Sok helyen voltunk az elmúlt héten!

It was a good and travel filled week as the email says!  It was really good and we were able to see lots of awesome places!  

On Tuesday, the east zone had a zone day and we were given the chance to be able to go from President Szabadkai.  We were able to go to Debrecen and were able to throw around the football, play some basketball, and watch some of the Secret Life of Walter Mitty before we had to go across the country to the beautiful land of Győr!  There I was with Elder Pulsipher and we did some good work.

On Wednesday, we met with one of our investigators  in Győr who is doing really well.  We spoke about the Brother of Jared and the faith he had to be able to ask the Lord for guidance after working to do everything he could to have the Lord open a door for him.  We spoke about how the Lord wants to reveal knowledge unto us, we need to increase our worthiness to be able to more deeply feel the influence of the spirit in our lives.  We gave him the commitment to pray for the things he needs to change in his life to better feel the spirit's confirmation that Joseph Smith was the prophet of the Restoration.  We also were able to meet with another one of our investigators, a husband and wife, who at first the husband was really opposed to meeting, however, when we presented the message of the Restoration in love, the Lord softened his heart and he became a new investigator.   

On Thursday we were able to have district meeting and meet with a new investigator who is from Japan and is going to school here, he found the church through the YSA.  We were also able to go to Szeged this week on Friday and Saturday.  We had 5 investigators in church on Sunday!  

Love you all so much and have a great week!

Gentry elder 

Jó volt a hetünk, Miskolcon voltunk!

We had a good week.  Last Monday was a work day and we tracted into two nice people that became new investigators.  We met with one of them yesterday and it went really well.  Brother Imreh helped us and we spoke about the Restoration and helped her move some chairs.

On Tuesday, we had preparation day and we were able to go to the Budapest Museum.  That night we started exchanges with the secretaries (I was with elder Allred from Colorado.  I told our investigators that I would not speak in English, és így volt, időnként egy kicsit beszéltem angolul, nem sokat 😊 if they obeyed the Word of Wisdom all week.  We also tracted into a nice old woman. 

On Wednesday, we met with other investigators and the Szabadkais came to the teaching as well.  It is always so great to be able to teach with them and hear their wonderful testimonies.  We spoke about the Book of Mormon, the Spirit, Joseph Smith, etc.  We asked them to be baptized and they said yes!  We are hoping for the beginning of May but we will see. 

We had a good Thursday (watched conference) and then on Friday and Saturday we went to Miskolc!  It was a good week!  I love you all so much!  Have a great week!! 

Az általános konferencia a legjobb! - post from April 2

Well it was sure a good week for us and the Lord honored us so much!  We were able to with some investigators on Monday night and we spoke about the Word of Wisdom.  It went really amazing and at the end of the lesson, we asked them that when they found out these things to be true if they would be baptized.  They said yes!  Later in the week, we were able to give a blessing of strength to be able to live according to the word of wisdom, it was a really spiritual and great experience!   

Right after the lesson on Monday night, we were able to do some tracting.  We prayed for direction on where we should go and the Lord led us to a building where on the second bell a young man came out and let us into his home.  The individual we met with is studying to be a faith teacher, I think at a religious school.  He really liked the things that we were able to teach him.  

We were also able to meet with this amazing new family that the member family the Váczys invited to church.  The couple is dating and they are really interested in the gospel.  We are going back tomorrow and we are going to be talking about baptism, we are really excited.  

We were blessed with a  wonderful meal on Friday and were able to be lead to two new investigators yesterday who seem pretty open to speak.  Last week we were also able to go on a daily exchange with the pest elders and the dunaújváros elders.  

The Lord has a prophet in our day and I am so grateful.  I love you so much! 

Quick conference recap…

I loved Elder Durrant's talk about family life at home (it made me think a lot about our home).  It was a great talk and overall a really amazing conference.  I received a very powerful and deep witness this weekend that President Nelson is truly a prophet of God and that if we heed his council we will be so blessed, I truly do love him and sustain him!  I was able to watch all of the sessions except the Sunday afternoon but I heard the change.  I think my favorite talks were the ones by President Nelson, Elder Oaks, the one about the sailor who saved the ship because he asked God not just to bless the ship but what he could do to help. I also really loved Elder Durrant's.  That is so cool that elder Gong and also elder Soares are in the 12. 

