Time flies by so fast! Not much has happened I feel like since I emailed just on Wednesday. This week has kinda been a weird week for us and our investigators. We went to Budapest on Thursday for our interviews with President Smith. He is a great man! It was good to talk with him. He told me when my release date is...that was a little  crazy. I feel like I just got here....I cant know when I leave! It may change quickly though. Right now it is set for July 24th. Crazy how fast time flies!

On Friday we had district meeting and then one of the senior couples took all of us missionaries out to dinner because we all got standard week for numbers. We were sitting at this really nice restaurant and talking about how good home cooked meals are and then we started saying what we had to do for the rest of the day. We were all going tracting and so we decided to make it a little funner and do a competition with the elder. The loosers had to make a homemade, Hungarian feast and the winners got to choose what the loosers made. It was the best 2 hours of tracting ever!!! Not only for the competition but we really met some amazing people and had an awesome experience. We had so much fun talking to people and really just talking to them. People noticed that and they were more likely to let us in their homes. We got 2 let-ins, 2 new investigators, and 3 other people who were really interested in our message! It was awesome! And of course....the sister KILLED it! We got 102 points! One set of elders made it close but not close enough. It was so much fun! Missionary work is so much fun! We were definitely exhausted that night though that is for sure. We havent decided quite yet what our Hungarian feast is going to be yet!

Also on Friday we got to have an awesome program with a young kid named T. He has been studying different religions and he said he just feels like there is something out there or someone trying to help him or something that he needs to find, he just hasn't found it yet. He is such a cool kid!! We had an awesome program with him and then he stayed for the young single adult activity and he loved it. He said he felt really good and that he wanted to come to the next weeks activity. And he even came and did some tabling with us after the activity was over. He was asking us so many questions about what we do and our believes. Unfortunately though, he lives in a city about an hour away that isn't in our area. He has been coming to Pécs a lot for work and other things but he will be going to school in the other city. He says he still wants to meet with us on the weekends but we will see what happens.

I have been learning a lot about love lately. I was reading a talk by Elder Ballard about honeybee's. He said something that I have been thinking about a lot this week. 'How do we ingrain the love of Christ into our hearts? The answer is simple: In your morning prayer each new day, ask Heavenly Father to guide you to recognize an opportunity to serve one of His precious children. Then go throughout the day with your heart full of faith and love, looking for someone to help. Stay focused, just like the honeybees focus on the flowers from which to gather nectar and pollen. If you do this, your spiritual sensitivities will be enlarged and you will discover opportunities to serve that you never before realized were possible.' I love this and this is exactly what I needed this week. We have so many opportunities to share the gospel, just by simple acts of service to others. Or even just to help stregthen others when they are going through a rough time. Christ will work through us, even when we do have weaknesses and make mistakes, to help lift up His children. He will work through us to help others see and experience miracles in their lives. I am so grateful for the Savior and for the miracles that I get to see every day on my mission. It really is the small and simple things every day - that make the biggest difference. Just like a bee that may spend its entire life working to make honey and it contributes one twelth of a teaspoon through its whole lifetime - it still contributes and every little bit adds up. It can take one act of kindness for someone to have a good view of members of the church, or one act of unkindness for a wrong view. It is all in the simple day to day things.

I love you all! I am glad everything is giong well back home! That is exciting about the new baptism in the ward. Make sure you take care of him! :) I love you guys!

Falslev Nővér

The Greatest Week Ever!!!!

Man, time flies by so fast! Sorry I didnt email on Monday. It was St. Istvans day and when Hungary has a holiday - they really have a holiday. EVERYTHING is closed!!! And for the whole weekend. We were able to have a lot of fun but it was a bummer not to be able to email.

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!!!! I hope you have a great day! I LOVED that video of everyone singing. Good to know that everyone is still the same back home - it was really good to see! I love you guys! And next year I will be able to be home for it! Weird to think. Time is going by way too fast. I love technology. It is so fun to see everyone and see pictures and videos.

Well to start back off of last weekn we got to hike up to the TV tower here in Pécs. It was so much fun!!! I live in the most beautiful place in the entire world!!! You could see forever from the tower and I realized how small Pécs is and how beautiful Hungary is. I got some cool pictures but pictures can never do it justice! We had so much fun hiking up there!

