Well I hope that things went well this week. I do have a handful of little stories that I would like to share with you guys. This last week has been really good. We had MLC on Thursday and lots of other little things along the way.

Our mission is trying something new, I think I may have mentioned it already, It is called the 84 day challenge. We have a check list for every single day, and there are 7 different things that we should be doing everyday anyway, that we check off. It is basically a way to help us focus and work hard. I really like it and it has really helped me work harder. One of the things is to have a minimum of 2 hours of contacting a day. That isn’t that bad. So we decided that we would try to go street boarding every single morning for at least two hours. That has been fun and we have had lots of conversations through it. However, we can’t just do street boarding all the time. That would be boring. ;). So we went to the mall and stuck English cards in the pockets of clothing. (The other day I got a call from someone who had bought something and found a card in it, and wants to come! It works. 😉 ). Anyway, we were on our way home, when I decided to contact a girl sitting on the same bench as us. She wasn’t super old, but not really young, so I didn’t feel bad talking to her. (Awkward elder to girl conversations…yeah, you won’t understand).  I talked with her and continued to talk to her when we got on the bus. Eventually my companion told me that our stop was here and we needed to get off. I said bye really quick and hopped off. Wait! That wasn’t our stop, and we had just started talking about the Gospel with the girl, and I forgot to give her a card with info about us on it. I felt like the worst missionary ever. I was unprepared in a perfect situation. UGH! However, I knew where she worked, and so I was determined to find her and give her, at least, an English card. After MLC the very next day we went to her work and found her! Apparently she had already talked about us to one of her co-workers, and so they both have English cards. She never thought she would see us again. It was cool. I felt better then.

MLC was really good as well. We talked a lot about changing people’s trajectories in life. It was a really good conversation and I used (dad) the little step by step thing that you showed me. It was the one about feeling bad and the duh scripture. It was really cool. We learned a lot and I felt really good after that. Things are going good outside of that. We are just working hard and doing all that we can to do the work that we can do.

Okay…I am emailing you guys today because of what we did yesterday. I have uploaded the pictures on google drive now, and I hope that you guys will enjoy them. We went on another hike. (I swear something bad happens every single time that happens). (It has been my fault too, both times!). We hiked to the second highest point in Romania. Varful  Omu. ( 2505 meters). It was amazing and the view was incredible. It was a beautiful day, and the massive sunburns I have can attest to that. We decided to go down a different route then we had planned, though we knew that it would be safe. It was safe and everything went according to plan. The hike down was gorgeous as well. I felt like I was in Narnia or Lord of The Rings or something. The landscape was breathtaking. I was waiting for the dragon to swoop over the mountain and start burning things. It was really cool. We had a lot of fun, and then we ended up at the base of the other side of the mountain. Meaning we were a mountain away from the town with the train in it. We were stuck. To make matters worse. The gondola decided that yesterday they would close at 3:30. Ugh. It was four when we reached it. So we decided to hike to a trail that we saw that would take us up the mountain. I had studied a map for a long time and I knew which trail it was. So we got to it and we started going up. I kept looking for the trail markers but I couldn’t find any. We stopped and decided to take a different trail around the side of the mountain where we had seen the other trails. It was a mess. We kept hiking and after a long time, we ended up finding the right trail. That little detour took us an extra hour and a half. That was bad. So we continued up on the right trail. However, after twenty or so minutes, we realized that we were very, very far away from Busteni. It would take us another four hours at least to get down on the correct side of the mountain. It was a mess. SO we chose to go back to the hotel thingy that was there and call a taxi. Simple as that. Little did we know that the taxi had to take a 40 km drive just to get to us from the city of Sinaia. That is about an hour’s worth of driving. We waited an hour, and got into the taxi. I have never been more afraid in a car ever. He was crazy. Super fast. One lane highways. (it was one car wide, but it was for both directions…ugh). It was curvy and in the mountains. So after I almost wet myself, we got to Sinaia, and he offered for a little bit more to take us home to Ploiesti. In the end we made it home safely, and lost 450 Lei. Which is very very very expensive. It was tough, but there was no other option. It was sucky, but we are all home and safe and burned. So it’s okay! That’s what happened yesterday. 😉

I am glad to hear that things are going so good at home. I miss you guys a lot, and some days go longer than others, but I think you guys can understand. We are trying to work so hard, but it can be really draining, spiritually and physically. I have never truly understood what was meant that our spirits and bodies are connected, until I got out here. I have had some experiences in the past where i have prayed, or I felt something so powerful that it made me physically tired. It reminded me of what happened in the Sacred Grove, when Joseph found himself unable to even move after what he saw. I haven’t had anything like that before, but some of my most powerful spiritual days are also my most tiring physical days. It is crazy how the two are connected.

La multi ani, Lilly! I remembered! I promise! I just can’t really do anything for you…sorry. Not yet anyway. I am glad to be here serving the Lord, and doing all I can in my circumstances. I am happy and I choose to be so. Even though I am really burned, and it hurts to wear my shirt… There are too many things to be happy about! I am grateful that I can even be emailing you guys right now! How cool is technology! I hope that even though you guys will be busy with all your summer fun, please remember what matters most. You can make this summer the best one by changing your own trajectories, through daily scripture study, and by choosing the right. It really could be the best summer ever! I hope you guys have fun and I hope to be able to hear about all the crazy stories that you guys will accumulate.

Love, Varstnicul Nick Oldham