31 December 2012

La Multi ani!

Happy New Year!
Can you believe that 2012 has come and gone? How quickly time continues to move forward, whether we want it to or not. Christmas came and went. Many people left for the holidays and have been busy with cleaning and preparing food and guests, but we were blessed to be able to have a busy week and to see the Lord's hand in our work.
A couple weeks ago, we met Eugen. We started meeting with him and things are going really well. He is from Moldova, but has moved here for school and to work. He graduated in theology and history and needless to say is a very educated person. We have had lessons on the Book of Mormon and the Restoration. He is open and progressing. He has gone back home for the week, but we decided that we would send him a "15 chapter Power read" of the Book of Mormon.
We first heard of this in the MTC. One of the speakers told us that if we could pick any 15 chapters from the Book of Mormon that would help an investigator to come unto Christ, what would they be? Obviously the 15 chapters would be tailored to the needs of the individual, so that's exactly what we did. We are excited for him to read the chapters and to meet with him after the new year.
As we were thinking of the chapters to have him read, I realized how many of the chapters and the entire Book of Mormon talk and testify of Christ You can't help but feel God's love and hear his guidance as you read and study it's pages. It sounds cheesy, but I often want to just hug my scriptures because of how much I love them and how much joy they bring into my life. How blessed we are to have another testament of Jesus Christ.
May this new year bring you "numai bine" only good and "multe sanatate" much health.
Va iubesc,
Sora Remsberg

Craciun Fericit

Tis the season to be jolly

1. Branch Christmas party

2. Amy with Sora Z, Simona, Mariana, and Elena

3. Merry Christmas from the Sibiu sisters :]

24 December 2012

Craciun Fericit! 
Merry Christmas!

Congrats to Janae and Isaiah. You look so happy. I'm glad the day was perfect for the both of you. Thank you to everyone who sent pictures of the big day. I loved them.

I can't believe that Christmas is already here. How time just seems to be going so fast. This week was a busy one and such a good one. This week we were able to meet with a few investigators and with a few less-active families. They just make the days so much better. What better way to spend the holiday season than by telling everyone about Christ!

We were also able to celebrate Christmas with the branch. We had about 9 nonmembers come. The night was filled with ornament making, dinner, caroling, and reading of the Christmas story from Luke. How I love this time of year. It seems now more than ever I have the opportunity to focus on it's true meaning, Christ.

Yesterday, Sora Zimmerman taught the relief society lesson on angels. We read the following scriptures fround in Alma 29:1-3

1. O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!
2. Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemtion, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.
3. But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me.

I just loved this. It made me think about the role of angles. They bring tidings of glad joy. They pronounce repentace and to invite others to come unto the savior. She then asked us, "How can we become like angles?" What a blessing that we have the opportunity to be angles in the lives of others by bringing joy into their lives, being examples and inviting them to draw closer to the savior. I have been blessed to have many angels in my life. My parents, my sisters, my friends. During this season may we try to be that angel for someone else, may we do everything with the sole purpose of making life better for other people!.

Va iubesc,
Sora Remsberg

17 December 2012

Ceau! 

The weeks are continuing to go by so fast. This week we were able to travel to Arad to celebrate Christmas with our zone and with the Arad zone. It was fun to be with all the other missionaries and I can't believe Christmas is right around the corner. I love the holiday season because we really get to focus on the true meaning of Christmas, Christ. We have the opportunity to invite Christ into the lives of others everyday, but it just seems that during this time of the year everyone opens up just a little bit more. We do truly bring glad tiding of great joy.

When we got back, we had lots of work to do and we saw so many little miracles. Sora Z and I had made a goal to have 2 investigators at church this week. We knew it could be done, we just needed to work hard. Sunday came and Natalia, the sister of a member and an investigator came to church and a new investigator, Sanda, who is the girlfriend of a member came! What a blessing. Church was really good as we had President and Sora Heninger, the second counselor in the mission presidency come to speak to us.

