This week we got to help one of the families here move. The 2 kids are recent members, the mom is getting baptized next month and the father will hopefully come along soon. It was really good to help them move and get to know them better. They moved from the ninth story of one building to the 8th story of another. Talk about a lot of hard work. It was fun to help them for a while though :) And while we were moving them, we found out one of our old investigators lived in the same building and we got to talk to him for a while and set up to meet with him again.
We also found 3 families this week! Hopefully we can meet with them again. One of the families we had a really good program with and you could really tell that their family needs the gospel. They had a little 5 year old boy who is the cutest little boy but has a really bad heart and is sick. The mother told us that she had been praying lately for help because she doesnt know how her family is going to keep going through all that they are going through. We were able to testify of how the gospel blesses families and how the Book of Mormon can help us. And the families spirits were just raised so much when we left. I love being a missionary!!!!!
Saturday was also my companions birthday. It was a really good day. The members here are the best and we totally surprised her! We were in a program with one of the recent converts and all the members came in and surprised her with a big cake and desserts! She was shocked. The members are so thoughtful here and just trully love the missionaries. I love Hungary!!!!!
Sunday was District Conference. Everyone was coming from Eastern Hungary. We had Elder Donaldson from the area 70 come. I was so excited! Everyone from Nyíregyháza was coming and everyone from Miskolc was there. I was in 7th heaven! I loved seeing everyone again! I got to see H again too and it was so good to see her! In relief society, I sat on the second row and I was just beaming. I was so happy. I had gotten to see everyone from Nyíregyháza and everything had just been going perfect that day. Then Elder Donaldson got up and he looked at me and I knew right then that he had really 'noticed' me cause I was so happy. I thought, 'oh no, he is going to make me do something'. So I was a little nervous in relief society, but he just spoke for a little bit and then went to the priesthood session to talk.
After relief society the actual meeting started. It was so good! L came. One of the people we met with from last saturday and he LOVED church. Right before elder Donaldson spoke, all the young people (including the missionaries) got up and sang 'titkos ima' (secret prayer or something like that). And the whole front of the room was just filled. It was such a powerful song. THen when we went to go sit back down, Elder Donaldson called all the missionaries back up. This is when I started paniking because I knew that I was going to have to do something. So I just started praying so hard. We stood up in front of everyone and Elder Donaldson just started explaining about how missionaries look when we walk down the street, how we treat others, how hard we work, etc. And as I looked out over everyone, I saw so many people that I have come to know and love in just a few short months. I saw so many people I look up to, so many people who are so strong and have so much going on in their lives. and I was just overwhelmed with love for them. And I knew I was going to be speaking to them. And I was so scared. Then Elder Donaldson said 2 of the missionaries were going to come speak. I knew one of them was going to be me, but I just kept praying that I wouldnt have to do it. So he chose the elder on my right, elder Whiting. I was filled with relief for about 2 seconds before the next thing I heard was 'Why are you laughing? You sure have been happy all day so why dont you come up here too?' (sometimes being happy all the time gets you in trouble haha!)
Elder Donaldson took us and said that he needed one of us to speak of the restoration and the other to teach about the atonement. I knew that I was going to be speaking about the restoration as soon as he said it. And Elder Whiting was so prepared to teach about the atonement. Talk about a lot of stress!!!!! Everyone who I loved was there, looking up to me. I was so scared. As soon as I got up there and just before I started speaking, my mind went totally blank. I have taught the restoration SO many times, but yet I had no idea what to say. I started out and spoke probably the worst Hungarian I have ever spoken in a long time explaining Joseph Smith. It was horrible. haha! But then I came to the 1st vision. And the only part I could remember was the first word. I repeat the first vision every day. But I tried it. And it was amazing how the spirit just took over. As I started with the first word, the next word came and the next word and the next word. Everything else followed. Along with my testimony. When I started bearing my testimony, I heard Elder Donaldson say to the interpreter behind me, 'now I can feel it, she is being her testimony'. Elder Donaldson had specifically asked not to have the interpreter interpret what we were saying. I know that was I said was far from correct Hungarian, but it was said with the spirit. And after elder Whiting talked about the Atonement. Almost every person was crying. It was so good.
When we were done, Elder Donaldson came and shook our hands and thanked us. When he grabbed my hand and looked at me, I knew that this man really did have power. I dont know how to explain it, but you could just feel it from him. Anyways, then Elder Donaldson talked about the Iron rod and how clinging to the rod is like holding hands but grasping to the iron irod is like hugging someone. You dont ever want to let them go. Miskolc loved that! Miskolc is the city of hugging. Everytime someone leaves or comes, you always get a hug! It was a really good talk.
Afterwards, we had a meeting with new members and investigators with Elder Donaldson. He had some of the recent converts get up and share their testimony The first one up was P from Nyíregyháza. It was such a tender mercy for me. He talked about how we found him (we had rung his doorbell three times because we couldnt figure out how if worked and he had been coming down the stairs to yell at whoever had rung his doorbell three times....looking back on it, if I mess up on a csengő-doorbell, I usually just skip it and go to the next one. I never ring it again). And he also talked about the change in his life. It was the first time that he had ever shared his testimony. It was a tender mercy for me to really see the change in his life from before he was baptized to after. He was just so clean. It was a really good meeting.
And then Elder Donaldson asked to meet with just the missionaries. We then found out that tomorrow (aka today) he is getting on a plane to fly to salt lake city to have a meeting with the President Monson. He bore such a powerful testimony to us and told us to just keep going and to keep the Lords work moving. He had such a powerful impact on me yesterday. I realized that as a member of the church, you are a disciple of Christ at ALL times, even when you least expect it and necessarily dont want to do it. As a disciple of Christ you are His living representative of who He really is. You are the voice that can be the one reaching out to others and helping them to grasp (or hug) to the rod. It was such a good Sunday. It was so hard and I really thought I was going to have a heart attack, but God needed to show me that I can do hard things. We can all do hard things. And the spirit makes up for what we cannot do. I know this church is true! I know that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet of God. He did, in reality speak to God. He recieved an answer to his prayer. God will and does answer prayers. I love being a missionary! I love you all. Share the Gospel! You will be so much happier when you do.
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| Spring is here! It is so beautiful! I love Hungary! |
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