Week 53

Wow, Week 53!!!!

Where is time flying!? I cannot believe this. I still remember the day I left home like it was yesterday. The memory is still engraved in my head. I have specific memories still in my head of my MTC days, first transfer in the country, second, third, all the way up to now! And besides me being terrible at my journal at the beginning of my mission, I have the memories written down. I hope that one day I will be able to share them all with you:) This week has been craziness. I hope that I am able to write all of it down. Well, here I go!

Monday: So we went over to our new converts home and visited with her and her granddaughter. Well, in a quick summary. They are doing... ok. The gma is having a hard time trying to help a young 12 year old girl grow up and the 12 year old girl is having a hard time with no parents. Both parents of the girl are not there for her at all. It is truly sad. After this program, and when we finally got home at night, I started saying prayers intensely for this situation to get better and for them to find something to help the situation get resolved.

Tuesday: So we went tracting out in the middle of nowhere basically, thinking that these homes have probably never been tracted before. Right, that is a good train of thought. So, we started knocking on these doors, and it was raining of course during the whole thing, and no one came to the door. So, we started walking back to the city center to meet with a new woman. Well, on the way there. It started pouring rain! Like hard!!! It was quite funny, because we both had umbrellas, but we still got really wet! Then we had this program with this woman, and she said she knew that everything we taught was true and stuff, and that she loved our church. But that she cannot come to church because she cannot leave her dog home alone. So, we are trying to figure out that situation... Ugh.  Then we went to the branch house and met with S, our 14 year old girl of awesomeness! We talked about the For Strength of Youth pamplet! It was a good overview, and then we even opened it up and read some:) Then we taught english class, and let me tell you. English class was crazy today! We had a ton of people show up, and they were all pretty loud too. Ugh, it was rough but fun:) Then we met with S, our 24 year old girl. She is super cool too. But in the lesson, she expressed to us how her best friend's husband just died in a car crash yesterday, and how the family and her best friend are really having a hard time with all of this. So, we talked about the plan of Salvation, and went into a little detail of where he would be going, and what is going to be happening. Then, at the end. She asked me if I would say the prayer, and after the prayer, I looked up, and she was definitely feeling something at the end of it. It was really powerful. We gave her Alma 40 to 42 to read. I hope that it helps. Then we went over to one of the member's homes here, and she has never cut hair before in her life. But, I told her I NEEDED a haircut, like ASAP. So, she looked up a couple youtube videos, and went for it. It turned out ok, if I do say so myself:)

Wednesday: We went tabling, and what do you know, it starts to pour again. I hate the rain. So, we waited it out, and then went back out. Well, Elder Watson and I split up a little bit on the street. We were not too far from each other, maybe like 20 meters or so. And then the next thing I know, I look over and he is next to the window of a van, and the guy in the van is yelling through the window at him! hahaha, I kept watching, and Elder watson put his ear to the window, kept trying to communicate, and the guy was doing signs and yelling the whole time. Well, Elder Watson comes back smiling, and tells me the guy would not roll down his window, and he was yelling through the window that he had a Book of Mormon already. Elder Watson said he tried to tell the man to open the door or the window, and he just kept going. hahha, I thought it was super funny to hear about! Then we went tracting, and we tracted into a super nice guy. He is a 20 year old who plays for the soccer team in Győr. He is super cool, the only difference is that he was not too terribly interested in the whole religion thing. More of the English was better to him. Then, I got a call that took us to the branch house. There was apparently a woman there that was asking for translating help from the missionaries. So I went in there and it turns out that this woman was filing for financial help from the Jews. All the stuff on the paperwork was in English and she needed me to translate it into Hungarian for her. It was rough. Ugh. hahahaha, i have never used some of those words before in my life in English neither! Then we went to hang out with a member and his 6 buddies. We played basketball with all of them and then talked to them about the church and why we are here. They are getting more and more interested in the whole thing. I am super happy about what will be happening with them in the weeks to come.

Thursday: So, we woke up in the morning and went and shot some baskets. Well the good news is that Watson helped me out a ton. He helped me with my shot, with some good moves to help make me better and stuff. He is a stud. I love him to death. Then we went streeting/tracting for like a couple of hours. Well in the midst of this, Watson led us to a part of the city, and then did not know what to do. So he asked me, and then I led us a little further and guess what! We were blessed with the chance to meet this super good guy who was watching his young boy play in the playground. Turns out the guy is a pizza chef and said he would give us a free pizza if we can help him with his English and talk more about the church. So, we are looking forward to that meeting sometime in this next week:) Then we met with S again. She is having a hard time. She is now starting to realize how hard it is to find good friends in this world. So, Watson paid for us to go out to dinner and stuff, it went well and she started feeling better too!:)

Friday: We went and shot some baskets again, and then we went to district meeting. Well, I taught a little about the Spirit, and how important it is to receive personal revelation on the mission to continue this work. Then we went out and told ourselves that we were "master streeters", and we stopped like everyone, even in the awkward times, and it worked really well:) Then we went and met with M, our convert. Now, if you remember from earlier in my email, last time we met with her was Monday. And I started praying super hard for them. Well, when we got there, it was incredible. Her husband and her just talked to us for like ever about how we are such good examples to their granddaughter and how they have seen a change in her. The husband started asking more questions about the Mormons, and he said many times, I like the Mormons:) I like them the best. So we are going to start trying to teach him in the future:) it was super cool!

Saturday: We had sport day like normal. And it was super funny. A couple of the brothers that come to sport day, were on one that day. They were like yelling at each other and stuff. It just made me realize how grateful I am for my brother, and our relationship. I hope it continues to grow and get better and better. Then we went over to S's home and made some muffins with her and her family, and also got haircuts. Well Watson got one, and then the mom looked at my hair and said, "we need to fix this..." so I got it even shorter!!! hahahaha, it was great. Then we shared a message and left:)

Sunday: It was a super good sunday. I do not have a lot to say about this, but I will say this. My companion Elder Watson got up and bore his testimony about how important missionary work is, and then right after him, one of the members who we meet with to help him prepare for a mission got up and did the same. And man, I was feeling the Spirit super strong, and to top it off, we sang "Tudom, hogy a Megváltom él."(I know that my redeemer lives) It just shot through me, and gave me shivers and made me smile the rest of the hour:) It was incredible!:)

So, that was my week. It was full of fun experiences, and I cannot wait to find more and more for this next week! I love you all, and I wish the best for you all!:)

Nichols Elder