Today I dont have much time to email cause we are going to go to the ZOO!!! But I will do my best to recap our week.
J: We went back over to his house this week and it actually when really well! We put him back on bap date for Oct. 22nd. We still have a lot to teach him and he didnt come to church yesterday so we will see how he keeps progressing. We are hoping for the best.
I: I who we did a stop smoking program last week with had a friend that wanted to try the stop smoking program also. So we went over there and explained the program to her and she decided she wanted to try it. She really wants to quit. She is also a professional cook and she made us this stuff called Lecsó. It is my all time favorite hungarian meal. It has tomatoes, onions, tomatoe sauce, and LOTS of paprika in it. It is so delicious! And hers was the most delicious kind I have had! Hungarians really know how to cook. We went back over to actually start the program with her and she had already quit and gotten rid of all her cigarettes and everything! We are hoping she makes it! She also had 3 other friends there that were interested so we will see if we can get some more investigators! That went really well.
Speaking of food - Hungary has the best food! On saturday there was a huge food festival in the middle of the city and it was awesome! You bought a ticket and could go around and taste all these different foods. It was awesome! We went there for lunch and were so full afterwards. It was kinda like a childhood fantasy....they had HUGE caulderons of soup and it was delicious! With delicious bread and all the people were dressed up in old Hungarian clothes. They were singing traditional hungarian songs as they cooked and everything. It was so cool! Some of the members were there cooking too so it was cool to see them. I love hungary and their traditions. They are so cool. I wont be able to send pictures today but I will send some next week. Also we got to have a sajt (cheese) night with the members. It was kinda like mozarella sticks but tons better. I love hungarian food!!!!
We also got to go to Debrecen this week for district meeting. It is a beautiful city and about 5 miles or so from Romania.
This week it has been super rainy. It has rained like every day. One particular day, we thought it was going to be good weather and we both forgot our umbrellas. So of course, it decided to rain more than it had on any other day. It doesnt just rain and then pour here. It just pours. So we ran and tried to find a building to go tracting into but we were already soaked. We looked like two drenched rats tracting but we kept on working! And we knocked on so many doors that day for so long. It was getting close to the end of the day and you can say we were both getting a little discouraged and a little sick from the cold. I knocked on one door and a man answered and just said 'Im happy with my life. I dont need anything. I dont want to change. My life is just fine. So leave.' Something along those lines and he shut the door pretty hard in our faces. But afterwards I was just thinking how Christ feels when He knocks on our door and we are sometimes so caught up in our busy lifes that we just tell Him we dont want what he offers and shut the door. I feel like a lot lately the Lord has been 'knocking on my door' with something He wants to teach me but I dont see the need for the change. It was just a really good thing that I needed to learn this week. I have really started to come to realize that I cannot do this on my own. I still am really struggling with the language but I am coming so much closer to the Lord because it is so hard and because I am struggling so much. God really does love us when He gives us trials even though they are hard. They make our faith in Him stronger.
Today is my 6th month mark in Hungary. So weird to think about. I still cant speak the language and I dont understand a lot of what is said but I have grown to love the people and love Hungary. I just cant believe how fast time is going by!
I love you all! Thanks for all the love and support!
Falslev Nővér
Monday, September 23, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Dearest Family!
I cant believe another week has already come and gone. Time flies by so fast! This week has been so interesting and definitely hard.
We started off this week going strong. Our investigators were all doing awesome! One of our investigators decided to stop smoking last week because she wants to be baptized. So we started the stop smoking program with her the beginning of last week and it was awesome! She was so excited to start and it was such a great program! The spirit was so strong in her apartment when we started the stop smoking program. We did a lot with her this week and have been working really hard with her this week. Unfortunately though, on friday, we went over there and she had quit. It was pretty devastating. We just love her so much and want her to succeed! Sometimes free agency is so frustrating. Its made me think a lot about how patient and loving Heavenly Father is with us though as we make mistakes a lot. He is so patient! We will keep working with her and hopefully with time she can see for herself what she needs to do. We had a stake conference yesterday and she came and some of the talks were just perfect for her! It is so important for investigators to come to church!
