maybe visa this week;)

Hiiii Family!!!

        In Iowa City it actually hasnt been raining much, but yes back in west Des Moines it poured everyday. I would be out in the rain for like 10 seconds and I would be drenched. So yea it is definitely way green over here its great. Now that I am in Iowa City I am close to the Nauvoo Temple too:) So if I dont get my visa this saturday, Then I think Elder Schubert and I are going to go the Nauvoo Pageant with an investigator!! That will be awesome if I get to do that. I have never been to one of those pageant things. But yes another good thing about still being in the states is that we get to celebrate the 4th of July:) It was a great day. We have 3 Hermanas in our district and then the senior couple and Elder Schubert and I. Elder Savage (The senior couple) called us and wanted us to go out to this tiny town called Belle Plain Iowa. It was about an hour away. But I guess it was our church's turn to work at the concession thing so we all traveled over there to work in the concession place and meet people. It reminded me ALOT of Menan Days because there was a soft ball tournament and a basketball tournament and just all these stands set up everywhere. I was tempted to get Elder Savage and Schubert to go and enter in the 3 on 3 tournament but I dont think we would've survived the heat in our church clothes. It was way fun though. We did teach this one guy there whose wife was a member but he just didnt see the need for it. So we sat him down and had a good discussion on what would be holding him back from reading the BOM. By the end of our discussion we got a committment out of him to read and pray about it. I'm not sure if he has yet because he lives so far away, but Elder Savage will have to check on him. Ha I also gave a bunch of mormon.org cards to all these kids. Who knows, maybe they will give us a call.

         We also got to meet our new mission president this week, President Jensen. He seems like a great guy. I saw sister Hill at that Zone conference (Austin shippens cousin) She seemed to be doing great. Was austin and those guys in that tournament? I'm sure they were. That 4th of July tournament was always really fun. But Elder Schubert and I set a couple baptism dates this week. We met with this guy named Mandakh. He is from Mongolia and can NOT speak English haha. But The Lord has blessed us with sending a sister from temple square that can speak Mongolian so we teach and she translates:) Its a little different, and I just want to have a conversation with him. but they way he acted when we were teaching him told us that he accepted what we were saying. He has came to church quite a bit now, so we will keep getting him to progress. We also set a date with this guy named Mitch. His girlfriend is a member and I guess missionaries worked with him in the past so he actually texted us and asked if we could meet with him so that was easy haha. He has been coming to church also. Pretty much now we are just looking through the area book and going after a lot of formers. We met one former and set up a return appointment. I think he was shocked because it had been like a year since his last contact with missionaries.

         This saturday is transfer calls though! So its the big day to see if I'm getting on a plane or not. If not I wont be too bummed. Everyone here is pretty excited about the work. We have a lot of young couples in our ward who said they are going to find people for us to teach so the work should move right along.. Well if I do get my visa I will probably be calling you next monday or something so be ready:) Everything sounds great. I miss you all soo much. Love YOU!! Love Elder Polatis

raining like crazy!

Well what a good week it was. It went by so fast! But someone in our house, probably me haha isn't being humble. We were all humbled this week! I will get to that in a little bit tho! Anyways this week was pretty fun. We worked hard and we saw results. Some days were harder than others but it is coming. Slowly but surely! I love what I am doing but DANG, just let me Speak! HAHA So Monday, we had a good day! We spent the day with Sister Vargus and Sister Davis. They are super funny. We shopped around and grocery shopped together so that we spend less money! We eat together anyways so it was worth it. We got back and had this horrible smell in our apartment. We looked under the sink and there is a leak! The guy came and said he fixed it but apparently not, water everywhere and smelling like mold. So we all grunged down and got to work. NASTY!! But we cleaned it and got a bucket to hopefully catch the water. So we will see if he can come back this week to make sure it is finished. But not horrible, we all just laughed as we were all gagging trying to clean the water up. 

Tuesday: Tuesday was interesting.It really was a long day! Everyone that we tried to get in contact with wasn't there! It was horrible! But on a positive note, we Taught our new Investigator John and he committed to be Baptized!! He is pretty cool. We were nervous because it really is alot of information but he asked alot of questions and in the end we felt super good about challenging him and he said YES!! I was stoked!!! It will be a process but I cant wait!! He is 23 and just asks alot of really good questions! I love it!

Wednesday: We had zone training! It was really focused on the finding through members! We practiced teaching on how to use the members effectively so hopefully our practicing helps. We also had exchanges. I went to Silay with Sister Maloata. She is from Samoa. She has been here for 15 months I think! So she is almost done! She was Bomb. I loved her teaching style and the way that she tried to relate herself to every situation. She gave me some language tips which was really nice. But it was cool, a lot of the people from Silay were complimenting me on my languages, HALLELUIAH!! Not perfect but still it is nice to know that I am improving somewhere!! 

Thursday! We all wore our Red white and Blue, and made sister vargus do it to!! HAHA but we had a float for our treat! It isn't like a root beer float, it is a treat that they eat here, with evaporated milk, cream and you mix in graham crackers and mango's or cookies. So we celebrated that way!! It was fun. We sang some 4th of July songs from the Hymn book. They had fireworks but they didn't start until 8 and it was out of our area, but we knew that they were great! HAHA We had a good lesson with John. We mostly just reviewed Prophets and the Restoration. Sometimes It is a big concept to grasp and we wanted to make sure that he understood it! Which in the end he did and it was Awesome! We did another Mini FHE with a family from the ward! They had a referral for us and it was nice to be in a more relaxed situation but still a teaching opportunity! So it wasn't bad! The ward missionaries came with us. They are helpful! We like when they come because I understand most of what is going on or what people are saying but they can help fill in the blanks! 

