Tue 12/27/2016, 5:56 AM ~~ Confessions

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND TO ALL!!! Hope it was a great one!

So how about confessions? I swear they are either the greatest thing in the world, the worst thing ever, or sometimes they just tend to lean more towards the awkward end of the spectrum. Either way, i figured i might as well just share some with you!

1) Contrary to what one would think, us missionaries in Hungary do NOT actually eat Hungarian food for every meal! In-fact most of us don't even eat Hungarian food once a month! Sister Towne has been here for 3 months and she still hasn't even tasted an authentic Hungarian meal! Instead, we eat whatever we can whip up that is as cheap as possible! Sometimes that means eggs for every meal of every day, or quesadillas with kolbász,or pesto with toast, or as of current HOMEMADE TORTILLAS!! with spicy hummus! I know crazy, who would have thought that serving in Hungary would make me like hummus? Especially given that 99% of Hungarians don't even know what hummus is! So yeah, sorry to crush your dreams on that one! But here is a picture of a cute little heart shaped tortilla i made on accident :)

2) The Buda sisters got a text Christmas morning from one of our investigators, wishing me a merry Christmas and confessing his love for me, only he didn't know that it wasn't even me! He said that he just cant stop thinking about me, even though he has a girlfriend who is 8 months pregnant with twins... so that was awkward! They probably wont be meeting with him anymore! Gotta love missionary life in Hungary!

3) As much as i hate to say it, I am as basic white girl as it gets! AKA I totally listen to, and love, Taylor Swift's Christmas Album! But the good news is that one of the songs is just the greatest thing ever and actually was a huge help to me this Christmas to remember why it is that we celebrate Christmas! Here are the lyrics, you can go ahead and take a look!!

"Christmas Must Be Something More"

What if ribbons and bows didn't mean a thing?
Would the song still survive without five golden rings?
Would you still wanna kiss without mistletoe?
What would happen if God never let it snow?
What would happen if Christmas carols told a lie?
Tell me what would you find                                             

You'd see that today holds something special
Something holy, not superficial
So here's to the birthday boy who saved our lives
It's something we all try to ignore
And put a wreath up on your door
So here's something you should know that is for
Christmas must be something more
What if angels did not pay attention to
All the things that we wished they would always do?
What if happiness came in a cardboard box?
Then I think there is something we all forgot
What would happen if presents all went away?
Tell me what would you find

You'd see that today holds something special
Something holy, not superficial
So here's to the birthday boy who saved our lives
It's something we all try to ignore
And put a wreath up on your door
So here's something you should know that is for sure
Christmas must be something more

We get so caught up in all of it
Business and relationships
Hundred mile an hour lives
And it's this time of year
And everybody's here
It seems the last thing on your mind

Is that the day holds something special
Something holy, not superficial?
So here's to Jesus Christ who saved our lives
It's something we all try to ignore
And put a wreath up on your door
But here's something you should know that is for sure
Christmas must be something
Christmas must be something
Christmas must be something more

There's gotta be more
There's gotta be more

 So as you can see from the gist of the song, as humans we typically get too focused on the presents and all the hype about Christmas and forget about the little baby who was born Christmas morning and the life he lived, the example he set, and the sacrifice he made for each and every single one of us individually! I hope that all of you were able to reflect back this Christmas on all that Christ has done for you, and were able to appreciate Him and His love!We are truly blessed in this mission to have such a great mission president and wife who love us so much, who held an amazing Christmas conference for us, centered on the real meaning of Christmas! It was really nice to have a fun day with the zone as well as to share with each other the things that we have learned this year and the things we plan to improve on in the one to come!

We are truly blessed in this mission to have such a great mission president and wife who love us so much, who held an amazing Christmas conference for us, centered on the real meaning of Christmas! It was really nice to have a fun day with the zone as well as to share with each other the things that we have learned this year and the things we plan to improve on in the one to come!












   For some creative finding we were also able to go Christmas caroling on Christmas Eve at a retirement home, and it was so neat to see the joy it brought to those people who were all alone with nobody to celebrate the holidays with! They all thanked us profusely, gave us half their kitchen (one lady didn't have any baked goods so she tried to hand us a package of hot dog buns haha) and it really helped remind me of the true spirit of Christmas! I am so thankful that we have this period of time every single year just to think about Christ and rejoice in Him and his life! 