Also, this past week we had 2 people on bap. date for in Oct. They came to church last week and they loved it and were so excited to become members. Then we recieved a call from them on saturday night saying that the dad had lost his faith. We asked if we could come talk to him about it and we went over their last night. Turns out his wife (our other bap. date) has left him and the family and the family is going through a hard time. It was a really hard program yesterday and we arent sure we can continue teaching this family anymore. It was pretty hard. We will see what happens this week. We are planning on meeting with them one more time but we dont think we will be able to continue to meet with them much longer unfortunately. So much happens in one week as a missionary! It seems that people are always either moving forward or degressing. There never seems to be just a standing point. You are either progressing in the gospel or you are drawing farther away. That is why I have realized how important just the little simple things are - reading your scriptures, saying prayers, going to church. The primary school answers but that is really what keeps your testimony growing!
This week we were able to go to Miskolc twice this week - once for a zone training and once for conference. (random fact: Miskolc has the longest walking street in Europe and it is awesome! and LONG!!!) Anyways, we got to hear a really good talk from President Smith during conference. He talked a lot about it is important that we not only ask God for the truth but we also ask Him who we are supposed to be and how we can become better. And one of the hardest parts of hearing the answer is that we have to be willing to make changes as we recieve our answer and that can take a lot of courage. But he said as we do this, and are willing to change, our desire to share the gospel with everyone will grow. Just like King Lamoni - he gave all his sins away to know God. He changed and then began to share the gospel with everyone he knew. It was an awesome talk and something I really need!
President Smith also had a conference with all the Europe mission Presidents and Elder Ballard and Elder Oaks. This is some of the things he said about the conference and I thought it was interesting so I decided to share it with you.
'As many of you know, Sister Smith and I attended a Mission Presidents’ Conference - which included all of the mission presidents from the Europe Area. There were thirty mission presidents gathered for the occasion. In addition, there were two Apostles (Elder Oaks and Elder Ballard), one of the seven presidents of the Seventy (President Maynes), a member of the Presiding Bishopric (Elder Davies), the Area Presidency (President Teixeira, President Kearon and President Dyches) and others who attended. What a great Conference.
As you can imagine, I took pages of notes (and so did Sister Smith!). We will be reviewing this information with you for a long time to come. One of the areas of emphasis by these wonderful leaders was our "missionary mind set." They told us that we can, will, and should baptize in Europe. They are here to organize two more stakes in Europe - and they have two more in the next couple of months. They have nine more stakes already approved in Europe. The work is going forward in Europe. The Church is growing in Europe. Missionary work will go forth in Hungary.
They reviewed again the many verses dealing with "the field is white already to harvest." They told us that these scriptures are directed to us - in our day. They referred to an address given by President Spencer W. Kimball in which he "parted the curtain" regarding missionary work. In this address, President Kimball foretold of the Gospel spreading throughout the earth. He mentioned that the youth of the Church - from all over the world - will rise up and do this important work of missionary work. President Kimball asked, "Is there anything too hard for the Lord?" He then encouraged the members to "lengthen our stride" and later asked us to "quicken our pace." Time and time again the Brethren asked, "Is there anything too hard for the Lord?"
The Brethren pointed out that there are currently 76,500 missionaries serving throughout the world. By the end of the year, there will be 80,000 missionaries serving. This dramatic increase of missionaries has caused significant, physical obstacles. For example, image trying to find that many more apartments to rent - or cars to drive - or language instructors - or MTCs to teach missionaries - or any of the significant other physical obstacles. Yet, the main message on LDS.org is that we need MORE missionaries. There is a great work to be accomplished - and we have been called to accomplish it!'''
I thought that was awesome! The missionary work is definitely hard in Europe but it is growing! President told me yesterday that Hungary is very close to getting another stake here! We just need a few more priesthood leaders! It is awesome to be apart of this work right now! I love being a missionary even when it is difficult!
I just wanted to share just another quote that I found this week 'some of the greatest battles we fight are not on the battlefield but within the souls of men. We fight to overcome our weaknesses and temptations. Dont give up. God is with you.' I think that is sometimes the hardest thing for people. We are each fighting our own battle, but a lot of times no one ever sees what battles we are fighting. It was just a comfort to me to know that although I may not know what battles my investigators or others are going through, God does. And He knows how to best help them. I love being a missionary! Even when it is hard!
Love you all! hope you have a great week!
Falslev Nővér
We started off this week going strong. Our investigators were all doing awesome! One of our investigators decided to stop smoking last week because she wants to be baptized. So we started the stop smoking program with her the beginning of last week and it was awesome! She was so excited to start and it was such a great program! The spirit was so strong in her apartment when we started the stop smoking program. We did a lot with her this week and have been working really hard with her this week. Unfortunately though, on friday, we went over there and she had quit. It was pretty devastating. We just love her so much and want her to succeed! Sometimes free agency is so frustrating. Its made me think a lot about how patient and loving Heavenly Father is with us though as we make mistakes a lot. He is so patient! We will keep working with her and hopefully with time she can see for herself what she needs to do. We had a stake conference yesterday and she came and some of the talks were just perfect for her! It is so important for investigators to come to church!
