Boboteaza Bobos

Hello Family,

So, this week was pretty good, except for the Boboteaza Bobos. By this, I refer to the hundreds of people we talked to in the blocks this week who, in celebration of Christ's supposed baptism (boboteaza), chose to be bobos and drink themselves silly rather than listen to us. This weekend, just about everybody we talked to was completely wasted, making for less than stellar, but quite often hilarious, gospel discussions.

The good news is, however, that after this week, things will begin to return to normal. That is: members and investigators who have been gone will begin to return to town, people will be a bit more receptive in the blocks, and we should start having some more success.

For the most part this week, nothing really out of the normal happened since I wrote on Tuesday. We spent a lot of the week looking for new investigators in the blocks and on the streets. We have been working will an 18 year old member named Raluca who has been inactive because she had to start working on Sundays. We met with her twice this week and got her to come to church, which was really exciting! President Balasei has begun to extend callings, and seems to be getting in gear to make some changes in the branch at the start of this new year.

Sora Cristina Marangoci (39), who I believe to be schizophrenic but fairly normal now that she has had a couple of years of treatment, has started coming back to church after a 2 year hiatus, and is even reading, praying and paying tithing. Unfortunately, however, she and her 40 y/o sister (non-member), whom she lives with and who supports her, have been having some real problems recently. The sister feels unappreciated and has started telling Cristina that she cannot eat her food because all she does is sit at home. So, Cristina, not having anything else to do, went on the street to beg for money to buy herself some food. The sister gets mad at her and starts yelling, Cristina locks herself in her room, and nothing gets accomplished. So, last night, we talked to them, who both like the missionaries a lot and will listen to us, for a long time about how they need to communicate and come to an agreement as to what exactly Cristina should do so that she can have enough money to eat (she gets only about $60 a month from the government) and what she could do to help her sister feel appreciated. Unfortunately, the sister is really a pretty bad alcoholic and an addicted smoker, as well, which both contributes to Cristina feeling indignant that she spends more money on beer and cigarettes than on food for her, and, of course, drastically limits communication. It's a pretty difficult situation for both of them, but we pray that they may find a way to work together to free themselves both from financial burdens and from the vices of begging, smoking, and drinking, which seem to all be interdependent. Not to mention the sisters questionable mental stability, though she refuses to see her sister's doctor, despite periodic hallucinations of her parents and of random bangs and cracks happening in their apartment. I just know that if they would begin to talk, to give up their addictions, to read from the scriptures, and to pray to God, they would be able to live in harmony rather than turning against each other in their desperation. They committed to have a polite discussion with each other and to begin and end with a prayer, which I hope will be a good start. I'm beginning to appreciate the kind of work Dad does. :)

Well, I am very glad to hear from you, and look forward to future letters and communications.

Much love,
Elder Walker