Happy Belated Birthday

Happy Birthday Courtney,

I'm sorry for being such a loser brother!! I really have been thinking about you; I have even written in my planner to tell you happy b-day the last couple of weeks, but I just keep going brain dead. I hope you had tons of wet and wild fun at Islands of Adventure. Dad seemed to think that you enjoyed yourself with your friends, etc.. How does it feel to be 14? About the same as being 13, huh? But better, right! I remember being 14. It is a pretty cool age to be, I think.

Well, this last week was kind of a slower one for us, unfortunately. We didn't cruise around in any pick-up trucks (congrats by the way), and we didn't wash any carpets (though that would certainly be in order), and we didn't even go to any adventure theme parks. I did prepare a lesson on keeping the sabbath and taking on the yoke of Christ, but I didn't even end up teaching it because we watched conference DVDs. [Being that we don't have any satellite receptors here in Bacau, we just watch old conference sessions instead of watching the live conference; tell me how it is next week.] Nope, instead, we spent about three days at home with me sleeping, coughing, aching, and reading voraciously through the old testament. I read the full book of Ezekiel in two days. I particularly liked chapters 18 and 33, for anyone interested. YUP, for some reason, as soon as the weather started to turn really nice and the coats and hats started coming off, my health finally gave in just a tad. Before you freak out, it was never anything really serious, just bothersome enough that I couldn't really be out teaching. For the most part, things are back to normal now and I shouldn't have to miss any work this week.

Even with the bother of sickness, however, we did get some really good lessons in this week. First, we had a really good correlation meeting with Pres. Balasei. He really is a good guy, he is just having a few struggles that he is really reluctant to relate to us that have been hampering him from fulfilling his calling for the last little bit. He seems to be coming around, however, and we had a really good, spiritual, productive meeting in which we discussed some branch needs and issues. We also had a really good meeting on Sunday. We watched some of conference from last April. I particularly liked Elder Nelson's talk on treasuring marriage and Elder Hollands talk on the Carpenter from Nazareth.

Also, we had a really good, but also very sad meeting with Maria. She has been gone for the last couple of weeks, and we were very excited to finally meet with her again. Unfortunately, she broke to us the news that she has been feeling really confused of late (in large part because some Jehovah's Witnesses have also begun to visit her regularly) and has just decided to remain in the faith of her family and youth. I had kind of had a premonition that such would be her final decision, given the influence of her mother and others who spend far more time with her than we, yet I was thoroughly sad to hear it anyhow. I have a real peace in my mind concerning her, as I know that the Lord will take care of her, and also knowing that I have done my very best (Ezek. 33) to teach and love and direct her to Christ through His restored gospel. The Spirit was strong as we bore our testimonies and left with her our final invitation. I still pray for her.

Not to end on a sad note however, we did find a super cool new family. A couple of weeks ago, the husband Vladimir was walking with his wife Alina and their 18 mo kid Alexandru when he saw us on the street and called out 'Elder.' We quickly turned, not being used to people actually calling us by our proper title, and found ourselves talking to a very nice young couple (he- 23, she- 24) who had talked to a former investigator about taking English from us but had never gotten around to coming to the church to ask about it. So, this week, we finally found some time to meet with them. They are both students from other countries who have been living in Bacau for about 8 years. She (from the Ukraine) has a masters in Physical Therapy, he (from Moldova) is getting a masters in Accounting, and they have been married for almost two years -- very rare for youth to get married here. We taught them some English and then taught them the first lesson about God, prophets, and Joseph Smith. She was very interested, and they both expressed a desire to read from the Book of Mormon and see for themselves. We are very hopeful about them.

Well, I guess I don't have much more. I love this work and relish in striving to put in practice the salvific and happiness-bringing principles of the gospel of Christ that we study and teach every day. I know that God speaks today, that Christ is our Savior, and that true happiness is found in correct living.

Thank you for all of your support.

Much love,
Elder Frahm