2017. február 13-a

Sziasztok!
This week has been a super busy one. As far as lessons go, this was the busiest week of my mission. That was a lot of fun. It's been really great to teach people the gospel. We had a lot of new investigators and had a really good time.
Most of the people we met with we've only met 1 or 2 times. One of the was Érnő. He's in his 50's and he's had a lot of health problems, but he has got a ton of faith. He's been being taught for about 6 months, but his health has been preventing us from meeting with him. Because of that, we've only met with him 3 times this transfer, but we taught him the Word of Wisdom on Sunday. After we told him what it was and what it prohibited, he told us, "I have to stop drinking coffee then." He didn't try to get around it. Once he know what God had asked him to do, he decided to do it. I'm excited to work with him again, but unfortunately, it'll be a few weeks because of his work.
Other than that, we had a lot of good times and the members helped us a lot. We had a little branch party for Farsang (some kind of holiday) and half of the people there were non-members. That was really cool.
This is the last full week of the transfer, so next week, I'll be emailing on Tuesday. It's gonna be a great week!


Sok Szeretettel,
Terry Elder

2017. február 6-a

Hello!!

This week was a pretty good one. We met with some former investigators that we called from the Area book. That was fun. We taught the restoration a lot this week. We also have some former investigators set up for this week, so it's gonna be another great week.
Tomorrow we are going to Kecskemét for interviews. I'm actually super excited to go back, even if it is only for a few hours. It's pretty good.
We met with some other folks this week. Mária is doing okay, but she got Joseph Smith's answer that there aren't any true churches on earth. So that wasn't fun.
We had some good times this week, but I don't have much to say.
Also, I learned the word for Lightsaber in Hungarian. It's literally light sword, which is a little boring, but now I know. Also, I learned how to say "May the force be with you."
Things are going good. Elder Pulsipher and I are working hard, doing our best.
We went to a falu (town) called Újszász. It was pretty fun. We had a miracle because we had no idea where we were, and we were looking for the address of a church headquarters referral. We picked a direction, walked, took a turn and found the right street and house really quickly. That was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the referral wasn't home but we got a better phone number for him. Sort of...
Anyways, we had some good times.
The members here are really awesome. They really love helping us, which is a lot of fun.
In conclusion, Things are going well. We've got some good times coming.

One of my favorite scriptures is D&C 6:36 "Look unto me in every thought. Doubt not, fear not." I've thought about this a lot recently because sometimes being a missionary can be scary, but I know that as we focus on Christ, there won't be any room for doubt or fear. We will be able to do what He would have us do. So stay focused on Christ!

Sok Szeretettel,
Terry Elder


P.S. this picture is of a church in Újszász. Enjoy.

2017 január 30-a

Hello!!!
The sad news this week is that I finally slipped and fell on the ice. I fell. And Elder Pulsipher just laughed at me. We were walking in a parking lot and I just stepped and some really slippery ice and didn't even have time to catch myself. I just slipped and then I was laying on the ground.
In other news, we met with Mária this week, with the branch president. It went really well, and she read from the Book of Mormon. And then at the end she told us she'd prayed about coming to church and heard a voice say, "Don't go among them." So for the time being, she won't come to church. We're going to keep working with her though and help her get a new answer.
Other than that, we had a worldwide broadcast for missionaries this week, and it was really good. They changed key indicators and the missionary schedule. So that is a lot of fun.
We had a good week. and this next week will be a fun one.

The Spiritual thought for this week comes from my personal study today. I was reading D&C 123 and the last verse really stuck out to me. It says, "Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."
I've learned that it is really important for us to do whatever we can, and then stop and stand still and see God take over. There are a lot of things that each of us can do, but we can't take away people's agency. We have to do what we can, cheerfully, and then turn the rest over to God.

Sok szeretettel,
Terry Elder

We cut wood at a members house with the branch president. Good times.

2017 január 23-a

Sziastok!!

This week was a good one. We had zone training on Wednesday, which was a lot of fun. It's always fun to go up to Budapest and learn some good stuff.
Unfortunately, we had a hard time with lessons again this week. A lot of the male members in the branch were unavailable to help us, and since we need males a lot of the time, we weren't able to meet with people. It was still a good week. I'd just like to encourage you all to seek out the missionaries and offer your help. Members really are super important.

We also had a great time Sunday. One of the speakers fell through, so the branch president asked me to speak. That was a lot of fun. I got to talk about member missionary work. It was a good opportunity.
I'd like to encourage all of you to take some time to consider how you can help the missionaries where you live. You all can do a lot of good work, if you'll take the time to consider how you can help.

We have some good times planned for this week. It's gonna be a great one.

