FROM MAY 11, 2015:
Hey everyone! I hope
you're all doing well. My weird sister missionary tan is coming back if that
tells you anything about the weather... it's gonna be a hot summer! Good thing
the Székes wind is here to stay.
We met a really nice
guy from the area book who skipped our first appointment and then, when we
called, told us he’d call us, so of course…we thought he’d never call. But the
next morning he calls at 7 saying, "I can meet at 9”-- haha, so we met at 9 on a park bench. He
was seriously such an introspective, insightful person. He talked about how his divorce was really
hard and he struggles feeling his kids aren't being raised the right way. We
talked about how the Book of Mormon and prayer can help us. He responded,
"Should I pray for God to change the situation? Because maybe I'm supposed
to learn from it" --so ya, he's legit. Hopefully, we can keep meeting with
him!
D. is doing well; he
hadn't read the Book of Mormon, so we read and prayed with him. We’re still
meeting with B. and B., the couple. B.,
the atheist, said church had kind of overwhelmed him, but later, he explained that
now he is saying he is considering himself agnostic instead of atheist. He told
us of this recent experience in which he was “saying the words in my head (he
doesn't call it "praying) and said in my brain 'Heavenly Father, give me strength.'
And then I was able to get up and do some things." We all just started freaking
out! We were like "B.! That's amazing!!!! You prayed! And you got an
ANSWER to your prayer!!" He was smiling, but he was still a bit skeptical
of the experience. Whatever. His prayer
got answered!
PRAYER. It works,
people! I know prayer works. I'm so thankful for it in my life and I rely on it
SO heavily every day. Because of my mission, I know that turning to the Lord
doesn't always just give us the things we want. But it has strengthened my
trust and relationship with my Heavenly Father so much and for that I am so
grateful!
FROM MAY 19, 2015:
Jajj.
I will my YEAR mark this week. WHAT? That is not even real. Oh it makes me so so so
so so sad. Time needs to SLOW down! Honestly,
sometimes I'm just like "Wow, I am the most unsuccessful missionary,
ever!" Haha. But I know my inner successes and my own personal mission and
that it is between me and the Lord--not between me and the other missionaries
of this mission or me and whoever else it may concern. I really love being a
missionary, and I have put my heart into this work, and into the Hungarian
people! Some of them drive me crazy, but I do love them with all my heart, and
I know this is where I need to be. And I love it all. Even though it can be
frustrating sometimes to feel like the output results of your work doesn't
always match the input. But hey, that's a mission right? That's something I
have just been thinking a lot about. If God wanted me to have some other
mission, He would have called me there.
So this week was good!
We taught L. twice, the man who called
us and we met on the park bench. When we taught the Plan of Salvation, tears were
in his eyes and he told us, "I didn't think we had a purpose to this life.
We were just born." So, I think he really felt comforted by the Plan of
Salvation. Then, we started teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he had a
lot of questions about repentance. He had always felt that the pastors he went
to made it seem like such a scary thing, and made him feel bad. We explained
that repentance is change, and it is actually an amazing, happy, wonderful thing.
God WANTS us to repent, to change. And He will ALWAYS help us do it. He asked
about forgiveness, too. He is so smart and talented, a mechanical engineer! But
he's going through a hard time right now, jobless, hardly gets to see his kids,
and has told us he's just feeling lost and alone in this divorce situation. We
have tried to help him understand that turning to God will help him, but I hope
that you guys will also pray for him too. I know we called him from the area
book not on accident, but because he needs to meet with us right now and he
needs our help. So please pray for him.
J., the guy from English
class, is also great! He had an English test coming up that he was really
nervous for, so we told him to pray before his test. We asked about it, and he
said it was the first time he had really prayed. We asked how he felt and he
responded, "I felt calm! I wasn't
nervous before the test! I was so surprised because every other time I felt so
nervous before the test (he has taken 5 times previously)." We talked
about how that was the Spirit and we can always pray to feel God's love and
presence. He told us, "Ya, as I was walking to the test, I just thought
'God is with me.'" It was super cool. So we talked about how, now that he
has already felt the Spirit, he can recognize the Spirit when it testifies of
truth, like the truth of the BoM and things like that. PRAYER WORKS!
Also..... drum roll
please.... another awesome prayer story... Athiest-turned-agnostic B. SAID THE
CLOSING PRAYER FOR OUR LESSON! He had said he would think about it and he did
it for us this time! And it was the most sincere prayer. Oh it was so great. He
just asked Heavenly Father to bless us and our families, and to give him
strength to do the things he needs to. I'm so proud of him and how much he is
growing! That was a great experience.
We went to Dunaújváros
again for Zone training-- in other words, the '"Communist wonderland.” This
time, I learned that it used to be named Sztálinváros ("Stalin
city"). It all makes sense now.
That place is
literally 10 stories-apartment monstrosities and factories.
