zimura-cuz. ceramics. siria.

          Hey!

It rained this week and was not warm at all…absence of heat was real. It was a solid week. We had a lesson with this new guy from English. Not toooo interested in religion but there's always potential!

I'm really not that stressed! I was just wondering why the work is so different seeming here, but that's just the way it is. 

I tried to meet up with our main investigator this week many times, G but              everything was just not letting it happen. Like the super weird dude that came up to us with an uneven stache, talking about Morgan Freeman. I don't even know. I really wanting to push hard this last week of transfer to get some good things in and hopefully meet with G a couple times.  Arad is still going and rolling. the momentum is still here and especially with Less actives and organization we have in the branch now. We need a solid foundation to bring people into! 

We got into this theology school to try and talk to the big boss guy about doing a Christmas concert, but he wasn't there. Another random holiday in Romania I guess. I would've thrown it down if he was there though. Everyone was blown away we were just chilling in this Orthodox Priest training facility.   

We had Fam Home Evening, nobody really came haha but we had one guy there that stayed from after english and he's a member. We played some games, shared some riddles. Some kids were there and they are all types of crazy. They went crazy trying to get me to give them candy for some reason. Like serious, malicious attempts to shake candy out of my arms. Sora Smith gave them hard boiled eggs, hahaha - solid replacement, right? 

We went to this small town outside of Arad called Zimura-Cuz to do some contacting. We get there and it is a really odd, poor farming sort. We just start goin' down the street... nobody has doorbells besides a few. I talked to about 3-4 people though. Then went down this street and a real old lady was standing in her doorway and started yelling towards us, some gibberish. I asked her to repeat 3 or 4 times.. I literally could not understand if she was actually saying words or just noises. Then I finally understood as she mustered to get out "What day is it?", hahaha. I was dying, but I let her know it was Wednesday. She confirmed a few times that it was Wednesday and then said thank you. One of those "where am I, hahaha" moments.   

Thursday was Elder D's birthday. We had a lesson and the dude was just really confused or something about when to meet up. He got there at 9:30 and said the gate was locked so he went home. I called him and asked if he was still gonna come. He thought we were having a lesson with multiple people or something so he thought people would be there already.. anyways he was an hour early. I dunno.  It went pretty well! But AFTER, we were walking home and got a call from the sister's investigator. Cool girl, she speaks english well and was wishing Elder D a happy b-day. Then we got invited to go to a ceramics class with her. Of course we went. I made a cool bowl on the wheel and a couple other small things. Basically just us, her, and about 12 really young little girls.. oh and one little boy. The teacher was really nice and told us stories about greek mythology.   

I started reading "The Infinite Atonement" by Tad R Callister. it is incredible.. check it out. 

We went to Oradea on Saturday for a fireside. the temple president from Freiburg came and it was super cool. It was so good for the people from Arad that came.  I realized how much I have come to seriously love these people. They are incredible and I am super grateful for them and this experience.  

Seeing everyone was way cool. I saw the homies from the MTC (Elder Dronyk and Sora Honey) and we all had a good time. Missionaries here are all pretty sick, not just a normal place. I love it!

Anyways, we had some cool people approach US at the train station. it was cool and I was happy about it. And I packed my over night stuff in this SICK wood paneled briefcase. I felt like a business man, it was cool.  

Today we went to this town called Siria. There was this way cool fortress ruins on top of the hill and it was super cool. I will send photos soon. I don't know the story behind it, though. The city is really cool, though. It was founded in 1129 or something like that! And had a cool outdoor theater. We adventured!  

I felt soooo good to be in the mountains and trees and not hear cars and city noise, laying in grassy hills and watching a guy herd his sheep, eating some rice and carrots on top of castle ruins. 

On our way down, there was this little herd of nice cows. One let me pat him and licked my hand, haha. Cows are super weird, haha! We also explored an abandoned church on the hill side.  It's a good life!

I've for sure grown a ton. It's been a good time. Language is going well, still want to know more. I just always want more, so that's the problem, haha (not really a problem). 

Crazy it's been 6+ months I've been gone now. I've got my own kid out here already...I have potential to be a great-grandpa, haha in my mish family.

I am preppin for halloween! We have an activity at our church on friday and I hope it is epic!! I'm pretty stoked for that. We will see how it goes :) 

The church is true. God loves you. Stay close with him. 

I love you too.  

- Elder Cole Boydstun!

