Kispest Week 13 (week 103)

End game. Vége.

I'm writing this email with a heart overfilling with emotions. The past days have been insane and all over the place. Ups and downs.

On Saturday, our investigator family was baptized. Oh.My.Amazing. It was like all the stress and work of the past three months with them culminated in a two minute ordinance and it was over. Just all over. I confirmed the mother on Sunday during church and life was just perfect. The Bishop stood up and publicly called me out and said "On behalf of the Kispest Ward, I would like to thank Elder Giacalone for his service in the Hungary Budapest Mission. He will be greatly missed" and then they sang "God Be With You Til We Meet Again". Thankfully I was sitting in the far back row with a brand new investigator, who was probably freaking out by then, so no one really saw that I was crying into my planner and telling the people around me that I had an eyelash in my eye. 

Our last transfer call came this morning. It was from President Smith. He asked if I had been informed of the April Fool's Joke of me NOT going home and staying to continue! Honestly, it didn't even occur to me that it today is April Fool's! Also, turns out we are getting white washed by another set of elders, so we get to go back home, BOTH of us will pack, and then clean the apartment and make sure the investigators are taken care of. Should be a party, but I'm always down for a party :)

So tomorrow I head up to the mission home to drop off my bags and then go with my last companion for 24 hours, Elder Neely (smiles all around) and say goodbye to all our mission friends and make our way back to have our departing interview with President Smith. After that...I don't know what will happen. It's all up in the air...haha, get it? Up in the air? LOL

Today I'm grateful for my mission. The past twenty four months have been the hardest of my life, but they have been so, so very worth it. Every single investigator was so precious, every hour of tracting in the cold in nasty ten stories worth it, and every desperate prayer was heard by Heavenly Father. I've come to love the quote by Ugo Betti "To believe in God is to believe that all the rules will be fair and there will be wonderful surprises". I've learned that when we are obedient and keep the commandments we receive blessings, and that in the end that's all He really asks of us. He really wants His kids home, you know.

I love Hungary. Goodbyes are so hard. But, the other side awaits. I'm ready. Bring it. I started my mission with the lyrics to the song "Lead, Kindly Light", and it seems appropriate to end it with the last verse:

"So long thy pow'r hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone.
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!"

I love you all! See you soon :)

Sok Szeretettel,

Elder Joe Giacalone (last time I can say that...)

Kispest Week Twelve (Week 102)

lf you could have a patronus, what would it be? Mine would be a Hungarian Pulli dog. If you don't know what dog that is, look it up! I guess there was one in a Dr. Pepper commercial, the Hungarians are going crazy about it. I WANT ONE SO BAD.

The members are really starting to let the referal gates open and we are getting so many new "legit" people to teach! Many people whose spouses are faithful members and hadn't been interested in the discussions are suddenly opening up to us! Heck, we even set a bapdate with one of them last week! Setting those kind of goals with our new friends are a strange experience by all regards, mostly because...well, I won't be here anymore :( but, it'll all be ok.

Last week we did a zone training on what we learned from zone conference. We "gathered the children together" and poured our hearts into this training. I sure do love my zone. I consider them my good friends. I gave my departing testimony in front of them.

That was weird...very weird. I cried. We'll leave it at that. 

Last week was so beautiful. I know it's hard to describe a week as that, but it really was. Everything that went wrong the week before it was made up for, sometimes even doubled, with what happened last week. The power of prayer, when coupled with obedience and working hard can do miracles. This is the Lord's work, and in the words of Elder Kearon "sometimes he signs His work". For example, we set a goal for two new baptismal dates last week. We got five. Five. Most of them I won't even be here for, but that's ok. It's a strange sensation seeing the work go forward...without me. :( :) ! ?

Elder Zwingli brought up from his personal study something that I really liked. He talked about the Council in Heaven before we all came down here and started this grand adventure and we chatted a bit about those who were "Noble and Great". During our lunch break we were in the city and we sat down on a bench overlooking the river and talked about what it meant to be Noble and Great. In the end we boiled it down to those who were Noble and Great were those that endured, those who went against the crowd and followed God's plan and those who set an example for their brothers and sisters to follow.. So my "dying" challenge to myself and to you all is to be just that, "Noble and Great". Because you all are.

This week is my last week in Hungary...mixed emotions. Scared, a little nervous, and excited for what awaits me next week. But...I get to celebrate my birthday this week!! Yay! I'll be 21! Holy ancient.

Love you all...see you later! Some of you sooner than you think :)

Sok Szeretettel,

Elder Giacalone

Pics

Weekly Planning got a little...cold

Walk in the park by the US Embassy

It's me and the Lion from the "Firework" music video....and Elder Zwingli's finger..

Planning a baptism

Kispest Week Eleven (Week 101)

As much as I love Hungary, I am not going to miss it when people yell at me for not wearing a jacket. Like, swearing and calling me an idiot. Seriously, why do you even care?? Haha.

We had Elder Patrick Kearon of the Seventy come and visit our mission last week! Oh my gosh guys, it was AWESOME. So spiritual and everyone was touched. He is such a charasmatic British man! He said "Fantastic!" like fifty times! WOO. He used a scripture from...somewhere in the Bible...about how sometimes we need to ask Christ "What Lack I Yet?". It was very powerful and made you want to just look into your soul and want to do better. After the meeting, the zone leaders met with him for a special MLC, and it honestly answered some questions that I had been having recently, not just about helping my zone but also about...the "after-life"...

