Mom.. now I have 73 days left.. ha you were getting a little ahead of your self last week... But it made me smile ... I love that you guys are excited to see me! ha I had a dream the other day that I came home and you guys all didn't care... I walked in and said "Hey everyone! I am home.." You guys didn't even look up from what you were doing and said... "great... hey..." ha it was a really awkward dream! But yes Dad you will be receiving an email at the end of this week with my TRAVEL PLANS home! Crazy huh!! I received my death call from Sora Baker this week.. it was crazy! This time in the mission is different I only have so much time left... but I still have 2.5 months to really get stuff done in this area! So I am trying to work really hard!
Training is going really good! Sora Parker has been a little sick and her jet lag is a killer! ha So this has caused a little extra personal study time and then as part of the training program they have us studying an extra hour everyday so I am loving it!! I know that this church is true! I have downloaded a lot of devotionals onto my ipod and I am obsessed with them. I really just feel like I need to bear my testimony to all of you... about getting "it" I really don't know how to describe "it" except that "it" is to get an understanding why we are here and what we are doing in this life. I am almost in tears writing this to you (you all know me.. I am in tears) but I just feel this overwhelming sense of gratitude and love for my Savior and for the atonement. It really hit me the other day that I am not on this mission to "pay God back." That can never be done. I was just blessed with this opportunity to have a hard mission so that God can bless me more. I will forever be in debt to Him. and To the Romanian people. I know that a mission is the place where you get "it" I still have a long way to go and a lot more studying to do in my life... but the enabling power of the atonement is real. God does love us. We can be like Him.. We can repent... We can be truly perfected in Him. I know that this church is true. I know that the Book of Mormon is True. Thomas S. Monson is a true Prophet of God. This Gospel is restored. We are so so blessed. We can all be better everyday! Sorry that was long but that is how I feel today. Training is causing me to go beyond myself and really step up.
Some highlights and more random insights from my mission life:
- Zone Training in Iasi! I love Iasi it was a lot of fun! Sora Parker and I gave a presentation on Companionship study and the unifying power that it has for us! Well it was really fun.. we put a lot of words on the board and then people had to match them up... like Buzz and Woody....Katniss and Peeta.... etc etc... it was a lot of fun! We had to take a 5 hour train there and then we slept there one night .. had a 2 hour meeting ... ate some food and hopped back on our 5 hour train! ha I feel like I will travel just as much this transfer as my last!
- I was studying more about the Enabling Power of the atonement (it is my theme for this transfer) and Elder Bednar has an amazing talk on it. Well that morning I was listening to it -He really tells us that we should not be praying for our circumstances to be changed but pray that we will change and adapt to our circumstances. Well the weather has been really gloomy here in Galati and all over Romania this week.. I have not seen the sun for about a week now. Well as I was praying I was saying.. "please bless us with sun.. I need it!!" Then as I was saying that I realized I wasn't praying for the right thing... I just need the power of optimism to get out there... rain...fog... random mist... no sun... doesn't matter... I choose to be happy!
- English Contacting: We had so much fun contacting all over this week.. We have really been explore contacting because both of us don't know this city! So we were walking and Sora Parker is doing so great with everything.. She is going to rock! But we actually ran into this random lady that was an investigator years back and has read the Book of Mormon twice! We are super excited to meet with her! it was so random!
- We are really working on cleaning up the area book so we called a few people. We called one women and she was so EXCITED to hear from us. She thought that everyone had forgotten about her! She is really excited to meet with us this week. At the end of the call she just said how grateful she was and thanked me about 10 times for calling her! This mission is all about the ONE. I love these small moments of miracles that God has blessed me with!
Everything is just so normal here now to me. It is fun being with a new missionary because everything is so new to her! But church here is now normal.. it makes me nervous to go to a big branch back at home... wait do branches even exist in America? ha I meant wards and stakes! that will be crazy! But I love you all so much! Thank you for being my rocks of support during this amazing experience in my life! I am so so thankful for all of you! I hope that everything is going great in your lives! I love you all! have a great week!
va iubesc atat de mult!
Sora Abby Polatis 
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