Also, this past week we had 2 people on bap. date for in Oct. They came to church last week and they loved it and were so excited to become members. Then we recieved a call from them on saturday night saying that the dad had lost his faith. We asked if we could come talk to him about it and we went over their last night. Turns out his wife (our other bap. date) has left him and the family and the family is going through a hard time. It was a really hard program yesterday and we arent sure we can continue teaching this family anymore. It was pretty hard. We will see what happens this week. We are planning on meeting with them one more time but we dont think we will be able to continue to meet with them much longer unfortunately. So much happens in one week as a missionary! It seems that people are always either moving forward or degressing. There never seems to be just a standing point. You are either progressing in the gospel or you are drawing farther away. That is why I have realized how important just the little simple things are - reading your scriptures, saying prayers, going to church. The primary school answers but that is really what keeps your testimony growing!
This week we were able to go to Miskolc twice this week - once for a zone training and once for conference. (random fact: Miskolc has the longest walking street in Europe and it is awesome! and LONG!!!) Anyways, we got to hear a really good talk from President Smith during conference. He talked a lot about it is important that we not only ask God for the truth but we also ask Him who we are supposed to be and how we can become better. And one of the hardest parts of hearing the answer is that we have to be willing to make changes as we recieve our answer and that can take a lot of courage. But he said as we do this, and are willing to change, our desire to share the gospel with everyone will grow. Just like King Lamoni - he gave all his sins away to know God. He changed and then began to share the gospel with everyone he knew. It was an awesome talk and something I really need!
President Smith also had a conference with all the Europe mission Presidents and Elder Ballard and Elder Oaks. This is some of the things he said about the conference and I thought it was interesting so I decided to share it with you.
'As many of you know, Sister Smith and I attended a Mission Presidents’ Conference - which included all of the mission presidents from the Europe Area. There were thirty mission presidents gathered for the occasion. In addition, there were two Apostles (Elder Oaks and Elder Ballard), one of the seven presidents of the Seventy (President Maynes), a member of the Presiding Bishopric (Elder Davies), the Area Presidency (President Teixeira, President Kearon and President Dyches) and others who attended. What a great Conference.
As you can imagine, I took pages of notes (and so did Sister Smith!). We will be reviewing this information with you for a long time to come. One of the areas of emphasis by these wonderful leaders was our "missionary mind set." They told us that we can, will, and should baptize in Europe. They are here to organize two more stakes in Europe - and they have two more in the next couple of months. They have nine more stakes already approved in Europe. The work is going forward in Europe. The Church is growing in Europe. Missionary work will go forth in Hungary.
They reviewed again the many verses dealing with "the field is white already to harvest." They told us that these scriptures are directed to us - in our day. They referred to an address given by President Spencer W. Kimball in which he "parted the curtain" regarding missionary work. In this address, President Kimball foretold of the Gospel spreading throughout the earth. He mentioned that the youth of the Church - from all over the world - will rise up and do this important work of missionary work. President Kimball asked, "Is there anything too hard for the Lord?" He then encouraged the members to "lengthen our stride" and later asked us to "quicken our pace." Time and time again the Brethren asked, "Is there anything too hard for the Lord?"
The Brethren pointed out that there are currently 76,500 missionaries serving throughout the world. By the end of the year, there will be 80,000 missionaries serving. This dramatic increase of missionaries has caused significant, physical obstacles. For example, image trying to find that many more apartments to rent - or cars to drive - or language instructors - or MTCs to teach missionaries - or any of the significant other physical obstacles. Yet, the main message on LDS.org is that we need MORE missionaries. There is a great work to be accomplished - and we have been called to accomplish it!'''
I thought that was awesome! The missionary work is definitely hard in Europe but it is growing! President told me yesterday that Hungary is very close to getting another stake here! We just need a few more priesthood leaders! It is awesome to be apart of this work right now! I love being a missionary even when it is difficult!
I just wanted to share just another quote that I found this week 'some of the greatest battles we fight are not on the battlefield but within the souls of men. We fight to overcome our weaknesses and temptations. Dont give up. God is with you.' I think that is sometimes the hardest thing for people. We are each fighting our own battle, but a lot of times no one ever sees what battles we are fighting. It was just a comfort to me to know that although I may not know what battles my investigators or others are going through, God does. And He knows how to best help them. I love being a missionary! Even when it is hard!