We have also been working with a less-active member quite a bit and he is progressing and coming back. The best part is to see his desire to share the gospel with those he loves. What better way to strengthen your own testimony than by inviting others to strengthen theirs?!

When Elder Kerr of the 70 was here he advised us to think of power lines, our arsenal, to give to those we come in contact with everyday. We really have about one sentence or one minute to grab people's attention and invite them to learn more about the gospel. This is even more true as it gets colder and colder outside. We have made it a goal to think of at least one new "arsenal" everyday. We have come up with a few:

-Repentance is the ability to change who you want to become
-The Gospel of Jesus Christ inspires action and change continually
-The Bible teaches us what we need to do to return to God, the Book of Mormon teaches us how we can return to Him. Together they are complete
-The Atonement is the foundation of our lives and our faith and qualifies us for all the blessings of heaven.
-The feelings of the heart can bring great joy into our lives

If you had one line to share with others about any aspect of the gospel, what would it be? I would love to hear what you would say. The gospel is so personal and tailored to every individual life. It is truly a blessing that we all have been given in our lives.

Va iubesc,
Sora Remsberg

10 December 2012

Ceau Familia Mea!
      This week has been full of lots of changes. Sora Sam and I were able to visit a couple members and investigators before she headed to Chisinau. It is always hard when companions and people leave. We left Tuesday for Buc and arrived late at night. On Wednesday Sora Zimmerman and I found eachother and we headed back to Sibiu that afternoon. As the train continued to get closer to Sibiu, there started to appear snow on the ground. When we got back to Sibiu late at night there were a couple inches of snow on the ground. It hasn't quite stopped snowing since we got back. It has been so much colder and made missionary work a little bit more interesting when it comes to being outside and talking to people. Sora Zimmerman and I had a wonderful planning session and we have set many goals and talked about many things we can do to help the Lord's work more forward and to strengthen the branch in Sibiu.
      We were able to have a presidency meeting this week with Brooklyn, the relief society president. We were discussing the things we could do to help the sisters be strengthened and how to best move forward. As we were all discussing, Sora Zimmerman suggested that we fast, seeing as the next day was Sunday, and ask for the Lord's help. It was the best thing that we could have done. How blessed we are not only to have the power of prayer, but we are blessed with the opportunity to fast and to pray in order to draw closer to the spirit and ask for further help from the Lord. How often do we think that we can do things on our own or that we are capable of thinking of all the ideas on our own, but we must remember that all good things come from God. The Holy Ghost helps us to recognize and to do what the Lord would want. As we continue to draw nearer to the Lord, our thoughts will become his thoughts and our words will become his words and we will realize that we cannot do anything without His help and the power of His son's atonement.
Va Iubesc,
Sora Remsberg

3 December 2012

Ceau!
I cannot believe that December is already here. Sibiu has gotten a lot colder and has really started to prepare for the Holiday season. We also found out about transfers. We will be going down to Bucaresti on Tuesday and coming back Wednesday or Thursday. Sora Sam will be going to Chisinau and I will be staying here in Sibiu with Sora Zimmerman! We couldn't believe it when the transfer boards came out. I get the opportunity to serve alongside my best friend again. Once in the MTC and a second time in the mission field. She is an amazing missionary and will do wonders for Sibiu. I can't wait.

The country celebrated it's form of independence day on December 1st. It was also Saint Andrew's Day. This is an Orthodox holdiay dedicated to the apostle Andrew who came and taught in Romania after Christ's Atonement. This week I realized how much I have fallen in love with the New Testament. It is a history of the people in the Holy lands. It is a history of the people with whom I work with and love everyday. I find strength and comfort in the words of Christ and the words of his apostles as they preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. After Christ was gone, somedays the apostles didn't have the most success and were rejected, but otherdays they had success and helped others to be spiritually healed by the gospel. That is exactly what missionary work is today. I just love the New Testament. I feel so close to the Savior as I read his words. Especially as we near the Christmas holiday may we remember the true meaning of Christmas.
Va Iubesc,
Sora Remsberg

26 November 2012

Ceau!
This week we had the opportunity to go down to Bucaresti for Mission Conference. We had half the mission there and we were taught by President Hill, Elder Kerr of the Area Seventy, and our zone leaders. It was a wonderful meeting full of the spirit, guidance, instruction and ideas to help the Lord's work move further here in Romania and Moldova.

