It was so good talking to you all on skype on Christmas! It was definitely a different Christmas than the normal but it was probably one of my favorite. It was really good to talk to you all!
This week has been so great! I feel like I just talked to you guys so I dont have much to say.
We went and visited a less active family. We had an awesome lesson and the spirit was so strong! They were one of the very first people baptized here in Nyíregyháza. They got offended though and unfortunately fell away. We had a really good program with there and the spirit was so strong! They were planning on coming back to church and they started reading their scriptures. But unfortunately, they feel like they need more time. It is so sad what anger and bitterness can do to someones testimony. They are an awesome family and hopefully we can get them coming again!
Our investigators are doing awesome! They are progressing so well! We met a new couple two weeks ago. They are the coolest! They are both severelly physically disabled. But they are the mos humble people I have ever met! They make us laugh everytime we go over to their house. Today, I was asking them about the new year and they told us that they are sure it is going to be better because they have finally had sisters sent to their house instead of the elders haha! I laughed so hard! They have had the elders over a few times over the years, but apparently they didnt like them as much as the sisters. It was so funny when he said it!
We also got to go over to R's house and meet her family. We were the first missionaries that her family has met. She has an awesome family! She has 2 nephews that are 4 years old and they reminded me of my nephews! It was so much fun to have kids around again! It feels like it has been a long time since I have actually talked to a little kid haha! We had a lot of fun!
That is pretty much all that has been happening here. One of the sisters here lost her mom right before Christmas. That made me think a lot of how blessed I am too! I think she is going to stay. She is really strong! She could use some prayers though!
Also today, I finished the Book of Mormon in 60 days....the time it took for Joseph Smith to translate the BOM. What an awesome experience! I would strongly recommend it family :) I honestly felt a little sad finishing it....reading it so fast just made me realize how powerful the BOM really is. We can learn so much from the BOM. The BOM is just so plain and simple and powerful. If you keep God's commandments and follow Christ, you will ALWAYS overcome your hardships and trials. God's commandments are so powerful and are really given to protect us.
Anyways, I hope you all have a great new years! We will be! We get 2 days for p day this week! Which we will probably spend inside because apparently it gets a llittle crazy outside on New Years. haha! People are already starting to get ready for it everywhere. Hungary is just the best! Love you all lots! THanks for the letters! Happy New Years!
FAlslev Nővér
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
This is what it is all about!
Oh man....I dont even know where to start on this week! It has been the greatest week! I love Nyíregyháza! First off, I am super excited to skype with you all next week! I hope you can all be there! Everything has worked out so I am really excited!
First off, my highlight from the week. A and R's baptism. Everything went perfect. Better than we even expected. They were both so excited and so nervous! The missionaries sang 'Savior, Redeemer of My Soul' and the spirit was so strong! I know A and R felt it. Then after we had a talk we went and walked outside to the swimming pool (that is where people get baptized here). We had to put this funny looking blue sock things on. And then we walked in to get baptized. A was so excited. He was so funny! He was baptized and afterward he was just beaming. Then R was next and right before she got in, she started bawling. She was so excited! And after she was baptized, she was telling everyone 'I just became Mormon.' She was so happy. As they were being baptized, I just had one of those picture perfect moments. Missionary work really is the happiest work to do. There are no words to describe the joy from doing missionary work. I kinda got pretty emotional too....I just love both A and R so much! R wasn't our investigator but we have still met with her a few times and we do a lot with her. Everything couldnt have just gone better. As I was walking back to the branch house with A, he was just so happy. He was at peace and so happy. You could just see the change in both of them. Unfortunately, A wasnt able to come to church on Sunday. A doctor got sick so he got emergency called in. But he said he will be here this week! What a great week! Missionary work is the best!
Also this week, we got a call early in the morning from a guy and he just told us we were meeting at 1 so we said okay. We met him and come to find out, he has met with the missionaries before but lives in a small village far away and so can only come into Nyíregyháza sometimes. We started his program and he was very knowledgeable about the Bible and just pulling things out of his bags and just bombarding us with questions. I was trying so hard to focus on what he was saying, but I could understand hardly anything. I was getting a little frustrated to say the least. Then in the middle of our program, we hear a knock at the door, and a drunk man walked in asking to see the elders. Both of them were talking over each other, talking to me, and I had no idea what either or them were saying. I got pretty overwhelmed for a minute, then just looked at my companion, started laughing (I had no idea what to do or what to say!) and I just looked at both of them and said 'I have no idea what you are saying'. You guys both have to slow down. Anyways, the elders came and rescued us from the drunk guy and we were able to meet with S. It actually turned out to be a really good lesson. He doesnt know how much longer he is going to live (he has some disease that I couldnt understand) and he wants to know what happens after this life. It is just hard because he lives so far away. We might try and get permission to teach him over skype or something. Anyways, it was a crazy program. Heavenly Father likes to keep me on my toes!
Also this week, we went to the downtown and did some Christmas CAroling. My companion is an amazing singer so we had quite a few people stop and listen. I and H were handing out pass along cards, and we met some awesome people! One lady listened to us for a while, and when I went over to give her a card and talk to her, she just started bawling and thanking us for our kindness and reminding her of why we celebrate Christmas. It was awesome! Also, there was a wedding. Ater weddings here, they have a long walking procession and someone records where the new couple walks with the family coming behind. Anyways, the video man came up and asked them to sing something while the wedding procession came by. So, they decided to sing 'families can be together forever'. It was hilarious! So now we are all famous and on someone's wedding video.
Also this week, it has been a week of celebrating my birthday! haha! Everyone knows just how much I LOVE my birthday...not haha! But it has really been so great! On Saturday, my companion and H tricked me, and H made me this awesome, delicious cake and we had a little party! It was so thoughtful of them. I am definitely spoiled here! And also today has just been great....My companion made me a made from scratch red velvet cake with buttercream frosting! It was so delicious! And she even decorated it! It was awesome! We had a little party at the branch house and it was just awesome! I love the people here! I am so spoiled! It has been a great birthday.
Things have just been going great! We went to Buda yesterday for zone conference. It was awesome! We got so much. We are so blessed! It is just an amazing experience to be a missionary! I know this gospel is true. This week I have also seen the power of testimony. We were in two specific programs this week and I had no idea what to say. So I just bore my testimony. I am so glad, that the spirit really does the converting and me. When a spirit is in a lesson, it is more powerful that anything that I can do on my own. It is amazing how people can change when they feel the spirit! I just love being a missionary! And hope you each get to have an opportunity also to have some missionary experiences! I love you all. Thanks for all the birthday wishes. Love you lots! TALK to you next week! :)
Falslev Nővér
First off, my highlight from the week. A and R's baptism. Everything went perfect. Better than we even expected. They were both so excited and so nervous! The missionaries sang 'Savior, Redeemer of My Soul' and the spirit was so strong! I know A and R felt it. Then after we had a talk we went and walked outside to the swimming pool (that is where people get baptized here). We had to put this funny looking blue sock things on. And then we walked in to get baptized. A was so excited. He was so funny! He was baptized and afterward he was just beaming. Then R was next and right before she got in, she started bawling. She was so excited! And after she was baptized, she was telling everyone 'I just became Mormon.' She was so happy. As they were being baptized, I just had one of those picture perfect moments. Missionary work really is the happiest work to do. There are no words to describe the joy from doing missionary work. I kinda got pretty emotional too....I just love both A and R so much! R wasn't our investigator but we have still met with her a few times and we do a lot with her. Everything couldnt have just gone better. As I was walking back to the branch house with A, he was just so happy. He was at peace and so happy. You could just see the change in both of them. Unfortunately, A wasnt able to come to church on Sunday. A doctor got sick so he got emergency called in. But he said he will be here this week! What a great week! Missionary work is the best!
