it ends here

“anyone looking into my diary expecting to find a day-by-day account of rescuing children would be stunned. it is, rather, a narrative of defeats, disappointments, unbelievable betrayals, discouragements, frustrations, obstacles, criticisms and weariness.

scattered among those are the few successes that have made it all worthwhile.it has definitely been panning for gold: much effort expended and tons of sand processed to gain a few precious flakes.” john kachelmyer,romanian child activist

"the way you are with these kids... i dont know how you do it. i can't be like that. you're so natural with them, you make them laugh and smile... you hold them and kiss them and let them touch your face and hair...

you don't need to serve a mission for your church, your mission was to come here with these kids. i know your religion is important to you, but this was more important. i think God knew what He was doing when you decided to come here.

for three and a half months, you were eight angels to these children. this is why i continue to do this work with you every year. so thank you!" our dear friend, mario

"…there is one responsibility which no man can evade and that responsibility is personal influence. man’s unconscious influence is the silent, subtle radiation of his personality—the effect of his words and his acts. these are tremendous. every moment of life man is changing to a degree the life of the whole world"

david o mckay

…the kindness of continuing to help the children, even without apparent results, must continue. Jesus never told His followers that the hungry should be fed only if they respond. the act of kindness itself has its effect.

days 103 & 104

we were a half hour early to the branch picnic, but we ended up getting there an hour and half late because we were waiting at the wrong place. of course our shepard president popovici came and brought us back to the flock. while we were waiting for him, whitney taught us a dance, as shown below. it was a really nice afternoon and fun to spend it with my romanian family. we walked home in the rain, and stayed up really late baking banana bread.

today was our last sunday and it was perfect. they enjoyed our bread and were excited about the cds we burnt them. tomorrow at fhe will be the real goodbyes. tomorrow i will say goodbye to my kids too, and visit marion for the last time at the hospital. wish me luck!

days 99, 100, 101, & 102

sorry again for slacking.

story #1:
once upon a time there was a really bad storm. at the same time no one was home to shut our window. therefore, our bedroom on the fifth floor flooded and our mattress that is also on the floor was soaked. we hung the blankets out the window, and made a new bed on our hard wood floor.
a few days later, our land lady gave us our blanket back that had flown away, whoops.

story#2:
once upon a time it was our child's birthday. we were so excited and got all the supplies needed for the best party. we carried it all the way up to the hospital and he wasn't there. we held strong and didn't cry until elyse spilled her juice. it was the breaking point.

story #3:
we said goodbye to our workers today, friday. it went well. we are going back on monday to say goodbye to the kids.

story #4:
i took marion outside for ice cream today and somehow we cut his finger.. it was pretty deep and rather bloody. he was so tough and the nurse wasn't too mad. i saved the bloody wet wipe to show elyse, because she wasn't there today.

okay i have to get going to dinner... ill write more later

6 days!

as promised

footage from the bubble party with marion and marius

day 98

song of the day: rehab remix by amy winehouse with hot chip

we got two new girls in our room at the orphanage and they are difficult. the other kids have cuts and bruises all over them from these two darlings, but whitney and i have a game plan. we have been taught how to handle joys like them and the strategy is to take the abuse and pretend like nothing is going on. we will see how it goes. i'd rather them take their anger out on me than my kiddos.

have i mentioned that i am in the branch's special choir? haha so i have been attending these special choir practices where we do warm ups and split off into parts and armstrong uses words like retard and pianoforte, haha and i nod my head and try and keep a straight face. i guess i am not a good liar because he noticed, and was i was given a singing for dummies lesson and now i am an alto or something? anyways, i need to keep practicing my "soulful black lady voice" and "rolling my vowels" or i will be disappointed in come the next practice.



family home evenings in iasi are never dull. any evening in iasi actually. here is a photo of the huge human knot we created with genoveva and myself trying to coach the others...

note to self: always be a coach when playing these games because you can tickle little brothers like radu and he can't do anything about it because his hands are in a knot.

days 94 & 97 and all the days in between

so sorry for the lack of posts. i can't seem to slow time down enough to find time to do updates.

as you can see, we have had a wonderful time getting prints of our kids. the workers were really nice about it, and even tried to help us. i have realized i love the workers almost as much as the kids. they really do try, and there are some that love the kids like their own, and that is comforting to know. it seems like most of my kids have at least one worker that admires them. i discovered this week that there is one lady that absolutely adores vlad and i can tell he likes her. she doesn't work mornings too often, but at least i know she is there to make him giggle, and kick his crooked legs before she tucks him in at night. Heavenly Father is watching out for them, just as He is me and you. i know it.

thursday night we made gogosi to give to our workers in the morning. it was quite the experience. i burnt four finger tips and probably all my roomates after i splashed oil on them when i jerked my hand out of it... maybe, being a professional gogosi maker isn't the best idea.. also, it totally slipped my mind the next morning was friday, and in the orthodox church they don't eat any animal products on wednesdays or fridays, so because there were two eggs in our chocolate filled goodness, my workers weren't allowed to eat them. we all had a good laugh about that. they were still very appreciative and brought them home to eat after midnight.

friday we also had a bubble party at the hospital with marion. it was really fun. when the nurses handed him to us they warned us to not let him get his brand new white outfit dirty. he is 2! that is an impossible task, so what did we do? nakie nakie baby baby. anyways. he had fun playing in our bucket of homemade bubble solution till he splashed some in his eyes and used his soapy hands to try and rub it out. we felt bad, but it was also a little but humorous. pictures will come later. but in the mean time here is a family photo from last week:

also, we are getting ready to celebrate marion's second birthday on august 7th. he is growing up way too fast.

saturday was spent doing homework and playing sports. it was the last sports day, and one of my favorites.

today, sunday, was our last fast sunday here. it was really great. i love love love the members here. i pray they always stay strong, that their investigators find the truth, and that the missionaries will be guided to those that are ready. they deserve it. president popovici will always be a hero in my eyes, as well as all the relief society sisters and the stoica family.

my experiences with the branch have definitely added a few tallies to my pro column about going on a mission. one day at a time.

well, that is all i can come up with at this moment. my days are numbered and as of today, i am so excited to come home.

love and miss you all! cu mult drag!