Week 29 in Békéscsaba

Hi!

The wintry weather came back. Monday was nice but by the weekend it was cold and rainy, and today the snow covered the ground.

This week, we taught on topics such as moral purity, the atonement of Jesus Christ, and scripture reading. We also helped a church member enter her family tree in familysearch.

On Wednesday there was a mission tour where Elder Paul V Johnson, area seventy in Europe, and his wife came to give us some training. Two zones attended this conference. They provided many good advises, for example, Sister Johnson said that when we talk about Christ in our teachings, a much stronger spirit will be present. Elder Johnson's instructions on different ways of teaching were also very valuable. That happened on March 15 but since we were on the train and on the mission home for a long time, we did not see much of the street celebrations that were going on that day. Of course we saw were many Hungarian flags, some demonstrators, etc. At the Keleti train station there was a large group of Polish people who came to support the government here and shouted "Ria, Ria, Hungaria” . They were giving away free beer but we did not drink. : P

On Saturday Márton, the 8 year-old boy, was baptized. Many church members came to support him. Elder Szuch baptized him and László and I were the witnesses. I had never been a witness to a baptism before, so it was a new experience for me. Because he is a child of record (mother is an active member), that day we gave him the gift of the Holy Ghost, and I confirmed him. Then we ate sweets and cleaned the chapel for Sunday. Even though it wasn’t a convert's baptism, still it was a nice spiritual experience.

On Sunday after the meetings, I conducted some temple recommend interviews and gave some blessings, so this was a week full of  blessings. :) We visited a member who had not come to church for a while and was a bit sick.

As closing, I would like to finish my email with a Hungarian saying: "Ha már lúd, akkor legyen kövér!" —“> If it is a goose, then let it be a fat one!” :)

All the best,

Elder Gonzalez

Men in Black—From left to right: Géza, a new member who recently got the priesthood, Elder Gonzalez, branch leader, Karcsi, a member returning to activity, and Elder Hicks, senior missionary