Friday:As we were leaving the house today we had no water....Usually our pressure is low so we didn't think anything of it....Keep that in mind. But It was pouring rain!! Holy cow. Our poor little umbrellas couldn't handle it and we were soaked like all day! But that the mission here! We taught a really good lesson today. We have an investigator who had cancer! He has to continue to get dialysis 2 times a week. But we started talking to him last week and he seemed pretty interested. He said that he wants to find a religion and dedicate his life to God. Around here there aren't really a lot of cancer survivors. It is just to expensive. But he listened and after we felt really good about it! Hopefully he realizes that this is what he needs and continues forward! He has such a good testimony already and It really would just improve it. We are excited to follow up with him again! We had a dinner appointment with The Empanaldo family! It was Milas birthday and we had some Lumpiang and Indian Chicken curry stuff! It was super good and that family is awesome! Sister Crystal is the Bomb! And he husband Fidel. He Gives us a lot of crap when we are speaking, like I have an Idaho accent when I speak but he helps us a lot too! We love that family! We got home and there was still no water!! So we went to bed and just thought it was for the night, things like this happen around here so we didnt think anything of it. Well come to find out, we never recieved our bill, they SHUT OUR WATER OFF!! We started to panic, how do we go to the bathroom, how do we shower, what do we drink!! Everything! 

Saturday: One of the Couple missionaries brought us some water jugs and told us to spit shower and to use it until we got our water situation figured out...YUM!!! HAHA We thought it would be all taken care of today but NOPE, not until monday they said!! HAHA but anyways...we still had to work. Despite the fact that we had no water and no shower Today was still awesome! We taught John about the Word of Wisdom! Well he said Yes to all of the things that we are to stay away from!...BUT.... He committed to changing! It was the funniest lesson. He really has the desire to change! We really think that he is going to be awesome! We knew that it would be challenging but we know that he can do it!! He is asking us all the time if we get tired of walking or if we get scared here at night. He really seems to care about us as missionaries. So we like him!! HAHA

Sunday: Church was really good. John came and he brought his friend. We had most of our investigators attend which was so nice. Not all of them but it is a start and better than last week. We had a brown out at church which is also normal but we got home from church, no water no electricity. We all were like "Ok, whoever is not being humble you better change" HAHA so we sweated out the day and tried not to move or drink water! HAHA it was actually pretty funny. We did our studies and just hung around in the dark, the lights came on around 7pm so it wasnt too bad! I have a WAY WAY WAY better appreciation of running water and I actually got a taste of how people really live here. You do with the water you have and you try to save every drop. So it taught us a lesson. But seriousl, lesson learned. Turn the water back on!! HAHA hopefully by the end of today it will be on! We have to do our laundry. But I am still alive and really I look fine, I might just have to stay away from people. Lets just say we used A LOT of perfume! Something to remember forever I guess. Poor Sister Livingston, she took it pretty rough! 

 this church is true. Follow the spirit and try to help out the missionaries. They need people to teach. I love you all! Be good and be safe!  Thanks for the letters and prayers!! I need them!!! MMUUAAH!! Until Next time!!!

LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!!

Sister Sarah

our roomates

shopping together!!

Tracting with Branch members

Mila's birthday

cleaning in a bowl!!!-no water

my friend--one I can baptize

snalilious

Great 4th of July

Buna Ziua! Dragele Mele!  

I love being a missionary... honestly even though sometimes it is super hard.. I can't help to smile and be really happy when I think of all the cool things that are happening to me on a daily basis. I just have some random stories for this week... 

It is a huge deal that more sisters are coming to Romania!!! We are getting 18 new sisters which is DOUBLING THE SISTERS in the mission... so you know what that means... I will be training.. but not only that... sisters will be opening new cities all over Romanian.. there are a few cities with just Elders in them.. but not anymore! We will be everywhere! the rest of my mission will be crazy!! :) 

I cant remember if I already told you guys this but one day I was getting ready and I turned around and I almost stepped on a cockroach! Ah I jumped about 2 feet in the air and screamed... Ah Sora!!!! Well then I just grabbed a jar out of the cupboard and placed it on top of the bug... well then the next night we got home from Buc and we found that the bug was still in the jar... well then we both let out a sigh of relief and then shut the door and... AH! ANOTHER ONE! We were then both freaking out and jumping up and down... so we then got another jar and placed it on top of that one... We set them out side of our door and the person that cleans the stairs took care of them for us! :) anyways I was just dying of laughter because I can only imagine what Sarah has to deal with and I was literally freaking out over 2 cockroaches... haha

We had a lesson with one of our investigators.. she is 24 years old-- living with her boyfriend... but she is so cool. She was walking with us after the lesson- which went super well by the way... and she was like "I dont know if you guys realize this but you are very different.. I feel so good when I am around you both.. you are so nice... I have felt like something has been missing in my life.. but now that I am with you both I feel like I am finding it... I feel like Joseph Smith as I am searching for the truth!" Amazing right?? I am was stoked! Smiling from ear to ear.. now if we could just get rid of that orthodox boyfriend.. ha just kidding we are trying to meet with him.. he is a little more stubborn but we are not giving up! 

