FROM JUNE 29

SUPER good week!  We taught Z. the Plan of Salvation and…someone CALLED us from a card! That NEVER EVER happens. Never. They seemed interested and even asked when church was and said they were curious! So that was cool... even though they didn’t come.  We also met with R. a recent convert who doesn’t come to church, and we talked about her baptism. She said she had the best feeling at her baptism, like she wasn't even on the earth. So, we made plans to pick her up for church, and even though she wasn’t able to come, she promised next week.....

Still, along with the elders, we had 14 investigators in church! The elders had a lot of guys from this American football team come (they themselves are Hungarian-- they just play American football). And then we had quite a few other investigators. L. came (he got back from his trip) and D.'s friend R. came again! D. told us, "Hey, R. read something....", to which R. responded, "Ya, I read from the Book of Mormon". I asked, “Do you have one?" and she said, "No, but it's on the internet!" So I gave her one--super cool! So I want to start meeting with her. Sunday School was really good, because we taught a little Restoration and then watched the film. When Joseph Smith has the first vision, I felt the Spirit SO incredibly strongly. And I have seen that movie 5 bajillion times. I was just praying intensely that everyone else would feel the Spirit too.

We talked about covenants with D. (the one who brought R.) and the Gospel of Jesus Christ again, and we gave him a baptismal date of August 1. I hope we can help him prepare for baptism by that date! He told us about having a specific prayer answered after church last week, and about R.’s dream after she went to church.   He didn't exactly know what she dreamed, but it seemed like she was looking down from Heaven, and she saw this person in white clothes and they said something to her about the Church. Interesting. 

R. is also SO ready for baptism. I asked if he had gotten any other answers to his prayers that week. He said yes, but he was apprehensive to say. When I asked again, he told us,  "I did something really hard that I didn't think I could do. I prayed and I did it.”  We asked him what he did and he said,  "I broke up with my girlfriend.”  This kid literally moved to Székesfehérvár to live with his girlfriend. I asked him why he did it and he said, "I have a goal." I asked what that goal is, and he said, "to get closer to God. and I know I couldn't do that with her. I have never prayed so much in my life." Wow-- WHO DOES THAT? Now the poor guy is trying to look for a room or AND he just got a bunch of money stolen from him!

He also has almost finished the Book of Mormon and in his free time, he sits in the branch house to read it.  He feels like he has to know everything and has to be practically perfect before baptism. I asked him what he has a testimony of, or what he knows to be true and he said the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, but doesn’t know if Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet. We told him to pray about it and then,  in his English class, this girl sat next to him and mentioned, "Hey, look at this book I just got." You guessed it... the Book of Mormon! R/ asked her from who, and it was from a missionary going on splits that day in Székesfehérvár... not even from anyone serving here! He asked, "Why would some random girl sit next to me and show me a Book of Mormon she got from someone that doesn't even serve in this city?!" It was crazy!

We have talked about everything with him--how we don't have to be perfect, how we shouldn't wait, because it will just get harder, etc. etc. etc. He said more and more he feels like he needs to be baptized, so I don't know what is holding him back. We've talked about the gift of the Holy Ghost and he told us, "I always feel the Spirit! I always just feel like there's someone on my shoulder, telling me what I should do..... Wow, I wonder what it's going to be like after I get baptized!"   He wants to get in the habit of reading, praying, going to church, and he thinks after a year, he can do it. So please pray for him.  He has read about all the commandments from the Gospel principles book.  This kid needs to get baptized.

Finally, B., our agnostic friend, has read scriptures almost every day this week!! So proud of him.  And we went to this free organ concert yesterday night-- super great! He played this Bach... oh it was so good. Loved it.

FROM JULY 7

I don't even know if I can email without cryyying because guess what........I am leaving Székesfehérvár, the city that I didn't like, but have grown to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. And now, at this transfer, I'm leaving to be a sister training leader in Budapest.

So on Thursday, we all randomly went up to Dunaujváros (the Communist wonderland) to meet the new Hungarian mission president and his wife . They are amazing, so humble and so full of the Spirit. The whole meeting was in Hungarian too. Then, this morning I just got the call that I am being ripped away from my dear, sweet greenie and I am going to be thrown into the massive craziness that is Budapest. Please pray for me.

 On the fourth of July, we went to R. and S.'s and they live right next to this GINORMOUS field of sunflowers. Seriously -- one of THE most amazing things I have ever seen in my whole life. We brought a little ladder, and then you just walk through the sunflower jungle, step up on the ladder, and look out at a yellow sea. It. was. breathtaking. The photos can’t do it justice.

