Three New Investigators in One Week - Huge Miracle in Cluj!

Hey family and friends!!(:

Ah, this week was Great!(: We just really gave it our all and saw the Lord prepare a path for us in so many ways. We were able to find 3 new investigators this week which was such a huge miracle!! As a mission we have a goal to find over 2 new investigators a week which is usually pretty rough - but after just working hard and finding with gusto we met our goal this week(: We found a cute girl named Irina - about 30 years old by contacting on the bus just by complimenting her scarf and just laughing and offering to meet up to get to know the city more, we found a new friend(: We ended up meeting with her two days later, talking about her beliefs, her family, her home town, and just getting to know her, and invited her to church. What was so amazing is that she ended up being late, and she easily could have turned around and gone home, but she came for the last 20 minutes of the gospel principles class and stayed to talk afterwards! SO awesome!!(: 

We also received a new investigator from English class named Cristina - around her 50's who we are doing 30/30's with. She was actually so excited about the choir that we have, and wants to come and participate in that - but since yesterday was Palm Sunday she wasn't able to make it. She is hilarious though - just so spunky and full of energy all the time hahaha its great, I can't really describe her personality, but its great haha. She LOVES Elder Bateman so much so that just makes it even more funny haha(:

The last new investigator that we found this week was Juliana (30 years old)- who actually just walked right into church! haha so cool right? Sadly it was like 10 minutes after church had ended, but I ended up talking to her for over a hour about her spiritual search that she is on, how she feels truly so alone and doesn't know if she can truly repent and have a new life. She's a gypsy so the members weren't too thrilled haha - but hey, she was really cool and really sincere so we are super excited!

We also saw Sebi and Ana this week at church! Ah it was so so good, they stayed for the full two hours and in the gospel principles class that we had, both of them participated many times! It was incredible! Elder Bateman was teaching the class about a scripture in Alma that explains the Atonement - and Sebi raised his hand and started talking about another verse that he found in 1 or 2 Nephi when he was reading the other day that went along with that scripture. He tried to find it but didn't - but he told us he would bring his personal CLM next week and share it with us - and he then explained how the verse meant a lot to him, how he applied it, etc. You guys it was incredible!! Ana also said the closing prayer for the gospel principles class which was the first time that I have ever ever ever heard her pray! Ah I'm just so proud of them ya know??(: 

Also funny random story this week - haha we were walking to the church after visiting a less active, and ended up walking by this house where there was a guy working on his garden in his backyard. We said "Hello" as we were walking by, and he was like "Do you guys want some flowers?" hahahaha So random right? So we ended up talking to this guy, named Timi who was about 40? He actually lived in Chicago for about 11 years so spoke english incredibly well! haha he was great - and just like went and dug up 5 or 6 flowers from the ground, put them in a sack and gave them to us haha like what? It was great. So we ended up just planting them at the church because we live in a apartment - it all worked out haha(: 

Anyways I hope you guys have a great week! Know how much I love you and how grateful I am for each and every one of ya!!(:

Sora Armstrong(: 

(To explain the lock pic - theres a lock bridge here in Cluj where you write your name on a lock, lock it on the bridge, and then throw the key in the river(: Kinda like what they have in Paris. Sora Falkenberg and I gave it a try - haha it was great)

The lock bridge!!!(:

Planting the flowers from Timi!

Youngest STL (Sister Training Leader) Companionship in the Mission

Hi there family and friends!!

This week was a crazy, busy one - full of surprises and rain and lessons and things! But it was honestly one of the best!

Sora Falkenburg is seriously SO awesome! She is such a champ at just working as hard as she can every single day with the language, with talking to people, etc. She is truly so great!

This week we found out transfer boards! AHH! So I honestly wasn't sure what to expect, President Ivory had mentioned me training before the emergency transfer happened, but I was honestly just expecting that me and Sora Falkenburg would either just stay together for another one, or that I would get moved to another city. So when we found out transfer boards - saw that me and Sora Falkenberg are staying together - but that we are also going to be STLs/Sister Training Leaders for the west zone in our mission. AH! 

Truly truly - I had absolutely no clue what that meant or entailed in any way - and since Sora Falkenberg and I are the youngest STL companionship in the mission, we had no idea what to do haha! But honestly - we are so so excited. It will be a learning experience for sure, but I am looking forward to serving another transfer here in Cluj with these incredible people - and for really getting to know and help these sisters in our zone! It will be great!

Also kinda a sad week because Sora Armstrong (my trainer) Sora Koth, and Sora Trebas are all leaving this next week. Truly going to miss them like crazy - they were incredible examples and leaders not only for me, but for this mission! They truly made all the difference here and in the lives of those people who they came in contact with!