Well on Tuesday night we got to go to bucarest for our big zone conference. On the bus ride there Elder Taylor and I were able to talk to this couple about the gospel for a while it was so cool we were able to give them a Book of Mormon card and we explained all about it. The wife was super nice... it was just really cool- they were actually on their way back to Norway. But it was super cool. Then we got to buc and there was this lady who had this big bag she was pulling through the metrou.. I stopped and asked her if I could help her- of course she was like.. no no its fine. Well we then ended up getting off and the same stop as her and there was a lot of stairs to climb up so I was like " Are you sure you don't want my help?" ha she then agreed to let Sora Rivera and I help her with her bags... She said thank you and then we started going on our way... then she went the opposite direction.. as we were walking I remembered that there was another set of stairs for her to go up... I told Rivera we have to go help her so we run to the other side of the metrou and I catch the end of her bag as she was trying to lug it up the stairs.. she just turns and looks and us and asked who we were and then she was like... "I knew you guys must have been sent from God." Super cool! I love giving service! 

The next day was our big zone conference.. AMAZING! we first had our sisters meeting and it was so good.. it was focused on the talk by Elder Holland "the other prodigal" It was kind of talking about how the older son was upset because his parents were so happy that his little brother came back home after he had messed up so much. The dad then explained that everything that he owned was his - He was just happy his rebellious son returned... He gave him a ring and the fattest calf... but the older brother did not stop and realize that he had a drawer full of rings and ALL of the calves in the field belong to him. It was so amazing.. I recommend reading it! So so good! We are just all trying to do our best and we cant be upset because God is so merciful and loving to ALL of His children. It was so cool! After that we then had our big meeting where Sora Rivera and I presented! o man.. It was so so Good! everyone loved it! we just had so much fun... we demonstrated how to do a bad job contacting... so we were just walking around talking about boys and people writing us and then we were just like tossing cards around with out really talking to anyone.. ha then we dressed up President Hill and taught people how to do it right! and they fed us home made cafe rio salads! I was in Heaven! And that day I also received a package from Heather Martin Wright.. it was so so so cute! She had this poem and the package was filled with all of these cute things about our past life together and she did it for my half way mark.. it was so cute .. she was like "This is for a celebration that you are almost half way back to me!" ha I love Heather!

We also were able to go contacting with members in our branch this week. Our Branch President is so so cool! We had this big set up for it and everything... I will attach some pictures of it. It was so much fun -- We were singing and talking to everyone that passed. It was crazy though our branch President tried talking to some lady and she was like "You people are DANGEROUS." and she walked away?? ha I started laughing.. literally everyone in my district is so young looking and we were singing hymns and inviting people to church... ha o Romania....

And then we had a Lesson with Andreea who has baptisimal date it September 21st! I dont know if guys remember her but i taught her when I was here in January! She is so so so solid! She just has a summer job that she wants to finish before she is baptized so she can come to church after... but we went through some of the baptisimal questions with her and she was like I dont just believe these things.. I KNOW that this is the true church! Her older sister was baptized in January so it is so cool... I hope that I am still here for it! She has already gone through all the seminary courses and everything.. She is a reason why missionaries are in Romania!

My English class is so much fun that I teach this transfer! It is four little girls and their mothers! They are so cute and they love all the games that we have them play! Yesterday they brought us big bouquets of flowers! So sweet! They love our sprititual thoughts. and the mother was reading through the plan of salvation packet! so... we are excited to see if we can start teaching them! 

Another cool story.. sorry this is so long... but ok.. so I was at the library the other day and I really felt strong to invite the secretary lady to english.. I think we had already invited her before but I thought - why not again- So she took the card and just kind of set it down on the desk... I followed the prompting right? ok so then a couple days later we get a call from a guy.. He speaks English and the librarian lady gave him the card and said to call us because we are americans that could teach him Romanian. So he came to church on Sunday!!!!! He was like "ya it was really lucky.. because I got the last card on the desk!" little did he know that there was only that one card on the desk.. just for him! he is a way cool investigator now! God is so so aware of us! amazing! Also we had 2 of our less actives we have been working with and an investigator at church!!! wahoo!!! So so cool 

! I hope that all is going well with you! I love this gospel and the great adventure that I am on! seriously what a fun roller coaster ride I am on!!! The church is true! have a great week! read your scriptures! :) 

cu drag, Sora Abby Polatis 

package from Heather --my pal

my new name tag so people can say my name!

Weird concrete things next to the Black Sea

Yeah--American car on the 4th of July!!

red, white and blue for the 4th

This is American month at the supermarket--peanut butter and marshmallows

street teaching!!

Our super big Book of Mormon!! 

our Enlish Class

Work is progressing along!

Well another wonderful week has passed, honestly it went super fast!! But it was a lot of work and stress. But seriously I LOVED IT!!!!! I truly have gained so much confidence in myself just in this past week it is crazy that something so scary is what changes people. I started out thinking I couldn't do this, but those thoughts slowly have gone away and turned into, YOU HAVE TO DO THIS!!! So that is my take on the next couple weeks as I try to figure out more of what needs to be done in our area!  

 First, Monday we went out after an awesome P-day! We have been with our housemates a lot more and we love it. They are cute and funny and we find ourselves doing filipina things and Sister Vargus is slowly catching on the American Phrases haha I always say "Bomb" or thats bomb and now she says it all the time! It is the funniest thing ever! We went out to contact but no one was home, we taught one, she has been an investigator for about 7 months now and just wont progress, we have taught her everything but she just needs to come to church what is holding them back is getting married. Here in the Philippines you need paperwork and it gets a little pricey, Well her live-in I guess asks why they need it he said "Did Adam and Eve need to get paperwork" haha super funny but that is what is holding her back, we might not focus on her anymore, just random visits will be fine.
Tuesday: The ward missionaries came with us and we killed it! Seriously we were talking to everyone we came in contact with. It was nice because it seemed like people were home and I understand what is going on but sometimes not directly so the ward missionaries were the buffer in helping us answer the questions. We taught a lot of investigators and it was good to get Sister Livingston into mission life finally without people punting us all the time. She was pretty tired after the day but we were both excited about the fact we taught so much. I was more excited that people could semi understand what I was saying!! WAHOO!!! We found this 16 year old boy, Paulo. He just helped us find a house and after we were walking away he asked if we would come and talk to him! So we taught him right there and he was super interested in Finding out how to come closer to Jesus Christ. Hopefully he continues to move forward. He is cool. We went home and I was feeling pretty experienced as I had to explain the process of washing clothes. It is weird, I haven't been here that long but we are soon going to be considered the old ones in the mission.

