Unplanned Miracles

As you already know, this week was amazing! We are super pumped about our baptismal dates with Adi and Ionela! We were having a lesson with Adi's whole family and Ionela and Adi were sitting towards the back of the group. When we started to talk about baptism they started whispering to each other. As the lesson continued Ionela announced that they had something to say. She told us that they wanted to be married and then baptized. They Spirt was so powerful and confirmed that this is the right path. They are praying now to know for sure that this is what God wants for them. We were also super happy to have a lost sheep back with us! Sora Ciorba came to church on Sunday. After being  baptized all of her friends pressured her into returning to the church that she had previously been at, since then she hasn't been back to church. But this week we found her name on the member list and went to find her and invite her back and she came!

We have realized how guided we are and have been trying to find the unplanned opportunities in what look like failure and God has really blessed us to see some unplanned miracles! We missed our bus stop and had to get off at the next one and walk back. Sora Garrett told me that she felt like we must have missed it for a reason and that there was someone waiting for us on the way back. We talked to a few really cool people and then saw a beautiful family. We stopped them and asked if we could share a short message with them. We talked a little about the Restoration and then asked when we could meet and they said they could the next day! We met up on Sunday and taught them about the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was so strong and testified of the truth of what we were saying. We set to meet up again on Sunday! 

We had another amazing experience when we were going to find a returning member. She wasn't there because she had moved out of the block but we started talking to one of the ladies from the block and she was super sweet and invited us into her home. We went in and told her who we were and she was pretty emotional and told us how much she loves Jesus Christ and that she thinks He sent us to her. We then invited her to come to church and she got really excited and said that for the past three weeks she has been having a dream of Jesus Christ extending His hand to her and saying "haide, hai cu mine" (which means come with me) and she said that she would answer "unde sa ma duc?" (where should I go) her mom is super sick and she cant really go anywhere but she said that when we invited her that she knew that that was the invitation that Christ was extending. She said that Jesus Christ wants her to come to His church. She said we were angels sent from God. 

We are still working with going to all of the members on the list and finding the lost sheep and it has been going well. There are a lot of wrong addresses and missing information but we have seen how Heavenly Father has helped and guided us. Along with that we have been continuing to try with Alexandra and have met up with our other people. There is a lot going on in Brasov! Have an amazing week!

Sora James

pics: adi and ionela are the most beautiful people <3

we moved this week to a different apartment and here we are in the middle of the night (8 pm) taking the last of our stuff to the new place 

Week: March 19-25

This week was really amazing. I am so happy to be back here. I find myself smiling all the time and my desire to do the work is just getting bigger and bigger every day. It's been a really cool experience coming in and building off the work that Sora Garrett and the other sisters have done because this is the first time in my mission that I have been able to do this. They really have done a great job and there are some amazing people that we are working with. 

We are of course working with Alexandra but she is still having a really hard time fully accepting the Atonement of Jesus Christ to work in her and because of this we weren't able to meet up with her this week. I have said some of my most earnest prayers in my life for her. Both a year ago and now. Can you all please pray for her? She really needs it. With all of our faith I know that Heavenly Father will give her the strength to ask for Christ's redeeming power. We are also working with Ramona, Ionela, Rebeca, and several others. 

This week we had lessons with some sweet families, including the Geana family from Sacele. They are so sweet and there testimonies are so strong. It seems like they understand the Gospel and now it's time for them to act! We talked about baptism and a specific date and they said they would pray to know if this was the right thing for them! We have met up with a lot of awesome people and have continued to find more people wherever we go. 

We have continued promising blessing and have been focusing a lot on this as a district. Sora Muhlestein had a great idea of how to do better at following up not only on the commitment we extend but also on the blessings the we promise. We have also been focused a lot on working with our less active members. Every day we go out and true to find these amazing children of God! We split up the member list and mapped out where everyone lives so that no one is left forgotten. Heavenly Father always leads us to where we need to go when we are out doing what He has asked us to do. We have had miracles as we have followed the promptings He gives us. 

Something that we read this week in our comp study was to make it clear when we are teaching that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints isn't like other churches. I have felt so much happiness this week as I have concentrated on teaching others that while other churches good and based on true priciples and are lead by good people, that there is a church lead directly by God! From there we teach that through the Gospel restored in this church that we can recieve all the blessings of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Ahh we are a part of the most amazing work in the world! Have a great week!

