POFTA BUNA!

Our mission continues to be a tremendous experience. Each week is filled with challenges that stretch our capacities. Sometimes we dream about boating on a northwest lake, grandchildren huddled around us, smores waiting. When we gain consciousness, we realize what we are doing now, at this time of our life, is so fabulous that we wouldn't want to be anyplace else. Our children (former missionaries themselves) told us that there would come a time when a white shirt and tie felt as good as a t-shirt and a skirt felt as comfortable as peddle-pushers and life as a missionary would feel "normal". Why do we love this quirky lifestyle? The answer is in the name tags we wear. We love being missionaries, proclaiming the restored gospel, helping people, and growing in our own faith.

And, growing we are! We have put on the "freshman 15" and are now in the throes of shedding it! You would think that a mission where you walk your shoes into oblivion, one would actually lose weight! This is Romania--land of carbs and delicious bread (also carbs). So, since this past week has been a relatively dull one, we thought we'd share our excuses for our weight gain. Romania has wonderful food and even better cooks. We are living proof that if you eat everything on your plate, your clothes will shrink! Lest you are worried, we are working on shedding it.

This is Sora Wilson from Australia, eating her first Romanian Sunday meal since arriving on Tuesday.

It is called Musaca and it is actually a Greek/Turkish dish made with beef, potatoes, other vegetables and...OIL! It is delicious.

This is a typical Sunday spread--Schnitzel and Sarmale (cabbage rolls).

...sometimes there's more. These are pork chops and sausages.

Add to that...a spread for your bread made out of eggplant and onions.

No meal is complete without a blob of Malmaliga. This is a cornmeal mush formed in a bowl and then dumped onto a plate. Romanians love it!

Romanians are wonderful cooks. Sora Ene is serving stuffed peppers. So far we've eaten stuffed zuchinni, peppers, grape leaves, cabbage until we're...stuffed!

Sarmale, Mamaliga, pickles, peppers...TRADITION!

Sarmale at the Branch party. It was delicious, really!

This is Salata a la russe or Salata de beuf, depending on who corrects you! It is made with boiled potatoes, peas, carrots, mystery vegetables and then "frosted" with mayonaise and decorated by the cook. It is delicious!

This cook flunked art decor.

Whenever we travel to visit a charity or NGO, we are fed. Here, sandwiches were provided as we talked.

When we complete a project, we have a celebration provided by the NGO. Since we are the guests, someone usually makes up a heaping plate just for us!

This was the most amazing feast! All the children in the schools in this village were assigned to bring something for this banquet. Some brought chickens, fish, eggs, ducks, duck eggs, homemade cheese, fruit. Eating this food almost made us emotional because it was so gladly given to us to thank us for helping them.

Since we are out and about a lot, we eat out! This is such a typical Romanian meal that is prepared for a group of four. It has a little bit of everything--sausage, chicken, veggies.

If you're lucky, you discover the one Mexican restaurant in town. This is Fajitas, in case you couldn't tell! Don't quit your day job! (nothing to write home about!)

The first day in Romania, we were treated to Romanian fast food by the office Elders.

These are Shaormas. Pita bread with chicken, cabbage, tomatoes, pickles, onions.....sauce.

Eight months later, we were forced to try another one. This one was actually very tasty!

And then there's bread! People sell these pretzels on street corners and in little shops. They are called Covrigei and they come 6 or so connected by a string.

This picture was in our blog last week but worthy of a second glance. Delicious.

As if the Romanians don't have the bread cornered, Sora Dummar makes her own!

So. If anyone has a suggestion on how to avoid eating this, let us know.

On to desserts. Lily and Beatrice are the masters of cakes. This one was served yesterday!

Sora Doru made this cake, layered with chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

Then you have desserts from bakeries. They look delicious but they are NOT. Every missionary agrees that there's something wrong but we're not sure what!

Don't waste your calories on this. Trust me!

Don't be fooled!

So, there you have it...the reason we're fat! Now that we've discovered that the desserts have no taste and the breads have all been tasted and now can be avoided, we are on our way to losing the pounds. What we really need to do is to eat more in the villages. You can lose your appetite in a hurry!

These goat cheese pastries were whipped up next to the dead flies in the poison. Yummy.

Soup anyone? This is Ciorba, made with fat meat and sour cabbage.

This is Tripe Ciorba. Tripe is the stomach of sheep!

A missionary shared this picture with us. Luckily, we were not invited to this dinner appointment!

This is a Romanian salad bar. We relegated to this sentence until the pounds come off! Promise!

Next week should be a fabulous blog. Steve and Barb will add a new baby girl, our 14th grandchild to our family on Wednesday. If you can't stand grandma pride, you might want to skip reading!

Also next week we will be on the tracks, visiting three cities and NGO's. There will be no food pictures!

