Week 88 – Oradea, România

Madison, Nicholas’ older sister wrote the family email to Nick this week.  That is why he addresses her in the first line.  Madison has been staying with us for several weeks this summer.

HEY MADISON! I have wanted to email you for so long! I haven’t had your email though…but you are writing for the whole family so I should probably keep this to a “normal” missionary email. I am glad to hear that things are going well at home. Sad to hear that dad had surgery, but it is probably better for him. I think he will survive 😉 . He is pretty tough. I am glad to hear that you are at the house helping out. I am happy that you have a chance to be outside of your comfort zone a little! I have to tell you that getting out of our comfort zones is basically all we do as missionaries. Do you know how many thoughts go into my mind before I ask someone for help in Romanian, hoping that it will lead them to the Gospel? A lot. I mean, so many that it will persuade me to not do it sometimes. I know shame on me. It’s hard though. I’m also bummed to hear that things have been hard. I think I can relate, but I think it is more important that I share how the good in my life has really overcome the bad. I have noticed that when I am in the service of my fellow beings, I am happier ;). That’s not how the scripture goes, but I think it should be like that a little bit. I have had problems out here that are very real and very personal. Yet, the answer to solving them has always been, and probably always will be, forget yourself and get to work. So in that spirit I have been focusing more on the Savior these past two weeks than I ever have in my entire life. It hasn’t been an easy two weeks, but it has been significantly different than the weeks previous. I have noticed that a lot of the problems that bothered me simply went away. They don’t have an affect because I care more about what Jesus thinks of me than what my companion does. He loves me! That is something I wish to share with everyone! That Jesus loves everyone! What a great strength that is to know that.

This week was really good. We were able to teach a few more lessons than normal and that brought a nice little break from our finding that we do most of the time. We also were able to travel to Arad for Zone Conference. I love my mission president and his wife. They are so good to us. They really care about us as well. I love the words that they share with us and they have a fire under them that is visible…well not really, but I swear it is there! We learned a lot of new things and felt the spirit.

Something that we have been trying to do lately is teach the Restoration better, and differently. We can go into a lesson and say all the boring things out of the pamphlet, or we can personalize it and speak with power ad authority. I think the second one is better. It has been cool to see the change in how we teach and how it affects people. We are trying our best to make those changes in peoples lives. It is hard though. People here are pretty stubborn. But so are we! I like that challange. 😉

I don’t think that anything else really happened that was super big or anything. We just plunk along and hope and pray that we can be the answer to someone’s prayer. I have my challenges, but they are placed in the back seat. I am engaged in the greatest cause this world has ever known. I am engaged in the saving of the human soul! This is the very cause that our Father in Heaven is after. I am an apostle with a lower case ‘a’. How great is my calling! I feel it too. Someitmes it can be really hard to see the right place to go, but we still try. We work, we get sweaty. (It is really hot here). It’s all good. I just can’t believe that it is almost over. I want to finish this marathon good and then come home and be prepared to take on the world. Yep…Big plans ahead of me. 😉 I love you all very much and I pray for you. You guys are the greatest thing to me. I hope that you all have a wonderful week and keep up with my challenge!