Sok szeretettel,
Terry Elder

This is from his letter to the mom:

I learned a lot about making choices this week. I learned from one of our zone leaders that you can pretty much change anything. He told me a story about how people told him he'd hate carbonated water, so every day for lunch in the MTC he drank carbonated water until he liked it. So from small things like that to bigger things, a lot of things are within our control if we will just act. That's something I learned. I kinda accepted that I don't like talking with people or certain situations are awkward, but as I've decided to change, things have been better.

2017 január 16-a.... Nős vagy?

Hello!
This week was a sad one. I had to change my ring from my right hand to my left hand. I've been asked 3-4 times since I came to Szolnok if I was married, and I was asked again this week, so I changed my ring over to my left hand. It's very weird and sad. (The title of his email is "Are you married".  In Europe you wear your wedding ring on your right hand, not the left.)
In other news, almost all of our investigators this week dogged us, except one. So that was fun. We went to the Pékség a lot. Good times. The investigator we met with was Mária. She's doing good, we just have to take things slow with her.
This week we had Splits in Szeged, and I was with Elder Szerdi, who is probably one of the most interesting people I've ever met. He's crazy, but awesome. I learned a lot from him and it was a really fun split.
Other than that, we just partied it up. Did the Lord's work. It was a lot of fun despite being dogged for days.
We did some service in a handicap place and that was a lot of fun. I really liked it, and it was fun to do some service.
Other than that, we've got another exciting week coming up. We have zone conference, so we're going to Budapest this week. That'll be fun. And we are going to party all the time.
Sok Szeretettel,
Terry Elder

Elders Pulsipher and Terry

Doing service

2017 január 9-e

Hello!
This week was a fun one. We had a ton of appointments set up going into the week, but a lot of them ended up falling through, which was really annoying. But we still had some good times.
We taught Mária again this week, which was good. She didn't read which was sad. It's so annoying sometimes because we meet with people and tell them how important the Book of Mormon is and commit them to read it, and then they don't read it. It's kinda frustrating sometimes. But, we're learning how to help people keep their commitments and come closer to Christ.
We also had some fun times finding people. We had a pi from a transfer ago let us in and we shared the Book of Mormon with him and we set up an appointment to return to him later this week.

This morning during personal study, I was looking through some of the markings I've made as I've been reading the scriptures and I came across this one in D&C 34. It's Christ talking to Orson Pratt, and I really like it because I feel like it applies to missionaries.
"3..Wherefore you are my son;
4 And blessed are you because you have believed;
5 And more blessed are you because you are called of me to preach my gospel—
6 To lift up your voice as with the sound of a trump, both long and loud, and cry repentance unto a crooked and perverse generation, preparing the way of the Lord for his second coming."
I just wanted to share my testimony that if we follow the example of Christ and try to become like Him, we truly are His sons and daughters. We can help the world and cry repentance.

Love,
Elder Terry

We fed some ducks today and some mean swans tried to beat us up.
Other than that, it snowed one day. That was fun.
Also, this was the coldest week of my life. I almost froze to death. The end.

January 2, 2017

2017 január 2-a

Hello!
We've had a great start to a great new year here in Szolnok. I got a headache at 9:00, so I was so done by the time we were done planning. They had a ton of fireworks go off at midnight, which was kinda fun, but it made it hard to sleep.
This past week was pretty fun and we had some time to find new investigators and whatnot. We actually have a ton of lessons set up for this week, so it's going to be a great one.

As far as stuff that happened, we had our first lessons with Mária this transfer. She's a catholic lady that Elder Pulsipher and Elder Ribar found last transfer. She's super nice and very open (she's meeting with the Jehova's witnesses too!). We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ and gave her a soft baptismal invite, which she accepted. It was a really cool lesson, and we're going to meet with her again this week.
Other than that, we set up a lot of lessons and had some random other stuff happen. We went to a new year's party and had a great time. We had to come home at the normal times and we couldn't party, so we just went to bed. Then I got up at Midnight and took a picture with Elder Pulsipher. Good times.
As far as the pictures go, they are just of random stuff here in Szolok that we saw. We had some party times, took some new years pictures.

I read Jacob 5 (mostly) this morning, and in verse 22, the Lord of the vineyard says "Counsel me not".  It is a really blunt statement, but it's true. The Lord knows more than we can as people, and He knows what is best for us. We should accept his direction instead of trying to Counsel and direct Him.
This is gonna be a great year!!!


Sok Szeretettel,
Terry Elder

Pokemon stickers on a door!

The Tisza river that runs through Szolnok.

I don't know exactly what it says...Google translate says, "killed in action WWII" (even though the first dates are earlier).

 

and this side says, "the heart can not take as much blood shed in vain and tribulations as many faithful bosom torn by the Honer". I am taking it to be a tribute to the fallen soldiers of war.