Week Three!

Wow, so weird to write a 3 already! I coulda sworn I reported like yesterday.. haha. Well, this week was great! I have learned and learned and learned so much! I love being able to truly understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, and what it means to be a disciple of Christ! I don't by any means know all about it. But I know enough that I can follow the example of our loving Redeemer Jesus Christ and become a perfectly tuned instrument in the Master's hands, to touch the lives of everyone I meet. And being so close to my Savior has shown me what it means to truly love someone. Trust me, it is absolutely possible for the leaders of this church to love each and every single one of us. I have felt of the amazing love that God has for all of His children!

Two really sweet things were said to me this week that I haven't been able to forget. The first is that: "Well, it's Flake Elder, he just loves everyone!" A little background: So there was a group of Hungarians that reported 6 weeks before I did. They are called my Ösik, literally "the Ancients". They had been at the MTC for 6 weeks when I reported, along with a group of Finnish missionaries and Albanians (who got here a week before the other two groups). Well, on last Monday, the Albanians, all the missionaries going to Albania and learning Albanian, left the MTC to go to the field! Super exciting, but also sad that we were losing the Albis! The reason I make mention of them is that they are in my zone: along with all Finnish-speaking and Estonian-speaking missionaries. So anyway, when the Albanians left, we all signed cards to them. Well, this last Monday, the Ösik and the Finns left the MTC! That meant that my group of Hungarians were the only district in the zone! Well, when those two groups left, we signed cards once again. It was bittersweet to see the Finns go. But it was only exciting to see the Hungarians go! I mean I am going to see them soon in Hungary! :D So when we signed cards (I'm a bad storyteller I know, all over the place!) I made sure to sign all of them, cause I really loved them all! But later, one of the sisters was getting after the younger Hungarians for not having everyone sign the cards. She said that the only person to sign them all was me, Flake Elder. She said that when she talked with the Ösik about it, they said "Well, it's Flake Elder, he just loves everyone!" It was so awesome to hear. :)

The next thing said to me was "Just look at this guy, this disciple of Christ!" I can honestly say I don't know why this elder said that to me. it was after a volleyball game, and gym time was over. I was walking by one of the members of the other team, and said something like "You know Elder Vail, you are awesome!" I was just being me, saying that he was a really cool, and funny guy. Then he goes and tells me that I am a great disciple of Christ--shoot, I almost lost it right then and there. It was so good to hear that I am following my Savior. I absolutely love this gospel, and am so grateful for the knowledge I have of it.

So anyway, the language is coming great! Tudom, hogy Isten a mi szerető Mennyei Atyánk. És az engesztelésen keresztül visszatérünk Istenhez. Isten szeret minket és akarja, hogy boldog legyunk.

( I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father. And we return to God through the Atonement. God loves us and wants us to be happy.)

I love being around so many amazing elders and sisters. They are so fun to be around, and we always learn so much from each other!

Well, P-Days are short! Gotta go!

( the pictures: This is us doing TALL, Technology Assissted Language Learning. It helps, and you can hear how Hungarians pronounce Hungarian words. Super helpful to memorize phrases! The zone before most of them left. The Provo Temple)

Sok sok szeretettel,

Flake Elder