D. fasted this Sunday about getting baptized sooner, and G.is moving to Austria. SO SAD. :(. He says he feels the Book of Mormon's spirit and it is "really, really good" to read the Book of Mormon every night. We are getting those missionaries in Austria to meet with him!!!

B. is getting baptized on the 1st of August and is doing super well -- accepting the word of wisdom and Sabbath Day observance. His friend R. came to church with him again, and we set up with her. He told us, “Ya, we hung out last night and read the Book of Mormon". WHO DOES THAT?! Seriously, people. I am a Utah Mormon. Not once would I ever think about just chillin with my friends... reading the Book of Mormon with them.  She has already made it to the Book of Jarom! B. gave me a little stuffed animal teenage mutant ninja turtle last night as a goodbye present and I almost burst out crying. I had to hold it in. I love that kid so much--such a great kid and is trying so hard to be better.

Cool Spiritual promptings of the week. One day we were streeting, and I saw this guy with tattoos and drinking, and I felt like we should talk to him, but he turned the corner. We turned the corner and he had stopped there, so we talked to him and it turns out his mom was Mormon! Isn't that way random? We streeted another guy I felt like we should talk to and he was super interested. We talked about the Book of Mormon and how God commanded the prophet Lehi to leave Jerusalem. He asked why, and we said the people wanted to kill him. He was like "Oh, cause he received Revelation?"  And then he told us, "It wasn't an accident that we met, you know." Cool.

Another day, I talked to this guy on a bench and he was also super open and interested, and thought it was really cool that we would come from so far away to do this. We set up with him right there, and then met with him today. He had read about Mormons on the net and he said he didn't believe the bad stuff that people had read. He and his daughter had both read a little bit from the Book of Mormon we gave them, too. He thought it was really cool that we don't drink alcohol and he talked about all the families he has seen that are so much better off without alcohol. He basically taught us the Restoration. He explained, "Ya, after Jesus Christ died and after His apostles died, there was no one on the earth to continue his organization. But then in the 1800s in America, there was religious freedom and people could practice and worship freely. In Europe there wasn't that kind of religious freedom." If that isn't legit..... Wow.

Another lady we had called said she would call us. So…I’m like, "Ya right, she's not going to". SHE CALLED. So…it’s hard to leave.

Also, we brought a new convert, A., to our program with agnostic B. We asked A. how he feels the Spirit, and he said, “Well, I come here and I just feel the love and friendship from everyone." It was helpful because Balázs always just says that he doesn't really feel anything, but it's just good to be around nice, good people and that's why he comes (and stays for a full 3 hours, every week). So we explained something that I've never really thought about before: we feel good around these people, around other members, and other nice people because that really is the Spirit. If we are in good, friendly, positive environments, I truly believe the Spirit is there too. We finished talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and asked B. if he would be baptized when he feels these things are true. He said yes. He just feels like, because he can't know for sure, that he doesn't want to live his life "waiting" for the blessings of a next life that he doesn't even know exists. But we bore our testimonies of how it's not just about the next life, but how these things have brought more happiness into our present lives than anything else ever possibly could. So now it's just about helping him recognize the Spirit - recognize his answers. This is a man who wouldn't even try praying when I first met him. Now he prays every day and reads the Book of Mormon every day. I think right now he looks at it more of an experiment, more of something that he's willing to try, but not really expecting anything from it. I hope that his desire will grow. But it already has grown tenfold. So I am amazed.

FROM JULY 13, 2015

SO. I am in the Buda side of Budapest! Such a beautiful city, if that isn't obvious. But, as with all transfers, the finding methods and people are different. Here it’s obviously very go-go-go, and people are not here to stop and talk to you, sadly :( …especially because my favorite thing is to just stop random people on the street and talk to them about the Gospel. I love it! But ya,  Budapestens are not super down for that... Still, as STLs (sister training leaders), we mostly find and teach (basically do normal missionary stuff), but we also go on splits with other sisters once a week and have other meetings, etc.  But I don't think it's too different, at least not so far. So ya, same old stuff – however, we live way far away from the branch house, so we are alllllllways taking the bus and metro.

 I've met some of our investigators and they're adorable. We have one who is this néni that literally won't speak Hungarian to us... only English….hahahaha. 

Apparently, back in Székes, R. WENT TO CHURCH!!! I had been working with that woman forever and she goes to church the Sunday I get transferred! But I’m super happy she finally went!! I think she hadn't been in at least 2 years--so, cool.

