Ce-i sus, bebelus?

Buna ziua familia mea!!

 

First things first, I LEAVE FOR ROMANIA IN 2 1/2 WEEKS!!! My excitement just keeps growing and growing. I'm not going to lie, I will be sad to leave the MTC and all the people that I have come to love, but I'm so excited to get to Romania. My heart swells at the thought of being in Romania teaching and meeting the Romanian people that I already love so much. My favorite scripture for the week is Alma 31:34-35. I found it while studying preach my gospel and have since committed myself to memorizing it.

 

"O Lord, wilt thou grant uto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ.

"Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee."

 

How neat is that scripture. I love where it says "their souls are precious". This scripture has become my 'mission prayer'. It is so beautiful. And my desire to bring them again unto Heavenly Father is growing more and more every day.

 

Sunday I had to say goodbye to President and Sister Palmer as they were released as our branch president. It was soooo hard. Truly I have never felt so much love for people that I've only known for such a short time like I do for President and Sister Palmer. Definitely one of the hardest days in the MTC thus far. My heart is filled with such gratitude and love for the impact that they have had on me. My head doesn't quite understand how my heart can feel so much pain to say goodbye to people I've only known such a short few weeks. I'm so grateful I got to be one of the 1,793 missionaries impacted by President Palmer in the 4 years and 2 weeks that he served here. He's an amazing man.

 

There are 4 other sisters in my zone that I am lucky enough to serve as Coordinating sister. I love them so much. One of them reminds me SO much of Cortney's little sister, Alexa. Her name is sister Mayes and she and I get along so well it's not even funny. She is hilarious and very bubbly. She's serving in Georgia and leaves on Tuesday:( so hard. Same with Sister Forsyth. She is going to Alabama. She has had a hard time in the MTC and with her mission call. She knows 4 different languages and is very intellegent and was a little disappointed to go english speaking but is doing so much better since she first arrived here. She is such a solid sister and will do amazing in Alabama. They are lucky to have her down there. I am going to miss her and Sister Mayes SO MUCH but hopefully we will keep in contact during and after the mission.

 

I feel like my mission has already been filled with getting to know people, growing to love them, connecting with them and then having to say goodbye... and I have a feeling it's only going to get worse from here. I hope my heart can handle it.

 

We started teaching 2 new investigators this week. Daniel and Nelly. We aren't teaching Maria and Gheorghe anymore, sadly. But we're learning lots from Daniel and Nelly. Apparently Daniel met with the missionaries a few years ago and was really intersted but they just stopped coming by and he never knew why. So he's a little bitter about that but was thrilled to see us nonetheless. We've only had 1 lesson with both of them so far so there's not much to tell, but I am excited to get to know them and teach them!

 

We got 3 Elders going to Romania yesterday!!!! They are SO adorable! (I mean that in the least domeaning way possible.) When Sora Ewell and I met them and started speaking Romanain to them, they asked how long we have been home from our missions. How cute. I totally remember being in their shoes and it seems hard to believe that I'm not in their shoes anymore. This MTC time warp just weirds me out.

 

James and Jerr, you two will appreciate this next part. And Mari. The other day I am in the mail office and I look up and see this kid and the only thing I can think of is Macaroni and Cheese and I couldn't figure out how I knew him... It was AJ Whitiker. HAHAHA. Seriously, I busted up laughing. He says hello.

 

They stopped letting us print off pictures here so I won't be sending anymore pics till I get to Romania. Stupid.

 

I haven't heard anything from the doctor from Tuesday's procedures but I'll go in and talk to them today or Monday depending on time, and then keep you updated.

 

I love you all. As always, you are in my prayers and I hope all is well. I'll do my best to get as many letters as I can written today. I miss you all so much. Thank you for your love and support. It means more than you realize.

 

So much love,

Sora Cook

 

P.S. I have bad news and good news. The good news is, I didn't get electricuted and die... the bad news is, I dropped my hair dryer in a puddle of water while I was using it... And apparently the hair dryers and curling irons are pretty expensive in Romania. Do you think before I leave you could send me one and an inch curling iron?? Mine broke, sadly. Doesn't have to be immediately... I've been sharing with Sister Ewell. I'm sorry. I feel like every week I am asknig for something different that I either forgot or realized I would need. Well... if you thought I would be less of a burden once I was gone, you were wrong. I'm sorry!!