Also this week, we got a call early in the morning from a guy and he just told us we were meeting at 1 so we said okay. We met him and come to find out, he has met with the missionaries before but lives in a small village far away and so can only come into Nyíregyháza sometimes. We started his program and he was very knowledgeable about the Bible and just pulling things out of his bags and just bombarding us with questions. I was trying so hard to focus on what he was saying, but I could understand hardly anything. I was getting a little frustrated to say the least. Then in the middle of our program, we hear a knock at the door, and a drunk man walked in asking to see the elders. Both of them were talking over each other, talking to me, and I had no idea what either or them were saying. I got pretty overwhelmed for a minute, then just looked at my companion, started laughing (I had no idea what to do or what to say!) and I just looked at both of them and said 'I have no idea what you are saying'. You guys both have to slow down. Anyways, the elders came and rescued us from the drunk guy and we were able to meet with S. It actually turned out to be a really good lesson. He doesnt know how much longer he is going to live (he has some disease that I couldnt understand) and he wants to know what happens after this life. It is just hard because he lives so far away. We might try and get permission to teach him over skype or something. Anyways, it was a crazy program. Heavenly Father likes to keep me on my toes!
Also this week, we went to the downtown and did some Christmas CAroling. My companion is an amazing singer so we had quite a few people stop and listen. I and H were handing out pass along cards, and we met some awesome people! One lady listened to us for a while, and when I went over to give her a card and talk to her, she just started bawling and thanking us for our kindness and reminding her of why we celebrate Christmas. It was awesome! Also, there was a wedding. Ater weddings here, they have a long walking procession and someone records where the new couple walks with the family coming behind. Anyways, the video man came up and asked them to sing something while the wedding procession came by. So, they decided to sing 'families can be together forever'. It was hilarious! So now we are all famous and on someone's wedding video.
Also this week, it has been a week of celebrating my birthday! haha! Everyone knows just how much I LOVE my birthday...not haha! But it has really been so great! On Saturday, my companion and H tricked me, and H made me this awesome, delicious cake and we had a little party! It was so thoughtful of them. I am definitely spoiled here! And also today has just been great....My companion made me a made from scratch red velvet cake with buttercream frosting! It was so delicious! And she even decorated it! It was awesome! We had a little party at the branch house and it was just awesome! I love the people here! I am so spoiled! It has been a great birthday.
Things have just been going great! We went to Buda yesterday for zone conference. It was awesome! We got so much. We are so blessed! It is just an amazing experience to be a missionary! I know this gospel is true. This week I have also seen the power of testimony. We were in two specific programs this week and I had no idea what to say. So I just bore my testimony. I am so glad, that the spirit really does the converting and me. When a spirit is in a lesson, it is more powerful that anything that I can do on my own. It is amazing how people can change when they feel the spirit! I just love being a missionary! And hope you each get to have an opportunity also to have some missionary experiences! I love you all. Thanks for all the birthday wishes. Love you lots! TALK to you next week! :)
Falslev Nővér
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| Waiting for the baptism to start |
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| My surprise cake from H! |
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| My companion made me an awesome breakfast! She is so great! It was delicious....even got mickey mouse pancakes! |
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| my awsome cake that sister messinger made me...red velvet made from scratch! She is awesome! So nice! and so delicious! |
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| my cake from H! She put my favorite fruit on it! |
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| opening my birthday package! Thanks! |
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Prayers really are answered!!!!!!
Prayer really does work!!! I AM STAYING IN NYÍREGYHÁZA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so relieved! I have also felt so much love this week....when there is a possibility of you leaving, you really realize what a difference you have made in peoples lives. So many of the investigators said prayers that I would not leave. I am so glad that I was able to stay. It has been a great week and I am looking forward to many more great weeks in Nyíregyháza! I love this place!!!
All of our investigators are doing just awesome! A passed his interview and everything is just falling perfectly into place! So he will be getting baptized this coming Thursday. Also R is getting baptized. We are so excited! And so is the ward! I am so glad I get to stay for A's baptism. He is just a super humble guy and its been amazing to be able to teach him and see the whole process. That isnt something that happens very often, especially here in Hungary.
P is also doing awesome! He is such the nicest guy. We actually found out that he already knows one of the members in the ward and that has been really helpful! And he came to church on Sunday!! It was awesome! We have had just awesome programs with him.
We also had Z and A come to church on Sunday. I was pretty shocked when I saw them. I was so glad they came! And come to find out, they also knew quite a few people in the ward here. The branch is just awesome here and so friendly to all of our investigators! It was an awesome Sunday! And an awesome week of programs! Our investigators are doing so well.
So a few weeks ago, we tracted into this young girl and had an awesome program with her. We have been trying to go back for a while but she was never home. This week we caught her for just a few minutes before she had to leave and we had another awesome program with her. She told us that after we left the last time, she kinda put the Book of Mormon aside, thinking she would read it later when she had some time. Then she kind of just forgot about it. But a few days later, she had a dream and in her dream she was told that the Book of Mormon was true and that she needed to read it. What a miracle! So she read what we told her to read. She just looked at us and told us that she knew it was true but was terrified to leave her own religion. We were able to talk for just a few minutes and we just encouraged her to just keep reading from the Book of Mormon. It was such a great program! God really is aware of what His children need and how to communicate with each of us personally! It was a really neet program!
This past weekend was a little crazy, but it turned out so well. The branch decided to have a Santa claus party this week so we were busy planning some things for that. Then we found out that President and Sister Smith were going to come for the party also. Just a little bit stressful haha! But everything went perfect! We played the funnest games and everyone loved it! We actually had more investigators there than branch members. It was a really big success. And I think President and Sister Smith enjoyed it as well. It was fun to play games with everyone and to let everyone get to know each other better.
After the party, President and Sister Smith took us and the elders out to dinner. We went to the famous burger pub here. It was so good. It was a really nice to just get to know President and Sister Smith better. We really have an amazing mission president! It was a great night! They also did a great job speaking in sacrament! It was a great sacrament meeting! (poor president didnt get any sleep while he was here. One of the Senior Sisters here fell and broke her arm and had to go to the hospital. They were running into all sorts of problems during the night and had to keep calling president. Unfortunately, the sister is going home on Thursday. President was pretty exhausted on Sunday!)
Just a random fact, while President was here, he was able to do several patrairchal interviews with the ward members. It is over a 2 YEAR! waiting list here to get your patriarchal blessing. We are so blessed!
Funny story this week. One of the branch members asked us to make him a pumpkin pie from some of the pumpkin squash they have here. So we went over to get them and he was proceeding to tell us about his first experience trying a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. He served a mission and served with American missionaries who showed him what a PB&J is. (PB&J's are like heaven to the missionaries here because we dont have peanut butter). Anyways, it was just so funny to here him explain about the PB&J. He said that it started off right with bread. He loves bread. Then they put the Peanut butter and jelly on. Then they ended it off right by putting on another piece of bread. He thought it was going to be so delicious because he loves bread (like every other hungarian) and then he took a bite and he said 'All of the sudden, all of the saliva that was in my mouth disappeared and I could no longer even chew it'. It was hilarious! Hungarians cant believe how much sugar we put in things. They dont have anything that sweet here. So our joke for this week when Sister Messinger are cooking has just been to add more sugar. Anything with sugar will taste great! haha! I love Hungarians!
Also this week, we got to meet with H's mom, M and her boyfriend, A. They are the funniest family I have taught. I love them so much! They found there was a possibility that I was going to be leaving so they asked if we could come over last night before the transfer. We had an amazing lesson with them! They are just a great family! We had some great laughs and also talked a lot about the things that really matter in life. I love that family!
It has been the greatest week ever. We have just really had the window of heaven opened and blessings pouring out on us! I love being a missionary! There is nothing better that being a missionary! I am so glad that I do not have to leave. These people are just like my family here and it will be so hard when I have to leave. Being a missionary is just the greatest blessing and experience I have ever had! We see so many miracles! I love you all! Hope you are all ready for Christmas! Love you all!