Wednesday: We had zone conference. I LOVED IT! We watched the World Wide leadership training. It is crazy how much they focused on the ward really doing everything. That it is up to the ward to find and the missionaries to teach! We learned how to work with the ward more effectively and here even tho is is different it will be nice to implement these procedures and hopefully find more referrals from members. President gave us a statistic that 1:8 good member referrals gets baptized but 1:260 gets baptized when it is through our own efforts! Crazy huh, we are going to focus on our relationship with the ward and hopefully they see how much we need them!! But it is always fun to get with the missionaries and to hear how everyone is doing! President also expressed his love and appreciation for all of our families. He says he knows how hard it is to be a missionary parent and he loves all the support and prayers that come from our families. So thanks for always being a good support. Really I couldn't do it without you!! I loved Zone Conference!!! 

Thursday: We had to hit it hard because we missed yesterday, but we  were able to contact an investigator who was interested but works alot. He had a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon and why  we don't just use the Bible, I am bomb at explaining it in English but my lack of  Ilonggo terms made it difficult but at the end he committed to go to church, so Sunday will be be the big deciding factor if he understood me or not haha I have just learned to laugh A LOT!! I always feel like I am speaking so good, but then I get this awkward stare, it is becoming a favorite of mine hahaha so i try to rephrase for something that sounds better!! We found a husband and wife who were sitting outside and we asked if we could share, they are super religious but agreed and they were excited that we stopped. I loved it! I know that this is Heavenly Fathers work and that even tho i am scared or nervous as long as I continue to go forward he will provide a way for me to accomplish my tasks!  FAITH, always easier said than done! Thats for sure!

 Friday: We had weekly planning. We are excited. Hopefully some of the things we planned will help us find!!! That is our focus! The ward missionaries couldn't come with us today so it was all me!! HAHA well it was horrible. It was raining and  everyone kept saying "sakot sisters, come back later." Like we are busy, I was pretty discouraged but we went back to the church to re-group. We prayed and headed back out. We ended up running into the family that we needed to teach that wasn't home, that was nice. We also ran into a member who wants us to teach her family!!! YAY!! Blessings!!! I had learned earlier in my personal study about diligence and dedication.  Even when you are tired and frustrated, your efforts will pay off and you will be able to find people if you are willing to put in the work!

Saturday: Well it rained again and I know that I am in the Philippines but seriously, I think I despise the rain, I would rather work in heat than rain. We had a lot of success today. Last week we taught gospel to that class...if you remember and we got a referral from it. Well he wouldn't ever text us back so that we could meet with him, his name is John well poor guy, he just cant hide from us. We saw him at the church and we taught him!! He acted like I spoke horrible but in the end told me I was good for not being here that long. He is 23!! I was excited we saw him. But today the rain was a blessing, it is weird some days it is bomb, others not so much. But we taught  about all our investigators and I was feeling so good. Everyone said they were coming to church and I loved it. I felt accomplished for the day!!

Then Sundays, man Sundays!! Bummer day, out of 7 who promised us, we had  2!!! But on the positive side they are 2 that we feel the best about! But we have to think of ways to get people to church!! They listen and keep commitments but it is church that is the hardest!! It was a good day, Sister Livingston had a super hard day but sometimes Sundays are like that I always just feel for her because not that long ago that was me. Sometimes still they are hard for me it is how we grow But, we did our studies and prepared for today!! We made brownies and we love having housemates!! They are the coolest and we all just need each other I think! But as nervous as I am and all that I know that I just have to do it. Continue trying. I can do it. Even tho we had some really good experiences I still am nervous about fulfilling the vision. I will do all that I can. We have some baptisms coming up and we are just praying that the people continue to progress and know that this is RIGHT!! I love it. It is hard right now but I know that it is for my good. I will be alright. Sister Livingston and I get along super good. So that makes it easy. All the time she is like "sister I need you to translate for me" I always reply, I will do my best but most of the time I am trying to figure out what they are saying haha! The smile and Nod!! HAHA i love it!! 

 I miss you all! I love you all and  seriously am glad for all that you do! Keep being safe!! I will continue to work hard, and hopefully take more pictures, I am horrible!! But have a great summer,  I will pray that some of the rain will get sent your way!! MMUUAAHH!!!!

LOVE SISTER POLATIS

rest of letter!!

 As a branch we have ultimate frisbee every friday night for 2 hours.. It is so gross we are like drenched in sweat after because it is so humid and hot.. I am getting pretty good though... I am not getting picked last anymore ha so it is quite the accomplishment... ( romanians kind of think that girls can't play sports.. they say that it is not "pretty" ha but then they see it is an asset to have a 5-8 girl who can catch on their team! ha so that was super fun! 