I thought I would write a few things that I learned while there.
From President Hill:
-How lucky are we to be representatives of the Lord? In Romania and Moldova there are very few members and missionaries and we could possible be the the only chance that someone has to hear of the gospel. Are we doing all we can to be the best one chance and one example that person has?
-We are not looking for a drastic 180 degree change, but we are looking for a 1-2 degree change. If we can all just try a little harder, listen a little more attently to the spirit and to the work a little bit better then things will happen. We must take the Lord's work one step and one degree at a time and the Lord will help us because he knows it all.
From Elder Kerr
-"There was never a dull moment" As we serve the Lord, we must be able to say there was never a dull moment because I listened to the the Holy Ghost and acted. There is so much work to be done here.
-Who we are is the greatest "why" people will listen to our message
-He told us a quote that said I have never found God and Jesus Christ to be anythign less than perfect gentlemen. They will not come in unless they are invited. It is so true. We must not only invite Christ and Heavenly Father into our lives, but we must invite others to do the same. As missionaries we don't give commitments, we extend invitations.
-May we forever follow in the footsteps of the Savior and live a life of service

I absolutely loved conference. The Lord is aware of our needs. He knows us personally and is ready to answer our prayers and comfort our hearts as we turn to him and ask.
Va iubesc
Sora Remsberg

19 November 2012

Ceau!
Our week went well. It is definitely started to cool down here. Luckily, we dont' have any snow but we wake up to 0 Celsius or less every morning. Winter is on its way.

We didn't have too many lessons, but we got in contact with former investigators and we talked to some really cool people. One of my favorite things we did this week was our district went to the park and we drew a "happiness meter" with chalk on the ground. We would stop close to everyone that walked by and ask them, "on a scale of 1-10, how happy are you?" It was amazing to see that most people when they think about it are really happy. When we asked why they gave answers such as my day went well, I'm healthy, I love my family, etc. Once we broke the ice, we could tie in happiness with the greater joy that comes from the gospel. As missionaries and as members we bring a message of glad tidings and great joy. The knowledge and joy that comes from knowing God's plan for each of us is one of the greatest blessing we have and something that many people are searching for.

Yesterday was fun. We had a lesson with one of our investigators and when we got there a member and his girlfriend and his cousin were there. After 5 minutes, two more of their friends showed up. We had so many people, but they all participated in the lesson. This particular investigator is so cute and wants so badly to know what is true and knows that she has found happiness in the church, but is afraid of what her friends and family will think if she were to change to something besides Orthoxism. It is such a blessing to see that she is inviting others to participate in lessons and not being afraid to introduce others to the gospel. The Lord is working miracles with her.

These last couple of weeks I have frequently come across the topic of forgiveness in my studies and conversations with people. In True to the faith it says "In the everyday circumstances of life, you will surely be wronged by other people—sometimes innocently and sometimes intentionally. It is easy to become bitter or angry or vengeful in such situations, but this is not the Lord’s way. Pray for strength to forgive those who have wronged you. Abandon feelings of anger, bitterness, or revenge. Look for the good in others rather than focusing on their faults and magnifying their weaknesses. Allow God to be the judge of others’ harmful actions. It may be difficult to let go of hurt feelings, but you can do it with the Lord’s help. You will find that forgiveness can heal terrible wounds, replacing the poison of contention and hatred with the peace and love that only God can give. "

I love this. Here in Romania we run into many cases in which someone has been offended by another member or by a friend and it has completely ended their relationship with the church. It breaks my heart because it happens so often, but I find comfort in that this is a principle and characteristic we must all continue to develop and apply the rest of our lives. As we continue to learn about and apply that atonement in our lives it will become easier to forgive those around us and ourselves.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. I am grateful for you and grateful I have this opportunity to serve the Lord and his children in Romania.
Va Iubesc,
Sora Remsberg

Fall

Attempt 1: Too late

Attempt 2: Too early

Attempt 3: Success

Happy Fall!