Love you all! hope you have a great week!
Falslev Nővér
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| some of the members also taught us how to make palacsintas! They are such good cooks here! I love the members! |
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| this is a library in Nyíegyháza. It is a phone booth pretty much. You leave a book and then you can take a book. So we went and left a BOM in the library haha! |
Thursday, September 12, 2013
WHAT AN EXCITING WEEK!!!!!! BEST NEWS EVER!!!!
MAN, What exciting news from home! Lots has definitely happened. Congrats josh and Laurie. Super exciting. I still cannot believe it! That news just made my week!
Well, it is crazy how fast my mission has changed once again. A whole new place, new people, new companion, new everything. It is super hard changing but it will be good. I really miss Pécs but I am sure that I will come to love Nyíegyháza as well! It was really hard to say goodbye to the people in Pécs. Saying goodbye is definitely the worst thing ever.
Anyways, the ward here is cool. It is a lot like Duna in some ways. There were about 20 or so people in church. The branch president is super young and has only been a member for about 3 years. They have some cool members here. They love the missionaries here! It is really hard going co-senior. Really hard. Lots of changes and everything but I am growing a lot in ways I never thought I would be growing. One of the members here, H, is super nice to us and has been helping us a lot with Language study and helps us a ton! She is super patient and way cool. She loves missionary work too so she has been really good about coming to our programs as well.
Sunday we had 4 investigators come to church! We were pretty excited about that and so were the members. 2 of them are on bap date and they have been trying to get to church for the last month but the mom is really sick so they havent been able to come. yesterday they came though and they loved it! They are doing so well!
Then also another of our investigators that came to church really surprised us. We had a program with her this past week and we will just say it wasnt the best lesson I have been in. We thought that we might not see her again but she came to church and stayed for all the meetings. in the middle of sunday school, she leaned over to sister Rupard and said that she wants to start the stop smoking program so she can get baptized! it was awesome! She knows the BOM is true and everything. She is super awesome! So we are starting the program with her this week and it is both of our first times doing the program - in Hungarian. So we will see how that goes! A lot of the members are going to help us with it so hopefully it goes well this week.
One of my favorite scriptures that I read this week is Helaman 10:4-5. This transfer will be full of different challeges than I have previously experienced on my mission and it will make me grow in different ways. i just hope that I am up to it! i just read this and it just comforted me that if I do my part and work my hardest, God will bless me with the things that I do need. It may not be what I want or what I think I need, but He will give me what it takes to be a successful missionary as long as do as He asks and commands. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be on a mission and to learn these things. A mission is hard but I wouldnt change it for the world. i am excited to be in a new place and fall in love with more people.
Love you all!
Falslev Nővér
Well, it is crazy how fast my mission has changed once again. A whole new place, new people, new companion, new everything. It is super hard changing but it will be good. I really miss Pécs but I am sure that I will come to love Nyíegyháza as well! It was really hard to say goodbye to the people in Pécs. Saying goodbye is definitely the worst thing ever.
Anyways, the ward here is cool. It is a lot like Duna in some ways. There were about 20 or so people in church. The branch president is super young and has only been a member for about 3 years. They have some cool members here. They love the missionaries here! It is really hard going co-senior. Really hard. Lots of changes and everything but I am growing a lot in ways I never thought I would be growing. One of the members here, H, is super nice to us and has been helping us a lot with Language study and helps us a ton! She is super patient and way cool. She loves missionary work too so she has been really good about coming to our programs as well.
Sunday we had 4 investigators come to church! We were pretty excited about that and so were the members. 2 of them are on bap date and they have been trying to get to church for the last month but the mom is really sick so they havent been able to come. yesterday they came though and they loved it! They are doing so well!
Then also another of our investigators that came to church really surprised us. We had a program with her this past week and we will just say it wasnt the best lesson I have been in. We thought that we might not see her again but she came to church and stayed for all the meetings. in the middle of sunday school, she leaned over to sister Rupard and said that she wants to start the stop smoking program so she can get baptized! it was awesome! She knows the BOM is true and everything. She is super awesome! So we are starting the program with her this week and it is both of our first times doing the program - in Hungarian. So we will see how that goes! A lot of the members are going to help us with it so hopefully it goes well this week.