Falslev Nővér
oh and I forgot to tell you guys about translating for Sister Smith in church on sunday. I had to be the one to translate for her during relief society. It was so hard! I understand pretty good for the most part, but I translate literally and it really makes no sense in English, so I have to translate from Hungarian to Hungarian-english, and then into comprehendable english. In a matter of a few seconds! It was so hard! First time translating. But it was actually pretty fun haha! A little stressful but sister Smith was really nice about it!
All of our investigators are doing just awesome! A passed his interview and everything is just falling perfectly into place! So he will be getting baptized this coming Thursday. Also R is getting baptized. We are so excited! And so is the ward! I am so glad I get to stay for A's baptism. He is just a super humble guy and its been amazing to be able to teach him and see the whole process. That isnt something that happens very often, especially here in Hungary.
P is also doing awesome! He is such the nicest guy. We actually found out that he already knows one of the members in the ward and that has been really helpful! And he came to church on Sunday!! It was awesome! We have had just awesome programs with him.
We also had Z and A come to church on Sunday. I was pretty shocked when I saw them. I was so glad they came! And come to find out, they also knew quite a few people in the ward here. The branch is just awesome here and so friendly to all of our investigators! It was an awesome Sunday! And an awesome week of programs! Our investigators are doing so well.
So a few weeks ago, we tracted into this young girl and had an awesome program with her. We have been trying to go back for a while but she was never home. This week we caught her for just a few minutes before she had to leave and we had another awesome program with her. She told us that after we left the last time, she kinda put the Book of Mormon aside, thinking she would read it later when she had some time. Then she kind of just forgot about it. But a few days later, she had a dream and in her dream she was told that the Book of Mormon was true and that she needed to read it. What a miracle! So she read what we told her to read. She just looked at us and told us that she knew it was true but was terrified to leave her own religion. We were able to talk for just a few minutes and we just encouraged her to just keep reading from the Book of Mormon. It was such a great program! God really is aware of what His children need and how to communicate with each of us personally! It was a really neet program!
This past weekend was a little crazy, but it turned out so well. The branch decided to have a Santa claus party this week so we were busy planning some things for that. Then we found out that President and Sister Smith were going to come for the party also. Just a little bit stressful haha! But everything went perfect! We played the funnest games and everyone loved it! We actually had more investigators there than branch members. It was a really big success. And I think President and Sister Smith enjoyed it as well. It was fun to play games with everyone and to let everyone get to know each other better.
After the party, President and Sister Smith took us and the elders out to dinner. We went to the famous burger pub here. It was so good. It was a really nice to just get to know President and Sister Smith better. We really have an amazing mission president! It was a great night! They also did a great job speaking in sacrament! It was a great sacrament meeting! (poor president didnt get any sleep while he was here. One of the Senior Sisters here fell and broke her arm and had to go to the hospital. They were running into all sorts of problems during the night and had to keep calling president. Unfortunately, the sister is going home on Thursday. President was pretty exhausted on Sunday!)
Just a random fact, while President was here, he was able to do several patrairchal interviews with the ward members. It is over a 2 YEAR! waiting list here to get your patriarchal blessing. We are so blessed!
Funny story this week. One of the branch members asked us to make him a pumpkin pie from some of the pumpkin squash they have here. So we went over to get them and he was proceeding to tell us about his first experience trying a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. He served a mission and served with American missionaries who showed him what a PB&J is. (PB&J's are like heaven to the missionaries here because we dont have peanut butter). Anyways, it was just so funny to here him explain about the PB&J. He said that it started off right with bread. He loves bread. Then they put the Peanut butter and jelly on. Then they ended it off right by putting on another piece of bread. He thought it was going to be so delicious because he loves bread (like every other hungarian) and then he took a bite and he said 'All of the sudden, all of the saliva that was in my mouth disappeared and I could no longer even chew it'. It was hilarious! Hungarians cant believe how much sugar we put in things. They dont have anything that sweet here. So our joke for this week when Sister Messinger are cooking has just been to add more sugar. Anything with sugar will taste great! haha! I love Hungarians!
Also this week, we got to meet with H's mom, M and her boyfriend, A. They are the funniest family I have taught. I love them so much! They found there was a possibility that I was going to be leaving so they asked if we could come over last night before the transfer. We had an amazing lesson with them! They are just a great family! We had some great laughs and also talked a lot about the things that really matter in life. I love that family!
It has been the greatest week ever. We have just really had the window of heaven opened and blessings pouring out on us! I love being a missionary! There is nothing better that being a missionary! I am so glad that I do not have to leave. These people are just like my family here and it will be so hard when I have to leave. Being a missionary is just the greatest blessing and experience I have ever had! We see so many miracles! I love you all! Hope you are all ready for Christmas! Love you all!
Falslev Nővér
oh and I forgot to tell you guys about translating for Sister Smith in church on sunday. I had to be the one to translate for her during relief society. It was so hard! I understand pretty good for the most part, but I translate literally and it really makes no sense in English, so I have to translate from Hungarian to Hungarian-english, and then into comprehendable english. In a matter of a few seconds! It was so hard! First time translating. But it was actually pretty fun haha! A little stressful but sister Smith was really nice about it!
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| this is right after we got off the place into hungary. I just found this picture and I dont think I ever sent it home (actually okay...it is sister Messingers and I just found it. I didnt get one cause I was so sick haha! Such a long time ago! |
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| me talking on the phone. I just really like this picture that Messinger took. |
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| all of us missionaries with Mikolás (santa). He is member from another city. It was so funny having santa there! |
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| playing games! |
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| the awesome cookie h made for me! love her! |
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| at burger pub with president |
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| I love my companion!!!!! :) |
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| Me with President and Sister Smith at Burger pub. They are the greatest! |
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| me with H's family. I love them all so much! So funny! |
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| Me and sweet H! I love this girl so much! We are exactly like sisters! I hope you guys get to meet her all one day! :) |
Thursday, December 5, 2013
We are so blessed!!!!
Man, what another great week as a missionary! It has gotten pretty cold here. One day it snowed for 5 minutes and stuck and then stopped. We definitely have to bundle up before we leave. It is reminding me of Christmas though! I am so excited!
First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANNALEA! I hope you have a great birthday. Cant believe you are 15. That makes me feel old. Im sure it makes mom and dad feel ancient :)
This week we got to have our district meeting in Debrecen and the Senior couple there had a thanksgiving dinner for us. We got up early and made homemade rolls and an apple pie to bring. It was so fun! Before we started the dinner, we all went around as missionaries and said something we were thankful that had to do with the world and then we went around again and said what we were most grateful for spiritually. It was an awesome meeting with all the missionaries! The Lord has definitely blessed us with so much! We also had 2 hungarians there and they loved it! It was just a good time!
This week has been super good with our investigators. They are progressing. We still have quite a few that are praying about baptism so hopefully that will go good! A is doing awesome! He is really excited to be baptized. He is going to be a great contribution to the branch here! Its kinda been a rough week with the language and all but we are really doing our best! I love being a missionary. It really is the best time of my life.
We also got to go with a couple of the members and they took us to the 'piac'. It is like an outside market type thing that has things for super cheap! It was the coolest place! We got a bunch of winter clothing for really cheap and some christmas things. I wanted to buy everything because it was just so cheap! That was really cool to see. We defintely had to watch our bags and stuff so nothing would get stolen but it was interesting to see all the little shops and candies for Christmas.
The highlight of my week though was definitely church. It was probably the best Sunday I have ever had since coming to Hungary. It was fast and testimony meeting and at the beginning of the meeting, H (one of the members we do everything with here...she is like my best friend!) poked me and handed me a note that I needed to go up and bear my testimony because this may be one of my last weeks in Nyíregyháza :( (it is a very high possibility that I will get transfered next transfer or that our companionship here in Nyíregyháza may be getting closed due to too many missionaries going home and not enough coming in - we really really hope neither of those happen and I can stay) anyways, I told her no way....I suck at speaking Hungarian and didnt want to get up there. Anyways, the whole meeting the spirit just kept working on me and telling me to get up. And then before I knew it, I just got up not knowing at all what I was going to say or do. I was so scared. I got up and there and as I looked out over this little tiny branch, I just realized that they are really like my family. I love these people so much. I have been reading in Alma about Alma and Ammon and how much they loved the people that they taught. I feel like I understand their love so much more actually being a missionary. I got up there, said a few sentences, and then just started bawling because I realized so many things:
1 - I really truly love these people. It is wonderful serving in a small ward because you really get to know every person and you get to serve them. I never want to leave! haha! 2 - I love being a missionary. It is just the greatest blessing to be able to focus on sharing the gospel with people every single day. It is really hard sometimes, especially when you are rejected. But it is so worth it.
