Things are heating up...

...quite literally. It has been a hot week!! The tripple digit temperatures weren't bad in Austin because when I was outside, I was at the pool...but the triple digit temps here are not as fun. When the Romanian people are complaining, you know it's bad. They said this is the hottest it has been here in a long time and these are the dog days... aka canicula. However, it could be worse and I'm grateful that it's not.

We have sister exchanges this thursday and I get to go to Timisoara for the day with Sora Hoskings. I'm pretty excited. I've heard TImi is beautiful and I love Sora Hoskings... so it should be a fun adventure:) I'm excited, however, it's kind of a bummer that it takes an entire day out of actual missionary work just to travel back and forth. Oh well. Who knows, maybe there will be someone super prepared on the train ride. (Did I tell you my cool experience on the trainride to Lipova last monday?) I sat next to this man and he started talking to us (and by us, I mean Sora Remsberg) and she left the compartment to go socialize with the other missionaries, so I just pulled out my Book of Mormon and started reading and he saw and started to ask me about it. I was terrified to talk to him without my crutch (Sora Remsberg) there, but I said what little I could about the book and it's origins and asked if he wanted my copy of the Book of Mormon and he graciously accepted and said he would read. Such a neat experience.

Last week, I mentioned how we ran into a kid on the street and invited him to church and he showed up and LOVED it. Well, on the 4th of July we had a little BBQ and invited him to come and then afterwards have a lesson with the Walquists (the senior couple) and him. The BBQ was great... Loved the american food and cake and home-made rootbeer without dry ice (coolest thing ever). And the lesson afterward was even better. We sat down and asked him about church and he told us how he knew it was true and why there weren't more people at church and asked how he could get more people there because he knew it was true. We told him that's exactly why we're here... to share with people the message of the truth. And he asked how he could help... and we suggested that maybe we share that message with him first and then he can share it with other people. We taught him about Joseph Smith and the restoration and how just like Joseph Smith had his prayers answered and found the truth through prayer, we can too.. and afterward, he asked, "So do I need to pray about the church to know if it's true?" A little shocked, we both nodded and said da. And he told us he didn't know how and that he had never prayed before. So we taught him how to pray and he asked if we wanted him to pray right now... once again, a little shocked, we nodded our head and said da. So we knelt down and he prayed and in his prayer he said "God, I know these things are true. Help me to know more and to learn more about this church." It was so beautiful. As I wiped away tears, we threw out a soft baptismal committment and asked him if he found out these things were true, if he would follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized... and he just looked at us and said "When?" So we set his baptismal date for July 21st and told him we woulc continue to meet with him to teach him more about the gospel and prepare him to be baptized. When we explained that baptism was a big committment and that we make big promises with God to live according to His commandments, he said "I can do that. I already live that way anyway so I might as well make a promise to live this way." Hopefully he understands the importance of baptism and that it is not the last step. That is something we plan on stressing in our lesson with him tomorrow. He didn't come to church yesterday, which broke my heart. But when we called him and asked where he was, he said he had to work and that he isn't avoiding us. (He can't make calls on his phone he can only receive calls. Kind of annoying.) But it was good to hear that he wasn't avoiding us and that he wants to meet tomorrow.

I feel like he is such a good example of someone who is so prepared. All he needed was someone to point him in the right direction. He hardly needs to be taught. I feel how precious he is and how much Heavenly Father loves him. It's such a cool experience to witness firsthand. I have been praying for him super hard. I know that this is where Satan steps in and tries to interfere. I hope and pray that doesn't happen, but I don't think it will.

The work is giong well. We are meeting with a lot of the less actives and have seen a lot more of them at church the last few weeks. Still working with a few of the families. They are such good people and such strong families with strong testimonies. If only they didn't come up with every excuse in the book not to come to church.

Yesterday, Sora Remsberg asked me one of the ways that my testimony has grown the most from my mission so far and I realized it is my love for the scriptures. Before the mission, I truly am not sure if I ever "feasted upon the word" like I do now. I get more out of one verse now than I did out of entire chapters before my mission. And that is just because my desires have changed. Before it was almost like I read my scriptures just to be able to say that I read them. It was just one more thing on my checklist. But now, I truly seek to understand them and it is a privledge the time that I have to read the words and to learn from them. This week, I remembered a verse that I found when I was reading in 1Nephi 15. In this chapter Lamen and Lemuel are frustrated because they don't understand the words of their father and I love in verse 8 after expressing that they don't understand the meanings of the things their father spoke, Nephi's response in verse 8 is so simple and so beautiful. He says, "Have ye inquired of the Lord?" I love this for a few reasons. One being that Nephi had just inquired of the Lord the meanings of Lehi's words and received a marvelous revelation. It would have been so easy for him to tell Lamen and Lemuel exactly what the things meant that Lehi spoke of, but instead, he desired for them to receive that revelation for themselves. I think of how often we are so willing to tell people what we know or what we think we know. We for some reason, want to try and prove ourselves or prove that we know more than them. When really, we should do what Nephi did and rather than tell them everything we think they should or shouldn't do, we should advise them to ask the Lord for the answers and seek to understand through Him and counsil with Him. The other thing that I learned from that one verse is that when we are trying to find answers, it is so easy to go to everyone around us, seeking opinions and seeking advice but I have learned that our first source of knowledge or answers, should always be our Heavenly Father. And maybe after we've prayed about it, He will guide us to certain people to seek advice from and receive an answer in that way, but reguardless, our first source of knowledge or understanding should always be the Lord.

Anyway, I hope ya'll had a wonderful 4th of July. God bless America. I'm sorry this isn't longer and more detailed about my life here on my mission. I feel like it would take hours to write about all my experiences. It's so hard to pick and choose which I will share with you. I love you all.

Oh, yesterday, we went chalk contacting in the park. SO MUCH FUN! We just draw the plan of salvation on the sidewalk and as people stop, we talk to them about it. It was a lot more effective than I anticipated. I'll post pictures. It was a blast.

Happy birthday to Maggie. I'm sorry I forgot to say it last monday! I felt awful. Tell her I love her SO much and that I hope she had the best dang birthday in the world.

Miss you all. Hope all is well. Thank you so much for all those who emailed me. I loved them so much!! I'm sorry I can't write you all idividually. I wish I had time.

Va iubesc,
Sora Cook

Our friends by the river...