Adventure of a Lifetime

Hey all!

'Bout time I get this email out. Kudos to mom for being ultra mega patient. Well, I have a pretty good excuse for writing this so late- the past two weeks have been craziness, but the good kind! Elder Trottier and I participated in an opportunity of a life time- helping the church make Mormon Message videos of members of the church here in Romania! 

The filmin' missionaries

Before I get in to the nitty gritty of the project, I want to share a missionary moment, that helped remind me of my true purpose as a missionary. Sometimes I feel a lack of time to do "good 'ol fashion missionary work." This is what gives me the greatest anxiety here while serving in the office! One day about two weeks ago, we were looking for a less-active member on an exchange. We asked for directions from a cute little family, and they we very willing to help us. At the very end, I invited them to hear our message of Jesus Christ. They accepted the invitation and we exchanged numbers. 

Fast forward a week, the family invited us to there humble little one-room apartment. Elder Trottier and I were so honored to teach this little family! They listened intently and while caring for their precious little one year old son. I could not help but think how special it is teaching a family. Families are ordained of God! When families learn and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, peace and love abide! 

This was a big moment for me because we haven't been able to teach a ton of lessons since serving in the mission office. It reminded me that the Lord is in charge and knows the desires and intentions of each one of our hearts!

Two days later, we began a five day adventure with two Italians that are in charge of making videos for the church here in Romania! Elder Trottier and my job was to ensure that everything ran smoothly and to translate for them. What a cool task! 

We picked them up from the airport right after a massive blizzard that hit Romania hard. The whole entire weekend we drove "Long John Silver" (a gigantic ford van) all around the big city. By some miracle we remained unscathed!  After picking up the film crew from the airport we rushed to the office and filmed Sora Colts interview. We mostly just played with light and filming locations because the city just been destroyed with snow right as Massimo (cinematographer from Italy) arrived. Light didn't work in our favor so we went back to the office had a welcome dinner made by Sora Hettinger. 

The whole team

Around nine people were interviewed from Romania and two of them were missionaries. I had the honor of being one of the interviewed missionaries (it was really nerve racking). For the first three days, we traveled to different locations around Bucharest and filmed the other people.  Filming a short video consists of two things: the interview and B-roll. B-roll is just footage of the subject doing stuff that can be paired with the dialogue from the person being interviewed or with music.  

Massimo, is an amazing man from the south of Italy, who is spear-heading this project. Aside from Romania, they have nine other countries for which he is doing the same project. I was very impressed with his patience and positive outlook on everything. I can't even count how many times something went wrong and Massimo just kept his cool and made do with what he had. It was a real treat to be right by his side for five days, observing and learning the tricks of cinematography.

Saturday we picked up Massimo early and went straight to filming at 8 am with a member from Issi. Our jobs were as follows: Massimo directed, told people what to do and told me what questions to ask the person being interviewed. I would sit right next to the camera so the subject had someone to talk to (it looks weird if they look right into the camera). Elder Trottier had headphones on and made sure the sound was good. If a car drove by or a bird was too loud or an airplane flew over, we had to start over filming. Their microphones pick up EVERYTHING. 

Elder Trottier stood far enough away from the microphone so it would not pick him up, but close enough to hear the subject and live translate to Massimo through an earpiece. We did Nicu's interview and some B-roll of him walking the streets and through city to doing normal stuff. Then we finished Sora Colt's interview and then I did my interview by a park by a lake.  I was able to use some B-roll video of me hiking back in America before I left on my mission. We made B-roll of Sora Colt dancing. We cruised over to Panduri branch and filmed Dani's interview and some B-roll of him playing piano and the viola. It was a really great interview. We went out with the film team and got a late traditional dinner and brought them to the hotel.

Sunday we woke up and rushed to get Massimo and headed to church. He got B-roll of myself, Sora Colt and Lucian in sacrament meeting. (Massimo says he hates filming in sacrament cause people judge). We then did Lucians interview. Lucian speaks a little Italian so they had fun. We rushed over to Panduri branch to catch the last of church and got B-roll of three other subjects at panduri. We then did four more interviews after church with some members and B-roll of people playing together and B-roll of us contacting at the mall and people walking etc. Afterwords we went to dinner at the Hettingers house with the Doru family who we made a film with starring President Doru. It was a great evening.

Working with Massimo!

For the last two days, we spent our time editing the interviews. For TEN HOURS STRAIGHT, we were on the computer, translating, cutting, revising, etc. so that the interviews would be in a way that invite the Spirit and testify to those who are watching that we are followers of Jesus Christ! Ten hours went by in an actual blink of an eye both days. Massimo made sure that we took fun breaks as well. 

Editing away

Alessandra is Massimo's trusted side-kick, and she has great talent in film-making and editing. A year ago she returned from her mission and it really shows in the way she carries herself. Through her example, I realized that it doesn't matter what your situation is in life, we can always live with the purpose of helping others come unto Christ. It takes a little more will-power, but being a missionary is never a "one and done thing!" Of course, the way we live is a great start, but we can invite others to come unto Christ in so many other ways. What can you do to live the missionary purpose?

Always keeping us entertained

Elder Trottier was editing partner with Alessandra

Elder Trottier and I have been reminiscing of our time that we had with our Italian friends.  We were very sad to see our Italian friends go. We learned a lot of skills and heaps about how to be happy in your career. Although doing different stuff, Massimo and Alessandra always kept in mind the fact that we are doing this to bring people closer to Christ. 

We "worked" for like fourteen hours every single day, doing a lot of things that we had never done before, and it created a lot of stress. 

A wee bit tired

We also ate incredible food, laughed a ton, and got to know some special people here in Romania. SO COOL!!!! We were dead-tired every single night, yet we did our best and enjoyed the ride. We realized that it doesn't matter our situation, WE ARE TO HAVE JOY! God gives us our own unique adventures and trials and wants us to discover that we actually can have JOY no matter what! That is why living the gospel is so important. We are able to live with humility and are constantly looking for the ways the Lord helps us, while we are striving to do the same for those around us. 

Now that the adventure has ended, we are catching up on some of the other important things that need to be done, but I pray that the memories that I have of this, and of my mission will continue to be a force of good and motivation for change throughout my life, and those around me.

Have a great week, talk to ya'll soon! Thank you for your love and support- each one of you!

Love,

Elder Ditto