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
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
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.I love you!
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
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
Sora Remsberg
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