ticket to ride

Привет! (sounds kinda like preevet with a rolled "r"). Or Hi in English.

Sora Heim & Sora Sam at Arc de Triomphe, Chisinau, Moldova

first-class room
on train to Moldova

first-class hallway
on train to Moldova

I hope everyone is doing wonderful. This week I have gotten as close to Russia as I can possibly get, and now I'm learning Russian. How cool is that? From the moment I stepped on the train to Chisinau, Moldova, I knew things were different. Trains in Romania are hand-me-downs from places like Germany in Western Europe. I rode an old Russian train to Chisinau, so instead of the classic European layout and feel, I got the Russian feel. I honestly felt like I was on the train in Anastasia. It was wicked! There were patterned carpets and curtains, a little table, and decorations. At the border they even had to lift the train onto different tracks. Now, I have a cool stamp in my passport that says Moldova.

I'm so glad I get to experience Moldova. It's a cross between Russian and Romanian culture. I love it. Chisinau is gorgeous! Church is in Russian and Romanian. It's crazy that the members can switch from Romanian to Russian just like that (imagine me snapping my fingers.) For the most part people speak Russian though. I had scarcely (I've been reading a lot of Joseph Smith writings) gotten near the train and Russian filled my ears. Hopefully I will be able to say my mission was in 2 languages by the time I'm done. That would be a legit mission. I should be here for part of Spring too, so the city will be even prettier. Hopefully I can get some sketches done.

Primary Bulletin in THREE languages

There is also something amazing sold here. Snickers! Not just any kind of Snickers, but hazelnut Snickers. So, I want everyone to email Hershey's, or whoever makes Snickers [It's made by Mars, Kendra!], and ask them to start selling hazelnut Snickers in the US, because they are delicious. I opened the wrapper and it smelled like Ferrero Rocher. So tasty. I smelled it for about a minute before delicately biting into the bar and savoring the taste of every bite.

hazelnut snickers

Transferred

Heavenly Father calls you to your mission, so you can use your talents. I've been trying. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. We have been struggling to get people to come to our Advanced English Conversation Course, so I made some posters that we are going to put up everywhere. Some of them are pretty awesome, while others didn't translate very well into Romanian culture. But all the native English speakers thought they were funny. My favorite is the dead horse, but 75% of the Romanians we asked said it wasn't a good idea. So, I'm just sharing it for laughs. I hope they bring more people in for Timisoara English classes. The more people, the more fun you can have.

But, I won't be here to see if it will work. I'm being transferred to Chisinau Moldova. Yay, now I get to learn Russian. This should be a whole new fun. It was sad leaving and saying goodbye to everyone at church, but I know I'll see them again and they don't need to worry about me ever forgetting them.

No time to draw

Well, it has been difficult on my mission. For various reasons, but what I am referring to is mainly the difficulty of finding time to draw. I want to draw all the time. There are so many beautiful buildings here in Timisoara that I would love to draw, but I am a missionary and the Lord and his mission gets put before my desires. I have found some time to draw and create. My talents have diminished for sure. In December I decided to try drawing a picture of Christ to give to some people, more specifically a particular investigator. It isn't the best, but it's pretty good. I gave it to one of the members in the branch too. She didn't believe I drew it. That took a while to explain. I hope the intended recipient likes it, and maybe she will remember me someday down the road. Hopefully, it's all good things she remembers.

 

For New Year's everyone wishes each other "La Multi Ani", or "to many years." It's fun, and a phrase they use for everything. If you aren't quite sure what to say to someone "la multi ani" is the way to go. They also wish one another health and happiness, which is nice. I wish all of you a Happy New Year full of health and good memories. May it be better than the last.