This week was a pretty good one, Elder Bontempo and I did our best to find people to teach and teach when we found. Over the course of the week, it was so clear to me that the Lord is the master of His work, and as we are obedient and work with all of our might, he blesses us with people to teach and help bring to the fold.
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| Contacting for the concert |
Missionary life is the most beautiful, yet exhausting and stressful thing I have done in my life! The good thing is that the stress is all from good things, like wanting to learn Romanian better and praying with all your might that your investigator and friend will decide to be baptized, etc. With this, I have had to learn to master my attitude, for it can be easy to get discouraged, annoyed, sad, or just plain hopeless. Luckily, all of these adjectives have an antonym, and the Lord is always at my side. I have had many experiences where just when I thought I couldn't go one step farther, or when I have wanted to quit and just go to the apartment and sleep, or maybe when I have felt like I can't teach the gospel in Romanian, the Lord gives me a boost, just enough to let me know that he cares, that he truly is with me every step of the way. I am grateful that it is this way, for any easier, I wouldn't be able to turn my weaknesses into strengths!
So, that leads me to explaining a little bit of the day to day activities and routines that I do as a missionary in Bucharest, Romania.
First of all, I feel super blessed to be living in a beautiful apartment, with an incredible view. Elder Bontempo and I arise at 6:30, say a prayer together, and then attempt to work out for thirty minutes. Fortunately, Elder Bontempo has a weights set and we do biceps a lot 😄 I usually rotate between biceps and abs. Some days we feel so tired that all we can do is stretch and listen to MoTab [Mormon Tabernacle Choir]... I chuckle just thinking of that sight... two 19 year olds attempting to work out to MoTab at 6:45 AM... yup that is us!
Another big blessing is our food situation. We eat dang good... like Greek yogurt and granola, or a nice big omelet with salam and Gouda cheese and OJ. It has been fun learning how to cook with Elder Bontempo the past 3 months. The best thing we have made was the lime honey marinade chicken... incredible!
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| A nice salad for lunch |
The most important part of our morning routine is personal study... I have truly become converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ as I have studied His words and applied them to my life. The Lord has blessed me with many experiences of feeling His love for me as I ponder the words of life.
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| Companionship study on the balcony |
Lets talk a little bit about what we do during the daytime hours...
First of all, being on the street in Bucharest is one of the craziest things ever. You see BMWs everywhere, yet you also see gypsies who are treated more like dogs, who are carrying wagons full of garbage to their little villages that smells like poop. You will see beggars, asking you for money, some you randomly become friends with. Beer for the Romanian man is water. Even at 10 am there are men with their 2.75 litre beer bottles chugging away. Same goes for smoking- almost everyone smokes. Even though I wasn't alive thirty years ago in America, I would like to describe the Romanian society as thirty years- maybe even fifty- behind America. People still don't have a good understanding that their health is at risk!
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| Tyler's stickers are everywhere in Bucharest! |
Well, that sounded pretty saddening... there are also some beautiful parts of walking out into Bucharest! The Romanian people are very welcoming, and love to help foreigners, and even their own, with directions. I recall one time on a bus, where this old man was asking for directions to one guy, which ended up with EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON THE BUS giving him the directions that they thought were the best... made me laugh!
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| Elder Bontempo caught this great shot of a lightening storm. |
There are many old people here, and lots of "babas"(old Romanian women), who carry random things in their bags or grocery strollers. I helped one old baba onto the bus this week, and was astounded at how heavy her cart was, I could barely lift it! Wasn't quite sure how she was getting around without a personal helper- but that is just it- the Romanian people are helpers! All respect the older generation and it is not uncommon to see little acts of kindness.
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| The gang |
Some days it feels like contacting (going up to people and asking them something about our message) seems like the scariest and hopeless thing that we could ever do, and other days it is fun. Elder Bontempo and I try to talk to everyone everywhere- on the metros, on the streets, parks, in the grocery store, etc. Elder Bontempo is really good at this, and has helped me become more confident. Sometimes when I see kids on scooters or bikes, I ask to ride them. They other day, I did like FOUR 360s on different kid's scooters!! The last one I totally crashed and face-planted- felt good to get some adrenaline!
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| Tibi and I |
It is amazing to see how the Lord guides us or others to hear our message. My favorite thing is to testify to people about the reality that Christ lives and His church has been restored by a prophet in these latter days.
Romanians are very suspicious people. You can't whistle inside, everyone hates the windows open as you can get a "cold," I had one guy tell me that there are two days every month that are cursed for him, many people claim they have visions, and EVERYONE knows their horoscope things, and believe in them! Apparently I am the crab dude! haha I must say, I do not think my qualities relate to crab guy, clearly I am a lion!
Well, I am out of time, but I hope I painted a picture of what it is like to walk the streets of Bucharest. Next week I will explain more about my role as a zone leader and about the branch!
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| The bro and I |
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| Institute [gospel class for college-aged kids] |
I love you all, know that I am well and am determined to give the Lord all I've got to find those who are ready to accept the message that God still speaks to us today, and the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth. Onward!
Love,
Alex
This is the highest compliment I could give: your writing is becoming incredible! You're going to slam college when you get back. Maybe you should think about being a writer. Love you, Sister G
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