June 1, 2008 (Sunday)

Fast Sunday was today. It was lovely. Almost every branch member bore their testimony. Not that there are that many members, but it’s awesome to see the members they have are so strong – even thought their lives are so hard. The only two teenagers in the branch are Andrea and Radu. They are brother and sister. Andrea got up and bore her testimony – it was very powerful. It really hit me when she pled with the members of the branch to pray for the growth of the church in Romania. I could tell in her eyes and in her voice that she wanted that so badly – so desperately. Poor Andrea and Radu are completely alone in their faith. I didn’t have many members growing up in school either, but I had a few which made all the difference. I know Radu’s mom said it’s hard for both of them because many of their peers will shun them because they have high standards. It breaks my heart. Their mom got up and bore her testimony as well. She also spoke about the growth of the church. They are one of the strongest families in the branch. She talked about how she hoped that they would eventually have a ton of members that had strong testimonies like the “BYU fetele” (BYU girls) and the missionaries. It made us feel good, but at the same time I feel like we have a lot to live up to. We are looked at by everyone around us, and they know we are LDS – so in a way we represent the church as well.

I wore the skirt I sewed to church today. I was so proud of it! It fit perfectly, and it didn’t fall off. My stitching withheld at least for one time of wearing it which was nice. I told the sisters that had shown us how to make a skirt that I hand made the one I was wearing. I could tell they were very proud of showing me that craft. They kept saying “frumos” which means “pretty or handsome.” They were all very excited. They kept looking at the stitching real close. I kept thinking don’t look too close! It’s not very good – but they insisted it was.

It was our turn to cook today. It was supposed to be poppy seed chicken, but we were missing an ingredient so I don’t know what it turned out to be. It was good though. No complaints. At dinner the girls asked me what I was going to do about Sera. They thought it was hilarious that out of everyone I was the most adamant about getting a break from dating by coming to Romania, and I somehow still had boy problems. Mindy was like “you can’t even get away from them in Romania.” I’m not sure how to handle the situation. I’m going to pray that everything will work out the way it needs to. I just don’t want it to be awkward between him and I because we work together. I still want to be friends with him though. The girls kept saying “he doesn’t want to be your friend.” I hate that. That phrase is becoming too common.

My aunt Ariane called tonight. It was soo good to talk to her. I chatted with her about my latest adventures in the land of Romania. While I was talking with her a roach came crawling across the floor, and I freaked out. I got a shoe and killed it. Then MacKenzie and Mary took pictures with the roach so they could put it on their blog. We are all so picture happy it’s ridiculous.