On Wednesday we had the opportunity to go on splits in Győr, and we had a lesson with one of their investigators. At the end of the lesson he told us that "2000 years ago when Christ was born was the beginning of the greatest tragedy known to mankind" and continued to talk about how Christs whole life was a tragedy. i just couldn't help but think how sad it must be to see it through that light. Christ's birth was the furthest thing from a tragedy! Christ didn't just come and die and that was the end! Im so grateful for the knowledge the gospel gives me that Christ was born, and yes he died for us, but also that he lives on! And because of that, we can always have the spirit of Christmas in our hearts all year round! I have a quote hanging on my wall that my mom sent me last Christmas that says "Christmas is more about opening our hearts than it is opening presents!" That has had a special meaning to me this year as a missionary, having been able to dedicate the whole year of 2016 to preaching the gospel and trying to help others open their hearts to Christ, while in the meantime, trying to open my own even further! May we all strive to keep our hearts open to the Savior and his love not just during Christmas, but for the whole rest of the year too!

Skyping was also great (of course, how could it not be?), it was neat to be able to see my family and talk to them and definitely gave me that motivation i need to finish out the next 2 months strong!

We were also able to get a nice map created with all the members, both active and inactive, on it, and we are excited to be able to do more effective look ups now that we have that done! We are going to have a lot of finding time in this next few weeks, which i am really excited for!

Szombathely are going great! We weren't able to meet with a lot of people, but we did meet with 2 less active members, and were able to take members to both of them! Bea is one of them, she has a really hard situation right now, her and her husband just got divorced, her mother is in the hospital dying of cancer, and her son is very troubled and creates a lot of stress for her with her bad behavior. We were lucky to be able to share a message with her about Christ and about how we can be the light for others, even when 

we might need some light ourselves!

She was very sweet, and we are excited to meet with her again this week!

We did find this little dime though! 

Those non natives need to be careful 

spelling the world "Hall", those 

vowels kind of make a difference!




 Other than that we went tracting, we got 4 tracting days this week, and were able to talk to a few people, unfortunately nobody was too interested, but we just keep on trying! We did find this little dime though! Those non natives need to be careful spelling the world "Hall", those vowels kind of make a difference!


 


 


4) And one last confession before we wrap things up and I saved the best one of them all for last... I got a text from Vámos László, my investigator from Békéscsaba, and this is what he said "Merry Christmas Kaylee, i wish you all the existing good in the world! I am going to get baptized, January 14th will be the big day! I am going to be a Mormon, just like you!" LÁSZLÓ IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!! Also is that just the cutest text you have ever read or what?! Talk about the best Christmas present! I am so proud of him! I knew without a doubt that the day would come, it was all just a matter of timing, and i am so glad that he has finally made the decision to take that step in faith! I know that it will bless his life, and his wife's and that with time, she too will be ready to make that commitment! I wish more than anything in the world that i could be there to support him, but I am just glad that he is finally getting baptized!

I hope that you all have a great week, and a happy new year!

Sok Szeretettel,
LeBaron Nővér

#HelloHungary

Here's to wishing you all a Merry Christmas! Can you believe that it is already that time of year?

This week was a good week, its nice to finally be here in Szombathely all settled down and ready to work! We went over all the work from last transfer and we honestly do not have a lot of investigators or potentials right now, but that is alright, because it means we are going to have a lot of time to build the work up here in this area!

I really want to finish strong, and have the best transfer! I know that we don't have a lot to work with right now, but I also know that there are people that we are just waiting to find, and that if we truly believe than God can perform miracles! I have faith that we will be able to find a new investigator this transfer who will be prepared and ready to be baptized in the next 9 weeks!

 It truly is just dependent upon our faithfulness and diligence in the work! I am praying that God will strengthen me and help me be the kind of missionary that I need to be so that I can truly see his miracles this transfer!  

 

One of the things that goes along with that more is the Christlike attributes! I have been studying those recently and really trying to become more Christlike, not just for the sake of being a missionary, but also just to become a better person!  

