Arrival in Moldova

On Wednesday night before we left the MTC, Wendy and I agreed that no matter what happened we would stay calm. If things got bad we would laugh (ha ha). Good thing we did that!

On Thursday morning, September 4th we left the MTC at 6am for the SLC Airport. When we got there I tried to use my ATM card and it was rejected. All my money in the one bank and I got rejected! (ha ha) We flew to Atlanta, and I was able to call the bank from there and was advised someone had made a fraudulant charge on my card so they shut it down. I advised them that the timing was not real good and they told me they would turn it back on but Wendy's card would still work.

Off to Paris, with 45 minutes between flights, you know what happened, we missed the flight. (ha ha). I injured my shoulder running through the airport trying to make it. When we got off the flight we were advised we needed to go to gate D61. When we got there they said, the gate had been changed to F 45! (ha ha) I got our tickets changed for a flight 6 hours later, then had to figure out a way to let the Mission President know not to be at the Bucharest Airport. I finally got on the internet and was able to let him know. We flew out of Paris and arrived in Bucharest at 8pm local time and were met by two wonderful Elders named Rigby and Bringhurst (AP's) they took us to a hotel and we got a well needed shower and some sleep. We spent the following day with them and Elders Stromberg and McBride. We had a wonderful day "hanging out" with them until 8pm when we were taken to the train station for our 13 hour train ride to Chisinau.

The train is right out of Harry Potter (see photo above). When we got on the train we were assigned a compartment. The temperature was at least 120 degrees, it was an oven. The windows were not able to be opened. By midnight it was down to 90 degrees and by 5am it was bearable. (ha ha). When we left Romania and entered Moldova, the gauge of track changed (5am in the morning). It is very intriguing and interesting what they do. They have jacks that lift the train about 8 feet off the tracks, and they change the entire undercarriage and wheels to fit the narrow gauge track that goes from Moldova to the other side of Russia. The passengers are left on the train and it takes about 2 hours. During that time the restrooms (using the term lightly) are locked. (ha ha)

We arrived in Chisinau at 9am, and were met by two of the nicest people, Elder and Sister Jacobs. They are the humanitarian missionaries for Moldova. They helped us with our luggage and got us set up in a temporary apartment, again for a well needed shower and sleep. We are looking for a permanent apartment and the paper only comes out twice a week, (In Russian) ha ha, so we have an interpreter helping us.

We attended the Young Adult FHE, last night met the young adults we will be working with. They are all WONDERFUL!!! We are excited to get settled and working with them regulary.

More to Follow.......