Hello from SE Romania

Buna Ziua Ce Faceti?

That's an interesting question. It both means: "Good Day How are you?" and "Good Day, What are you doing?" So, when we talk to people at their door every evening ( we bloc knock every day between 5 and 8 at night) and ask them that question, they usually say "Uit-te Ce sa fac?" which is "Look, what should I do?" or "Fac Curatenie, n-am timp" meaning "I'm cleaning, I don't have time." It quickly gets to the point that you can finish people's sentences for them if they were to let you. Fun times :)

So, things are going well here in the large city of Ploiesti, about 45 minutes north of Bucharest. This last week, Carmen, the awesome girl who recently got baptised, was confirmed in church. She is so solid and ready to serve, it is really cool. Also, Costel, our investigator who will be one of the 5 baptisms on Sept 4 just had his baptismal interview, and he is just beaming with excitement. He also will be a great strength to the branch. We were going to have 9 baptisms, but it turns out that a few of them need some more time. One man in particular has a drinking problem that still needs to be resolved. His wife and two daughters have been waiting for him to kick the habit so they could all get baptised together; one of the daughters even quit smoking so she could get baptised, but the father just doesn't seem to have the will power to overcome as of yet. He is super supportive, and the others will be baptised on the 4th, but he has just never been able to go more than a week without drinking. Disappointingly, this last week he got seriously drunk, and when he came to church you could just see how plastered was his conscience. The missionaries that are working with him are looking for all the advise they can get. I told them that dad might know something; so if you do, feel free to offer a suggestion.

On a better note, we had Zone Conference this last week in Brashov. That is were all the missionaries in the Zone, which includes the three cities of Brashov, Ploiesti, and Sibiu, come together for a day to meet with the Mission President and his wife, the Ashbys, and the two Assistants to the President. It was a great day. The Zone Leaders taught us about scheduling our days more effectively, then we drew two names out of a hat of missionaries to give 10 minute talks. One of them was my trainer Elder Miller, and he gave a really good talk. After that, the Assistants taught about consecrating all your efforts and putting your heart into the work, then we had lunch, then the President Ashby taught about searching out those willing to hear the message, not for the sake of being successful, but for the love of the gospel and of the people we serve. He used clips from the Best 2 Years to teach his lesson, and it was actually really inspiring to be cinematically reminded of why we're out here, and what missionary work is really about.

Unfortunately, we had to stay the night before the conference in the apartment of a couple of Elders in Brashov, one of which had been severely sick for the preceding week. As a result of that, I think, I have been having major digestional problems since Thursday. Just when I was thinking I would serve an illness free mission having made it thus far without any sickness, my stomach started doing back flips. Today, Monday, I feel the worst that I've been all week, so I think I'm going to call Sister Ashby, the mission President's wife, who is the medical advisor.

I really want to be healthy for this upcoming week because Elder Miller and I are going to try to end the transfer with a bang. A typical week here consists of, maybe 150 contacts, 25 finds, and 15 lessons taught. Friday and Saturday of this past week, we went crazy, just getting lost in the work and achieved these numbers in just those two days. The great thing is that when your just thinking talk to everybody, you get the numbers without even thinking about them. Rather you are focusing on what's really important, which is teaching the gospel to people. So, this next week, we have decided to set really high goals, 500 contacts, 75 finds, and 40 lessons taught. With a focus on the work, and seeking out those willing to hear for the love of the work and for the people, I think we can do it. Our entire district has made similar goals, and we are going to try to really swarm Ploiesti this next week with the good news of the restored gospel.

For the past week, I have been making all the phone calls at night. Luckily, Elder Miller was good enough to force me to do some my first week, so that by this point, I actually look forward to making them. I have learned to really enjoy talking to people and trying to schedule out our day. Now its funny because I, the junior companion, am the one who knows our schedule for the next week, and he always turns to me when we are scheduling appointments with people. The Sister Missionaries in our district are always calling it cute. I don't know about that, but it does feel nice to know how things work, as opposed to the first week in the mission when I just had to tag along.

To quickly answer some questions:

My apartment is two rooms with a kitchen. It is only for my companion and I.

The branch is good. There are about 150 on the roles and 50-70 active. It could be better, but in a place like Romania where most people only go to church twice a year, I think its actually pretty good. The youth are kind of struggling, without very much attendance, but there are many very solid members.

Yes, send packages to the mission home. I sent you a package last week. We'll see when you get it.

I love you all very much, Thanks for your letters. Tell Joe to send me an e-mail

-(Elder) Walker Frahm