 

double P.S. Sora Ewell and I go around saying "ce-i sus, bebelus?" allllll the time. It makes no sense to Romanians but it's hilarious to us. You can look it up if you want. We're funny.

 

Mari and Lizz, thank you for your package. It was awesome:) I love you both.

 

Also, Sister Ewell's mom found out it's like $60 to send a package to Romania, so that's kind of sucky. Also, apparently I will only get mail once every 6 weeks (each transfer) once I get to Romania unless I'm serving in Bucharest next to the mission home. Also kind of sucky. Oh well though, it is what it is. Doesn't mean you can't send me a handwritten letter every now and then though... I still expect those:) And pictures. I would LOVE pictures. Especially of the grandkids:) just fyi.

 

Tell Keaton HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Hopefully my package for him arrived safe and sound.

"Give" -Little Stream

Familia mea,

The subject really has nothing to do with this email, I just saw a girl wearing a shirt that said that and I thought it was HILARIOUS!!! Really, I start laughing every time I even think about it. So... I put it as the subject hoping that you find the humor in it like I did.

So....is everyone alive?!? I've missed hearing from you all this week. But I'm sure all is well and just really busy!!

It has been an okay week. Definitely one of the harder ones. More break downs than I can count, but also more tender mercies than I can count as well. I am so blessed here. My branch president, President Palmer, get released this sunday and it will be REALLY hard to say goodbye to him and his wife. I have gotten to be really close with them and admire them both so much. I'm surrounded by amazing people. By the way mom, he works at the Church Office building in HR and said he would be up to visit you this week. You will love him. He's awesome. Brother Hodges and Brother Merrill are his councilors and are also amazing. Brother Merrill is a religion teacher at BYU and I LOVE talking to him about things. I have learned so much from him. Lately I've been studying the creation and pre-existance lots and have asked him lots of questions. He's incredible.

Everything is going really well with our investigatores. Maria and Ghoerghe have a baptism date and are progressing so much and it is definitely so cool to see the spirit work with them. And Bogdan is still struggling. Mostly because we only get to work with him once a week, but we have an awesome lesson planned out for tonight and I think it will go really well. We'll see.

This will be redundant for some because I've already said this to you before, but something I have really learned this week and have constantely tried to remind myself of is to be grateful for the moment I am in and not to "wish moments away". It's hard not to just wish I was in Romania already, but I am learning to appreciate where I am in this moment realizing that I need today in order to get to tomorrow. What I learn today will help me get through tomorrow's challenges. Obviously when I say 'today' and 'tomorrow' I mean 'the moment I'm in' and 'the future'. I need this moment in order to reach any goals or dreams I might have for the future. There is always so much to be grateful for for the moment that I am in. I keep asking myself "Am I willing to pay the price of today (or this moment) to get to tomorrow (or reach my goals)? Am I willing to pay the price to be able to return home and say 'I gave it everything I have'?" Those two questions have given me a lot of strength. And I realize I'm not alone in doing so. Heavenly Father has proven to me that He is there to give me strength to overcome and to better myself. And I've learned that His love for me is unconditional. I don't need to earn his love. Regardless of anything I do, He will always love me. However, I do get to earn His trust and show Him that I am willing to do what it takes and that He can put His trust in my to accomplish His will. These last two realizations have changed my perspective a lot this last week.

It's also sometimes easy to wish I was back home, soaking in the moments of being with the people I love and I have realized that it is pretty hard to jump the hurdles in front of me when I'm looking backward. I love Nephi's example of always looking forward to the promise land, even though his entire life and possessions were in Jerusalem... he continued onward with faith knowing that God would bless him. I don't know if you guys have picked this up from the last few emails, but I LOVE the scriptures. I almost feel ungrateful for not taking better advantage of the words that have been given to us before now. Even now, I know I could take better advantage of the blessings of the scriptures. We are so blessed to have the Book of Mormon and all the sacrifices that were made in order for us to have it in our lives.