Last week I also got to go back to Duna for a zone training. It was really weird going back. Duna is a lot different than Pécs. Luckily I knew how to get around everywhere or we really would have gotten lost. We almost missed all of Zone training because of the transportation and everything and we had to walk for quite a ways. We had some good bonding time with the elders though on the way! It was fun! When we finally got to Zone training, they did an activity with us where we were in an 'alcoholic anonyumos' group. They gave each of us a problem that we had to pretend to have ie: family problems, word of wisdom problems, pornography, etc. We went around the circle and each person told us what their problem was and then we helped give them suggestions (as missionaries and friends) of what they could do to overcome their problems. Then at the very end, the zone leaders went around and asked each of us if we were able to overcome our problems with the advice we were given. All of the people who were not able to overcome their problems were asked to leave the circle. Quite a few people left. Then the zone leaders spoke to the people inside the circle and said 'congratulations, you all made it to the celestial kingdom. Not everyone did but you guys overcame your own problems.' Those inside the circle were happy that we made it to the celestial kingdom but a lot of the 'missionaries' that didnt make it were my friends and people I loved. It just really put into perspective why I am here and why it is so important to help people along the way...not to just give them advice to help them overcome their problems but to really help them and do anything you can so that they can come to the celestial kingdom WITH you. It just made me realize even more the importance of the work that I am doing right now. It was a really awesome expereince for me.

Our investigators are doing aweseome! I get better and better at speaking every day and it is fun to be able to start to joke with them and understand Hungarian more and more each day. It is still really hard to teach but I am loving it. We went over to a less active families house last week and we invited the son to come to a Young single adult activity we have each friday. He asked something to me but I didnt understand it completely. I thought he asked if he could bring a Hungarian drink of some sort but I guess he asked me if he could bring whiskey and I said yes haha! He knew that I had misunderstood but we'll see if he brings something just as a joke for the activity. He is super funny and I hope we can get them back to church. They are a great family!

Also this week has been so much fun! Dad, you would be so proud of me. Monday night we decided to do a dinner hour with the elders and 'somehow' the subject of eggs got brought up. So, learning from you dad, I asked them if they would like 20 dollars or 4000 forint if I could crack 3 eggs over their heads. They totally fell for it and it was THE FUNNIEST thing I have seen. I really wish I could send you the video of it. It is hilarious! The elders were really good sports about it. I will send some pictures of it though.

Also yesterday we got to have a super pday and it was so much fun. The branch had an activity up in this little camp place and we played a lot of fun games in 'families' and talked about the importance of families. It was really fun to be with the ward memebers and just have some fun with them. I LOVE the ward here! I hope I get to stay in Pécs for a while. The branch is really strong here and the members LOVE the missionaries. It was a lot of fun. Then we went with the elders and just walked about and saw the little booths they had around for the holiday and got some delicious hungarian food! Hungarian food is the best! We just walked all around Pécs and then we ran into this concert that had a bunch of people doing all sorts of traditional Hungarian dances. Unfortunately my camera was dead so I didnt get pictures, but it was so cool! The hungarian dances are really fun to see. They use their hands a lot and make a really loud slapping noise with their hands and it is really cool to see.

It was just such a good week this week! Our investigators are doing awesome and they are reading, coming to church and praying, the branch is doing awesome here and they have such strong members here. I just love Pécs and I love the people here. It has been just a great week! I love my life. Being a missionary is the hardest thing ever but it is also the greatest thing! I love being a missionary! Life is great!!!! :)

Thanks for all the letters and the video. I really really love the video. It was good to see you all at home and together :) I miss you guys tons! But I will be home before you know it. I Love you all!

