October 24, 2016

Hello!!

This week has been crazy. We had transfers on Wednesday, and I met my new companion, Elder Stanley. He's been in the country for a year and 2 months. He's awesome. He's definitely different from Elder Seamons, but in a good way.

The big news from this week is that Rozália's baptism was on Saturday and her Confirmation was on Sunday. It was a cool experience. Rozália asked me to baptize her, so that was really cool. It was actually the first time that I baptized anyone. That was really fun. I had to memorize the prayer that you say in Hungarian. It was weird, but all went well. The Bishop confirmed her on Sunday. It was really cool.

Other than that, Elder Stanley and I have been learning more about each other and getting used to each other. It's been a super good experience. It was kinda sad saying goodbye to Elder Seamons, and it was sad that he couldn't be there for baptism. He did a lot of the work, and he worried a lot about helping Rozália. I just kinda felt like I was helping him out.
Elder Stanley is super awesome. He speaks Hungarian super well and he's a really good missionary. I'm excited to work with him and learn from him.

Love,
Elder Terry

Some are of our old district, then me and Elder Seamons. 

Rozália's baptism

Weird shrine thing Elder Stanley and I saw while tracting.

October 18, 2016

The biggest news this week is transfers! I will be staying in Kecskemét for another transfer. Elder Seamons is going to be a Zone Leader in Miskolc. The other companions ship in Kecskemét is Elder Stephens and he'll be training. So every other time we go on exchanges it'll be me and a new missionary. It's going to be so much fun.

I don't know much about my new companion. He's been out for one transfer (2 months) longer than Elder Seamons.

News from this week:
We had a Concert with a member on Friday. It was a lot of fun. I wasn't expecting to play the piano or have concerts as a missionary, but hey, we did. It was a lot of fun too. Maybe we'll do one again, who knows.

Rozália's baptism will be this Saturday. Everything is good, the stars are aligning. It's going to be great.

Outside of that, we have been working hard, doing our best and being the very best, like no one ever was. This next transfer is going to be the best!

Elder Veres drew a picture of us. It's beautiful. Guess which one I am!

Love,
Elder Terry

October 10. 2016

Well, this week has been a crazy one, and the upcoming one promises to be even crazier. For one thing, it's officially weird winter/fall weather here. We woke up to a lot of fog on Wednesday this week. It was crazy. It's definitely been getting colder.

Things have been great as we've been preparing Rozália for baptism. If all goes well, it'll be this Saturday. It's crazy getting everything done, but it's awesome too.

One thing I noticed this week was that the Spirit really does whisper to us. As I've come to understand more of what people are saying, I've noticed that more ideas come to mind of how to respond to them. That's been the Spirit directing me, and it's been so cool to follow promptings and follow the Lord's direction for the work here.

I know that Missionary work is the greatest work we can do. It brings so many blessings and joy. It's crazy how much fun it is and how great it has been.

We met with a newer investigator, László. He's really interesting. He's read a lot of religious books and has a lot of Random books, like Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson. He has a lot of questions, but he also has a very sincere desire to learn. Elder Seamons and I are excited to work with him.

The last thing is that Transfers are next week!!! It's crazy how quickly time flys. Next week, P-day is on Tuesday.

Sok Szeretettel,
Elder Terry

Oct. 3, 2016

This week was a crazy one. We had zone training in Budapest on Wednesday, a zone day on Friday in Szeged, and General Conference on Saturday and Sunday. It has been an amazing week. I had a great time, even though we were travelling all the time. It was really crazy.

In zone training we learned a lot about doing paperwork for the hivatal (office stuff) so that we don't have any government problems. But then we talked about PMG chapter 7, learning the language. President told us that we should speak Hungarian as much as we can outside of our apartment, and Elder Seamons and I have been doing that and it has helped so much already.

On Friday we had a zone day because we got president's challenge. He wanted us to get 7 tracting days and 2 member presents every week as a zone. We did it, so on Friday we got to watch Inside Out and have lots of fun as a zone playing games. It was a great day. It made me so excited to get back to work and work hard. It was an awesome experience.

