Good and busy week!

What is up my awesome family!  Sorry for the break up in the emails it was a crazy day.  So first of all my bike was broken and we had to go and get it fixed today.  What happened was is that my wheel was super wobbly and it would constantly rub against my kickstand and also against the other part of my axel so it was literally like I was riding uphill and through mud this whole week (It was the hardest I have worked my legs for months, haha).  Elder Smith's bike was also broken (his brakes would not work) and our first night together he crashed into me, haha, and I think that is when all of the problems started, haha.  Anyway, we got those fixed and then we had a teaching at 12 today (it was actually a referral that President Szabadkai gave us).  It went super great and we were able to set up with him for next week and he is going to bring his son and his girlfriend (thank you President!). Then we had Langos (look it up on google, so amazing) and cleaned our apartment #toiletsbaby! 

It was a really good and busy week!  We went on splits this week in Sopron and I was able to serve with Elder Jensen who swims for BYU and is currently the branch president in Sopron.  He is a really good guy and is a super hard worker.  I look up to him a lot and I really want to hang out with him after the mission.  My last 3 transfers, I have been able to go on splits with him quite a bit because he has always been in my zone and my favorite part is just talking about the life of an athlete at BYU and all that stuff (it gets me so pumped up!).  This week was a holiday called women’s day so me and Elder Jensen got flowers and gave them to a bunch of old ladies on the street (his idea, haha) and it was actually super fun! 

Then we came back from splits and we lost one of our bap dates :(.  It was super weird and sad because we called him and another person answered and told us that he sold his phone so we went over there and we walk up stairs ( it is like a weird apartment house type building) and he is sitting in the kitchen and just says "viszlat" which is like, see ya later.  We were like, what happened to you man, and he just kept saying viszlat and told us that he wants nothing to do with us anymore.  He then stormed out of the house and called the landlord and he came and kicked us out (while we were teaching another guy in the house #findconstantly haha).  It was sad but what can you do!  But on the bright side we have two super legit bap dates that are progressing sooooo well.  They were both in church yesterday along with another one of our investigators (we had 3 in church, it was pretty amazing).  Our first investigator we taught about the word of wisdom this week and he told us that he drinks coffee but from now on he is going to live the word of wisdom (whoop whoop)!  The other is also progressing well and is going to be ready. Hhe is reading the Book of Mormon consistently and praying ( he is doing it).  He is a good guy with a good heart.  

We were able to do a lot of tracting and streeting this week and only got one new investigator (a drunk man that we were able to set up with for this next week so we will see, hahaha) but a lot of potentials!  We also got let in to it with an older lady that is a Jehovah’s Witness (that was super frustrating and hilarious) and we also got streeted by a JW couple this last week, so frustrating but so funny at the same time (their religion makes no sense and is a testimony builder that what we have is true). We have a super big week ahead of us and I am pumped!

Love you all so much!!!

Langos! Yummy!!!

The Lord honored us... What more can I say

Well like the title says it was an absolutely incredible week this week.  It started off with a really great p-day last Monday as we were able to go to a really cool tower that looks over all of Győr (it is called püspök vár I think) and then that was followed up by a really great zone training on Tuesday (it was on chapter 8 and effectively using our time) and then it just got better and better!

I think I saw the hand of the Lord more this week than I have ever seen in my life.  We were able to go on exchanges this week with the Elders from Tatabánya and I was able to work with Elder North (a new missionary).  I just had a really good feeling about the split and had the faith that we were going to be seeing a lot of miracles.  Before the exchange started, Elder Smith and I had a little bit of time to work together.  We felt like we needed to go and tract and as we came to a particular building I told Elder Smith that someone was for sure going to be letting us in.  Sure enough a very nice lady let us in and we were able to discuss the Book of Mormon, the Restoration and were able to set up a return appointment.  Then after that we started our exchange.  I was able to work with Elder North and he is a really great missionary.  He has a lot of really great faith and he has the faith that miracles can happen and that if we work hard then we can see the hand of the Lord in our work.  We were able to work on specifically having effective studies and then praying to have the spirit.  We said a prayer then we got to work.  

