We arrived in Bucharest on the fourteenth of June, 2014. It is one thing to visit a location on vacation, but, living in a foreign country is a very overwhelming experience.
We live in a very nice apartment in Sector One of Bucharest. The town is divided almost like a pie is cut, each Sector's starting point is in the center and moves out. We have a small car, which we were sure we would upgrade when we arrived, however, we are grateful it is small because we drive on very crowded streets with cars parked on sidewalks or in one of the lanes, making two lane streets into one lane. We have not noticed a great deal of traffic enforcement and therefore drivers make the rules. It takes two people to drive, one behind the wheel and the other to navigate the obstacles like people stepping from behind parked cars.
Grocery shopping is much like driving. People use their shopping carts as weapons. It is very crowded and it doesn't help to not understand the language enough to know what you are looking for. Often I have wondered if it was worth having food in the apartment.
Our mission is experiencing a major transition. President and Sister Hills have just left and President and Sister Ivory arrived on the 1st of July. The Hills are wonderful, kind, people. They were very loved by the missionaries and the members. Their style was kind and gentle. President Ivory is much younger and he has a powerful desire to make Romania the best mission in the church. He works hard and has great ideas. It is a new pace for everyone.
Jerry and I work in the office. He does all the financial affairs of the mission, which he was only trained for a few brief days. It is an overwhelming task to just understand the system let alone keeping up with it. I am the office secretary and fortunately I have two office elders who are willing to train me. It is an adjustment being back at work ten hours a day.
Our favorite part of the experience is the missionaries. The office often has four to eight visitors at a time. The office is quite small and it can get intense at times, but, we really love the youth and their serious commitment to sharing the gospel. They are very loving and thoughtful of us.
It is the middle of the night in Romania. I woke up to very loud motorcycle drag races on the street next to our building. If not that, two dogs across the street bark most of the night. Usually we are so tired we sleep through it all.
We miss our family, friends and puppies back home, but, we are grateful to have the opportunity to serve the Lord and the people of Romania.
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