Happy Easter (in Romania)

Hi Everyone!

I guess I'll start with transfer news. Elder C is going home in two days, and my new companion will be Elder N. The interesting part is that he will be going into his fourth transfer, and I will be a single zone leader! I think I can handle it okay, even though Bucuresti is the biggest zone in the mission. The main reason is because of the 11 new elders (also 4 new sisters) coming in. In a mission with 32 companionships of Romanian elders, 16 will be training including the ones from last transfer. So most of the possible candidates to become zone leaders are training instead. There are also 16 missionaries going home. This mission is getting a lot younger.

And the Panduri district is also expanding. Elder J will be staying and training here, but so will Elder B! Sora M and Sora J will be the sister training leaders and Sora S will be training here as well. It's going to be an exciting transfer!

General conference last week and Easter yesterday were a lot of fun. I love Easter in Romania. We got to go to the midnight service again, but this time at the central orthodox church in Bucuresti. There were a lot of people. It was cool though, and I actually understood the sermon and the chanting fairly easily this time.

As we did last year, we also brought candles to receive the "light." They bring the fire from Jesus' tomb in Jerusalem, and everyone shares the candle flame to each other. And this year, I made it all the way home without it going out, with traveling on the metro and everything! This is going to be a very good year.

We also did our concert on Friday! It was a lot of fun. I didn't perform, but I really enjoyed helping in the finding effort. I talked to some cool people. It was great to see Elder C end so strong.  He has been great.

Our trip to Sinaia last Monday was amazing too. I didn't think I would get a chance to go to the mountains again, but I was wrong. It took about an hour and a half to get there. It was raining in Bucuresti and snowing there, but it was really beautiful with all the snow. And Peles castle is incredible. It's not really a medieval castle, but a summer palace built in the 1800's for King Carol. It is amazing inside. Someone had a lot of money, that is for sure.

I am doing well, and I am so excited for this coming transfer. I think big things are going to happen. There are 4 baptismal dates set in the Panduri branch alone right now. 

Thanks for reading!

Elder Lybbert