Falslev Nővér

elder spedding, elder haws, elder decker, elder raymond, sister burdick, me :)

me just happy to be in Hungary! I love it here!

me with the cutest girl! I love her!

this is a square right by where I live. They have walking streets everywhere here. I love it!!! The tall tower in the very back is where we went hiking last week. You can see everywhere from the top of it. 

this is our street we live on!!! Hardly anyone lives on it...it is mostly shops. it is cobblestone streets. Such a pretty street!!!

the view from the top of the TV tower. Pécs is so pretty!!! 

these are some of the coolest members!!! I love all the members here! We went out for lángos - kinda like scones. They were delicious! They had téjföl and cheese on them - so fattening but so delicious!!! 

me and J. he just got baptized last transfer. He is a really sweet man and got us roses. He is pretty funny!

this is the branch house in Pécs. Pretty much blends in with all the street. The branch house is super nice here!

Elder Raymond (he is a new greenie) Elder Haws and me after I cracked the eggs over their heads. They are so funny!

cracking the first egg over his head. I kinda cracked it really hard haha!

this is Elder Haws (on the right) telling me that I better hurry up and crack the third egg over his head.

this is when they realized that it was a joke. It was so funny! I couldnt send the video but I I could get pictures from the video. 

us hiking up with the members to the place where we celebrated St. Istváns day. Super fun place! 

here are some graves in Hungary. They dont really bury people in the ground...they just put them in these coffin things. Cemeteries are a little creepy here. 

this is THE CUTEST little girl I have ever seen! She is almost 2 years old and she just loves the sisters. She is just my favorite! It is really fun to hear little kids learn how to talk in hungarian. She says the cutest things!

this is a random fence post thing that people put locks on. We have one for the missionaries on it somewhere...we jsut couldnt find it haha!

this is the same square that I live by, just from the opposite side. The yellow building, the bottom level is a Mcdonalds. You cant tell it is a Mcdonalds from far away though because it blends right in to the buildings. They are very particular about their buildings!!! I love pécs!!

Pecs

This week has been the greatest week ever! Definitely super hard but good.

We got to play squash last week for P-day and it was so much fun! It is just like raquet ball but the ball isnt as bouncy. It is a really fun game that Hungarians like to play here. The ward mission leader took us and showed us how to play. The people love the missionaries here and want to do everything with us! Especially the young single adults!

Also, last p-day, we were just walking down the street and all the sudden a guy stopped US and asked us what we were doing here and what we do. He had a lot of questions and so luckily we were right close by the branch house and ended up going with him over to the branch house and teaching him. He is in the Hungarian army and was only on vacation for a week. We ended up meeting with him twice while he was here and had some really good programs! He lives in szeged though but he said he will meet with the missionaries there. People really do recognize that we are different, especially with our name tags on. It was a really cool experience!

We also got to go have a family night with one of the families in the branch. The mother/grandmother just found out that she has breast cancer and they dont know if she will live or not. Her grandson has been baptized and he knows a ton about the church. He is a really good example to his parents. His mom is one of our investigators and is on bap date for December - her name is K. They are the coolest family! We went over there to teach a lesson and at first it was just going horrible. There are 6 people in their family living in 1 room and they have just had a lot of stress put onto their family. But it was amazing to see as we taught them about the most important things in life, the calmness that came over the whole family. It turned out to be a great lesson and the spirit was so strong! We then decided to teach them how to play spoons and we had so much fun! The family just started laughing and came so much closer! Family night is so important! I love the gospel and the happiness that it can bring to families even when it seems like everything around them is falling apart. The gospel helps family stay strong even when they are going through such hard trials! The dad has also been kinda against the church and wouldn't really talk to us but when we started playing the game and he heard the laughing he came and played with us. By the end he said that he would maybe come to church. It was awesome!

We unfortuanately only have 3 baptisimal dates now. That is great but we had to drop 3 people today. It is so hard!! Our investigators are doing awesome though! We have been teaching like crazy and just seeing so many miracles this week! We have gotten into multiple apartments this week and have just been teaching tons of people! It is so great!