Our first teaching was with one of our investigators named Barnabás and it went amazing.  We were able to speak about the Plan of Salvation and he loved it and is very excited to learn more.  We are hoping to get him on a baptismal date this upcoming week.  Then after that we had some time to go and street some people.  We talked to some absolutely incredible people one of which is actually from Cuba and has been looking for a church to go to and another one who absolutely loved what we had to say and set up with us to come to his home the next day and bring him a Book of Mormon (his name is János and I will talk about him more in just a little bit).  Then we had a little bit of time left to tract and I knew that someone else was about to let us in.  Sure enough a young man named Balint let us in and we were able to have an great teaching with him.  He is agnostic and has lots of questions of the soul that he would like answered.  He is super excited to read from the Book of Mormon and we set up to meet with him this next Thursday. 

 Then the miracles just kept happening...  Elder Smith and Elder Leavitt were also able to find a husband and a wife that they were able to give service to and teach about the Book of Mormon ( we are going to go back on Friday).  Then the person named János (that we met with on the street) was able to meet with us the next day and it went so amazing (we were able to discuss the Book of Mormon and the Restoration and invited him to church but something came up and he was not able to make it).  Then after that we had two great teachings with our two other progressing investigators Richard and David.  We were able to discuss the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Richard and were able to confirm his baptismal date of April the 1st that we gave him earlier on in the week.  He is progressing so well and is really growing in his faith of the Savior.  Then we were also able to meet with David and were able to really emphasize with him that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is on the earth again and that the priesthood is on the earth again.  We asked him if he would be baptized on April 8 and he was able to accept the date.  

Then after that we finished the split with the Tatabánya Elders but the miracles just kept happening.  After that we were able to meet with one of our new investigators who is actually from Nigeria, his name is Nason.  It went so amazing and he is such an amazing person.  He is Christian and has not really been practicing much lately but really wants to start now.  We were able to discuss about the Restoration and were able to teach him about the Book of Mormon and the power that is in it.  He said that he would read it and at the end of the lesson he prayed and it was one of the most powerful prayers I have ever heard in my entire life!  We are going to meet with him again this Saturday and are really hoping that he can come to church!

Then the next day was also incredible!  We were able to have a couple of investigators in church (David and Richard) and were hoping for more but were really happy to see them.  After church we were able to do some tracting and I knew that we were going to be getting let in.  Sure enough we were able to get let in right away to this very sweet Néni that recently lost her husband, her younger brother, and her cousin.  We were able to testify of the Plan of Salvation and were able to testify of temple work and the miracle of Jesus Christ and the Atonement.  It went great and we were able to set up for next Thursday.  Then after that we were able to meet with János again (the person that we spoke to on the street a couple days before).  We were able to speak about the Plan of Salvation and it went really well.  We were able to ask him if he wanted to be baptized on April 1st and he responded with an enthusiastic "Persze!"  The only problem is that he might move so I am praying that he will be able to stay!  Then after that we were able to do a little more tracting and I knew that we were going to be let in again.  Sure enough we were able to be let in to a young man named Martin with whom we were able to discuss the Book of Mormon and why we are here as missionaries (we set up to go back to him on Tuesday).  

The Lord will honor those that do their best to honor him.  It is not always easy and sometimes it is hard to see the why of why we do some things but when we do our best to serve the Lord he will honor us more than we can imagine.  I have a strong testimony that with faith ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE and that when we believe in the Lord and remain diligent and obedient then we can see absolutely incredible things!  I am also a believer that faith without works is dead and that first we need to have faith but then we need to work!  That is the perfect combination, faith and work!  I love the Lord and I am so glad that I get to serve him on a daily basis here in Hungary.  

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

Gentry Elder 

4th Transfer Baby!!! February 27th email

WHAT IS UP EVERYBODY!!!  It was a good week of the first transfer.  The 1st week is always so crazy but is always super good as well.  I got Elder Smith last Wednesday and he is a stud ( I really like him  a lot and keep getting such stud companions, my goal is to go my whole mission with just getting stud companions, haha).  He is from Maryland and he is an NFL junky (like I mean crazy junky).  He would love to be an NFL scout or NFL news reporter and within 10 minutes of getting back to the apartment was already asking about my dimensions, haha.  He is so cool and he is stud missionary.  We are going to work as effectively as we can and I am super excited to continue to see the hand of the Lord in our work here in Győr.  

