So guess what? I LIVE in Romania now :D The flight over here was crazy. It was extremely long and our final flight was delayed so we got in even later than we anticipated. It was so great to see the Mission President and his wife as well as the Assistants. They got all of our things and took us to the mission office where I got to see the Pattons. It was great to see some familiar faces in a not so familiar place. We then had some craziness with our medical exams and didn't end up getting them done so we had learned we had to stay in Bucharest for another day. That night the sisters picked us up and we went and got shoarmas (not entirely sure about the spelling) But they were absolutely amazing!! We got up the next morning and went to the park where Romania was dedicated and opened to missionaries in February of 1990. It was a really cool experience. Then we went and lunch at the president's house and then waited for the sisters from all the other areas come for an impromptu sisters conference. There are about 85 missionaries in Romania and 25 of those are sisters. It is pretty awesome. At the conference we found out who our companions would be and where we would be serving. I found out I would stay in Bucharest and Sora Atkins would be my trainer. Sora Wilson would also be with us because she only has 2 more weeks before she goes home to Australia. It is great. We then went and got all of our medical exams finished and the following day we finished our work for our Visas. Then we all went our separate ways. It was kind of sad but really exciting to know that we are all going to have such different experiences and adventures. I am really excited to still be in Bucharest. Sora Bulloch always said she wanted to stay because it was the warmest during the winter and she isn't a fan of the cold. I told her that would jinx everything and she would get sent to the coldest. Well I was right, she has been sent to Brasov which is one of the coldest places where sisters are sent. I feel really bad because I am still freezing here in Bucharest so she must be feeling even colder. She will do a great job though.

Let's see what can I say about Bucharest. Well I absolutely love it. It reminds me a lot of LA, except a lot colder. The buildings are just beautiful and it is cool to see the mixture of decades of architecture all around. A lot of it reminds me of 1920s or so architecture in LA but slightly more run down. A lot of the blocks (large apartment building things) are being redone in a sense. They are taking styrofoam and putting it on the outside and then covering that with plaster and paint. This makes the buildings look new, especially when new windows are put it. It is slightly misleading because we will look outside and it look like it is snowing but really it is just styrofoam falling down.

The People: I love just looking at the people. I have seen more variation in eye color here than I have every seen in my life. It is beautiful. There are also a ton of blond children running around. I wasn't expecting that at all. Really I am so happy to be working with these people. There is one thing that I have noticed that seems to be a commonality here. Many people don't have teeth. It makes me very grateful to have grown up in a country that takes care of their teeth so that I will actually have my teeth when I am 40. A lot of things really make me grateful to have been so blessed growing up. It makes me the love the people even more for living in harder circumstances and still having faith in God.

The Smell: It smells like cigarette smoke. So when I come home I know that is what I will smell like. It gave me awful headaches the first few days but now I am better. Which I guess might not be the best thing to be used to. But whatever. There is also another smell that comes out every now and again. It isn't horrible but just different. I am still trying to place it.

Overall: I am so excited to be here. I have the hardest time trying to understand the accents but I know I will learn it. It is cold but I am glad that I will be able to be here for the next couple transfers. It feels a lot like the first week at the MTC. Very overwhelming at times and frustrating but I know that will pass, just like it did in the MTC. Everyday I learn more. I am so grateful for my teachers in the MTC because if I was any less prepared I would be going crazy right now.

Final Notes: I should probably mention that I am in the Panduri branch which has a beautiful church building. There aren't a lot of members but they have amazing testimonies.

- Sora Petrisor- With things that I hear about how often sisters are getting transferred right now I might be here when/if you come in March. Also I saw/met your sister on Sunday. She is beautiful, it made me miss you.

-Fratele Irion- so your story about Elder Reed and the Tramvai is a lot funnier now that I have been on one. Thanks for sharing that with us.

I love you all. Take care.

Va iubesc
Sora Krissy Hall

KRISSY IS IN ROME

Hey everyone, Krissy arrived safely in Romania. We got this letter from her mission president right after she arrived:

Dear Hall Family,

Yesterday afternoon, Sister Hall arrived safely at the Bucharest airport where Sister Hill and I welcomed her.  Although a bit tired, she seemed very happy to finally be in Romania.  This morning we took her with the other new missionaries to Chismigiu Gardens in downtown Bucharest.  On a little wooded hilltop in the middle of the gardens, we sang a hymn, prayed and read the dedicatory prayer given by Elder Russell M. Nelson on February 9th, 1990 to open the country of Romania to preaching the gospel.   I have attached a photo of her with Sister Hill and me on that hill.  Today we hosted her in the mission home for some training and tomorrow she will leave on a train for her first assignment: to labor in the city of Bucharest with her new companions and trainers, Sister Atkin and Wilson.

