Buna Ziua!! HAPPY MEMORIALS DAY!!

What a week! So much to tell! I Hope that everyone loves reading my emails as much as I like telling you about my life as a missionary.

The weather has been really warm here! When I read Keagan's (Natalee's cousin on a mission in Brazil) emails about showering twice a day, I can see why! I walk out of the apartment in the morning and with in minutes I'm sweating. I usually end my day with a shower to cool off and clean all the dirt and grim off! I'm getting tan which is a plus...funny tans lines, but I LOVE it! I do like the warm weather though.

Our elders, Elder Toronto and Elder Newey, in our district had a baptism this last week on Friday for a lady named Arelia! It was so great and such a spiritual experience. The talks that were given were wonderful! It's interesting since we have church in a Villa or a home type building and we have the baptisms in a basin which is like a pig trough thing that we fill up outside, it is AWESOME! I'll take pictures and send them next Monday because we are having another baptism this week!

We have transfers next week. CRAZY to think that I've been here for almost 6 weeks already! I'll find out next Monday if I stay or go. I will let you know.

Also, on Sunday we had two new members move back form America to Cluj. Julie and Alexandria. I got a SURPRISE note from a friend back home...Thanks Landon. It was funny because I sat down next to them thinking I would get to know them because they can speak English and I'll try in Romanian first but can use English words too and they will still understand. I sat down and Alexandria handed me a note with MY NAME on it and said "I think this is for you." I was shocked and wanted to hear the story but sacrament had started! So I waited in suspense. The story is that Landon Winn, a friend from Orem when I lived at Village, helped Julie's Parents at Mr. Mac a while back and made connections with Cluj. It is a small world in the church. Julia is American and Alexandria is from Cluj. They were going to school at BYU and graduated about 4 years ago. They both work from home and so they decided to move somewhere fun to work from home. We are so blessed to have them! The branch here will surely be blessed to have them.

Last night Sora and I had a interesting time. We planned to go teach a lesson to our eternal investigator Edith but instead we went to two different Catholic Churches and listened to mass in HUNGARIAN!!! I am now VERY grateful I'm learning Romanian. Hungarian words are like ten letters long at least! A little exaggerated but not really. Anyway, It's interesting how many people here speak Hungarian. It was interesting but not what we expected. She told us to meet in Centru (sounds like Centre) or middle of town. We go there for a walk and talk, nope she had other plans in mind. After we got done and were headed home, we looked at each other shaking our heads laughing and thought, "What just happened!!?" It did shine a light on some of their beliefs and traditions which was very interesting and an eye opener. It just seemed like something was missing. They have good intentions, yet it was so different at the same time. I mentioned that we went to two different masses. The difference between them was so DRASTIC! It reaffirmed my testimony that I KNOW that this gospel is true. We are so blessed to be missionaries and to be here serving. I KNOW we will help others come unto Christ and find the fullness of the Gospel.

I wrote about our investigator Ioan a few weeks ago. He has really been struggling with his dad and family. This week we were really surprised when he called us and said that he does NOT want to change religion and that he didn't want to meet that night. We were devastated. We are going to give him time and continue to pray for him! I know that his time will come.

Well, I'm running a bit short on time to write, since I did pictures. As always I love you all. Thank you for the Love and support!

Va Iubesc,

Sora Hickman

Hello Family and Friends!

Well, I was a little shocked when I opened my inbox and NO letter from my PARENTS! I was kinda sad, but then it was all explained in the letter from Brad, who just got sustained as the second counselor in the bishopric in his ward! Congrats Brad! He said Mom, Dad and Ann made a quick trip out to Utah so I understood. Brad I know things will be super crazy for you and Jenny, yet I know that you will be blessed. You will have things work out in ways that you never thought possible.

As always thanks to EVERYONE who has written me and for your love and support. I received mail for the first time. I had many letter and some pictures. Kari, Thank you! I think I said this before; I only get mail every 3 weeks, zone conference, interviews and transfers. I'm sorry if I am slow to reply. Know this that I love you all and appreciate everything.

This week was TARE (great)! We had zone conference and training In Arad. We had amazing training afterwards. It is like you feel after you listen to conference...like where to start? Because I feel like I have SO much to improve on. I'm just taking it one step at a time...baby steps. Anyway, we learned a lot on how to be better teachers. I love that! Also, making sure we teach by the spirit. It's amazing to me when we are teaching...if you listen and clear you mind, thoughts and promptings come. We know what to say. So it is always a wonderful reminder.

