Friday, May 23, 2014

Into the Unknown (May 20)

Well, the time is finally here! I will be a senior companion and a district leader! A strange feeling knowing that I will no longer have an older person to look to if I forget something or dont know how to move on or other things. But I am also very excited for the opportunity. I know that this will help me grow a lot, and it will give me a chance to help more people more often. Also, my new companion is from Germany!! I am so excited to serve with someone from outside the country!! :D hahaha. Considering all my past comps were American! 

Things are all-around going super good for us. Kinda been a crazy week, with us going to Budapest for interviews for the day--and what an absolutely terrible day that was hahahahahaha-- and then Friday we were in Győr the whole day for a zone meeting. So our week was kinda crazy and we didn't actually get a whole lot of time in our own city lol. But then we had English class on Thursday. Well we set up with this one lady to meet outside of English class so we could help her with english personally. (we offer to meet with people outside of English class, we just take half the time to talk about the church and what not. super good finding tool!) anyways we met with her and she is super prepared! I mean i dont wanna jinx it, but she seems wayyyy awesome, very religious and very willing to listen. Heck her and her husband sometimes argue over who gets to read the Bible!!! hahahaha, so crazy. :) so we will see how that goes! And it came at such a weird time-- i mean right before transfers and everything.. pretty crazy! so they might be our golden investigators! the lady is bringing her husband on Friday to meet with us! so just remember--when we wait on the Lord and let it be up to Him--then we get we need! It was seriously such a great experience, and after such a weird week! Haha.

Our investigator Erzsi is also doing very well! She will be baptized on May 31 for sure! She has her bap interview next Thursday, then Saturday I will dunk her. :) hahaha. I think she is smoking still, but luckily, she has worked a lot, which means she is either working or sleeping, with no time to smoke! :D hahaha.

Have a great week! Love you all! :) 
Sok szeretettel,
Flake Elder
  so a few weeks ago, we went out onto the Fő tér (main square) on the day after Easter and saw a few bunnies! this is me petting a bunny. :)
  good ole Flake Elder. :) arent i pretty? ;)
 a cute little dog with broken? legs. haha one of our little friends. :) 
 my companion, when we were in Budapest for interviews, we stopped for lunch at Gringos Amigos, a mexican place that is based totally off Cafe Rio and Costa Vida, and was opened by a few Americans and other Hungarian members here! Such a cool place! And their sweet pork slald is to die for! :D haha.
  my lovely pork salad. :) 
 my companion making some onion rings! 
  back in the day with our 3some! good ole Sterri.. 
 the good-looking Sopron and awkward-looking Elder Flake haha.
 3-some. doing.. something haha. 
  Oh and there were goats also at the little Easter petting zoo hahaha.
 the district when we went up to the Tűztorony (fire tower). 

Rough Riding (May 12)

Well, this week was kinda hard. We had about 8 people dog us. Or 8 times people dogged us, 3 of which were from the same lady!! haha. But, its okay. we found some really cool people once again, and the work is always moving! Sometimes it doesnt feel like forward, but it definitely is moving! haha. 

So this Saturday, we had a baptism! It was the branch president's daughter. As part of the baptism, I played piano, like usual. Except for this time, it was a song I had never played. And that is apparently very hard to play..! haha. So it was kinda rough.. BUT it was overall a sweet experience, and my piano-playing abilities can only get better, right? Well, let's hope so haha. We also had our first real Sport Nap here in Sopron! Well, first since I have been here. We played basketball. Now if you know me, you know that I do not love basketball. Mostly because I am terrible. And apparently, the same goes for my companion. So we played 2 on 2 and the end score was something around 30 to 1. Hahaha, lets just say basketball is NOT my sport. :) 

But things are going well. This week will be interviews with the president, something to look forward to, and then we have transfers next week. I wonder who my next companion will be...! Only time will tell. :)

Well, I love you tons! Enjoy the week, and the beautiful things that God has blessed you with. I know He lives, and you can too! So go! And figure it out. :) 
Sok szeretettel,
Flake Elder
 that dork they call Flake Elder. :)
 we have some good ole Hungarian graffiti. haha. I love how they use English, even if that is probably the only few words they know haha.
 we have a beautiful view of the city Sopron. :) love that clear sky! also love how it can go from kinda cloudy one day, to pouring rain all day the next, and then totally clear skies today!! hahaha
 one more of that one weird kid you all know. :)
we found a little snake while tracting!