Sunday night fireside we had the Provo Temple President come and speak to us. Not to be dramatic, but OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!! it was amazing. He talked all about the temple and symbols in the temple and how every thing in the temple points back to the atonement of Jesus Christ, starting with the fountains in the front of the Provo Temple and explained how there is a wind metere in the fountain that measures the wind and according to the wind, it determins the height of the fountain so that the water is always moving water, or living water because Christ is referred to as the living water. That right there was so cool, but that was just the surface of his talk. I wish I had time to adequately write out my thoughts. But I don't. Sorry. Just take my word for it. It was incredible!!!!

Also, if you can find Elder Bednar's talk "Character of Christ" online, READ IT!! Or listent to it or whatever. It changed my life. He talked all about how the character of Christ is to turn outward when the natural man would turn inward. Amazing. He told this story of a woman who, after just finding out that her daughter was in an accident with two of her friends, and that they knew one didn't make it and the other two survived, and then found out that her daughter and only child didn't survive. She immediately responded to Elder Bednar, who was her stake president at the time, to find out how the parents of the other girls are doing and to let them know that their daughters are alive and on the way to the hospital. And he went on and on about this woman who exhibited the character of Christ of looking outward during this experience. How inspiring. Seriously, if you can find the talk, read it. It was given here at the MTC so it might not be available online, but you should still look.

  

I've missed all my neices and nephews lots this week! Especially with all the birthdays and whatnot. Make sure they all know how much I love them! I'm sure Sister Ewell is sick of me talking about them and telling her stories. But it's hard NOT to talk about them:)

  

Love you all so much!!!!

Sister Cook

SWEEDISH ELDERS:) we love them!

ONE MONTH!

Hey all,

Can you believe it has only been 1 month since I said goodbye to you amazing folks? Yes, I said only. Truly, it feels like years. I kind of feel like we are in a time warp here... time just stopped the second I entered the MTC. At least that's how it feels. As soon as I hear about the outside world from any of my teachers, it hits me that the world continues on outside the MTC.

This week has been quite a good one. We got 4 sisters in our zone yesterday and 2 sisters in our room with Sister Ewell and I. (It has only been me and her in our room, we've been spoiled.) The sisters that moved in our room are awesome. I ecpecially get along with a sister going to Norway. She is hilarious. Her name is Sister Pace. So grateful for her sweet spirit.

So, we are spoiled here at the MTC and L. Tom Perry came and spoke on Tuesday. That is 3 apostles in 4 weeks. So blessed. Sister Ewell and I are especially grateful because once we get to Romania, we will not have that opportunity for a while. My testimony of the prophets and apostles grows more and more each time I see one of them walk in the room on Tuesday night and immediately feel the wonderful spirit that they bring with them. It makes me excited to testify to the people of Romania that I have seen and felt the presense of an apostle of God and know with all my heart that they are called by him to lead and direct us today. Seriously, I can't get over how blessed we are to have our church led by true prophets and apostles of our Heavenly Father.

Which kind of reminds me of something I learned this week. Well, something I've always known, but really hit me hard this week. There are a few things actually. First of all, I was reading in D&C 18: 36-38 and D&C 20:14... in case you don't keep your scriptures handy while you check your email, here it is.

          D&C 18:34-36 (talking about the Book of Mormon) "These words are not of men nor of man, but of me; wherefore, you shall testify they are of me and not of man; For it is my voice which speaketh them unto you; for they are given by my Spirit unto you, and by my power you can read them one to another; and save it were by my power you could not have them; Wherefore, you can testify that you have heard my voice, and know my words."

          D&C 20:14 "And those who receive it in faith and work righteousness, shall receive a crown of eternal life."