Exchanges

Life and missionary work just seems so...

 fun when these 2 get together

Exchanges=success!

Ps. Can't you just tell how much they love eachother in the last pictures :]

12 November 2012

Ceau!

Happy 25th Birthday Rachelle!
I love you!

Sorry, my time is running short today because we were able to go to Hunedoara, Romania and visit a castle. The weather was absolutely beautiful; It was a 2.5 hour bus ride to Deva and then a 30 min smaller bus ride to Hunedoara and then a 20 min walk to the castle and then a 3 hour train ride back to Sibiu. I love the transportation here in Romania. I don't think I will know what to do when I go everywhere with cars. It will be such a big change. I will attach pictures for you. Romania is so full of history and culture and it was such a fun day.

This was a good week. English is turning out to be a success this transfer. Many people come and we actually have had to ask a member to help us teach the medium level. We also have been able to meet with a couple students outside of class to talk more about the gospel and why we are here in Romania. English is such a blessing to us here in Romania.

Most of our week was filled with sister exchanges. We went to Cluj, again. I was blessed to be companions with Sora Zimmerman, again. Our day was filled with contacting, finding, teaching and institute. The branch in Cluj is wonderful. We had a lesson with a less-active sister and Sora Zimmerman used an example that I absolutely loved to help her better understand baptism and enduring to the end. She said that when we enter the front gate of our front yard we don't just walk in the gate, close it and then stand there. We still need to get inside. We need to walk across the lawn and we need to open the door. Entering the gate is baptism, but the rest of the way to the warm house is enduring to the end. We need to continually move in order to get there. There is nothing that is going to magically transport us from the gate to the door. Baptism is not enough. We need to keep those covenants we make at baptism and continue to learn and grow. We need to keep the commandments, we need to go to church and partake of the sacrament, and we need to be worthy to go to the temple. How easy would it be if we could just be baptized and that's it? We knew before this is and at the time of baptism that it would require more, but we also knew that it would all be worth it.

Va Iubesc,
Sora Remsberg

5 November 2012

Ceau!

I first want to start by saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LA MULTI ANI, to Geena. 

I can't believe that you are turning 17. Crazy!

This week we had a baptism in Sibiu! Laurentiu was baptized. It was so amazing. What a miracle that I got to see it and to feel of the spirit that was there and to be filled with so much happiness and joy. I had an opportunity to bear my testimony and I thought my heart was going to pound out of my chest because the spirit was so strong. We had a few members, the missionaries, and a senior couple come from Brasov. Sometimes it's easy to think that the work is not moving or to question if what you are doing and all your hard work is doing anything, but it is and the work is moving forward!

We started english this week! It was so good. We had 6 new people come. We are excited to begin teaching and to get to know them better. All our english contacting and hard work paid off :]

Sora Sam and I have been without a phone almost all week because it didn't work. It made missionary work so much harder because we could not communicate with our investigators or with the members. I thought about how dependent we are on the phones and how much we need to use it in order to communicate and to make appointments. It made me think of prayer. What would life be like if we didn't have a way to communicate with Heavenly Father. What if we had no minutes or we used up all our time and had to go a week without talking to God. How miserable would that be? Some might think we would be okay, or that it's only a week and we can fill in the gaps next week. However, how much would we forget to tell God, how many answers would we not receive from Him and how easy it would be to not talk to Him the following week? Thank goodness we don't have to think about that. We have the opportunity at all times to have open and flowing communication with God.

Fast and testimony meeting was wonderful yesterday. Sora Sam told of an experience she had in Bucaresti where a lady came up to her and said, "Why do you smile all the time? All you people that come out of that church are always happy, apparently you do not know God." How interesting that she would make the connection that if you know God, you aren't happy. Sadly, it is her that does not know God. God is a God of love and all he wants is for us to be happy and to find joy in this life. God has given us so many reasons to smile. He has given us this beautiful world, the ability to learn, our health, our families, our agency, and so many other things. If I didn't know God, there would be some days it would be hard to smile, but the gospel of Christ gives us hope and a purpose to this life, that one day we may enjoy never ending happiness with our families and with God and Jesus Christ.

