Best Birthday Ever!!! (This is from his Dec 16th email)

Hello my amazing family!  It was a great week this past week full of miracles, splits, conferences, and good food.

On Monday I celebrated the 20th anniversary of the day I was born!  Thank you for the great packages and I love the scarf (worn it every day) and the sweater (I wore it the day after).  That day the Szabadkais brought me a cake and sang happy birthday to me it the morning which was super nice of them.  After that we had to man the office while the secretaries went to the embassy (#birthday service #lighttheworld). Then we were able to order Mexican food to the mission home, went to get our hair cut (I taught my barber the Restoration and he gave me his number which was cool, I always talk to them and this time this one was interested), then we shopped, then we had a choir practice thing.  Then at the end of the choir practice thing a member came to the mission home with another cake for me.  We then went to a Chinese restaurant (there was not a male in the branch house so we could not go inside) and had cake and Chinese.  Then the best part happened when we taught Johanna that night!  We went over there really excited because she told us she had some good news that she wanted to tell both of us in person.  We go in and ask her what the good news was and she told us that after thinking and praying about it she wants to be baptized on December 30th!!!  We were so thrilled and it was the best birthday present ever!  We taught about the law of tithing that lesson and it went fantastic!  Johanna has such amazing faith and is proof to me that God is truly preparing the hearts of his children!  Later that week we were able to teach the Law of Chastity and about eternal marriage in the temple.  It was funny, she said, for two people who have never been married, you speak so highly and happily about marriage and the blessings it will bring.  It was nice to hear!  

The next day we were able to go on exchanges with the elders from the city of Dunaújváros!  I was with Elder Neumiller here in Buda and we had a really great exchange.  The week before, Elder Neumiller actually plowed through a glass door, however, he was miraculously protected from the whole incident and only walked away from it with a minor scratch and a head ache (when it happened I was the first one he called and I was not sure whether to laugh or be worried because he sounded fine on the phone, we have angels watching out for us that is for sure).  That exchange was great!  We looked up a family we found from Norway, and we were not sure where they lived.  The 1st door we knocked on was theirs and we set up a meeting for today.  After that we said a prayer and felt we should stay in the building.  We got let in to a nice mom and her little baby, who we can hopefully meet with again this week.  After that we did some more lookups and found ourselves in another building.  We said a prayer, felt we should stay and got a let in on the next door we tracted. It was a nice older woman that we were able to share the Christmas message with.  On top of that we were able to find 10 potential investigators, it was great!! 

Then we were able to have another exchage with the Miskolc elders!  I was able to work with Elder Lowe, who is such an amazing missionary.  We went on exchanges together in our 3rd and 2nd transfers (he is one below me) and it was so fun being able to work with him once more.  He is from Seattle and is such a hard worker, I love it!  We were able to find some really great potential investigators that exchange and were able to have a couple great lessons with Johanna, and a former investigator named Csaba. 

On Friday we were able to have our Missionary Leadership Council here in Budapest!  It was fantastic and president gave a wonderful training about what it means to be a true leader.  It was kind of funny, we were talking about what it means to be powerful in regards to missionary work and one of the missionaries said that I came to his mind (really kind of him to say) and then president says in english, "well obviously" it was really funny and nice of them to say.  Sister Szabadkai shared  the story about the little boy that asked the man on the street that helped him if he was Jesus and the man said no but he was trying to be like him, I really love that story.  Elder Hughes and I gave a training on effective planning and how to find with faith!  We said that planning needs to have meaning, have balance and have goals and when we are finding it needs to be like we are hunting not just waiting.  It was a great meeting.  

I love you all so much and am so excited to Skype next week!  Have a great week! 

Gentry elder 

Győrbe mentünk! (translation - We went to Gyor!)

Hello my amazing family!  I do not have a lot of time on this email so it will be short and sweet!  This week I went to Pest (just across the river) to go on an exchange with Elder Murphy!  He is really great and his parents are professors/researchers at BYU.  We were able to have a great lesson with these people that Elder Leavitt found when he was serving in Pest and it went really well!  We felt that we needed to talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, however, the spirit took it another way and we were able to talk about the spirit and the roles it can play in our lives.  It was fit for their needs and at the end of the lesson the mom said that she wanted to be baptized in the spring.  

One of the things that the self reliance program and President Szabadkai has really helped me learn is the importance of listening and being sincere with people! This gospel has played such a huge role in my life and I am really making it my goal with everyone I talk to be as sincere as possible.  

On the way back from Pest, this lady was holding a big bag in one hand and pushing a stroller in the other hand (to go along with it she was pregnant). The spirit would not let me pass by her and so I offered to help.  She refused, I was persistent, she accepted and we walked to her house, got her number and she agreed to let us meet!  It was a great experience!  

This week, we were able to visit with a member to show the Christmas message.  We realize that her husband was not home and that we could not stay until he got home.  She then had an idea.  She got a plate of baked goods and had me carry this huge package that was for her next door neighbors.  We walk a few doors down, and a mom, dad, and 2 little kids answer.  The member says, “I have brought your package and a Christmas message, may we come in?” It was absolutely great and a good testimony builder of obedience and member missionary work!  

Like I said we went to Győr this week and I was able to meet with Roli.  He is doing really well! It was fun to be able to see him again!  

 I love you all so much and hope you have a wonderfully amazing week! 

Gentry elder

Exchanges and magyar :)

This week was an exchange filled week and it was super great!  We were able to go to the city of Dunaújváros and were able to go and work with the elders there from Monday night until Tuesday night.  I was able to work with Elder Thomas.  We were able to have a really great discussion about having the faith to find.  Throughout my mission, I have kind of always thought of finding like hunting.  If you go into the forest and just expect the animals to come to you then you won't get anything, however, if you actively make an effort to search and work at every opportunity like it is your only chance at survival then it becomes a lot more effective. We talked about how finding is so much more effective if we set goals and then strive to hit those goals with faith in Heavenly Father. If you approach someone with the mindset of, "I am just going to say words and if they accept it or reject it is not my fault" then it will not be as successful as approaching someone with the mindset of "this person is going to accept it and I am going to make every effort I can to make sure they do so."  It was a good split and while we were streeting we saw the police break into an apartment to catch a robber, it was intense, haha.  

Then on Wednesday we were able to stay here in Buda and were able to go on exchanges with the elders from Szeged.  I was with Elder Garrett who is from Oklahoma and really likes basketball.  He is a really humble, hard worker and it was a pleasure being able to serve with him for a short time.  We were able to meet with one of our investigators who is doing fantastic!  She was able to read from the Book of Mormon every day, was able to pray every day, and has been in church for the last 2 times in a row.  We invited her to be baptized on the 30th of December and she is thinking it over right now, I really think that she will be ready for it.  We were also able to meet with another of our investigators that night and we were able to visit them with member support.  Our investigator had only one cup of coffee up to that point in the week and we were so proud of her!  We taught about following the prophet and the importance of obedience and we made a deal that if she did not drink coffee until Sunday then I would only speak Hungarian non-stop until Sunday.  We agreed and we both succeeded!! (I did speak English to those people on the street and in other places that did not speak Hungarian at all). She was able to come to all 3 hours of church and loved it, she is praying about the December 30th bap date as well.

Then on Friday and Saturday we were in Miskolc and I have one word to describe the missionaries, Elder Lowe and Elder Durney, AMAZING!  They are helping the work in Miskolc so much and are such hard workers!  In that part of the country the work was hard and they have really helped it so much!  They will be having 5 baptisms there on the 16th of December! 

Keep on lighting the world, and have a wonderful week!! 

Gentry elder