January 27, 2016 was our last walk in Iasi.  We will miss walking around such a beautiful town.  We can walk anywhere we want to go.

We had never noticed the
main steeple of the Palas
has a clock facing every
direction.  Each clock
gave a different time.

Once we noticed the clock it is now more obvious. 

Doina and Pati are members.  The younger two will be taught by the missionaries as a family home evening.  The puppy was the new addition to the family and was hard not to play with.  Doina is taking our Self Reliant Business course.

Taking pictures to give the mission for inventory.  We'll miss our

fun attic apartment.

Cheerful bathroom!

It also has a skylight.  Ever seen snow on a skylight?

The clock fell off the cement wall several times.  

The last week we finally got the landlord to drill a hole that would keep it from falling again.

We left the Iasi Branch a gift.

The page number board faced the speaker and was not visible to the congregation because all walls at the front of the chapel were windows or too small for the board.

Elder Brown found a bracket that would face it toward the audience and at the same time not block the workings of the window treatment.

So proud of my handy companion/husband.

Day of our moving was as warm as 52 degrees.  

It dropped down to 48 degrees

 high in the mountains at a ski overpass.  

We often compare our temperature to our favorite spots on earth.

Kirkland is not visible but appears below Abilene.

Mistletoe aplenty in these trees.  

We find it quite picturesque.

Stopping to see a fish farm.  Besides raising fish they also smoke and sell the fish.

Fires for smoking the fish.  Fish hang in the black barrels.

Wood for the smokey fires

Rand making friends at the fish farm.

We bought a few fish.  

Good but not any better than than fried trout at the Holyoke cabin last summer.

Fish are displayed on something that looked like a snow shoe with green pine bows tied on.

Name of the farm

Heading up the mountain to the pass

Canyons get narrower and narrower.

The tall peak had a cross on it that didn't come out very well in the picture.

Inspite of the warm day and good roads the water falls were frozen icicles.

Romania in the country side

Ugly communist apartments did not make it to the Country. What a blessing.

Just getting dark when we see our first sign telling us which road to Sibiu (pronounce letters CBU with emphasis on the C)

Not everyone travels around in a car here.

Red onions for sale.  

We didn't have room for another thing in our car but Rand bought a small stem.

Leslie and Lyle Bair, the couple we'll be replacing at the church with Elder Brown

Last district meeting with these great missionaries. Elder Oak will be going to Oradea and he will be replaced with our own Elder Hellewell from Iasi.  Elder Hubbard the concert pianist will stay along with the two sister, Yost and Treabas.

                         
                           At the Piaza with sister Soberg and I.  Sister Bair showing us Sibiu.

I had them take a picture of our grandson's mission country.  

Go Chase

Bridal party taking pictures on the robbers (or liars) bridge.  If you were convicted you got thrown off the bridge.  Why was that bad?  The sewage ran under the bridge.

The branch clerk Sandu and Alexandra Cracium  the RS president.  They are the only married couple in the branch and speak English well.

Elder and Sister Soberg are the senior couple in Oradea.  

They came to town to oversee the branch audit.

Sister Soberg was born in Romania, married

to an American.

Eating out with the Bairs.  They know how to show you a good time and all the best places to eat.

Dinner at Benjamins.  Earlier we ate at New York

It's been a long 24 hours.

Elder Brown with the Craciums  and Pres. Geambasu of Romania West District Presidency.  He came to install Rand as the Branch President, taking Elder Bair's place.

Movie night with the investigators many who were here earlier for English.

  The Bairs have developed quite a turn out with the help of the missionaries.

We showed the movie of Joseph Smith's life then Sister Bair bore her

testimony to the truthfulness of the movie.

Picture taken after the movie of the Bairs who go home this week and the Browns who have another year plus.

Tomorrow is the last day before transfers and this district made great strides in teaching the gospel in Sibiu:  Sisters Yost and Trebas, with Elder Oak and Hubbard standing in front of the church with the Bairs.

Sora Doncu with Brother Toma and Mihai.  Mihai loves to garden.  Need I say more

Elder Hubbard at the piano.  He is quite the accomplished performer who showed us his youtube performances of his best.