 

I loved the testimony that Elder Bagozzi bore about it in the MLC meeting, and i know that as we become more like Christ we will become more effective tools in his hand, and the work we do as missionaries will be more spiritually and physically rewarding!  It isn't always easy, but I know that it will be worth it as we develop those traits!  Unfortunately we haven't been able to meet with anyone since i have been here, so i don't have anything to report as far as that goes, but we are planning on meeting with some RCLAs this week and hopefully a few members too, if they aren't too busy, so I will be able to write about that next week! I will also be going on exchanges with Sister Gertcsh this week, so I am looking forward to that and being able to learn and grow from her!

Last dinner @klára's! She made an early christmas dinner for me since I was leaving, even though she wasnt feeling good! I sure love that lady!

English class

MLC with almost the whole MTC district!

Getting home from MLC at 10:40 to find the bikes frozen over :(

My last day in Buda!  I sure hope that you have a great week, and a very Merry Christmas!

Sok szeretettel,

LeBaron Nővér

~Bye Bye Buda Lands~

Hello there folks! That time of the transfer has come again, and today we got our new transfer calls! Well actually I got a little sneak peak early from President Szabadkai, and it turns out that my time in the Buda Lands has come to a close! I have loved serving here so much and it breaks my heart to leave, but i will forever be grateful for the short 8 weeks that I had here!

Luckily, my last week here in Buda has been the greatest one thus far! We were treasured to be able to have 2 baptisms this past weekend! On Friday, Erika got baptized! It was really neat for her husband to be able to baptize her and we are looking forward to them being able to go to the temple next year to be sealed as a family with their 2 little girls! I seriously could not be happier for them!

And then Saturday night we were able to attend Zsuzsa's baptism!

On our way home from church on Sunday Parliament was just beautiful as ever, so we stopped and took some last photos!

Our zone won the president's challenge, so Wednesday we had a zone day in Pest! We played some soccer and watched Finding Dory! It was super cute! I got nailed in the leg during soccer though, and it left a little bruise... you could say my leg is still a little bit sore (and swollen)!

​So as for transfers, President Szabadkai has decided to try something new, so we will now have a Sister Training Leader in every zone. So Buda is being shut down for STLs, but Sister Withers will stay here and get a new companion. I, on the other hand, will be transferring to SZOMBATHELY!!! And i will be the Sister Training Leader for the North West Zone! As sad as I am to be leaving Buda, it is a pretty great transfer call, so it kind of makes it worth it! I will be over Győr, Sopron, and Szombathely which are 3 of the prettiest cities, and I have always wanted to go there, so now i finally get the chance! I am super excited!

My companion is going to be Sister Towne, this will be her second transfer, so she is pretty new in the mission and I dont know her too well, but i have been able to talk to her a few times at trainings and she seems like a really sweet girl! I am super excited to be able to work with her! Also for those people that dont know Hungary, Szombathely is on the Austrian border and has lots of mountains all around it, so it is going to be gorgeous! Cant wait to send you all pictures next week! In the meantime, I hope that you all have a great week, and never forget how much I love you!

Sok szeretettel,

LeBaron Nővér                    

Dont mind that I look like a total hobo, but I had to get one last photo with Rozi Néni before I left!
     She is the most amazing thing ever, literally takes us to lunch every week!
She is the only member in her family and is the best little Missionary I have ever met!

The Christmas Tram! Isn't it the cutest thing ever?

    "I've loved serving in Buda, and I'm sure
                going to miss this place"

The splits life!

Also, aren't our elders adorable?

There's just  so much LoVe  in this little district
of ours!

12-5-2016 ~~ #LIGHTtheWORLD

This week was a really good one! For studies this week, we had love and charity for the Christ like attribute! I think this one is probably my favorite one, yet at the same time, it is also sometimes the hardest! But I know that the key to this work truly is love, and not just any love, but CHARITY, the pure love of Christ! In Zone Training a few weeks ago, Sister Szabadkai had us read from Corinthians 13  with us and it really stood out to me, because in the first 3 verses...

