Duminică

Today was our first Sunday in Iași and it was wonderful! I was a little nervous about going to church here. I mean, I don't know the language, it's a small branch, I didn't know how it worked...but being there today showed me that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the same no matter where you are in the world!

We left for church at 9:30 this morning. It was about a 20 minute walk to church, which isn't too bad! It was a beautiful morning and I think we were all excited and a little nervous. Here in Iași there are not enough members to have a full ward, so they have a branch. In this branch, there are about 20 members. When our group of 14 showed up we almost doubled the number! The building is not like a normal church building. It is small and has three floors. Sacrament meeting was on the first floor, and it was amazing! It was all in Romanian, but the missionaries sat behind us and translated it all. To go through a whole hour of sacrament meeting in a different language was so special. Even though I did not always know what was going on, we could all feel the spirit in the room and that was the most important part. I think one of my favorite parts was singing the hymns in Romanian. It was just interesting, and it helped us all learn  correct pronunciation.

For the second hour, our group went up to the third floor and had our own Sunday school lesson. If you haven't read Elder Neil L. Andersen's talk "Thy Kingdom Come" from this past General Conference, I would strongly recommend it! It was the perfect lesson. It quotes a scripture in the Book of Mormon, Alma 26:37, and it says, "Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth." Listening to this in a different country had such an impact on me. The gospel is true, not matter where you are. Our Heavenly Father loves all of His children, no matter where they are.

Our third hour was Relief Society, and it was also held on the third floor. I really loved Relief Society! Their branch has six ladies in their Relief society, then there were three sister missionaries, then the 13 of us. Thank goodness we had the sister missionaries there! They were amazing and so helpful!! They translated the whole thing for us, and even offered to meet with us once or  twice this week to help us with our Romanian! The other ladies in Relief Society were also awesome! They were so welcoming and kind to us. It was cool to be somewhere new and feel like you completely belong.

The ward also assigned our group to be in charge of the branch family home evening each week. I am glad we will get to participate in all of their activities! I am so grateful for this gospel and the opportunity I have to attend church while I am here! 

In other news...we start teaching tomorrow! I am beyond excited to get to be with the kids!! Hopefully we can start in the orphanage and hospital by the end of next week. We also got to do some more exploring yesterday! I can't get over how beautiful this city is. We walked around the Palas and through some streets, and there is just so much to see! We went to the food court in the mall for dinner and each restaurant was something unique. We tried something called a dorna kebab and it was delicious! Also, there is this spread called nussa and it looks like a jar of Nutella  but it is milk and white chocolate and it is so good!

Here are just a things I have learned/observed in the past couple days:

1. Romanians are crazy drivers! Our first time in a car was a very scary thing! They don't stay in lanes and will sometimes drive or park on the sidewalk.
2. The drivers also love to use their horns...they will honk all the time.
3. The drivers always stop for pedestrians...when you come to a cross walk, you just start walking and they will stop for you. I am always nervous because it looks like they aren't going to stop, but they always do.
4. The streets are very dusty, so you have to make sure you take your shoes off as soon as you walk into your apartment. Mario made sure we knew that as soon as we got there.
5. It is illegal to hurt a pigeon here.
6. The grocery store will not give you a bag, you must bring your own.
7. There seems to be no such thing as a line. If you aren't aggressive enough, people will walk right in front of you.
8. I fell much safer here then I ever thought I would. I really love this city!

Thats about it! The girls in my group are amazing and I love them already! My romanian...is coming along. I can now say basic greeting, my name is, and count to 10(sometimes). I just want to give a special shoutout to my amazing mom for mother's day! She inspires me and is my very best friend! I love you so much mom! Thank you for helping me become the person I am today!

Until next time! La revedere! 

Love,

Madeline