Another week in the office

Hello Family,

This week has been a very relaxing one. Almost too relaxing, really! It all started last Saturday when, after writing to you, we were invited out to lunch by Elder and Sister Husz, who are a couple from Austria who were visiting to look into the possibility of starting the Perpetual
Education Fund here in Romania. So, we went with them to eat at the restaurant in their hotel, the Phoenicia. It was a Lebaneze style restaurant that had some really good food. It wasn't fantastic, but really good. I had some soup and some sort of lamb dish. Then we got a really good dessert with bananas and buttermilk and honey. THAT was fantastic! After taking them to the airport, we then went to visit a member family in Sector 1. They also fed us some middle-eastern food, as they are originally from Syria. They are a really, really neat family!
There are a mother, father, and three little kids (ages 11, 9, and 4). They speak Arabic at home, the kids go to a school that is taught entirely in English (the mother teaches Arabic there), and they have been living in Romania for 5 years, so they all know at least those three languages (and a couple of the kids know some French too). They are all very bright and a lot of fun to be around! The little 4 yo girl is very active, climbing all over everyone and loving the spotlight. She reminds me a lot of Belle! The 9 year old girl reminds me of Courtney, as she initially seems much more reserved, but when she got her joke book out, she proved to just be a riot. They are both very silly girls. :)

At church, President Ashby visited our branch in Sector 1 and spoke about the importance of a father's role in being a strong example and leading his family in righteousness. I hadn't known until his talk that it was Father's Day, so I apoligize that my card was kind of late in getting to you. The other two speakers were Elder Tanner, who is an amazingly good missionary; and a guy named Ilie, who is a returned missionary and another very good speaker. Overall, it was a very spiritual and uplifting sacrament meeting. I will be speaking tomorrow, but I don't yet know the topic. I'm sure it will be alright!

As for your package, I did finally get it, and it was amazing!! We have already gone through about 4 bottles of barbecue sauce, and two nights ago we used the marshmallows to make caramel popcorn. It was delicious!! I also really loved the gummy bears and the bacon bits. It was all just great!! Thank you so much! I did also get your monkey letter, dad. Thanks a bunch, you dirty animal! :-)

Most of this last week, Elder Bartholomew and I held down the fort in the office while the Facers were gone. I guess you COULD say that the honeymoon period is over for me in the office, but I have a feeling that this next transfer (which happens this wednesday) will shake things up. I am really exited at the probability of getting a new companion, as Elder Bart has been in the office for 4 transfers now. That would definitely be a pretty exciting development! On the plus side, I HAVE been having a lot of fun working on the mission newsletter. I have been playing around with Photoshop, and it has become a fun little project to take up my spare time.

Speaking of newspapers, by the way, there were a couple of articles about the humanitarian efforts here in Romania. I believe that the issues in which the articles appeared were May 13 and 27, if you want to look them up.

As for travel plans, I heard from an Austrian couple that Budapest, Hungary is a very, very beautiful city. Since it is just over the border from Romania, we may want to stop by there or something. Just an idea for you to think about.

Well, we have a bunch to do to prepare for the upcoming week. I will write to you next week. I look forward to hearing from you again! Keep on playing volleyball, enjoying fun sleepovers, and chasing mailtrucks!!

With much love,
Elder Walker