Limbi.. apartments.. ruins.. grave digger

From Monday, October 13, 2014

Hey!

This week, I went and moved some furniture out of our HOMIE'S basement. His family is jewish and stuff. We find all this crazzzy old stuff and we asked him what is up. "Oh yeah this place was a shelter for a couple jewish families in WW2." 

That was crazy.

We had to move out of our apartment and get into the other guys place here in Arad. So that took a bunch of time. They finally got a place and got out and now are in Oradea, just north of here. They left us this chocolate cake that is death. Basically just ten heart diseases in a loaf. Tastes crazy though.

Parents sent me an incredible package, with a halloween decoration that got destroyed hardcore.  The only part that survived was a part that said "REST IN PIECES" so it all worked out anyways, right?

Our English classes have been going pretty well besides the insane random gypsy kids that come and just say real weird nasty stuff the whole time. So that's definitely not that cool. One of them made a bracelet and called me his friend though...

I've been put in situations many times this week of pulling clutch lessons on the spot. So that has been cool.

Wow, these stories have been so not cool like usual. hold on...

I went to this school for little kids, and learned some french from some random girl. So I can tell people my name and that I don't speak french that well. $$

There, I also taught some kids how to ollie on this real oldschool, less than walmart quality skateboard. That was cool. They just sat down on it after trying a couple times and pushed each other around, haha.

We are going to be moving apartments again and found these incredible ones up by the soccer stadium and they are filled with students. Met some cool guy from italy and I told him I didn't speak italian in italian so that was way sick, too.

We threw it down in this crazzzy conversation with a Jehovah's witness guy that is less-active. The Senior couple missionary went sssuuuper hard with these way bold questions and I was translating just wondering when this guy was going to just get real mad and kick me in the chin. But it ended way good and this guy was mind blown for the rest of the time and his wife was just like c'mon guys stopppp! haha super funny.

After this, we were driving in this random neighborhood because there was a cool looking church and behind it we discovered these ancient, random Roman Ruins! whoa. They were just these walls and stuff left, I wonder what it was though back in it's prime. ?

Vladmirescu, the weirdest suburb ever.

I dug a tree out of a grave site this week, too. I don't know what the deal is but nobody keeps up with the cemeteries here, they are all overgrown. But I was going super hard for about an hour and got that bad boy out of there. Then it was round two on this thicker one next to it and I was borderline KO'd. Then this random 60 something year old guy comes out of nowhere and asks if we want him to do it. uh Sure dude? knock yourself out.... He gets this crazy shovel and starts going super hardcore just tearing it up and I'm offering this dude help and he refuses it... just being a real man about it. Then he offers some real nice service to clean it allll up real nice, and asks for 20 lei.. that's like 6 bucks. He was stoked about it. This guy was probably 5'8" and 130 pounds. He had a great stache though.

I learned how to do church finances finally, just kinda got tossed into it and it was intense. Our branch president kills me though, he is a fuuunny dude. Just imagine a 6 foot, 300 pound Navajo looking dude with disgusting teeth covered in gold caps slurring crazy Romanian at you and calling you his love. haha

Sometimes it is hard to not get discouraged, I just wish I knew what to do and how to get the success I see so many people find in other missions. When I am here struggling to get numbers and lessons. Like we didn't get any investigator lessons this week. and I understand every mission is different blah blah. I understand that well. But what makes this place so different? Just wanting to  figure it all out.

Still being positive. not down.. just wondering. 

I ate sloppy joes on Sunday. and potato salad. real american. and a grilled cheese. dang. Some lady with gross chin hairs stopped us and was real adamant about us helping her find a husband in America and I guess she had been to church because her psychiatrist told her she needed to ask the Mormons how to get a spouse. We are pros, apparently. $$$$

Some dude also told me how if we aren't amish, we must be aliens that somehow just landed on earth after the big bang. He tried talking to me in french too. I just said OK MAN OK OK then he quoted me like it was something really profound I had said. 

I'm learning Italian from this Italian/Romanian dictionary I found. I like Italian a lot.

vi voglio bene

va iubesc!

je m'appelle -
Elder Cole Boydstun

Yom Kipper - Conference Weekend

Every time I write these emails I wonder what I even have to say. 

then I think.. oh yeah, this place is madness!

