Our last Mother's Day

Mom here - hijacking Elder Ditto's blog to share a bit about our wonderful Mother's Day phone call.

Always so good to talk face-to-face!

All of us missing Alex but loving him across the world!

A few tidbits from our phone call (we had 40 minutes to talk - we started out with us singing and doing a hula to "Oh we're going....to Hawaii" -- after a few exchanges about this awesome surprise we have been saving for to do as a family right after Alex gets home from his mission and before he leaves for BYU):

-Alex's main responsibilities as an Office Elder include helping missionaries by being in charge of travel and doing anything to make President and Sister Hettinger's job easier

-he helps missionaries get/stay legal in the country.  Rules allow missionaries to stay for 90 days when they first enter the country and then they need a residency permit that usually lasts one to two years before they would be deported. Sometimes Alex and his companion are given "empowerment" title in order to do things in behalf of other missionaries

-also in charge of housing, insurance, visas

-He said that he realized for the first year and half of his mission he never once had to think about being legal in the country because there were office elders doing what he is doing now which allowed him to focus just on proselyting.  Now he is getting that chance to give that gift to other missionaries.

-He and his companion often work with an attorney

-They are doing things to prepare the office to move to Budapest, Hungry on July 1st.  This is stressful AND exciting.  The new mission will be called the Hungry/Romania Mission.  Everyone will need to open their hearts to new missionaries when this change happens.  This next transfer will determine whether you are in the Hungry/Romania mission or the Ukraine/Moldova mission.  President Hettinger is also like the Stake President for all of Romania as they are broken up in districts.  He is very busy doing temple and new missionary interviews and other stake president responsibilities on top of mission president duties. 

-His hands are doing so much better!  The best they have looked in a year.  He feels so blessed!

-He is getting some new shoes made by Constantine, a dwarf, they are made out of leather and have Romania/Moldova countries stitched into the sides of them.  They will cost 800 lei ($40 USD)

-Often on Friday nights they have sports nights and have many international people come join them

-Alex said, "I feel like I am a little boy still" and that when I get home I'll look back at the past two years and say, "was I really in Romania?"

-Alex said that when he gets home he will miss the food!!  He said he eats like a king.  Each morning he eats chocolate muesli and then for lunch they usually go out to eat to KFC or some other fast food restaurant depending on what errand they are running at the time.  For dinner every night they make Mămăligă - a porridge made out of yellow maize flour.  He adds goat cheese and sour cream to it.  It only costs them about .10 cents to make and he plans on eating it as a staple at college.

-Alex added that he will miss Romanian church - as dystunfunial as it is -- it is also beautiful.  He said, "the members just LOVE you."  He said the little cute old ladies love to snuggle up to him.

-The weather is very similar to Yakima but a bit more humid.

-He loves getting his haircut in Romania.  For a really nice haircut it costs around $10 but in some areas he has lived it costs as cheap as $2.50.  He gets his haircut once a month.

-Alex said he LOVES the Hettingers.  He said President Hettinger makes him feel "like a million bucks."

-His final advice/motto that he loves from President Hettinger, "Every moment we can choose who we are."