When In Romania: Spring Fever!

Buna ziua!!!

Has the whether been as beautiful there as it has been here? I hope so. With the exception of today, it's been so beautiful here. I cannot wait for springtime and to see this beautiful city when it is all green and blossoming. There is something about this city... it's just so beautiful! The people here say that when God created the earth, He forgot to make Moldova, so He just grabbed a little piece of the Garden of Eden and placed it here. I smiled when I heard it because looking around this city, you would truly think that was the case. It's gorgeous.

Daylight savings hasn't hit us yet. For some reason daylight savings here isn't until March 31st. I don't understand why it would be different, but then again, I don't really understand daylight savings...

This week, we were able to meet with Katea a few different times. She is wonderful. Our first lesson of the week with her was on Tuesday and she told us that after our last lesson with her, she didn't feel good at all. She didn't like the way she felt inside and she had been avoiding us. She didn't come to church, she avoided our phone calls, she didn't even want to read from the Book of Mormon. You would think that hearing this would have made me feel disappointed, but the light in her eyes told me something had changed that negative feeling that she had had the previous week. I asked her why she decided to call and meet with us that day and she told me that she missed us and the way she felt around us and she just knew that she needed to call us. We testified to her how much her Heavenly Father loves her and how badly He desires her happiness and that Satan will do anything to keep her from that happiness. We're working to help her fully comprehend how much her Father in Heaven truly does love her. At that age, it's so important to understand God's love for you. At every age it is important, but I feel like those years are so delicate. I'm so grateful to be working with her. Her dad is still very much against her getting baptized. It breaks my heart because I know she so badly wants to. How neat it would be for her entire family to be blessed with the Gospel in their lives. We're still praying for her dad and hoping to get a lesson with her family this week. Cross your fingers!

We have a few new investigators this week. Two of them, Vitali and Lilia, are a young couple in their twenties who I absolutely adore! We found them from our English classes and set up lessons with them outside english and were able to meet with them three times this week. They both ask such amazing questions and are keeping all of their commitments. We talked to them about baptism and they told us they would pray about it. They are leaving for Maryland for the summer to do Work and Travel. I look forward to continuing working with them and watching them grow.

Another one of our new investigators, Vicotria, is one of my new favorite people. She is 22, has a 2 year old daughter and has accomplished so much in her life, but also experienced a lot of trials. In our last lesson she explained to us that she has a hard time understanding why Heavenly Father allows things to happen but that she so badly wants to have the kind of faith that we have, but she just isn't there quite yet. Our next lesson will be all about the plan of salvation and the purpose of this life. We plan on sharing with her D&C 121:1-4 when Joseph Smith cries out in prayer during his trials and then sharing how Heavenly Father responded to his prayer in D&C 122:7-9. Probably my favorite of sections in the Doctrine and Covenants are these chapters when Joseph Smith is in Liberty Jail. They have been the answer to many of my prayers and comforted me during many of my trials. I hope and pray Victoria, too, can understand God's love for her and how dear she is to Him.

I heard a scripture quoted the other day in district meeting that says that "there is none else save God that knowest thy thoughts and the intents of thy heart." (D&C 6:16) When this was quoted, I thought to myself if only God knows my thoughts and intents, than that means that Satan doesn't know my thoughts, which is something I have always wondered about. But then I thought, if Satan doesn't know the thoughts and intents of my heart, how does he know how to tempt me?? How does he know what thoughts to place in my mind? And instantly, I thought about a scripture that I came across and wrote in my journal last week. Proverbs 23:7 "as he thinketh in his heart, so is he". Meaning, I think, the thoughts we have, the desires of our hearts, drive our actions. Satan knows how to tempt us because of our actions which are determined by our thoughts. It all starts with the what the desires of our hearts. I love this, mostly because I've been studying righteous desires for the last 4 transfers and have come to realize how much truly does depend on our desires and our intentions. I hope this makes as much sense in words as it does in my head.

I found yet another scripture that inspires me to make and set goals. I love how so much of what I study all goes back to goals. D&C 133:15 says "But verily, thus saith the Lord, let not your flight be in haste, but let all things be prepared before you; and he that goeth, let him not look back lest sudden destruction shall come upon him." Doesn't that just scream goals?! "Let all things be prepared before you". In other words, set your goals. Have a direction. Press toward the mark. "Let him not look back". Don't let the failures of the past determine the plans of the future. Of course, learn from the past, but don't live in it, continuously looking back, but rather, look forward and set plans for the future. "A man is never more godlike than when he is planning." I love goals. I love the direction I receive when I make goals and the peace I feel as I "prepare the way before [me]".

Okay, family, I love you. I hope you are all doing well. I trust that Heavenly Father is watching over you and guiding your lives. I am grateful for my eternal family. I miss you all more than you know, but I am loving where I am with all my heart. I love missionary work and I love that I get to be apart of it. I can't believe we're at the end of another transfer. Granted, this transfer was a lot shorter than most, but I'm sad to have to say goodbye to Sora Heim. I love her so dearly and learn to appreciate her more and more every single day. She is such a great missionary and has so much to give these people.

Va pup. Ceau. Succes. Numai bine. O zi buna.

Va iubesc,
Sora Cook