It's really hot near the beach

It's been getting really hot lately. It's even better when there's like no AC in places where there should be AC. Like right now, for example, I'm in a little internet cafe. I Look up, and there are a whole bunch of big tubes and vents and things that look like AC. And yet they are not on. It's about 80 degrees in here I think right now. No reason why. Gotta love Romania!

Things are going great in Constanta! The branch is so freaking cool. The BP knows what he's doing. He served on a mission, speaks perfect english, and is super motivated and knowledgeable about missionary work and it's so great to see.

This last week was pretty cool! Yesterday at church there was a member and his nonmember friend who came, both from africa, who don't speak Romanian,so I translated for them. It's been a while since I translated in any real capacity so it was a little rough at first but by the end it was great! I needed some more practice at that haha!

Oh! We had a lesson this week with a guitarist. We had a little jam session beforehand:) Well, more of him showing me cool things he can do and me being like "Oh wow that's cool." I think I've realized that with guitar I'm kind of a one man show haha. But anyway he was really good. Oh and did I mention he only has one hand? Yeah he's only got one actual hand. Birth defect left his right hand reduced to nothing but two small deformed fingers. He uses one of them as a pick. He plays flamenco style guitar, and would be really good even if he had two full hands. But yeah. I've had two lessons with him and they've both gone pretty well! He's got a rather interesting past, involving "black magic" and spiritualism and stuff like that, and he still is the kind of guy that claims to see auras and I think he even runs his own spiritual therapy thing. But he's really nice and sincere and he's thinking about baptism. It's at least crossed his mind, anyway. In our last lesson we committed him to pray to know if that's what God wants him to do.

In other happy news, Romania is finally getting some of the most important things that they've been missing! A few weeks ago big stores started carrying Reese's and I almost fainted when I saw them and I may or may not have cried when I tasted them. I have bought many of them. Hershey's in general is now invading Romania. They say that once you try European chocolate you never want to go back. Not true. At least not in Romania. For me. The chocolate here is amazing don't get me wrong, but the American stuff is just as good as ever. Then this past week, McDonalds started having Oreo McFlurries!! They didn't have them before! But they do now! Now if they could just get some decent peanut butter I'd be set for life!

 

Haha so not too much happened out of the ordinary! Just some contacting, trying to bring people unto Christ, although so far I've been having more success here than elsewhere!

I love Constanta!!

 

And I love you!

 

-Elder DeGraw

I'm gonna get so tan!

I'm going to the beach! We just found out transfers and I'm going to Constanța! I'll be right on the beach, on the Black Sea! And when I say on the beach, I mean my apartment is literally on a beach.

I'm really excited. Also I've only heard good things about the branch. It's got a lot of younger members, some children, and it's strong. Still small, obviously, I mean this is Romania, but strong.
My new companion will be Elder D. He is 4 transfers younger than me.

 

I really don't have too much to say because we just skyped yesterday, but here's a picture of me and the Arad sign. We walked all the way to the bottom of Arad and saw it and Elder C took it as a sign that he will be leaving (which he is, we're being whitewashed out), because he's been trying to find a sign that said Arad ever since he got here because he had a similar picture in his other city. So we found it and it was awesome!

 

So yeah we had a great day exploring and trying to find people and the next day we had a lesson where the guy actually let us talk and it was awesome!

 

Anyway I'll probably have more to say next week!

Love you!

- Elder DeGraw

Outer limits of Arad

Happy Hump Day!

So my one year as a missionary mark was a great day!

We had a branch barbeque for 1 Mai which is a holiday here. We had mici and pork chops and it was really great. We had a decent turn out of members so that really made me happy, as we've been trying to get activities organized for a while but there haven't been any in a long time because people never came so they stopped.

But this one worked and it has now been mentioned several times in church how it's important to go to activities and this one worked out so the next one we have planned (a cinco de mayo party on may 6) should go well, especially seeing as there are some former missionaries coming back with their families. It should be great!

So yeah we had that, and then other highlights of the day include ice cream, shaorma, and getting permission to watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs! It was a really fun day marking a really important occasion.

Other than that, the week has been pretty average! English classes have been going about the same, contacting has been a little slow because it's been raining a bit, but yeah. 

We went to the service place with the children again! That's always fun. The kids are really cool and it's fun and it reminds me of home with all the cousins haha.

Sorry I don't really have much else to report! Transfers are next week so I'll let you know what's happening!

I love all of you guys!!

 

My thought for the day, remember that no matter where we are in life, no matter how badly we've messed up, or how far we've fallen, no matter anything, we can get help. The gospel and by extension the church provide ways for us to get help. Whether overcome by sins, anxieties, sadness, anger, grief, or whatever it may be, the atonement can help us. It is the most important thing that ever has existed, and that ever will exist, and it's available to each of us.