People always tell us as missionaries that we're weird. Whether we are knocking on doors, teaching English class or stopping people on the street. In one of our programs last week an investigator said this after being taught the Plan of Salvation: "I really, really like this...but it sure is weird. You guys are weird, too!" We really are a strange people, and I think that missionary work can seem strange to people as well. But it's the BEST, most WONDERFUL work in the world. The Gospel can come off as strange, with it's many "do's" and "don'ts", but we know that it brings so much happiness into our lives.

Even Elder Kearon said this just last week: "We're strange, we're peculiar...and I don't think you know just how wonderfully strange you are."

I know with all my heart that this Gospel is true. I love being weird :) I'm sad that I only have two more weeks of full-time service as a missionary. I'm excited to go home, but also nervous, and tinged with a bit of fear of the unknown, but I've still got time left!

So...be weird! You've all got it in you :) and smile! It's a wonderful time to be alive.

OMG I almost forgot...we had to shovel COW POOP last week on a farm in the boondocks! Second time on my mission, folks!! 

Sok Szeretettel,

Elder Giacalone

Kispest Week Eleven (Week 101)

As much as I love Hungary, I am not going to miss it when people yell at me for not wearing a jacket. Like, swearing and calling me an idiot. Seriously, why do you even care?? Haha.

We had Elder Patrick Kearon of the Seventy come and visit our mission last week! Oh my gosh guys, it was AWESOME. So spiritual and everyone was touched. He is such a charasmatic British man! He said "Fantastic!" like fifty times! WOO. He used a scripture from...somewhere in the Bible...about how sometimes we need to ask Christ "What Lack I Yet?". It was very powerful and made you want to just look into your soul and want to do better. After the meeting, the zone leaders met with him for a special MLC, and it honestly answered some questions that I had been having recently, not just about helping my zone but also about...the "after-life"...

People always tell us as missionaries that we're weird. Whether we are knocking on doors, teaching English class or stopping people on the street. In one of our programs last week an investigator said this after being taught the Plan of Salvation: "I really, really like this...but it sure is weird. You guys are weird, too!" We really are a strange people, and I think that missionary work can seem strange to people as well. But it's the BEST, most WONDERFUL work in the world. The Gospel can come off as strange, with it's many "do's" and "don'ts", but we know that it brings so much happiness into our lives.

Even Elder Kearon said this just last week: "We're strange, we're peculiar...and I don't think you know just how wonderfully strange you are."

I know with all my heart that this Gospel is true. I love being weird :) I'm sad that I only have two more weeks of full-time service as a missionary. I'm excited to go home, but also nervous, and tinged with a bit of fear of the unknown, but I've still got time left!

So...be weird! You've all got it in you :) and smile! It's a wonderful time to be alive.

OMG I almost forgot...we had to shovel COW POOP last week on a farm in the boondocks! Second time on my mission, folks!! 

Sok Szeretettel,

Elder Giacalone

Beautiful Pest

View of Pest

Kispest Week Ten (Week 100)

I HAVE BEEN A MISSIONARY FOR 100 (ONE HUNDRED) WEEKS.

That is insane!

So this past week was full of heart-to-hearts. Some with investigators, some with members, some with other missionaries, and even some with my dear companion. I felt like last week was all about communicating and figuring out what people wanted or needed me to do to help them. We prayed a lot last week that we would know what Heavenly Father would want us to teach His children, and we knew He helped us a lot last week.

Last week we made some chicken noodle soup and wanted to bring it over to one of our investigators with a leg problem. We knocked on her door forever and her dog was barking like crazy, but she didn't answer. Sketch. So we figured that maybe she was in the hospital again, as she wasn't answering her phone calls either. Elder Z took Elder N to the nearest hospital to see if she had checked in there, and I took Elder N (there are two lol) and a member and we kind of just wandered around the neighbour hood for a bit until the member offered a prayer for guidance. Elder N said that he felt we should go back one more time. We started knocking and ringing her doorbell. No answer. Then something weird happened, it was like someone was standing by my shoulder and said "Say her name". So I started yelling her name like some crazy lunatic. The others were like "What are you doing?"...then the door creaked open super slowly and her face creeped around the corner. Turns out that she had been in the bath and hadn't heard anything until my voice came through her bathroom window. Awkward. I still don't know how she couldn't hear the bell, but we were just happy to get a hold of her.

So that was cool. We went up to Gellert hegy this morning. It's like a mountain (I would say large hill instead but whatevs) right by the Danube river. We took lots of pictures and I just stared at the massive city that lay stretched out before me. I really, really love this city. It's like my favorite area. Heavenly Father has blessed me with so much lately. I can't believe that I only have three weeks left! That's nothing! I have no idea what to even think about. Guess I'll just keep trucking along until I kick the bucket. That's all I can do!

BUT SERIOUSLY. 100 WEEKS??

Love you all. Life is beautiful and Heavenly Father loves His children. The gospel is here to help us be happy in this life and so that we can return to live with Him someday. I love being a missionary, and it's sad to think that it's ending. But, I'll keep going!

Sok Szeretettel,

Elder Giacalone