Coming back to Cluj, the rest of the week was great. We are still working with a lot of our investigators. Loan still has fears about getting baptized. He is afraid to loosing all of his friends and family. They did find a facility for his sick father to live in. That was a great blessing for him and his brother. I hope that we can get him to come to church this next week. I know that if he comes he will see how great the people are and he will gain a family!

We had a sister from our branch return from her mission. Sora Cioban, she served in the Dominican Republic. She is older, it was exciting to welcome her back home on Saturday.

I think I forgot to write this last week, that we started English class! We teach free English, it is a great way to contact people. I love it, Sora and I teach the beginners class. It is so awesome to see all of these people trying to learn English. They struggle to say simple words. I think how I was in the exact same boat with learning Romanian.

The weather here has been SUPER hot! The sun takes a lot out of you. By the end of the day I'm super exhausted, but I am loving it...I am getting some Sweet tan lines! Ha ha, nothing like missionary tan lines.

Well, for a little culture and food moments. People here love to play SOCCER...duh its Europe. Unfortunately we are not allowed to play with a large group of people because someone could get hurt. But, I have made friends with the cutest little kid David. He and His family live in the Dumpster down from our block. Sad, I know, but they are really nice so we take food to them and always talk to them about the gospel. Every night when we come home, he and I pass the ball for a few minutes and talk. He is about 7...super cute, but his soccer ball is really beat up, flat and has a hole in it. So, I bought him a new one today. I can't wait to give it to him! I love seeing all the cute kids. It makes me think of the importance of the knowledge we have that we are ALL children of our Heavenly Father.

One thing that is super nice here in regards to the food is the delicious produce. So fresh and so good I'm so glad because that's what my diet mostly consists of, especially when it is hot outside.

Well as always, I love you all and hope you all have a great week!

Love Sora Hickman

Buna!

Well, what a week! I can't believe its Monday again. Well, we will have a little different week this week with Zone Conference. We will go to Arad! It is more West; we will take a train tonight around 5:00 PM and get in around 10:00 PM. I'm excited to see what will happen.

Also, I wanted to thank all of the friends, siblings and extended family who have written me. It is so great to hear from you all! I love hearing how all the nieces and nephews are doing. I don't reply to many because of the lack of time; but know this, I love you and I really appreciate your love and support. Also, I have sent some letters. I try to get out a few each week on p-day. So they are coming. My first week I forgot to put the sticker that sends them on a plane, so they probably are on a boat somewhere...ha ha oops! Also, I wrote some letters to friends before I left the states thinking I could send them at the Atlanta Airport, but I was wrong. They no longer have mailing services inside the airports. So, I sent them home with Elder Volgolsberge from Texas. He was going home when I came in. :)

Okay, for a cool culture moment, I want to talk about some of the interesting cultural beliefs that are different than America. They believe in something called current. In a draft of any sort the people believe that you can get really sick. Many times talking to people about sicknesses in their family or if they rolled their ankle or their knee is acting up it is because of current. Many people wear cotton in their ears to prevent "current" or a breeze to enter in. Also, for girls if you sit down on a cold surface you will go sterile! Last week we were at a members house. She was having problems with her locks, so we were waiting for the fire department to come. I sat on the stairs to read through some vocab and she yelled through the door that (she could see me through her peep hole) I shouldn't sit on the stairs because I wouldn't be able to have children.

I love learning about their quirks and differences. Many make me laugh, but it helps me to understand the people more and to love and grasp their culture.

For a food moment this week. We went to visit an ETERNAL investigator named Edith (pronounced Edit). She has been investigating for about 8 year... anyway, let me start with saying that I'm amazed how giving the people are here. They have so little, but give so much. So, we are always fed when we visit. I am grateful for their kindness. We got served tomato soup... sound pretty original right? It was except it was sweet, VERY sweet. Edith told us that when you cook with tomatoes you always have to use zahar aka SUGAR. It was pretty good, different, but good. Then we got served this plate full of creamy green stuff. It was spinach...baby food style. :) ha ha. Again not bad, but as she placed it in front of us Sora Humphries and my eyes got really BIG. We ate it, not bad, just very very salty... for the rest of the night we had repulsive absolutely DISGUSTING burps! Oh well, ce sa fac! ( what can ya do)?

