Harvest Time in Romania

We had transfers this week. Our district leader, Elder Covey was transferred to Cluj. We had a 'farewell lunch' and wished him well.  He is a very good missionary and leader.  We will miss him.

 

We were surprised to see this car parked over a huge ditch.  We're not sure how it got there or how it will get back on the road.



 



We took a trip to Chisinau, Moldova this weekend to attend their district conference.  It is a 9 hour drive east to the border.  Along the way, we saw all the people harvesting their crops and preparing for winter.

They were digging potatoes, cutting corn stalks and picking pumpkins. 

 

 

 

 

This is a mother with her two sons digging and bagging potatoes.  School doesn't start here until the end of September because the kids have to help their families with the harvest.

 

 

They load the products onto big trucks or small horse carts and take them into town.

 



 

 

 

The district conference was wonderful.  Pres. Hill presided.  He and his wife gave a wonderful talk at the general session.  They had several attend.  Many of the members have to travel great distances to get there.  The theme of the conference was "Keeping Commandments."  Sister Hill talked about how everyone has to keep commandments or "rules".  Even God has to keep the rules as He created the universe. Pres. Hill talked about commandments being "instructions" to a happy life. 

 

 

There was such a warm, loving feeling there among the members.  They all wanted their pictures taken with Pres. and Sister Hill.

 



 

We saw two of our favorite sister missionaries who we had worked with in Brasov and Constanta. It was fun to see them and catch up on what they had been doing.  The Young Women were having a cooking activity in the kitchen.

 

After the conference, the Kneibs had us to dinner. They do Humanitarian projects in Moldova. The Swartz have been here for a few months and they work with the Institute and Seminary students (not in picture). Pres. and Sister Hill were there also. We are so grateful for our friendships with these senior couples. We really learn to depend on each other.

 

 

After the conference we headed for home.  We saw this quaint little well along the road complete with a bucket.  The people in this little town all come to this well to get their water.

 

 

After the conference we headed back home but on the way, we had a Russian policeman pull us over. We were so worried because we can't speak Russian and didn't know what he wanted. We were trying to find all the documents for car registration, passports, etc.  When he came up to our car, he saw Elder Powell's missionary name tag and he said, "Church?"  We said "Yes, we are missionaries!"  He said, "No drink, no smoke?"  We said, "Yes, we don't drink or smoke!"  He got a big smile on his face and said, "Go!"  We were so grateful! It really pays to live the gospel!  We know the Lord takes care of his missionaries (even us dumb ones!)

 

When we got home, we left the next day to go with our Brasov missionaries to the zone conference in Sibui.  It required another 6 hour drive but we learned so much from these missionaries.  These young missionaries stand very tall and know the gospel very well. We were so impressed with their abilities and are proud to work with them.