End of the Three-Some Reign (May 6)

Well, it happened! Our 3-some was split up. It was very sad, but I guess this is what the Lord wants. It was an "emergency transfer", thus called because someone was transferred without it actually being transfer time. It was sad to see him go, but I know he will still have a good time in Érd, where he was transferred to. 

Other than that, though, I was very pleased with our week this week! We found a lot of people who want to meet! We may have even found a golden investigator. I don't want to jinx it, but I feel like she is really ready for the gospel. 

Well, the work moves forward. It is amazing to see people come to Christ. In fact, we are even having a baptism at the end of this month! Erzsi is coming to church at 9 o'clock, even if she works from 6 pm the night before, all night until 6 am the next morning. She is our rock.
 
Well, happy May!! And happy Mother's Day!! Love you all a ton! :) 
Sok szeretettel,
Flake Elder


that is me and Waldvogel and Daniels, waiting to bowl. By the way I got 3 place with like 92 points hahaha.
   last day with Sterri selfies. :( We'll miss you!!  
 This super awesome park we found, with a mini zipline!! haha.




 A shot of Sopron from the park. What a pretty city. 


 Classic mirror selfies.

Week of the Conference (April 28)

So this week was really good!! We found quite a few people to teach, are working hard with our current investigators to move them forward, and have even found a less active member who wants to come back! What an amazing week!

Erzsi, our nurse investigator, is officially set on being baptized! She is planning on August, though also says that she is free in July and wants to move it forward. It is hard with her family being in Debrecen, which is on the other side of the country, probably about 6 hour train ride away.. But! nevertheless, she wants to go through with it and be baptized. :) 

Our other investigator, Linda, had a super neat experience at church this Sunday, which also happened to be the district conference. So during the conference, the windows were open. And none of the windows had any kind of screen or the like. Actually, I dont think Hungarian windows have screens.. Anyway, so we are sitting in this conference, and enjoying the talks and everything. When suddenly, there comes through this open window a little bird. And it flies around a little and lands on a wood beam near the ceiling. Needless to say, there was a lot of noise at this point with people laughing and what not. So the poor bird gets all flustered, and flies around some more, looking for a way out. So it comes out into the congregation of people, and flies up near the ceiling, then looks like it is getting tired, and starts to fly lower and lower until it is about to fly right into my face! So I hurry and duck down without even thinking. But then Linda reaches her hand out and just catches it. Right out of the air! And no one can believe what just happened, they are just laughing and awestruck. Even Sister Smith, who was speaking had to take a minute to collect her thoughts haha. And then, when Linda caught the bird, she just smiles and says "Szentlélek!" Which, to all my non-Hungarian-speaking friends, means "Holy Ghost!" Hahaha, so Linda had quite the little miracle on her hands, and got to feel, almost physically, the Holy Ghost!

Well, that was our week. Hopefully you all have a great week. Love you tons!!

PS that is our two investigators, Linda on the left, the bird whisperer, and Erzsi on the right, the bap date! And Sterri Elder on the left. What a stud. 
Sok szeretettel,
Flake Elder
 Elder Waldvogel and I found a dirty old couch. and decided to lay all over it and look like dorks hahaha.
I wrote on the white board. Then my companion, Elder Waldvogel, wrote "He is right" in Hungarian haha. Also, that is a new tie I bought for 600 Forint! Awesome deal and awesome tie. :) PS dont worry, I erased that and put that "Sister Daniels is awesome" later haha.