This last week we had our MLC meeting and it went super well.  It was up in Budapest on Friday.  We are really making a big country-wide push for more active home teaching efforts like Elder Holland talked about in the Priesthood session of conference.  We also talked a lot about effective planning and wisely using our agency with regards to the new schedule.  With this new schedule (I am not sure how much you have heard) and with the new key indicators we are able to use our time a lot more according to our desires.  I really love it thought because it makes it so as missionaries we are more accountable to the Lord than ever before and we do missionary work according to the way the spirt directs us and the inspiration that we receive.  Elder Smith and I are going to be giving our training on effective planning and how to wisely use our time (good thing I have a really great mom who taught me how to plan out my days when I was just a little boy and had me keep a really neat planner when I was in High School). 

The work in Győr continues to move forward. One thing that Elder Smith and I really want to do this transfer is to continue to bring the missionary work and the ward closer together. The ward is helping us a lot and our investigators seem to be progressing well. We were able to have 2 in church yesterday and hope to have more there next week. We met one of the investigators at church yesterday on the street and he wanted a Book of Mormon. We set up a time to meet with him and we were able to have a really great discussion with him about the Restoration of the Gospel. When he came to church a couple of days later, he said that he had already read around 50 pages in the Book of Mormon and that he said he liked it. He said that he really loved church and that he is going to come next week as well. We are meeting with him tonight and are hoping to get him on a baptismal date tonight. Another investigator that we met recently has also been reading a lot from the Book of Mormon and really likes it. The thing that is hard with him is that we can only meet with him once a week, but he is still really progressing. We are going to get him on a baptismal date this week as well. Many of our other investigators are new and are really doing well. We are meeting with a lot of people right now and are doing are best to get all of these people progressing and coming to church. I am really excited to see what happens this transfer and am so excited to continuously see the Hand of the Lord in our work. President Benson said something to the effect of, "I am so thoroughly convinced that the secret to missionary work is work" and I believe that with all of my heart. I love to work and I know that the Lord honors those that diligently honor him. I love this gospel and I love serving in Hungary.

I love you all so much and I am so grateful for all of you and for your amazing examples to me!!!! 

ward activity

Gentry Elder and Smith Elder

Third of the way....(eek!)

What is up everybody!!  It was a super crazy and good week for us this last week.  We were able to get our transfer calls this morning and I am staying in Győr and will be getting Elder Smith as my next companion!  He was in my zone my 1st transfer so I know him a bit (we were always on the same trains together) but I do not know a ton about him.  I just know he is a genius and that he likes football so I think that we are going to get  along just fine.  I am sad to not be able to serve with Elder Ure anymore but after 8 months in Győr he was ready to go somewhere else.  He will be going to Pest with his old MTC companion and he is really excited. I am excited to do some more work in Győr this transfer, the work here has really been picking up.

We were able to get 7 new investigators this last week and were able to meet with a lot of the investigators we got the last few weeks. We have started to meet with a guy that the sisters found about 4 months ago ( I think while streeting)  and for the last 4 months he has been coming to church on a consistent basis,  My first transfer I thought he was the sisters investigator but apparently he was not even meeting with them.  One day I decided to talk to him and just asked him straight up if he wanted to be baptized because he comes to church so much.  He said he was not ready to be baptized but that he actually lives in our area and wanted to start meeting with us.  We had a really solid teaching with him a few days ago.  The bible and Jesus are a huge part in his life.  He loves how he feels in church and he is reading what we assign him in the Book of Mormon.  We are going to try to get him on a baptism date this week and hope to be able to get him baptized in the next little bit.  We were also able to find two really cool families this last week and each of them want to come to church this next week which would be really amazing!   We also are going to start meeting with this guy that is from Nigeria that actually is neighbors in the same apartment building as our investigator Aziz from Ethiopia ( so we are really excited to meet with him).  The work here is definitely moving forward and I am so excited for two more months of work here.

We were also able to go on splits this last week in Budapest with the assistants.  That was so cool being able to do some work in that really cool city.  I was able to work with Elder Heaps and it went super well.  We were able to get let in two times in a matter of like 20 minutes and almost got let in a 3rd time (I started to walk in the house and apparently, they did not want me to do that, haha).  I love going on splits as a zone leader because you get to learn so much from other missionaries.  I love you all so much, have a great week!!!! 

Gentry Elder

Great trainer and companionship!

