Last summer, Melanie Stoll (father Wade of Stoll’s Taxidermy; mother Rosetta of The Wild Whisk) began her quest to go on an 11-month trek with The World Race, a missionary organization based in Atlanta. After earning the more than $17,000 she needed to provide pay for travel, lodging and food, this North Carolina transplant left Wyoming and the U.S. on quite an adventure.
You may read her blog at melaniestoll.theworldrace.org if you’d like to follow along and look at photos she has posted there. For those who don’t have access to the Internet, below are excerpts of what she has blogged so far. Once the column is caught up on the dated submissions, her blog will be run here as they come in so anyone who is interested can keep up with the young lady’s adventure.
This is Part 3 of an ongoing series chronicling Stoll’s travels.

Nov. 10 – You Can Change a Life
We are in month two of the Race and have settled into a small mission in Dragonist, Romania. It’s All Squad month (aka “an introvert’s nightmare” LOL) which means all 19 squad members, plus our two squad leaders, Drew and Lindsey, and our mentor, Amy, are living together in a dorm style mission house for the month of November. Raul, our host and the pastor of Hope Church, has us in our individual teams, working with missionaries throughout surrounding villages. The priorities for this month are: church planting, children’s ministry, street evangelism, teaching English, and encouraging the local missionaries and Raul’s family.

Raul is busy with all the different ministries here. Part of our job is to take some of the load off of his shoulders. This coming week we are passing out New Testament Bibles at as many households as possible. Raul has asked us to collect testimonies to include with the bibles, so the people receiving will have something to relate to and a story showing how good the Lord is and how He can change their lives.

Nov. 17 – Romania – Vampires and Witches
Expectations: Transylvania, vampires, and witches. Reality: Transylvania, witches, and darkness.
Romania is a beautiful country. There is farmland for miles around, decorated with bright orange and yellow trees, begging for the fall season to stick around a little bit longer. Sadly, the air hurts my lungs and I’m pretty sure I can smell snow. There are herds of cattle and sheep scattered over the fields, and at the end of the day, the animals are pushed through the town to get back home. The people are beautiful, friendly and very open to conversation and learning why 22 Americans are visiting their small town.
As beautiful as Southern Romania is, the sun has shown its face maybe once in the past two weeks we have been here. Without sun, there is a heaviness of darkness and a literal fog over the town. The weather in itself has dampened my spirit and I think I can say it has affected the whole squad. Not only is there a heaviness from the weather, but also in a spiritual aspect.
It’s harder to get out of bed in the morning. Energy needed to function is a chore in itself. Depression, anxiety, stress, and homesickness is a real thing. Second guessing and questioning why I decided to leave people and a country I love is always in the forefront of my mind.
We have crossed over the mountains from Transylvania, land of the vampires, to Draganesti, the graveyard. Only 2 percent of the people here are professing Christians. The region we are in is the location of a witches conference, where over 300 witches gather every year.
Though spiritual warfare is big stuff, my God is bigger. I am determined to not let my light be put out by the fog. I will let the Son shine through me and I hope His light will be so bright, the people here will be given an abundance of hope and gladness. The darker a room is, the brighter a light will shine.
 When I feel discouraged and in doubt, I will always go back to what I know is true. He is the reason I am here and He is SO worth it. Sometimes I need a little reminder but in the end, I always know this is the truth.