Va Iubesc,
Sora Remsberg

Zone Traning Meeting

29 October 2012

Halloween Fericit! 
I hope you all have a fun Halloween this Wednesday. This last Saturday we started off the transfer with our branch Halloween party. It was so fun and we had 3 investigators come. The night was filled with no lights, only candles, lots of candy, homemade pumpkin pie, musical chairs and the game 'mafia.' It seemed that everyone enjoyed their time and we even dressed up as a district. We were the Kings and Queens of Hearts and spades.
 
My tenth transfer is already here. I can't believe it. We got a new elder in our district. His name is Elder Cobabe and he is from Sacramento, CA. He is a 'boboc' or a new missionary, strait from Utah and has a good spirit about him and such a desire to do the work. Plus, he speaks amazingly well already. I am so excited for this transfer. We are continuing to work with Natalia and she is making great progress. We have been reading with her everyday. When we started she would not read out loud and now she does it with no hesitation and asks wonderful questions. We are excited to really study and teach the restoration this week to help her progress even more. The Lord has blessed us with wonderful people to work with and even yesterday we had a tender mercy. Alina is a less-active 28 year old daugher of an active member. Yesterday, without notice, she came to church! I was able to talk to her for quite a while and she is wonderful. I taught relief society and she even participated. We are going to go visit with her tonight. The Lord is aware of us all and puts the right people and situations together to help us grow.
 
The last couple of days we have been on house arrest. Sora Sam has some problems with her foot and has been told to stay off of it until we can get to a doctor. Hopefully they can help her and she will feel better soon.
 
I have a thought for you this week. It comes from my study of Virtue this week. The scriptures tell us to add faith to diligence, to faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge temperance, to temperance patience, to patience godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity. I sat for a second and thought about it. I thought, what would that sound like in my own words? Probably a little different but I gave it a try. You must have a desire, then have the faith that it can happen, make sure that your actions and your thoughts are clean and working together, study things out in your mind, try it out, be calm when things don't work out exactly as you want, keep the temple always in mind and the promises of it's covenants, share your knowledge and joy with those around you and finally be filled with the love of Christ. It might be a few more words and doesn't sound as pretty, but it made a lot more sense. This is how we need to live our lives. I love taking the scriptures and applying them into our own lives and with our own words. They truly are meant for us and our day. When we choose to apply it's words and teachings in our lives we come closer to Heavenly Father and we have a greater knowledge of our plan here on earth.

Va Iubesc
Sora Remsberg

Halloween Pictures

President Hill...

Visited Sibiu :]

Amy with President Hill, the assistants (Elder Newey and Elder Harisson) and Sora Sam

22 October 2012

Ceau!

 I first want to say how happy I am for Janae and Isaiah. The temple is such a blessing in our lives! Enjoy every minute and go back often!

Transfers are here again. How quickly 6 weeks fly by. Sora Sam and I will be staying together here in Sibiu this next transfer. However, we will be getting a brand-new elder. He flies into Romania on Tuesday and we will meet him Thursday. It sometimes blows my mind that exactly a year ago I was doing the exact same thing that he is doing.

This week was really good. President Hill was here for interviews. It is always so good to talk to him and to feel of his spirit. As we were talking I realized how much I love Sibiu. How much I love the members. How much I love missionary work. How much we need to be enthusiastic about the work. What the Lord is asking us to do is not hard, in fact it is simple. He is asking us to open our mouths and bear testimony of him and his gospel. He is asking us to be examples of him and to help others come unto him. Yes, it may be awkward or something we are not quite used to doing, but it's not hard.

