Oct. 24, 2016 Post~My House in BUDApest

Well folks, it is official, I am getting old! This week marked the beginning of my 7th transfer in this Csoda Ország of Hungary! Which means that there is only one more! Thank heavens I get to spend it with the coolest companion ever! Also yes, we are both red heads, so there is alot of fire here in Buda these days! Speaking of which, MEET SISTER WITHERS!!!

 Isn't she a beauty! Don't worry, she gave consent to me sending these! We love each other already! We made a transfer goal to film a video every single week, this weeks is titled "Banana Breaking 101". I will try to attach it at the end and hope you all enjoy! (It is in two parts, sorry about that)

  This week was just wonderful! It was sad to leave Veszprém as it always is when transfers happen, but i feel that i can leave saying that I did my best and gave it all I had while I was there! Our last night in Veszprém consisted of...

1) Saying goodbye to Gizi Néni ft. Tomika and the Pelican poncho.

2) Játék Est with the usual's! Oh how I just love these two! Definitely what I will miss most about Veszprém!  Olivér is just the cutest little thing ever, such a sweet kid, and has literally become like a little brother to me these past 9 weeks! Our relationship was just golden!
here is a picture that depicts it really well!

3) McDONALDS!!!! Because that is the classiest restaurant here in Hungary! Also they have a play-place, and you cant pass those up!

(Our little Crew)

"The Cliff"

It was hard to leave another great companion, but Sister Evans is amazing, and I know that her and Sister Swenson are going to be able to work really well together and be able to really help the people there in Veszprém

Transfer day came and went! Got to say hello to a few people I haven't seen in a long while

 (specifically my baby Dorny),

I got to say goodbye to a few that headed home (Elder Bunker),

And everybody else in between

Transfers are always a little bittersweet, but overall just mostly sweet!

Our first night together as STL's!                                                                                                                                           
And I am just so excited to be here in Buda! Just the past 5 days here have been so amazing already! I love being able to serve with Sister Withers, she is such a great example to me and makes me want to be a better person and missionary! I am so optimistic about this transfer and the things we are going to be able to accomplish together!

White Chocolate Rasberry Turo Rudis! These suckers are life-changers guys! 

Sister Withers officially likes Turo Rudi now!

When your comp has been in Hungary for a year, and still never knew about the magic light up bottom! After all, it is the little things in missionary work that bring true joy! Glad that I can still teach her some new things!

And other weird things you find in Buda....

Since being here in Buda, we have been able to meet with one less active member, Emilia, who ended up coming to church and staying for the whole thing! We had a good teaching on the Law of Chastity, and were able to watch one of the churches inspirational videos about it and have a good discussion about it afterwards! It went really well!

 We also met with Tibor, a recent convert, and talked about Tithing! He seems to understand it really well, and informed us that he has already been paying it since he was baptized, so we are super proud of him!

We met with a new potential investigator this week, her name is Lilla! She is a younger girl, in here 20s and she used to frequently attend angol óra and csaladi est, and some of the other activities that were hosted at the church a few years ago, so she already had a basis of our beleifs. We talked alot about the Book of Mormon and the importance of prayer and how it can help us! She said that she already has a strong belief of prayer! Unfortunately she is really busy next week and we were not able to reschedule with her yet, but she said that she will come to the Meet the Mormons showing on Saturday and that we can plan a teaching appointment for the next week there! 

Right now we have a baptism scheduled for this upcoming transfer for our investigator Erika, and we have a lot of potential investigators that we are working with! We are in the process of scheduling with them this week, as well as looking for more! While tracting we have had a few people give us contact info with a desire for us to come back, so hopefully in the coming weeks we will be able to meet with them as well! 

Tomorrow we will be starting our splits, with the Szolnok sisters, so I am excited for that! 

I love you all and hope that you have an amazing week!

Sok Szeretettel,

LeBaron Nővér

Original Post Oct.18, 2016~Did Someone Say "Keresztelő"?

Last P-day was chill! We went bowling and they had Virgin Piña colada's at the bowling alley!!

I sure have missed those things!

Well folks this last week was definitely a long one. It was hard at times, but it also provided a lot of personal growth, physically and spiritually!

   

The day was alot of fun and provided for a bunch of good memories! We watched the Lego Movie, ate pizza (HUGE pizza), and played some games as a zone!

  It was a great day, and I also got a funny little story out of it... So when we left Veszprém that morning it had been raining pretty hard and by the time we made it to the bus station my shoes were soaking wet and I had not brought an extra pair with me. When we arrived in Dunaújváros it was also raining there and once again my shoes became drenched. We walked to the branch house and I took my shoes off, putting them over the heater t to help them dry quicker. The mission President later saw that I was walking around without shoes  and asked why. I explained, and then he asked if i would like a pair of socks. I said sure, figuring he had an extra pair in the car or something... NOPE! He bent down and started untying his shoes, took his socks off his feet, turned them inside out and handed them to me, and then put his shoes back on without socks! Hahah I was a little shocked at first, and we all got a pretty good laugh out of it, but seriously, how sweet was that of him?! They say that a true friend will give you the shirt of his back, so I guess this just tells you just how awesome our mission President is that he would give me the socks off his feet! I sure love that guy! (Here's a picture of Elder Martineau and I ft. "THE Socks")

And I guess that giving me his socks just made him love me more, because tranfer calls are in, and I'M GOING TO BUDA!!!!!!  I seriously have never been more excited in my life! From the day that I got my mission call I knew that I wanted to serve in the big city, and then when I got to the country my trainer had just got done serving in Buda and after hearing all of her stories I really REALLY wanted to serve there! And now I get to!!!! I am going to be serving with Sister Withers, who was from my MTC group, so that will be so much fun! I am sad to have to leave all my Veszprém people, but this is going to be a great transfer!