Roland Baptism

It was really amazing being able to baptize Roland this week and give him the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was so cool and almost unreal at the same time; it is an experience that I will never forget. It was a really great baptismal service and hopefully it was able to strengthen Roland's testimony and we're excited to see him grow in the gospel. It was an amazing feeling knowing that this young boy was making a covenant with God, and that because of his decision to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized he will be able to make it back to return to live with Him someday. I am so excited to be able to give this opportunity to other people and to other families as well and it just makes me want to work harder to find and teach all those people that the Lord is preparing for us on a daily basis. We are going to keep on trying to get Roland's mom involved the best we can and hope that in the near future she will also want to enter the waters of baptism so that she can also receive eternal life. This is such an amazing work that we are involved in and it brings so much joy!  The confirmation the next day also went really well and a member from the Stake was actually there so that was a bit scary, haha.  

We were also able to meet with many of our other investigators as well this week. We were able to meet with a new investigator named János and our teaching with him went incredible. He actually found us on the internet and had seen us talking to people on the street and was very curious as to who we were and what we were doing. He did some research and actually called Elder Ure and asked when we could meet! We were able to speak about the Restoration of the Gospel and he is very curious and wants to meet more! We were also able to get 3 other new investigators this week and one them in particular is truly amazing. His name is Aziz and he is from Ethiopia.  He lives and works here in Hungary (he is actually a refugee) and is Muslim (but does not really practice). Both of his parents were killed and he has had a really hard life but is still so happy (when I was talking to him, I realized how blessed I am in my life and how much I take stuff for granted). We were able to testify about life after death and about God's Plan for us. We were able to give him a Book of Mormon in the Arabic language (he actually read from it to us and it was so cool) and he was so excited to read from it! We are going to keep meeting with him and I am excited to see his knowledge about Jesus Christ grow and become stronger.

We were also able to go on splits this last week in Tatabánya.  I was with Elder Willes from California.  We also had interviews this last week and it was really great being able to speak with President and hear his advice for how I can improve and be better.  

It was a really cool week and I am so grateful for Roland and his desire to follow Christ!  Now let’s do it some more!  ​

It was sooooooo cold!!!

It was a good week for us this last week.  Like I said in the title of my email, it was very, very cold and we actually were able to get a little bit of snow.  Just flurries in the air that you could barely see, but it was still snow, haha.  It was a little bit hard for us as we tried to call a lot of people to try to set up with them, and many of them did not answer.  Some did answer, however, and we were able to set up with them for this week.  We were able to meet with a couple of RCLAs this past week (one of which I had not met before) and the lessons went well.  Last Sunday one of the less actives we had been working with was actually able to come to church which was a really amazing thing to see.  We were also able to meet with a couple of our other investigators as well.

We were able to meet with Roland a couple of times this last week and he is doing really well in his progression toward baptism.  He was able to come to church yesterday and we were able to talk more about his baptism and how that is going to work.  I am really honored and excited because he asked me if I would be the one to baptize him and confirm him.  I am super-excited and a little nervous for the confirmation (Hungarian in front of the whole ward) but I know the spirit will help me and I am really excited for this super amazing opportunity!  He is very excited and I have the faith that he is going to stay and is going to make a great member here in Győr.

We were able to go on splits this last week with the assistants and the Elders from Tatabanya.  Both went very well and I was able to learn a lot.  I was able to serve with Elder Miller and it was really great learning from him and being able to incorporate the things that he does into my own work.  I was also able to work with Elder Leavitt this last week and was able to learn a lot from him.  I always love going on splits with him and talking about the good ol’ days in the MTC, good times, good times….It was super cool, so the other assistant, Elder Heaps is from Cache Valley.  He is a huge Utah State guy and knows some of the people that we do, like Dad’s coach that took us around in my visit for football and his stud son who plays basketball at USU (Jimmy & Jalen Moore).  Anyway, we found out that his great-grandpa, Marlo Woodward, was best friends with President Benson when they were kids and that they used to ride horses together to school (thought that was super-ironic that both of our great grandpas were buddies, haha).

We were able to give some service this past week at the old person home and also at this handicap home that the wife our bishop works at.  Both were super fun and at the handicap home, they all gave us their stuffed animals as a thank you for coming and hanging out with them, it was neat and a fun experience (when they heard that I played American football they all freaked out and started cheering, haha).  Last Pday we were able to go and learn how to cook stuffed cabbage at a member’s house and it was super fun.  It was funny because I was asked to give the closing prayer and the words together and each other are pretty close in Hungarian and I sometimes get them mixed up and I do not know why, but anyway I said that I was grateful that we could all eat each other for dinner and after the prayer the member was like we do not practice cannibalism here, it was pretty funny!  I also accidently dropped a bad word at the old person home because I was trying to say that Colorado was very dry, but the word dry is very close to another word derogatory for poop…and I said it and Elder Ure and Roland totally flipped out and started dying, so funny!  I felt bad, the old people were probably in shock, haha.  I corrected myself though.

