2017. november 27

Sziasztok!
We have had a busy time since the last p-day, a lot of fun stuff happened.

On Tuesday after emailing we went and visited a relative of Elder Murphy's home teacher. She was a really nice old lady, she runs a pin shop in downtown Budapest, but over time the shop turned into a museum. She has a lot of really old pins which was fun to see. After chatting with her, we went to the Hungary National Museum, which was a lot of fun. I haven't been in a museum for a while, and it was a lot of fun to see some cool things about Hungary's history. It's a really cool country and the Museum was fun to visit.

On Tuesday evening we visited Erszébet, one of our investigators. Our lesson with her was really cool. An hour before we met, some kind of family problem came up, and she was really worried about it. When we asked if she had read the chapter we assigned her last time (Mosiah 4), she said she had, but we felt like we should read it again together. So we did, and after we read Erzsébet said that she found the answer to her question. Later, when I talked to her on the phone, she said that she was able to solve the problem the next day. So this lesson was a great example of the power of the Book of Mormon. Also, one of the members with us, Tibor, made a really good analogy, that when we live our lives and face problems, it's like we are walking in a valley. We can't see a lot of stuff because Mountains (problems, worries) block our view. When we read the scriptures, they take us to the top of these mountains and we can see how to solve the problems that we deal with.
Long story short, this was a really good lesson.

On Wednesday we had a lot of time for finding. It was a lot of fun, and we tried to use the time as well as we could. Finding has been a struggle recently, but we are working on it. In the evening we had a lesson with Alex. It was a fun lesson, and apparently Alex and his brother talked about us a bit, and his brother was interested, because he (the brother) called and referred himself. He lives near the west border of Hungary, so we won't be meeting with him, but he sounds really cool.

Thursday was a really busy day. We had district meeting, and after district meeting we had a Thanksgiving lunch. Elder Murphy and I made some turkey and palacsintas, and the other companionships made mashed potatoes and other foods, and then we had a delicious Thanksgiving lunch together. Later we met with one of our investigators who's been really sick, and we gave her a blessing. Giving blessings is always a cool experience, although sometimes it's really scary to do in Hungarian. But things always work out. Anyways, after that we had English class and game night. That was pretty much our whole day.

Friday we had weekly planning, then we visited Krisztina and her family. We talked about the Plan of Salvation, and it went pretty well. We've been teaching the Plan of Salvation a lot recently, so we're getting pretty good. After the lesson we met up with the Kispest Elders, and I went to Kispest with Elder North. We went to an MCM, and after that we spent some time finding. We even talked to some people on the public transportation, which was a lot of fun. It can be super scary, but I learned that you just have to do it and then it gets better.

Saturday we were on exchages for almost the whole day. We had lesson with a man who really likes the Bible and has a hard time accepting the book of Mormon. We talked about that for a while and then we shared the Christmas Initiative. That was a lot of fun, the video is super good and it really helped the conversation focus more on Christ. After that we had some quick meals and then we had a training with a seventy, Elder Homer. He was visiting Budapest last weekend, and he offered to give us a training. We talked about how to work with members and how to recognize the spirit. It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot.

Yesterday we had church, a long MCM, and after that we spent some time finding. In the evening we visited one of the members here. His name is Zsolt and he invited us over for dinner earlier that day, which was super nice. He made us some really nice food and we had a good time talking with him. We talked about the Christmas initiative with him and it was a fun time. Then we hurried home to make it home on time.

We had a really great week, and our self-reliance topic for the week is Persevere. It was a good topic to study, because it connects really well to the topic of Enduring to the End, which is really important. One of the most important things that I learned is that it is important to keep a positive attitude and just get to work. Nothing really improves or changes if we spend a ton of time worrying about things. We just have to get to work and strive to make things better.

Also I took some pictures. Some are of the area where we live. One is of the Museum we visited. One is of Elder Murphy and me, and one is of Elder Willes.

Szeretettel,

Terry elder

Elder Willes

National Museum

Elders Terry and Murphy

2017. november 21

Sziasztok!

We had a pretty busy week this week with lots of good times and more than a few lessons that fell through. We also had MLC and Zone conference, so it all balances out.

Last Monday we played volleyball as a district. It was a lot of fun, I haven't played volleyball since we left the MTC. It was a lot of fun, then in the evening we got dogged and spent some time finding, tracting and streeting mostly.

Tuesday we had the weekly phone call with President Szabadkai, which was a lot of fun as usual. Then we spent some time on the computers in the branch house using Facebook to proselyte and then we went white boarding. The white boarding didn't work out super well, no one really stopped to listen to us which was frustrating. Then we had an exchange with the other elders, I was with Elder Willes and we worked in his area. We had a pretty good time, we went hardcore on finding and found a few PI's within a few minutes of leaving the apartment. Then we went tracting, totally lost track of time and ended up having to change our plan because we spent more time finding then we meant to. It all worked out though and we had a great day.

