Hey Fam,
Well, I should probably say "scrape" rather than wreck, but yes, indeed, I participated in my very first Romanian automobile "accident" this week. What makes it even more fun is that I was the guilty party. What makes it even funnier is that it was a brand new Mercedes that I scraped up. And the funniest part is that it was parked. Arrgh!!
So, I had just parked safe and sound in the parking lot of our old block, where we had returned to pay our very last utilities bill, when this guy in a big van pulled up and started gesturing angrily and urgently at me, saying that I was parked in his spot. I, probably just a tad upset, said fine and turned to back up into a vacant spot next to a black Mercedes. The Mercedes was just a bit crooked, so that after I cleared the front, I was looking on the other side, expecting that I had cleared his entire car. WRONG. I scraped about a foot of the cars siding before I could stop and pull forward. At the sound of the alarm, the owner ran out and began to seeth. He didn't work himself up to a rage, but he was steaming as he swore up and down calling us everything from Jehovah's Witnesses to Austro-Hungarians. We knew we were guilty, and we just remained calm, asking him what to do to make amends. It didn't help, as I said, that he had just bought the car last month. After trying, in vain, to get into an argument with us, we finally agreed to meet the next evening to go to the police station.
Day 2: We meet to go to the police station. He is still mad, telling us that we have ruined his car and that we will have to pay him $1000 to bribe the mechanics to repair it. You can barely see any damage, the frame was not bent, and the only real damage was to the plastic runner that ran along the door. So, we just ignore him and go to the police station. There, as I have mentioned previously, you must wait for a few hours, with the other person involved in the accident (making for some interesting, and often heated, compainionships), until a policeman looks at your car and until it is your turn to enter for an oral hearing. As we waited, we made small talk with the man, who settled down as he began to realize that we are just a couple of 20 year old missionary volunteers from America. We talked a little bit about the church and about why we had chosen to serve missions. At one point during the 3 hour wait, I pulled out a Book of Mormon and read it out loud to Elder Bartholomew. The man asked what the book was, and we explained it briefly. When it finally came to our turn to enter for the oral examination, we went in and sat across the table from one of the two overworked policemen on duty. The first thing he did was give me a breathalizer test. (Talk about things you wouldn't expect to happen on your mission!) The man I was with thought that was funny as he knew we weren't even allowed to drink; not to mention that the accident had occured almost 20 hours before then. Next, he asked why we hadn't come the night before, immediately after the accident. He told me that I would receive a two million lei fine (about $150). The other man became my ally saying that we had to be to our church by 10:00 at night. I explained that as foreigners we had a curfew to keep us safe. The policeman retorted that the law takes priority. I replied that I thought the law was just that we had to report within 48 hrs. He said that if I had waited 24 hrs, he would have taken away my license. Plus, he added, ignorance of the law is no abdication from guilt. "OK" was my reply; I had no argument. Generously, he told us to write on our reports that due to circumstances we were unable to report until the next day. Then, the policeman began asking me who I was and what I was doing in the country. The Mercedes owner said, "They're Christian. They paid a bribe to come here and serve Romania." While the bribe part was just his sense of a joke, I was glad that he had picked up the general sense of our role as missionaries. Then he said, "They have a bible that they use, too. Some sort of third testiment of Jesus Christ." By this point the other overworked policeman across the room was piqued and said, "Hey, let us see that book." So, I pulled out a Book of Mormon and let them both take a look at it in turn. They flipped through the pages and admired the pictures at the front. Satisfied, they continued with the paperwork. After a few more questions and about 10 minutes worth of paper work, the police man ended up giving me the minimum fine of 250 thousand lei (about 8 dollars). Grateful, we exited, and as we walked toward our cars, I said to the Mercedes man, "Thanks much for your understanding and patience. You know, this book means a lot to me, and it has greatly helped me in my life. It is the least I can do to give you this copy of it as a small recompense for your time and forgiveness." At that, he said that he really appreciated the gesture and that he would certainly read it and find out what it was all about.
So, in the end, what started as one of the low points of my mission experience ended up resolving itself just about as pleasantly as possible. Yet another testiment to the multitude of miracles that are orchestrated every day by a Being with a vision and a power far greater than our narrow perspective can conceive.
So, that was the automobile, now for the planes and the trains. Next week, we will have 19 missionaries in need of visas; an extra-ordinary amount. 11 of those missionaries are currently in the country, including me. 8 of them are outside of Bucharest, and they will have to leave by train Sunday night to arrive in Buc Monday morning in time for us to take them around town to pay taxes and insurance, to visit a notary, and to get a medical inspection so that all of their visa papers will be ready for Thursday, when we will take them to the Minister of Internal Affairs to renew the visas. The other 8 missionaries will be arriving Tuesday afternoon at 1:30. That is just one hour before Elder Russell M. Nelson will be arriving at the same airport. So, us office elders, the assistants, the mission president, and his wife will all great the new missionaries, and then we will be taking them to lunch and then to the venue whereat Elder Nelson will be speaking. Meanwhile, the president and crew, which usually escorts new missionaries, will be escorting Elder Nelson. At 4:00, he will speak to all missionaries, after which there will be a meeting for all members. Thus, not only every missionary, but just about every member in Romania will be in Bucuresti next Tuesday to hear an Apostle speak. We are then going to scramble, with the new missionaries, to take them Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning before transfer meeting to all the places necessary for THEIR visas. Since all missionaries will be staying over Tuesday night so they can go to transfer meeting, that means that missionary apartments in Buc will have to house about 6-8 missionaries each. It will be a lot of fun!! We will have, in our apartment alone, us, the assistants, and 4 new elders. Then, Thursday morning, all of the 19 missionaries, old and new, will go with us to the Minister of Internal Affairs at 7:30 in the morning so that we can, hopefully, be the first ones in line. The visa process takes between 10-20 minutes per visa for them to be processed, so we are planning for a long day Thursday.
Well, I have just about run out of time, but I think I conveyed pretty well the general sense of my week, both upcoming and past. Things have been and will be super busy, but super fun, exciting, and satisfying. I am loving it!
I got an e-mail this week from Bennett. Unfortunately, I can't e-mail him back directly, but it sounds like things are going well for him. He asked where Celeste is going to school. She is going to Boston University, I believe. I would love to get his e-mails if he wants to forward them on to me. Courtney, great job bringing your grades up in school. That is awesome!! It also sounds like you have maintained you love for water and your aspirations to be a fish. Good job teaching Belle how to float and stuff. And remember, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..." Belle, it sounds like you are continuing to be very, very cute and smart and I am sure you will love kindergarten. I just miss you too. I don't really have very much time right now, but I would love to write a brief testimony for Hunter's baptismal book. Just remind me if I forget to send it by next week.
Well, I will talk to you all tomorrow.
Much love,
Elder Walker
PS - I didn't give you my number because we only have a cell phone. I will be at the office, though, so you can certainly monitor your e-mail, and I will be sure to send you something if I can't get through.
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