The first of my last round of exchanges has some stories.
1) In Arad we were to meet a lady at the church for 30/30 English lesson. It was a good I asked the sisters for the church keys ... but guess what everyone forgot to mention: The Arad villa has an alarm! I opened the door. We stepped in to a small beep. "Crap!" I said, "Do you know the code?" Of course the new missionary with me had only been in Romania for one week ... half of which was in Bucuresti. As the 'wise' senior missionary what did I do? I tried another code, of course! The alarm was going to go off whether I tried a code or not. Did it work? NO! The blare of the alarm pounded against my ear drums as I sprinted outside with the cell phone in hand as I called the other sisters. "You didn't tell me there was an alarm! What's the code?!!!" From the other side I hear, "oh, ooops. *****." I hang up with a quick thanks and enter it into the pad. Thankfully the alarm turned off. I stepped outside to wait for the security people to show up. Normally, they would be there with in a minute, this time only the lesson showed up. Interesting. Overall though, it was a good day. Fun adventures!
2) In Timisoara I was picked up from the Gara by one of the best people in the whole world. I didn't have to walk to the apartment in the cold, YEAH! Taxis in Timisoara will not take you anywhere under 10 lei and the apartment is way too close to the gara. So, a ride was a pleasant surprise. I had tried to make the exchange at a time when I could have gone to the branch Christmas party but we couldn't make it work out. There were just too many conflicting events. It proved to be a tender mercy from Heavenly Father. The Timisoara branch has an elderly member with terminal cancer. While in Timisoara I would see her more than twice a week and see how she was doing and read from the scriptures to her. We took her to the hospital a few times and helped her out as often as we could. We were always on call. Her life for the past few years has been a roller coaster. There have been numerous times when we thought it was the end. As I was eating breakfast I thought about her. She wasn't on our schedule and the thought crossed my mind that I didn't think she would be with us much longer. The sisters told me she was not doing well the day before. Then we received a phone call that she was in a coma at the hospital. Oh no! We agreed we would go see her. I was grateful that Heavenly Father put me in Timisoara at a moment that I could see her again. You can't imagine how happy I was to see her awake when I got there. She couldn't see well, so I stood as close to her as I could. She wept as she hugged my head. I told her I heard she took a nap but she woke up for me. She said it was true and but she really thinks this was the end yet someone keeps sending her back. I'm glad they did. I hope it isn't the end yet I don't want her to be in so much pain. Everyday is a battle when you have cancer. Her life is a miracle that's for sure. I'm glad Heavenly Father blessed me enough to be a part her life. A few tender moments while we hold hands and read one more chapter from the Book of Mormon.
1) In Arad we were to meet a lady at the church for 30/30 English lesson. It was a good I asked the sisters for the church keys ... but guess what everyone forgot to mention: The Arad villa has an alarm! I opened the door. We stepped in to a small beep. "Crap!" I said, "Do you know the code?" Of course the new missionary with me had only been in Romania for one week ... half of which was in Bucuresti. As the 'wise' senior missionary what did I do? I tried another code, of course! The alarm was going to go off whether I tried a code or not. Did it work? NO! The blare of the alarm pounded against my ear drums as I sprinted outside with the cell phone in hand as I called the other sisters. "You didn't tell me there was an alarm! What's the code?!!!" From the other side I hear, "oh, ooops. *****." I hang up with a quick thanks and enter it into the pad. Thankfully the alarm turned off. I stepped outside to wait for the security people to show up. Normally, they would be there with in a minute, this time only the lesson showed up. Interesting. Overall though, it was a good day. Fun adventures!
2) In Timisoara I was picked up from the Gara by one of the best people in the whole world. I didn't have to walk to the apartment in the cold, YEAH! Taxis in Timisoara will not take you anywhere under 10 lei and the apartment is way too close to the gara. So, a ride was a pleasant surprise. I had tried to make the exchange at a time when I could have gone to the branch Christmas party but we couldn't make it work out. There were just too many conflicting events. It proved to be a tender mercy from Heavenly Father. The Timisoara branch has an elderly member with terminal cancer. While in Timisoara I would see her more than twice a week and see how she was doing and read from the scriptures to her. We took her to the hospital a few times and helped her out as often as we could. We were always on call. Her life for the past few years has been a roller coaster. There have been numerous times when we thought it was the end. As I was eating breakfast I thought about her. She wasn't on our schedule and the thought crossed my mind that I didn't think she would be with us much longer. The sisters told me she was not doing well the day before. Then we received a phone call that she was in a coma at the hospital. Oh no! We agreed we would go see her. I was grateful that Heavenly Father put me in Timisoara at a moment that I could see her again. You can't imagine how happy I was to see her awake when I got there. She couldn't see well, so I stood as close to her as I could. She wept as she hugged my head. I told her I heard she took a nap but she woke up for me. She said it was true and but she really thinks this was the end yet someone keeps sending her back. I'm glad they did. I hope it isn't the end yet I don't want her to be in so much pain. Everyday is a battle when you have cancer. Her life is a miracle that's for sure. I'm glad Heavenly Father blessed me enough to be a part her life. A few tender moments while we hold hands and read one more chapter from the Book of Mormon.
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