Love, Sora James

IM BACK HOME

Okay im not back home in utah but im back to my lovely Brasov!!!! As I got off the train, I felt like I was coming home. We have big plans to get through the member list and bring everyone back. The members are doing great and it really is the time for this wonderful city. Already in these couple days of being here we have seen miracles! We got to meet with Alexandra and had a powerful lesson about the Plan of Salvation, concentrating on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I saw a change in her in this lesson and I think she truely understands her need of Him in her life. She closed with a beautiful prayer and told us that she really feels like God is calling on her to come to Him and that He is really working at her through us. Sora Garrett is AMAZING and so bold and brought up baptism at just the right time. Alexandra said that she is amazed that we still believe that she is worth it. It is a miracle that I am able to be here again. I feel like one of the greatest purposes of my whole mission was to prepare me for this time here again, with her and with all of the people here. I have felt the power of personal revelation and know that God has great plans right now. Like I said Sora Garrett is amazing and has taught me so much especially about promising blessings. We were really inspired but the story Elder Kemeny shared at MLC about promising specific, powerful blessings and we have been making a real effort to do this in all of our interactions. People really react positively because when we do this the Spirit imediately testifies of what we are saying. We really are doing great and really feel like miracles are coming! Love you guys! Have a great week!

Sora James

back in the good ol brasov

me and alexandra (((:

i dont know what week anymore but it was really goooood ((((:

This week we have stayed busy and have been having lots of great lessons. One of the greatest experiences this week was with our cute friend Diana. We taught her the Plan of Salvation. Recently we realized that we need to be teaching the Plan of Salvation as a lesson about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the impact it has on us now and in eternity instead of teaching about us and then fitting the Atonement into the picture. The Plan of Salvation is the Atonement. As we taught the lesson more focused on Him, our desire to share with her was so much greater. The love the God blessed us to feel for this sweet girl was really amazing. She is progressing really well and even in a few lessons we have seen her faith grow. Her prayers are really sincere and you can really see her desire to know if God is there. 

Another amazing miracle from this week was with Carmen Ionica. She came to church again this Sunday. It was amazing to see her take the sacrament and renew her covenants again! Then as the testimonies were being borne she was very touched and she leaned over to me and asked if it would be okay for her to say a few things. I told her that it would be fine. She went up and shared that she was a recently returning member but that God has showed her that she needs to be here. It was a short but powerful testimony. 

We have seen a lot of amazing miracles lately and have been feeling the power of the Holy Ghost giving us the words to say, when we need to say them. I have noticed that if we are prepared and willing God will give us challenges that turn out to be miracles. 

Sora Erickson is doing really well and has been taking the lead in a few lessons and has been working so hard. She is an amazing example and I am so lucky to be her companion. We are always up and praying at 6:30 and something that I try to do every morning is to say "Today is going to be a great day." and then I give a little cheer or jump or something and it really always is true haha. 

Love you so much!

Sora James

week

This week was great. After the mission tour this week I just feel so pumped for the work and I have thought of so many ways to improve. Something that really impressed me was how optimistic the message was. It is easy to get stuck in the moment and to only see where we are now but I was reminded that the most wonderful thing about the Gospel is the fact that because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ everything is full of hope. No matter what happens, everything will be okay. I decided to focus on this as I do my work and it has made a difference just always thinking about the eternal perspective. 

We have continued to concentrate our efforts on our work with returning members and have been blessed with some great miracles! We had a lady come to church who hasn't come in 5 years. Her name is Carmen Ionica. We have visited her with some of the active members as well and it was amazing to see them welcome her back. They all celebrated her returning and we will be sure to continue to involve them from here on out. 

Another amazing blessing was a visit to Sora Matei that we had. President Doru is really on top of the needs of the members and gave us an assignment at the last branch council to reach out to her. It was an amazing experience and we really felt the spirit testify through us. We were really straight forward and asked her why she hadn't come to church lately. She opened up to us and we read the story of the lost sheep and the verses from John 10 about how the Savior gave His life for His sheep. We were all in tears and could feel God's love so much for this sweet sister. She said that she hadn't read the Book of Mormon in years but that she would try. We told her to come back and that Christ wanted her back. She felt the power of the message. Another amazing experience this week happened because we missed our stop on the tramvai. Because we went further we ended up being in an area that we had never been in before and we decided to knock a few houses while we were there. The first house we went to was a beautiful family with 11 little kids! At first while we were talking to the mother she was really closed off and told us that she already had a church and that she didn't want to know more but as we testified of the Restoration of the Gospel we saw her heart change and she invited us to come back. It was amazing to see how God guided our path to find this sweet family. We have been blessed with many other opportunities and have been able to contact a lot of our amazing people that we have found. Love you all

!

