HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!better late than never right??!! well, im glad the holidays are finally over. now we can get back to work. doing service is nice...but i feel like such a lazy missionary when im not teaching or getting kicked out of the blocs. we visited a less active in the infectious hospital & she kissed us both on the cheek. the next day i got a pimple in the exact spot where she kissed me!!! hope i don't have hepatitus!!! it's sad that i won't get to see vasile before i leave. he's still out of town for the holidays & won't be back til the end of the week!!!here are a few pics from my last winter in Romania. Hope you like 'em. we got transfer calls, & found out that i'm transferred again. this will be my fifth area, which means ill probably end my mission there. a little excited, a little scared...but that's how it is i guess.i love you all...HAVE A BLESSED WEEK!!!-sasster betham

December 28, 2008

LA MULTI ANI!!!It's been awhile since I last wrote...I'm Sorry!!!! It was so good to hear from all of you guys last week. I miss you guys soooooo much!!!! Betty sent me the link to all the Christmas pictures in Utah...HILARIOUS!!! I like Drew & Mom's matching haircuts too!!!! lol. I was kind of confused with the balloons in the nylons??!! Lemme know what that game was, maybe we'll play it at our next Branch activity. All the kids are so grown!!! I almost didn't even recognize Baby Jimmy!!! It looks like you all had a lot of fun.As far as the work, things are going really slow. Our investigators left out of town for the holidays, so we've just been doing service for the members & the community. I went & chopped wood for the first time 2 weeks ago, & it was so much fun!!! We also went caroling all last week to in-actives & investigators. Oh yeah, & we went caroling to this old folks home, & it reminded me of the time Betty made all those little Bears & took them to the Old Folks home in Hawaii & they all ripped the eyes & the ears off!!!! LOL!!!! It was fun.I'm attatching a link to our Jingle Bells skit we did for our Zone Christmas party...HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYBODY!!!!!http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n8/betham72/?action=view&current=JingleMovie.flv-Sasster Sora.

December 17, 2008

which translates: fa'afetai to the bestest mom 'eva!!!!!i just checked my account, & was so happy to see my account full again!!! merry christmas me!!!! you really don't have to send a package. it would just be nice to get something in the mail...but you really don't have to. i don't need much from home. everything i need i've been able to find here. so, maybe just money in the bank!!! hahaha. i need to find some new boots, because my old ones have holes in them...& i was thinking about luggage, because both of mine don't roll anymore!!!! i was thinking about sending a package home, but i'm coming home in 3 months, so i'll just bring it then. if there's something in particular you want from here, lemme know.as far as my call home for c'mas...im thinking ill call home around 8 o'clock c'mas eve. if that doesn't work for you guys let me know. im planning to call you guys for about an hour & then the utah clan for an hour. so if you could get them to do something all together on c'mas eve it would be easier for me to talk to all of them at once.the work is going well. the church was on tv this past sunday. the missionaries in buc were able to talk about the doctrines of the church. eventhough they had an orthodox priest commenting on everything including baptism for the dead & polygamy, a lot of people are beginning to hear about the church & are becoming interested. the lord is blessing his children here in romania & im grateful to be a part of it.send my love to everyone. i miss you alot & can't wait to talk to you next week.cu drag,sora betham

December 1, 2008

The Christmas Transfer

Yay, it's finally here!!!! I'm so glad I get one more Christmas in Romania!!!! The city I'm in now, Brasov, is the most beautiful city in Romania. We had the first snow of the winter last week, & decided that I actually love the snow!!!! Until it hardens & you actually have to tract in it. I learned that when you have holes in your boots, 4 pairs of socks won't keep your toes from turning into vienna sausages!!!!! I think the only good thing that came out of communism is that the communist blocks make talking to people a little easier this time of year...they keep u warm & the doors are right next to each other!!! but romanians don't really like to be bothered...I mean, it's not like we should be thinking about the Savior at the time of his birth RIGHT??!!! i don't get it, but whatever.it's been awhile since i last wrote...so let me update you. we're working with this old man, Vasile who's 82 years old!!! He is the tightest old man too. He used to be a pilot for the Army a long long time ago. He just walked up to the church one day when someone else cancelled on us & asked about the church. We've been working with him for about 2 1/2 weeks now, & he's planning to be baptized on Dec 13!!!! I'm so excited for him. ...& yes this will be the FIRST!!!!! Every day, I'm learning to really love missionary work. I get this weird adrenaline rush everytime some one actually listens for at least 10 min!!!! ...well, okay it's the spirit not adrenaline...but whatever...I LOVE IT!!! don't get me wrong, i still get pissed when people don't accept the gospel...but i get over it & keep it moving. hope all is well in the motherland...hope the recession isn't keeping santa from coming to romania!!!! love u guys, have a good week!!!!

