Monday, November 25, 2013

The Days are Short, and the Snow Will Fall! (Nov 25)

For those that arent familiar, I have lived in Arizona my whole life, in a place that doesnt see snow. period. So my whole life, I have been dying to see snow, live in it, watch it fall, satöbbi. I mean, I have visited snow a few times, going camping and as a day trip. But never really enjoyed it. But the time has come. It was snowing this morning on the way to the email place!!! I was so beyond excited. :) It is definitely getting colder, winter is coming, and along with it SNOW. :) 
Well, that was pretty much the highlight of the week. Other than that we had an investigator get married!! Very exciting! He is on bap date for the 10 of January, so that will be very exciting! 
Well, happy Thanksgiving to all those in America! Hope your endless amounts of turkey are yummy!  
Also, Christmas is coming soon!! I love this time of year. :) As we think more about the Savior, let us remember why He did the things He did for us, and let us show that in our lives to everyone around: the pure love He has for all men. 
Well, have a great week!
Sok szeretettel,
Flake Elder


some pics! sorry i didnt take any, these are from my zone leader, Elder Nabrotzky, a Canadian! 
















Monday, November 18, 2013

The first week of the 3! (Nov 18)

This week was lots of good. :) Not a whole lot of bad, although what is bad when you get to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with people every day?!, but all around, tons of amazing, yet little, miracles. This week we didn't do a whole lot. We went tracting and found a guy who is pretty interested in English class and possibly the gospel. But when we were talking with him, he asked how we got in. We said "well the door was open. is that not normal?" and he said "well not really. just shut it when you go out."and when we went out, we realized that the door was locked, and it would have been impossible for us to open that door. Well I really don't know what  will happen with this guy, if he will even be interested in the gospel. But it was so neat to see how the Lord can make little yet powerful miracles happen right before our eyes to help His children. And this is just one example of many. 

Overall, the work is going great. We have 4 investigators now planning and preparing for baptism, and that is a neat feeling to have. :) Other than that, the tripanionship has been lots of fun!:) Living with one other elder was interesting but now with 2? Yeah, it will be an adventure. :) 

Well. I love you all. Remember why you decided to follow God and try to be like Jesus Christ. Then make a resolution to do even better. Because, that is what He wants. And that is how we experience the best happiness and most blessings, when we do what he wants. 
Sok szeretettel,
Flake Elder
 Here is us with our WHIPS!!! they are so cool, and I am actually getting pretty good!! Elder Cutler is from Idaho and Elder Hansen is from California, Yorba Linda (Wow, that didnt make sense. Man, my English is getting terrible)
here is the view from the Tisza bridge in Szeged. at about 3:45. yeah, it gets dark FAST here haha.  

Another transfer week? (Nov 12)

Yep, we have another one. It feels like just yesterday I was leaving Kecskemét and coming to my second area, Szeged. but it will be a good transfer! I and Elder Hansen are staying together, and I will be killing Elder Hansen. But! we are also getting a new companion! Elder Cutler will be coming here! And this will be good! :) I am excited for it. 
Also, this week we had the neat experience of inviting a family to a specific date for baptism! They are a great family, a mom, Anita, dad, Tamás, 10 y o daughter, Vanessza, and 6 y o son, Kevin. They are excited to be able to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized! And we are excited for them. 
Other than this, not much exciting happened. We did, though, meet with an investigator, Ati , who is the coolest kid ever! He hasnt even been baptized yet, because of a Law of Chastity problem, but has decided to serve a mission! He is 24, so he will have to hurry with his decision about baptism, but he is going to be such a great elder!! He has even gone finding with us, talking with people on the street, and I can just feel how much he loves this gospel and wants to share it with everyone. :) 
Well, hopefully all is well back home. Love you all tons, and I pray for you nightly! And dont forget that you have missionaries close by you, and they are always excited to help. :) 
Sok szeretettel,
Flake Elder

This is me, my comp Elder Hansen, my new Uni of Szeged sweatshirt :), and Ati! the coolest kid ever. :) this is right after our weekly soccer game!


this is us with Laci (another investigator, pronounced Lahtsee) and Elder Miller, from Salt Lake City, our zone leader! Really great guy. :)  

Week of the Dreaded Phone Calls! (Nov 4)

Another good week! I think all of my emails start out that way. :) But it was! It was kinda hard, with so many hours and so few people to meet with. but! we are changing that! This week we got 5 new investigators! All of them were people we met on the street who were potentially interested in meeting with us, who I called later and set up programs with them! And yes it was very scary to call people, especially since I have been in Hungary for 3 months! But it was such a good feeling to know that I really am capable! I really can help people, even when I don't understand everything they say! 

Other than that, our week was pretty typical. Lots of time finding (tracting or streeting) and not too many programs. But! This week coming up looks a lot better. :) We are gonna rock it! 