Wednesday we were still on exchanges, and the morning went well. We streeted an old couple and talked with them for a while, which was fun, but unfortunately they weren't interested. After the exchange Elder Murphy and I had an interesting lesson with someone. We've been using family history to find people to teach, and this was one of the first times someone met with us off of it. Unfortunately, he just wanted help doing family history, and we couldn't really help him that much. We passed him on to the members that work in the family history center, hopefully they'll work something out. After that we spent some time finding, got some food from one of our investigators, Veronika (She's super nice), and later we visited some recent converts, Attila and Dora. They are doing great and we had a great time visiting them.

Thursday we had a bunch of meetings. That was basically our entire day. We had district meeting in the morning, and after that we went to MLC in the afternoon. MLC was a lot of fun, we learned a lot of new things and we got to talk with the Stake presidency a bit. After that we hurried over to the branch house and had a lesson with Zsolt. It was a really good lesson. We talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon and had a good time with that. We also shared President Monson's talk from April general conference and asked Zsolt to read the Book of Mormon every day. It went really well and he said he would try to read every day.

Friday we had weekly planning in the morning. Weekly planning is really important, and for some reason it always takes a really long time.  Once we finished we spent some time finding, did dinner and language study and then we headed out to the 17th district for a lesson with Ági. It was a really great lesson, the member present, Gábor was super great. Ági is doing really good, she has a calling and has been working really hard on that. It was great to meet with her and see how well she is doing. After that we streeted on the way home and that was our day.

Saturday we had a bunch of lessons, which was a lot of fun. One lesson fell through, which was super annoying because we'd already spent 20-30 minutes trying to find our way to the investigator's house. Then we tracted in the area. Budapest is so big, there are so many out of the way areas that Missionaries have probably never been to. It's crazy how many people live here, and it's crazy how few of them we can actually talk to. Anyways, after that we had a few lessons, for two of them we watched the Restoration which went well. It's super useful to watch to review the restoration. It's fun to watch in Hungarian now that I understand most of what the people are saying. After that we had a lesson with Katalin. She's super great and Tibor came with us. Tibor is awesome, he came even though we invited him Saturday morning and he didn't have much warning. The lesson with Katalin went well, and then Elder Murphy and I hurried home.

Sunday we had a bunch of meetings again, we weren't able to do much else. We had ward council, church, MCM, we had a to cancel a lesson which was sad. Then we met up with the Sisters and discussed our zone training. After that we had some time to find, then we did numbers and planned out our training.

Yesterday we had Zone conference, and that took up most of the day. we did some studies before it and then we had some time to find afterward. It was a great meeting and we learned a lot of useful information. We gave a training on Chapter 11 of PMG, giving commitments, and I think it went pretty well.

And that is a super long summary of our week. We also did some self-reliance stuff, this week's topic is Communication: Petition and listen. It was a fun thing to practice. We worked on listening to each other, not interrupting and then trying to help out. It's a super useful skill for missionaries because we talk to people all day. We also meet a lot of people who really struggle with this, i.e. they don't let us talk and we don't really have a conversation. It was a really cool skill to work on and we had a great time with it.

Szeretettel,

Terry elder

P.S. Here are some fun pictures. We live in a 10 story building and we went to the roof one day. We have a great few of Budapest, I took some pictures, but they didn't turn out super well.

Also, we have an exercise ball in our apartment and elder Murphy had a fun time on it.

2017. november 13.

Sziasztok!
We had some great times this last week. The weather has been getting colder, and there wasn't too much sun, but we still had a great time.
Last Monday we went to Hero's square and found the statue of George Washington, that was a lot of fun. We went with the other Elders, Elder Jameson and Elder Willes. It was a good time. After that we met with our landlady because the mission is trying to take better care of the apartments, following which we spent some time finding.

Tuesday morning we had our weekly phone call with President Szabadkai, he gave us some good advice, and afterward we had a lesson with a man named Péter. He lives right next to us, and it was kinda funny to walk out of our building, and then go over to his and visit him. We had a good lesson with him, we shared the Restoration. After the lesson we had MCM with Krisztián, it went well. After that we met up with the Secrataries and had an exchange. Elder Fisher and I had a good time together. We're in the same group, so we knew each other from the MTC, but we haven't seen each other that much. It was fun, and we had two lessons, one with a néni named Erzsébet. It went really well, she finally read from the Book of Mormon, and it helped her a lot. She's been struggling ever since her husband died, and the Book of Mormon gave her some comfort. After that lesson, we met with Alex, and we watched the Restoration. It was a lot of fun, the lesson with him went well too. Elder Fisher did a good job.

Wednesday we had a fun morning and we had some time to go Whiteboarding. We went near the university and tried talking to some people. Whiteboarding is getting harder because the weather is cold, and standing next to a board doesn't really help you stay warm. After that we met up with Elder Murphy and Elder Bloomer, and then Elder Murphy and I had an interesting day. We had two lessons planned in the evening, but both of them fell through, so we ended up spending some time finding we took some cinnamon rolls to some members. Elder Murphy and I are trying to work with members better, and the key to that is to give them some food. Fortunately, Elder Murphy is really good at baking.