      All of us missionaries we able to go to the countryside this week.. it was so much fun! They needed some help on their little farm and then they wanted us to come and give the spiritual message.. so we get out there and it is so funny--- grandma rounds would live here if she lived in Romania.. they have the outhouse and everything! They have ducks and geese and chickens.. all sorts of garden stuff.. laundry line going right through the middle of everything and then it is fenced in! ha so funny.. it was a lot of fun.. one million degrees that day.. hence why my hair is in a pony tail... ha the maxi taxi thing we had to take our there does not have AC.. rough.. ha:) I love Romania...  so that was so fun.. and on our way out it was so pretty there are fields and fields of sunflowers! so cool! 

    The Work of Salvation broadcast was so cool!! I watched it in English and then as a branch we watched in on Sunday in Romanian! It was so so so cool! ha I mean I think that Romania will not be implementing some of those new changes for a while.. but I am so happy for the rest of the world.. it is going to be so funny when I tell my kids about me on a mission.. they will be like "wait... you had to go tracking.. and knock on peoples doors?" ha We kind of make a joke that us and hungry and Bulgaria are kind of like the cute chubby kids at the starting line not really sure what they are doing hahaha but I have faith that Romania is going to BOOM one day.. the people here are really amazing.. their traditions are just a little rough... but that broadcast was amazing.. I am so excited to be a member missionary for life.. it is so so so cool! ya for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!! wahoo!!! :)  

speaking of that so I am reading the Book of Mormon and it was really cool this week because on like monday I was reading Jacob 5 ... so cool in 21 when the servant is asking the master "How comest thou hither to plant this tree, or this branch of the tree? For behold it was the poorest spot in all the land of thy vineyard? and in 22 the Lord says, "counsel me not: I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit!" Sora Rivera and I were talking about it for companion ship study how sometimes we are like... why Romania? why were we sent here... we could be doing so much more good in different countries.. or where we could actually speak the language? but in this scripture it is so clear.. Heavenly Father knows exactly what he is doing.. Romanian right now could be considered a "poor spot" but missionaries are needed here.. to nourish those GREAT fruits that have been found and our being found at this time! it is so amazing! Gods thoughts are truly higher than our own.. He sees the bigger picture-- He knows that I can and will make a difference in this country! I am so blessed to be here! If I could have picked which mission I wanted to go to.. I would 100% pick this mission! 

      Speaking of fruits.. we took a little bit a rough hit this week.. We were working with this girl who is 17 and she was super super interested in the church.. her baptism was set for this saturday.. well we tried to meet with her and she kept bunging us... finally I got a hold of her on the phone and she was just like "I dont think I want to meet anymore.. I dont want to change my religion... sorry..."  I just sighed on the phone.. I mean I for sure understood her.. she was speaking perfect english... so a little rough but I think that one day she will come back to church and find that it was exactly what she needs in her life! We are working with some cool other people so we will see how things go!! 

   O ya and another thing! we are going to be giving another presentation this week .. I guess they really like our last one so this one this week will be for 2 zones.. both Buc zones and then President and Sora Hill will be at this too.. we called President Hill and He said he would let us dress him up in the "Armor of English contacting!" I am sending a picture of me in it.. so so funny!! we are so excited.. we leave to buc tomorrow night and get back wednesday night! 

    This week has been great! I love being a missionary so much! best decision of my life! You guys are such a great support system!  Have a great week!! I love you all!!:) This church is true! 

 I love you!! 

Love Sora Abby Polatis! 

    

Great week!

Dragele Mele!! 

How is everyone doing? It sounds like you all had a great week! wahoo:) I did too! So right now we are currently in some kind of tropical storm.. ha probably nothing compared to the Philippines but it is crazy! We took a taxi to the library because it is so windy and we were getting pelted!! There is no draining systems so basically the streets are flooding-- ha it is so funny-- we walked outside yesterday after we thought that the storm was over and.... yep not over... we were DRENCHED! ha but o well.. my little umbrella just can't stand the sideways rain! ha it is pretty entertaining! It has only been like that for the past couple of days so not to shabby! 

So just some random updates... Sora Rivera and I are determined to get our beach bodies for the summer.. We have now done the 30 days shred of Jillian Michaels for 7 days in a row and 630 am... It is quite the accomplishment! We are so proud of ourselves.. we are putting Jillian to the test and we are committed to doing it for 30 days to see if it really works... it is so funny there seriously is days we both are like... we can't do it... Jillian is like " You should feel like you are going to die.." ha We always agree with her at that part of the film! it is so much fun! we are super committed and only eat junk food on Mondays:) which is today! ha wahoo! :) 

Teaaching "How to make an investigator

Our "was" investigator--could not leave her church

SUNBURNED!!

We are in the country with chickens and such

An outhouse--no seat?

My famous "fake laughing " picture

This is suppose to be a "normal" picture of my District

only in Romanian--a NO HORN sign

Got to dress up Pres. Hill at conference!!  So FUN

transferred!

Hey Family!!!!

          Well I've got some news...... We were sitting at district meeting last Thursday and President Jergensen called. Elder Wright just kept looking at me and smiling. You know what he said.... I got transferred!!!! Ha I bet you were thinking that it was going to be my visa. Thats definitely what I was thinking. I guess an Elder had to go home to take care of some stuff so I had to hurry home and pack up all my things and head off to Iowa City, so here I am:) Its great here though! I am now just in a companionship. His name is Elder Schubert. Ha he is a way funny kid. He reminds me a lot of Colin Rounds. We are ready to go out and do some work!! The new apartment is sweet. It has a washer and dryer in it so now I dont have to pay 3 bucks for every load. We also have a lot more service over here in this area thank goodness. On Friday we went and did a service project for this group called "Habitat for Humanity" We were helping them build these houses. I couldn't believe that they just let people volunteer to help build a house. Ha good thing Brody White taught me a few things about working with wood. You can tell him that I did actually learn something from him:) So that was fun. And we met some volunteers at the service project that were interested in what we were doing. So they invited us over for dinner that night and we taught them. They both accepted baptism invites so hopefully they read and pray so we can meet with them again and soon get them in the water.