We have worked a lot with Natalia this week and are continuing to work with her. She is progressing and she has started reading the Book of Mormon, something she hasn't done before. We helped her set a few goals and where she sees herself at the end of the year as far as baptism and the church. After having that discussion I realized how important goals are in life and how they give us direction. We need to constantly be setting goals, whether they are easy, hard, long-term, or short-term. As we set and achieve goals we will begin to realize how much we have learned and grown.

We had a Relief Society activity this week. We were able to watch the General Relief Society broadcast. We actually had an investigator there. She is 30 years old and Orthodox, but grew up in an Adventist family. The messages were so inspiring and the activity was filled with the spirit. Maria loved it, especially the music. She said she has never heard of such a wonderful and unique society especially for the women of the world. We are excited to continue to meet with her.

This week I read the story of King Lamoni's father and his response that he would be willing to give up all his has to know God. I thought about that for a while and started wondering, "What am I willing to give up to know God?" At first I thought 'I gave up a few of things to come on a mission,' but then I thought, 'what am I willing to give up now to know God even better?' My mind immediately went to the words diligence and obedience. Each day we choose whether we want to follow the small and simple rules we are given and how hard we are willing to work and do what we need to accomplish the Lord's work. In every city that I have had the opportunity to be in I have met and talked with members that have literally given up everything, their families, relationships with friends, different jobs so they can be at church on Sunday, ect. They are such inspirations to me.

Have a fabulous week
Va Iubesc,
Sora Remsberg

15 October Pictures

1. Amy with Elder and Sora Wahlquist (They just finished their missions and took the district out to eat. So nice)
2. Yoga....who doesn't like to do yoga for FHE?
3. Sibiu looks so pretty (Amy says this is the park where they go often)

Thanks

To Sora Zimmerman for the following pictures....

15 October 2012

Ceau!

This week was wonderful. We were able to listen to all of conference, the weather has cooled down and we saw so many mini miracles. This week we really focused on using our time effectively and doing all we could to be obeident, willing and fulfill our purpose as missionaries.

We did a lot of contacting in the park and around the blocks, but not much came out of it other than when we were headed back home a nice lady stopped us and asked us where a bank was. We didn't really know the area, but we continued to talk. She just moved to Sibiu, is religious and also wants to learn English. Perfect! We told her we are missionaries here and that we also teach english on the side. We gave her a restoration pamphlet with our information on the back, got her number and set up a time to meet. We met the next day and it was a great discussion and the Branch President was also able to come! Other than cute Maria, not much came from our contacting. However, when we went to a less-active's home for a lesson, she had 2 of her non-member friends there! They stayed and participated in the lesson and even said they would be interested to learn more. Later on that week we had a lesson with an investigator. She is actually the sister of one of our strongest youth here. We got there and she had a friend over! We talked about faith like a seed using Alma 32. We even had real plants. We wanted to plant seeds together, but we couldn't find a place to buy any. Her friend participated in the lesson and said she "wanted to change her religion" and was interested in meeting with us more. We have had 2 lessons with her since then. She is a cute 15 year old going to high school and just trying find her place in life. How blessed we are to have met all these people this week!

The Lord is aware of us. He sees our efforts. He knows the plan better than we do. As we consciously make the effort to follow him and do his will, he places miracles in our lives. As we give him our hearts, he places his trust in us. I have only been to Sibiu for a month, but I feel that the Lord has given me so many opportunites to learn, grow, serve, and become a better disciple of Christ.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Va Iubesc,
Sora Remsberg

Ce te face fericit?

[refer to Amy's letter below. It explains the pictures.]

1. Amy and Sora Zimmerman on exchanges in Cluj

2. The infamous "ce te face fericit" board

3. Amy and Elena

4. General Conference....with Lucian, Luminita, and Casia 

    (I don't think Casia wanted to take a picture)

8 October 2012

Buna!
Thank you all for your letters. You sound like you are all doing wonderfully.

First of all, I was able to watch both morning sessions of conference. We watched in Romanian, but I was able to understand it all. What a blessing that members can hear the words of our prophet and apostles live and in their own language. We are so blessed. How excited I was to find out about the change of age for missionaries. This will definitely change the church. It will bless the mission fields. It allows a lot of youth who slip away in the short years after high school or those who get married or those who finish schooling and play sports to serve the Lord. This not only will bless the areas and many of people whom they will serve, but it will help the youth of the church to remain active throughout their lives.