As for the rest of the week - we met with quite a few members and less actives, but probably the highlight for sure was Sunday. We have been working with this less active named Viorica for a while now, and she literally hasn't been to church in years. However, this week we challenged her again - and she actually agreed! We showed up to her house on sunday morning, and there she was all ready in her cute pink shirt and skirt - talking about how much she needs to bring for tithing and things. SO COOL! 

God seriously does work miracles! I will honestly never forget how when she walked into the church building with us, and how all the members got SO excited and just rushed to her and gave her a huge hug, gave her liahonas and lesson manuals, encouraged her to sit by them, etc. It was honestly, so incredible. 

I sure love you guys - keep praying for Felicia as we are going to try and challenge her again to set a date for baptism this week. will keep you posted! Sure love ya!

Sora Armstrong

Found a sign that actually said "Ärmstrong"!!!! #hanice

We found a field of huge huge pigs! haha

Us and the Elder's invesitggor (Costel) waving off Elder Seegmiller as he's headed to Alexandria! Romanian smiles haha(:

Ah...More Stomach Soup!

Hey there family and friends!!(:

What a crazy week it has been for sure!

To start it all off - we were actually in Brasov and Bucharest for a little bit. Sora Wyatt was transfered over there to the gorgeous city of Brasov, and from what I have heard - is doing so so well there! Thank you so much for including her in your prayers - she truly is such a rockstar!!

So we got back to Cluj late Wednesday night - and I arrived with the adorable Sora Falkenberg! She is so awesome! She's 22 from Canada - and has been here in Romania for about 4/5 months now! Ah, she is seriously so great - and speaks the language like a PRO! I have already learned so much from her, she is not afraid to be bold with these people and share our purpose - which is so so cool(: I know that we're going to have a blast for sure!

So this week we were able to meet with Felicia! Ah, she is so adorable! She is 45 years old, and is just so so prepared ya know? All four of us missionaries actualy met with her this week - and we taught the Restoration in a new way with some visual aids as kind of a review. She totally knew it all, and is just so senstive to the Spirit it is incredible! She had a poor headache so she wasn't feeling too good, but fed us "Italian Spaghetti"haha(: It was the BEST! So anyways - the lesson was going super super well, and we actually felt impressed to invite her to baptism. So we challenged her - and poor girl, with her headache and everything, and with looking for a job, she said that she hadn't had time to study the Book of Mormon so she wants to study and learn a bit more, and then we can talk about it. So we are actually going to invite her again this week, and try to establish a date...taking a act of faith that everything will work out ya know?(: So be sure to keep her in your prayers and I'll let ya know how it goes!

We were also able to meet up with the cute sisters from Sibiu, Sora Trebas and Sora Yost - two outstanding sister missionaries and dear friends! Sora Trebas is actually going home in like a week, with Sora Armstrong (my trainer) and Sora Koth (who I served with in Constanta). I am going to miss them for SURE!

Ah and then this week guess what happened again? More stomach soup. MORE! Ah it was...geat. haha again qujite the experience - excpect for this time, even better, we got to see HOW she made it. haha Edith is seriously the best, just cracks me up. It was her birthday, she turned 61, and she was just so so happy(: We actually watched the Restoration with her in Hungarian, and she loved it. We challenged her to baptism afterwards, and she got super upset actually. She has been investigating the church for over 14 years now, and named herself "sora simplatizana"or "sister investigator".....ah. So anyways, we got a big NO from her, but she wants to go to the temple this coming August to the temple dedication in Frieberg Germany! So we'll see - we'll keep working with her for sure! Ah, I just love her so much ya know? Its just hard when she knows that the church is true, but just doesn't want to change...

Thank you so much you guys for everything that you do - for your examples and support. I sure love you guys! Have a great week!

Some of the Valentines I made for my English class students (: With candy attatched too!

Us with the Sibiu sisters!!!(:

Edith and I on her 61st b-day!

Some of the Cow stomach that we ate…

Romanian Plumbing...Fun Times!

Hey there friends and family!

This week was honestly quite a long one, but all is well, we are doing great(:

We started off the week by having yet another great cultural experience with Romanian plumbing. We have a drain in the floor of our bathroom, where the bathtub, bathroom sink,and kitchen sink all drain too - and it ended up completely exploding hahaha. Green stuff and water was everywhere. We couldn't use the sinks or bathtub for days without water erupting all over the bathroom haha - so we poured some drain-o down, and a few hours later, the water still was clogged, but didn't come up out of the drain...it was draining somewhere else. Long story short, all the water that we used, and the neighbors above us used, ended up in the ceiling of our downstairs neighbor...ah poor guy. He came and shut off our water like 5 times and was SO mad haha, but eventually our landlady came to help us out, got the water problem fixed after a few days, and all was well. 