This ward is great, though I really miss my friends in Szekes.  I was happy to see something like 100 people come to church. And this lady in the ward came up and asked me where she could get a Book of Mormon to give to someone. I gave her one, and then she proceeded to give me about 5 other referrals. WHAT? Thanks!

We got to go see the BYU contemporary dance because they performed here in Budapest and I was able  to see S. and R. from Székes, and Sister S. got to go, too, so I  saw her.... so great! Last night, they did a fireside in Pest that we also got to go to, and I got to see a bunch of the members from Szeged!! It was SO great! I loved it. The fireside was good--they sang I am a Child of God in Hungarian and I cried. It was really cool. After, this guy from the company came up and told me this one lady had come to BYU to help them with folk dance and that she had been asking questions about when church was, etc, so he told me to go talk to her. I did, and I got her number and she said she would be interested in learning more about our church. Too bad the BYU guy left before I could thank him.

So ya! I already really like the members here, too. There's this 16-year-old who is adorable and comes to do missionary work with us once a week. She literally reads Preach my Gospel in her spare time.

Soon, I will have been in Hungary for exactly a year! Crazy. Sometimes I feel like the biggest failure of a missionary-- I just look out at all the people and wonder why I can't seem to get any of them to listen or to understand. I know that it's not me. Sometimes it seems like I've been here for so long and like I’ve made no difference. But I still love my mission so much. I love doing this and I love being a missionary more than anything. I don't know if I’m always doing it right or perfectly or successfully. But I try, and I think that's what God really wants.

FROM JUNE 09, 2015:

 Well....training a new missionary is actually really fun! My greenie is Sister J. from Pleasant Grove, Utah and she's awesome!!! Seriously, I love her--such a great missionary. She struggles a bit with the language, but isn't afraid to talk or try to say things, says hi to everyone and always talks to people when we street or go tracting. She is so great that sometimes I have to realize, "Oh, wait, she doesn't know what this means!" haha! So it's been different, but fun having to explain everything to her :) It has also just made me a lot more excited about being a missionary, too. She loves everything. We walk through the city and get ice cream or something and she is so excited by it all. I love it. When we teach programs or talk to people on the street, when we give someone a Book of Mormon or get someone's phone number, she thinks it is the coolest thing ever and just loves it, and It's been super good for me. Not that I was jaded these last two transfers, but maybe a little bit. So to have someone loving everything so much and just wanting to go out and work is amazing! 

Her first night, we got back and taught the Restoration to someone.  Then, the next day was busy, too. We met with G. and talked about his baptism date. He also felt like he needs more time, so we talked about the 3rd of July. Then we taught the Word of Wisdom, and he was a little surprised by it, but said he would pray about it. He's sincere in his want to actually keep the commandments and be a righteous member if he gets baptized. But right now, we just need to help him truly gain a strong testimony of the Restored Gospel, which he has somewhat, but I know he can develop a strong testimony with some time. 

So we went tracting.... something I actually haven't done for a while. We were tracting this building, and we wanted to talk to a guy and he told us, "Hey, so I have no time right now, but I would have talked to you guys!" So he set up with us right then and there, which was cool. In the same building, this old couple let us in....... poor Sister J..... the man is just in his underwear and doesn't bother to put on pants, but the woman was actually interested, asking questions about who wrote it and how and stuff, so we talked about that. They said we could come back, so hopefully we can meet them again. 

J. talked about his prayer AGAIN!!! Oh gosh I love it. I just love how much he loves it that answer to prayer again.  We started teaching him the Restoration, and he seemed pretty interested. Sister J. loved it too, talking about how cool she thought it was, hearing  this for the first time. I realized "Wow, this actually is amazing, isn't it?" And it was good for Sister J.  because we meet with him in English. 

Then, church was SO good! (Other than the fact that I had to teach gospel principles about the Priesthood................ in Hungarian.)  It was fast and testimony meeting and it was SO good. Unfortunately, none of my investigators decided to show up :(  Sister J. and the new elder bore their testimonies, and they were SO good. They obviously don't speak Hungarian very well, but the spirit was SO strong! I was crying through it all. And then K., that girl we always bring to T.’s with us, also bore her testimony about the church and the Book of Mormon and I again just almost lost it. Haha, The Spirit was intense. These last two days it's like I can't stop feeling the Spirit! It's crazy. I think I have been really focusing on being obedient and working hard as I started training, and I can't even explain the difference it has made in how I feel. I read a talk by President Benson Mom sent me on the train home from Budapest and just cried. Again, this whole feeling-the-Spirit-all-the-time thing is really cool.  

