Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Believe In Miracles!!!


So this past week was super incredible!  I sent the voice recording so that will have most of the big things in it so I will write about those and some of the other cool things!  SO...



One of our investigators from a part member family told us this week that she is going to be baptized.  She is really excited and we are really excited for her!  We asked her if we could do it on the 28th of October, however, her father (the one who is going to baptizer her) is working every single weekend this month and would not be able to come.  So we set it for early November (the 11th) and it sounds like it is really going to happen.  They came to the Sisters' investigators baptism and they loved it (when the man being baptized was baptized he stood up in the font and put his hands up in the air like Rocky and goes "SUCCESS" in Hungarian, it was awesome).  They also came to church and loved it.  They made us American style pancakes and they were super tasty!  



The other investigators on our street are also doing super amazing!  We were able to meet with them a couple of times and we were able to talk about the Book of Mormon and the importance of gaining a testimony of it.   She says that when she meets with us she feels this absolute, incredible feeling!  She has started to read and likes it.  She started to get emotional as we were discussing baptism and said she would pray about it. 



We were able to go to Szeged this past week on an amazing exchange!  I was able to work with Elder Graham from Colorado who is such a hard worker.  It went really well and I really like to go on exchanges with Elder Graham.  



We were able to have a really great Broadcast last night from the European Presidency and from Elder Ballard.  Elder Ballard talked about how we need to believe in miracles and expect them to happen because the Lord needs them to happen.  Elder Ballard shared a story about how one time he was in Ethiopia and it was a drought and he commanded the sky to rain and it started to downpour!  He said it rained every day that week.  He talked about how the best way to show our love to the Lord is by inviting those around us to hear about the Gospel.   He said we need to find joy living this gospel and that we should be going to church with smile on our faces.  He said the miracles start on our knees as we plead with our Father in Heaven to know His will and asking Him for the help to fulfill our duty.  It was a really amazing talk! I do love this work and while I am imperfect I sure am trying so so so hard!  The Lord honors those that honor him and one of the biggest things that I have come to know on my mission is that the miracle comes and the answers to questions come after we have gotten to work and at the times we do not expect it.  I love you all so much and hope you have an amazing week!



Gentry Elder 

Monday, October 9, 2017

Tovább, menjünk tovább!


We sing that line in the song called to serve (it basically means onward, we go onward!). So congrats on the wins this past week, it sounds like it was a successful week back home.  It was a good week over here on this side of the world as well, we were able to meet with a lot of really great people and were able to get 3 new investigators.

One of the things that we are really focusing on right now as a mission is using the white boards that president ordered for everybody.  We have been using them to talk to a lot of people about family history and people really seem to like it.  Every time we have been going we have been getting like 8-10 potential investigators and it really seems to be working well.  We were able to set up meetings with 2 people that we found while white boarding this past week.  One of the investigators is a girl that is about 20yrs old.  She is looking for direction in her life and I think comes from a little bit of a rougher home situation (which is interesting because she is a really sharp girl that loves reading Charles Dickens and Jane Austin books, haha, I told her that my mom likes those kind of books as well).  Then the other new investigator we found white boarding is a person that lives in a beautiful village named Szentendre (I am totally going to take you all to this village when we come back and visit, it is so beautiful and cool). She was not super religious but had many questions regarding God and why we are here on the earth.  She said that her life is quite frankly miserable and she wanted to know why God would send us to a world where we are just here to have misery.  We talked about how God will consecrate all of our afflictions for our gain and that the purpose of life is to learn, progress, and grow (ultimately to have joy)!  Kind of like a school, if one has the outlook that it is just going to be miserable then it will be miserable, however, if one sees it as an opportunity to learn and progress and grow then it changes the outlook. In Szentendre we were also able to get another new investigator.  She met with the missionaries in the past and was thrilled to meet with us again.  We spoke a lot about the Holy Ghost and what will happen after this life.  She is really kind and we are excited to be able to talk to her more this upcoming week.  

We were able to go on daily exchanges this past week and I was able to work with the one and only ELDER LEAVITT.  It was really fun working together and I had one of the busiest days of my mission.  When we started the exchange, I totally forgot about one of our teachings (I felt really bad but the people were ok with it, we moved it to the next day).  We were able to have a member who is preparing for his mission come to 4 teachings with us from 11:30 until 5 at night (we owe him, he was a big help).  Elder Leavitt is doing well and is a really great missionary.  

So our part member family is doing really well.  We had to cancel one of our teachings with them because we did not realize that the dad would not be home, when we got to their house and realized that there wasn't a male home so we had to move it to Sunday (they understood though #blessingfromobedience).  Yesterday we brought the member that baptized them 9 years ago and they gave the mom a blessing that was sick.  The dad had probably not given a blessing in more than 5 years before last night.  Their non member daughter is doing great and is reading from the Book of Mormon.  We feel like she could be baptized this transfer! 

Our other family is doing well.  It’s great to see someone so ready and who feels the spirit so strong when she learns about the Gospel.  She loved church this past Sunday and President said the he would love to hold a baptismal interview with her if we feel like she could be ready before the end of the transfer (we will see).  

I hope you all have a wonderful week!  I love you all so much!! 

Sok szeretettel, 

Gentry elder 

Translating Gospel Doctrine into English



Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Well this church is true!!!


Wasn't conference just so amazing?!?!  The chance that we as latter-day saints have to hear from living Prophets and Apostles is something that is truly spectacular.  This is truly the living church of Christ and I have no doubt about that.  Jesus Christ is the head of this church and if we obey him and serve him by keeping his commandments then we will be preserved and prospered and he will use us for good.  I love how much our church is centered on serving.  Not only service in the sense of helping to clean up after a hurricane but service in the fact of loving our fellow man, loving our God, and loving our families and then giving it all that we have so that they too can feel the joy that we feel from living this gospel.  God needs our help to move along this work and he will qualify those whom he calls.  He asks us to stay worthy, keep His commandments, study His word (especially the Book of Mormon), and have a daily conversation with him in prayer.  This church is true and I know it to be true because I have experimented upon the word and it works! And the experiment upon the word will always work (100% of the time) so long as one is humble and willing to apply the constant nourishment to continuously improve one's faith.  It is so true and I love this gospel! 



It was a good week for us, however nothing too crazy to report.  We are meeting with our great part member family with their daughter that is really interested in learning about the gospel.  They came to conference and really loved it.  



One or our investigators that we thought was making great progress has basically dropped us which is kind of sad, however, he is not humble enough to experiment upon the word.  Humility is such a big part of this work and if someone is not willing to be humble then they will not receive a witness of the truth.  



We had some great meetings with another of our investigators that plans on continuing to read and study and pray and he’s doing well.



We also found an amazing family that lives on the street of the branch house.  It is a mom a dad and a little girl (9) that has autism.  The mom came to conference and loved it.  



Sorry the emails have been short, I will make it longer next week.  I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!!!



Gentry Elder