How amazing are those scriptures? Did you read them? Like really read them? I love where it says that we can testify that we have heard His voice. Because we have the Book of Mormon, we have heard his voice. And in the next passage, it says that all we have to do in order to recieve what He has told us is the greatest of all gifts, eternal life, all we have to do is receive it in faith and work righteousness. Basically, we have to receive the gospel in order to receive eternal life. Uhhh... who signed us up for this? That seems like a pretty amazing arrangement. Heavenly Father truly does love us SO much. He has given us SO much. And all He asks us to do is accept Christ as our Savior and follow Him. For me, when I put it in that perspective, it doesn't seem so complicated. It is so simple. You guys all probably had this realization a long time ago and I'm just now catching on. This realization truly humbled me though.

The other cool experience I had while reading my scriptures this week... So I told you last week that I was doing my "theme scripture reading" in a seperate book of mormon on patience... Oh my word have I learned a lot. It has been so awesome. Something that truly stuck out to me though was when I was reading 1 Nephi 18:24. Once again, I'll quote it for those of you who don't internet surf with scriptures right next to you.

(talking about Nephi and Lehi when they arrived to the promised land)

"And it came to pass that we did begin to till the earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we did put all our seeds into the earth, which we brought from the land of Jerusalem. And it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance."

So a few months ago, Nate actually gave me a whole new perspective on this scripture. He mentioned how much faith it must have taken for them to plant ALL their seeds in this soil that they knew nothing about, they didn't know how or if their seeds would grow, but they excersized faith and planted ALL of their seeds. I loved this perspective and as I was reading it while studying patience I thought to myself "Okay, so what can I learn about patience from this?" And I thought about it and read and re read the passage, it hit me. How often do we plant all our seeds in faith, and expect immediate fruit to come from those seeds? Think of the patience they had to have while waiting for those seeds to grow -especially not even knowing what would come from it. I know, for me, even when I show faith and plant all my seeds in something, I usually get pretty impatient when I don't see the fruits of those seeds as soon as I would hope or expect. I hope this came across in words the way it is in my heart.

Well, this email is pretty long, so I will briefly explain what the downlow with our investigators. Mainly, I just want to talk about Maria. Last friday, we had an AMAZING and such a spiritual lesson with her. She has been struggling with commiting to pray and expressed to us that she didn't understand why sometimes God answers prayers and sometimes he doesn't and explained how when her mom was sick, God didn't answer her prayers to heal her. Talk about being able to relate. I thanked her for sharing something so personal with us and read D&C 121:7-9 and D&C 122:7-9 and explained that sometimes we don't know why God gives us the trials He does, but we do know that no matter what trial he gives us, it is for our good and that he will give us the strength we need if we turn to Him. I told her about our family and what we experienced with Jared and lots of tears were shed, from all three of us. (Sister Ewell, Maria and myself) and testified to her of Heavenly Father's love for her and how badly he wants her to turn to Him and that he is waiting for her. Then asked her if she would pray that night and she said she would and we invited her to kneel with us and to say the closing prayer. Once again, lots of tears. It was such a cool experience! And then the next lesson, she committed to be baptized on the 31st:) How amazing. 2 weeks ago, she didn't even believe there was a God and now she is praying and working towards baptism. I love it how the Spirit works.

It is so cool to sit in a lesson and listen to the spirit speak and tell me exactly what to say. I've noticed though, there are times when I am thinking way to hard to answer the questions perfectly and I am thinking too much to allow room for the spirit to speak to me and therefore, have no idea what to say. Or the things I do say don't affectt he person I'm teaching like I think they should. How important it is to lean not unto my own understanding and completely rely on the spirit to guide me.

Yesterday as we were watching the "newbies" come, I was watching a father with his son and he was giving him a hug goodbye and as he did he told him "For the next two years, you are not my son. You belong to the Lord." It brought me to tears. What a neat experience.

Okay, okay, I'll wrap up now. I'm sorry I just rambled on. I would love to hear how everyone is doing. Thank you so much for your letters and emails. They were received with gratitude!! I will do my best to write you all back today. Prep days are always a lot busier than I anticipate though. And with not much sleep last night, a nap might need to happen at some point.

Know how much I love you and miss you. You are all in my prayers!! Thank you for your love and support and for your prayers -I can definitely feel them and am so grateful!!

