Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Back to Bucuresti


Our Oradea District one last time




So transfers were this week and I got moved back to Bucuresti but now I am in the other branch, Mihai Bravu. Which means I am with Daniela again :) So excited! My new companion is Sora Schow and I am super excited. We are going to have a great transfer together. 

This past week has been so crazy....

Small update on my sister: She got moved to Penn hospital in Philadelphia (still in the ICU).  Tomorrow they are going to try to wean her from the ECMO machine or move the cannula to a more central location to allow her more mobility. In the meantime, they are trying to get her accepted as a candidate for the transplant list.  This is a long process and they want to be prepared if they need to go that route.


Sora Ivory, Me and President Ivory.  They are leaving soon
One last picture of Oradea
This week Sora Gubar has been handing out a ton of letters to people because she thought for sure that she would be leaving...haha jokes. I really didn't get to say goodbye to too many people because I had no idea that I would be leaving till Saturday. I am going to miss Mariana and Denisa so much! 




Flying back from MLC to Oradea

We also had MLC this week so we were gone for all of Wednesday. MLC was sooo good! It was exactly what I needed right now. Also I got to see Sora Andrus but now I am in the same district as she is, so that's exciting! 

Sora Gubar, Mariana, and Me - We are so cool!
Wednesday Mariana ended up spending the whole day with us as we went around doing missionary work. She had a blast and cannot wait to be a missionary herself! 

Sora Gubar, Danisa, and Me.



Denisa is progressing and I couldn't be more excited! She came to our FHE activity on Monday and she loved it! She just jumped right in with the members and had a blast. She also came to church this Sunday and we were able to have a lesson with her after church. In gospel principles (my first by the way on my whole mission haha Romania) , she made a ton of comments and was super involved. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation and she said it all makes sense to her. I was also able to bear testimony to her of how grateful I am for the knowledge of this plan especially with what's going on with my sister right now. I think everyone was a little teary eyed. I hope that she continues to progress :) 

Monday I flew to Bucuresti with Elder Bird and Elder Perrett. I was not happy about flying because of all my stuff but packing actually turned out okay and I only had to leave a little bit of stuff (yay!). It was super nice flying with Elders, they put my bag up for me :) haha. Once I was on the plane I decided that yes this is much better than a 14 hour train ride. 

I think thats about everything. I love you guys so much! 
Love Sora Vann 



Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Who Needs Warm Water Anyway . . .

Small puppy :)
Update on my sister: Not much to update about, still in the hospital in ICU connected to her ECMO machine. They are waiting on insurance to be approved so she can be moved to Penn, in case she needs a transplant. They are hoping to move her to a different machine called an RVAD that would let her move around and sit up. 




Sooooooo Mariana's baptism was this Saturday! It was amazing! It went so smoothly and Mariana was/is so happy! 

Mariana :)
Mariana and Me :)
Did I mention that Mariana is scared of water?




The only small problem was that Oradea, the whole city, starting Thursday didn't have hot water (and still doesn't). It has been fun taking showers...not haha but that meant that the water that she got baptized in was ice cold. We found out that there wouldn't be hot water on Wednesday. When we told her, she said, "I don't care! I am going to get baptized, even if that means in ice cold water." So awesome! As soon as she got out of the font I asked her if she was cold. She said "No, I feel so warm and happy. I didn't even feel that the water was cold at all." She could not stop smiling! 

Sora DJB was able to come and she gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. Mariana's family and friends were able to come as well, and it was cool to see Mariana stand up in front of her friends and family and say that she knows this church is true. She is such an amazing example. 


Celebrating Sora Gubar's one year mark with some ice cream!
The district plus Sora DJB
Other than Mariana's baptism, we celebrated Sora Gubar's one year mark this week! We got some ice cream that she loves. We also had to work on some Visa stuff for her because her visa is going to expire next month. Hopefully everything gets done on time. 
The dam with Sora Gubar

Country side with Densia
We also taught our friend Densia about the restoration this week and it went so well! The spirit was so strong as we talked and Densia even pointed out that she felt goosebumps. She had a lot of questions because of stuff that she had read online about Mormons, but it's good that she is asking us about what she read, so we can tell her what's true and what's not. She said that she would read and pray about the Book of Mormon :) We went to her house last Sunday and visited her family (sorry I think I forgot to write about that but I have some pictures of that). 

Anyway, I think that's everything. I love you guys! Have a great week! 
Love Sora Vann 

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

When the internet cafe is closed on Monday because of a Pentecostal Holiday.....

I am so scattered brain right now because everything going on with my sister. So I will apologize ahead of time for this email, because I don't have a lot to say. 

ECMO 
Small update on my sister: She is still in the ICU on her ECMO machine. They were able to take her breathing tube out so she is able to talk a little now, my mom said she is even joking a little bit. They are starting to look into getting her into a transplant program to replace her lungs, in case weaning her off the ECMO machine doesn't work. Please continue to pray for her. 

Anyway...

We visited a lot of members this week, did a lot of contacting, and helped Mariana get ready for her baptism. She had her interview.  We made the program for her baptism and now she is already to go! We are so excited for her. We also found out this week that Sora DJB will be able to come to her baptism, which is amazing news. Sora DJB was the Sister missionary who started teaching Mariana with Sora Gubar. 

White stuff that is fun to burn
So there is this white stuff, that looks like cotton that is on all other the trees near our house and is all along the walk way home. Apparently it's a tradition in Ukrian to light this stuff on fire because it burns really well, and it's fun to watch. So we decided to try it. Don't worry we didn't burn Oradea down and we didn't even get yelled at.

Eating out with Friends (Mariana is sitting beside me)
We also went out to eat with a bunch of our friends this Friday night after game night. It was a lot of fun. Mariana even asked, Levi, someone the Elders are teaching, what he thinks of what they are teaching him and the Book of Mormon. Go Mariana :) 

Sora Fodor
Also one of the memebers we visited was Sora Fodor. She is about 80 years old and she is adorable. She has now become my favorite humna. She is starting to go a little crazy which makes her even more fun. We visited her and she just told us stories from her life and I could just listen to her tell story after story! 

That's all I can think of for now. I love you all. Have a great week! 

Love,

Sora Vann