1) How did your meeting go with the guy who called you from the pass along card? It went well. He is a curious person who is very Orthodox. Very nice guy. The lesson with him lasted forever, because he kept talking and talking and wouldn't let us talk. Kinda like Lonnie does sometimes. But he did come to church for a bit as well, we're gonna meet with him again this week.
2) Did you burn a shirt for your one year mark? Nope didn't burn a shirt. We got an email a few months ago, that specifically told us not to burn things on milestone dates and such. Apparently some missionaries here were "observed" burning a shirt or something, by some non-members, and they thought it was some Mormon Ritual or something to that effect. So, Pres. said no burning things. It's kind of a ritual, but not that kind of ritual. Anyways. All my shirts are un-charred, It is a shame, I had one non-tailored one that was gonna be a gonner. But not anymore. Instead he baked a cake!
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Remember that fun-fetti cake you sent. Just made it. Cut it in half, and put a layer of whipped cream in the middle, then frosted the whole thing with that frosting. Then put even more whipped cream on top of that, and sprinkles. Happy one year.
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3) When is the next transfer? Next transfer is on July 24th. We find out the lowdown on who's going where and stuff this coming Friday.
4) We give $400 to the bishop each month for your mission, how does that get spent---how much do you get a month for food, trains etc.? $400 dollars a month. That is the price that every missionary pays across the world, no matter where (obviously some people come from more humble backgrounds, so the church pays, or the excess money in the fund pays). The idea is that the cheaper countries to live in equal out to make up the slack for the more expensive ones. The church pays all our mission related travel, rent, utilities, and stuff like that. We get 940 lei (about 268 dollars, depending on exchange rates, our money is given in dollars, we have Bank of America cards) to buy groceries, bus passes, the necessities. We sometimes buy things like train tickets and get reimbursed later. Also, especially in the states, their budgets are set to reflect the amounts of times they eat in member's homes. We hardly ever eat in member's homes so our budget is for eating every day every meal on our own. So that's the scoop. 400 dollars is a deal. The church spends way more than that on every missionary every month, for sure.
Scriu in limba Romana, mergi la www.translate.google.com daca ai nevoie de ajutor. :) In saptamana aceasta, am fost atat de ocupati. Pe marti, am avut o schimba de experienta, cu liderii nostri de zona. Am stat cu Elder Knapp o zi, si am lucrat cu el, aici in Timisoara. El este din California de sud, si are acum aproape 1 an si jumatate in misiunea lui. Marti am avut adunarea noastra de district, si am facut chili la pranz. Era o zi placuta, si am facut contactare si slujire. Te voi explica despre intamplarea noastra cu slujire. Mergeam prin o piata, cu multe lucruri de vandut. Si, o furtuna a aparut si a plouat foarte tare, si vantul batea tare de asemenea. Au existat doua fete, vindeau marfa. Una dintre ele statea la acoperis, tinandu-l, ca sa nu fie distrus de catre vantul. Eu si Elder Knapp, le-am ajutat pe ele, si in procesul ajutorului nostru, am devenit foarte umedi, ci stiam ca noi am facut ceva buna pentru altcineva, si totul a fost bine. Noi am stat in magazinul lor, pana s-a oprit ploua. Ele au fost foarte recunoscatoare ca le-am ajutat. (I write in Romanian, go to www.translate.google.com if you need help. :) This week I was so busy. On Tuesday, I had an exchange of experience, our leaders of the area. I stayed with Elder Knapp one day, and worked with him here in Timisoara. He is from Southern California, and has now almost 1 year and a half in his mission. Tuesday we had our district meeting, and I made chili for lunch. It was a nice day, and did outreach and ministry. I will explain about our experiences with the service. I was walking through a market with many things to sell. And, a storm came and it rained very hard, and also flurries. There were two girls, selling merchandise. One of them sat on the roof, holding it, not to be destroyed by wind. Me and Elder Knapp, I helped them in the process of our assistance, we became very wet, but we knew we did something good for someone else, and everything was fine. We stayed in their store until it stopped raining. They were very grateful that we have helped.)
Si, o sa iti spun cum a mers lectia noastra cu omul acela cu care am intalnit in tramvai. Se numeste Ioan. El face o parte in Biserca Ortodoxa, ci el este un om deschis, si ii place sa vorbeasca despre "Domunl Isus Hristos" (am folosit cuvintele pe care le-a folosit el). Noi am stat la casa lui probabil 2 ore. Si el ne-a dat suc si a fost foarte politicos cu noi. Vom stabili o alta data in care putem merge la el ca sa tinem o lectie. (And I'll tell you how it went our lesson with the man that I met in tram. It's called John. He makes some in the Orthodox Church, but he is a open and likes to talk about "Domunl Jesus Christ" (I used the words that he used it). We stayed at his house probably 2:00. And he gave us juice and was very polite to us. We will arrange another time we can go to him as to keep a lesson.)
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| Elder Knapp on the left, me looking at the map. We got lost on our way to that guy from the tramvai's house |
De asemenea, am a avut o invitatie de a merge la o familie pentru pranz. Probabil numai al trelia ori in care am fost invitat la casa unui membru. Mancarea acolo a fost foarte buna, am mancat ardei umpluti, si inghetata dupa ala. Colegul meu le-a dat un gand spiritual, aminteste-te ca el numai are cinci saptamani aici, ci el l-a facut foarte bine. Stia limba spaniola inainte misiunea lui, deci el invata limba Romana mai rapid. (I also had an invitation to go to a family lunch. Probably only the Trela times I was invited to the home of a member. The foodthere was very good, we ate stuffed peppers, and ice cream after that one. My colleague gave a spiritual thought, remind yourself that he only has five weeks here, but he did very well. He knew Spanish before his mission, so he quickly learn Romanian.)
Si, ultimul lucru pe care l-am facut in saptamana aceasta, a fost o petrecere. Avem douazeci de ani ca o misune in Romania si Moldova. Deci, ne-am sarbatorit putin. Ne-am uitat la un concert si am avut snacks-uri. Noi am planificat sa avem mai multi oameni acolo, ci, nu a fost asa. Unii membrii au venit, cu niste simpatizati ai surorilor noastre, si unii studenti de la cursurile noastre de limba engleza. (And the last thing I did this week was a party. We have twenty years as a swarm in Romania and Moldova. So we celebrated a little. We looked at a concert and had snacks. We planned to have more people there, but it was not. Some members have come up with some supporters of our sisters, and some students from our English courses.)
That was my week! Hope you all have a good week, we'll talk again soon!
Elder Phelps