Sora James

week

This week was great! We have continued to work hard every day and haven't lost our fire or motivation. We have been praying more than ever and have been finding all day every day! It has been amazing! We go find returning members and find others along the way.  We have also been involving members and going out to find with them which has been really cool. That way we are able to strengthen the testimony of those who are here as well as searching for those who are lost. We had exchanges this week and we both had great experiences with finding returning members. Sora Broadbear and I went to find a member and it turns out that he and his wife were separated and that he had moved out and she didn't have any of his contact information. We left her with our number and told her to call us if she ever wanted to know more about what we believe or if she had info on her husband. Not even an hour later we got a call. It was the member that we were looking for! He told us that his wife had told him that we were at his house and he said that he wanted visits from the elders and that he wanted to come back to church! It was such a miracle. It was so amazing to be with Sora Broadbear again. She is such a great example and she teaches me so much every time we are together again. Lately I have been really focused on having more meaningful prayers and study and I have really felt the difference. I really look forward every night to reporting what I have done that day to Heavenly Father and I really feel Him listening and helping me to know what to do better. Prayer is so powerful. I love you all! have a great week

Sora James

Week 61... i think

This week has been filled with miracles. We have been guided to a lot of amazing people this week but still haven't been able to have a lot of lessons. We are really dedicating ourselves to the people we find and are following up with each one. We have to keep working harder and smarter but I'm not worried because I know that God sees our efforts and that He has a better plan for these people than we do. Something that I have been trying to improve on recently as I try and talk to every person that God puts in my path is to contact better on public transportation and as we wait at the stops. We have started talking to each person we can that is waiting at the same stop as us before the bus comes and then on the bus or metro or whatever it is, I have really tried putting an effort in to talking to everyone that I can and being direct about the purpose. I have realized that the conversation doesn't need to be casual and then slowly work up to a gospel discussion but that if I start a conversation directly and with love that others are open to talk about what we believe even if they aren't interested to come and learn more yet. I really believe that although it's good that they remember us smiling and being friendly it matters so much more that we give each person a chance to hear our testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have continued in our efforts to gather the lost sheep and have been delivering lots of baptismal records. This week we went on exchanges with members and delivered some of them. It was really cool to see their enthusiasm for the work and their testimonies in action. We had an amazing experience with one lady this week named Mariana. We traveled really far to find her and when we got there she happened to be home and she welcomed us with open arms. She said that she was wanting to talk to the missionaries and find her way back for a while now but never saw any around the city and didn't know how to find us she then started crying and said, "Now look, you just showed up at my front door. I know that you are sent by God. I know that He loves me." It was an amazing experience. We have been blessed to have some amazing experiences contacting on the streets and in blocks and everywhere we go. I have really seen how God leads us to the areas we need to be in just when we need to go there. I am so grateful to be here and I love this work. Have a great week!

oh btw sora smith is gone and im with my pal sora erickson din nou 

Sora James

transfers

I staying here in Bucuresti! This week was really good. We have been continuing in our efforts to find members that don't come to church and have been blessed with many opportunities to find the lost sheep. We decided that since we don't know a ton of the members yet that we would go through the numbers in the phone just a few every day and set up to meet with the people that we didn't know. Doing this we found several ladies who haven't been to church in a really long time but who were happy to meet up. We have been focusing our studies in the morning and as a companionship on the baptismal covenants and remaining on the path and helping those who have lost their way and I have seen my testimony grow more than ever before that there are those who are lost and want to come back. I feel a stronger desire to find them and bring them in again. We have continued to work with the Dumitru family and have gone now to visit another son. We had a great lesson with them about the Prodigal Son. They spirit was so powerful and they felt the desire to come back. We are really excited to work with Remus to help him remember and Juli and the kids also learn. I am so excited to work with Sora Erickson again and I am so grateful for the time that I had with Sora Smith. She really is an amazing missionary and is going to do great things in Brasov!

Sora James

Week?

This week was really great! We have really caught the vision of finding the lost sheep and have been making it our go to activity. We have been using the baptismal records that President Doru made and it has been really cool to see the blessings that have come. We were planning on finding one member late in the evening a week or so ago and didn't feel right about it and so we went a different way and found someone else. We saw that night that God had had another plan for us but still wanted to find the original member. So this week we ended up going during the day to his house. When we went there he wasn't home but we got to meet his exwife and his grandkids. The wife gave us information on where her other children live (all of which are members) and told us they would all be glad to meet us. They were a really sweet family and wanted us to come back. We then went back on Sunday and got to meet one of the sons (the father of the little kids) and his cute wife. He talked about reading the Book of Mormon and all the blessings that he had received from God as he was coming to church. We set up a day to meet with Marian and Alexandra and their two little kids. I know that God lead us to them. We are so excited to teach Marian again and Alexandra and her kids for the first time and help them to come unto Christ. We also feel really good about the other members of the family all across the city and can't wait to visit them as well. Other than our work with the lost sheep we have continued to find wherever we are and we have been blessed to meet a lot of great people. We met a sweet lady named Daniela who has really been prepared for the Gospel. We got to meet with her this last week and she is already reading and really excited about the Book of Mormon. She has a lot of questions but also has a lot of faith and is willing to listen. It will really help her as she is searching for answers. Something else that was really amazing this week was that I got the chance to talk to Lorena from Cluj! I haven't had the chance to call her since I got here but she got my number and called me. She told me that she is reading the Book of Mormon every day and that it has been such a blessing to her. She said that God has given her a new life. I am so grateful for the blessing that this Gospel and what it means in these people's lives and that I am blessed to see it changing them. 