We went to Budapest for greenie training and my companion had to do all this boring logistic stuff and I got to hang out in Budapest with the trainers--Woohoo! Budapest is GORGEOUS. It's like Berlin, but also like maybe Greece, too? I don't know because I've never been to Greece--that's just how I feel like it is. We saw Parliament, Hero's Square, this basilica, and a bath house. So that was fun. 

We talked to this couple when we were streeting, and they said they were spiritual but not religious. The guy asked me what or who I think is there, so I just started talking about how God is our Heavenly Father, we're his children, and I felt the Spirit strongly as I talked about that. It was so cool because to me, that's such a simple, almost obvious thing, but as I was saying that, again I just realized how wonderful the simple, basic doctrines of the Gospel are. Like the fact that God loves us, he knows us perfectly, and he is our Father. Halfway through the conversation, they started speaking English about how they connect with God through meditation. They didn't really like how a lot of Christians recite memorized prayer, so we talked to them about how we say prayers from our hearts, and how it's more like a conversation with God. So we got their numbers, which was awesome. 

I love this Gospel! I love the Book of Mormon, and prayer, and the Spirit. These things are real. I testify that they are. I have experienced them. And you can, too.

FROM JUNE 15, 2015

Good week! It's hot and humid and such. But good. Also, there is turos gomboc ice cream! So I am fine. Ug, there is no such thing as turo in America. What a shame. 

Guys-- I say it all. the. time. PRAYER WORKS. We had the best program with D. The best. Ever. Actually, the best TWO programs. So the first time we had planned to teach the Restoration, but we ended up just totally following the Spirit for a different lesson. We talked about... the Spirit. We were talking about prayer, and D. always gets all of his prayers answered, I swear. I said, "Dávid, sometimes we don't always get the things we pray for. But what is something we can always get when we pray?" He said "peace.” So, we started talking about some things we can always get when we pray.... “Happiness, peace,” he said-- "I don't know, I just always feel like someone is watching over me."  We talked about the Spirit bringing those feelings of peace how they come when we pray and how they can also tell us if the Book of Mormon is from God.

I bore my testimony of the Spirit, and felt it as I did so. He told me about ANOTHER prayer he had gotten answered, and said, "I think the best way we can show that we are grateful is by keeping God's commandments." The next day, we went over the Restoration with him and I asked if he had prayed about it before, and he said he hadn't. When I asked him why, he said he didn't feel like he knew enough about the prophets. I don't know why, but I literally was just like "D., will you say a prayer and ask God if Joseph Smith is a prophet?" He replied, "Right now?!"   So he said the prayer, and said "God, I would like to know if Joseph Smith was really a prophet" and went silent for a little bit. After, we were all a little quiet. Finally I asked how he felt. He was like "...different..." waited for a sec. and then said "... “I feel good. When I asked the question to God, I felt as though I had just done something very good." Wow. I was pretty speechless. I know that those lessons were totally prompted by the Spirit and that we don't always get answers to our questions that quickly, but in that moment, D. did. And I know that the Spirit is working in him to help him know the truth. 

But that's the thing, we have to ask! We can't just accept! K. said she would pray about the Book of Mormon! I was kind of scared she wouldn't want to, but she told me, “ I'm sure it's true!" And J. also said pretty much the same thing. We explained that it's fine to think these things are true, but when we ask God, we can get a spiritual witness that they are true. The only way we can ever truly know that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that Jesus Christ lives, all of these questions............. we have to ASK! I honestly think I used to be afraid to ask because I was afraid I wouldn't get an answer. Sometimes, our answers don't come when we're on our knees. But they COME-- I PROMISE they come. In God's time, they come.  

We also went to a cool museum about the Catholic saints-- just thought I'd throw that out there as we're on the subject of other religions. It was so cool though. I love learning about other religions! 

G. said he feels like he needs more time before getting baptized. We said that that is totally fine, and it is his decision. Right now he's praying about it, so pray for him. Right now we're trying (just like I am really trying with all my investigators) to get him to focus on the Spirit and to build and strengthen his testimony. 

So, R. and his wife S. are the BEST and took us to Burger King for lunch. While we were there, I said, "Wouldn't it be crazy if we saw that guy who said he thought our religion can help him?" well, we didn't see him at Burger King, but that night at sport day, he was THERE playing basketball!!!! WHAT?! So I went and talked to him--he is an engineer or something and we got his number! He told us, "Ya, there are just so many churches in Hungary, and I just don't know which one is the true one."  BURGER KING MIRACLES ARE REAL. That was CRAZY!! Miracles in general are real.