In front of the church are some flower beds.  Can't wait to plant flowers as soon as it warms up.

Elder Brown in his new chair behind the desk of the Branch Presidents office.

We had 24 at church today.  4 were investigators we met last night from YA activity.

In my testimony today I told the congregation that I was so grateful that my ancestors who lived in Europe listened to the missionaries.  They believed their message, were baptized and migrated to America.  They taught their posterity the gospel.  It has made such a difference in my life and the life of our children and their families.  I bore my testimony that Joseph Smith restored Christ's church in full back to the earth. We pray that we can all stay faithful and endure to the end so that we can all be together in the next life for the eternities with our Savior and Heavenly Father.

Picture of our Grandson, Warrick Conners (just kidding)

A year ago this is what our Grandson in Texas looked like.  Every time we come to this intersection we think of him and know he doesn't look like this any more as he is now two years old but it is our memory of him.

Elder Brown was tired of the ear ache and loss of hearing he had been experiencing the last month.  Finally went to a doctor.

He was pretty surprised to hear he had a lot of wax in one ear.  After removing it he has heard better and hopes his eustachian tubes soon clear out.  They assigned us an english speaking nurse to interpret for the doctor.

Claudia is a lovely 16 year old that took English class last year.  She then took the lessons and knows the church is true.  Her parents would prefer she wait till she is 18 to be baptized.

In today's lesson I bore my testimony to her that being baptized and receiving the Holy Ghost would help her so much stay close to Heavenly Father.  Without the Holy Ghost as a constant companion you are left on your own to withstand Satan.

Elder Hellewell and Avela are the elders teaching Claudia

Monday night after a very busy day we hurried over to Kaughland for the groceries we would need for our dinner with Andrae and Ioana.  We were too dumb founded to even think of taking a picture of the empty produce section.  Very "Alas Babylonian"!  There was almost no meat either.  As we left wondering what we were going to do for our planned meal the next day we found a guard that spoke English.  He assured us the trucks bringing the food we needed would be there in the night.  West side of the Country had received a meter of snow and stopped the deliveries they had expected.  Wow, all our snow has melted.  We're usually the area with the most snow they've told us.

The next day there were tables heaping with produce.  Relief

Disappointment of the week.  Andrea and Ioana didn't come for our meal on Tue.  An afternoon busy with meal preparation causing and an achey back left Rand and I very disappointed.  The Elders were happy to get a free meal but equally disappointed.  There was such a peaceful feeling between all of us that was really sweet as the Elders polished off almost all the food.

With my assignment to be Doina's business coach I had to have Elder Busha call to ask my questions.  We were quite puzzled what kind of business she planned to start.  Elder Busha googled the word.  Something to do with "sad children or sad old people"  Any guesses?

Wed was the Worldwide Missionary Broadcast.  All six of us piled in the branch president's office to watch.  It was a powerful training.  The point I came away with had to do with helping members identify people they could have the missionaries teach.  Instead of asking if they have someone they would like to have the missionaries teach you ask if they know anyone who has just moved, had a baby, lost someone in death or any kind of event that disrupts normal life either good or bad.  It has been found that events such as these leave folks open to truths they maybe hadn't taken time to consider before.

 Fun cakes we found at a bakery.   

Just for fun we went to the other mall that we need to drive to.   There must be thousands of shops in Iasi.  Not sure how anyone makes a living with so much competition.

Friday was another disappointing day and enriching memory.  We had our last waffle breakfast with our four elders (see picture from last week).  It dawned on me that most our association and dependence is on these guys who are our grandson Bradley's age.  Wonder if he has a senior couple in his district in Equator?  We have enjoyed getting to know these young men and happy that we can work and plan together for the benefit of the Iasi Branch.
Cristina (no picture) appeared Tue at English and said she wanted to be baptized.  The Sister's had met her before Christmas and had a very good discussion with her.  Cristina had even said she wanted to be baptized.  Then she lost her phone and the missionaries hadn't been able to contact her.  For her to show up on the day she had committed to be baptized surprised everyone.  The Elders scheduled Fri to have her come back and have the first discussion.  She didn't come.  So sad again!