Also this week poor Sora Wyatt wasn't feeling too good, so we were inside for a few days, but we ended up getting all ready for zone conference that is going to happen here in Cluj later this week! Its going to be great!(: 

So after the drain fiasco and some medicine/rest for Sora wyatt - we had a great lesson with one of our hilarious eternal investigators named Edith haha ah I love this lady. She is SO awesome. (same lady who spoon fed me the stomach soup) haha(: Anyways, this week we went and talked about temples with her, but the whole time she was SO sad because the brand new white pan that she had bought, got discolored after she used it one time. I have never seen Edith more distraught. She looked near tears...and just stared at this poor pan for like 20 minutes straight without saying a word. Ah we felt so bad...so we ended up going to Cora (like a grocery store) and buying her the exact same pan haha. We tried to "doorbell ditch it" on her front door, but after like 10 tries, still nothing haha. we had her neighbor go down there and knock the door - and ah she was so happy! Ah I sure love her haha(: It was one of the main highlights of my mission for sure(: 

I hope you all have a great week this upcoming week! And if there is EVER anything I can do for any of you guys, like buying you a new pan(; let me know! Its great hearing from you(: 

Love you guys!

Sora Armstrong

The new pan for Edith!

Fun times from last transfers(: Me and some of my cute friends from my MTC group!!

Our Valentine's Dinner.....Romanian Stomach Soup

Hey there Family and Friends!(:

This week was super awesome, a lot of crazy and exciting things, but a lot of amazing things as well!

To start it all off, we went and visited our dear investigator named Edith. She's in her 60's and has been investigating the church for over 11 years now, and is just this dear dear sweet woman haha. Seriously love her so much(: Anyways, we headed over there and she made us lunch, and usually its super incredible Romanian Food....but she made us a surprise. Romanian Stomach Soup. Yep. I wish I was kidding. My stomach did not like having another stomach in it  AT ALL haha. Bless her heart. These people here literally use EVERY part of the cow, which ya know, is great haha but man it was different.

Later on in the week we went to visit this cute member, and she fed us some awesome Romanian Food as well, including Fat Soup. Literally. Just imagine clear broth with 5 or 6 white ball/potato looking things of Cow and Pig fat. Yep...I"ll just leave it at that haha.

All food experiences aside, we met with some really amazing people. We were able to meet with this AMAZING new investigator named Felicia. She is originally from Romania, but moved to Italy for work for 14 years, and then recently came back here. She is so awesome you guys. She moved back to Romania on a Friday, and came to church that same Sunday! That was about two weeks ago, and hadn't been able to met until this past Saturday, but we were finally able to sit down with her and talk about how she is, where she is at, etc. We also got in touch with the sister missionaries who taught her in Italy! One of the sisters who taught her is Sorella Anderson, who was in the MTC with me and my group at the same time! It was such a tender mercy because I had already had her email, and so we were able to obtain her teaching record. Turns out she has been taught most of the lessons except for a few of the commandments, and apparently had a baptismal date in Italy. We cannot wait to discuss it with her, and see how we can continue to help her progress!(: SO PUMPED!!

We didn't get to see Angel this week, but we were able to meet with Sebi and Ana, with the Iepures present! The branch president and his wife! It was great to see them strengthen their friendship, and as we watched the Restoration with all 4 of them, they all participated and added really good comments, including Ana. It was a highlight for SURE!!!(:

I sure hope that you guys had a great week, and that you will have one in continuare!(: Sure Love and miss you all!!(: 

Sora Armstrong 

Sora Wyatt always takes random pictures of me.....ha ha.....

...so then I take random photos of her...ha ha! 

So Many Sheep!!!

First off, a little bit of a downer, we couldn't meet with our investigators Sebi and Ana this week. They were also unable to come to church because Edward (Sebi's son)  made soccer finals so they were in Timisoara. haha he's a good dad(: BUT we were able to work super hard and meet with a lot of our other investigators which ended up working great(: 

We had the opportunity to meet with Angle a couple of times this week. He is SO awesome. Literally, amazes me every time we meet with him. We wanted to teach him the Gospel of Jesus Christ this week but he ended up having some questions about the restoration that we went over instead so that was great. He seems to have a really great understanding for the Restoration now and accepts it readily. He keeps asking questions and then being like "Í'm sorry  I have so many questions but this is all new information to me!" And we are like "no no no fire away!" But it is so cool because he just accepts it as truth because of the spirit he feels from it. So cool. He is just super great. haha yep #rockstar