I feel like a lot
happened this week and I'm forgetting so much of it! But I don't want to
overwhelm you all anyway. Okay, have the best week! Love you all!
FROM MAY 26, 2015
ONE YEAR BABY. I'm not
excited about this at all, cause actually, I am super mad that I don't get a
two year mission :(((((((((((( BUT I
LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DO NOT want to leave Székesfehérvár.
That may come as a shock because I didn't love this place at first. It was
SUPER hard for me to leave Szeged, but now I feel the same way i felt about
Szeged. I don't ever want to leave here! I have just grown so attached to the
members and especially my investigators here. I HAVE THE BEST INVESTIGATORS IN
THE WORLD. Yes, they frustrate me sometimes, but I LOVE them! And they have
been making some great progress lately, and i just love them. So ya, my dream
would be to stayhere... but we'll find out next week.
This week was SO
good!
- B. has a baptism
date and it's coming up soon, but he still hasn't come to church for a few
times. Please pray for him!!
- This time agnostic
B. offered to say the prayer!! And it was again a really good, super sincere
prayer, asking God to help him know the truth and thanking him for the
beautiful nature we have to enjoy.
- So D. from Sopron,
the one that said he knows the BOM is true--we saw him while we were streeting
and went and talked to him. He randomly asked us ALL these questions: Why we
take the sacrament and what it means, about the Prophet and the 12 apostles,
what baptism means and what we have to do to prepare for it and what do we
"promise" God at baptism, what we are supposed to do and not do on
Sunday. On and on! So we sat on a park bench and had another park bench
meeting. He said that he knows he needs to get baptized, but he needs time right
now. So, so cool. Basically, he said that he wants to make sure that, when he
gets baptized, he really wants to live according to the teachings and
everything. He doesn't just want to get baptized and then be a hypocrite who
doesn't live the way the church teaches. I thought that was amazing. Here's
this 22 year old Hungarian guy that's way good at soccer, and he comes to all 3
hours of church every Sunday, and he wants to really LIVE the Gospel. How
amazing is that? I thought it was so cool that he really understood so well
that getting baptized and being a member of this church isn't just a once a
year or once a week thing, but it's a way of life. You go Dávid! He's also been
reading the BoM more now that we downloaded it on his phone .
-L.! We had a killer
program with him, too!! I love this guy. He GETS it. We started talking about the
temple for some weird reason, and how we can be sealed with our families
forever and how we can perform baptisms for the dead. He asked, "What does
baptism mean? I don't understand it." So we talked about how, when we go
under the water, it symbolizes our death, and then when we come out of the
water (and he cut in right here)...."the resurrection!" He loved that
symbolism and compared it to baptisms that just sprinkle water. We also talked
about how it's like all our sins being washed away, and we come out of the water
totally clean. He said, "Seriously? Totally clean?" Totally. He said,
"I need to get baptized! Every week!" We all responded, "Well,
that's why we have the sacrament!" And we talked about the "weekly
baptism" of taking the sacrament every week. Basically I felt like I was
on "the District". Ha, ha.
So YAY for progressing
investigators!! Even if they start progressing right before I leave!! I feel so
blessed and lucky to be able to witness some of the great experiences and
conversions they are having in their own lives. I am not doing ANY of this!
It's totally God and He's totally nice to let me be in the same room when these
people have a light bulb go off in their heads that help them realize how
totally and completely AMAZING and important this Gospel is. And... like I
always say......... PRAYER WORKS! If I haven't said it enough........ Thanks
for all of YOUR prayers, and please keep praying for my investigators!!!
Also, super embarrassing
that this ice cream place totally knows me and knows what I'm gonna order. I'm
like their most frequent customer. Awkward.
FROM JUNE 2, 2015:
drum roll
please............
I'M STAYING IN
SZÉKESFEHÉRVÁR AND I'M training a new missionary fresh out of the good ol MTC!
I feel way lucky. I just got the best transfer call! But I'm actually wayyyyy
scared. I really don't know if I'll be a good enough trainer............. PRAY
FOR ME!
This week was Sister
D.'s last week! And Székes had ANOTHER festival (this place, I'm telling you.)
This time it was for "Children's Day". WHY do we not have this
holiday in America?! Someone please tell me. The city was decked out with all
sorts of games for kids to play -- everything from giant wooden castles to
country dancing to old pianos to old ink presses. And, of course, tons of
yummy, fattening Hungarian food stands! It was super cute-- they gave all the
kids these different activities that they had to do and get stamped off by
someone who was wearing old time clothes. In the evening they had this really
cool ceremony where they gave people a balloon with a little light in it, and
counted down from 10 and everyone let go -- a sweet remembrance for the
children that are lost. Watching the balloons float up in the dusk was super
cool. So YAY to Hungary for having 5 bajillion holidays!