This week we had sister exchanges. I was able to go to Cluj to serve with Sora Zimmerman for a couple days. It was a blast. She and I were companions in the MTC and we haven't really served around eachother since coming to the country. We had a couple lessons, went to institute and did a lot of contacting. One thing we did was we bought a small white board and wrote the question "Ce te face fericit?" or "What makes you happy" We took this board with us and walked all through the city. We asked everyone this question. Some would just smile and laugh and walk by us, some would give us a response and walk away, and others would start a conversation with us. We were so surprised to hear some of the responses: family, friends, money, girls, vacation, good food, nothing, and Jesus Christ. It was successful way to talk with people and even a few wanted to meet with us later in the week.

This question made me think, what makes me happy? It's quite simple really, God, Jesus Christ, the gospel, family and friends. Of course there are many more answers I could say, but when I truly think of lasting joy, joy that will last in the eternities, those are my answers. Through God's plan and Christ's Atonement we know the purpose of life. We know that this is a time to prepare to meet God and a time to perform our labors. I know that the gospel is the way in which we can return to live with Heavenly Father. It is the way that we can live together forever with our family. The Lord's plan for us is one of happiness. It is our way to successfully make it through this life on earth. I am grateful for this knowledge in my life and the opportunity I have everyday to share this with others and help them find the things that truly make them happy in this life.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.
Va Iubesc,
Sora Remsberg

Life...

according to Amy and Sora Sam

1. Sibiu is gorgeous

2. They moved into their new apartment (with the help of the elders) 

and this is what happens after a long day of misisonary work.

3. Oktober fest...in September? (I guess that's okay)

4. Amy and Alexandra

1 October 2012

Ceau!

 

Happy October. This week was really good. I have truly fallen in love with Sibiu. I was sitting in church yesterday and realized how lucky I am to be here. Even though there were only 8 members there and one visitor, I was seriously so happy. The spirit was so strong. This branch may be small, but they are rebuilding. They are healing wounds and have such a desire to become stronger.

First of all, we found an apartment! What a blessing. We were able to move in on Friday. It is only about a 7 minute walk to church and a 20 minute walk to centru (downtown). The elders were so nice and helped us up the 4 flights of stairs with all of our luggage. We have accumulated quite a bit. Life seems more normal now. We will definitely miss our friends that we made at the hotel. I have really learned that we get to make our homes filled with the spirit. Homes are just a sanctuary from the rest of life. For third hour yesterday we talked about how to make our homes and branches filled with the spirit. We must continually be aware of the things we do at home and at church, praying, scripture study, honesty, respect, creating a peaceful atmosphere to make sure that the spirit is there. 

I received my first calling this last sunday. I have been called to be the 2nd counselor in the Relief Society. Alexandra, one of our strongest youth and the first counselor in the Relief Society, has the opportunity to serve a mini mission and will be leaving in a week. We will really miss her, but we are so excited for her and the things she will learn as she serves in Bucaresti. Sora Sam has also been called as the secretary. We are excited to work with Sora Brooklyn, the president, and to see the branch from a different side than from the missionary side. I love our church. I love that we have opportunities to serve. How blessed we are to help each other build the kingdom of God. There are many times I feel like I don't know enough or that there is someone better that could probably do what I am doing, but then I remember I am called of God to be here and it is exactly what I am supposed to be doing. I know that is true not only for me, but for ever member here in Romania and in the rest of the world. God knows us so well. He knows what we need in order to return to him, we just need to trust him and follow him.

We have started meeting with a 24 year old sister named Mihaela from the branch. She is less-active and has been a member for about 8 years. She spoke this Sunday and we had the opportunity to help her prepare her talk. It was so fun teaching her how to give a talk and then discussing how she could write her talk. She knows so much. We just provided the outline and she did the rest. How blessed we are to be in a church that allows us to study, learn and grow. She was super nervous on Sunday, but she did wonderfully. We are excited to meet with her more often to help her strengthen her testimony of the gospel.