Thursday we had a fun time at District meeting. The topic was actually working with members and we had a great discussion. It went really well, and hopefully we'll all be able to apply what we talked about. Also, we've been doing this online course about using technology appropriately. It's a fun course, but the missionary actors in it are super weird sometimes. After district meeting we had studies and some finding, then we went to angolóra and afterward we had a lesson with Krisztina and her family. They are still having a really hard time financially, but they are doing slightly better. We gave them some encouragement and a spiritual boost, and the member, Józsi, who came with us gave them some great advice.

Friday we had a lesson with Zsolt, we talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It went really well, and Zsolt asked a lot of great questions. He seems more happy now than when we first met, and I think he's changed a bit, which is really cool to see. After the lesson we had weekly planning, and then we met up with the Assistants for an exchange. Elder Gentry and I had a couple lessons. One of them was with a cool guy named Patric (I think....) His dad is from Ghana and his mom is from Hungary and he's the only black man I've met that speaks Hungarian. He's really cool and a big believer in the importance of religion. He's really promising and I hope we can meet with him more. After that lesson, Elder Gentry and I met with a less active who's having a hard time, but the lesson went well and the member, Béla, was able to help her out.

Saturday we spent some time on facebook and then we went whiteboarding. After that the exchange ended and Elder Murphy and I had dinner with some members from Győr, the area elder Murphy just left. It was a lot of fun and afterward we went finding and helped a member from Buda find the stake center.

Sunday was a lot of fun. We had stake conference, and everyone had to come to Budapest because they didn't broadcast it. This means that we could meet with members from previous areas we've served in. It was great to see them all again, and Stake Conference was really great. The stake president, President Southwick, gave a great talk about following the prophet and reading the Book of Mormon. It was really great. After that we talked with members for a while and then we had some lessons fall through, went finding, and had MCM. It was a really fun day.

This week our topic for self-reliance was becoming one and working together. This topic works super well with missionary work because we are always in a companionship, so it is really important for us to work together. I also think it can be super useful for non-missionaries. One part of it was realizing how others can help us and accepting their help, which I think is really important. A lot of people don't like to accept help from others, which just makes things harder for them and deprives others of the opportunity to serve them. So my invitation for all of you is to try to help those around you, and if someone offers to help you, accept their help!

Szeretettel,
Terry elder

Here's a really cool picture of a monument near Heros' square. I have no idea what it is for.

2017. november 6-a

Sziasztok!
We had a lot of crazy things happen this week. It was super busy and we got a lot of good stuff done.
Last Tuesday Elder Leavitt and I had a goodbye dinner at Attila and Dora's. It was a lot of fun, they made some really food. It was kinda sad though because Elder Leavitt was leaving.

Then on Wednesday we had transfers, I said goodbye to Elder Leavitt and Elder Murphy and I came back to Pest. We had a pretty busy day. It was a holiday (All saints' day = Mindenszentek napja), and everything was closed. We spent almost the entire day finding, which worked out well because we didn't have that much time the rest of the week.

Thursday we had district meeting. We have a good district this transfer. Elder Jameson and Sister Tischner stayed. Elder Willes is the new district leader, and Sister Huhtala is new too. This is the first transfer where I've known all of the people in the district before the transfer. It's kinda fun. We had a good district meeting, and afterward Elder Murphy and I inspected our apartment. The mission has had some problems with apartments recently, so we are working a lot harder on keeping our apartments clean and nice. Elder Murphy and I are going to meet with one of our landladies today, which will be fun.

After the inspection we went shopping, and then we had a lesson in the branch house before English class. The lesson went well. We met with Zsófi, Elder Leavitt and I streeted her a few weeks ago, and we finally managed to meet. The lesson went well, and we are going to meet with her again next week. After that we had a good English class and game night, and then we had dinner and that was the end of our day.

Friday..... we went to the immigration office. We have to do this at the start of every transfer, and this time it went pretty quick. We got there at around 9:45, and we left at about 12:00. Last transfer it took 4 hours, this time it took a little over two. After that we had lunch and did some weekly planning, and then we had a lesson with Ági that went really well.

Saturday we finished up our weekly planning and had some finding time. Then we had a lesson in the branch house and afterwards we had a thanksgiving party. It's a few weeks early, but we had a good time. We had a bunch of investigators there, and they had a good time getting to know church members. It was a good activity.

Sunday was fun. We had a testimony meeting and after church we met with the new bishop. He's really cool and I really like him. I'm excited to work with him. After the meeting we had two lessons fall through, which was sad. In the evening we had numbers and dinner.

We had a pretty great week. Later today we are going to visit Heros' square and elder Murphy wants to buy a new suit.

Our topic for self-reliance this week was solving problems. It was a really good principle and there was a cool story about realizing what the real problem is in a situation. Elder Murphy and I are working on solving some of the problems that come up in missionary work more, and it's been going pretty well. The book mostly talks about identifying the problem and then coming up with ideas to solve it, picking the best one and getting to work.

Well, that was our week, and I attached a picture of Elder Muphy and me.
Szeretettel,

Terry elder