12 years ago I served a mission in Romania. While I was in the city of Ploiesti I met the Musat family (Ion, Aura and their 10 year old son Andrei). I loved this fun and loving family from the moment I met them. It was always a high point of my week to spend time with them. Andrei and Aura were baptized into the church on June 29, 2003. It was such a happy occasion! I remember that day very well just being filled with joy, all I could think about that day was how excited I was for their family to now go to the temple and to be sealed together as an eternal family. I was able to stay in Ploiesti for 7.5 months (which is a pretty long time for a missionary), it was so hard for me to leave the city where I loved so many people. But lucky for me it wouldn't be the last time to see the Musat family.
 |
| Andrei |
 |
| Aura |
 |
| Ion, Sister Scott, me, Aura...and in front, Ana Maria, Andrei |
Fast forward a year from when I returned from my mission. In 2005 I was able to go back to Romania with my parents to introduce them to all of my friends. When we visited Ploiesti my parents loved being able to meet the Musat family. At that time Aura was just a few weeks away from having their first daughter Andreea.
 |
| We also loved seeing Ana Maria and her family and enjoying dinner with them in Ana Maria's garden. |
Now fast forward again 10 more years! Over the years I have kept in touch with the Musats through emails, and our blog. However, one email a few months ago was especially exciting when Aura told me that Andrei would be getting married in Salt Lake City! Andrei met his fiance Khemia when they both served full-time missions in England. I immediately started making plans to be able to be at the wedding.
In preparation I told the boys all about the Musat family and showed them their pictures. The boys helped pick out gifts for the girls and learned a few Romanian phrases. When we first met up with them it was a great reunion! Those hugs felt so good after 10 years! It was so fun to see Ion, Aura and Andrei again, and of course meet their daughters Andreea (age 10), and Alexandra (age 6) for the first time. The boys loved the girls right away because they gave them Romanian chocolate and wooden flutes.
It was really fun for me to hear and speak Romanian again! I love that language, and although it wasn't as easy for me as it used to be it started to come back the longer we spent time together...and we were all able to communicate.
 |
| We started the day going to This is the Place Heritage Park to learn a little Utah history. |
 |
| These kids were hard workers at the pioneer chores. |
 |
| Some must push and some must pull! Cute little pioneer kiddos! |
 |
| These kids discovered the universal language of "play" right away! |
After having lunch at the City Creek Mall food court we got to walk around Temple Square. The Musat family got tickets to General Conference and we got a tour of the Conference Center.
 |
| Beautiful Andreea |
 |
| Pretending to be the Dad, Mom and the child. |
 |
| The view from the top of the Conference Center |
 |
| This art work is so neat on the top of the Conference Center. The people are sandblasted on the wall, and the wall reflects the temple and the people that look at the art. It represents how we are all part of God's family. |
Wednesday was the day of the wedding. The sealing in the Salt Lake Temple was beautiful. After the ceremony we went outside to take pictures. Everyone looked so beautiful in their wedding clothes.
 |
| Such a happy bride and groom! Khemia's dress was gorgeous and she was a stunning bride! |
 |
Such a sweet little sister helper.
|
 |
| The happy family on the perfect day! |
There was a fabulous dinner and reception later that evening at This is the Place Park. I wore my new Romanian shirt that the Musats had gifted me earlier in the week. It was a great night with lots of sweet reunions and a wild dance party! My parents were able to make it to the reception too!
 |
| My boys loved dancing with Andreea and Alexandra! By the end of the night the girls had Quinn repeating Romanian phrases. It was hard for me and my boys to say goodbye at the end of the night! |
To be able to see the Musat family again was so wonderful! But for me, the experience of being at Andrei's wedding in the Salt Lake temple was one of those once in a lifetime moments that was so special. It meant the world to me that I could be there to share their special day. It was a moment that made the world seem very small, and testified to me again that our Heavenly Father is very aware of the details in our lives. I'm so blessed and happy that I could spend a few days again with this amazing family.
Now it is our turn to visit them next! I'm hoping to see Romania again someday soon!
Multumec Familia Musat pentru tot! Va iubim foarte mult!
