3 1/2 Months Already!

February 24, 2014

Hey guys,

   So it's snowing here in Brasov right now. It hasn't snowed for a couple weeks and actually

 started to warm up a little, and now it's snowing again. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow. Just not when I'm walking in it for hours. haha. But today is P-Day and even though it's snowing, for some reason it's not THAT cold outside. I don't know if it's because I'm used to it or what.

Slack lining

Our plan today is to slack line contact and then go bowling. Slack line contact is basically slack lining in a park and when people come up to you and ask you what you're doing. BOOM convo, and you tell them why you're here and that we have free English courses and all that jazz. This apparently went pretty well when my companion did it in a different city, so we decided to try it. After that, Bowling, and it's about 5 lei per game. That's just a little under 2 dollars, so pretty good deal!

This week went pretty well. We finally found a new apartment! It's got 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms, a queen size bed (I got it :)), a twin XL bed and a bidet, that we are both too scared to use at the moment. The moving in process was brutal and stressful and we had to move these huge pieces of furniture around the whole apartment, but it's all done and we are now officially moved in and settled and it feels great. We also have an awesome view of all of Brasov from our inside balcony that we drink hot chocolate and look at every morning. Ahhhhhh mai frumos de zi cu zi. [more beautiful every day]

The view outside my office window

Here's some random things that happened and that I noticed this week: 

1) We totally have a member in our branch here who looks almost exactly like Gru from Despicable Me. (without the overly large nose) We also think he looks like he could have his own cooking show on the cooking channel. We also have a guy who looks like the villian from James Bond. (The first of the most recent ones, I think Quantom of Solice) And we have a guy who looks like a straight game show host. 

2) I played my companion (apparently captain of his ping pong club back home) and the ward mission leader in Ping Pong this week and, well let's just say that after many games I only lost one game. You know, gotta give my right arm a rest after a while. haha. They said they needed their own paddles to win. haha. 

pizza and ping pong

3) When I was shopping in H & M last week, a security guard came up to me and asked me why I was shopping there. He said, "look at you, you don't need to buy anything, you're wearing a tie and slacks, you're handsome (Esti Frumos) haha. The cool part of that conversation was that I knew what he said! haha 

4) The first night we slept in the new apartment I accidentally opened someones door that was randomly unlocked and I mistook it for the exit. Well, after I found out what she was yelling at me, from my comp, she basically said "What kind of police do you think you are!? I hate you and never want you to come back again!" (even after we explained the situation and I said that I was very sorry) Luckily the last few days we haven't seen her, but she lives below me, near the exit, so that will be fun the next time she goes out.  

5) I'm pretty sure the new missionary (Sora Barrera) can understand better and maybe even speak better than me, right now. haha. So yea, she's fluent in Spanish and English, sooo it's not normal to be as good at the language as she is right now but because Romanian is so similar to Spanish she picked it up pretty quick. And I was so ready to teach her everything I learned haha, so now I'm still the new guy. haha. 

6) I finished my journal last night. Which is weird that I have to start a new one already, I don't feel like I have been a missionary that long but its been just about 3 and half months now and those months definitely fleeew by. The days are long and the weeks are short. This just opened my eyes to how fast my mission can really go, so "everyday is a gift, that's why its called the present" -I stole that quote from someone.  

  

Thank you Sister Olsen for the letter and the ward for your package and thank you everyone else for everything you guys have done for me. 

Love you all,

Elder Houk (cel mai noi)[the newest]

Leading the music for family home evening

hahaha i love this picture. My comp and I are the only ones smiling.