        

           Well the end of the transfer is coming up. Who knows if I will have to pack up again ha. I guess Brazil is pretty crazy right now, but dont worry, I am still way eager to get there. There is a sister over here in my zone that is waiting also, so maybe we will study a little bit together. It stinks that I dont get to see the other visa waiters in my district now. I guess that I am the farthest away now. But it is awesome. There is a lot of church history over here. I met some people that went to high school at Snake River. I pretty much already knew that they were from around there because they said my name right the first time ha. I cant believe how much of a struggle our last name is. So yea everything is going awesome. President and sister Jergensen are gone and now President and Sister Jensen are here. This Wednesday we have a zone conference to meet them and have them teach us a few things. I'm excited to meet them. Its crazy that I could have 4 mission presidents. i bet that there arent very many people that can say that. I'm glad everything is going great though. I guess Tylin is out in the field then right? Man Sam better start getting ready, Its going to come way fast. I think that Tanner Jones leaves this Wednesday too. The work is great though. I definitely think that I have learned a ton more about the gospel here in Iowa then i wouldv've in Brazil, so now I can start to focus more on the language. I love the gospel though. The joy of people accepting it is awesome. I love and miss you all a ton!!! take care this week. Love you!!! Love, Elder Polatis

TRAINING---I'm barely trained myself!!

Subject: NAGATRAIN AKO!!!---

OH MY WORD!! What a shock it was to me! I thought for sure follow-up trainer or something but sheesh, President must trust me! Jokes! But Yes, it is true, I am training! Still in Bacolod 5th ward,. but I love it! Hopefully the work will still progress. But  Her name is Sister Livingston, she is from California and she is 19!  She is pretty excited to be here but like us all, culture shock like crazy! Ha well It is weird! I had to step up really fast! Well I will start out with the week,

Monday, We had our P-day and We ran into the AP's, they had just gotten out of a meeting with President. They were all smiles but of course would never tell us what was decided. After they left real fast they were like "Sister Polatis, how is your language?" Of course I was like, well its alright but I definitely am not fluent and they were smiling and like "I bet you are great, dont even worry it will come." So immediately I was like Ok, this is good I am follow up training someone! And we worried about it the whole night. Transfers are the worst because especially with me and Sister Arnold we let our minds wander and it was getting worse and worse haha ! But we finished out our day strong shopping for new shoes because  of course, mine have holes. I go through the dumb things so fast but they are nice because they can get wet and dry super fast!

Tuesday: We had our District meeting and then the Sisters that we live with wanted to do lunch just in case we were transferred or whatever so we went out and then went out to teach. We followed up with most of our Recent Converts just to make sure that they knew we had the possibility of  leaving  and that they need to continue. It was a day filled with alot of pamahaw:) (snacks) Everyone was buying us drinks and bread haha so it was alright! But we felt good about it all. Most of them were sad but we know that they have strong testimonies, they will be just fine. We got the call and I was so nervous! I couldnt even sleep on Tuesday, me, not sleep, that was unusual. 

Wednesday, We met at Galo, that is the church where everyone meets who is being transferred. I was assigned 2 temporary companions, Sister Galang and Sister Libria (both philipino) for the day because we wouldnt meet our new companions until thursday! But saying good-bye to Sister Arnold was super hard! We both got super teary and all the elders were kind of giving us crap, but we seriously loved our companionship. We would have stayed together for the rest of Sister A's time if we could. But all is well. I know that this is what was supposed to happen. But I got with the 2 sisters and we came back and worked in my area. They were funny, at first I felt super weird, i was definitely the 3rd wheel but we opened up and just chilled with each other, it was fun! 

Thursday: We met back up at Galo and had a training from President and Sister Lopez as well as the AP's. Just about how important our calling is and how we need to be the best example. We met our new missionaries and that was it, had a photo shoot and left for our area. We came back and studied. I had no food so we went out shopping, I knew exactly how she felt. Poor thing ha the grocery store so different and not knowing what to get at all. We were told not to baby them and to just shop like it was normal, well she wasnt picking anything  so finally I just was like, today we will buy our groceries together and maybe you will find something you like. She was like "few, thanks" haha but it was overwhelming. We came back and just had enough time for her to go and become a little familiar with our area. We met a few members and they were all so shocked I was training. I felt like a pro with language, haha She is cool tho, really excited to be here but I think like us all she didnt really know what to expect living in the Philippines. But overtime she will be fine. 