We had a really amazing experience this last week.  We had just finished looking up some of the people that told us to come back in a building we were tracting a few weeks-ago.  No one was really interested and as we were taking our bikes off the lock outside of the apartment building, these two teenage boys started walking towards us.  I decided to start talking to them and started to have a really great conversation.  They are from Romania and they now live in a village outside of Győr.  They explained how their family used to be Orthodox Christians, I believe, but that now they do not practice that because they do not have a church like that where they live.  We were able to explain to them who we were and what we believed in and right then and there one of the teenage boys asked if he could join our church.  I was in total shock as well as was my companion.  We explained that we usually meet with people and explained what we believed and stuff like that.  They are so excited to meet with us and told us that their parents will also be interested as well.  They promised that they would come to church and I am really looking forward to be able to meet with them and give them the opportunity to accept the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I know the Lord is preparing people but we just have to open our mouths and be willing to find them.  I love being a missionary (oh, their names are Mark and David, been a while since I have heard those names together, haha).

Love you all, have a great week!!!

January 23

I do not have a ton of time but I will write as much as I can, here we go:

I gave my 1st zone training this week and I thought it went super well!  Elder Ure and I taught on the importance of repentance and how as missionaries we need to cleanse the inner vessel (ETB) and then once we have done that we need to constantly preach repentance to the world!  The coolest part about zone trainings and stuff like that is that the teacher is the one that learns the most and when I prepare for these things it gives me a really good chance to learn a ton!

Right after zone training we went to Sopron for splits.  I was with Elder Lowe from Washington.  He is in his 2nd transfer and is a total stud who literally speaks perfect Hungarian, it is crazy!  He is a hard-working, diligent missionary that I would love to serve with in the future.  Then we came back and had a good Thursday.  We kind of got dropped by a couple of investigators which was poopy but what can you do?  Our invitation is for people to find out for themselves if our message is true but they can only do so if they want to find out and if they make the effort.  They said they would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it so I am hoping that they actually do that and that they can come to know that this is the gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth again!  Then we went we went on splits in Győr with the Szombathély elders (Elder Graham and Elder Fuchs). I was with Elder Fuchs who is a 1st transfer from North Germany that was called to serve in Russia but was reassigned to Hungary because they closed down the missions in Russia.  He is a really great missionary that speaks really great English, it was fun serving with him for a little bit. 

We met with Roland a couple times last week and he is doing well. His baptismal interview is going to be this Wednesday and we are really excited for that.  Elder Leavitt will be giving him that!  His testimony has really been growing and I am excited to see him keep progressing and growing in the gospel. We also were able to get a really great new investigator this week. One night we were tracting and we decided to do this one last building before going back to our apartment. We started to csengő (ring the bell) and nobody was interested and everyone was actually being quite rude to us, but we just kept going. Then this one lady stuck her head out of the window and told us that nobody was going to be interested in the apartment because she said she knew everybody and absolutely nobody would want to be bothered by us. We kindly told her that we were not trying to bother anyone and we kept on csengőing. Then this man came outside to go on a walk and told us that he would have loved to let us in the building but on his way down 3 different people told him that he should not let us in, so we kept csengőing. Elder Ure felt like he should switch the order of the csengőing so instead of going backwards, go forwards starting at 1. We did that for a few doors and finally these couple of ladies that were getting home let us into the apartment. We had 3 doors remaining (6,7,8) and we decided to go in and try them out. Number 6 did not answer but them number 7 did and it was actually someone that we had met before and who had actually come to English class. He let us in, we taught him about the Book of Mormon and Heavenly Father's love for us, and set up with him to go back tonight. He is really curious and wants to learn more. I am so glad we kept going and did not stop when the world told us that no one would be interested in what we were doing. It reminded me a lot of the great and spacious building in Lehi's dream and how everyone was thinking that what we were doing was silly and of no worth, but we knew what we were doing and why we were doing it, and we were able to be lead to someone that our Heavenly Father had prepared for us to teach. I know those people are always going to be out there and if we have the faith and the diligence then we will always be able to be lead to them. I love this work and I love being a missionary! 

I am excited for this upcoming week and for the opportunity I will have to keep finding those being prepared, I love you all so much!!! 

 A little fun on the ice!

Elder Gentry