We had 2 investigators come to general conference on Sunday. Conference was just in the chapel here in Kecskemét. We watched them Saturday night, and all day Sunday. The order was Saturday morning, Priesthood, Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning. We watched the first and last ones in English, so it was nice to understand those. We'll watch Sunday afternoon next week after Sacrament Meeting. Sándor came for the priesthood session Sunday morning, and Rozália came to women's and Saturday afternoon (which were Sunday morning and afternoon for us). We watched both of those sessions in Hungarian, and it was absolutely crazy. I couldn't understand most of what was going on, but I could still feel the spirit and learn. My testimony of the Prophet and the Apostles has grown so much. I'm so grateful for General Conference and for the guidance and direction that we receive. There were a lot of things that I need to improve on, and I encourage you to find ways to improve and then set some goals.

This week was amazing. The work here is moving forward and things are going great. I'm so grateful to be a missionary!!!

Love,
Elder Terry

A church in Szeged

a street we tracted in Kecskemét (because it's Szabadkai utca)

President's Challenge play day

Sept. 26, 2016

Dear Everyone,

This week has been a crazy one. We had an emergency drill on Tuesday. It was weird, but it was cool to see that the mission is prepared for anything. It kinda threw off our schedule, but it was still really good.

Here is some more information from the letter he sent to me:  One thing, we didn't find out about the explosion until yesterday. It was just an update from our district leader. It was kinda weird because we just move on and keep working. There's actually a rule in multiple places not to discuss politics ever, so we just gotta be obedient and we'll be safe.

Other than that we've been having some good times. Here's some stuff from President's email:
"The rest of our week was great. We taught a great family yesterday, and they are very open to the Gospel. We taught them the restoration with a member, and it was a really good lesson. The spirit was there, and I got to be a bigger part of the lessons than I have been in the past. I'm glad that I can progress and help others to progress as well. We're teaching the family again on Thursday, and we're looking forward to that.

Another great person we could teach this week was Szabolcs. He's investigating out of curiosity right now, but as he feels the spirit he'll come closer to Christ and want to be baptized. We had a really good lesson with him, and it was really cool to see how the principles of How to begin Teaching that Elder Seamons and I have been practicing help him. We've really seen our studies have an impact on those we teach."

I just want to share with you the importance of understanding God's plan for us. I've been reading in Genesis about the story of Joseph in Egypt, and at the end of the story, he talks about how his brothers sold him for evil, but God changed it into a good so that He could save Jacob's family. What really stood out to me was that Joseph had suffered a lot because of his brothers, but because he understood God's plan for him he didn't become bitter. He could move on and keep following Christ. I want to learn from his example and accept God and His plans for me.

Even when we have hard times, if we trust in God and His plan, we don't have to worry.

Sok szeretettel,


Elder Terry

Explosion in Budapest

We received this email from the mission president Sunday morning.  I wasn't too worried because Riker isn't serving in Budapest but it's a nice reminder of how the Lord is watching over His servants:

szabadkai.jozsef@ldschurch.org Sunday, 25 September 2016 Dear Parents and Priesthood Leaders, Last night at approximately 10:30 PM, an explosion occurred in the Oktagon area of central Budapest. At the present time, it is impossible to know exactly what happened and why, with reports on the Internet and Social Media claiming everything from a terrorist attack, to a stunt by the government to increase response to a referendum vote scheduled for next Sunday. Early reports claimed the blast was due to a gas leak and completely unintentional. It may be several more hours before accurate information is released by credible news sources. There are no missionaries stationed in the area of the explosion and the two missionaries living closest to the Oktagon area were unaware of the blast until being informed by their Zone Leaders earlier this afternoon. All Hungary Budapest missionaries are safe and accounted for. I have no additional safety concerns for our missionaries as a result of this development. Authorities throughout Europe have been on heightened alert for terrorist attacks for many months now and Hungary is no different. Our missionaries are continually reminded to follow the safety procedures outlined by the Europe Area Presidency and are in compliance. Just last Tuesday (coincidentally) a mission wide emergency drill was conducted and our missionaries responded extremely well. As additional information becomes available, I can assure you we will take the necessary steps to insure that our missionaries are as safe as they can possibly be. Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Szeretettel, Szabadkai elnök