3 - I realized how blessed I have been. The Lord has given me so much and as I try to repay Him in whatever little way I can, He just proceeds to bless me with more. I truly stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me.
And finally 4- I learned that or noticed that I have truly found what true happiness is. True happiness really is found when you serve God and others with all your heart, might, mind and strength. I have realized that this really is the happiest that I have ever been in my life. Sometimes (ok a lot of the time) it is really stressful trying to know what investigators need, trying to speak the language, getting people to keep their commitments, etc. But I feel like the last little bit I really been able to just lose myself in the service of these people and I found true happiness. These people just amaze me how strong they are and I am so grateful that I have had the opportunity to serve and meet them!
Anyways, it was a great sacrament meeting. I also realized from others peoples testimony's yesterday, how big affect you can have on someone by just doing small and simple things. When we think of service, we think it has to be some big thing. The small things can add up to something bigger.
I really have felt like what Alma experienced in Alma 26:16. 'I cannot say even the smallest part of what I feel'. I love being a missionary and I love these people in Hungary! Best time of my life.
I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving! Good luck getting everything ready for Christmas! Love you all!
Falslev Nővér
ya I forgot to mention in my testimony thing yesterday.....NO ONE understood one word that I said. (hungarians are very blunt) they came up and said 'we couldnt understand anything you said but we could feel it' I was so mad. haha! But really, I know no one could understand what I was saying, but people really could FEEL what I was trying to say. People were just bawling and they said they didnt know why. I am SOOOOO grateful for the spirit or else I really could not do this work. Just proves again...God qualifies the called! Do what He needs you to do and He will make it work somehow!
First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANNALEA! I hope you have a great birthday. Cant believe you are 15. That makes me feel old. Im sure it makes mom and dad feel ancient :)
This week we got to have our district meeting in Debrecen and the Senior couple there had a thanksgiving dinner for us. We got up early and made homemade rolls and an apple pie to bring. It was so fun! Before we started the dinner, we all went around as missionaries and said something we were thankful that had to do with the world and then we went around again and said what we were most grateful for spiritually. It was an awesome meeting with all the missionaries! The Lord has definitely blessed us with so much! We also had 2 hungarians there and they loved it! It was just a good time!
This week has been super good with our investigators. They are progressing. We still have quite a few that are praying about baptism so hopefully that will go good! A is doing awesome! He is really excited to be baptized. He is going to be a great contribution to the branch here! Its kinda been a rough week with the language and all but we are really doing our best! I love being a missionary. It really is the best time of my life.
We also got to go with a couple of the members and they took us to the 'piac'. It is like an outside market type thing that has things for super cheap! It was the coolest place! We got a bunch of winter clothing for really cheap and some christmas things. I wanted to buy everything because it was just so cheap! That was really cool to see. We defintely had to watch our bags and stuff so nothing would get stolen but it was interesting to see all the little shops and candies for Christmas.
The highlight of my week though was definitely church. It was probably the best Sunday I have ever had since coming to Hungary. It was fast and testimony meeting and at the beginning of the meeting, H (one of the members we do everything with here...she is like my best friend!) poked me and handed me a note that I needed to go up and bear my testimony because this may be one of my last weeks in Nyíregyháza :( (it is a very high possibility that I will get transfered next transfer or that our companionship here in Nyíregyháza may be getting closed due to too many missionaries going home and not enough coming in - we really really hope neither of those happen and I can stay) anyways, I told her no way....I suck at speaking Hungarian and didnt want to get up there. Anyways, the whole meeting the spirit just kept working on me and telling me to get up. And then before I knew it, I just got up not knowing at all what I was going to say or do. I was so scared. I got up and there and as I looked out over this little tiny branch, I just realized that they are really like my family. I love these people so much. I have been reading in Alma about Alma and Ammon and how much they loved the people that they taught. I feel like I understand their love so much more actually being a missionary. I got up there, said a few sentences, and then just started bawling because I realized so many things:
1 - I really truly love these people. It is wonderful serving in a small ward because you really get to know every person and you get to serve them. I never want to leave! haha! 2 - I love being a missionary. It is just the greatest blessing to be able to focus on sharing the gospel with people every single day. It is really hard sometimes, especially when you are rejected. But it is so worth it.
3 - I realized how blessed I have been. The Lord has given me so much and as I try to repay Him in whatever little way I can, He just proceeds to bless me with more. I truly stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me.
And finally 4- I learned that or noticed that I have truly found what true happiness is. True happiness really is found when you serve God and others with all your heart, might, mind and strength. I have realized that this really is the happiest that I have ever been in my life. Sometimes (ok a lot of the time) it is really stressful trying to know what investigators need, trying to speak the language, getting people to keep their commitments, etc. But I feel like the last little bit I really been able to just lose myself in the service of these people and I found true happiness. These people just amaze me how strong they are and I am so grateful that I have had the opportunity to serve and meet them!
Anyways, it was a great sacrament meeting. I also realized from others peoples testimony's yesterday, how big affect you can have on someone by just doing small and simple things. When we think of service, we think it has to be some big thing. The small things can add up to something bigger.
I really have felt like what Alma experienced in Alma 26:16. 'I cannot say even the smallest part of what I feel'. I love being a missionary and I love these people in Hungary! Best time of my life.
I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving! Good luck getting everything ready for Christmas! Love you all!
Falslev Nővér
ya I forgot to mention in my testimony thing yesterday.....NO ONE understood one word that I said. (hungarians are very blunt) they came up and said 'we couldnt understand anything you said but we could feel it' I was so mad. haha! But really, I know no one could understand what I was saying, but people really could FEEL what I was trying to say. People were just bawling and they said they didnt know why. I am SOOOOO grateful for the spirit or else I really could not do this work. Just proves again...God qualifies the called! Do what He needs you to do and He will make it work somehow!
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| our christmas cookies we made for some of our investigators this week! Yum! (we will see how the hungarians like them....we made brownies the other week and gave 2 of them to a member and she said she had pain in her teeth for hours because it was so sweet! Hungarians dont eat any sweets. The frosting on these are really sweet so hopefully they will like them! |
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| these are the little christmas shops that are all along the street. They are so fun to see just the little trinkets they have in them. And they sell DELICIOUS food which is a bad thing and a good thing. Tastes good but we eat a LOT! |
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| we went whipping again today. It was fun! And good weather! |
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Where did November go?
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| me playing H in ping pong. It was a pretty intense game...hahah! She is so funny! She is just like my best friend! |
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| trying one some fun stuff at the store today |
Things are going so great! I just LOVE being a missionary here in Hungary! I just love these people so much!
A is doing great. He is going to be such a great member! Everything is still in order for him to get baptized so hopefully it stays that way. He is getting baptized on Dec. 14th. I am really excited! He is just so patient too! Yesterday we had another little frustrating sunday and we had to wait awhile - approxiatemely an hour and a half - for church to start. It was a little frustrating but the meeting was awesome! We had Elder Walker from the 70 come for stake conference. It was awesome! We just caught the end of his talk but something he said that really stuck out to me was 'criticism comes from not understanding'. I have been thinking about that a lot and it really is so true. Once we try to understand why someone did something and take the time first to understand them, there isnt much room for criticism afterwards. It was an awesome talk! He talked about temples and temple work so hopefully within the next few years Hungary can be getting a temple! that would be awesome!
