Hello Parents, Sisters, Et. al.,
Sorry if I have not been responding very directly in the past to your e-mails. I will try to do better in the future. I do have to write the Mission President every week and I try to write a couple short letters to others, but mostly I just haven't had time to write down your questions and to respond to the because we usually have to pay ahead and there is a timer on the computer that counts down until it shuts off. Luckily, however, we found, this last week, a new place where we can type and then pay afterwards, so there is no timer and I can kind of take my time, a tad. Plus, it is a lot easier to print here, so I will probably be doing that more often so I can respond to more of your questions directly.
Anyway, I am sorry to hear that mom was sick. I will pray that she may feel better. I know that she just hates being sick, and I can truly understand how she feels. As for the weather, indeed, even just today it seems that the weather has turned. Yesterday, it was about 85 degrees out, and today, it is about 60. I like the heat a lot more than the cold; that's for sure. We are going to search today for some winter clothing stores so I can stock up on some cool outfits. As for the trip with the youth, no I never did get the chance to do that. They have really restricted how much free time we get, especially referring to excursions to the mountains. But, we are working on maybe getting to go on a trip to a nearby salt mountain (I know, I thought it was weird too) in the near future. That's neat to hear from Aaron. Tell him hi for me and if you have his e-mail address you might as well forward my e-mails to him to. I don't think I have it on this account and I don't know it off hand. I am glad to hear that Belle and Courter are getting along. I love hearing Belle's messages every week and I would also love to get more e-mails direct from Courtney. Whenever I see little girls I think of those two and I really miss them. It sounds like Dad's doing well with his Seminary students, which is to be expected, of course. Of all the things to keep busy with, that is certainly a really good one. That's also really nice that he seems to have acclamated to the early morning; I can certainly relate to that and to how nice it feels to go to bed when I'm tired at 10:30 and to wake up fully rested at 6:30. Those Sister missionaries who just got transferred to open up a new area must be pretty good. It is really difficult work to open a new area and I know that the mission president only chooses the very best missionaries to do a job like that.
As for me. I have continued to speak only in Romanian, and I love the fact that now I have to consciously think in order to switch over to speaking in English since Romanian is just the norm. I can understand, I think about 70% by this point, and I feel myself improving even from week to week and day to day in my comprehension. Something that has really helped is reading from the Book of Mormon in Romanian with the English copy open next to me. I am now in the middle of Alma and I have decided to try to finish the entire book by the middle of October. It is nice that now, even though I still look up all the words that I don't know, there are only one or two words a chapter, usually; so I can go a lot faster.
This last Sunday was branch conference, which means that the Mission President, President Ashby and his wife came and spoke. It was fun to see them again and to hear their talks. Sora (sister) Ashby spoke on the Relief Society as an institution and what a powerful support it can and should be for the sisters in the branch. She emphasised how it is not so much what you get out of the meetings as what you put into the meetings that is really important. I thought that was a really important message in general. Then President Ashby spoke on the power of the Holy Ghost in our lives as a comforter and a guide; as a gift beyond price and a power beyond comprehension. The day before, the Assistants to the President came to our weekly Ploiesti District Meeting. That was kind of a treat because they are super good missionaries and they roll played for us how to do a first discussion about Joseph Smith and the restauration. I was the Romanian in the roll playing and it was a lot of fun to look at the message from the other side (plus to try to characterize the common Romanian was a whole lot of fun in itself).
As for the work. It is still an uphill journey in our new area of the city, but as people are beginning to see us and interact with us more, we are having gradually greater success. I find myself getting more and more exhausted every day, however, as our area is now about a 20 minute walk away (walking rather briskly), but it is a good feeling that I enjoy. Plus, I have discovered a little bread shop in our area where, for about 8 cents, I can purchase a full loaf of light, fluffy, delicious Romanian bread. So, most every night we stop by there before heading home and it really takes the edge off of a long, tiring day.
Well, I have to get going now, I hope I answered a bunch of questions. If not, let me know and I will do better next week. I love you lots and appreciate your support and prayers.
Much love,
Elder Walker Frahm
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