Pinata time
Stuffing animals for hospital children
Halloween is emerging in Romania, however no one can figure out what it all means! Frankly when it came down to explaining this holiday it made no sense at all, but nontheless the Young Single Adult group were all about celebrating. With October being our "Mexican Food Month" Elder McFadden begun the celebration by preparing enchiladas for the "after institute" meal coupled with cupcakes Sora McFadden made with black and orange decos. Afterward we cut the pumpkins we had picked up at a roadside stand on our way back to Buc from Brasov. The mummy wrap was a halarious white out to see them trying to find people and pumpkins with apendiges in "wrap". Apple dunking was a hit before we went outside to break open the pinata Sora McFadden had made and soon there was candy spilling out all around. This began at 10:00 a.m. and we finished about 4:00 p.m. which is what time our Branch Activity started. We were in charge of this one as well. About 8:00 p.m. two tired missionaries had had enough partying and food preparation and clean-up to last----well until Tuesday anyway!
While in Brasov for our Senior Couple Conferenc we visited Rasnov Fortress built in the 1400's. High on the hillside this fortress presides over villages below and tells so many stories of battles and conquering and protection within the walls. Armour and weaponrey were to be explored as we ventured throughout this amazing place envisioning the 500+ times this fortress was attacked and only taken 2 times in it's long history.
Along the road to Dracula's Castle we were so taken by the beautiful countryside and the haystacks or in Romanian "căpită de fân" that are so unique and have captured a small spot in Sora McFadden's heart.
Arriving in Bran we were delighted to see many of the well known Romanian Craftsman working in their crafts and selling them as well. The shoes are particularly unique and many in the country wear them . You will not see them in Bucharest, however!
A member of our branch found a few dried gourds from a farmer and Kelly, our daughter, brought a burner over when they visited us. I found a few free hours and this was the perfect combination to get a couple of the Romanian sisters hooked on gourd art. They are so excited and are doing very well in creating some art pieces they can sell.
Our meetings with universities have produced several opportunities for lectures from some of our LDS professors that are in country which is giving us some good exposure. We also had a TV station that came with crew and shot about 7 hours of coverage for a 16 min. special on the "Mormons in Romania". This was generated by the U. S. elections and Mitt Romney's association with the church. We will be anxious to see how this one comes out on Nov. 3. They seemed sincere in wanting to know what we were about. We arranged for a wheelchair distribution to take place at our branch building while the media was there and they were very impressed with the many aspects of service and aid that is provided here in Romania by the church.
Exchange rates posted in Bran!
We have a fantastic group of Elders and Sisters here in Romania and Moldova. They are around our dinner table often and we in turn go with them for discussions. The baptisms and numbers may be small, but we know that out of small things proceedeth that which is great. And Romania is starting to "break forth".Happy Thanksgiving and know that we love you all!
Cu drag,
Elder and Sora McFadden
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