Tied Mission Record: Longest Time Spent in a City

Hey there family and friends!!(:

So....guess who is staying in CLUJ???(: hahahaha YES! Ten and a half months in literally my favorite city on earth(: #LESSGO I am SO excited to stay here for another transfer - literally tied with the mission record for longest time spent in a city haha(: But it will be good! I'll get to be here for Angel's baptism and I can't wait to see the other miracles that are in store for the amazing people and branch here in Cluj!

So I am now serving with Sora Strader - who I actually have been on exchanges with two times before this haha(: So pretty cool(: She is awesome! She is Ukrainian - and was adopted from there when she turned 13, and has lived in Utah ever since! She is seriously such a rockstar - always so ready to work and go go go!(: We are going to be STLs again here, so that also will be super fun(:

Things with Angel are progressing! And it has been great to see him so happy and so prepared! Be sure to keep him in your prayers - we are hoping that everything will go through!

It truly was SO hard to say goodbye to Sora Andrus - she was one of my best friends, and we just had a great time together! But I know that she will excel and do great things in the city of Ploiesti - and she will actually be serving with my MTC bud - Sora Cutler! Which will be great(: 

I hope that you all have had an amazing week!(: Keep me posted!

Love ya!

Sora Armstrong(:

Prayers are Working Miracles in Cluj

Hey there family and friends!(:

I hope that each of you had an amazing week - and that some cool exciting things happened haha(:

Here in Cluj there were miracles this week! ANGEL IS GOING TO BE BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW AMAZING IS THAT!!! hahahaha I've been like FREAKIN out all week long(: JULY 30th. YES! #rockstar! #hanice

I seriously am SO excited for him though!

So last week we had challenged him to fast about a decision - and he totally did and he LOVED it. Unfortunately he wasn't able to meet with us ALL week to talk about the date of the 16th....so by Friday (when we met with him) it was too late kinda. HOWEVER. We decided to use one of President Ivory's ideas about proposing three baptismal dates for him to be able to set a goal, and then him choosing. Its kinda like if you're a parent and you set out two different outfits for them to choose - its the symbolizim of it ya know(:

So we pulled out a calendar and bore powerful powerful testimony about the purpose of setting a date - and the blessings that come from baptism. It was SO. COOL! We had laid out the 30th of July, and the 13th of August and the 27th of August - and it was so so interesting because satan literally put every excuse/doubt/insecurity in his mind....but once he agreed to pray about it and let us know the following tday, the air cleared and he just was smiling and smiling(: All the tension was gone it was awesome. I prayed SO much that night for him, and so so much all day....and then he finally came to english class the following day and us, the nelsons, and him all went in the back room, said a kneeling prayer, and he just had this HUGE grin(: hahahaha and he agreed to the 30th of July(: He wants the Nelsons to be there SO bad - and they are leaving the 2nd of August so it will be SO PERFECT! He KNOWS that its true - and I am SO proud of him for stepping up and acting!(:

So just be sure to keep him in your prayers - they really are working miracles here in Cluj!(:

I sure love you guys - and I hope you have a fabulous week!!!(:

Sora Armstrong

Me and the Amazing Sora Strader!

Had a great exchange with her (Sora Strader) in the wonderful city of Oradea(:

I. love. Sora. Andrus. (: 

Margareta made us Ciorba de Borta (Cow stomach soup....#round3) AND lamb all in the same week hahaha #tookind

Simi (the branch president's son) had a new Nerf gun that had "STRONGARM" on it - so he said he needed a picture with Sora "ARMSTRONG" hahaha(: Love him!

Declaring God's Love with Energy of Heart

Hey there family and friends!(:

This week went by super super fast! But things are going SO well - and people are progressing(:

So we challenged Margareta and Ioana to the date of July 8th - and they said that it was too fast because they are going out of town on vacation for the next 3 weeks but that they will continue to fast and pray about it all while they are gone, so still SUPER awesome!(: They are amazing, and SO happy, and I cannot wait to hear more about their progression later on(:

We were able to have Zone Conference here on Wednesday - and it was absolutely amazing! President Ivory gave a fantastic presentation about declaring Gods love for these people with all the energy of heart!(: It was amazing!

I feel like I was able to do that this last week when we met with Angel this past Friday evening. He told us how baptism was uncertain for him, and how he wanted to make sure he knew everything before he committed to taking that next step, and setting a date. However I remembered what we talked about Wednesday,about serving with all of our hearts - opening up our hearts to give them completely over to these people and to the Lord - and I just felt prompted to bear a powerful testimony about Gods love for him. About our love for him. About how much I have seen him progress in the 9 months that I have known him and that his Father in Heaven is SO proud of him. We committed him to fast with us on Sunday - and we called him last night to follow up and he will be giving us his answer today about the 16th of July. I know that if he accepts and acts on what he has FELT - as it says in Alma 9, then his faith will grow immensely and he will be an amazing member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!!(: I will be sure to keep you posted!

I sure love each and everyone of you guys - let me know if I can ever do anything for you!(: And have a great 4th of July!!!(:

Sora Armstrong!(:

Us making Salam de Biscuits with Margareta and Ioana!(:

LOVE them!