One of my favorite scriptures that I read this week is Helaman 10:4-5. This transfer will be full of different challeges than I have previously experienced on my mission and it will make me grow in different ways. i just hope that I am up to it! i just read this and it just comforted me that if I do my part and work my hardest, God will bless me with the things that I do need. It may not be what I want or what I think I need, but He will give me what it takes to be a successful missionary as long as do as He asks and commands. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be on a mission and to learn these things. A mission is hard but I wouldnt change it for the world. i am excited to be in a new place and fall in love with more people.
Love you all!
Falslev Nővér
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| the branch in pécs |
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| NYÍREGYHÁZA!!!! |
Friday, September 6, 2013
How fast a mission changes!
Hello family! This week has been super crazy and super good! We have had the best week ever and we have been working super hard!!! We got 7 new legit investigators this week and we had 6 people come to church on Sunday!!!! That is the most I have ever had come! It was super awesome! Everything this week has just gone just the way it was supposed to...until the end haha! We will start with the beginning of the week.
K and Z. We met with the cutest family ever that is really interested in the church. They investigated a long time ago but we arent really sure what happened. Then I guess K found out there were sisters serving in Pécs so she called the branch president here and asked for our number. We had only been meeting with her but monday, she called and asked us to come over to her house. We met her husband, he is a super cool guy and is a police officer. They are the greatest family and have the cutest little 2 year old that loves trucks and cars! We had the neatest lesson with them and they ended up coming to church on sunday and they loved it. I love this family! We also got to go over yesterday and teach them and it went super well. I am going to miss them a lot.
On tuesday, we had family night with the branch members. One of the branch members is in a wheelchair and has a lot of physical hardships. But he is the happiest person I have ever met. I was talking to him and asked him how he always managaes to be so happy and positive. He said something along the lines of this: (it was hungarian so Im not sure what the exact translation would be) 'sometimes you dont smile because you are happy, sometimes you just have to smile because your strong and you know that God will help you through whatever you go through.' That really hit me so hard. These members are amazing over here and have taught me so much! In our english class we also talked about trails and whether or not they are a good or bad thing and if we would trade any of our trials that we have gone through. It was really inteseresting to hear what people had to say. The majority of the people werent really religious but they all made the comment that when they went through trials, they all turned to God for help. It was interesting for me this week to think about my trials right now and the trials that I have gone through and how they have helped me to become to person and missionary I am today. This will be a new set of trials to go through that I will be able to learn something new and stretch even more. Missions, I am learning, definitely have a lot of unique gifts and a lot of the times I dont see the use of the gift until much later, but I always see why I needed the gift later down the road. I dont know why I am leaving Pécs after just a short time but I know that it will be a great experience for me even though it is hard.
I love you all! Sok Szeretettel!
K and Z. We met with the cutest family ever that is really interested in the church. They investigated a long time ago but we arent really sure what happened. Then I guess K found out there were sisters serving in Pécs so she called the branch president here and asked for our number. We had only been meeting with her but monday, she called and asked us to come over to her house. We met her husband, he is a super cool guy and is a police officer. They are the greatest family and have the cutest little 2 year old that loves trucks and cars! We had the neatest lesson with them and they ended up coming to church on sunday and they loved it. I love this family! We also got to go over yesterday and teach them and it went super well. I am going to miss them a lot.
On tuesday, we had family night with the branch members. One of the branch members is in a wheelchair and has a lot of physical hardships. But he is the happiest person I have ever met. I was talking to him and asked him how he always managaes to be so happy and positive. He said something along the lines of this: (it was hungarian so Im not sure what the exact translation would be) 'sometimes you dont smile because you are happy, sometimes you just have to smile because your strong and you know that God will help you through whatever you go through.' That really hit me so hard. These members are amazing over here and have taught me so much! In our english class we also talked about trails and whether or not they are a good or bad thing and if we would trade any of our trials that we have gone through. It was really inteseresting to hear what people had to say. The majority of the people werent really religious but they all made the comment that when they went through trials, they all turned to God for help. It was interesting for me this week to think about my trials right now and the trials that I have gone through and how they have helped me to become to person and missionary I am today. This will be a new set of trials to go through that I will be able to learn something new and stretch even more. Missions, I am learning, definitely have a lot of unique gifts and a lot of the times I dont see the use of the gift until much later, but I always see why I needed the gift later down the road. I dont know why I am leaving Pécs after just a short time but I know that it will be a great experience for me even though it is hard.
I love you all! Sok Szeretettel!
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| I got my BOM and my bible split! with a super cool cover! I love them! |
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