Week 53 – București, România

ugly_sweater_1200We did have a lot of fun this last week, and sadly not a ton of missionary work. That can sometimes be discouraging in of in itself. However I will walk you through our Thursday. It started with a Turkeybowl that a lot of missionaries participated in, but the only catch was that you had to buy an ugly grandma sweater and then where it! So we had all these people with the ugliest sweaters. It gets better. Than you had to wear a bandana thing like a baba. (baba means old lady). It was so funny. We played flag football, but that will never stop some of the elders. I got hit once, that almost took me out. I got a knee right into the muscle of my right hamstring. It hurt so bad, and it is still a little sore right now. That was crazy. However, I still got the game winning touchdown. I am proud of that. It was a lot of fun, and there was lots of laughing.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURESThen right after, we ran back to our apartment, showered, and then headed over to the church to help with whatever we could. So we got there and had to cook a turkey, and also to carve them. We had 8 turkeys. I didn’t carve any but my companion did, and apparently it gets gross after a while. I thought that was cool. We basically ran around until about 3 o’clock where we actually ate. It was so good. We had funeral potatoes, turkey, salads, and cakes! I put as much as I could on one plate, and could only finish that. I was pretty stuffed.

We then moved on to our choir practice for the U.S. Embassy. I, however, went upstairs with one of the Sora missionaries (and our companions of course) to practice our piece for the Fireside. It sounded really good. So we went downstairs for the fireside and waited for our turn. Finally, it came, and we stood up and I started playing piano. This song is 5 pages long, and I would say it is hard. So I started playing, and wham, my fingers stopped playing at the top of page 2. I couldn’t find the notes or anything. I finally jumped back in at page 3, but I literally hit every single note wrong. So, I stopped again, and found my spot right before my solo…I did about half of it…Then I finished strong. I ruined it. It was horrible. For the fireside I played it the worst I had ever practiced or played ever. I was so embarrassed. I didn’t really know what to do. I just sat down, and wanted to cry. It was horrible. I felt so bad for the Sora missionary, and for the audience who had to listen to it. After the fireside, which was really good, another Sora came over to me and sat down and told me to put it out of my mind, and not to think about it. She had messed up similarly to me in the past and she said that even though I got stuck, the spirit was still there. That helped me a little bit. It was a good day, with a bad moment. I am okay…now. It was pretty sad though. I don’t know if I can do that again. Maybe with an easier piece….Oh well.

Parade_01_1200That was basically the excitement this week, except for this morning. So today is the Independence day for România, and they had a parade…with tanks…and missiles…and lots of army men…and cannons. SO COOL! I loved it, but my camera ran out of batteries…oh well again. It was freezing outside though and I could only take so much. My toes paid a little price for standing there. We then had a little party because of it and now I am here.

We show Disney movies, but people like to see those. It is basically just a way to get people into the church building. that’s it. It works though! We have Christmas stuff here too! It is just like home, but with less stuff in general. Transfer board this weekend! That’s exciting. I love you guys all very much. Stay safe, and WARM!

Love, Varstnicul Oldham