Friday, I felt super overwhelmed. We did our weekly planning and it was weird, I had done it before but to realize that it was me, everything was up to me. I had to make all the decisions. It took us forever but we got through it and hopefully it will help  this week be a little bit easier. We have so many people to find and contact and that really isnt my strong point with the language. So for language study I learned like basic phrases, or tried to learn them so that I was some what familiar. We went out and worked, She kept saying "I cant believe how hot it is"." We taught a few lessons and it started out really rough, I had to rely on me, she would bear her testimony but that was it.  It was interesting. I need to practice teaching more and make sure I know questions that I want to ask  and ways to simply explain topics. Needless to say I was very humbled. People were all really nice in helping me speak and giving me feedback but really I am scared out of my pants. I didnt want her to know that tho. I had to act as super confident and really in turn that helped me more than I thought it would. We taught our investigator Pricilla, She was super willing and believes that it is true but She didnt come to church on sunday:( So we have to go back and find our what kept her from attending. I like her tho, she wants her whole family to listen....BONUS

Saturday: We didnt have a baptism today, next week hopefully! Our candidate didnt come to church for 2 weeks so that means that she has to start all over, i was so bummed. We did set up an appointment with the secondary education program, for those that dropped out of high school or want their GED type thing, well a member of our ward is the teacher and part of the course is learning about Religion so he invited us to come every saturday and teach. We got 3 referrals from it and are stoked. We passed out so many pamphlets and some libros and one of the students even came to church. So we will contact him outside of his class sometime this week. 

Sunday: I spoke again in Sacrament. I always get so nervous and I dont know why. But both Sister Livingston and I spoke. It wasnt to bad. We are still trying to figure out what works best and we so far have gotten along pretty good, she is just so young sometimes in her thoughts and things that she says. But being here she will probably grow up real fast. But so far so good. I feel the stress but know that I will be alright as long as I rely on the Lord and know that this is what I am supposed to be doing. Everyone keeps saying that my language will sky rocket from here, so TANi!! It better! I am praying for that. We have zone conference on wednesday. So I am sure president will post some pictures, mom tag me in them on Facebook so that people can see what I am doing.We are both so excited. I love it. As nervous as I am I have to keep telling myself that I can do this. That it is all possible. I love reading Abby and Tates letters. I love that we are doing this together. BOMB! But keep praying for me and the work will continue even tho we are both pretty new! I love you all and hope the reunion was a blast! Next year make it in july so that I can come to it! It gets closer to the big wedding LOU--are you ready?? I am stoked to see it all come together! Thanks to everyone for the letters and the prayers! I love you all and miss you! What a crazy uncomfortable change this has been but that is what I needed I guess, something different. I know that through these experiences is where I will grow the most. I know that summers are busy and full of activities, be safe. Tell everyone HI for me! I LOVE LOVE LOVE you!!! MMUUAAH!!

Sister Sarah P

my old district

me, Elder May, MTC elder, and sister Arnold

Goodbye Sister Arnold!!

Hello Sister Livingston!!

All trainers with their "Greenies"

1st baptism--Congratulations Joe

Hey Family!!  yes, Brother and Sister Gale are great!!! They are so funny. Its great how uncle Dirk and aunt dayna are such great people because everyone that I tell that they are my relatives just go crazy because they loved them so much. its definitely a plus to be here in Iowa ha. So yesterday we watched "The work of Salvation" It was great. Got me really excited about missionary work. I cant believe that there are over 70000 missionaries out right now. Thats insane! We had our baptism a couple of days ago. It was great! We got to teach the restoration at it and there were a few other non members there so hopefully it sparked some interest in their lives.

      Its raining here again though. Is it still not raining much back at home? It way green over here.. So anyways, the new mission president is coming in next week and President and Sister Jergensen are leaving this saturday. They were great people. I could end up having like 4 sets of mission presidents. That would be crazy. I guess there are a bunch of riots going on in Brazil right now? Someone was telling me that they were like destroying embassys and stuff. Dang I hope that doesnt mess with any of the process with my visa ha.

          It sounds like everything is going great at home. More scouts stuff huh? I thought we were all finished up with that stuff.. Oh and when does Jake get home? Its got to be pretty soon Right? Sarah and Abby sound like they are doing great. I dont usually have time to read their letters home ha. My letters probably look way small compared to theirs. Well this week we are going to try to get the members more involved because in that seminar thing that is what the apostles hit on pretty hard and that is obviously the best way to do it. After baptizing Joe we have a lot of work to do to find people that have been prepared for us. I'm excited!! You really have to love them into this gospel thats for sure. Oh yea and I almost forgot to tell you mom. I made up this week all the dishes that I didnt do at home. We went over to this less-actives house. It is just her and her daughter. They actually live in an apartment. But she said that she needed help with her apartment so we went over there and the dishes were stacked to the ceiling in both sinks!! It was disgusting. She has cats also that just do whatever they want. There was some cat hair in the sinks. Awhhh!!! Ha I kind of would just look over to see if she was looking and then I would just throw some of the dishes away. If it was me I would never eat out of those things again. We were happy to help her though. She said that she would try to make it to church, and her daughter hasnt been baptized so it is definitely a family that we need to focus on. Anyway LOVE YOU!! 

Love Elder Polatis  

My comps!

My first baptism!!!

No pictures this week

Dragele Mele,

Side Note: it is some random Romanian holiday.. we have no idea...haha normal.. probably some orthodox holiday... anyways the library is closed so we are at a random internet cafe.. and we cant upload pictures.. which I am really sad about because I have some way good ones for the week and they match with everything I wrote! so If you want to wait and upload this blog post with pictures that is cool=but whatever!