Hamarosan jön a húsvét! - Post from March 26

It was a really great week for us in Buda!  We were able to stay here for the week, however, we were actually able to go down to the wonderful city of Szeged to be able to hold a baptismal interview for a woman named Beáta who is getting baptized.  Other than that we were able to stay here and were able to do some good work in the city of Budapest.

On Monday we were able to meet with some of our investigators.  We together were able to read from the Book of Mosiah, where he talks about what we need to do to retain a remission of sins in chapter 4 (I love this part in the Book of Mormon so much, like you would always tell us mom it was their version of General Conference)!  It was a good spiritual lesson and they were able to come to church again, along with the lunch and Easter concert that was done after church.  It was a good experience, we are going to meet with them again tonight! 

On Tuesday we were able to find a new investigator.  She is from Portugal and we tracted into her.  She is actually here because she is on a Jewelry T.V. show and she spends two weeks here in Hungary and two weeks in Portugal.  She is from a Catholic background and she is really open to learn about our church and to read from the Book of Mormon.  

On Wednesday we were able to go on exchanges with the secretaries.  Before the exchange we were able to meet with another new investigator that lives on the street of the mission home.  We streeted her and set up with her and brought Csepai András to the lesson.  It is so cool because there are people prepared everywhere. We have most of our work right around our area and it does not matter how long missionaries have been here, we find those who are prepared each and every day.  We then went on the exchange and I was with Katics elder.  We were able to meet with some of our investigators and were able to speak about the Restoration.

On Friday we met with a new investigator that I met while tracting a little while back.  We set up this appointment and he let us right in.  On Saturday we felt like we needed to tract our own apartment and we got a new investigator that came to the Easter concert, along with another one of our neighbors.  People are prepared everywhere! 

I love you so much, have a wonderful week! 

Gentry elder 

Zone Conferences with the Area President!

It was such a fantastic week and I was able to learn so much! 

On Monday we were able to meet with a few of our great investigators.  We were able to start by eating some really good peach cobbler and then we were able to teach the plan of salvation!  It was really good and we committed them to come to read Alma 40-42 and to pray about the truth of it.  They were able come to all 3 hours of church and they really seemed to like it.  The talks were really great and we were able to have a good 3rd hour where we spoke about the Self Reliance program.  On Monday night, we were able to meet with a new investigator that we found on the street a few days before.  He is really open to learn and wants to find out if there is a good, in his words, "I want to believe."  We spoke about the Restoration and he liked it, we are going back tonight.

On Tuesday we were able to meet with someone else who was given to us by the sisters.  She is older and we are really trying to find out what her needs and concerns are.  She has been taught everything and just has a few things that are holding her back from being baptized.  I really think she can get there, she is reading daily and she is praying about baptism.  We were also able to meet with another of our families as well. They are striving to have family prayer together every single day and they told us they were all going to come to church. 

On Wednesday and Thursday we were able to have the Zone Conferences with Elder and Sister Johnson.  They along with the Szabadkais were able to instruct us so well and I really left the conferences being filled with the spirit.  Some of the quotes from him that I really liked, were, “We can’t learn the Gospel without living it…In order for someone to have a converting testimony he/she needs to live what he/she is learning" (he compared this to wanting to go to the NBA without putting in any work),  “In order to understand teaching, we need to understand learning... We are not here to just teach the gospel but to ensure that these people are learning”,  “Being a perfectionist is a losing proposition, you can’t do it, but Christ can."  Sister Johnson said,  “Life is hard, not the Gospel”, “We need to obey with honor and exactness”, “We can’t change others, but we can change ourselves, and when we change ourselves, others will be sure to follow.”  President was able to speak about how as missionaries we are participating in every part of the harvest, not just planting the seeds or harvesting, but every part (and every part is so wonderful).  Sister Szabadkai was able to speak of Humility and how to combat pride.  We spoke about some of the points in my favorite talk, "Beware of Pride" by President Benson.  It was amazing.  On Wednesday, President Johnson had an interview with elder Lowe and I and then us together and then he was able to come and inspect the apartment (he said he was impressed).

