Sister Hannah James: Week 10- Ios, Dracula, and Blessings

This week has been so awesome! The beginning of this week we had Zone Conference in Ios. It was a 6 hour bus drive but it was so cool to be able to drive through the country. I loved being able to get more familiar with Romania and see a little bit more of it. I feel such a love for this country and the people here. At the Zone Conference I got to meet the other set of sisters in our Zone which was super awesome. I also got to get to know my mission president and his wife a little better. They are so awesome and make me feel so loved! I loved being able to learn how to be a better missionary and become the person that God wants me to be.

We had an awesome time this week with Alexandra! She came to church on Sunday and we also got to meet with her on Thursday. It went really well and I can just feel Christ working in her life. We had a member present there also which was so cool! Carmen came and met with us and was able to testify and tell of her own experience coming to know that the church was true. The members are all so kind to her and she feels that love from them. I love the members so much! We have been still meeting with the Young Women, Teo and Cristina, and it has continued to be a great thing for us and them. This week we got to take them out with us to do missionary work. It was so cool to see how bold and strong they already are.We also got to know President Mesco better this week. He is a really great branch president and he truely cares about everyone in the branch. The branch had a party on Saturday and it was really great to be there and be a part of it. I feel at home here in this branch and I love it! I have been still playing the piano for church and I have even started teaching Cristina to play.

Getting to know the members better helps me to realize truely how blessed I am to have this gospel in my life. All of the members here have given up and continue to give up so much to embrace the gospel and to futher the work.

This week was a little crazy because we had a problem with our apartment. We had this super strong gas smell that wouldn't go away. It was making us feel sick and we couldn't stay in our apartment. We ended up having to quickly pack a bag and stay a night at a hotel. Our landlord was finally able to figure out that our washing machine had overheated and she got it figured out and we are now able to go home! It made it hard to get back to a normal schedule after Zone Conference with all of this craziness but we were still able to have some awesome experiences with meeting people.

We talked to some sweet girls while we were studying in a book store. We told them about our experiences and how the gospel has helped us. After as we were walking back to go home we gave a girl a book of mormon and explained what it was. When we told her it was free she couldn't believe it and said that of course she would read it. Sometimes I don't really realize how blessed I am to have this knowledge but as we were talking to these girls I just felt the spirit witness that what we were saying was true and that this knowlegde is precious. I HAVE found happiness. I DO have a purpose here on earth. I AM a daughter of God. I am so incredibly blessed to know that these things are true!

Picture 1: A awesome church we got to see on the way to Ios.