Nov 2, 2016~Are We Limiting God?

For Halloween we were able to go to Pest and do exchanges with Sister Cribbs and Sister Hughes! 

We went streeting by Hereo"s Square and it was BEAUTIFUL!!!

 Also we found this beauty... 

Gotta love license plate finding!

As far as our work here in Buda, we unfortunately were not able to meet with our investigator Erika this past week, but we are scheduled for Friday, and she was at church so we did get to see her there! We got dogged a few times last week, but we also found a new investigator, Attila, and have a lot of potentials that we have found in the past 2 weeks, as well as some from last transfer that we are trying to set up with! So we are really looking forward to being able to meet with them! This week in District meeting we talked more about finding, and Sister withers and I have made it a goal to really testify in the first 30 seconds of talking to someone, rather than simply telling them we have a message to share, because most of the time 30 seconds is all the time we get. We have implemented it into our tracting and streeting approaches this last week, and while at first it was a little scary trying to figure out what to say, we are really excited! It  has been really neat thus far, and I feel like it is so much more effective than the alternative! I am really excited to start seeing the benefits of it!

On Saturday I ran into Gábor from Szeged! Turns out he is 

getting the 

Melkisédeki Priesthood!

 I couldn't be more proud of him!

On Sunday, my favorite Human Being ever surprised me at church! So glad that Kriszti got to come and visit!

 

Photos with this one are always a struggle!

And then of course, your typical after Church photo shoot @ Parliament

Sorry, if these scare you, they kind of scare me haha

And the weekly phone call with my baby Dorny included a Korean face mask 

party over the phone using masks her mother sent us from the Korean store! 

More Pictures @ Batthany because its my favorite place in the world!

 

And then a little bit of adventuring from the day we got lost 20 million times! But thats a story for another time!

Because sometimes you just "have nothing else to do"..

Yesterday we got an interesting assignment from President Szabadkai. There is a girl named Bécsi Heni who left on her mission this morning to the Alpine German mission, and so yesterday President set her apart, and then asked us to go do some missionary work with her! She is adorable and we had a lot of fun!

It was "Day of the Dead" so we got to go to the cemetery and look at all the cool
candles and flowers! 

And we will close with my favorite picture of all... we had someone do drawings all up our street, and this one was just too priceless! it reads "THIS IS A SLOTH"!

Overall, things are just great here! I don't think I could be happier, and It is just so neat being able to serve the people of Hungary, I love it being a missionary here more than anything! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Sok Szeretettel,

LeBaron Nővér

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