Love Sora James 

Week 58- heyy (((:

This week was really great! We have been spending a lot of time lately searching for returning members and contacting as we go. We had a really amazing experience as we were searching for a member the other day. We found the address and tried and no one was home so we asked one of the neighbors where the Fodea family lived and she pointed a couple of doors down. We went to the house that she showed us and rang the doorbell. We asked them if they were the Fodea family and they said yes so we started talking to them about why we were there and talked about their baptism in our church. They were super confused and asked if they could look at the certificate that we had. It turned out that their name was Fotea not Fodea and they were not the family that we were looking for. We then told them that we were there to share a message with them about Jesus Christ and they let us come in. We then we able to talk about the Restoration with one of the members of the family, Vali. She was really emotional as we spoke and told us several times that God sent us to her. It is always really amazing to me to see how Heavenly Father makes it possible for us to be where we need to be when we need to be there. Vali is just this one lady in all of Bucharest in a little house on a little street that we never would go to normally but He knew that she was in need and planned it perfectly for us to be there when we needed to be. We have seen a lot of experiences like that lately, of God leading us and guiding us even when we don't know it. One of the returning members we are working with is Mioara Fletcher. We were trying to find her one day and we couldn't get into her block. We realized that we needed God's help so we decided to pray. Right as we finished our prayer a little blind lady unlocked the door for us and let us in. We started talking to her and realized that she was Mioara! Since then we have had miracle after miracle with her and have seen how much Heavenly Father wants her back. She has been having some problems lately and it has been really hard to find a chance to sit and talk to her but she says that she wants to come back to church in a few months. We have continued trying to work with her and have started involving the active members. It will be really good for her in this hard time to know that she is still part of the branch and that the rest of the members want to be there for her. In general we have just been working as hard as we can and looking for those who are ready to come back or come for the first time to Jesus Christ. I think this might be a time that God wants us to work really hard and show Him that we recognize the little miracles and blessings. I know that He has great plans for these people.

Love Sora James

and the moment you have all been waiting for (especially you mom) .....

piiictuuures

running in the morning in the snoww

making calls and studying at the mall lol 

me and my cutie comp Sora SMITH 

the chuurch is huge here!!!

Week 57-

This week was great. We have seen the blessings of faith and patience. Now that the holidays are over we have been able to meet with some of the people that we met when we first got here. A couple weeks ago our branch president, President Doru, invited his friend's family to church and we got to know his daughter. Her name is Sara and she is thirteen and really open to know more. We met up with her this week and taught the Restoration. She was a little overwhelmed but felt the spirit and the truth of the message. Another awesome we had this week was with a girl named Ana. We met her our first day in Bucharest and were finally able to meet with her. It was an amazing discussion and the Spirit was so strong. When we first started talking she told us that she didn't really believe in anything but by the end of the lesson she was smiling and leaning forward. It was amazing to see how the message of the Restoration changed her whole perspective and gave her so much hope. it makes me think of the scripture in 2 Nephi 30 that talks about that the scales of darkness will begin to fall from their eyes. I have had so many amazing opportunities to see this promise in action. There is a physical change in people as they hear for the first time the truth that they are truly a child of God and that He has a perfect plan for them. At the end of the lesson she started asking so many questions about what will happen after this life and why we are here. We invited her to read and pray and that we could talk more about her other questions. There was such an amazing peace in the lesson and we all felt the Spirit confirm that it was true. We have continued to meet great people everyday and I can't wait to see how they will progress in the Gospel. This coming week I want to focus on having more organized and meaningful study and prayers. I know the power that comes as we pray with faith and feast on the words of Christ. I know that my testimony of the Atonement will grow and as it grows my desire and ability to share the Gospel will be strengthened. I have been thinking lately about the worth of souls. As I think about the love that God has for each of His children it helps my faith to grow. I know that He has a perfect plan for each one of his children here and I know that He will work through me if I let Him. Love you guys have a great week!!