So this is still my favorite city. Cluj is still rockin
hard. This last week we got our best numbers of the transfer and my best for a
while. We had 3 other lessons and a member present! We also got a lot of
contacting hours and potential investigators.
We had one of those miracle "just one more block" experiences, too! Me and Elder C were going out to go block knocking with the other elders, but we got off at the wrong bus stop, at a place where Elder C and Elder R had gone last transfer and got some good potential. We just decided to do a couple blocks and then go home because it was getting kind of late. So we did two blocks with only one person taking the survey, and we also got yelled at a few times. We also got someone who told us to come back on sunday (she wasn't there when we came back and the person who was there basically said she wouldn't be interested when she got back). But that was it.
So I was really ready to go home but we decided to do another block. The area we were in was just a whole bunch of blocks, so you'd think it'd be easy to get into one right? Well it wasn't. Haha we walked around the buildings for like 15 minutes trying to find a front entrance because we kept running into back doors or just not being able to find a door. By this time I'm feeling like something is in store, because I was really wanting to just leave but I was determined to stay. We finally found a front entrance, so we went over to it. In order to get into most of the blocks out here you have to buzz in and have someone open the door if you don't live there. Usually it's not that hard. But this time we buzzed like 4 people before we actually got let in, and those 4 people either yelled at us or told us to go away or just didn't let us in. Then I dialed a random number and they just let us in without even asking us who we were. We go up the stairs of the block, and right as we get there a guy walks out of a room and basically says "Hey guys come on in, let's talk!
...
...
That never happens.
...
...
I was freaking out a little haha. We had a good lesson with
him in which he talked most of the time, but he was very open and nice and
wants us to come back. Turns out this was a guy that Elder C and R
bumped into last transfer and talked for a little bit, but they forgot to write
down his information so Elder C just kind of thought he was lost in the
records. But we were meant to run into him haha.
That was a really faith boosting experience. Honestly this whole transfer has been a great motivation/faith booster. In my personal study the other day I was reading The Infinite Atonement, in which it answered a personal question that I had been pondering/worrying about for a while. I recommend that book to everyone. It's amazing. I have a strong testimony that through study of the scriptures and of the words of apostles and prophets is one of the best ways to recieve answers to prayers. I'm not always the best at having focused studies, but I do know that the days I study the best somehow seem to turn into the most productive.
Well that's about it. Other than the fact that the other day marked 9 flipping months of me being a missionary. Our sisters from the MTC are halfway done with their missions... I'm kind of weirding out about that. Haha once your MTC sisters go home, you are considered an old missionary.
So I'm halfway to being
a Moş. Haha also another analogy that equates well, I think, with the effective
ages of missionaries is that every week in the field, starting when you get
into the country, equates to a year of life. I'm 34 years old out here. I'm not
that young anymore. That bothers me. Haha because that means I'm that much
closer to going home which seems impossible and also means that I will have to
go back to normal life which means moving on and being an adult and
scaryneadsss anda dfhdljkhlajkgkjh;gjkbvsajkgajknfjkhfajk.
Anyway.
I had a great week, and I hope everyone else had/will have a
great week!
Love
Elder DeGraw