All of our other investigators have been doing awesome! We have quite a few of our investigators praying about baptism right now so hopefully we will have some more baptisms in Nyíregyháza. They havent had to many here.
So last transfer, Sister Rupard and I met with this girl named N twice on the street. Both times we met with her, we had a really good conversation with her! And she even ended up coming to the halloween party and had a great time. So all in all we had met with her 3 times. But for some reason, every time we forgot to get her number so we had no way to get ahold of her. Sister Messinger and I were walking on the street the other night and she saw us and chased after us. We ended up meeting with her this morning and she told us that she had tried calling what she thought was the our number (it was really the elders - and they never answered.) She had been trying to get ahold of us the past few weeks and had even come to the branch cause she wanted to talk to us but then she just thought we were too busy. She has a test coming up for English in a few weeks and she really wanted to talk to us. So she said a prayer that somehow she could find us again. That same day she prayed she saw us walking on the street. When we met with her this morning she said she doesnt know why but she has been feeling like she needed to meet with us for something else besides english also. It was such a cool lesson! She is our age and is here for school so she is far away from her family. She is the coolest girl! I am really excited to be teaching her!
It has just been amazing to see miracles everyday. My language is just sky rocketing. There is still A LOT i need to improve on, but almost every lesson sister Messinger and I get out of, we just look at each other and are amazed that somehow we were able to communicate. Yesterday we found the cutest family with an adorable 5 year old girl. It was an amazing lesson! The spirit was so strong! When we tracted into her, her neighbor came out and told her that she should not talk to us. She proceeded to tell him that we were kind to her and she would listen. Then 2 other people then came up and tried to get us to stop talking to her. THe whole time I just kept thinking that Satan really did not want us to talk to this mom. We really had the best lesson with her and we are going to meet with her again. Hopefully it goes well.
This past week we had an awesome zone conference. We talked about how we need to have progressing investigators but that we also need to have progressing missionaries. We listened to a talk by Elder Holland about when Christ asked the apostle Peter if he loved him 3 different times and each time peter said yes. Elder Holland just reminded me of how important it is to love the Lord. And the way that we are the Lords disciples is to love others. That is how we can know if we are the Lords disciples. I have thought a lot this week about how blessed I am. One night when we were out streeting (we did a lot of that this week!) and I was thinking about how all the things that I have been blessed with- all the blessings that really matter in life. I couldnt help but think of the hymn 'I stand all amazed at the Love Jesus offers me'. It is so true. Christ has given me so much! I came on a mission to help others, but I really honestly feel like the Lord has just poured out even more blessings on me. It just ceases to amaze me how merciful and wonderful Christ is. This Gospel is amazing! I just love being a missionary and love being able to meet these amazing people and see their relationship with Heavenly Father and Christ grow. I really think there is nothing better than I could have ever been doing than being a missionary! Missionary work is just the most amazing work!
Thanks for all your letters of love and support! Love you all! Happy Thanksgiving! Eats lots of yummy food for me!
Falslev Nővér
Saturday, November 23, 2013
It has been a crazy week but so good! Sister Messinger is awesome! She is from St. George. We get along super well and I think it is going to be another really great transfer. We both struggle pretty bad with the language but this week just proved to me again that having the spirit is really all that matters.
We met with K M on Thursday and we had the best program we have probably ever had with her. And it was a miracle. I really struggle in the language. We said a prayer before we went in for her program that somehow we could understand and be able to know what to say. The spirit was definitely there. And the spirit has definitely been working on M. She told us that earlier in the week she had finally had some time alone and so she got on her knees and really prayed like we had challenged her to. She said that she felt so calm and she knew that she would find her answers to her questions....she just didnt know how then. She then saw the BOM by her and so she started looking through the BOM. She came across Moroni 10. She read Moroni 10:3-5 (which we have already plenty of times with her but she found it for herself). She said that as she read Moroni 10 that she just recieved so many answers to her questions and she felt so comforted. It was an awesome lesson! We ended up talking about baptism and covenants and it was amazing how well i was able to speak. I know that the spirit was helping me because I have never, ever been able to speak that well and understandably before. It was a miracle.
Also M came to church this sunday. Without her kids. It was the absolute perfect sunday for her to come. Every talk that was given was exactly for her. One of the talks was about prayer and fasting. After Sacrament she just looked at me and said she felt like her brain had just been open and she had just been flooded with more answers and that it was the most peaceful she had ever felt. Then she asked me to teach her about fasting and baptism when we meet this week. It is the most amazing experience to see an investigator progress and recieve answers! This gospel is true for everyone! And the amazing thing is, M was able to find her answers for herself. By doing the small and simple things, miracles really do happen and answers do come.
Also speaking of miracles, R - the young girl that we had a surprise program with last week that is the elders investigator is getting baptized in 2 weeks! I am so happy for her!!! I hope everything goes through. We have been able to meet and do a lot with her this week. I love her!
Also we taught this guy named P this week. Last week Sister Rupard and I had a really good restoration lesson with him and he was saying how he had the same questions as Joseph Smith. I was pretty nervous about meeting with him again this week because of the language barrier. But once again, the spirit was there and that is really what is so important! I was able to teach the Plan of Salvation and everything just went smoothly. It went better than I ever thought it would. By the end of the lesson, we bap challenged him and he said that he would need to pray and read and then he would let us know. At the end of the lesson he just said that he has been looking for direction in his life and he feels like this could possibly be the direction he feels like he needs to take. Such a good lesson!!!
God really does qualify the called. We have already seen so many miracles this week already. Its just amazing how God works. He doesnt ask for the talented or ask IF you can do something, He justs asks if you are willing to trust in Him. I love being a missionary! Best thing ever!!!!
Also on a fun note....we got to go to Hortobágy today. We went to go get some whips. They are so much fun! And I actually learned how to do it! The guy who sells them could whip so good and made it look so easy. Hortobágy is just this little tiny town that is just kind of a different world than the city in Hungary. Us 4 missionaries stood out like sore thumbs. Everyone was staring at us while we were walking down the street. It was so funny! I love Hungary!!!!!
Thanks for all your letters. Love you all lots!!!
Falslev Nővér
We met with K M on Thursday and we had the best program we have probably ever had with her. And it was a miracle. I really struggle in the language. We said a prayer before we went in for her program that somehow we could understand and be able to know what to say. The spirit was definitely there. And the spirit has definitely been working on M. She told us that earlier in the week she had finally had some time alone and so she got on her knees and really prayed like we had challenged her to. She said that she felt so calm and she knew that she would find her answers to her questions....she just didnt know how then. She then saw the BOM by her and so she started looking through the BOM. She came across Moroni 10. She read Moroni 10:3-5 (which we have already plenty of times with her but she found it for herself). She said that as she read Moroni 10 that she just recieved so many answers to her questions and she felt so comforted. It was an awesome lesson! We ended up talking about baptism and covenants and it was amazing how well i was able to speak. I know that the spirit was helping me because I have never, ever been able to speak that well and understandably before. It was a miracle.
Also M came to church this sunday. Without her kids. It was the absolute perfect sunday for her to come. Every talk that was given was exactly for her. One of the talks was about prayer and fasting. After Sacrament she just looked at me and said she felt like her brain had just been open and she had just been flooded with more answers and that it was the most peaceful she had ever felt. Then she asked me to teach her about fasting and baptism when we meet this week. It is the most amazing experience to see an investigator progress and recieve answers! This gospel is true for everyone! And the amazing thing is, M was able to find her answers for herself. By doing the small and simple things, miracles really do happen and answers do come.
Also speaking of miracles, R - the young girl that we had a surprise program with last week that is the elders investigator is getting baptized in 2 weeks! I am so happy for her!!! I hope everything goes through. We have been able to meet and do a lot with her this week. I love her!