November 11, 2008

sorry i haven't written in so long. i didn't think anyone would notice, because no one wrote back!!!! so anyways, i've been doing really good. so, i've been training my baby girl Sora Smith...& we're doing good. the work is going well...3 INVESTIGATORS AT CHURCH!!!! WHOOOHOOO!!!!! never had that happen...EVER!!! so we're pretty excited about the investigators we're working with. tell u more about them once they get a baptismal date. here are some pics i thought would summarize how i've been doing:pic1: chillin in the apt with the baby girlpic2: went to buc for doina's baptism. all these sisters worked with her. she investigated about a year & a half. goes to show that we can never give up!!!!pic3: pop a cap...MY GUN GO OFF!!!! laser tag on p-daypic4: happy halloween!!!! can u guess what we were??!!! a RADIO & a MICROPHONE!!!!! get it??!! so creative yah!!!!as usual i want to write so much more...but don't have time. story of my life. maybe next week i'll try harder...if u do too!!!! haha.-sasster sora

October 13, 2008

last friday we had a luau for the branch...& it was the ghetto-est luau ever, but everyone had so much fun!!!! we started out by reading the parable of the talents in matthew. then we separated into 3 groups. miles & williams taught some of the boys the haka...i taught my comp the hukilau, so she & kirk taught that...& had all the older members in my group with hardman & we taught the patapata. we decorated the church & i hung my ie lavalava on the wall...so ghetto i know. & we made origami flowers for everyone to put in their ears...it was THE best activity yet.then we got transfer calls & found out that im for sure transfered. after 6 months in this area, it's like leaving home. but a change would be good. some of the members were crying, which made it that much harder to leave. man, i hate this part.here are some pics & the links to the videos...love u guys. have a good week!

September 22, 2008

hello camperz,i was on my blog and i realized that pictures are so much better to look at, so i'm gonna do better about sending pics with my emails. this week was almost just like any other, except that church was so packed on sunday. a lot of less actives are coming back, which we're all really excited about. the branch is getting more involved in missionary work, which makes our job a lot easier, because they're all good teachers with such strong testimonies.we have a new investigator, Irina. she's divorced with 4 kids at home. they're the cutest little romanian kids i've ever seen. fernando is 6, & our whole lesson he was throwing this ball against the wall & kept breaking things. lol. he reminds me so much of cypress, the way he looks and ACTS!!!! & her baby, magdalina is JUMBO size!!!! she's bigger than any samoan baby i know, which means she's HUGE right???!!!! we gave a her a book of mormon, so i hope she makes time to read.i hope you're all doing good. love & miss you guys!!!! have a good week.1- w/ Andreea Stoica learning how to dance the BRASOVEANCA!!!2- deciding which ugly sweater i wanted to burn for my 1 YEAR MARK!!!!3- "LET IT BUUUUUUUURN!!!"4- posing by Prez's ride after zone conference

Sept. 9, 2008

Subject: ONE YEAR BABY!!!
hey everybody!!!
sorry i haven't written in awhile...nothing new really happened. got a
new companion though, & she's tight...so i'm excited for another
transfer here in iasi. man, i'll hit my year mark on friday...i've been
a missionary for ONE WHOLE YEAR NOW!!!! are you suprised? i am. here are
the pics i promised awhile back. have a good week!!!!
-sora betham
1-playing with my PIMP new phone-the office elders hooked me up!!!
2-me & my mini-"mironey" messing around on the train
3-one of my favorite members in buc...we call her BUNI!!!! (grandma)
4-broken luggage...life of a missionary
5-me & baby miron my comp's sister who served a mini mission too!!!
6-transilvania crew (we all pretty much served with each other) like my
watch?!! thanks horgmo!!!
7-outreach pics with the youth
8-piatra neamt...enough said.
9-the eternal flame...except we're blocking it!!! smart huh?!!

