Szolnok-Week Two

Where I spend much of my life here! Tracting these big guys! My greenie magic helps us get in to the building, but then we have to actually ring in at the people's doors. We have this approach where we have a survey about life and families and ask people's opinions on them. It's been fairly succesfull and we've got in a few times! 

Joe's happy!!!

Our gorgeous table of love.

Tabling crew! Sister Oberhansley, Sister Grigg, and Elder Miller.

Eating gyros! It's a thick tortilla with BBQ chicken, lettuce, rice, and this yummy sauce stuff! Really good food!

Did you know grandpa is on LDS.org for some article he wrote about his conversion? He's famous! 

A note from the family:  Yes, we did know Grandpa wrote an article!!! When I, Heather, first met Joe and Ann (Joseph's grandpa and grandma) it was the first thing he showed me, his article in the Ensign.  He's very proud of his conversion.  He's a great man and a great example to everyone of loving as the Savior loves. 

Hey everybody! It's been two weeks since I left America. Super weird to think about that. The halfway point for our transfer is this Friday! Soon I won't be a super-new greenie! Yay.

So, lots has happened this past week:

We had a programme (lesson) with this fun kid named P. We watched the JS Restoration video with him, and even though I couldn't understand it in Hungarian, when the part where Heavenly Father and Jesus appear to JS I literally started bawling. It's the same Spirit, guys. No matter where you are, Heavenly Father's Spirit is still the same! Loved that moment.

So another fun moment of the week: we taught this part member family clear the crud out in the middle of nowhere over by the Romanian border. They hadn't met me yet, so I introduced myself and then the wife asked me what my parents did. So I explained that my dad was a doctor. She then asked what my mom did for a living. I told her that she had nothing, the word is "nincs". The wife got this super sad look on her face, and the husband looked really embarassed all of a sudden. I was still smiling and talking though, and then my comp leaned and said "Elder, you just said that your mom was dead." So, I said that my mom was dead in a lesson. Go me. 

Another fun moment of the week: I stopped this old "nani" on the street and asked if she knew about our church. She was all smiles and said she hadn't. I got really excited and started saying how we believed in God and Jesus and then suddenly her smile vanished and she started screaming "NEM. NEM. NEM." People started staring at me, so I just walked away from her! What else was I gonna do?! She went away and then CAME BACK TO ME. I was terrified, then she explained that her entire family had "been taken by God" and that He was evil. I didn't really know what to say, so I just nodded my head until she left. Super awkward.

Our first week out we hit the Mission Standard! I was super happy about that, and we got our names on the weekly email and everything :) We almost hit Super Standard this week too! But, our investigators didn't show up like they said they would to church, so we barely missed out on that one. So we've been super busy lately, and time is just cruising by! We got to the point where we almost ran out of Mormon Könyvek, or Books of Mormon. So we had to start rationing our supply of them! Pretty embarassing. Also, remember my one Facebook post about "bird milk"? IT IS DIVINE. It's this milk stuff and really sweet and this week it was ON SALE! Only 249 Forint (Yeah, the Hungarian currency ain't so strong right now)!

Fun story: the tallest apartment building in all of Hungary is here in Szolnok. After district meeting last week which was down in Kéksemét, we decided to tract it! 22 FLOORS LATER, and 3 hours of walking down flights of stairs, we arrived at our last door. A nice old nani answered the door, and we got talking with her. Sure enough, we are meeting with her again next Sunday. Funny how Heavenly Father works sometimes, but I will never question Him or His will for me.

I want to testify really quick about the power of prayer. Because of my circumstance (living with strangers in a foreign city, foreign country, buying my own food. No biggie), Heavenly Father has become my closest friend. When I wake up in the mornings, sometimes it is way hard to get going. One morning was WAY tough. I felt so homesick that morning for some reason. I tried to get my mind off of it during studies, but it wasn't working so well. So when my companion went to shower, I went over by my old dingy closet and prayed. I haven't prayed that hard since my first day at the MTC. Literally it felt like I was picking up my heart, full of anxiety and fear, and just pouring it out to my Heavenly Father. Then, I started crying. When I was finished pleading to my Father, my heart felt...full. It wasn't heavy, it was LIGHT. It was so full and felt healed almost, like someone had taken their hand and placed it right on it and just massaged it. I don't know, kind of weird to explain, but I DO KNOW this: He hears every prayer. He hears prayers when we walk down the street, before we go to school, or before we start a lesson in a strangers home. I don't know this language very well or these funny people, whose men sometimes wear short shorts when they go biking and you see a little too much, but I DO KNOW that God knows everything. We just gotta trust the captain.

I love you all and pray for you every night!

Giacalone Elder :)