Elder Felipe Gonzalez's Missionary Blog: Week 16 in Békéscsaba

Hi!

First of all, I plan to Skype at 9:00 a.m. Toronto time from the Howells's home.This week we "killed" Elder Shepherd, which means that he finished his mission with us. He packed on Tuesday and we held a farewell party in the branch for him. On Wednesday we went to Pest and we met with Elder Knight who went home with Elder Shepherd. Then we went to Érd to visit grandma. She was very happy to see me and it was a very uplifting experience. I showed her the photos I took when I went to Hőgyész and Kalaznó in March doing family history research, especially the photo of the house where she was born. She knows many names that were engraved on the tombstones so she told me many stories about those names. It was great to be there and I felt very good.

We did not have a lot of lessons this week, but there is a new investigator who met the missionaries while he was working in Germany. Now he lives in Békéscsaba. He had many questions about our church and the mormon lifestyle, and after answering our questions, we taught him about the restoration and gave a tour of the church building.

Sunday was a good day. The Howells said their farewell talk. I translated for Elder Howell and a sister in the branch did it for Sister Howell. We then held a teacher's council meeting during Sunday school. After church, I did some tithing settlements. The whole thing was a very good spiritual experience and it was so good to see changes in people's lives and also to see true repentance.

We did a lot of service this week. At church, we collected food and we took it to some homes on Friday night. The people who benefited from this donations were very happy and it was so good to give. On Sunday, we took the blankets and hats made by the Relief Society sisters to the local hospital and gave it to the children who were there. Let's be the light of the world!

Merry Christmas!

Elder Felipe Gonzalez