Weeks 16 and 17 in Kecskemét

(Week 16)

Hi!

This week we tried out a new finding method. Elder Allred can make origami birds and we wrote small messages on them like "you are wonderful," "prayer helps," or "God loves you." Then we went to the downtown area where we gave these paper birds to people. Many were glad to receive them and loved the messages. It was good to see people smile. We still have to work a bit on this finding method to start longer conversations (like writing questions on the birds), but it's a good start.

We had a sports day and young people came from the branch. We played basketball, soccer, badminton, and tossing an American football around. There was also a sprinkler and it was very good to run over it.

Halfway Through My Mission: A Letter to Family and Friends

May 25, 2017 (letter originally sent by regular mail)

Dear Family and Friends,

One year.  It's been a year since I've been serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's been a year of unforgettable experiences, little miracles, adventures, and learning.

I'm not much of a letter writer, but in this letter I'll attempt to tell you about some of the things I've learned and experienced on the mission. Hopefully this doesn't get too boring for you, but if it does, take a nap. I won't mind. And remember: this is just a hundredth part!

It seems like a long time ago that I left my family behind and boarded a plane to get to the MTC and the beautiful mountains of Utah. Time in the MTC just sped up and in three weeks I was done with the classroom study blocks and lessons, and was flying with my group to Hungary. There we were greeted by our mission president and his wife, and the Budapest missionaries—all of whom, by the way, knew that I was the elder Elder Gonzalez's brother (see the joke I made there!), but I of course was a greenie, didn't know who most of them were. Anyways, after a night in a hotel, I got my trainer and we headed up to my first city: Pécs.

Week 18 in Kaposvár

Hi!

I'm going to Kecskemét! My companion will be Elder Knight from Arizona. He is two transfers ahead of me. There are also two sisters in our district (STLs) and I will be the district leader.

First of all, I am very glad that I had the opportunity to serve here in Kaposvár with Elder Harris and then with Elder Phillips. While I have been here, I have seen changes in people's lives. There was a church member who used to have problems with the Word of Wisdom and tithing, but now he is preparing to go to the Temple. Many investigators were touched by the message of the restored gospel and read the Book of Mormon regularly. I learned a lot here and have good memories of Kaposvár. I am also happy that I have an opportunity to serve in a new city with a new companion. I think it will be a very good transfer in Kecskemét with Elder Knight, and I will learn a lot there.

Week 17 in Kaposvár

Hi!

First of all, there will be transfers next week. Tuesday will be our p-day.

During most of our teaching this past week we watched "Prince of Peace", the Easter video that the church put out through the mormon.org/hun website. If you haven't watched it yet, do it because it is great.

In our English class with the advanced group we held job interviews and they were good. We laughed a lot when people chose funny occupations like being a pirate.

Week 16 in Kaposvár

Hi!

The highlight of this week was General Conference. The talks were very good with uplifting messages. All of the sessions were filled with gold nuggets! My favourites were: Elder Rasband (Let the Holy Spirit Guide), Elder Bragg (Brighter and Brighter Until the Perfect Day), President Eyring (Walk with Me), Sister Jones (A Sin-Resistant Generation), Elder Hales (Becoming a Disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ), President Nelson (Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives), and Elder Choi (Don't Look Around, Look Up!). If you didn't watch all the talks but a couple of sessions, then I urge you to watch the rest of them! The World Report was also very cool.

Week 15 in Kaposvár

Hi!

Monday was a very special day for me. We went to Kalaznó and Hőgyész to look for the graves of my ancestors in cemeteries. We went by train from Kaposvár to Dombóvár. Then a bus took us to Hőgyész and another bus to Kalaznó for a total of 70 km. First we visited the Kalaznó cemetery and then the Hőgyész cemetery. I managed to find most names on the list that I had plus a lot of new ones! I was able to photograph great-grandma's house on Béke street.

There were many tombstones but I was successful in finding many names. I found about forty graves that probably belong to my ancestors! Some were missing the date of birth or death, but I also found many ancestors of whom I had not even heard before. There were also a few with photos on the tombstone. I am excited that my family will take these names to the Holy Temple to do the saving ordinances for them. This experience strengthened my testimony of temples and eternal families. These ancestors were people like us who also had successes and challenges. Unfortunately they were not able to learn about the restored gospel, but God loves us and gives everyone a second chance. So, now, as their offspring, we can perform the temple work for them so they can gain salvation. I am grateful for the plan of salvation and also for serving as a missionary in Hungary, the land of my ancestors.

Week 14 in Kaposvár

Hi all!

Today we’re going to Hőgyész and Kalaznó so I will be brief with this email.

On Monday we went to Krisna-völgy (Krishna Valley is a 260-acre estate in Hungary dedicated to the Hindu God Krishna where around 200 devotees and monks live), which  is a small village not too far from Kaposvár. Few people were there. Somebody took us around the church and we saw their statues, their paintings, and colourful walls. It was nice to be there and learn more about their religion. The tour guide called us “Mormon brothers” at the beginning.

Week 13 in Kaposvár

Hi!

First of all, I got President Szabadkai’s permission to go next Monday to Hőgyész and Kalaznó to work on my family files, so I am very excited!

On Monday, we had a family home evening with one of the member families and it was very good. My first family home evening in Hungary!

The zone leaders from Dunaújváros came down for splits with us this week and they were also there for our district meeting.

Week 12 in Kaposvár

Hi!

This week we said goodbye to the Petersons. They took us to a nice restaurant and gave us a lot of things that they couldn’t take home with them. Everybody here was sad that they were leaving. They were a great help to the branch and to the missionaries.

We taught the advanced English class this week. Not too many people came, so we played Uno with them to practice colours and numbers. It was great fun!