Thank you for sending us such a faithful and talented missionary.  We already love her.
With appreciation,

President Ned C. Hill
Romania Moldova Mission

Here's a photo of her with her mission president:

Here is Krissy with her trainers, Sora Atkin and Sora Wilson (KRISSY IS IN THE MIDDLE):

Finally, Krissy had a special treat or surprise or whatever it's called because a member who was from Krissy's home ward growing up is now serving with his wife in the Bucharest mission. Here are Elder and Sister Patton with Krissy (KRISSY IS AGAIN IN THE MIDDLE, AND ELDER PATTON IS ON THE RIGHT):

We look forward to hearing from Krissy again someday. Send her letters until then!

Kristena is in Romania or should I say Sora Hall is in Romania. For those who do not know, Sora is Sister in Romania and while serving her mission she will be called Sora Hall by those who work with her. But I am her mom and I she will always be Krissy to me. :)
She left from Salt Lake City on Monday, 21 November 2011 at 8:30 am. She flew to Seattle, Washington, from there she flew to Paris, France and then onto Budapest, Romania arriving there 22 November at 2:15pm. Long day of travel for her. She got to call her family members from the Seattle airport yesterday before leaving the states. She sounds GREAT! She is very excited to finally get to Romania. I asked her to speak to me in Romanian and she spoke a few words but I noticed that if one of the other sisters with her asked her a question, they did it in Romanian and she responded very fluently in Romania back. I don't think they were even aware they were speaking in Romania, it was soo cute!
She is very realistic about the language knowing that the language that she has been learning for the last nine weeks will sound totally different once she is in Romania. I am sure if you have been to a foreign country you can relate to that. She is looking forward to meeting her Mission President and his wife, to seeing Rick and Sandy Patton (Rick is an old family friend that is serving in the mission home with his wife) and meeting her trainer and first companion. Companion is the term giving to the room mate that she will have. She is also excited to find out what city she will be assigned to first. She will email us on her next "P-day", )prep day - a day that the missionaries have to do laundry, shopping, letter writing, etc.).
It was good talking to her and hearing her sweet voice again. I look forward to our next call at Christmas. Until then I will continue to post her letter's as she sends them.

Thank you to everyone that wrote letters this week. I really needed the love and got it through your letters. I only have a week and a half before I leave to Romania and I couldn't be more excited. I feel so blessed to be here and to have already learned so much. It has definitely been a stressful 9 weeks but it has been worth it. It seems so surreal that I will be leaving but I still can't wait.

The new district of Romanians is learning so fast. They are so sweet and we love being around them. It is cool to be on this side of things and to know more than others for a change haha. But they will catch up very soon.

This week has been stressful, but the Lord has blessed me with lots of patience and love to those around me. We are getting through the lessons with investigators and it is great. We have one baptismal date and will have another before the week is out. It is so cool to see how the Gospel can change lives so drastically and make people so happy.

I am going to make a shout out to Alicia Lewis and just say that she looks absolutely beautiful in her engagement pictures! Thank you so much for sending me an announcement :)

Well there isn't much going on other than that. I love you all. Just think next weeks post will be my last from the states for the next 16 months! How awesome!

Te iubesc!

Sora Krissy Hall

This week has been stressful. There are lots of things happening and it is very burdensome at times. However I have seen the Lord helping our district through it everyday, whether it is through our teachers or placing people we know and love (like Sister Willnauer) in places where we can see them and talk to them. I am so grateful for that. We have new Romanian missionaries coming in this week, two sisters and one elder. We are extremely excited. We also found out today that one of the elders that is Russian speaking and going to our mission (in Moldova) has had his leaving date pushed back so he will leave with us. We are so excited to have an elder come with us. He is amazing and so nice, it is great.
We got new district leaders this week that are going to Australia. One is actually from there originally and has an amazing accent. They are a group of amazing men and we feel so blessed to have them. We are teaching them Romanian and they are learning really fast. They can almost have conversations with us. It is crazy. They Lord has definitely blessed us with great district leaders while we have been here. By the time we leave we will have had 5 sets of district leaders and honestly each one teaches us something new. What a blessing.

Well I don''t have much more time. I love you all and I hope all is well.

Va iubesc!!

Sora Krissy Hall