A Spoonful Of What?

Everyone loves a crazy food story right? I don't think I've had a good one since my first transfer and the chicken head soup but this week we went to visit a family in the branch. I'll attempt to paint the scene for you so you can experience the night along with us.

Having fun with the district

We arrived a little early so thought we'd go contacting in the park across the street. As we made our way over we saw the dad from the family making his way towards us with a big smile on his face. He was holding a grocery bag. "Hello!! Has you eaten? My wife cookeeng for you!" He says in his broken English. Knowing that he is currently out of work, it's a huge sacrifice for the family to feed us, so gratefully we smiled and told him we were hungry and couldn't wait.

We walked up to their apartment and walk in the front door. First off it's at least 100 degrees in their home, no AC, no fans, not even the windows were open. The 2 month old baby is sat in his little seat screaming, as the 2 year old girl also stood there screaming. The 4 year old was smashing his toys together and dancing. The mum was cooking in the kitchen and the dad welcomed us in. Immediately we were drenched in sweat. We then sat for over an hour as the food was being prepared, at the computer with the Dad as he showed us hundreds of photos and videos of their kids. Finally, after squeezing out our last "awh, how cute..." the food was ready!

We sat on the couch soaked in sweat, the baby was still screaming and the 2 year old was now throwing a tantrum in the hall. The tiny coffee table was pulled in front of us and we were given plates. The dad then brings in an enormous bowl full of, what he called, "greek salad". It had potatoes and peppers...(okay so far so good...) and boiled eggs and olives (not so good but tolerable) and some sort of grey slimy meat...Fish! (Death!) "Don't worry girls!" says the dad, "it's raw! Fresh from the black sea."

Did he just say raw?!

Yup that's what he said

Is he joking?

No not joking

RAW fish?!

What could we do? That was all they had made! Cleverly we took the serving spoon first and dished ourselves out a portion avoiding as much of the fish as possible. Barely a trace was visible on our plates. But the dad, thinking that we were trying to be polite, helpfully dished us up 2 more enormous spoonfuls absolutely loaded with fish! So what did we do? We ate it. (I should also at this point mention, that as missionaries, we're not allowed to eat fish from the black sea due to some nuclear spill 20 years ago, so if I end up with stomach cancer, I'll know why....)  Any hoo, we survived, and now we have yet another great story! After all life is about stories ;)

With Sora Polatis in our flat

Oh but have no fear... there is another food story for the week. This one is shorter though. Yesterday we went to visit a part member family. The mother brings out mamaliga for us to eat. If you don't know what mamaliga is, imagine the texture of thick oatmeal, with no flavor. Then she pulls out a jar.

 "It's sheep cheese! Straight from my father's farm! Not processed at all!!" She says as I pull out hairs from the cheese... "Oh that's just hair from the sheep" she reassures me. "Not processed!! Much healthier..."

It was sooo funny! It wasn't actually too bad to eat, it was more the psychological factor of pulling out the sheep hair hahaha!

Oricum (anyway)... I appreciate the sacrifice that the people make in order to feed us. It truly is humbling. These people are unbelievably generous and I love them to pieces!

Haha! What a crazy week. In other news, Sora Polatis has been super sick with a cold, so that's been tough, and lets see....  all active members from the branch are leaving for 10 days to go to the temple this week, but we have one or two lessons with investigators. Andreea is on track for her baptism and we should have our first Skype lesson with Ritta and Petre this week. In my studies, I've also been studying the New Testament this transfer! It's mind blowing. I was nearly brought to tears this morning reading the account of Stephen, in Acts. I love the scriptures. I know this church is true with my whole heart. I know that Joseph Smith saw Jesus Christ and God the Father, and I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.

va iubim! Sa fiti cuminti

  

Sora Jessi Rivera

Is McDonalds a Conspiracy?

Presentation:

Reflections in the water

This week, Sora and I gave our 3rd presentation together! It's kinda random, but funny. Sora Polatis and I always get asked to do presentations, we both love doing them though, so it's a good thing :) We were asked to speak about goals, so using the scripture 1 Nephi 14:1, we talked about stumbling blocks and how to overcome our stumbling blocks as we work towards our goals.

Constanta is still awhsum:

All the missionaries in the mission make fun of the Constanta missionaries that all we do all day is lie on the beach and get a tan... well this week, we lived up to the stereo type with a district meeting on the beach! The Constanta building was being used this week for a single adult conference for Romania and Moldova, so it was full of people and we couldn't use the church, so next best option was the beach! haha! :D

Familia Oltiana

Familia Oltianu:

We have the best members in this branch! On Monday night we went to go visit the Oltianu family. They have 2 kids and one on the way, due in September. The parents were married and sealed in the temple and they are seriously the cutest family ever. We went to visit them just to have an FHE and share a spiritual thought, and hopefully receive a referral. Instead, we walk in the door and first off, Sora Oltianu has made us homemade donuts, and second, their Aunt Tina is sitting at the table and says she has questions about the gospel. We had a great lesson and now we're trying to work with Tina. I love these members! They're so full of love and will sacrifice anything for the missionaries!

Church in Romania:

Elders Lasater & Myler, Sora Polatis

I love Church in Romania! It's sooo funny! Maybe it's the language, maybe the culture differences, maybe the fact that the church is still pioneering here, probably everything combined, either way, I love church here. Yesterday for example... at church it was fast and testimony meeting. The district president, President Doru was sitting at the front of the room. There was a minute or two where nobody was getting up so he yells out, super loud, to his wife "Come on Sora Doru!! Your turn!!" hahaa! Next came Sunday school, where we heard that McDonalds is a conspiracy theory from Satan designed to overthrow the Word of Wisdom. It sounded funny in Romanian, but even funnier as I turned and looked at Elder Baielli who was translating for the senior couple. He just turned and looked at them, "I'm not translating that." Next came relief society where we were speaking about the role of women. I was translating for the senior missionary. The discussion went straight from, "Women need to support the people around them..." to, "Men are NOTHING! NOTHING!" The senior sister looked at me, startled, as I just kinda laughed . "NOTHING! They're worthless without us! We always work hard! They're nothing!!" I continued translating. Finally the Relief Society President was able to bring the spirit back and redirect the conversation, reminding everyone that we all have strengths and weaknesses. Maybe people are this entertaining back home too, I'll have to wait see.

Have a good week everyone! Thank you so much for your love and support and your prayers in my behalf.

Keep the Faith

Sora Rivera