SOME SIGHTS OF THE CITY AND THE CHANGING OF THE SEASON IN CONSTANTA!!!!
The view of the city from the top of our three story church building
Same place different view
This is a picture of the old town of Constanta or Centru. This is the location of the original old city center that predates the birth of Christ.
One of the newer buildings on our tour of centru
Though Orthodox is by far and away the primary religion in this country there are other religions represented. Here we see a Muslim Mosque in the center of the old city. The dome and tall pointed tower are both part of the Mosque
Here we are at the top of the tower, with the huge speaker that is used to call the faithful to prayer.
We often have to travel long distances to attend Zone Conferences that are held in various parts of the country. Here we are on our way to our last Zone Conference in Galati. The fog was so thick that you could only see a few yards in front of you. This is typical of the weather here, fog is the norm instead of the exception.
Here we are at the Zone Conference, (note the fog out the windows, zero visibility)
The training at these all day sessions of conference is fantastic. The young missionaries always like to get together with other missionaries in the mission.
ITS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS NOW HAS 88,000 OF THESE REMARKABLE YOUNG PEOPLE SERVING AROUND THE WORLD. WHAT A PLEASURE IT IS TO BE A PART OF THIS MOVEMENT. ITS NO WONDER THE CHURCH IS GROWING SO RAPIDLY.
These next two pictures are of a Christmas piata (indoor marketplace where people sell their goods) anything from clothes to food. This is a picture of a meat market. Very popular with the Romanian people. Its kind of like a huge farmers market in the U.S.
Here is Ginny purchasing Christmas presents, painted eggs, at the market. The couple here don't speak a word of english and our Romanian is almost not existent. This is an example of how people can communicate without language. She was delightful and was great at pantomime, thats how it works. She was so full of personality and funny. Her husband on the other hand never changed positions or expressions. He did wave when we left.
Missionaries participating in our Christmas play at the church. The classic reenactment of Luke two in the Bible. They really enjoyed doing it and the members were thrilled.
Some pictures of some of our church members enjoying the meal provided at the Christmas Party
We decided as missionaries of Jesus Christ, to hand out Christmas stockings this season. We all went shopping for stockings and all the fun stuff that we chose to go in them, and added a little message about the Savior. Here we are preparing the stockings to be handed out. We prepared 120 stockings and worked really hard at giving them out.
It was a great project and the people we gave them to seemed to appreciate our Christmas spirit.
Here we are at our apartment on Christmas Eve. Sora Alston and I gave the missionaries stockings and these really great hats. We really had a good evening.
Here we are relaxing and watching the movie Frozen. It is a real treat to be able to watch a movie. The missionaries are not allowed to watch movies of any kind while on their missions unless given permission by the mission president on special occasions. Christmas Eve is one of those special occasions. Relaxed and content.
The highlight for all of us was a baptism during the Christmas holidays. Here we all are enjoying the moment with our friend.
Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate. Here we are on new years eve. All prepared with our sparkling cider. Always a huge hit on such occasions.
Preparing the floating lanterns for launch on new years night.
Lighting the lantern for launch
The lantern in flight.
AND NOW SOME SIGHTS FROM THE SEASONS WEATHER CHANGE.
IT IS COLD AND VERY WINDY. USUALLY WINDS ARE BETWEEN 10 AND 30 mph.
CREATING WIND CHILL TEMPERATURES FROM MINUS 6 DEGREES TO SOMEWHERE IN THE LOW TEENS.
The high winds across the lake caused a spray on the shore creating these beautiful ice sculptures
This is a picture taken off our balcony of the lake we live on. As you can see it is frozen from shore to shore
Who needs a snow board. This is a picture of me goofing off on the dock outside our apartment a couple of days before the lake froze. You can see the ice forming at the base of the dock. The lake is completely frozen today and the temperatures are still below freezing.
Every day I try to get out and take a walk for a couple of miles. This is a "selfie" taken while I was on my walk on an exceptionally cold day. The background is of the Black Sea which is only about 150 yards from our front door. We live on a small strip of land with a lake on one side and the Black Sea on the other. I am sure thats why the winds blow so hard here.
WHAT A WONDERFUL ADVENTURE