Also we taught this guy named P this week. Last week Sister Rupard and I had a really good restoration lesson with him and he was saying how he had the same questions as Joseph Smith. I was pretty nervous about meeting with him again this week because of the language barrier. But once again, the spirit was there and that is really what is so important! I was able to teach the Plan of Salvation and everything just went smoothly. It went better than I ever thought it would. By the end of the lesson, we bap challenged him and he said that he would need to pray and read and then he would let us know. At the end of the lesson he just said that he has been looking for direction in his life and he feels like this could possibly be the direction he feels like he needs to take. Such a good lesson!!!
God really does qualify the called. We have already seen so many miracles this week already. Its just amazing how God works. He doesnt ask for the talented or ask IF you can do something, He justs asks if you are willing to trust in Him. I love being a missionary! Best thing ever!!!!
Also on a fun note....we got to go to Hortobágy today. We went to go get some whips. They are so much fun! And I actually learned how to do it! The guy who sells them could whip so good and made it look so easy. Hortobágy is just this little tiny town that is just kind of a different world than the city in Hungary. Us 4 missionaries stood out like sore thumbs. Everyone was staring at us while we were walking down the street. It was so funny! I love Hungary!!!!!
Thanks for all your letters. Love you all lots!!!
Falslev Nővér
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| me, H and Rupard on the last day of the transfer |
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| we were lucky once again and got to stand the WHOLE way from Buda to Nyíregyháza with all of our luggage. And we had good company....two drunk guys. It was a crazy train ride but so much fun! |
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| The whip people who are pro's at whipping! And they make these whips by hand for a living. me and Messinger. It was so much fun! |
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| Me with my whip at Hortobágy. |
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| me whipping. I wish I could send the videos! |
Thursday, November 14, 2013
This week has been a week of so many miracles! I dont even know how to put into words everything we have experienced this week. I love being a missionary!!!! So much has happened this week.
We found out that M and her boys LOVED church! They went home and told their dad that they want him to come to church. We are hoping they come again this week! Such a cute family!
Also A is doing great. We had an awesome lesson with him with one of the members here. He said he is really noticing a difference in his days that he prays and reads out of the BOM. We met with him just before English class and we talked about the importance of reading out of the BOM and praying every day. Then in english class I asked the question what everyone would do if they had more spare time and when it was A's turn he smiled really big and said 'I pray every morning now and I read that Mormon book because that is what is important'. It was so good! And we had a little bit of gospel discussion in our angalora class. A is so cool!!!!
This week we also found this Less Active member that hasnt been visited in a while. She is an older lady with a lot of health problems so she cant come to church. She has no family around. She was telling us that she felt very alone and cant do much...like not even cut her fingernails or read. So we sat with her a while and cut her fingernails and read out of the BOM with her. After we were done she just looked at us and started crying and said 'now I can wash my hair because my fingernails are short'. She was so grateful. Simple thing we did, but it meant so much to her.
Then we got to visit M. She is a recent convert and she is just the cutest little old lady Ive met! She fed us a feast and gave us some gifts, and then gave us more and more and more! We lefts with just bags of things. She is just the sweetest person! As we were talking to her she was telling us about her life here in Hungary. Her husband and her lived in Hungary during the communist times but they did not support communism so they were put on a 'black list'. Because they were put on the black list, her husband was forced to work in an Aluminum factory which ended up killing him. She has spent many many years alone. My heart broke for her as she was telling us the story. She is just such a strong person! It is amazing to me that she did not turn bitter from her experiences but was still able to find happiness. Everytime you look at her she just smiles at everyone! She loves the BOM too. I just love these people!
I have also seen the power of testimony in our lessons this week. We have taught so many lessons this week! And they were all awesome! In a few of our lessons, things were just starting to go off track but then we were able to bear powerful testimony and its just amazing to see the change in people when they feel the spirit! Its been an amazing week! We were supposed to have 9 people in church this week! That is a ton!!!! But unfortunately things didnt work out as well as we hoped and only 1 came which was a super big bummer. It was pretty frustrating after having such good lessons with all our investigators. But hopefully next week!
We have also found some really cool new investigators this week! We taught the restoration to this guy named P and he just kept saying over and over how he has had the exact same questions as Joseph Smith and wants to find an answer. Super cool lesson!
Also yesterday was just crazy. We had program after program after program planned. We had 2 little breaks - one half hour break before and one half hour after a certain program. Our investigator for that program ended up accidentally coming a half hour early to his program which we thought was super weird but it fit in perfectly with our schedule. Then right at the end of the program we heard this banging on the branch house windows. It was one of the elders investigators that has been investigating for quite a while. She is a young girl and the elders have been trying to give her over to the sisters but we havent been able to do a hand over program with her. Anyways, she was pretty distraught with some things that had been happening in her life and she said she just prayed that someone would be in the branch house for her to talk to. It was the perfect timing. It was our only break during the day! We ended up talking to her and it was such an amazing program! She said she knew that she needed to be a member of the church. We are going to start meeting with her daily. Such a cool program!!!
This week there has also been this reoccuring question that keeps coming up in my mind: Why do I have it so good? I have been blessed with so much. That question has been asked to me quite a few times and I have been thinking about it a lot this week. I look at our investigators, and the members here and they are going through so much. The members here really do remind me of the early pioneers....they are the early pioneers here in Hungary. They go through so much and are so strong! It amazes me! I love these people here in Hungary and in Nyíregyháza so much. And luckily (we got our transfer calls this morning) and I am STAYING IN NYÍEGYHÁZA!!!! I am so happy! I am getting Sister Messinger from my same MTC group. I am really excited but really sad to see Sister Rupard go. It has been a great transfer with her.
I love you all! Be grateful for all that you have! We really do have so much. Being obedient to the commandments really does bring blessings....not only to yourself but also to your family and posterity. I am so grateful to be part of such a wonderful family who has kept the Lords commandments! Obedience really does bring blessings!
Falslev Nővér
We found out that M and her boys LOVED church! They went home and told their dad that they want him to come to church. We are hoping they come again this week! Such a cute family!
Also A is doing great. We had an awesome lesson with him with one of the members here. He said he is really noticing a difference in his days that he prays and reads out of the BOM. We met with him just before English class and we talked about the importance of reading out of the BOM and praying every day. Then in english class I asked the question what everyone would do if they had more spare time and when it was A's turn he smiled really big and said 'I pray every morning now and I read that Mormon book because that is what is important'. It was so good! And we had a little bit of gospel discussion in our angalora class. A is so cool!!!!
This week we also found this Less Active member that hasnt been visited in a while. She is an older lady with a lot of health problems so she cant come to church. She has no family around. She was telling us that she felt very alone and cant do much...like not even cut her fingernails or read. So we sat with her a while and cut her fingernails and read out of the BOM with her. After we were done she just looked at us and started crying and said 'now I can wash my hair because my fingernails are short'. She was so grateful. Simple thing we did, but it meant so much to her.
Then we got to visit M. She is a recent convert and she is just the cutest little old lady Ive met! She fed us a feast and gave us some gifts, and then gave us more and more and more! We lefts with just bags of things. She is just the sweetest person! As we were talking to her she was telling us about her life here in Hungary. Her husband and her lived in Hungary during the communist times but they did not support communism so they were put on a 'black list'. Because they were put on the black list, her husband was forced to work in an Aluminum factory which ended up killing him. She has spent many many years alone. My heart broke for her as she was telling us the story. She is just such a strong person! It is amazing to me that she did not turn bitter from her experiences but was still able to find happiness. Everytime you look at her she just smiles at everyone! She loves the BOM too. I just love these people!
I have also seen the power of testimony in our lessons this week. We have taught so many lessons this week! And they were all awesome! In a few of our lessons, things were just starting to go off track but then we were able to bear powerful testimony and its just amazing to see the change in people when they feel the spirit! Its been an amazing week! We were supposed to have 9 people in church this week! That is a ton!!!! But unfortunately things didnt work out as well as we hoped and only 1 came which was a super big bummer. It was pretty frustrating after having such good lessons with all our investigators. But hopefully next week!
