Week 4- Craciun Fericit!

This Christmas week was amazing but unfortunately I have no time to email. I want to make sure I am staying obedient to our mission rules so I won't be able say much today. I am loving it here and really feel like it is my home. I love Romanian and teaching about the gospel. I cannot wait to leave for Romania in 2 1/2 weeks! 

picture 1: us on christmas morning (please ignore my hair and my face it got a lot better later in the day)

 picture 2,3: the first good snow here at the MTC 

picture 4: we were running late and missed dinner on christmas so here is our christmas dinner from the vending machines hahah!

picture 5: me and my companions on christmas eve

Week 3- I Love Being a Missionary

This week has been incredible! I have had so many opportunities to feel the Spirit and learn and grow. We have two new investigators this week. They are named Ioana and Daniel. We have really loved getting to know them so far and can't wait to see how the gospel will help them. Just to clarify, these investigator are actually our teachers acting as real people from their missions to Romania and Moldova. We have the lessons as a chance to learn the language and practice teaching with the Spirit. But this doesn't change anything for me. All day long I pray for the Spirit to touch their hearts and help them come closer to Christ. I pray in faith and Heavenly Father answers. I have seen simple but incredible miracles through me and my companions of the Gift of Tongues and the Spirit guiding us to say things we normally wouldn't. We have been able to speak and teach in a language we just heard for the first time two weeks ago! I know that we have had God's help so much. My testimony of planning and studying by the Spirit has grown so much in the last week. In our companionship we have really tried to have trust in God and what he would want us to teach and it has been so awesome!

I have loved the MTC and my Romanian Soras! There are five of us and we all travel in a group and wherever we go people are always saying, "It's the Romanian Sisters!" and a bunch of missionaries (mostly Elders I hate to admit) have started trying to learn Romanian words to say to us. They are learning their own languages but they always try to speak Romanian too for some reason haha! So basically we are famous here! Hahah just joking! (but kinda) 

I love spending all of my time here dedicated to God. There's no distractions or any other worries. Life is all about furthering the work of God by bringing others to His Son Jesus Christ. I am the most blessed person ever to live this life and to have this opportunity. I am also so grateful to have all of you praying for me and thinking of me. I think of you all always and pray that you are doing well. 

This week we shared Mosiah 24:10-16,21-22 with our investigator Ioana. I invite you to read it and find what you can do through faith and trust in God. I love you and hope this was an amazing week!

Week 2- Pictures

I have no time today to email but I just want to tell you all that the church is so true! I have had so many small miracles this week. It's amazing to be here working with God's power to do everything. I feel His hand all times. Even while we are planning and exercising or just walking from class to class. I know this is where I am supposed to be and I have been filled with so much joy and happiness! I love you all! Please keep the emails and love coming! It has helped me so much! Here's some pictures of our Romanian adventures! I also ran into some friends, Elder Thompson and Elder Darc, and we took an awkward picture haha.

Week 1- MTC and Romanian

Hey everyone!

I'm so blessed to have my Pday on Friday so I get to email you all just shortly after coming out! You wouldn't think in less than three days that I would have much to talk about but a lot has happened. First of all I want to tell you about my companions and district. I am in a trio with Sora Crompton and Sora Baldwin.

 They are both such amazing sisters and I have already grown close to both of them. In some ways they are pretty opposite though. Sora Crompton is pretty quiet and reserved

 and Sora Baldwin is always loud and enthusiastic. As you can imagine me and Sora Baldwin get along really well. We always laugh and talk together and get excited about every new thing we do here.

The rest of my district is just one other Sora companionship, Sora Mulstein and Sora Madsen. They are both very sweet girls and we love doing everything with the whole district. 

We all share a room in the residence hall so it's pretty easy to plan our days and stay together. Our zone is all of us Surori and the Italian Elders and Sisters. We haven't spent much time with them yet but they are all very nice and know a lot because they've been hear for a whole week longer than us Romanians hahah!

Speaking Romanian is so fun! I've already in these first few days started learning it! It's a beautiful language. It's not very hard to learn how to pronounce the words because I took Spanish in high school and the way the words sound is pretty similar. But the actual meaning behind the words is very different and can be confusing. It's just crazy that I have to learn how to speak this WHOLE language fluently. But I know God will help me and I have felt His help so much already! I can't say much yet but I can say "Noi sunt representante ale Domnului Isus Hristos." That means "We are representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ." I love being able to say that because even though we are still in the MTC, we are already representatives! I'm so lucky to be here! I have felt the spirit all the time since the moment I got here. I walked through the doors and felt God's love and the love of all the leaders here. I'm really happy here learning to teach the gospel and how to feel God's love.

The first night here we taught three real investigator with about 50 other missionaries that were all pretty new. We taught in English so we could all participate and it was amazing! I was even able to share my testimony a couple of times! With the last investigator we all knelt down as he prayed to his Heavenly Father for the first time. Wow it was so awesome and it got me so pumped to go out and do that all the time! I realized that all people, whether they know it yet or not, long to feel the Spirit and know God. And not only that but Heavenly Father longs for all people to know Him as well. He loves to bless us with the Spirit when we need it. It was really cool to see up close those real life examples of that. 

On Thursday we were able to meet our Branch Presidency and teach them and the other Surori a short lesson. I loved working with my companions and kind of finding a rhythm as we taught. Most of Thursday we spent planning and learning Romanian to teach our first lesson tonight! We are teaching Lacra tonight and we can only speak Romanian! (please recall from earlier in the letter that I can only say one sentence from memory) I'm feeling a little unsure but my abilities as a servant of God don't matter. As long as I remember who the Master is and who's tool I really am, I know that He will help me and bless me to do more than I can do on my own!

I wanted to share with you all one of the scriptures we hope to share with Lucra tonight. It is Moroni 7:48, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as his is pure. Amen."

So my invitation to you is the same that we will extend to Lacra. Pray to your Heavenly Father and find the love and peace that only He offers!

I love you all so much and I hope that this week is awesome!

(by the way I can look at emails anytime throughout the week here at the MTC but I can only send replies on Fridays)

AHH YAY!!

Mom and Dad,

Hey I just got here and met my Soras that I have been messaging! I am in a group of three with Sora Baldwin and Sora Crompton! I am so happy to be here! I'm not sad or crying and everyone is really nice. Everyone I walk past is saying "Welcome to the MTC!!!" I think my whole district is the girls I've talked to so it's pretty small. (I guess because I don't actually know anything haha). Right after I walked in I got my tag and I am so happy and proud to be wearing it. I then went to my room and got to pick a bed (mine is a bottom bunk by a window). After that we went to our classrooms and we are in the computer lab now. I already know that it's going to be awesome here! Don't worry at all about anything! I'm so happy I got to email you. I love you both and our whole family. I'm glad we ran out of gas because we didn't need a lot of time it was better. They are already only speaking Romanian right now! I love you so much but I have to go. Thank you all for getting me here! I'm so happy I came.

I love you so much!!

Sora James