Week 11 in Kaposvár

Hi everyone,

Last Wednesday we went to Budapest for transfers. Elder Phillips is now my new companion. He is from Florida and a great guy. Elder Thomsen has also a new companion: Elder Murphy. I love my new district.

The big news this week was Dávid's baptism on Saturday. We went to the Hotel Kardosfa which is about 20 km from the city.  It is a very nice place in the middle of a scenic nature reserve. David's brother, Gábor, baptized him and it was very nice to see when Gábor baptized his younger brother. The next day Dávid received the gift of the Holy Ghost. I performed the confirmation and it was a very special feeling. The Holy Ghost was so strong then, and I felt so grateful for the priesthood which gives us, weak and imperfect people, the opportunity to use the power of God here on Earth. I am also grateful that the Holy Ghost help us feel Heavenly Father's presence. After the confirmation, we sang the song "I Stand All Amazed" and as the title says, I did stand all amazed. Then later that morning it was so good to see Dávid when he received the sacrament for the first time as a member of the Church. It was a wonderful day.

Week 10 in Kaposvár

Hi all,

First of all, transfer calls came today! I'm staying in Kaposvár and Elder Phillips will be my new companion. He is from Elder Harris' group. Elder Harris is going to Kispest. I am glad that I can stay here and I think that it is going to be a very good transfer!

We visited Brigi twice this week (she is Évi's mom and Magdus' daughter, I Skyped from their home on Christmas). We helped in their garden. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining, and it was pleasant to work on this service project. It was a good change from the typical missionary work.

Week 9 in Kaposvár

Hello!

This week we had interviews with President Szabadkai, so we went to Pécs. It was awesome to return to the city where I was ”born" and see all the cool places there.

During our English class we played a game called “Werewolf” (Loup Garou in French) and the people really enjoyed it.

On Saturday the branch had a musical night at church. There were a lot of songs, poems, funny tales, and members and visitors alike enjoyed it very much.

Week 8 in Kaposvár

Hi!

First of all, there won’t be transfers next week but on February 22nd. This transfer is 10 weeks long because the previous one was only eight weeks long due to Christmas.

Last Sunday the brother of one of the less active members told us that he wants to be baptized. We met with and taught him several times this week. His baptismal date is set for February 25th. He is 13-years old and started to come to church on his own. This is going to be very good also for his mother, his older brother, as well as for the branch.

Week 7 in Kaposvár

Hello!

Well, the big news this week was the missionary broadcast. The time schedule was changed, so we now have more time on P-days, a more flexible daily schedule, and fewer key indicators to report. I am sure that the missionaries in Toronto have talked a lot about it.

Elder Bednar spoke about how we should try to to share our message with more young people because we are of the same age and are looking for goals in life. I followed Elder Bednar's guidance and I talked on on the street with a high school student about faith and the purpose of life. We exchanged phone numbers and he said that he wanted to meet with us at another time. It was a very special experience because when I followed the advice of an apostle, right away it worked!

Week 6 in Kaposvár

Hello!

On Monday, during our P-Day, we visited an "escape room" called ParaCity. We were locked in a room for an hour and had to solve all kinds of codes, locks, and mysteries to free ourselves (which we succeeded at with plenty of time to spare!).

Elder Harris bought a board game called "Settlers of Catan" and we had a lot of fun playing with the other elders. I won the first two games. It's great that everything is in Hungarian!

Week 5 in Kaposvár

Hi,

This week was quite exciting! It finally snowed all day Friday and it did not stop. Fortunately, it was planning day, so we spent much of the time indoors. One day we rode our bikes to a program, so we were like Dad, riding his bike in the winter. Another day we shoveled the sidewalk of a church member. It was the first time that Elder Harris shoveled snow. (He comes from sunny California).

In English class we played Taboo and the advanced class really enjoyed the game. While knocking, Elder Harris and I once followed a friendly cat, and if it went in to a house we knocked there. We called it “cat finding.”

Week 4 in Kaposvár

Hi all,

This week was not as exciting as last week, but it was very very cold. With the wind at times it felt like –20°C. It is funny because everyone in the church thinks that this is nothing to me because I came from Canada. I think that some people really believe me when I make the joke that I live in an igloo.

Week 3 in Kaposvár

Happy New Year everyone!

New Year's Eve was very good in Kaposvár. A family invited us to have dinner with them. We played a game similar to Pictionary and I was able to come up with a few words in Hungarian that our hosts where surprised I knew. I learned that in Hungary people eat lentils at New Year's Eve to make a lot of money, pork to be lucky, and also they eat many wieners. (Tesco, the local grocery chain, had great discounts on wieners this week). At midnight, there were fireworks in the city.

Week 2 in Kaposvár

Merry Christmas to everyone once again!

It was very good to Skype with you on Sunday and it is always a big "morale boost." We talked about a lot of things, so this will be a short email.

We baked chocolate chip cookies on the 24th and we took them to the home of our investigators and members. Everyone invited us in and gave us a lot of treats, especially "szaloncukor" (Hungarian Christmas candy). We taught about the the birth of Jesus quoting from Luke 2. That night a member family invited us to a delicious dinner.

Week 1 in Kaposvár

Hello everyone!

First of all, it is official: I am serving now in Kaposvár with a new partner: Elder Harris (California). This is his second transfer, so I will help finish his training.It was a very busy week with lots of interesting things happening. 

On Tuesday we took the newly arrived missionaries out streeting with us and that is always fun. This group seems excited and I am sure that they will do well. One of them was Elder Saito, from Brazil, who was an exchange student in Budapest a year ago. He said that Miguel was the first missionary whom he saw in Hungary. He also read from my blog!