We went to Tatabánya
to go on splits with the Sister Training leaders, and honestly I didn't super
want to go. But it was actually good. We went to teach this lady, and went to
her house but she wasn't there. The sister I was with hadn't met the lady
before, so we didn't know what she looked like, and then we just decided,
"Okay, we'll just street all the néni-s we see." So literally the
first lady we talked to said, "Are you guys looking for me?" Haha, so
we met with her and she was cute, asking 5 bajillion questions about the
Church, so our lesson basically covered everything from the Restoration to the
Word of Wisdom. Then, her friend came over and we taught HIM too, and he had
actually read like 1-2 the BoM, so that was super cool.
We had a music
concert on Friday, and that was super fun. A bunch of our investigators
came, too. I played Clair de Lune 5 million times slower than it is supposed to
be played and Sisters D., N., and I all sang a song by Taylor Swift and D.
played the guitar and everyone LOVED it, haha. Also, D., our cute investigator,
sang a Christian song and I accompanied her on the piano, and everyone also
really loved that. Also, one of my English class néni-s thought that I was leaving
Székesfehérvár (I thought I was. so kind of said a bunch of goodbyes... awkward!
haha) and she literally made me a cake.
She was way sad I was leaving and hugging me a ton. Oh, English class.
A bunch of our
investigators came to church, and they all stayed for Sunday School,
which was cool. We had a lesson about the Atonement too so that was really
good.
--Agnostic B. said he
wants to "statistically prove"' that prayer works -- and we explained
that prayer doesn't work that way. But I'm just glad he prays.
-- B., who has a
baptism date, came to church finally! He believes the Book of Mormon is true
and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I just want to really make sure that he is
ready for baptism, and that he isn't wavering on the commandments, or that he's
not feeling any pressure to be baptized. So we may need to give him more time.
That is a huge realization I had about baptism this week. I feel like my whole
mission, I think a tiny part of me saw baptism in a more selfish way. I saw it
as some sort of "reward" for what I'm doing. That me being able to
see one of my investigators get baptized would be the best experience of MY
life. But I realized, just like everything esle about missionary work...
baptism is NOT about me! Not AT ALL! It is totally and completely, 100% about
the person. And if that person isn't ready, than it is NOT my job to just
baptize them. My job is to help them gain their own testimony and really want
to gain a relationship with God to the point that, when they're ready, they'll
want to make their own covenants with Him. My view has totally CHANGED. I think
I have been wanting to give L. a bap. date for a while now, but right now he's
going through a really hard time trying to find a job and feels worthless. So,
we did what was best for him, and had programs helping him realize that God and
Jesus Christ love him so much, and trying to help him build his faith and trust
in them-- Not just talk about baptism up the wazoo when he has these other
problems that he's dealing with. So now, even if these people never get
baptized, I know that I helped them and tried to love them, even though their
situations were sometimes out of my control.
--J., the guy who
prayed for his test, talked about that experience AGAIN and he was just as
happy and excited about it as he was the first time. The way he talked about
how spectacular it was, you could just tell that experience meant so much to
him. Then, he asked us questions about alcohol and drugs so we taught the Word
of Wisdom.
And finally, one more
story! It's about baptism again. SO. I will tell the story from the beginning.
Back in my Szeged days, one day Sister E. and I get dogged, so we went
streeting and went a super weird way that we don't normally go. We talked to
this guy from America who was atheist and he was totally rude to us, the rudest
person I've met. He told us what we are doing here is wrong, and that we are
basically ruining people's lives by trying to talk to them on the street. So
after, we just kept streeting, kept talking to people, and one guy we talked to told us he thought
what we were doing was really cool and beautiful. I stopped this gypsy woman
and started talking to her, and we got her number and set up an appointment.
The day I found out I
was leaving Szeged, I was too sad for words. But we met the gypsy woman (her
name is S.) and her husband and adorable little kids. And I just loved the
family immediately. Her brother R. was in the room as we taught the
Restoration, and R. said (as we're talking about prophets) "Ya, it makes
sense! God is always the same. He wouldn't just call prophets in the old days
and then stop calling them." I thought, “This guy is legit!” And then I left Szeged :( But I called the Szeged Sisters a bunch to
ask them about that family, and I prayed for them every night and was sad to
hear that they kept setting up and the programs kept falling through. So, about
5 or 6 weeks went by. Then, I talked to the Sisters and they said that S. had
called the Elders! She told them she usually reads out of the Book of Mormon
and that she wanted to meet with the Sisters. So they met with her and R., and
R. asked the sisters to help him stop smoking, because he knew their faith was
strong enough. Within weeks, he stopped smoking and drinking coffee. On
Saturday, he got baptized. On Sunday he got the Gift of the Holy
Ghost. The sisters told me the Spirit was so strong, and he said he feels like
a different person, like his life has changed. So I thought that was
amazing.
By the way, I won at bowling with our district, haha.