Well, have a great week! Enjoy your November and the colder weather! 
Sok szeretettel,
Flake Elder
 quick throwback to last transfer! Elders Decker, Erickson, Jones and Sisters Fowers and Hinckley. 
 bridge over the Tisza, means "City center bridge"
 one of the many treasures of Szeged, beautiful buildings! This is right in front of our street where we live. 
 some szegedi beauties! 
gotta love it here. :) this is in the belváros, or city center, called Széchenyi tér. very pretty! 

Another week, another city! (Oct 28)

Well, this week was fun! It started with moving cities, which is always so much fun, and ended with talking to people on the street with one of the coolest investigators ever! :) The in-between was kinda lame, looooots of walking and lots of people to talk to. :) I also have a newfound confidence in this language! not by ANY means am i where i want to be, and i definitely dont understand everything. but! i understand so much, and everyone that hears me talk tells me that i am doing really well and that i am even above average! that was a good feeling! haha. but i know it cant go to my head. besides the only reason it is working so fast, and coming so quickly, is because God needs someone to be able to communicate with His children the way they understand it. while it is fun to speak Hungarian, and I am so glad I am able to speak it, it is about so much more than me and my pride. I am here to help these people draw closer to Christ, and that is why God has given me such a talent for speaking. 
Also, we met quite a few people that saw us on TV the other week, and wanted to meet and learn more about us! Super awesome to see the many ways our Heavenly Father is spreading His word. :) 
Well, the work is moving along! And lots of people to talk to. 
Have a great week!
Sok szeretettel,
Flake Elder

Transfer Week! (Oct 22)

Always a bittersweet week. This transfer, I found out I am leaving Kecskemét...! It is super sad to go, especially because we just had some ofthe coolest investigators ever start to meet with us. But, sadly, the time comes to leave. I cant even describe the feelings I have. I am so sad to leave, especially my first area, where I started my mission, and where I fell in love with the people and the language, and just everything. I am also excited, though, to go to a new place, this time Szeged. It is a super pretty city, Ive actually been there a few times on splits and what not. And it will be good to get a change of scenery for me. So it is sooo bittersweet! But change must come, I guess.
This week, though, has been really good! Kind of boring, nothing out of the ordinary, but good! We met with some people and are doing good at finding people who really want to meet with us! Or at least trying haha! Although one fun thing--I am pretty sure I drank alcohol yesterday! An old néni came out and gave us some "sweet grape juice". My companion was a little wary, but I didnt fully understand wat the lady was saying, so I didnt know to be wary. So my companion had me try it first, and boy was it strong! It wasnt necessarily a burning, but it was certainly stronger than a little grape jiuce! So that was a fun experience for me haha.
After that, life has been a little crazy, trying to get ready to leave my little town of Kecskemét. Well, Szeged, here I come! This will be quite the change..! But with God on my side, nothing can go wrong. :)
Sok szeretettel,
Flake Elder

The Week of Miracles! (Oct 14)

This week has been something special!! It started out with a Family Night with some members and an investigator, and it was so fun! We played some games, ate some food, and had a great time! The next day, we went out and moved some wood for some very very old investigators. (see picture, and that is my companion, Elder Decker) And it was not the most fun thing we could be doing. But it was worth it, and good to do service! 
We also had a very nice miracle. :) We met a guy while we were tracting. His name is Robi. Well, he came up to us. He asked us what we were doing, and then proceeded to ask us a ton of questions, who we were, what we believe in, and why, etc. And we didn't go knock on his door or go up to him--he came to us (in fact, we already knocked on his door, and the people who answered said they weren't interested!). And he was so prepared and ready to hear the message of the Restoration. He is already doing as much research as he can on us, and talking to everyone he knows about it! It is so neat to finally see someone who is ready to hear the gospel, and willing to work for it.He also watched some thing about us crazy mormons :) (I know you dont actually understand it (its okay, neither do i), but this was on prime time tv in hungary on the biggest channel, right before x factor! haha, super cool! Hopefully we have more people asking about us!!! 
http://videotar.mtv.hu/Videok/2013/10/06/12/A_sokszinu_vallas_2013_oktober_6_.aspx  ) It is the little miracles, that take so much effort for us to see sometimes, that make it all worth it. And I have seen so many miracles!! 
We also met with a member, András, who brought his friend, Csaba, to the church so we could teach him. And it went so well! Csaba, the investigator, was very open and willing to really try out the church and see what it does for him. And he had his friend there, which was so great for him! If every member brought just one friend to the missionaries, or even just talked to them themselves, it would be amazing how many people we could help find God and His love in the world we have today! (Because lets be honest, in todays world, a lot of people are missing God, and need His love!)
Well, another week has flown by! Take care! Know that I love you and God loves you and wants the best for you, so listen to Him! 
Sok szeretettel,
Flake Elder

Just a scary, superrr old, shed of an investigator. he is the investigator who we moved wood for.