 

Okay cool have a great week!

 

-Elder DeGraw

As of now, I've done more than I have left

I'm officially halfway done.

 It doesn't feel possible, but I've completed more than half of the biggest thing in my life so far, the thing that everything has been building up to.

I've learned a lot so far, and have a lot more to learn. As I'm rolling around a year of being out here, which will be this thursday, I've been thinking of what I've learned in this last year. I certainly don't feel like I've been out here for a year. There are so many moments where I feel like I've done absolutely nothing in my entire time as a missionary. Many days, it feels like I have no purpose out here. I wish I could say I've always been 100% perfect, but obviously nobody can, so that has weighed on my mind occasionally as well, not working how or as hard as I would like to, being as obedient as I should, making mistakes, but constantly improving and when I mess up I try to fix it. But even though it doesn't feel like I've done a lot out here, even though I have seen almost no "success" in terms of how most people measure their missionary success, I have learned some important things.

The fact that you do not see the results of your good actions does NOT mean that they are for nothing. They say all the time that we are planting seeds out here. It's really hard to feel like a successful farmer when you go around travelling various places, planting seeds wherever you go, working really hard on some seeds, always planting, and then having to leave before even seeing a hint of a sprout. But that doesn't mean something hasn't started. It doesn't mean that the effort has been in vain. Those seeds can and will grow and prosper. I wake up every day, do nearly the same thing, while always obviously trying new methods when the old ones don't work, and almost never see anything come out of it. But I've learned to understand that little things we do can have impacts in the most unexpected ways. And I've learned that even when I don't see immediate blessings or rewards from my righteous choices/actions, that doesn't change the fact that God is good, and when I wake up in the morning after a "failure" of a day, the church is still just as true today as it was yesterday. 

We learn quickly out here that if you base your faith on outward signs, such as baptisms or whatever it may be, because you feel like you've done all that you were supposed to, you're going to go crazy and/or get depressed. Haha it is a frequent subject of discussion among missionaries out here how we see friends or relatives in other missions, talking about all the success they're seeing, and complaining about things that we'd be rejoicing over, and some talk about it as if, if that wasn't the case and they weren't seeing baptisms every week, or meeting with multiple people regularly, that they'd give up. That seeing success is the only way to be a good missionary. Honestly I know a few missionaries out here who are super close to just not talking to some of their friends because they keep saying things like, "it must be that you guys don't have enough faith," or things like that.

I'm so glad that I got to come here and serve in this great country among this wonderful people to be able to see that sometimes, even when we try our hardest, we don't get to see the immediate results of our actions. I firmly believe that actions I've taken out here will lead to baptisms somehow, somewhere, in some way that I will most likely never see. And it doesn't bother me to know that I won't see a lot of success out here. Each mission is different and teaches and helps missionaries in it's own way. I have learned many things about life, myself, the Gospel, and other things that I needed to learn, and I still have a long way to go.

If I could say anything to sum up my experiences out here so far, I would simply say that I've grown up. I've gone from following people around all the time, not knowing what I'm doing at all, to now being a DL and senior companion, and there's almost certainly more that I'll have to do. And at this point I finally feel like I actually can haha! I don't feel like a child anymore, though I still act like one occasionally ;) At this point in my mission, I'm kind of old. Not super old, but I know what I'm doing.

And the thing that weirds me out the most is that I'm the same age right now as my first district leader was when I got into the country, and he leaves at the end of next transfer. My whole mission, he and others around his same mission age have been kind of my role models and I've kind of looked up to them for my whole time out here. They will all be gone very soon and we're getting a new mission president, and everything's going to be different and me and the rest of my MTC group are going to be the big men on campus haha. But seriously, in two transfers, the only people from my first district still left out here will be me and Elder L, who was in my MTC group!!!

Haha I kind of decided a while ago that I just need to embrace this. So I'm no longer going crazy at how I still feel young, although I do. From now on I'm going to make the most of what I have left and learn and grow as much as I can while helping others to do the same.

This mission is the greatest thing to ever happen to me. I've grown and learned so much. I highly recommend a mission to anybody who is thinking about it. My testimony and understanding of the principles and doctrines of the church have increased profoundly. I love this church, I love my mission, I love Romania and the Romanian people and language, I love all the great missionaries I get to serve with, I love all of my family and friends and all those who have supported me and/or helped me with my decision and ability to serve. I have a year left out here, and I plan to make the most out of it!!

This week, as per usual, not too much happened, although I had a meeting with the branch mission leader about having some branch activities and so we're planning some in the coming weeks. We also went to Lipova, the Șoimoș fortress ruins, with quite literally some of the most gorgeous scenery I've ever seen in my entire life. It was super fun! 

I love Romania!!!

Love,

Elder DeGraw