On Friday, we were able to have the MLC meeting and there president Johnson spoke on leadership.  He said that the way he can tell if a mission is good is if he would feel comfortable having one of his grandchildren serve there.  He then told us that he would love to have one of his grandkids serve here. I am so blessed to be here with the Szabadkais, they are amazing!   We were also able to give a training and it went well. 

I love you all so much and have a great week! 

Gentry elder

Transfers!!! (this was from his letter on 3/12/2018)

Well it was a really great, busy week! Transfer weeks are always some of my favorite weeks of the transfer because you get to see so many new faces and get you meet all of the new missionaries.  We were able to pick up 6 wonderful new missionaries at the airport on Tuesday!  It is 3 elders and 3 sisters and they are full of fire and ready to go!  We were able to go streeting a little bit and I am always so impressed at how sincere the testimonies are of the new missionaries.  They do not know how to say a lot, but what they say is true and is from the spirit, you do not need to be a master at the language to be a great missionary that is for sure.  That night, we were able to have a wonderful meal provided to us by sister Szabadkai!  We were able to go around the table and bear testimonies and it was a really wonderful experience (all the new missionaries bore it in Hungarian which was so cool to see).  Then elder Lowe and I took them up to the castle in Buda and there we read the dedicatory prayer for Hungary given by President Nelson in 1987.  

On Wednesday, we were able to give a training to all of the to be trainers.  After we trained them, the new missionaries came in and were paired with their trainers, it literally feels like it was just yesterday that I was a new missionary and they told me that I would be going to serve in Győr with elder Ure!  After that, we took the Érd sisters to their apartment (they are whitewashing it so they had many bags).  That day we did a lot of planning, etc. and that evening we were able to have an absolutely amazing dinner with the departing missionaries!  Sister Szabadkai made hortobágyi palacsintas and they are literary so so so good, I will have to make them when I come home, they just will not be as good as Sister Szabadkai's cooking!  That night we took the departing missionaries up to Gellért hill and took some pictures.  

On Thursday, we had a really wonderful meeting with the Szabadkais where we discussed the preparation we will need to do for President Johnson's visit this upcoming week!  President showed us this really motivational video that Lou Holtz (I forgot how to properly spell his name, he coached at Notre Dame, works for ESPN, and has a lisp).  It was really inspirational and it got us really pumped up! 

We were not able to meet with a ton of people this last week but the teachings we had were great!  We were able to find a new investigator yesterday and the other investigators are progressing well.  I love you all so much, have a great week!!  

Interviews and Baptism!!!

It was a really really great week!  I am so happy to be able to stay in Buda again with Elder Lowe!  I love it here so much and I truly think that we are going to see a lot of miracles this upcoming transfer, I am really excited.  I love it here so much and I love being able to be around the Szabadkais because I can learn so much from them.  They are great examples to me and I am grateful that I can be with them.  

We were able to have interviews this week up here in Buda.  Elder Lowe and myself were able to have a 45 minute meeting with each of the companionships in the mission.  We were able to review all of their area books and every missionary planner and were able to review the principles of organization, planning and accountability.  It was super amazing and I was able to learn a lot of things from the missionaries as well.  We have such a good mission the missionaries really do strive hard to be diligent.  President Szabadkai has done a really great job of creating a culture of obedience that is super amazing to be a part of.  In one of the trainings a little while back (I may have already quoted this but I love it so much), President said that the key to happiness is 1. Faith in Jesus Christ 2. Obedience 3. Work.  I love that so much and it is something that I want to apply for the rest of my life.  As president says, " If you are not happy as missionaries, then I would ask you to repent!" I love that council so much!  If we are not happy, then we need to change something in our lives to be in better harmony with the Savior and his teachings!

We were able to have Krisztina's Baptism on Saturday and that was super amazing!  Csepai András baptized her, and the bishop confirmed her on Sunday!  She was able to bear her testimony in Sacrament meeting and it was so amazing, she is so amazing and so prepared.  Yesterday we had a Zone Day for the Budapest Zone!  We got our goal!  We played basketball and football at the stake center, and then we watched the movie Megamind, it was funny.  Yesterday evening we had family night at the Szabadkais!   We had some investigators there.  We spoke about overcoming problems in Christ, we read about Ether and also talked about the Brother of Jared.  We also spoke about Baptism.  It was great!  Now we are going to the airport to pick up the new missionaries, it will be awesome!   I love you all so much, have a great week!

Gentry elder