 

So this week has been AMAZING! I am loving the mission more and more every day that I am here! I had a really weird point in my mission when I kept wondering how you could be a good missionary or even just be "trying your best".. well I think I have it figured out! ya the secret to all missionary work... well we were contacting and I asked a boy if he knew English and he said yes then I kept talking to him in Romanian.. anyways I was tripping over my words and He kind of looked and me awkwardly then... I just said goodbye and walked away (yes I am an awkward sister missionary now....:) ha anyways I just turned to Sora Rivera and I was like "I am trying my best.. I am not trying to mess up..." We both starting laughing so hard.. because honestly that is what I feel like is the main thing we are doing as missionaries.. there is no way we can be perfect.. so we are just trying our best and trying not to mess up. ha so I really am loving life!!!! I am doing this sweet study thing this transfer with the book of mormon.. I have a clean copy of it and I am going through and finding the answers to questions of the soul.it is so amazing!! 1- Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people 2- What is my purpose 3- Does God know and love me 4- Is there life after death 5- Does God answer my prayers and then I am doing another color just when it says if you keep the commandments you will prosper in the land. I am obsessed with it! I love it.. I just have to read 13 pages in the Book of Mormon daily and I will finish at the end of this transfer.. it is so amazing. I can honestly say that God does know us personally... we have a great purpose and potential... there is life after death and it has the potential to be magnificant... God does answer prayers... Bad things happen to Good people because it is all part of the amazing plan! Our trials really are for our good! It has really been amazing. I love love love the Book of Mormon. I really do hope you guys are reading everyday!

 

So this week we had the opportunity to go to zone training in Buc this last Tuesday it was so much fun! Sora Rivera and I had to present to our whole zone about how to turn your English Students into Investigators! It was so much fun! ah I loved it! We made cookies for everyone... and then we found a recipie and put cheesy one liners with each ingredient. examples: eggs: be "eggcited about sharing the message of why we are really here.." etc etc... super fun! and we made big tall chef hats out of paper.. it was really fun. We put on our hats and talked about how to "make" the best investigators... the night before Sora Rivera made the hats and she was like "maybe we shouldnt wear them.. they might look dumb.." and I was all.. " O no.. we ARE for sure wearing those hats.." ha It ended up going great- everyone loved our presentation!

 

We also had exchanges with our Sister Training leaders this week. Which was awesome.. I went with Sora Cook who was Sora Riveras trainer and then Sora Rivera went with Sora Kelly.. We had a lot of fun! I loved Sora Cook she was so great! We just went contacting all day.. all of our lessons tanked on us... but she didnt seem to mind.. we all four went walking on the beach in the morning and then we out! Sora Cook is so nice.. seriously I want to be just like her! It was also really fun because I kind of got us lost (whoops) ha so we were randomly walking and this young girl lifts up her glasses and looked super excited to see me. I just acted like I knew who she was... She comes up and starts kissing me on the cheeks I am freaking out because I could not remember this girl... but then she turned and introduced herself to Sora Cook.. as Roxana... then it clicked I had met her a few night before at a ward birthday party we had for Elena and Anca. She was a girl that we wanted to make our new investigator for the week! I was so excited! I reminded her to come to church and she said she would! -- She is so cool! then the next day SHE CAME! yahoo! we had a Book of Mormon all marked up and ready to give her... she said she is leaving to Buc for the week so we sent it with her and told her to start reading! :) It was so cool.. I mean literally we were lost walking on a random street... I love missionary work! At the end of the exchange.. Sora Cook sat me down and she was asking me what I felt like my potential and goals were for the rest of the mission. She turns to me and she goes " I am HIGHLY recommending that you train soon or you become a sister trainer leader... you are amazing." I was like "Sora Cook thanks but honestly there is a lot of other girls in the mission that are older and know the language more and have more experience.." She was so nice and she was all "no Sora Polatis you are exactly what the new girls need as they come into the country.." I was like almost in tears.. she was so so so nice... She is going to request to President that I train next transfer and then go up and white wash Moldova with her and then "kill her off...meaning, she will be going home after that" ha I told her that would be great with me! So we will see how it goes....

 

Everything else is going really good.. other question... how in the world did grandma have patience to teach all of us piano? seriously.. this lady after church asked me if I would teach her little 8 years old son... hmmmm interesting.. ha a little difficult explaining how to play the piano to a little kid in a foreign language.. but it some how worked out.. he wont be any mozart anytime soon but it makes his mother happy so I will put in my time:) I also love the branch here.. they are so awesome.. the ward has sports night every Friday night and we play ultimate frisbee in the park.. I have not had that good of work out in my entire mission!! Seriously we ran the field probably 100 times.. and it just happened with our schedule that we hadnt eaten for like 7 hours so we were dying! ha but I loved it and my team kept winning ever ytime so it was so much fun! and 2 of our investigators came and played with us too! I love Fridays!! I am loving working with sora Rivera ... she is a lot of fun! I convinced her to buy a night gown... ha I am sure you guys have seen pictures of me in mine.. anyways it is like the big joke of the sister missionaries that I own a grandma nightgown.. well I convinced Sora Rivera to buy one and now we are twins!! ha She is converted for life! :) As far as investigators go.. this week was a little rough we were not getting a lot of dragoste (love) from our investigators.. or recent converts... or less actives.. but its ok! this week is a new week with endless possibilities! Another random thing.. this week I got REALLY TAN! ha we did weekly planning outside on the beach.. and I didnt realize how the sun was directly hitting my idaho white legs... anyways.. I walk inside.. fried... ah.. so we went to the store.. they dont have normal aloe vera.. you have to go to a legit farmacie for that stuff... ha but we found some lotion with aloe vera in it.. so I was saved! but I am now putting on sun screen.. dont you worry! ha

Constanta is beautiful.. ha it is true.. but I think I did miss the memo where we can walk around in bikinis and speedos reguardless of if we are near the beach or not... or if we can pull them off or not... hahahahaha I love romania so much!

  I am so happy to be here in Europe.. I love Romania! This is where I am supposed to be. I am so thankful for all of the blessing that I do have -- really I am so so lucky!! :) Have a great week!!

Cu Drag, Sora Abby Polatis