Saving the BEST for last. We met so many wonderful people this week. Marian is now working with the Elders in our district. He came to church yesterday! He is the sweetest man ever; when he meets with us or the Elders he ALWAYS brings us cookies, chocolate, or suc (juice). By the way Romanians drink suc here like it is water. He came to church, loved it and had LOTS of questions.

Loan Koble, who I have not talked about in my previous emails; however, I told Mom and Dad about him when I talked to them on Mother's day. He is an investigator we block knocked (tracting) into two weeks ago. We committed him to baptism. He thought Sora Humpheries and I were Jehovah's Witnesses when we first block knocked into him. After we committed Loan, his dad became really ill. He has been struggling with Alzheimer's for years and went down hill really fast. We are continually praying and hoping things will get resolved and that we can help him realize even more why the Gospel plan is SO important for him.

I want to share with all of you that I know that the Gospel is true. I'm so grateful for the knowledge I have about eternal families. I know that we have a Savior, Redeemer and dear Brother who suffered and bled for EACH of us. We can all partake of His great Atonement if we ask.

Thanks again for you love and support.

Va Iubesc, (love you all)

Sora Hickman

Hello Family and Friends!

I am so glad I had the opportunity to talk to Mom, Dad and Ann yesterday! It was great to see you all. I just LOVE skype thank goodness for technology. Mom, happy Mother's Day... your the Best Mom ever!

Well, Mom, to answer your question there is about 400,000 - 500,000 people that live here. Many people live on the outside of town as well in smaller villages, but I think that is the population of Cluj. So, we serve with a set of elders; they live on the opposite side of town and we have split up the city. They have half the city to proselyte and we have the other half. Then if they have any young girls or women interested in the church we teach them, just as they would teach the young men that we find. It takes about 30 minutes to walk to the church. We walk every where; to get to Centru (center of town) it takes about 45 minutes to an hour. We take a taxi every so often; but we always plan on walking time and pass out English flyers and pass along cards on the way. We are always busy. We have a mall about 15 minutes pe jos (by feet is how they say walking here) and a store about 15 minutes away too.

The weather here has been up and down and not the spring type weather I was hoping for. I'm very glad I had my big winter coat this week. Some days are beautiful and in the 80s; then we have a few days that are super cold and we have to get all bundled up. The nice thing about moisture is it makes everything beautiful and green.

I wanted to tell a little about the food. First, most Romanians do not like any thing that is hot, like spicy hot...so most food is very bland but salty ha ha talk about high cholesterol. Anyway, I have had Sarmale which is cooked cabbage wrapes with meat, seasonings, onions and veggies. Then I've had suarmas which is like a burrito type wrap with meat, usually pork, french fries, onions, pickles, cucumbers, tomatoes, and chili sauce or a sweet type of sour cream sauce and and cabbage. Cabbage is used in a lot of the cooking here. I will tell you more about the food as I experience it.

A couple of interesting things in the stores are; they have isles of just chocolate! Oh, man So good but I try to stay away from it, but the kinds that I have eaten are super super good! The other thing is the amount of bread and pastry stores. It astonishes me at the amount of desserts people eat for a regular meal. Oh, did I mention that the young girls here are incredibly skinny and gorgeous! Ha ha, so when Sora Humphries and I see these tinny girls walking down the street with a pastry in hand and suc ( juice) in the other, we just look at each other and shake our heads! ce sa fac! ( what can you do!)