Missing you,

Sister Cook

Sora Cook loves you ALL!!! Even the ones who don't write me...

Hey-o Family,

 As always, lots to tell with so little time. I got called as coordinating sister on Sunday for our zone. However, there are no sisters in our zone as of last Tuesday and only Sora Ewell and I in our district. We should be getting some sisters in our Zone next week. Im keeping my fingers crossed!

Sora Modzelewska, Elder Brady and Elder Eckert left monday morning. It''s been sad without them. I am glad I get to see them in less than a month. I'm still loving our teachers. Our permanent teachers are Sora Petricor and Fratele Sandberg. Things with our investigators are also going well. I hope last weeks questions didn't make you think I had an doubts in those two things, just thought I would invite everyone back home to study what I have been studying and to hear your insights. I have been thinking about it lots still and this is what Ive concluded. So in 2 Nephi 31: 5-21, 3Nephi 11:11-41 and 3Nephi 27: 13-20 it talks all about the Godhead and what I feel like is the connection between the Holy Ghost, the Savior and our Heavenly Father and why it's important that we know that they are three seperate beings. Basically a summary of those scriptures is this... Christ paid the price for our sins, which was the will of the Father. He is the merciful and God is the just. But it is through the Holy Ghost that we receive the Atonement. We can only be sanctified and benefit from that sacrifice through receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost but it is because of that sacrifice that we can stand spotless and sinless before our Heavenly Father. (I also have a whole different rant about the differences between spotless and sinless, but we can save that for another time I guess.) In 3Nephi 11:32 it says that the Doctrine of Christ is given by the Father. I don't know. Maybe that isn't a very good explanation on why I feel like it is important to know that the Godhead are three seperate beings... but that is what I concluded after my hours of studying the topic. Also, I love how well the missionary purpse (to invite others to come unto christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end) is perfectly encompassed the the Doctrine of Christ... (2Nephi 31) Amazing chapter. Thank you to those of you who responded with your insights. It was cool to hear your thoughts. I learned lots from it.

So, after listening to the talk "The Charicter of Christ" by Elder Bednar (read it!) I decided to buy a paperback book of mormon and read the whole thing just marking the scriptures that teach about patience and then when Im done with that one, I will buy a new book of mormon and do it again with a different topic. It has been such a cool experience!! I am only in 2nephi but it has been awesome. It has been a completely new experience reading the book of mormon this way. I would totally reccommend it to everyone. Such a neat experience.

Sister Ewell and I are getting along great. Obviously difficult moments, but what companionship doesn't? I am so blessed to have her as my companion. She and I are so alike but so different that it's a perfect combonation. She sang a duet with one of the sweedish Elders on sunday at the Fireside. They had to audition and it was a pretty big deal that they got it. She is amazing though, so I wasn't surprised! They did great!!!

Elder Christopherson came and spoke in the Devotional tuesday night. It was pretty awesome. He opened it up to a discussion and passed around mic's and asked us questions and left us with his Apostolic blessing that the spirit will magnify and enlarge us and the through the power of the Holy Ghost we are equal to him and will reach the hearts of many. It was pretty neat! At the end of his talk, he said "We (the Apostles) hope you are as proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with us, as companions, as we are with you." That gave me goosebumps when he said that. It is incredible how much my testimony builds of the Apostles of God each time I get to hear one speak. We are so blessed.

How is Grandma Holyoak doing? She has been on my mind recently. I hope she's doing well. Give her my love.

I met an Elder here who knows Aunt Ilene. Apparently he is best friends with David's oldest son, Brayden? Small world.

The other day in class, we were talking about covenants and the word for covenants in Romanian is "legamente" which comes from the word "a lega" which means 'to bind'. I loved that. When we receive Him, we bind ourselves to Him and He binds himself to us and promises where we go, He will go. What He is we can become. He will not break that covenant if we fully receive him and take upon ourselves those covenants. 'To bind'... I love that so much.