The branch has also been great with providing referrals for us. They are so willing to refer their friends and family to hear the missionary discussions. Seriously, I just love the members and people here.

I hope you have a fabulous week.

Va Iubesc

Sora Remsberg

Sighisoara

History: It is one of the oldest inhabited European cities.

It was built in the 1200's.

Amy and her district went for pday. Enjoy the pics!

  

Gara (trainstation)

 Roman Catholic Church                                   Clocktower and City Wall

Dracula, Vlad Tebes, lived in Sighisoara!

 Towers from the original city wall.

 Cute little house for the grave keeper. I'd live there!

Seriously, such a historic little city in the center of Romania

24 September 2012

Ceau!

We have been in Sibiu for 2 weeks now. The weeks continue to go by so fast. Sora Sam and I are still trying to adjust to Sibiu. Fall has definitely come. It is no longer hot and has actually rained a couple of days. We are still living in a hotel because we haven't found an apartment to move into which means we are still living our of our suitcases and feel a little like we on a permanant vacation. It takes up a bit of our time looking, but we know we will find one soon.

I have started teaching piano lessons to a young woman in the branch. I remember learning to play when I was younger and I'm so greatful that I did. I never thought that it would help me here on my mission, not only with being able to play for sacrament, but also for teaching and finding people. This particual girl that I am teaching was actually introduced to the church through free piano lessons given by sister missionaries over 5 years ago. When we were there giving the lesson, one of Casia's friends stopped by and we were able to talk to her. She has been to church before and she is going to start coming to our English classes. English is starting again this week and we are hopeful to find more people to teach through that. There are so many ways to introduce our friends, family, and others to the gospel.

There is a young girl named Alexandra who is a member here. She has been baptized for a year and is absolutely wonderful. We were able to meet with her and get to know her. She was so willing to give us referrals. I think this is the first time in my mission where I have seen and felt such a desire from the members to invite their friends to be introduced to the gospel. We are so lucky to be here and to have the help of the branch.

We have also met an inactive family that was baptized in 1991 in Germany. They are so sweet, but have forgot a lot about the church and the things they learned as they were taught and baptized there. They live in a cute little house right off of Centru (downtown, I have attached a picture of their front door). They have not had contact with the church in a long time and we are excited to start teaching them with the help of members and to helping them become active. Their daughter-in-law also lives with them and is not a member. We have a lot of hope for this wonderful family.

Yesterday in church we had a discussion that led to the conversation that baptism is not the end goal of missionary work, the temple and continued membership in the gospel is the end goal. How easy it would be if baptism was it, that we didn't have to do anything else, that we didn't have to come to church each week and partake of the sacrament, that we didn't have to continue to live worthy or to have another goal to work towards. We know that there is more and it takes a lot of continued work on our part. Baptism is just the first step. How lucky we are to have temples and blessing to make covenants there to continue to help us endure and succeed in this life. The temple must always be our goal. I miss the temple. I miss the peace, the reassurance, and the love that is felt as I attend the temple. I cannot wait to go again and to feel the power and strength that comes from going to the temple.

Va Iubesc,

Sora Remsberg

First week in Sibiu

Sibiu is exactly what we were expecting to see when Amy got her mission call to Romania...

1. bright houses
2. small doors (Amy looks like a giant)  
3. cobblestone streets 
4. the epitome of historic europe

(1st lesson in Sibiu)

The branch is pretty small, about 10 come to church. They work a lot with the members and less-actives. They are being "white-washed" into the city so of course they are trying to find people to teach. Ps. They are currently living out of a hotel....not the greatest.  

Photos of Sibiu.... it's gorgeous

Transfer 9...

VA FI MINUNAT!

Translation = it will be wonderful

Amy & Sora Zimmerman in Bucaresti 

Fancy day in the park

The new district: Sora Sam, Amy, Elder Eckersley, Elder Lasater