Serving in Buda also means that I will be a Sister Training Leader! I am super excited to be able to work with the sisters in our mission and get to know them all better, they are all so great!

The work in Veszprém has been a little bit rough this past week. Our main investigator Piroska has not been answering our calls. I'm not sure why, because she seems so interested and is keeping all of her commitments and I think she is really progressing, but unfortunately we were not able to meet with her because of that. Our other investigator Katalin has been sick all week. We checked up a few times with her, and she ended up going to the doctors on Friday and got some medicine, so hopefully she will be feeling well enough that we can set up with her for later this week!

 Other than that we just had a lot of finding. It was long and hard and exhausting, and honestly as door after door got shut in our face, or csengő after csengő got hung up as soon as we introduced our self as missionaries, it was hard at times to not just want to give up. But that's when the real motivation as missionaries kicks in, and those are the moments when we must remember our ultimate goal, our ultimate purpose, and why it is that we are here in Hungary as missionaries of the Lord. I have been studying the Atonement alot this transfer, and it has been so great! In-fact, this week I just finished , and every time I find myself in hard situations, I have been able to turn my mind back to the Atonement and Christ's sacrifice for us. If we think that that was an easy thing for Jesus Christ to do, we are surely mistaken. So whenever we find ourselves in hard times, doubting ourselves and our abilities, and wanting to give up, we can always remember that we are in the best of company, because the prophets, and apostles, and even Jesus Christ have walked that same route of despair before us, yet ours is still just a tiny sliver of the what their struggles and sufferings consisted of. And of course the greatest news is that because Jesus Christ did walk that road before us, because he loves each and every one of us so much that he was willing to both live and die for us, because of the merciful plan of happiness that the Father has prepared for us, we are never alone on that road of hard times. Christ knows each and every one of us perfectly, of that I have such a strong testimony, and I know that because of his suffering he is truly able to succor His people. I know this, because He has been there for me in my times of need, and he has lifted me to my feet and helped me walk, when i thought that i could no longer even crawl. I am so thankful for his infinite and overflowing love for us, and our ability to turn to Him in both the hard times as well as the good!

Luckily, we were able to attend Erzsi's baptism on Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

 

 

That was honestly exactly what I needed to make it through this week! Elder Lawrence gave a talk, and afterwards they had a few people they asked to bear their testimonies before they performed the baptismal ordinance. As the first man started bearing his testimony, the spirit just hit me so strongly as if someone had chucked a brick at me. At that moment my spirits were lifted, and it really helped me to gain some perspective on this weeks work. Yes, it was hard, and yes it seemed like all of our hard work was for nothing, but it wasn't. Because there are people just like Erzsi who are just waiting for the message that we have to share.

Isn't she just the cutest thing ever??? 

 As I spoke with Erzsébet before the baptism started, she was so excited and kept bearing her testimony to me, and it was honestly just such a neat experience. She had asked me to please help her in the bathroom as she went into the font, and then came out.

 The baptism was very beautiful and the spirit was so strong there! As she came out of the font back into the bathroom she was just glowing with joy, and gave me a big huge hug and kept kissing my forehead. I honestly don't think that i have every experienced in my life seeing someone as happy as Erzsi was in that moment, as she told me how great it felt to know that all of her sins had been washed away and she had finally found the road that her father in heaven has prepared for her in order to return back to him.    

 

 

 

 What a beautiful testimony she has, and what a beautiful testimony it was to me, of the ability we have as missionaries to truly help others find happiness, the real everlasting happiness that only the gospel can bring. That is why we keep tracting when the doors keep on shutting. That is why we spend hours out in the cold trying to talk to people in-spite of the humanly desire inside of us to go seek warmth inside our apartment. That is why we came here, and that is the one way to find success on our missions, working hard every single moment clear until the end so that we can say that we did our absolute best to be able to bring this everlasting joy to all of God's children!

Also she invited us over yesterday and we made Rakott Krumpli (as pictured above) together! It was beautiful! I sure am going to miss that lady, I love her to death!

Well I love all of you, and hope that you had a great week too! Talk to you next week from BUDA!!

Sok Szeretettel, 

LeBaron Nővér

Original Post Oct. 10, 2016~This week was just amazing! What a great week to celebrate my birthday!

Yes, my birthday was this week.Yes, I turned 21. Yes, I know, I am an old fart! We started off the Birthday week celebrations Monday night with this beauty of a shake! ITs from Johnn's Bistro, our favorite place in town! It is a California knock-off restaurant and the closest thing to America you can find in Veszprém!

