Sister Shantel Jenna Falslev: Wow what a week!

Time is going by so fast. I cant believe it has already been a week. It seems like it has been a few hours. Yesterday was still easter holiday here so everything was closed. That is why I am emailing today. This week has been awesome! I just dont really know where to begin.

É is awesome! She really wants to be baptized and she comes to everything. We had a baptisimal date with her and then today we met with her to talk about what she needs to do before she gets baptized. It was a hard program. She has to get married before she get baptized. It is so hard to see how much some of these people have to go through in order to get baptized, but it will be so worth it in the end. We are hoping she still keeps going! She really wants her daughter to be baptized still if she cant but we will see what happens. They are such an awesome family!

On Friday, we decided to put on an easter egg hunt/scavenger hunt game for game night and we were a little worried about it turning out. We had quite a few people show up (pretty much all of our investigators) and it turned out so well! They had so much fun! At the end of the scavenger hunt, we hid the cookies out by the tree in the back of the branch house, but after we set up, the sprinklers came on. So when they found the prize, the cookies were all soggy, but they loved the game anyways! We were laughing so hard seeing all the kids race around and try to find the next clue. We hid one of the clues under a chair and they had to find out which chair it was. One of the girls found the clue and yelled out she found it and pretty soon a huge dog pile of children was on top of her all trying to get the clue. It was so funny! I love the kids here! They are awesome!

All of our investigators are doing well. We have had a lot of good programs with them. We dont have too much time to do finding but Sunday we went finding and we tracted into this older lady that tried to sell her apartment to us. We were laughing so hard! She said she needed help locking her door and she was trying to show us how to to work it. She couldnt figure it out, so she gave the keys to me. The key ring had like 20 different keys on it. When I finally found the key that worked to the door, she lost what key it was so I had to do it again. Then some boys started coming up the stairs to the building and she yelled at them to come over and talk to her. When they came over, she said 'these pretty girls are for sale. If you want them you can have them.' haha! We had no idea what to say! Neither did the boys. It was pretty funny. We had some pretty good laughs talking to her. I love the nénies (old ladies) in Hungary! They are hilarious!

Easter was really good this year. We had a nice Sunday Easter dinner at the S's house. One of the sisters that just finished her mission came and visited with her parents. It was a really good dinner to talk to them. We only had 2 kids in primary this week so primary was a lot less crazier. It was really fun!

Yesterday was the greatest day. They have a tradition in Hungary that the day after Easter, the boys go around and they spray the girls. They can either spray them with water (which isnt really spraying but more like dumping water) or they can spray them with perfume. I guess it is symbolic of spring and girls are like a flower. The boys dont want the flower to wilt and so they have to spray them. The boys have to say a poem to the girls and if the girls like it, the boys can spray them. If not the boys have to say another poem. Then after the boys spray the girls, the girls give the boys a chocolate egg. So knowing this, one of our family investigators, called us Sunday night like 5 times within 10 minutes so we thought some sort of emergency was happening with them. Turns out, he just wanted to invite us over to their house at 8 in the morning. He wouldnt tell us why, but we told him we would come. We thought they were going to drench us. (they like to joke with us so we thought for sure they were going to get us wet). They live a little far away so we had the S's take us to their house. We pulled up and all the sudden, 12 boys come out of the house and are all lined up. We thought 'oh no, we are really gonna be drenched'. Then they all pulled out perfume and started spraying our heads. There was so much perfume. It was dripping off of my head haha! It was so funny! It was a really cool tradition though. Then they said they had another surprise for us inside and we went inside and they had literally prepared a FEAST for us. There was no room for even plates on their table and they had more food on the counter. I almost started bawling. This family has a hard time even affording food for every meal. They treated us like royalty. They sat us down and served us and then they all sat and watched us start eating (a little intimidating when tons of people are watching you - they had their cousins and siblings all over). They are just the most giving family ever! I love the F! They have the cutest little 2 year old daughter that wanted to come home with us when we were leaving. I love this family so much!

So after that big feast, we went over to another nénies house and she made us another easter lunch. I was so full! We have talked to her quite a bit on the street and she invited us over for easter dinner. It was such a delicious meal! I thought I would burst!

Then we had a FHE with the F over at the S's house. It turned out so well! We talked about the real meaning of Easter and it went so well with the children. The famils is just so united and love each other so much. That isnt very common in Hungary all the time. It was a really good time with them. The dad is the one who is really investigating the church and he is praying about baptism right now. He reads a ton out of the BOM so we are hoping now that they will just come to church!

Then after that, we went and roasted hot dogs with the elders at a park. It was so much fun! It started to get a little bit dark and we noticed that bats were out. We were all having a grand time until the bats started diving at us. They didnt hit any of us but they got a little too close for comfort so we are started running away. Bats were everywhere! We arent sure why there were so many bats but it was quite an adventure.

This week I also got to study a lot about the Atonement and the resurection. I have been feeling a little overwhelmed with just helping all these people and knowing what to do and doing what Christ would want done. But then I realized that that is why I have the ATonement. We do not just have the Atonement to help us be clean and free from our sins, but to also empower us to do those things that sometimes seem impossible to do. The Atonement is not just used after we had done something and made a mistake, but it gives us the strength to do the things that the Lord needs us to do. I am so grateful for the Atonement that I can gain the strength that I need to do what the Lord needs me to do. I love this gospel! And I love being a missionary! It is the greatest gift in the world!

I love you all! Hope you had a wonderful easter!

Falslev Nővér