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.

August , 2008

Buna!
Iasi is treating me well. We had exchanges this week in Moldova & it was
so much fun!!! Just a little background, Moldova is still a communist
country so missionary work is a lot different. It's also a bi-lingual
country, Romanian & Russian. It's weird. So everything is done in both
languages. So, because we only speak Romanian, there are a lot of people
who we can't teach. But, the good thing is that people there are a lot
more open. Baptisms are more common there than in here in Romania. The
church is growing so fast there, it's amazing. There are already 2
branches in Chisinau & Orhei within a year and a half. Our exchange was
so fun. It stormed like crazy...but we still went out after & talked to
a lot of people on the street. I forgot my camera at home, so I'll have
Sora Jensen send them to me & I'll forward them to you guys.
My companion Sora Chitu is still kind of weird. She's a mini-missionary
from Bucharest, which means she just serves one transfer - 6 weeks.
Well, her mom is going to the temple in 3 weeks, so she needs to go home
a little early. Which means, I'll get another mini-missionary from
Brasov for the last 3 weeks of the transfer. So things are a little
crazy as far as companions go, but I'm okay with it. You guys know how I
get irritated so fast...& how I irritate them!!!! lol. As crazy as it
is, I see the Lord's hand in all of this. I'm sure there's something
that I need to learn from both of them.
The work is going so well. We had a lady named Valentina come to church
yesterday. When I first saw her I wanted to laugh so hard!!! Her shirt
was lacey, so I didn't really notice at first, but I looked closer & she
didn't have anything under it...just her BRA!!!!! & then I started
talking to her, & her GRILL was all GOLD!!!! hilarious. She's really
open & wants to know everything about our church! I'm so excited to work
with her...& to find out where she got her GRILL!!!! lol.
It is such a blessing to be on the Lord's errand. It really is the best
work we can do...so fun & so rewarding!!! I had a dream the other day
that our family had a BBQ at the park...& then I woke up! You are
constantly in my prayers, & I hope that you are all doing well.

July 21, 2008

Hi everyone!
Thank you all for your birthday emails...it means a lot, that you all
still remember who I am!!! It was such a good Birthday! We also got
transfer calls, & I'm getting a Mini!!!! Once in awhile, we are short of
missionaries, & some of the ysa age members serve missions for a
transfer. So, my next companion will be Romanian!!!! Which means, I'll
be Senior companion & won't be speaking any English!!! Aaaaaaaah!!!! I'm
kind of nervous, & kind of excited. I'm here in Buc, so I'll pick her up
later today. I'm sorry for another really short email again, but I have
a lot to do today, & you're probably tired of me explaining my life
anyway!!!!!
I love & miss you all.
-Sora Betham

June 23, 2008

Hey Fam,
Another week came & went...crazy how fast time flies. We have an
investigator FINALLY!!!! Aurelia. She's actually one of the gypsy girls
that comes around the church a lot, but now she's actually interested in
the gospel. We helped her find a skirt at the Second-Hand store last
P-Day, & she was so excited to wear it to church. She looked beautiful.
It makes me feel so much better about the work. Even if I don't get any
baptisms my whole mission...even if SHE doesn't get baptized...I have
witnessed, even for a moment, that I made a difference in her life. She
was that much closer to Heavenly Father.
We're hoping to work with her a lot more. This past Sunday, each of the
companionships in our district had at least 1 investigator come to
church!!! It was such a good Sunday at church.
I enjoyed all your emails this week. I'm glad you are all doing well.
I love & miss you all!!!!
Cu Drag,
Sora Betham.
P.S. Just a friendly reminder from your favorite Sora....JULY 18TH IS
COMING UP!!!!!

July 15, 2008

Hey Everybody!
Life on the mish is amazing. We just had Zone Conference with our new
Mission President, & he is so TIGHT! He & his wife have been praying so
hard & have been prepared to serve here in Romania. They've been here a
couple of times before, & have established a foundation for the orphans
here in Romania. They also have their 8 year old adopted son with them
who is ROMANIAN! He left Romania when he was young, so he's pretty much
all-american, but it's such a blessing to have him here. He is
determined to place 41 Books of Mormon throughout his mission here.
TIGHT HUH!!!!
The work is really taking off. We're working with this girl, named Ana
Maria. I'm really excited about it. But, I gotta go right now. So, I'll
write next week.
Since my birthday is this week, I went & got a PEDICURE!!! lol. & the
BYU girls here are gonna die my hair today. I'll send pics & write more
next week.
I love you all!!!!
-Sora Betham