We went to Vera's place again this week (jew/christian lady that takes care of 3 mentally ill old ladies on her on pension). I think it mentally scarred my comp hahaha, his first skeeeetchy old romanian madness. We drank some cocacola out of some extraordinarily dirty/dusty glasses. She yelled at my comp for standing on her weeds, hahaha. Old dude who was there (she saved him from jumping off a bridge) talked to me forever about how he kept bees forever and had 4 WHOLE BOXES OF THEM.  We tried to help her move stuff around her house/courtyard but she refused because we only had time to praise God together. So we listened to her say the 10 Commandments in Romanian and even memorized in English. She is so nuts. She had a dream that she needs to learn English.. so she somehow came into contact with us, I think she just needs to find the gospellllll ooooohhhh!

$$$

But hey, English started too. We actually got some people interested in faith from it too, cool beans. Two even came to watch conference… whoaaa!

BUT check this out. Catalin. My HOMIE... Myler and I started teaching him English back in May. He hardly spoke any at first. I may have said this another time, but he got a job offer to go work in England last month. AND he just left to Bucharest to go there yesterday!!!! SOO SICK AHH. that dude just started a whole new life and I am sooo stoked for him. NUTS WHOA WOW 

We went to visit Sora Krista in the hospital again. It was incredible. One of the coolest spiritual convos I have had yet. Her husband was a real solid member once, but got offended. I was talking about not letting others affect our faith and how people aren't perfect and to not be offended… money, I know. And she raises up her hand on her little bed and points at him when he isn't looking, haha. Then we threw it down on sharing a story from a Mormon Message video. it was CLUTCH, too. Her husband was feelin the spirit, I know it. I was so stoked about it!

I talked to my homie from Italy. Elder Minor... the homie. It was real cool.

Met up with Ghiti this week at his Langos stand. He has that, and is transforming his basement into a restaurant for his son to run it. He is the man. He introduced us to everyone there and invited them to church. We talked to some dude in his neighborhood for a while because he stopped him and said "Hey whats up! Look, I'm with my brothers from the church!" Then proceeded to get his number so he can bring him to church sometime. He is the sickest ever.

This was on exchange w/ Baielli so it was sick because we met him together in my first transfer. He also showed us his sons pitbull that is YOKED. No joke. It runs around like a short super ripped dude and has bulging muscles and is insane. 

I also watched one of the most odd plays I have ever seen. "Life as an Easy Game". The lady gets cancer, is pregnant, husband is real sketchy, she gets real depressed, then they are super happy together, she can't move arm but half-way through setting up a table for dinner it works fine again, then she leaves him randomly, he goes nuts.. wakes up drunk on the floor to a call saying his wife loves him and they have a healthy baby boy. play over.

We thought it would be so cool since it was in this huge theatre in Centru.. so we get tickets and then they usher us up into this tiny studio room and there are 2 actors... what the heck, man.

I also went to a Jewish synagogue on Friday. It was sooo cool. I wore a yamaka (or kippa) and everything. The Rabbi dude said a few things in Romanian at first then just went OFF for an hour in Hebrew. Some dude next to us went up to the front to kiss these manuscripts/scrolls or something.. then when he came back he opened this box thing in front of the benches you sit at, and replaced a pistol back into his chest holster. haha secret pistol wielding man.. 

We were with Gabi and he just laughed so hard.

We missionaries in Arad all made a ton of food on Saturday for the Conference sessions. Branch Pres filled his mouth full of Mici (sausage stuff) then asked Brown with chipmunk cheeks if there was more, hahahaha. Some crazy gypsy kids cracked a window at our Vila.. they were wild and took forever to leave. 

Conference was all in Romanian and I haven't been able to watch much of the English versions yet. But Jorg Klebingat's talk was incredible CHECK IT OUT.  I also liked Hollands about turning out to those less fortunate, he is the man!  Also, Callister's was really good!

"Mere Christianity" by CS Lewis is probably a way cool book. Check out this quote from it!

"Give me all. I don’t want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work: I want You. All of you. I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man, but to kill it. No half-measures will do. I don’t want to only prune a branch here and another there; rather, I want the whole tree out. Hand it all over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams. Turn them all over to me, give yourself to me and I will make of you a new self in my image. Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. My will, shall become your will. My heart, shall become your heart"

Love you all. Cherish Conference. The words from the Prophet and Apostles are the guidance we need to take heed of.  Listen to, follow, and Love God!

Alma 29 is real cool too. I read it last night. So you all read it, too. We are so united.

Hey watch out for the Eclipse soon!

va iubesc

saptamana placuta sa aveti

- Elder Boydstun