Well, this week has brought some interesting news. However, I must start with the eagle story. So for an activity the sisters decided to do a Theater Night where we all put together skits and go and perform them, but each skit had certain props to use, and certain items that needed to happen. It was really fun. They asked us to bring random objects from our apartments to help with the activity. We brought the eagle. The story is actually kind of crazy. We have to take public transportation, and the normal bus for us back then was the 22. Now the 22 bus is always busy and that made for a lot of random stares as I carried this eagle on the bus. So as the bus ride went, it started to rain. very very hard. We got off on the normal route, and waited for our maxi taxi that would take us to the church, and without this maxi taxi it would be a thirty minute walk. That is when we remembered that all maxi taxi’s were on strike that day…So we walked for thirty mintues in the rain, carrying an eagle statue. I was literally soaked all the way through. Kind of funny.

All of my pictures in the file folder Transfer 5 are in Moldova. The big picnic gathering was when the misison president came to visit, and we had lunch there for everyone in attendance. It was pulled pork sandwhichs made by one of the senior couples. Words can not describe the delciousness of that sandwhich. Oh okay…a lot of the pictures I have on the drive are because I took them using my companions camera. He would just turn it on and find all these random pictures of me. They are super funny, and there are a few videos too, and all of them without his knowledge. (with the exception of a handful). That’s why I have them.

Andy’s Pizza has 27 restaurants, and 25 of them are in Chisinau. So they are literally all over the place!. really really good pizza though, and not too expensive.

We did celebrate the Fourth of July, kind of. We had an activity where we played some games. That’s about it. Not the great big barbeque we all hoped for, but that’s okay. Sorry for the randomness of this email, but you guys asked a lot of questions.

Okay, now to some of my stories. So a little while back I talked about a woman who walked into church one day, having read up to Mosiah 25 in the Book of Mormon after my companion and I had left it at her apartment for her. Anyway, I heard some amazing news, and that is that she was baptized and confirmed a member this last saturday and Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀 :D!!!!!! I can hardly believe it! it gets even better. Another man, who I started teaching with another companion, will be baptized this weekend! Wow…Galati is booming ;).  I am super happy for them and this huge step they are making. I am also grateful for the missionary work that was done with them. I worried a little that the sister wouldn’t be treated the way she needs to be, but the sister missionaries there did a good job. I am just grateful to know that I helped her come to the knowledge of the truth. So very crazy.

We also had our investigator at church here this week, which was very good. He is making progress slowly, but he will get there eventually. Oh yeah, one more story. So we have a senior couple here and this weekend they had their daughter come out to visit, with her family. So we got talking with them and her husband was here in Romania/Moldova for more than just a visit, but actually to find names or genealogy work. He said that he was so lost and didn’t know what he was going to do when he got to Brasov. I had this crazy thought, “Wait, I know someone in Brasov!” I told him that a very good friend of mine, a missionary, was serving in Brasov and could help him.  My MTC companion is serving there, and so I gave him his number, and then in texting him was able to give this guy 2 names of members that lived there that speak good English and would be more than willing to help him. (Getting names here in Romania is nearly impossible. You have to prove your lineage, and go to the city where they were born, which is basically the sat’s of the country of Romania for most Romanians.) Anyway, he then told me that he has spent 27 years trying to find some names but always came up at a dead stop with only the info of Brasov as a city name. It was a small miracle for this man. It was intersting to see how the Lord was able to use what little I seemed to have to help him. He told me that he had spent so much money to get out here and to find these ancestors of his. I hope things work out with him. That was really cool though!We just keep working and working. Always staying positive and always thinking about the good things! I am really growing out here, spiritually. I love the words of the prophets and apostles in this last general conference. SO GOOD! Truly though. I have had many moments of very powerful witnesses to me that this work is true and that it is designed to bring happiness to the children of men as long as we are obedient to what the Lord has asked of us. I am so grateful for this knowledge, because it helps me fight the seemingly impossible tasks of missionary work, and allows me to have hope for the future. I hope your week is full of fun and spirit building activities!

Love, Elder Oldham