Monday, September 5, 2016

13 Months Down~Sept. 5, 2016



Well, well, well, this week was a pretty long one, filled with both ups and downs.
Last week for Pday we were able to go to this place called Csesznek, it is a castle ruins and it is seriously just amazingly beautiful! Also, like I loved my first 3 cities to death, but did I ever mention how much I  love mountains? Unfortunately the Kecskemét domb doesn't quite do the job! Anyways, I will send some pictures, because the place was amazing! Also we got bácsied for a good long 30 minutes, so of course we had to get a selfie with him too!


Last Tuesday was an amazing day! We started out the morning with a lookup of an old investigator that the previous sisters had met with. I don't know how much potential she has, she is willing to meet with us, but doesn't really seem that interested in the message of the gospel that we have to share, and her children are really rowdy, but we were able to talk about the importance of prayer and the knowledge that we have a heavenly father who loves us and wants to help us in this life so that we can return to him after this life!
 She said that she never really prays, but agreed to pray at least twice daily this whole week. We are planning on meeting with her later this week too, so hopefully she will have kept that commitment we gave her and that we may be able to find the part of the gospel that will be able to help her see that the gospel can offer more to her and her family and will truly peak her interest and get her wanting more! 

After our lesson with her, we went to contact an older lady that the sisters had tracted into last transfer and given a Book of Mormon but were not able to set up with again. When we rang the csengő her husband came out and we started talking to him. He said that they had received a book of Mormon, that he had read from it and that he thought it was a great book, but that he was catholic and would like to stay catholic. I told him that we understand, but we would just like to meet with people and talk more about the Book of Mormon and what we can learn about Christ from that book, and then proceeded to ask him if he would be interested in meeting to talk more. Unfortunately he said no. I'm not exactly sure why, but for some reason I was just impressed by the spirit that there had to be something that we could say though to get him to want to meet with us, but after asking some questions, and him politely saying that it didn't really interest him, I didn't know what else to say. But then comes his walking down the road with a bag of groceries. I wasn't sure what to expect, but she was very kind! She told us the same exact thing that her husband had: got a Book of Mormon, read from it, really great book, catholic, want to stay that way, and is not really interested in learning more. I was kind of at a loss of where to go with things, so I just started talking about the weather and their beautiful garden, thinking that if I got them talking possibly they will say something that I could use to pull in an aspect of the gospel, because I just felt deep down that this couple had a lot of potential and wanted them to be able to know fully about the gospel before they decide that its not for them. Well, before long, "M", the wife, was going off about the world these days, and then "J", the husband, butted in out of nowhere and asked me if I was thirsty. Seeing it as the opportunity to get inside their house, I told him yes, and with that they invited us in. Inside their home we were able to see from their wall displays some of the things that they treasure most in their lives. "M" started telling us about her life looking back on it, some of the trials that she has endured and the lessons she has learned. I felt inspired to ask her, that if she could only give us one piece of advice that she has learned from her life, what would it be? That got her talking more about how sacred our time is in this life! I asked her about her beliefs about after this life, and then shared with her our beliefs, and the knowledge we have that we can return to live with God and our families for eternity. We were running short on time because we had another lesson to get to, so we quickly explained that there is actually a whole plan that God has prepared for us so that we can make it back to Him, and asked if we could come back and share it with them another time. So we will be meeting with them this Wednesday! I am really excited for this lesson, and to see where things will go with "M and J", they are such kind, amazing people, and they deserve the true joy that only the gospel can give!                                                
Later that same night we were able to meet with an old investigator we found in the area book this week. It turns out that her son is actually a less active member and he was willing to participate in the teaching also! We talked about prayer and shared some scriptures in 3rd Nephi when Christ taught the people why prayer is important and how we should pray. It was a really good lesson, and they both committed to say their individual prayers daily as well as praying as a family! The less active member also said that he would like to meet with the Branch President and start to come back to the church, it was really neat!

Wednesday and Thursday I was sick, so we didn't get to go out and work, unfortunately. But luckily by Friday I was feeling better and we were able to do our weekly planning, go through some more things in the area book and then go out to work. We were able to visit "G" Néni again, she is just such a sweet lady. We shared with her some of our favorite scriptures about hope and faith and how if we are willing to humble ourselves, God will help us to be strong! She in turn shared some of her favorite scriptures with us, as well as a letter she had written to the mission president when she was baptized in which she had written her testimony. It was such a sweet testimony, and you could just feel her conviction as you read it. I pray that she will be able to have the opportunity to attend sacrament meetings, and in the meantime I hope that the spirit we bring into her home when we meet with her will continue to keep her heart upbeat! 

Saturday I had a nice surprise! My investigator "E" from Békéscsaba and her boyfriend "J"came to Veszprém to see me! It was so good to be able to see her, we just spent our lunch hour showing her around the beautiful, breath- taking belváros of Veszprém and then unfortunately had to say goodbye and get back to work, but it was literally amazing to see her again, I have really missed her these last 3 weeks! That night we were able to watch the Cultural Celebration for the temple re-dedication with the branch, and it was so neat to see so many familiar faces from Hungary being able to participate in it. It just really struck me, how many opportunities the gospel provides for people, besides of course the obviously abundant spiritual blessings. There were a few kids that I saw from Szeged and Békéscsaba, and if they would have never found the gospel, they would never have any of these amazing opportunities that they have received as members. One boy in specific, I watched as President Uchtdorf patted his head and then gave him a hug, and I just couldn't help but thing what an amazing experience for that little boy, that he will be able to hang onto as he pushes through the struggles of growing up in a split family home, surrounded by nonmembers, trying to do his best to stay strong in the gospel. Heavenly Father and the gospel truly just have so many things to offer each of us, if only we are willing to accept them!
Sunday was the Freiberg Germany temple re-dedication, so we got to go up to Győr for that! It was such an amazing experience, definitely a once in a lifetime thing! I was able to understand just about all of it, which I even surprised myself at, but unfortunately I was really tired and I honestly do not remember a huge amount of what they said, but that's alright, because what matters more is the spirit that I was able to feel! The temple is truly the most amazing gift heavenly father has given us, I hope that as we continue to work hard here in Veszprém that we will be able to help our investigators, less actives, and recent converts to be able to see the temples for what they truly are and that they may have the desire to live worthily to be able to go there and partake of those sacred blessings found only in the Lord's house!

  
  
 
 
Besides the amazing temple dedication, yesterday was also like the best day ever because I got to see the Mecseriék's again! And get this, "K" even remembered my name! That is a pretty big deal, I was touched haha!  As usual, "J" and I colored, "Á" and her did my hair, and "K" played a song for me on his drum set!What an amazing family, I am so glad that I can call them my little Hungarian family, cause they are seriously some of the greatest people I have ever met! So enjoy all the pictures to come! I love you all and will talk to you next week! Have a great week!

Sok Szeretettel,
LeBaron Nővér 
                                                                                                                                                 
 
                                                                        

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