Well, now lets talk about the more important thing MISSIONARY WORK! Okay, we have quite a few people that we are working with. But, I want to talk about one specifically, Marian. He is amazing, he is younger (22), so, the elders will eventually take over the lessons. Anyway, he called inquiring about the English classes we teach. We teach English for free here 2 times a week Tuesday and Saturday. Many missionary opportunities come from our English classes. We met with him last Wednesday at the mall, talked to him and answered his questions. He had many questions. So, we talked for about an hour and then set up another time to meet with him. We gave him a Book of Mormon. Oh, one other thing is, he speaks English really well. We talk in both Romanian and English but it makes it nice for me to help answer question when I can respond faster in English. Anyway, he started reading the Book of Mormon and then he read a lot of things online. We met on Thursday night to go over things. He told us that he went shopping that day; he usually buys beer but he couldn't do it this time. He also said that he smokes usually a pack a day and he had only smoked 4 cigarettes that day! Amazing huh.... just wait it gets better... So we met with him Friday night and Saturday night and continued with the lessons and answered his questions. We told him to pray with faith and read Moroni 10:3-5. We told him that prayers have to be sincere and with real intent. We then invited him to church, but he said that he had to work and wasn't sure if he could come. So we left him with the book, Our Search For Happiness.

Sunday we sent him a text telling him we hoped to see him at church, but if not to have a good day in Arad ( another city in Romania). We got a call yesterday while we were over at a members house using Skype to talk with our family's. He said he felt very bad that he did not come to church. We then talked to him a bit more after we got home. He said that he prayed Saturday night and then didn't sleep ALL night because he had many questions and felt very different. Today he has been sending us texts with amazing questions... I can feel a baptism coming! Oh, I love teaching the Gospel it is SO great to see the wonderful changes it makes in people!

Well, as always thank you all for your love, support and prayers! You all are so great!

Va Iubesc.

Sora Hickman

Natalee's Letter May 2, 2011

Buna Ziua! Hello Family and friends!

First, I want to start with saying CONGRATS mom in the your new calling. When we talked last Monday I must not have heard you say, that you were being called to the Relief Society Presidency, but I am happy for you!

Okay, so I have a ton of adventures to tell you about. I feel like it has been forever since I've written. So after the long flight we FINALLY made it to ROMANIA. The flight from Atlanta to the Netherlands wasn't too bad; unfortunately there were a couple kids that took their turns crying, but other than that, not too bad. Once we got to Romania; I was so excited yet so calm just trying to take everything in. I was so sleep deprived and smelt like I hadn't showered in a while that everything was all surreal. Anyway we got picked up, went to the mission home where we signed a stack of papers and had our interviews with the mission president. After the interview he still was not sure where I was going. He needed to pray about it a little more. We went and got a medical exam. That was quite humorous actually; they just asked if I had any health issues and that was it. It was the easiest examination I have ever had. Then we went back to the mission office; then to the mission home and grab clothes for the next day. Oh, did I mention that the drivers here in Romania are CRAZY! Really everyone drives really fast and there are not any traffic laws. Anyway, after a few hours of being driven back and forth we, sister Bennett and I, met up with two sisters serving In Bucharest. We went with them to go teach a lesson. On the way I got my first taste of English contacting. We teach English classes here two times a week so we have little flyers that we pass out.

During the lesson; it was so great to hear the sisters speak. I caught about ever fifth word maybe but, the important thing was that the spirit was there. It is nice because a lot of the younger generation know English well; so they will talk to you and help you when you are struggling. I got to bear my testimony. That night Sister Bennett and I stayed with the sisters. We went to finish our Visa information the next morning; then had lunch and orientation with the mission president's wife Sora Lundburg. Then we went to the GATA which is the huge train station in Bucharest. I met my trainer Sora Humpharies!

She is wonderful and its awesome because we have a lot of connections! She knows Tess and Casey who were my roommates. She is from St. George. She also knows Chelsie and Stacie; so we hit it right off the bat. I was able to give her updates on everyone. She has been out for about a year and knows the language really well.

Oh, I forgot to say... I'm serving in Cluj!! Awesome huh! From Buc (Buchaest) it is about an hour train ride; good thing we got a sleeper train. That was an experience in and of its self. We arrived the next morning about 4:30 AM... so exhausted.

The next few days we met with some recent converts and had a several lessons. Around Easter time the schools and Universities take some time off; so, many of our younger investigators were out of town. Easter is a huge deal here! Anyway, the members are so wonderful. I met the Nistor family; they have two young daughters who are so sweet!

My first Sunday was great. President and Sora Lundberg came for our District meeting. We met in a little Villa in Cluj. I will take some pictures to show you! I'm sorry that the explanations are getting shorter but I'm running out of time....More to come next week. I wanted to tell you more about the culture and the food. Your are going to love it!

Va Iubesc

Thank you so much for you love and support!

Sora Hickman