We have also found some really cool new investigators this week! We taught the restoration to this guy named P and he just kept saying over and over how he has had the exact same questions as Joseph Smith and wants to find an answer. Super cool lesson!
Also yesterday was just crazy. We had program after program after program planned. We had 2 little breaks - one half hour break before and one half hour after a certain program. Our investigator for that program ended up accidentally coming a half hour early to his program which we thought was super weird but it fit in perfectly with our schedule. Then right at the end of the program we heard this banging on the branch house windows. It was one of the elders investigators that has been investigating for quite a while. She is a young girl and the elders have been trying to give her over to the sisters but we havent been able to do a hand over program with her. Anyways, she was pretty distraught with some things that had been happening in her life and she said she just prayed that someone would be in the branch house for her to talk to. It was the perfect timing. It was our only break during the day! We ended up talking to her and it was such an amazing program! She said she knew that she needed to be a member of the church. We are going to start meeting with her daily. Such a cool program!!!
This week there has also been this reoccuring question that keeps coming up in my mind: Why do I have it so good? I have been blessed with so much. That question has been asked to me quite a few times and I have been thinking about it a lot this week. I look at our investigators, and the members here and they are going through so much. The members here really do remind me of the early pioneers....they are the early pioneers here in Hungary. They go through so much and are so strong! It amazes me! I love these people here in Hungary and in Nyíregyháza so much. And luckily (we got our transfer calls this morning) and I am STAYING IN NYÍEGYHÁZA!!!! I am so happy! I am getting Sister Messinger from my same MTC group. I am really excited but really sad to see Sister Rupard go. It has been a great transfer with her.
I love you all! Be grateful for all that you have! We really do have so much. Being obedient to the commandments really does bring blessings....not only to yourself but also to your family and posterity. I am so grateful to be part of such a wonderful family who has kept the Lords commandments! Obedience really does bring blessings!
Falslev Nővér
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| M and me. She always feeds us the most delicious meals! She just got baptised earlier this year. She is such a strong member! I love her dog! We had some good laughs! |
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| this is the church that I love here! It is so pretty! |
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| playing ping pong with the coolest guy ever! |
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| A (coolest investigator!) and V. Super awesome program! V served a mission in Romania. Super cool member. |
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| information about the church...can you read it? |
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| another pic in front of the church |
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| this is in front of the evángélikus temple (they call churches temples here). This building is so pretty and super old. It is like from the 1700s. |
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| on the streets of hungary! I love hungary! |
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| us with sweet M. I love her! She is so strong! |
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| Me with K and L. I love them! They should be moving back to Romania soon though :( So sad! |
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| Me with H. I love her! She is awesome! |
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| Us with J. She is from Ukraine. Her son is V. I love this family! They are so strong. She made us delicious Ukrainian food last week and we watched some Russian dance and it really is like the Russian dance on just dance. Russians are so good at dancing! |
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| Me with R néni. I have only met her twice but she gave me the most beautiful hazi munka table cloth.! So beautiful! These people will give you the clothes off their backs if you let them! she is so sweet! |
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| Me with J. He just got baptized a few months ago. He is really sweet. And bought us chocolate for the upcoming transfers. He is super cool! |
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
A week full of adventures!!
Wow! This week has been the craziest week just full of all sorts of adventures! It has been a really good week.
Tuesday we went out and spent a lot of time tracting. No one was really home and we werent having much success. We lost track of time and were in a hurry to come back for a program and as we were running back we both noticed this young kid standing on another road that was out of the way from where we needed to go. We both stopped, looked at each other, and then decided to go talk to him. He spoke really good english and as we talked to him he told us that he thought the purpose of life was to party and have fun and that was what heaven was going to be like to. I will be honest...I was a little bit frustrated that we had stopped to talk to him becuase the conversation was going no where and we were going to be really late. So we ended to conversation with him and started on our way back to the branch house. 5 minutes later we hear someone say 'hey wait!' It was him and he said that he had changed his mind after we left and said that he still needed to talk to us more. He said he didnt realize it until we left, but he felt really good when he was talking to us. He felt in his words 'like what you were talking about was right'. Unfortunately he doesnt live in Hungary but we told him where he could find more information.
Then begins our little fun adventure for the week. We had Elder José S. Teixeira come and speak to us for zone Conference on Thursday. He is the area president over Europe. So we had to leave on a train at 5 in the morning meaning that we had to get up at 4. We were going to get some sleep on the train cause it is a 4 hour train ride but that didnt happen. The conference was awesome!! I learned so much and Elder Teixeira did a lot of interactive teaching with us which was nice because I would have probably fallen asleep if he hadnt. He had us a lot of questions to help us teach our investigators and everything he said was honestly just like an answer to my prayers! It was awesome. And then his wife got up and spoke and she challenged us all to read the BOM in under 60 days. There are 60 days left in the year and that is how long it took Joseph Smith to translate the BOM. I have started that this week and it has really been a cool experience so far! I am currently reading the BOM in 3 different parts. I just started reading the BOM this week so I am in the beginning, I am in the middle reading in Hungarian, and I am almost finished with the BOM from when I started in the MTC (ya I am just a little bit of a slow reader haha!) But it has been so interesting to read in all three places. The BOM no matter where you are reading is always testifying of Christ. I just feel like I have been flooded with this power of the BOM this week as I have spent all my spare time reading it. It trully is an amazing powerful book!
Anyways, back to our little adventure...conference was super good. So good that it went a little over time and we missed our 4:30 train. So we decided to just take the 7:30 one and get home a little late. Well we got to the train station at 7:30 and we waited and waited and waited for our train to come. And it didnt. It was 9 and it still hadnt come and we knew we wouldnt be getting home til 2 or 3 in the morning so we got permission to stay in Buda. That was a lot of fun but pretty crazy. There were already some missionaries staying there so there were no beds. Anyways, it was a long night and we ended up getting up again at 4 to try and catch a train back to Nyíregháza. Turns out the train in the morning was too full and they wouldnt let us on. Then come to find out, Nov. 1st was a big holiday and they werent going to have trains running the rest of the day. They said that there was one other train we could take so we literally ran clear across Buda to try to catch the train. It was so crazy! We were all so sleep deprived. We ended up making the train but it was full also so we got to STAND in this tiny little compartment by the bathroom on the train. for 4 hours! We were so exhausted by the time we got home, but it was actually really fun. We made the best out of it we could. And I have never been so grateful for sleep that night that I got to finally get 8 hours of sleep in my own bed! Hungary and the holidays!
Speaking of the holiday, it was the coolest holiday. It was minden Szentek Napja. (All saints day or Day of the dead). It is a huge holiday where everyone visit their relatives graves and brings flowers and leave candles on their graves. It is symbolic of bringing light to their deceased ancestors who are in the dark. The cemetaries looked so cool! We got to go with one of the members to see it and she was explaining everything to us. Graves here are crazy. It was really cool to see though.
On Saturday morning (after finally getting a good sleep) we woke up to realize that we had totally forgotten that we were planning the halloween party for the branch that night and we had forgotten to get things for games. We also realized that we would be the only missionaries there also. So we spent all day Saturday trying to get everything ready. NOTHING was falling into place and we were pretty stressed out. But we just did the best we possibly could. In the morning I really felt like we specifically needed to invite one investigator that we have been trying to get to come to church for a long time. I kept fighting it because honestly I didnt know how well the party was going to turn out. But we passed her work place and I finally just told my companion that we should just invite her. We invited her and she actually came!!! The party turned out so well! (you all dont call me party girl for nothing haha) everything just came together perfectly and everyone had a really good time. And M (the lady we invited) Loved being there. At the end, I just asked her if she was going to come to church and she said YES!!!! It was wonderful and totally worth the stress for the party!