Yesterday, one of our investigators I came to church. When he first started coming to church, he came in just his street clothes. Each week he has continued coming, he dresses a little nicer. Yesterday he walked in and he had gone and BOUGHT a suit just for church. That was huge because he doesn't have a lot of money. He said that he felt like he needed to feel his best if he was going to learn about God during church. We had an awesome program with us! He wants to know what he can do to help after he is baptized (he is still thinking about being baptized). He really loves the sacrament too. He wants to be able to help pass the sacrament and serve the members. He is just a super nice and humble guy. He was also asked to say a closing prayer in sunday school and we were a little worried because he sometimes doesn't feel comfortable saying prayers in our programs. But he said the prayer and he just said how grateful he was to feel that now he knows that God exists and that He loves him. He was the simplest prayer but one of the best I have ever heard (well at least from what I understood of it haha)

We also went to go visit a less active family that really doesn't know very much about the church. When we got into the house, everything just felt really weird. Come to find out the mom and her son had just gotten into a really big fight. After a few minutes they started fighting again. Sister Burdick and I looked at each other because we had no idea what to do. We understood absolutely nothing they were fighting about and they were looking to us to have us pick who was right. We had no idea what to say or what to do, so we just bore our testimonies of the Savior and how it can strengthen family relationships. By the end of our lesson they were both calmed down and you could feel peace again in the home. Both of them thanked us. It is just amazing to see the affects that the Gospel can have on family relationships no matter what hardships families are going through!

Well, we have seen tons of miracles and been doing lots of work. It was super hot last week! It got up to 46 degrees celcius. I think that is like 115 degrees or something. It was so hot, outside literally looked like a sauna and it was all foggy because it was so wet and foggy. It was a huge blessing we had lots of lessons to teach because luckily the branch house has AC :) Anyways, I love you all! I know that this gospel is true and that is does help through any trial, hardship, or weakness you are going through. This week I have been reading in Alma about the stripling warriors and how strong and courageous they were even when it seemed like the tasks before them were impossible. They went forward with faith and trusted that God would provide a way. That has been such a great comfort to me this week. Life is hard, but God provides a way. I love being a missionary! Even though it is incredibly hard. I love you all!

Falslev Nővér

I AM IN PÉCS!!!!!

I made it to Pécs and it is the most gorgeous city I have ever seen! The buildings are awesome here and lots of people come to visit here because it is so beautiful...unfortunately, I cant send any pictures home though because of the place we email. But hopefully I will be able to in just a few weeks! It is such a european city. They have people playing awesome music on the streets and a lot of streets are the walking streets full of shops here. Even the Mcdonalds here looks like an old building! haha! I love pécs but I also really miss Duna.

To rewind back to last week...I went and said goodbye to some of our investigators and that really is the worst thing about being a missionary. You come to love people so much and then you are all the sudden torn apart from them! Its definitely not my favorite part of missionary work. Missionary transfers are also hard on the investigators. The hardest to say goodbye to was M and her daughter Z. I didn't even get to say goodbye to her daughter (that would have been super hard) but M was so sweet! She designed me the coolest shirt with a picture of Sister Chamberlain, me and her daughter Z on it. I just love that family and am going to miss them so much!

Pécs is awesome though and once again, I have the best district of missionaries ever! There is one companionship of sisters, and 2 companionships of elders. We have two new 'greenies' as elders and they are really fun! It will be a great transfer. I am with Sister Burdick. She is from Massachusetts. She is nice. She has been out for 2 more transfers than me. I will learn a lot from her this transfer! I am excited!

Pécs is an awesome branch! Is is pretty big for a branch here - about 50-60 people come each week. The ward is super involved in missionary work and it really does make the biggest difference! I am so excited to serve here! The members are super nice and super patient with missionaries learning the language. One of the members is a 20 year old who just got baptized in December and she seems like she has been a member her whole life! She does tons with us and comes to pretty much all of our programs with our investigators! It is awesome!  We have some pretty cool investigators and some very interesting ones also. We have 5 people on baptisimal date and hoping to get 2 more this week on baptisimal date. We have tons of investigators but unfortunately, since I have been here they have been dogging a lot so hopefully they will meet with us. So hopefully this next week I can get to know the investigators and members better.

I have learned a lot this week. It has gone by so fast! I cant believe it. Everything changes so fast. But that is how the Lord works. He gets His work done! i love being a missionary! This is definitely going to be a challeging transfer with the language and having so many investigators. Sister Burdick and I are both still really learning the language. I will grow a lot though!

I hope everything is going well back home! Love you all and miss you lots! I hope you have a great week! Love ya!

Falslev Nővér