I guess you all won't be surprised when I say that there was a book festival in the city, and there was drag racing going on this week. Székesfehérvár, you are so good to me. 

FROM JUNE 22, 2015:

This week was AWESOME--seriously, so good. Let’s see if this email can do it justice.  We met with T., whom we didn’t meet with a lot last transfer.  Lately, though, I kept feeling like we needed to meet with him, which we did, and were talking about baptism and the interview questions, when he asked, “So, has anyone you worked with ever gotten baptized?” or something like that, and I told him, “No, not really. But I’m not just here as a missionary so that the people I teach get baptized. I’m here because I love these people and I love Jesus Christ and I know that these things are true, and that they can bring true happiness to people.” And as I said that, out of nowhere, I just BURST out crying. I really felt the Spirit in that program and in what I said.

Then, T. gave us a referral of his friend, and he said his friend’s brother was buried in the U.S. by the Mormons or something. So we met with this friend, Z. Come to find out, his brother moved to Utah for the army in like the 50s, and sometime he became Mormon! The Church had sent Z. a bunch of his brother’s old things, including his brother’s name tag from when he went on a senior couple mission with his wife to Kentucky! They were in Benton Kentucky, and I think he passed away there, and they buried him there. Z. wants to know if the grave is even still there, because he wants to go visit it. I guess he didn’t really know his brother, but they had talked about the Church a little bit. Z. said that he has been looking for happiness, true happiness, and he just hasn’t been able to find it. We bore our testimonies about why we’re here as missionaries – to help others find the happiness that we found, and we found it through this Gospel, and the Book of Mormon. So he was open to meeting with us and learning more! Super cool! Super random, especially that his own brother was a missionary!! But SO cool! So we’re trying to get more information on that.

We had Zone Conference in Budapest and it was super good. Sister J. and I gave out FIFTEEN Book of Mormons this week!! We have this friend who’s an English teacher and he invited us to his English class. We went and talked to them, and one guy asked what the difference was between our church and the others, so we talked about prophets, Thomas S. Monson, and the Book of Mormon. At the end, Sister J. told him, “We would like to give you all a Book of Mormon!” So we gave them out to 6 people, more than half the class, and then one woman saw that everybody was getting one so she also wanted one. So that was cool.

We had to take G. off baptism date for a little bit. His life is kind of hard right now, and he doesn’t know if he will be staying here or moving to Austria. He still wants to be baptized and knows it is a good thing, but right now we will focus on helping him strengthen his testimony and truly want this instead of just doing it because it’s a good idea. At the end of our program, he just broke down talking about how his sister is gone and he really misses her.. We let him know how much we love him and want to help him have the happiest life. Please pray for him.

L.'s program was good, about Church and the Sabbath day, and he finally understood that Church is a really important thing. Too bad he's out of town this week :(   We had a good program with our cute young girl investigators, teaching them the Restoration. L. had read from the Book of Mormon, and really understood it! We taught T., and read 3 Nephi 18 with him, and I felt the Spirit so strongly as we read that. More tears were shed this week as I again bore my testimony of all the things that Jesus Christ did for us and how much he loves us, and how we need to remember that. T. said he doesn’t feel the way I do when he reads; it just makes him think. And we explained that that is still the Spirit. If we “always remember Him” , which includes thinking about Him and His life and what He taught and did for us, we can have the Spirit to be with us.

D. brought his friend to church! See what I mean when I say that my investigators are really good missionaries sometimes? When we met with him, he told of how the Sisters had met him while he was working, and how, before that, he had seen them and gotten an English class flier, and just had a good feeling about it, like he really wanted to know the Sisters. And here he is now. He said that he knew that could not have been an accident, that it had to be from God.

PLEASE pray for my investigators!! They really need help right now, and I need help…. SO much help to help them! Sometimes I feel overwhelmed and confused about what I can do to help them! I’m not used to teaching this many people and I’m especially not used to getting so far with so many of them.

Székes had ANOTHER festival. None of you are surprised, huh? It was super cool-- all the museums were virtually free! So that was cool, lots of people in knight costumes, lots of weapons for sale, blacksmiths, wooden flutes, knives, rugs, old fashioned Hungarian cow bells. Also saw the AMAZING interior of the old Serbian Orthodox Byzantine style church: INCREDIBLE. Also  met a bunch of adorable old ladies from New Zealand.

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.