   1) Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
   2) And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
   3) And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

 ...it talks about different things that we can do, but if we have not charity then it profits us nothing. And that is if we are performing all of those thing PERFECTLY!!! But as humans we are imperfect! I do not fluently speak this language! I do not understand ALL the mysteries and knowledge! And I do not give freely of all I have! So if someone who can do all those thing perfectly still is nothing without charity, than how much more need do I have for charity? So then the question is, how can we develop this Christlike love that we need so badly? In Moroni 7 (probably the greatest chapter known to man!) we read:

 48) Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

This is something that I have been trying to do lately, especially with Christmas time coming up and trying to remember the true spirit of the season, is every morning when I wake up and every night before I go to bed, I pray for charity! I pray to be filled with  that love that softens the heart of others,  that love that gives us everlasting hope, and that love that changes lives and makes us true sons and daughters of God! It isn't always easy to love everyone, especially when you see their weaknesses and flaws, but we all have flaws, and we all need love! We must develop that love or our efforts in this work, or really any works in this life at all, will "profit us nothing." So I would challenge you all to pray for that charity also!

Which leads perfectly into The Christmas Promotion the church is putting on this year, titled "LIGHT THE WORLD!"

We read in the bible in John 8:12 as Christ tells us:
"I am the light of the world"

Christ later declared in Matthew 5:14:
^"Ye are the light of the world"


And now,This is Christmas the Church is inviting us to be that light that Christ taught us we are capable of being: to light the World!
 And to help us accomplish that, the have given us a little advent calendar that can be accessed at Mormon.org so that we can #LIGHTtheWORLD or in Hungarian "Légyavilágvilágossága" in 25 ways over 25 days!

I would challenge all of you to print one off, and  use it this Christmas to help remember the true meaning of Christmas, and to live always (but especially during this Christmas season) as Christ lived!

And now for a brief update of our week:

Monday night we were able to go over to the Anderson's home, an American family in the ward, for dinner and share with them the Christmas video and advent calendar, and that was really neat! I think it has been hard for them a little bit with attending church in Hungarian and not being able to understand anything much outside of the sacrament meeting which is translated, so it was really nice to be able to talk to them about the spirit of Christmas (in their own language) and really invite the spirit into their home!

YAY for P-day pics with Parliament!

.

..And the classic white girl Starbucks photo, but ours has a cooler background!

And Halász Bástya

On Tuesday we were able to meet with one of our new investigators from a few weeks back, Tibor. He is really busy  and scheduled with us last minute so we had a really hard time finding a member to go, but we finally found a less active member (who is trying to come back to church!) to come with us to meet the rule, cause we figured it would be better to take her than not take anyone at all, right?... WRONG!!!! But i mean at least he was invited to be baptized in the first sentence of the lesson, was told that he will make a fantastic member, and got a great debrief on the Pearl of Great Price! Hahha needless to say, we will not be taking her to lessons anymore! Luckily, Tibor took it all really well, saying that he would be interested down the road being baptized and still wants to meet! Thank heavens! At least we all got a good laugh afterwards!

We were also supposed to meet with our new investigator Dóra, but unfortunately she dogged us. She said that we can schedule some other time though, so hopefully she was being sincere about that!

On Wednesday we went on splits with the Pest sisters here in Buda! I was with Sister Cribbs, one of my comps from the MTC, so that was a blast to be together again!

  

 We had a lot of finding time

       and so that was fun!

We were able to tract and street, and then at night time, we got some members and all the elders in the district and went caroling at Széll Kálmán Tér, which is the biggest metro station in Buda! It was very very productive!

We were able to stop and talk to a lot of people and give them some of the new Christmas  cards, and we were able to get 6 phone numbers of people who are interested in meeting.



Most of them I believe are in the Assistant's area, but the main point is just them hearing the gospel, so it isn't a competition about who it is that gets to teach them!



Thursday morning we met with Dörömbözy Erika, and went over last minute details for her baptism! She is really prepared for this, and we are so excited for her! After the official talk of scheduling everything, we shared with her a message about service to finish off the 5th lesson, and then we tied it into the Christmas message, and were able to watch that with her, and challenge her to use the advent calendar to serve someone every day!


On Friday and Saturday we were able to go to Szeged on splits! There was an accident on the train tracks in front of us, so they kicked everyone off the train and then we had to take a bus for a while and then get back on a train! It ended up taking 2 hours longer than the typical 2 and a half hour ride!
It was great being back in my greenie city! I miss it so much!

We went to the RS activity and I got to see Kriszti and we made gingerbread cookies!!

 It was so fun being able to work with Sister Mason and Sister Dyson, they are both such great missionaries!

Also, isn't Szeged the most beautiful place ever?

Well that's all for now folks! have  a wonderful week!

Sok Szeretettel,

LeBaron Nővér