Buzescu, Romania

Last week we took a little excursion to Alexandria to inspect missionary apartments. This required a 2 hour Maxi-Taxi ride, stopping 27 times on the way to pick-up or drop-off riders. Add 90 degrees, high humidity, quaint smells, temperamental A/C and you have the makings of a memorable trip. To make the memory indelible, we took the "taxi" one more stop to a little village named BUZESCU. This is the heart of gypsy country and we had been told it was a place "not to miss". We walked down the main street, camera in hand, and jetted back up the other side. It was eerily quiet and a little creepy. The pictures tell the story.

There are several classes of gypsy even within Roma (as they like to call themselves) society. Buzescu is home to one of the more affluent groups. These homes were built with money "raised" in the procurement of metal. If you collect enough metal, you can build mansions like these. The gypsy wagon in this picture is a common sight even in Bucharest.

This woman was one of a hand-full of people on the street so we stopped to ask questions. She was delightful. Her teeth were magnificent!

We were not sure what these ladies thought of us but we were pretty sure Maidenform could make a killing in this town.

Most of the cars were Mercedes or BMW but a gypsy wagon is a natural here.

Notice the empty streets.

The metal roofs are works of art. The more ornate they are, the richer the owner.

We were starting to look conspicuous!

Every house was behind an ornate iron fence.

This house was built to look like a courthouse. The owner said if he won his case in court, he would design his house like the courthouse. He won.

This fence was stainless steel!

There is no doubt these people worship the mighty Euro.

. . . and the mighty dollar!

A lot!

We had a great time visiting this little village with our good friends and fellow-missionaries, the Dummars. Here, Elder Dummar is getting directions for "getting out of Dodge".

We have had so many adventures here in Romania that we're starting to rank them. This one was definitely near the top of our adventures list although the welcoming committee must have lost our itinerary. It's a "been there, done that".

Goats, ducks & pigs, OH MY!

Who knew? When we decided to take the leap of faith and serve a mission for the Church, the absolute furthest thing from our minds was that we would go to Romania, travel the country, spreading sacred funds to poor people. Someone told us last week that we are "Disciples of Christ" and although that's pushing it a bit, we are humbled that we can be His hands, sharing His love and His comfort and His gospel for this short 18 months. Besides giving birth, it's just about the most awesome experience I've ever had! Denny says it's better than scoring the winning touchdown that sent his team to the finals! Truthfully, we can't compare these experiences to anything.

The basic principles of the Church Welfare Services are simple. We strive to follow the Savior's admonition to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, take in the stranger, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and those in prison. (Matthew 25:35-36) We talk daily about helping people to help themselves and to help them to be self-reliant. When people learn to use their own resources and see themselves achieving results with their own efforts, there is a sense of self-esteem and dignity that is self-perpetuating. This is our challenge and when we succeed in developing a project that teaches self-reliance, it's a home run!

Last week we traveled to the countryside near the Black Sea to meet the people who are benefiting from what we consider our pet project (no pun intended), "Goats For Poor Families". Simply, with help of a charity worker who facilitated the project, we provided goats and pigs to five families, each of which has an HIV infected child. The goats are herded during the week by a village goat herder who milks the goats and saves the milk (don't ask) for pick up by the families. The families have an income from the milk and cheese they make. As the goats graze, the Nannys and the Billys become frisky friends and soon, the family has a herd of their own! It's genius! The pigs are kept close to home and provide bacon. This is the second year of this project and the families have truly become independent.

We took a 4-hour train to Constanta for this adventure. We were driven in a van by Mr. Toad (Mr. Toad's Wild Ride) nearly a hundred bumpy miles to villages and spent the entire afternoon in the rain and mud visiting families and their goats. It was crazy and we loved it.

The welcoming committee.

Luckily, lunch wasn't ready.

Kittens were everywhere!

Romanians are so generous and to thank us for our visit, Violetta scooped up handfuls of leaves and blossoms she was drying for tea. Alrighty.

We learned after we arrived that the goats were in the field so we just enjoyed looking around. The family offered us juice and cookies (and tea leaves).

Fifty miles later, we pulled up to this house. By the time we made it to the front door, we were wet and muddy.

The steps into the house were doozies! Of course, I didn't think to wear pants and Denny was in his suit. Everything went to the cleaners when we got home!

I tried to get a picture of the running water and mud but you "just had to be there".

Fresh feed just in from the fields.

Fine goats!

This bread was just being brought in from an outdoor oven and was delicious! The cook sells it in the neighborhood, along with goat milk and goat cheese!

Fifteen people live in this house. We had a hot bread party!

Denny, enjoying the bread. It was crusty and a lot like sour dough.

The grandma and grandpa of the house with a grandson. They walked us out and thanked us.

And there you have it. The perfect project!

We love being here and helping where there is need. Romania is such a poor country and everywhere, there is need. We constantly remind each other about the "Starfish Story". To these people, we made a difference.