We have also been working with a less active family here who is actually from America, the Sheilt family. The mom is married to a convert to the church named Jason who is Hilarious haha, they have 2 kids Cora (9) and Carson (5) who are super cute and seem to have been taught the gospel basics pretty well at home. It is cool because Sora Shielt is always open to us sharing a message with the kids and wants them to know good principles. We have been working hard to try to build trust with them because they are just such a wonderful family and yesterday we ended up being able to go on a cool adventure with them for our preparation day. We went out to the country side to this little village called Rimetea and had lunch and hiked to this SUPER cool old castle ruins in Coltesti. It was so incredible! Really felt just super Romanian haha, there were fields of sheep and goats everywhere, and people washing their plates and things in the stream, it was awesome(:

it really was just such an amazing week. I am SO grateful for Romania, and for the chance to be here with these people and in this beautiful culture and language - its been such a huge blessing and I am grateful for every minute!!(:

Have a great week you guys!(:

Sora Armstrong

Exploring a castle in Coltesti Romania

Jamming out to Romanian Primary Songs (Nephi's Courage) haha

Me and my bud Carson(:

All the sheeps!

It's Raining....MIRACLES!

Hello everyone! 

This week was great here in Cluj! Been thinking a extra lot about Corina this week because she left for her job in England...but things are all good and she is going to be meeting with the missionaries there so it will all work out(: Also found out that I will be staying here in Cluj for another 6 weeks with Sora Wyatt! Super rare - but we are SO pumped!!!:) Can't wait for what's in store! (Also hit my 8th month mark this week and FREAKED out haha) (:

We started off by going on a fun Exchange this week!  We got to go to a city here called Oradea! It is so beautiful there! I loved it! :) I was with Sora Brinkman for my exchange and she is just one of the nicest people ever. We had a couple lessons with some great investigators of theirs, had a great language study and  ate lunch at this really cute investigators house. The investigator used to be a chef so the food was SO good! We taught her about prophets and Jesus Christ's ministry on earth, and it was so SO cool to hear the experiences that she has had with the Savior and how she has seen what a blessing the atonement is in her life. its so personal and unique to everyone - its amazing(:

A fun adventure that we had this week was visiting a family from our branch--the Kiss family (pronounced keesh)--they live in a little town just outside of Cluj called Floresti. In order to get out there you have to take 1 bus to the end of the line and then wait for another bus that comes about twice every hour so it is a little bit of a process getting out there. As we were walking to the bus stop it started to rain pretty hard and by the time the 2nd bus had come we were pretty soaked haha but we were determined to visit them! We got to Floresti and got off the bus, it was still raining and they live pretty far from the stop so we were walking along the road tramping through the mud and the rain. When we finally got there I am pretty sure they didn't even recognize us at first but it was a great lesson. They have 3 little kids so we brought my guitar and we all sang I am a Child of God together. Honestly SO awesome(: 

Yesterday we had 6 investigators in church again! It was super cool! 2 of them were Sebi and Ana ( I talked about them earlier)- they are just rockstars. We love them. Edith also came, she has been investigating the church for about 11 years now. She is a great lady but her progress has sort of halted because she wont take that next step to baptism even though she comes to church more frequently than some of the members. 

We also had a really cool miracle, there is a family in the branch named the Militaru family and they have been investigating about as long as Edith has. The whole branch knows and loves this family because there was a time in the past where the whole family would come to church together. In our coordination meeting before church we talked about how we could help them all start coming to church again because they have not come as a family in a really long time. The father is against his wife and 16 year old daughter being baptized so it is a bit of a hard situation. After the meeting we went downstairs and the Sacrament meeting started as usual but half way through the 2nd hymn the Militaru family walked in the door! It was so cool! After church we set up to meet with them this week so we are REALLY excited about that. 

Our last friend in church yesterday was also a sort of a little miracle. A lady walked in during the announcements that we had never seen before. She looked a little lost but we talked to her, found out her name was Felicia and she had been living in Rome for 14 years where she found the missionaries, but has now moved back to Cluj! The missionaries in Italy gave her our address and so there she was. The crazy thing is she just got here on Friday and yet she took a break from busy moving to come to church. She stayed for the investigator's class and was making great comments! We are so pumped to start meeting with her this week! Just some amazing miracles this week for sure(: 

I sure love all of ya'll! And I hope you have an AMAZING week!(: 

Sora Armstrong

Last District Pic with Elder Blaylock! (Look how well coordinated we are - District Unity!)

SOAKING WET after the HUGE rainstorm. 

From the Branch Christmas dinner - just something fun to see. That's Sarmale!