Yes, my birthday was this week.Yes, I turned 21. Yes, I know, I am an old fart! We started off the Birthday week celebrations Monday night with this beauty of a shake! ITs from Johnn's Bistro, our favorite place in town! It is a California knock-off restaurant and the closest thing to America you can find in

So Erzsi is actually one of the elders' investigators, she is about 70 years old , and was a referral from her granddaughter who moved to England for work and met the missionaries there and got baptized! The Elders have been meeting with her for the last 3 months. Wednesday night I got a call from Elder Lawrence asking if we would had plans Thursday morning for my birthday. He said that Erzsi would like us to come with them over to her house. It was not super szabalyos, but it was my birthday, and we couldn't deny her request! So we went to Erzsi Néni's with the elders! I had no clue that the elders had told her it was my birthday, but when we walked in the door, she rushed over with a vase full of roses and said "For the birthday girl! 21 is the most beautiful time of life!" We then taught a lesson with her, and ended up going over the baptismal questions, and turns out... ERZSI IS GOING TO BE GETTING BAPTIZED THIS SATURDAY!!!

!

! 

The rest of my birthday was spent visiting Gizi Néni (pictured above), watching Tomika drop kick and behead baby dolls he finds in the trash, teaching English class, and playing "what are the odds" that our whole district would eat a rose. Sister Evans refused to do it, but Lawrence, tomika, Olivér (our recent convert) and I all had quite the experience! I mean they didn't kill us, but I still probably wouldn't recommend it, the petals were a little bit bitter!

I also tried Baklava for the first time this week, because my dearest best friend Lani while wishing me a happy birthday told me to have a great day, but don't DRINK any baklava... I love you Hun, but I don't know exactly how people drink these things! But don't worry, you were right, Baklava is DISGUSTING!!!!

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We had a teaching appointment with a new investigator, Katalin, this week! She is the most hip néni I have ever met and seriously just the most enthusiastic person I have ever met! She couldn't stop calling us fairies the whole lesson! It was adorable! She is such a sweetheart and has alot of questions about our church. She is evangélikus and already has a really strong testimony and belief in Christ, but she is also very open to learning more! We talked to her about the Book of Mormon in our teaching appointment and then committed her to come to church! She said that she would! Unfortunately she called Saturday night and said that she was sick and couldn't come, but promised to come next week. She sounded sick over the phone, and she seemed very genuine and sincere, so I really do think that she will come next week!

On Wednesday we met with our investigator Piroska again. Vasváry Judit came with us again and it was so great! We were able to watch the Restoration Film with her, which went super well! That film never ceases to make me feel overcome with the Spirit! EVERY SINGLE time I watch it, I am reminded of just what a powerful message we have to share with these people that God truly did restore His church to the earth in the latter days to help each and everyone of us find our way back to Him! I really think that Piroska felt that same spirit! She has been having a hard time because she prayed about the Book of Mormon, but still hasn't received an answer if it is true. She told us that she is beginning to wonder if it is because she is not worthy of getting an answer. We talked with her about how sometimes things just take time, but if she continues to diligently pray with a true, sincere desire to know, she will get an answer! Judit was able to bear a really strong testimony about that, as it took her years to finally get her answer, but she also acknowledged that part of the reason it took her so long was because she wasn't putting in her full effort, and bore testimony of the importance of having a sincere heart and true desire! I felt the spirit very strongly as she bore testimony and afterwards Sister Evans and I were also able to bear our testimonies about the Book of Mormon and Restoration!

On Friday we had interviews with the mission president in Duna! Which means that 1) I had to get a picture with them, and for some reason Sister Szabadkai thought something was funny, and 2) I got my birthday package from my mom, which was the cutest thing ever! Also she sent this dress, isn't it just adorable?

We were able to do exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders in Buda this weekend! They went really well, and as always I was able to learn a lot from both Sister Giullian and Sister Withers.

As part of splits, Sister Withers and I were able to go to Érd, and help them with an open house they were holding! It was really neat! Unfortunately not a lot of members came out, so that was a bummer, but it was still really great! I felt really bad that the turn out was not quite what was hoped for, but the whole event was such a great example to me of member involved missionary work! All those members went so far out of their way and put so much preparation into it, the whole branch house was just amazingly decorated with informative posters and diagrams. The event was great, President Szabadkai and a member from the Stake Presidency spoke and everyone was able to feel the spirit!

Guess who showed up at church in Veszprém this week? My favorite Hungarian family, or rather just my favorite family ever other than my own... That's right, THE MECSERIÉK! I awkwardly did not get ready at all, but enjoy the pictures anyways haha!

 

My mother sent me a cute little confetti cake box with icing & candles so I did my best to make it... I wasn't very successful with the icing job,  but I mean its whatever, it still tasted good!

 Well, the end of the transfer is here already, and with it Winter. We only got one day of fall weather here unfortunately, but luckily i took a picture that day with the pretty leaves!

Loving Our Train Ride!

It is freezing here, we already have hit the negatives a few days this past week! But on the bright note we have had some pretty sick sunsets lately!