Our investigators are going well. Maria and Gheorghe have said they will be baptized, but won't commit to a date and Maria won't pray yet. We're working on it though. It is insane how much I learn and how much I feel the spirit in the lessons with these "investigators"... even though I know they are just my teachers pretending to be investigators. The situation isn't real, but the spirit is still there and I learn so much every single time. The language is coming along. The teachers keep saying they're blown away by how quickly we're picking it up... but I don't really feel like that. So maybe they're just trying to flatter us!! 

Marissa gave me this good idea to start keeping track of who send me the most letters, and whoever sends the most in the next 18 months gets.... something really cool. Now, I won't say who is winning...but I'll give you a hint, if you haven't written me yet, it isn't you. :)

To my mom and all my sisters, Happy Mother's Day!! I wish I could give you a big hug...or at least call and tell you myself! I love you!!

I'll try and write as many letters as I can tonight, but class starts in 10 minutes and I probably won't have much time after that. I love you all though and I promise I will write as many as I can!! Thank you for all your love and support. I am so blessed to have so many amazing people in my life. You are all in my prayers.

Te iubesc,

Sora Cook





Sora Ewell, Sora Modzelewska, Sora Cook

Elder Eckert, Elder Brady and the sister

Just an average week in the MTC... and still 7 more to come!

OHHHH hey family!! Remember me?! Another week has come and gone and it feels like it's been a month... Crazy.

We got to go to the Provo Temple last thursday and today (1:00 on p-days cannot come fast enough). It is such a nice break. That and the temple walk on sundays are just so relaxing for me. Today I did endownments for a lady named Sarah Coek. Sounds a lot like Sora Cook. Kind of funny. 

Sora Ewell and I are still getting along. She will be an amazing missionary. It would be awesome if we could be companions at some point in Romania but I'm not counting on it. Sora Modzelewska and the 2 Elders going to Romania leave on monday so it will just be Sora Ewell and I... crazy. We get more elders at the end of May. It will be weird just being sora ewell and I. Luckily, we have gotten to know some of the Elders a few classrooms down. They are making us move classrooms and apartments this week. And we moved branches last week. No consistancy whatsoever here. Which I guess is an awesome opportunity to get to know more people. We'll see how that goes.

Every saturday we have workshops where a few different zones get together and a teacher at the MTC talks about a certain topic and in last week's workshop, the topic was 'the conversion process' and when I told the teacher that I loved this topic and that I was excited because I had just written my "farewell" talk on this topic, the teacher sat down and let me teach the class. So... I got up and taught the class about the conversion process. It was a pretty cool experience for me.

Guys, Romanian is HARD! I feel like when I'm sitting in class learning the grammar principles and different concepts, I pick it up really well and the teachers keep saying they are shocked at how fast Sora Ewell and I are getting it, but then when it comes to applying it (which apparently is pretty important) it is so frustrating and difficult and I feel like I know nothing. Sitting in a lesson with an investigator and understanding everything they are saying and knowing exactly what you want to say back, but having a limited vocabulary and no idea how to say what you want is by far the most frustrating thing I've ever experienced. And no, I'm not being dramatic. It really is THAT frustrating. This week, I have been wishing I was english speaking so badly. I would be out of here in a week and I would be able to express all the words I want to say. Not that it would be easy... I know ever mission has it's challenges... I am just admiring the english speaking mission's challenges from afar.

I am getting attached to Sora Modzelewska. It will be very hard seeing her leave on monday. She and I are so opposite, but I love being around her. She has such a childlike spirit and I loveand admire her strength. Being so far away from family, having no support from home, english being her second language, and then learning a new language. She is such an inspiration. Even if she does like to break the rules quite a lot. I still love her and hope and pray we get to be companions in romania. We've gotten to be really close. It will be hard to say goodbye.

I can't believe it's May. It kind of feels like time stopped when I came into the MTC and I have no concept for time or dates. Speaking of, happy birthday daddy and Joseph!!! I am sending you a million happy birthdays!!! (well, maybe not a million... I'm not going to try and count how many, but it's definitely a lot.)

