Dunaújváros Week Fifteen (Week 87)

....and this time two years ago: I opened up a thick, white envelope in my living room, surrounded by friends and family members, who were all starting wide-eyed and silent. I was as nervous as it gets. When I read "You are assigned to labor in the Hungary Budapest Mission", I felt my body like...tingle. It was a strange sensation. But, I knew in my heart that this is where I was supposed to go. It was a long four months of waiting afterwards until I could go, but then I "crossed 900 E." in Provo, UT, took a deep breath, and...well, the rest is history. Here's to TWO YEARS of Hungary being a part of my life!  

We had a good week! We were in Budapest for Mission Leader Council with President and Sister Smith and the APs. We talked about goals for 2015, especially the Baptism Goal. Our goal this year wasn't reached, and so we debated about a new goal. President had us vote once, and the numbers were all over the place. He then stopped the debate, had my companion say a prayer for help on the matter from Heavenly Father, and then had us think hard of what we thought this mission could do. President then had us vote again. Still no common answer, but the Spirit was strong, and the range between the numbers dropped a ton. He (President) then looked at the board in silence for a good minute. We all just stared at him. He turned and said that 180 (a few off of the average) would be good. When he asked for a sustaining vote, everyone raised their hands. It was so incredible. We went from debating and almost breaking into different voting groups (you all know I'm all over the analyzing of the voting blocks ;) ) to coming together and supporting one number. It was super cool! I know that that number seems small to other missions around the world, but that's above average for our mission. It'll push us, but we can do it!  

Mikolás came! That is, Hungarian Santa! He comes on December 6th and gives the good kids chocolate in their shoes and a bundle of golden sticks to the naughty kids. I have no idea what ever happened to just "coal" in shoes, the Hungarians have to be a little more elaborate, which is super fun. Mikolás gave Elder Raymond a massive Milka Oreo Bar. He must've been a good boy!

Have you all visited christmas.mormon.org? It's SO cool! Our mission is using this thing like crazy, and "He Is The Gift", or in Hungarian "Ő az Ajándék!" it's freaking awesome guys! We have these little pass-along cards that get to hand out, and this amazing video online that talks about Christ's birth. It's such a blessing to be able to use this stuff, it makes teaching a lot easier. :) 

Cool moment: I don't remember if I talked about this or not, but we tracted into a guy a week or two ago and gave him the survey. We asked him if he could ask God any question, what would it be? He thought a moment, and then said he would ask Him nothing. That was surprise. We asked why. He said: "Because I don't want to mess up anything in my life that He has planned for me, but I guess when this is all said in done...I want to know if He's proud of me." We were able to tell him that yes, He is so, so very proud of him and that He wants him to be happy. It was a cool moment. The work is kind of going a little hard right now, lots of people leaving the city for the holidays, but moments like these I'll cherish for a life time. It's hard to explain the things I felt when he said that, but I KNOW that Heavenly Father is proud of His children. We're not perfect, and He knows that, but when we succeed with simple things in life, He's excited for us and just like an earthly parent, He's very, very proud of us. 

More importantly, He's proud of you. :)

Well, I typed a novel again. It's just getting worse and worse! Have a great week everyone! Lots of love from the city by the Duna.

Sok Szeretettel,

Elder Giacalone