Spelling it the American way, because I can't think of how to spell her name right now) Anyways she just comes up to me and grabs me and just says,"Let me see you, let me see you. How are you? Are you talking medicine? Do you need any help?" Gosh I love them so much. This branch really is the greatest branch ever! I don't know how I can ever get transferred away from Cluj. Later on Sunday we also went to dinner with S and A (WHOM I LOVE SO MUCH) and they have one of their friends who is a member but just doesn't come to church because she is always on a mission! Cutest sister ever her name is Sora C.. I think that's how you spell it. And she is about to go on another mission in Spain at the temple there. And so we had dinner with all of them and they are all just concerned about my health that Sora A made this... ummm how would you call it? Some sort of medicine? It's like a homemade remedy that she makes like once a year and she only had a little bit left and she just gave it to me. I can't tell you enough how amazing this branch is and the members here. And our elders in our district.
I really am so grateful I just feel so much love from everyone. It's fantastic. It's so nice to be loved.

I really love being a missionary despite me rather being in my bed back home when I am sick. I love being here. It is the most amazing experience I have ever gone through. And just being a part of the Lord's work. Gosh I wake up everyday and I just think to myself," Am I really in Romania? Am I really a missionary? God chose me to come here? My gosh does He have a lot of trust in me. I can't believe it." And sometimes I really can't what an amazing blessing He has given me to be here :) Despite all the struggles and things that come to past. Gosh I am so blessed.

I love you all so much. And I am so grateful for each and everyone of you and I feel your prayers. I really am the luckiest most blessed person ever to have such wonderful people in my life.
With much love,

Sora Stewart

July 01, 2013

July 01, 2013

 

Hello again!

I feel like I write a lot and so I have a hard time thinking of what I need to write. Also I am on a mission and so you know we have missionary work to do. Hahaha the work doesn't change here, which I really like. But that just makes time go super fast here. Like the weeks just go by super fast here and I don't know how that is even possible really.

Anyways off my random box...

This week went by extremely extremely fast for me. And I think it's because it was a traveling week. We had zone conference this week which for our zone is in Arad! So we left Thursday afternoonish and got in to Arad around 10ish... and well I just am loving train rides! haha No there not bad just a lot of time on your hands. And train rides aren't bad if you have two districts that you just love and adore so much! Anyways we had a really good zone conference that really just talked about unity in companions and what we want our zone's to accomplish with the Book of Mormon. I believe I told you before that our mission is focusing a lot on passing out Books of Mormon. We really want every home to have a Book of Mormon in their house. Anyways so we focused a lot on using the Book of Mormon in our contacting and in our lessons and in just every aspect of missionary work which is what it should be anyways :)

And I really loved Zone Conference because I get to see most of my sisters from my MTC district and I get to see Sora Lund who wasn't in our MTC district but I just adore her and love her! She never has a bad day I swear!

Oh I almost forgot that President Hill announced some fantastic news for our mission we are getting 18 new sisters! WHICH MEANS that we will have sister missionaries in ever branch! Because right now we don't have enough sisters for every branch so they open an area and then they will switch stiti? But isn't that amazing so we will have a total of like 40 sister missionaries in ROMANIA! And then we have around 60ish Romanian speaking Elders and then 10 Russian speaking Elders and 13 senior missionaries! I am so excited to see all these new changes come into this mission!

 

I guess we did have an exciting adventure this week we got to live without power! HOORAY! It was actually super funny and I basically just laughed the whole day. We had apartment checks and we had just gotten signed off and everything was just fine and dandy and then we get a random knock on the door. And this guy tells us that 4 months agoish that the power wasn't paid and so they turned off all our power. Luckily the wonderful Boyds were still there and so they helped us get out of that trouble which just consisted of standing in lines for a really really really long time. And it would have been longer but the security guard really liked us because we were the only ones trying not to fight with him as everybody was well not happy campers. That is the wonderful gift of being patient and happy in extremely stressful circumstances.

 

We had a really good lesson with D and D this week since there really the only ones that are somewhat progressing. D is really one of the smartest and most diligiant 17 year olds I have met. But she is also extremely stubborn and has a really hard time understanding that Christ's Gospel can help her in her life. So we have really tried to focus with her how we have a LOVING Heavenly Father. And there is this awesome Mormon Message that talks about Earthly Father, Heavenly Father. And we figured out that it has Romanian subtitles which was super awesome. The spirit was so strong and so she is slowly reading the Book of Mormon which was our other lesson with D and D. We both testified that the Book of Mormon had changed both of our lives and that we know it's true and all they have to do is read it and pray about it. That they can know it for themselves! And they agreed to slowly with some hesitancy. And unfortunately they weren't able to come to church this Sunday. But we are looking forward to seeing them this week and seeing how they are doing. 'They really are adorable and they don't want us to leave. They always ask,"Are you in a hurry? Do you have to go? You can stay if you like?" I want them to progress into the gospel so bad! AHHH!

 

We also had a wonderful lesson with one of my favorite members Sora S! AHH I love her so much! She is so dang cute and whenever she sees me she just talks my ear off! So last Sunday she comes up to me and asks when are you going to come visit me? And I just told her that I didn't know and she looks at me and just says what you don't know how about this week?? And I mean she is really concerned for when we are going to visit her. And so I just told her that we would call her since I didn't really know what lessons were on which days. And so last Monday she calls and tells us to come over that night and she made us Saramale and just had a wonderful lesson about the Temple since she just returned from the temple! Super cute. I will get some pictures with her soon.

 

Sunday we watched the Missionary Broadcast as a branch so it was in Romanian so ya know didn't catch every word there. But I am excited to here about all the new ways we will be able to do missionary work here. Which is good because phones here for Romania well they don't work a lot of the time so being able to use the internet to try and connect with our members and investigators is fantastic! It's not going to take effect here right away as far as I know, but eventually! Missionary work is getting exciting over here! ... sometimes.... :)

 

Missionary work was a little slow as you can see. And I have really thought of things that I have learned on my mission so far. Which is a lot let me tell you how much I have to change and the little/drastic changes that are happening in my life as a missionary. Anyways and I have had a lot of discussions with other missionaries about the work here in Romania. Because it's slow. It's super slow. The branches are small... I shouldn't say this since we have one of the biggest branches here in Cluj but in general there small. It's hard to get member presents on lessons. It's hard to get referals... okay it's nearly impossible to get referals here. Because it's really hard for them to share the gospel. Being a member of a different religion isn't like it is back home... it's completely different. And it makes me really grateful to be from America. Where I can be any religion and share my religion with my neighbors and friends and family. And that's one thing that I will make sure I am better at when I get home is being a better missionary. Because this work is IMPOSSIBLE without members. Absolutely IMPOSSIBLE! If the missionaries call me to be a member present I will be there. If they ask for a refferal I will give one prayfully. I will do my job as a member.

 

Anyways life here is good. It's hard... but I love it. I really do. Being a missionary well it's nothing and everything I thought it would be. Contacting... is well interesting sometimes fun, and teaching is wonderful. Really being an instrument in Heavenly Fathers hands is AMAZING. And these experiences I will never ever forget.

 

 I love you all so much. Sorry it's not a super happening letter! And it's also super random :) Have fun!

Love,

Sora Stewart