Week 7

Penultimate week at the MTC!

Soooooooooooo this week was another wonderful week here at the MTC... the snow has melted and the weather is beautiful for a November in UT. I'm not even wearing my boots today!! I still do not have a testimony of wearing tights... I still refuse to wear them! I know I'll eventually have to when I get to Romania, or else I might die or get frostbite.... but for now I'm enjoying the pleasant weather.

Romanian Mishaps - I’ve actually been doing very well this week! I had one accidental slip on last Saturday however. I was teaching "Andrei" who is portrayed by Fratele Vizante... the real Romanian teacher... as in he is from Bucharest... so he speaks suuuuuuuuper fast, but anyway I was teaching him, and I was trying to tell him how if he'd except our message he's have a lasting happiness.... accidentally told him he'd have lasting pain.... OOPS! haha but then I realized what I'd said and I corrected myself, but it was really funny. But I didn’t feel too bad cos right after that Elder Criscenti told him that we still believe in polygamy and after his mission he'd be able to have more than one wife.... a fost haios!! (It was funny!!) hahaha I was like NUUUUUUUU!!!!!! Elder Criscenti had totally misunderstood what we were talking about. He thought we were just talking about marriage in general, whereas Andrei had actually asked us about polygamy Oooops!

New Soras - The new Romanians arrived this week!! Bobocii!!! :) they’re so cute and scared and freaking out but they're amazing and they're all going to be wonderful missionaries. I'm companions with Sora Polatis! An awesome girl from Idaho. We get along great and even though I'm still a solo for class, she's my companion outside of class, so it's nice not to feel so alone. The other Soras are Sora Kelly and Sora Gerhartz both from New Jersey. They're both awesome! Then three new elders came in last week too for Romania. They’re also really great! The six of them are a strong district already! They all have different strengths and weaknesses that compliment each other.

I had a great experience on Sunday. In Relief Society I sat next to this random senior missionary, Sister Platts. She was so cute and told me this is her second mission and she will be going to Ecuador! She then proceeded to tell Sora Polatis and I the story of the loaves and the fishes where the apostles brought what they had but through Christ it was enough. She said how we are the same. We are inadequate and small and nothing in comparison to him, but if we bring ourselves to Christ then he will make it enough! Anyway I thought that was really cool! :D

I'm studying joy this week in the Book of Mormon. I was reading in 2 Nephi 2:25 about how the whole purpose of this life is to have joy and so I've decided to study joy, so please feel free to write me your thoughts, scriptures, talks, anything really about how we have true joy in this life!

I love being a missionary! Everyday I learn new things and do my best to put them into words in my journal, then each week I attempt to give you a taste of what I've been learning. But I love you all and I pray for you!

Keep the Faith!!

Sora Jessi Rivera