I am learning a LOT! Like really, it's crazy how much my brain is soaking in. I know that it is all because of the spirit. How else could 19 year old boys and 21 year old girls come out and learn a crazy new language and be taught so much in the gospel in such a short amout of time if not by the power of the Spirit? It's insane. Being here puts to light how blessed I am and how much God has given me, including such a supportive and strong family. I am so fortunate and feel so honored to show my gratitude by dedicating 18 months of my life to my Heavenly Father. My faith is growing every day and I am learning to rely on my Heavenly Father more than ever.

Well, we finished our lessons with Traian and he is now our teacher. His name is Fratele Sandburg. (Fratele is 'the brother' in Romanian.) He's a great teacher but very different from our other teachers which is nice because we get all different kinds of personalities. One of our teachers is from Romania. Her name is Sora Petrisor. She is a great teacher. We started with 3 new investigators this week -all of them our teachers playing as a real person that they taught in Romania. One of them, Bogdan, is a skeptic and doesn't believe in organized religion and just thinks his relationship with God is between him and God and he doesn't need a "sect" to feel spiritual... (at least that's what I think he said... it was all in Romanian so I could be wrong. For all I know he wants to be baptized next week.) Our other investigator is Gheorghe, George in romanian, (pronounced gee-or-gay) and he is a spiritualist and came to the missionaries at church with the question about psalms 82:6. He has been going to a lot of different religions and asking what that scripture means and no one could answer. And then our last investigator is Maria and she is atheist and doesnt believe in God.This one and the skeptic are difficult. We've only had one lesson with each of them and it was just a "get to know you". Maria and Bogdan are tracting investigators and both took me off guard. I didn't even know how to respond when Maria said she didn't believe in God. Where do you go from there?? I guess I'll find out as I study and pray more for her. Hopefully it goes well.

Questions I have been pondering on that I would love feedback on... (through dearelder though because I would like to read them before next thursday)

--Why is it important that we know that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are three seperate beings? Why do we stress that in our religion? What's the significance in knowing that?

--Why is it important to have 'organized religion'? Why can't we just have a spiritual relationship with God and why can't that be enough?

These questions were actually brought up during scripture study a few days ago and then it was funny that we got the investigators we did, because it was exactly what I've been studying. I feel like I have some answers to both of them but would love your insights. I have asked A LOT of people the first question and not a lot of them have been able to answer it. Most of them just say "Because God wants us to know that." But they obviously didn't really get the question. The question is 'WHY is it IMPORTANT that we know that?' Thoughts? Insights?

Devotional on Tuesday was amazing. Keith R. Edwards of the seventy spoke and although he didn't say this in his talk, this is what I got out of it. In Alma 8:13-18 when Alma was cast out of Ammonihah and spat upon and reviled against and he leaves with great sorrow and the angel appears to him and says "blessed art thou Alma, therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God from the time which thou receivedst thy first message from him." and then the angel tells him to return to Ammonihah and preach repentance to the people. Now if I were Alma, I probably would have said to the angel, "Did you not just see what happened back there?" But that isn't how Alma responded. It says in verse 18 that "he returned speedily". After reading that during the devotional, I just sat there and was almost numb. That is exactly how we should respond to the Spirit when the Spirit speaks to us. No matter how afraid we are or how little sense it makes. I love his example of obedience and faith. How cool. And how blessed we are to have the examples of these prophets in the scriptures and the prophets of today. Seriously, what did we do to deserve this? God must love us a LOT!

Jerrica, you're GRADUATED!! HOLLA!! I'm so proud of you! I bet that is such a good feeling!!! congratulations:) James, Have fun in Michigan this week. Be safe. Chris.... TAHITI?! That is very cool! (did I spell that right? Probably not...) Have fun!!! Marissa, good luck with the knee. Let me know what the doc says. Everyone else, I don't know what going on in your lives... but whatever it is, I hope it's great!

If you get a chance, I would love to hear from you. Even if it's 1 sentance on dearelder.com... it would be amazing to hear how you are. Thank you SO much to those who have written. Your letters make the work sweeter.

I love you ALLLLL!!! so much. You are in my prayers. Thank you for your love and support. It's incredible how much and how strong I can feel it. I'm so blessed. Thank you for being apart of my life.

Miss you all,

Sora Cook