I'm in Romania!

A new missionary was born this week in Romania! Born in the Bucureşt, Panduri area, Elder DeGraw's "Naşi" (Godfathers) were Elder Hallist and Elder Whitehead. His ""father's" name is Elder Reid. His "mother" is Sora Ewell, and his "sister" is Sora Gerhartz. Although but a newborn, he is adapting to life in Romania rather well.

 

Okay anyway yeah I'm here! Haha, this first week has been a lifetime of experience already! The first night we stayed with a missionary companionship, Elders Hallist and Whitehead, who are awesome. We went out contacting in a park for a few hours, we walked around Bucharest, basically they prepared us for the mission and gave us a great night. Me and Elder Harper stayed with them, and all the other new missionaries spent the night with other Naşi. That first night in Romania was so surreal. I still can't believe I'm all the way across the world. All the signs and stuff are in Romanian (for the most part), people all around us are speaking Romanian, it's insane! What trips me out the most is seeing little kids speaking Romanian. Romanian babies are adorable, and the little toddlers or slightly older kids will be running around yelling Romanian things, haha it freaks me out!
 

 The other day we went out and "chalk-contacted" where we went to a park, drew the plan of salvation on the sidewalk in chalk, and tried to talk to strangers. It was cool! We talked with a really nice lady and her dad and daughter, who would hop on the spots we were talking about to be more interactive. Haha she stopped on the Terrestrial spot and said "I go here right?" then grabbed her like two year old daughter and put her on the Celestial and said "And she goes here!" And she joked around with us for a while and left. It was really cool.
 

Not all the people here are that cool though. We've been mocked several times, usually it's funny but not always. Also there are a lot of homeless people and people begging for money and it makes me so sad. Being here less than a week has helped me realize how good I had it back home. It makes me so much more grateful for what I have and what I had.
 

We've had a couple lessons with investigators, although we usually get bunged (set up for an appointment and they cancel). I'm in the big city of Bucureşti, in the Panduri branch. We are one of the few branches that actually has a dedicated building just for church use. The chapel is beautiful! The building is easily the nicest quality building I've been in up to this point. 

 

Something interesting about Romania, they don't really believe in AC. A lot of the older people believe that it makes you sick. They also don't put ice in their drinks. The real reason for this is because of lack of dental hygiene exposing nerves in the mouth which cause pain. But anyway. It's really hot here. We walk everywhere we go, but if it's further away we'll also take the Metrou or the Tramvai, which are like the subway and trax basically. And yep it's hot and sticky in there too. But all things considered, it's a cool place. It's definitely a downtown area, and is kinda ghetto, but the people for the most part are great! The members are amazing! I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure we have the largest branch in Romania, and there are some amazing members with incredibly strong testimonies here.

 

It's definitely one of the hardest things I could have chosen to do. We walk all day, set up appointments that fall through, and lots of other things. But you know what? I love it. Seeing members in these small branches here with so much faith in the gospel and in the church strengthens my testimony so much. I will adapt to this blessing not very well disguised as a trial. 

 

Although I haven't been here for very long, my testimony has grown so much. I'm going to do my best to bring these people the gospel. It won't always be easy, but it will always be worth it. If I can go out every day and put my smile on and all I do in this mission is set a good example to the people here by showing kindness and friendliness, doing good works and helping people, and don't see a single result of my work in my time here, I can still consider this a successful mission. I'm excited for what this work will bring, for me and for my future investigators. I love and miss all of you. You're all in my prayers. Talk to ya next week!

Dragoste,

Elder DeGraw

My first view of Bucharest

Trainers in Bucharest

My new office

LDS Chapel Plaque

LDS Chapel in Bucharest

Saying farewell to MTC companion

View from my apartment