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Hello My Wonderful Family,

How very much I loved hearing from your most recent emails. How fun to think of Belle and her antics and Courtney and her lovable ways. I especially love hearing of Mom's party, and regret only that I couldn't participate. All news from you is exciting and energizing. For my part, Elder Bart did not leave the country, but he did leave the office; it doesn't feel that much different to be over the hill (mission speaking), but it is just a tad weird to think of myself as an older missionary; time seems to fly and I wonder where it has gone, but I feel like I have accomplished much with what time I have had; no, I haven't had a chance to play much music recently; the members CAN be helpful with missionary work, but still have a long way to progress in getting a view of each person's role in the church; some of the deaf people in Alexandria are still being taught, 2 have been baptized, and 5 are set up for baptism, but the deaf association president ended up being after money (this was actually a really important discovery, as the people who are still interested are now obviously not after monetary gain or just kowtowing to the whims of the association); the combination to my computer cable is either 3725 or 1520; Sister Gallo, did indeed arrive, but we couldn't get her or anybody else in her group a visa. Yes, that's right, for the first time since I entered the office, our visa papers were flat out denied.

Here's the story -- It was just the day after transfer meeting that Elder Hurley and I went to turn in the visa papers for the greenies. Elder Hurley, by the way is a great missionary. He has been out since the end of Sept -- when he met Jenn, actually, in the MTC -- and has been in the country since December. He is very bright, strong, and quick to learn, so I am really looking forward to this next transfer. So, anyway, we were going to turn in the visa papers, this being my first time as senior companion during the visa process, though I have done it about 10 times now. When we got to the window where they check all of our paperwork, they told us that a law was recently passed saying that those entering the country for religious purposes can no longer use international insurance, but must buy Romanian insurance. Thus, the church insurance we use was no good and they couldn't take our papers. They told us an address to which we could go to buy this insurance, so we herded the greenies back to the office and went as quick as possible to try to pay the insurance. Once there, we waited for two hours until we could talk to somebody who knew something. They told us that the place we were at was where you need to go if you are bringing your entire family with you, but that we needed to go to another place if we wanted to pay the health insurance. But, they said, before we could pay the insurance, we had to go to a notary and get a statement for each person saying that they have not been in Romania for the past 5 years and that they have never had a previous visa here. We called up our notary, but they were on vacation until Sept. 15, so we had to find a different one. We searched a bit until we could find one close to the office. Then, we found out that the insurance place where we had to pay closed at 2:30 and that they are not open on Friday. The greenies were scheduled to leave the next day -- we had to get their visas that day. So, at 1:00, we ran out from the 8th floor office to find the elevator broken. We ran down the stairs to the van and sped to the address of the notary, only to find that they had moved locations. We drove to their new location, much further away, and got the statements done but it was already 2:35. We went back to the visa office and tried to get them to allow us to at least submit our papers and come back with the insurance the next day, but they refused. So, we will have to pay their taxes on Monday and bring them back at some point this transfer to process their visas. With every month that goes by from their entrance into the country, we pay a fine of $35 per person, which is kind of a pain. At least, however, they do not legally need a visa for the first 90 days. We were busy with visas that day from 7:30AM until 3:30 PM and had to stay at the office doing paper work, paying bills, etc.. until 10:30 -- when we ate lunch. Friday was similarly busy with learning, training, and making sure the mission doesn't fall apart or lose money unneccessarily. Today is truly the first day all week that I have been able to write as last week we were preparing for visas, doing an audit trip to Pitesti and Brasov, and preparing for Elder Bartholomew's leaving the office. While in Pitesti, we stopped by to see the Dragomirs, who were baptised while I was there. Their family (parents and 8 yo girl) is just amazing. They are extremely active and just brimming with joy. I loved to be with them, and I treasure the friendship I have with them.

Well, I really have to go. This Thursday we will finally be going on our audit trip through Deva, Oradea, Timisoara, Cluj, and Arad which has been delayed a couple of times. It will be long, and I will be gone on Saturday, but I will be sure to write you after we get back.

Much love,
Elder Walker