August 20, 2008

This week has been "SUCH A GOOD ONE!!!" Sora Chitu had to go home early because she & her mom were supposed to go to the temple in Germany. So the AP's arranged for another mini for the rest of the transfer. My new companion, Sora Miron from Brasov got in Wed night & Sora Chitu left back to Bucuresti Thurs morning. Well, the Elders in Bacau have an investigator, Cristina, who hasn't been opening up to them. Her brother, however needed a baptismal interview with the Zone Leaders for his baptism this Sun. So, Thurs afternoon after Chitu got on her train, we went with them to Bacau to have a lesson with her to see if she is ready for baptism. Well, it takes about 2 hours to get to Bacau. When we finally got to the church, her brother showed up, but she didn't! Well, my companion & I didn't just want to wait for them & hang around the church. So, we went to a Park nearby & started talking to people about the church. After talking to this younger girl, we got her phone number, & started walking away when another girl with a stroller stopped us. It was really kind of awkward. We talked to her about the church for a little bit & invited her that Sunday to a baptism. She was like, "yeah, that's my brother!" We looked at each other, & realized it was CRISTINA!!!! She had to watch her baby brother, which is why she couldn't make it. We told her we had prepared a lesson for her, so we found a bench & sat down & had our lesson. It was amazing. Miracles like these rarely happen to me, but I'm grateful that the Spirit was able to bring us together. After our lesson, we met back up with the Elders & as we walked to McDonald's for lunch, we found this Ferris Wheel in a PLAYGROUND!!!! It was the tightest thing ever!!! So we jumped on. Yup, skirt & all. It was so much fun!!!When we got back from Bacau that night, President just arrived in Iasi. We had interviews the next morning, but he called to meet us at the Bus Station because he had Sora Miron's mission call!!! She turned her papers in for a full time mission. She's already served 3 mini missions already, this being her fourth with me. We opened it right there on the street...she's going to Switzerland, German speaking!!!! We're all so excited for her.The next morning we had interviews with President & later that night left for Chisinau again for Zone Conference. It was such a good Zone Conference. The Zone Leaders had built a bridge as an object lesson, that went with a poem about the Savior & His Atonement. It was "EPIC!!!" We're back in Iasi now. I'm so excited to get things going again. Zone Conference always seems to do that...it gets you so hyped up to do missionary work. Just what I needed.Thank you all for your encouraging letters last week. They really helped me to get through it. I love you all so much! Here are some pics from Bacau & Chisinau. Hope all is well. Have a good week!!!!-Sasster Sora

August 8, 2008

ENGLISH, GYPSIES, & KENNY G

Things here in Iasi haven't changed much since my last letter. The investigators we found last week are progressing really slowly. I guess that's how it goes sometimes. We finally got permission from the city to do our English sign-ups on the streets, so I'm excited to see how it all goes. We're trying a lot of new things this time, so I hope it goes well. We even have a website Elder Kirk put together: http://iasiengleza.com/. It's in Romanian, so you wouldn't understand it, but there's pics you can look at!We also visited the BYU girls this week, because they'll be leaving in a couple of days. The funniest thing happened. I'm not sure how appropriate it would be, but I'm gonna tell it anyway. So, I think I've told you about how gypsies are here...well, they are gypsy moms at the Hospital too. Usually they yell dirty things at the BYU girls. But this one day, they were really nice. So one of the BYU girls offered them 1 sticker for each of their kids from her book. Well, they all went nuts & snatched the book from her, & started fighting over them. Get this, one mom even unzipped her shirt & started putting superman stickers all over her boobs!!!! lol. While the other ladys kept fighting. The BYU girl finally snatched her book back & got out of there. I couldn't stop laughing when they told me. lol...We also had a Branch Picnic at the Lake. It was so much fun! We ate grilled Mici (this Beef-Spam-nasty-but-really-good-Sausage), threw the football for a little bit, & had a Water fight. Our investigator came & got to know a lot of the members, which was good. I love Branch activities here in Iasi. Everyone here has a genuine care for each other, like one big family.That was my week in short. Besides all that, I've been really homesick this past week. It just seems like everyone around me is leaving back to the states. Feels like I'll never make it back home. So, a couple times this week, I just cried it out, made some Brownies, & put on my Kenny G CD...& everything was all good again!!!! & of course PRAYER!!!!I hope your week was better than mine. Hope to hear from some of you this week. But if not, you're still in my prayers!!!!God is Love,Rev Run.