Safe Arrival in Romania

Bună Ziua!!!

I'm actually here!  The flights all went fine, though my luggage was delayed for a day. Luckily I had a change of clothes with me. Crossing the ocean was a very long flight, and I had to sit separate from the others, way up in the front when they were in the back. I guess my ticket was bought later because of the last minute change.

Flying to Bucharest, I did talk to my neighbour in the plane in Romanian as best I could. He was very friendly, and actually lives in Constanța! I called him and told him I was here, but he won't be back in town until later this week. He was excited that I called, though.

My first two days here were spent in Bucharest, getting my permanent residence visas in order, and having some training. One can stay in Romania for 90 days traveling on just a visa, as in Moldova, but now I have a long-term visa. The reason I couldn't go to Moldova was simply that Moldova has not specified a way for Canadians to enter, with the proper apostilization and such. They just don't think Canada is important enough I guess.

Since we stayed in Bucharest for the night, we had to go with one of the companionships there, who become our "godfathers." Elder Lybbert (2nd cousin) happened to be mine. Well, he insisted on it. He gave me a tie, as is traditional, and Elder C and I stayed with him and Elder F. That was fun.

 

 

 Elder Lybbert and Elder Lybbert

 

 We got to experience the Bucharest metro as well. It is such a cool city. Unlike Calgary, the entire city is about 5-7 stories high, made of enormous concrete blocs. Driving the roads there is crazy too, since lanes don't really mean too much to Romanian drivers. Parking is also different, since anywhere you can fit your little European car is called good, whether partly or entirely on the sidewalk. Here's a picture of a Bucharest intersection taken from the mission office.

On Wednesday evening, after all the training and paperwork had been taken care of, we met our trainers and headed out.

 Elder Lybbert with his trainer, Elder B, near the Black Sea!

Constanța is wonderful. Our apartment backs on to the sea, which is great. We are on the ground floor, and there are trees in the way of the view, but it is still nice. I LOVE being so close. The weather is absolutely perfect right now as well. It's sunny, the temperature is just right, and we only had a bit of rain yesterday afternoon. I really got it great coming in September.

The branch here is fairly small, as is typical for Romania, but there are some great members. The branch president is such a cool guy. He served a mission in England, has a great family, and works so well with us missionaries. It helps me a lot that he speaks English, since I can barely communicate with anyone else. There were less than two dozen people, but that is just how it works here. The church building is a former villa, and is really a nice place. The only funny thing is the very nice tub and shower in the bathroom. On Sunday, the new missionaries here, which would be all of us except for Elder B and Elder M, bore our testimonies. I also played the digital piano, by pressing the buttons to make it play the hymns itself. If I could have played any of the chosen hymns, I would have.

As for the missionary work here; let's just say that this is more a finding mission than a teaching mission. Elder B didn't teach a single investigator last transfer, though on a positive note, the sisters have two investigators with baptismal dates now! I really want to help this branch, and President A has given us some names of less active members and members that have not gone to the temple, that he wants us to work with. One reason is that I being a "boboc" need practice teaching lessons, and doing this should strengthen the branch. (Boboc means duckling, and is what they call newbies here.)

Most of our contacting right now is advertising the English classes that start again on the 17th. It has been successful in the past I have heard, so I am excited to start. And English is something I feel pretty expert at compared to other teaching.

Another fun thing we do here is Friday sports night with the branch. This time, it was only the Branch President, one of the Sister's investigators, a former and current nonmember English student, and us six missionaries. We had a great time playing ultimate frisbee in the beautiful park here. I will have to bring a camera next time we go there.

On Saturday, a Sister from the branch made us some delicious stuffed green bell peppers. They were filled with pork and rice and dill, and made for a great meal. I hope to experience much more Romanian food. Today we went to a Greek place for P-day lunch, and that was good, Most of the time, Elder B and I just have basic pasta or rice dishes, and cereal for breakfast. We may have to mix it up a bit this week, but probably not too much.

The language is quite an obstacle right now, mostly because I can't understand what people say. If I knew the questions they were trying to ask, I could probably work out an answer, but it just goes over my head right now. The only place that they speak faster than here is in Bucharest, so I hear. I guess it could be worse.

Well, I think I covered everything.

La revedere!

Elder Lybbert