Baba with a Chainsaw

Hello all!! Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

No chicken heads this week... but we did have one night of awful food last week. The dessert was so awful Sora Cook was turning green just looking at it... I thought it was awful but not as badly as she did so I quickly ate all of mine and when the lady wasn’t watching we switched bowls and I ate all of hers... it basically tasted like vomit covered in sugar! I don't really know what it was... and part of me doesn't want to know what it was hahaha!

With regards to the subject of this email... "Baba with a chainsaw" there's no real story behind it... we were all just walking down the street, last p-day... and this tiny little hunched over old lady was carrying this enormous chainsaw! haha it was hilarious!

I guess because of the Christmas season the work has been quite slow... people are either out of town or they're busy doing family things for Christmas, so all of our potential investigators have been rescheduling appointments for after the New Year.... so sad really. They could have the best Christmas gift ever... Eternal Life! But they want to wait... sigh :P As a result, we've been meeting with lots of less-actives and also we've been Christmas Caroling and contacting. We had an amazing experience last Tuesday. We were out contact caroling. The Elders were on exchanges with Timisoara so we had Elder Pischke instead of Elder Groberg. E.Pischke had his ukulele and E.Benson had a guitar and Sora Cook and I we holding the hymn books as we went door to door in the apartment blocs. Similarly to last week most doors slammed in our faces as we tried to invite the faithful or wish them a silent and holy night ha-ha, but we knocked on this one door and an enormous bald-headed man swung the door open. We burst into song and he just stood there... staring... arms folded across his giant belly. We finished silent night and invited him to our Church Christmas service. He then crumpled the invitation into his pocket and stepped out of his apartment into the cold hallway staring at us. This guy was huge! He towered over us and looked at the two elders and asked if we knew "Ce veste" which is a Romanian Christmas hymn. "O Da!" we all replied and the elder began to play. We took a breath to sing... but were suddenly blown away as the giant man burst into full out Opera Singing... "O CE VESTE MINUNATA...!!!!" Sora Cook and I were so surprised we nearly fell backwards. He was Opera Singing... the loudest but most beautiful opera singing I've ever heard in my life. I wouldn't be surprised if the missionaries in Bucharest heard his singing! Elder Benson and Elder Pischke just had the biggest smiles on their faces. The man sang two verses in Romanian then two in Latin, with 4 missionaries and an out of tune guitar and a 20 lei ukulele... He then wished us a happy Christmas and went back into his apartment and closed the door. Oh priceless the people you meet as a missionary ;)

Mos Cracium ...a slightly scary Santa!

We had an amazing experience on Thursday night. The four of us... the district, decided to go carol at the city's retirement home. The conditions were as you can imagine... not the greatest. But the nurses were all super nice and showed us into each room, where there were multiple beds and the elderly people either sitting or lying down. I don't even know when I've felt the spirit that strong before. We began to sing "O ce veste" (the Romanian carol) and one by one the elderly people would start to cry. Although I couldn't always understand them, and sometimes they didn't even say anything, I could just feel of their pains and their trials. Yet every one of them would wish God's love and blessings for us. And I would tell them that God loves them and they'd agree and say how much the Lord's blessed them. And yet looking at their surroundings and their many many trials, many people would find it hard to believe they still had faith in God, yet they do! There was one old lady in one of the rooms who sang along with us and then started to cry. I went over to talk to her and she told me she was blind. I told her hand in mine and she just cried and kissed me hand and thanked us. I too started crying. I've been studying Luke over the past few weeks and the many times the Christ heals people. And, although I don't have that kind of power, I knew that by being there and bringing a little light into their days, we were healing their spirits. As missionaries we are representatives of Jesus Christ, and as the sweet old woman kissed my hand and her tears wet it, I felt the Saviour's love for her and for me. I know with the fullness of my heart that Christ lives and he is the Son of our Father in Heaven. I know that God knows me by name, and He knows every single one of us and He loves us.

Yesterday we had a cool experience. There's a woman in the branch who is super super poor.. I mean in the winter she lives of the equivalent of $1.50 a week. But we had bought her Christmas presents, and we travelled to her house outside the city... it took a 1.5 hour bumpy train journey then a 45 minute walk to get to her house, but it was so cute and fun. And she is such an example to me... she studies the Gospel all the time and just clings to the word of God... I hope I can learn to cling to it in the way she does!

Mos Craciun (Santa)...definitely don't want to be on his naughty list!

The branch had a Christmas party on Saturday... it was so cute and fun! and Mos Craciun (Santa) came! But not gonna lie... he was terrifying!! I'm surprised the children didn't run and hide. But it was cute He gave all the missionaries presents :) I've attached a picture... but I warn you not to look at it before bed or you won't sleep ;)

Thank you for all of your love and support. This Gospel is so true! I love it!
Craciun Fericit!!
Va iubesc!!
Sora Jessi Rivera