Sora Armstrong's Gift of the Magi

Hey there,

I hope that you guys have had a wonderful week - and that everything is going well(:

This week was great - we have been kickin things back into full gear and we are seeing so many miracles because of it(:

We are working with two wonderful women named Margareta, and Ioana. Margareta is around her 60s, and just has a heart of gold! She came to English class about a month ago, and invited us over for sarmale and things (literally so amazing) and we have been teaching her the missionary lessons. She is SO prepared and receptive to the gospel! We have thus far taught her the first three lessons, and this Friday we are going to invite her to set a baptismal date for July 8th. I am hoping and praying that she will feel the Spirit confirm those truths to her, and that she will accept(:

Then Ioana is her cute cute 13 year old grandaughter(: She has been meeting with us when we have met with her grandmother, and she is SO happy all the time, and is so mature. She just gets it ya know?(: We invited her to be baptized yesterday, but that kinda stressed her out because of her families Orthodox background, so we are hoping that her Grandma will kinda set the example and pave the way for her(:

We also didn't have the chance to meet with Sebi last week, so we are going to be challenging him to baptism this upcoming Tuesday, and we are challenging Angel again tonight! Be sure to keep them in your prayers!!(:

Also, Zone Conference is this coming wednesday here in Cluj - and we are SO excited! (Plus how cool would that be to have an interview with President Ivory and be like "SEBI AGREED LAST NIGHT TO BE BAPTIZED!!!" haha pretty sure we would both freak out(: We know that Sebi knows that this gospel is true, its just acting on that feeling that we are working on - so we will keep you posted(:

I sure love you guys!(:

(NOTE FROM ALYSSA'S MOM - She has been trying so hard for so long to grow out her hair. I cannot even begin to tell you what this act of service might have meant to her). Also! haha..so I cut my hair this week. AH. Felicia my Recent Convert has been looking for a job for months now, and has been in and out of little bakerys here that haven't been been the best. She used to cut hair in Italy, and she finally recieved a job interview at a little hair place here in Cluj, but she had to cut someones hair to prove that she knew how..... so she asked me. Honestly like, such a trial of faith hahahaha. But i love Felicia so darn much that I told her yes, although I was literally praying the entire time hahaha. And guess what, SHE GOT THE JOB!!!!(: Finally a job that she likes and pays her well - which is such a huge tender mercy!(: Sure love her(:

Have a great week you guys!(:

Sora Armstrong

Japanese Gardens In Romania???

Hey there family and friends!!(:

I apologize in advance for the super short email - but there isn't too much to say other than my COMP IS FEELIN BETTER!! After so many doctors trips and medicines tried for 2 months - SHE IS BETTER!(: Such a cool amazing miracle - thank you so much for all of your prayers and love and support!(: 

This week we are going to try and invite Sebi to be baptized...so be sure to keep him in your prayers!(:

Thanks for all your love and support! I sure love you guys!

Sora Armstrong(:

Elders and I at the Botanical Gardens

Japanese Garden!

The Botanical garden with the district(:

Me and my mission copii(: 

ROMANIA!

Inside the Keyie Turzii(:

I literally see my old car EVERYWHERE. Cannot WAIT to drive again!!!

Chocolate Cake and the Restoration

Hey there Family and Friends!

This week was super super fast! Things are going well - and people are progressing(:It was transfer boards on Saturday and we are all staying the same, except Elder Bateman is going home, and we are getting Elder Newlin(: 

We got to go to Oradea this past week on an exchange - and I got to spend 24 hours with the incredible Sora Falkenberg! I missed her - and I truly truly LOVE her. It was hilarious because it just totally felt like we were back together again in Cluj haha, we kept joking that next transfer we'll serve together again haha(: I love that girl - truly one of my great friends out here on the mission. 

Also this week we saw a giant miracle from our English classes. I remembered when I taught Gospel Doctrine at BYU, and how I did an object lesson with a giant Costco chocolate cake - about how our message is so good to share that we want everyone to have a piece of that cake or gospel. So this week (with the help of Sora Nelson's amazing cooking(: ) we made some delicious cake, and related it to how we LOVE teaching English, and we LOVE the people here, and we want to share this amazing chocolate cinnamon cake with them - but we left behind our families and friends for the chance to come to Romania to share the message of the Restored Gospel that will bring positive change and growth into these peoples lives. We invited them to write down their phone number on a piece of paper if they would be interested in our message, and we received 9 numbers out of our 11 total english students! We are going to follow up with them all this week and I truly cannot wait to see what amazing impact the power of the Restoration will have in their lives. 

You are all amazing - 

Have a great week(:

Sora Armstrong

Beauties! 

These Final Six Months Are Going to Fly By....

Hey there family and friends!(:

First thing.....DID I TOTALLY HIT MY YEAR MARK???? AH, I honestly was like freaking out haha - so crazy. Time just flies by ya know? Each day seems so long usually - but then you look back at your week and month and it is just all one long blur. I know that these next 6 months are going to FLY by - but it is just a huge testimony that you just gotta use all of the Lord's time that you have ya know?(: 

We were able to meet with Sebi this week which was amazing. We had a powerful lesson with him and with Elder K Nelson. We talked about the Word of Wisdom and he completely understood. He brought up some of his own personal struggles - the main one being coffee. He said he smokes once in a while, but that its more of a fitting- in kind of thing. We talked about all the blessings that will come from being obedient - not only for him, but how also he will set a huge example to his family as well. He loved the conference in Oradea - and really felt the power of President Ivory's message, Sora Ivory's, and Elder Obando's. It was incredible to see him testify how he has truly felt like something was missing from his life and heart because he hasn't been at church these past 2 weeks. He wants to get baptized, but said that he is getting a little bit of resistance from his ex-wife in Timisoara. But I know that he will be able to overcome that and set a date for baptism soon(:

Thank you so much for all you do - I sure love you guys!

Have a great week!

Sora Armstrong

Some pics from last week in Oradea(: haha

We taught our English class what a "bucket list" is haha(:

My family got to visit with Sora Wyatt at her mission homecoming.