Buna
Dimeneata!
For
everyone wanting to google search my exact address, I couldn’t find it but looked
it up on google earth and the corner I live on is: Strada Boiangiu Radu and
Bulevardul Ion Mihalache. When you get to that intersection, look at the block
on the southeast side - that'll be mine! There is a little park on the inside of the
surrounding blocks (apartments) where people are always hanging out.
Elder Barclay set me up to play ping pong with some teenagers in the park
and I have to be prideful and say I whooped these euros - Haha! There’s also a homeless guy who lives there
too and is really nice and likes to talk to us! So yes, this is home in the Buch!
This
week has been quicker than quick! I don’t
even know what to write or tell you guys about because I feel like I just wrote
yesterday. It’s been a pretty quiet week
for contacting and I wish we had done a little bit more, but it’s so easy to
just get busy with other assignments. Since this is a new area, we have to get the
area book filled-out and try to put together some kind of information for the
next set of Elders to come in.
We
had an exchange with the office Elders early this week too. Elder Collison, from Michigan, stayed with me
at my apartment while Elder Barclay went over with Elder Phelps, who is from
Farmington and went to Viewmont High School.
Elder Collison has been here six months and we decided to go contacting. We walked outside and he said - "now don’t
be afraid to talk to people” - NOT A
PROBLEM! We walked for about 45 minutes and 3-4 kilometers
and in that tiny stretch I contacted about 15 people! It isn’t much in a normal mission but after we
finished I thought back to how many people I stopped and it’s clear I’m not
afraid. The cool thing is Collison was
waiting for me to finish my visits. I
sure appreciate Elder Barclay! Not only does he let me do a lot of the
contacting, but he will stop people himself as well. Plus, he also contributes to the conversations
that I’m having and gives me a good example of how to explain and respond to
certain things.
Occasionally
it’s hard to contact (some) people; they almost always call me out right from
the get-go and say "where are you from?" Before I answer, the say "ya you’re from
Utah." Just one time I want to respond
as say "no, I’m from Canada, England” or somewhere else just to see their
reaction but before I can even spit out those words, Elder Barclay always
responds "sunt roman" which means "I’m romanian!” He’s a funny guy and is always doing crazy
things. He can speak well enough for
people not to question him, but they always look back at me and call me out
again.
It’s
a different world out here though. I
know that some people would go nuts if they saw some of these things. For one, there is this weird idea that
Gypsies came up with. They take their newborn child and break their legs so
that they grow in backwards which helps them beg for money easier when they get
older. Just thinking about it gives me
the chills. So sad! We see everything
from crazy Gypsies to 10 year-olds smoking cigarettes. I might just be sheltered but this stuff is
crazy!
Christmas
is awesome here! Romanians are better at it than Amaricans.
Imagine, Temple Square lights at every piata or round-about. When we hit the contacting wall, we sing
carols. I know it sounds really lame but
it works! I’m not proficient at singing
publicly but it’s a lot easier when people approach us when singing. We performed a Christmas program this week,
singing about ten songs for members and non-members in the church at Mihai Bravu.
A lady came up to me and said that she
paid $50 to attend a professional concert here in Buch and we sounded better
than they did. I guess people can’t sing
in Romania and they think we are professionals!
Maybe I have a future career as the J.T. of Buch!
Speaking
of J.T., check out google for Antonia Lacobescu; she’s a pop singer here – The Beyonce’
for Romanians! Well I come to find out
that her father is President Lacobescu - The man who conducts my church
meetings! He is the most humble down to
earth guy. I love talking to him and he
speaks very good English. He lived in Vegas
for five years and that’s where his daughter was discovered. Pretty cool story! Antonia is/was a member of the church (not
exactly sure). I heard whenever people
ask her about the religion, she always says good things and defends the church!
Pretty sweet considering Romanians avoid
any religion other than Orthodox.
Anyway,
I’m having fun and struggling too – But that’s good! The language is hard and I knew it would be. I
love being around a different culture and learning different things. Be sure to
send me questions for next week and I will try to answer them so you have more
interesting stuff to read.
I
love and miss all you guys - Have a fun week!
Elder
Brown
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