Oh wow... this week has been long! It started last p-day... Christmas Eve. We went shopping for gifts for a family in the branch. They're very poor. 3 children and the parents live in a tiny one-roomed shack. We bought them toys, and food for Christmas. So Christmas Eve, a friend of the missionaries, who I'll just call "G" drove Sora Cook and I and the Elders out to the family's home so we could drop off the presents. Then afterwards G was like, "Okay, so now where are we going?" and thus began our Christmas Ever adventures. He drove the 4 of us, (like a maniac) all around the city, singing to members and also random friends. At one point we turned up at an apartment. We kept asking where we were but he wouldn't say. We caroled to them and they invited us in, they then fed us a 3 course meal, and then we left.... Yeah we still don't know who they were or how G knows them. So our Christmas eve was extremely adventurous!
Christmas day was great! We had permission from President Hill to do a district breakfast at the Elder's apartment. So we went over and made eggs and bacon and pancakes. for some reason Elder Groberg had the bright idea to heat up the maple syrup... yeah, it boiled over and caught fire. But don't fear, no one was hurt! :) and the smoke alarm eventually stopped, or perhaps it ran out of batteries :P Just kidding (Dad stop freaking out). Then we paid a random bald man to drive us to Timisoara where we had dinner with the Senior couple and the 6 missionaries in that city and we Skyped our families. So all in all... typical christmas day :)
Advice: It's mainly for members of the church... but really for anyone who ever feeds missionaries. Don't feed them so much!!! :( If you offer food... we will eat it, just to be polite. Give us very little to eat, and if we want more, we will ask! Okay... everyone got it? Not yet??? Okay.. allow me to give a little story of what's been going on this week. So for the past week or so, we've been trying to visit and carol to, every member in the branch. 3-4 homes per evening. After we sing, they give us bread, and sarmale, and salad, and more bread, and sometimes soup until you're so full you feel like you're gonna throw up... then come the desserts! They bring out cakey things and expect us to eat 5-6 of them. When we ask if they want some too, they say oh no, we ate one earlier. Then after we eat all of that at apartment number one... we go visit another family and the same thing happens. It's really cute of them though. I love the branch. They just love and adore the missionaries, and they show their love in feeding us at Christmas until we pop! Most of them can't afford to feed us more often, so they go all out for Christmas.
In spiritual news.... We have a new investigator!! Yay!! and we started working again with one of our old investigators. We have a new investigator named Adriana. I met her and got her number on a Tramvai a week or so before Christmas, but she'd been out of town. We had lunch with her and shared a lesson about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. She is really funny, and open to us. She is very kind and has a beautiful singing voice. We discovered her singing talents because part way through our lesson after sharing a testimony about Christ, she said "Hai sa cantam" which means "let us sing" and she started singing. It was a little random, and a little funny but it was spiritual and she is looking for more light in her life. We also met with one of our old investigators and we have a lot of hope for her. Her name is Meli. She is 14 years old, the granddaughter of a less-active member. Her whole family is less active. She knows the church is true. But she is afraid to make the commitment of Baptism because she is afraid of making a mistake afterwards. She's so cute! and really believes in the Book of Mormon and is completely ready for baptism, we just need to help her recognize for herself that she is ready. Oh! we have a bunch of potential new investigators to meet with in the next couple weeks! Sora Cook and I are particularly hoping to teach families. We have 2 different potential families to start teaching. So keep us in your prayers, and that the hearts of the people in Arad will be opened.
There's a family in the branch, the Sfroni family. They are so cute!!! I know I say this every week but it's true! The members here are adorable! And the Sfroni family are no exception. They are all baptised, and they're working to save money for the temple. They just have one daughter, Laura. She's 9 years old, and has the cutest smile in the world! Her best friend, Alexa, is 11 and she wants to learn about the church. We had a lesson with Alexa and the Sfronis yesterday and this week we are hopefully going to have a lesson with her whole family. Alexa prayed yesterday with all of us and it was beautiful. She just was so sincere and bore her heart out to the Lord. Apparently Laura and Alexa pray together! What an awesome little missionary Laura is :) I love them!
Sorry this email is kinda short. The week between Christmas and New Years is quiet, as a lot of people are out of town visiting family. Sora Cook and I were also sick, so we've not been contacting as much as visiting less actives this week. It's more difficult to contact people on the street if you're losing your voice. Tonight... well, we don't really know what we're doing for New Years. So far all we have planned is Pizza. :)
I love the work! I love being a missionary! I know this Church is true! and I know Christ lives!
Keep the Faith
Sora Jessi Rivera
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