Flowers that make our Living room smell Heavenly.

Had twelve at English class on Sat.  It is always bigger - twice as big as the Tue. class.

Right after that we had Self Reliance and Doina had to work.  

We hope that we can get her the material and she won't drop out.  

We had 5 attendees.  

They are learning to work together and share their dreams and challenges.  It was great to see how the program works and how they encourage each other.

Immediately following Self Reliance Business class we had the last activity I was in charge of as the Relief Society Activities counselor.  

We planned a cooked food and a non cooked food.  Sora Stoics is showing how to make filled pasta with a flour potato dough.  The dough was rolled thin then cut into squares.  A cheesy/egg filling was put on half the square and covered with the edges pressed down then boiled.  It was served warm with sour cream and sugar.  At home they would have had an alfredo or marinara sauce.

I think the sisters have had fun doing something  out of the ordinary every month.  

Cristina's healthy uncooked dish included sprouts and chia seeds mixed with water, oil, lemon, chopped onions and salt served on bread.

I was busy trying to take notes on the recipes so we cold duplicate it in the future.  Cristina brought everyone a write up on how to stay healthy.  I think if we spoke the same language we would be best friends.

The two elders assigned to be translators at the RS activity thought they got the best deal and volunteered to come any time.

Daniela is the RS president and her daughter in law, Elizabeth is visiting from America.  5 years ago she was one of the BYU girls who came over for a semester, fell in love and married Mehi (Romanian for Michael).  She and her husband are here visiting for a week.  It was great having a sister who spoke my language.

Sat. night after our busy day President Petalun asked us to prepare a farewell testimony to be read by the missionaries in Sacrament meeting tomorrow.  He was worried that the assigned speaker wouldn't come and we were't going to be there to speak.  We wrote out testimony and a short message.  The next day in Bacau we both were asked to talk.  Vala, we were prepared.

In Bacau the baptismal font is set up in the kitchen. 

This won't be for long as the building lease is up in April and the Branch will need to find a new meeting place.  Our Branch council was directed by Pres. Stoica who drove down with us from Iasi.

He told the members if they wanted to keep their branch they needed to be better at paying tithing.

Elder Brown and I both bore our testimony to them of how paying tithing and fast offerings blessed our lives.  I'll never forget my father teaching us the importance of paying tithing in FHE.

He said he always paid his tithing first and that it made him happy to do it.

I've tried to follow that advise and know that paying 10% to the Lord is a better deal.  With him on our side we make more of the 90% than having 100% without his help.

The sisters in Bacau are trying to find  inactives to help bolster the branch.

Our job after the branch meeting is to drive them out to the members living further than 

walking distance.  

Someone who loved plants was taking advantage of the little light coming in this hallway window.

A kindred spirit.                                                                                                                                Sorry no one was home so didn't get to meet the family we came to see.       

 This week we'll be packing and moving.  Next Sunday we'll be in our new home in Sibiu.  We're praying that it doesn't snow again till we get moved.  And if we could get your prayers we're hoping to get our Residence Permit before we leave.  If we don't we'll have to come back some time and it's a long drive.  Don't really want to do that.

Interesting quote from Elder Rudd:

I love reading about the individual people. I hope they are not just names on a page to you–Lehi, Nephi, King Benjamin, Mosiah, Alma the Younger, Alma the Elder, and other great people like Abinadi and the brother of Jared. You know those were real people. They did live. They lived on the American Continent. I hope someday in the hereafter I will be able to go to stake conference and hear some of them preach. No one has ever told me they are going to do that, but I've got an idea they might. I think we will be holding many conferences, and the Brethren that will come around speaking will be men like Alma and King Benjamin and some of those others.

I hope with all my heart that you have fallen in love with the Book of Mormon.  That when you read about these great men in the Book of Mormon, that they will come off of the pages for you, not only as a name but as an individual. They were all different. Some were tall, some were quiet, and some were short. I don’t know what they all were; but I have kind of fallen in love with them. And some day, if the Lord let’s me in the next world, I want to go to conference and hear them preach.

I would love to hear King Benjamin preach, wouldn't you?