She came to church and brought her 2 little boys - ages 6 and 4. M loved church. We werent expecting her to bring her 2 little boys so I really think Heavenly Father was helping me use my creative juices to keep the boys occupied in sacrament meeting. It even got to the point where I was taking our free english class papers out and making paper airplanes with them during sacrament meeting. It was so great though! M was going to leave after sacrament but then she decided to stay for all 3 hours which was huge for her!!!! She went to primary with her kids and we had an awesome lesson and everything went better than I could have pictured. It was a perfect sacrament meeting. And she said she is going to come again next week!
Everything is really just starting to come together here! I love being a missionary. We have seen so many miracles and tender mercies this week. I wish I could just go through and describe them all. Being a missionary is really the best feeling in the world. It is a lot of work. and a lot of stress. But it is all worth it. It has been a great transfer and I have felt like I have grown a lot. 10 weeks is a long time. This is the last week of the transfer (next week I will be emailing on tuesday). Thanks for all your love and support! I love oyu all!
Falslev Nővér
Tuesday we went out and spent a lot of time tracting. No one was really home and we werent having much success. We lost track of time and were in a hurry to come back for a program and as we were running back we both noticed this young kid standing on another road that was out of the way from where we needed to go. We both stopped, looked at each other, and then decided to go talk to him. He spoke really good english and as we talked to him he told us that he thought the purpose of life was to party and have fun and that was what heaven was going to be like to. I will be honest...I was a little bit frustrated that we had stopped to talk to him becuase the conversation was going no where and we were going to be really late. So we ended to conversation with him and started on our way back to the branch house. 5 minutes later we hear someone say 'hey wait!' It was him and he said that he had changed his mind after we left and said that he still needed to talk to us more. He said he didnt realize it until we left, but he felt really good when he was talking to us. He felt in his words 'like what you were talking about was right'. Unfortunately he doesnt live in Hungary but we told him where he could find more information.
Then begins our little fun adventure for the week. We had Elder José S. Teixeira come and speak to us for zone Conference on Thursday. He is the area president over Europe. So we had to leave on a train at 5 in the morning meaning that we had to get up at 4. We were going to get some sleep on the train cause it is a 4 hour train ride but that didnt happen. The conference was awesome!! I learned so much and Elder Teixeira did a lot of interactive teaching with us which was nice because I would have probably fallen asleep if he hadnt. He had us a lot of questions to help us teach our investigators and everything he said was honestly just like an answer to my prayers! It was awesome. And then his wife got up and spoke and she challenged us all to read the BOM in under 60 days. There are 60 days left in the year and that is how long it took Joseph Smith to translate the BOM. I have started that this week and it has really been a cool experience so far! I am currently reading the BOM in 3 different parts. I just started reading the BOM this week so I am in the beginning, I am in the middle reading in Hungarian, and I am almost finished with the BOM from when I started in the MTC (ya I am just a little bit of a slow reader haha!) But it has been so interesting to read in all three places. The BOM no matter where you are reading is always testifying of Christ. I just feel like I have been flooded with this power of the BOM this week as I have spent all my spare time reading it. It trully is an amazing powerful book!
Anyways, back to our little adventure...conference was super good. So good that it went a little over time and we missed our 4:30 train. So we decided to just take the 7:30 one and get home a little late. Well we got to the train station at 7:30 and we waited and waited and waited for our train to come. And it didnt. It was 9 and it still hadnt come and we knew we wouldnt be getting home til 2 or 3 in the morning so we got permission to stay in Buda. That was a lot of fun but pretty crazy. There were already some missionaries staying there so there were no beds. Anyways, it was a long night and we ended up getting up again at 4 to try and catch a train back to Nyíregháza. Turns out the train in the morning was too full and they wouldnt let us on. Then come to find out, Nov. 1st was a big holiday and they werent going to have trains running the rest of the day. They said that there was one other train we could take so we literally ran clear across Buda to try to catch the train. It was so crazy! We were all so sleep deprived. We ended up making the train but it was full also so we got to STAND in this tiny little compartment by the bathroom on the train. for 4 hours! We were so exhausted by the time we got home, but it was actually really fun. We made the best out of it we could. And I have never been so grateful for sleep that night that I got to finally get 8 hours of sleep in my own bed! Hungary and the holidays!
Speaking of the holiday, it was the coolest holiday. It was minden Szentek Napja. (All saints day or Day of the dead). It is a huge holiday where everyone visit their relatives graves and brings flowers and leave candles on their graves. It is symbolic of bringing light to their deceased ancestors who are in the dark. The cemetaries looked so cool! We got to go with one of the members to see it and she was explaining everything to us. Graves here are crazy. It was really cool to see though.
On Saturday morning (after finally getting a good sleep) we woke up to realize that we had totally forgotten that we were planning the halloween party for the branch that night and we had forgotten to get things for games. We also realized that we would be the only missionaries there also. So we spent all day Saturday trying to get everything ready. NOTHING was falling into place and we were pretty stressed out. But we just did the best we possibly could. In the morning I really felt like we specifically needed to invite one investigator that we have been trying to get to come to church for a long time. I kept fighting it because honestly I didnt know how well the party was going to turn out. But we passed her work place and I finally just told my companion that we should just invite her. We invited her and she actually came!!! The party turned out so well! (you all dont call me party girl for nothing haha) everything just came together perfectly and everyone had a really good time. And M (the lady we invited) Loved being there. At the end, I just asked her if she was going to come to church and she said YES!!!! It was wonderful and totally worth the stress for the party!
She came to church and brought her 2 little boys - ages 6 and 4. M loved church. We werent expecting her to bring her 2 little boys so I really think Heavenly Father was helping me use my creative juices to keep the boys occupied in sacrament meeting. It even got to the point where I was taking our free english class papers out and making paper airplanes with them during sacrament meeting. It was so great though! M was going to leave after sacrament but then she decided to stay for all 3 hours which was huge for her!!!! She went to primary with her kids and we had an awesome lesson and everything went better than I could have pictured. It was a perfect sacrament meeting. And she said she is going to come again next week!
Everything is really just starting to come together here! I love being a missionary. We have seen so many miracles and tender mercies this week. I wish I could just go through and describe them all. Being a missionary is really the best feeling in the world. It is a lot of work. and a lot of stress. But it is all worth it. It has been a great transfer and I have felt like I have grown a lot. 10 weeks is a long time. This is the last week of the transfer (next week I will be emailing on tuesday). Thanks for all your love and support! I love oyu all!
Falslev Nővér
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| some of the members and us tabling. This was a while ago |
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| Rupard, me and Elder Gaytán at 6 in the morning at McDonalds trying to figure out how to get back to Nyíregyháza. |
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| This was our little 'compartment' we got to stand in. Everyone loved it when they got to climb over us to go to the bathroom. Great times! There we 6 of us and we had a lot of fun just talking and telling stories. It made the 4 hours go by fast! :) |
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| some of the pictures of the graves. i dont know how well you can see them |
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| she is the member that took us to see the graves. She is pretty much a missionary with us. She goes everywhere with us! I love her! |
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| these are cremation boxes. A lot of people are cremated here. |
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| I was a cowgirl for Halloween |
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| My personal favorite....so funny! The people loved this game! |
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| the little kids ate cookies! So funny! They loved it! |
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| . (can you tell who won? If you were wondering, it was me!!!!) haha! |
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| This was so hard! This was actual bread ( I couldnt find donuts to do it with). It was so fun! |
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| Is there paprika (peppers) that look something like this in America? Mom and dad do you think you could plant some peppers like this in the garden next year before I come home? :) It doesnt matter what color. If not, I'll bring some stuff to plant them. |
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| So this is one of her relatives. On the grave headstone thing all 4 sides are filled with the names of people who have died there. In Hungary, no one is buried fully under the ground. All their graves are above ground. And this is how it works: so someone dies, they are put in a coffin. Their body decomposes and then their bones are taken out of the coffin and put into another coffin. Another person in the family dies and is put in a coffin (so there are two coffins in the grave -one with just bones and the other with a decompoising body). Then when that body decomposes, it is added to the other coffin with bones in it. So they can just keep burying and burying people in the same grave. I would not like to be the person who deals with the bones haha. |
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