No Better Feeling than the Lord's Errand

Hello my amazing family!  It sounds like it was a great week!  It was also a really good week for us full of splits, teachings, stake conference and everything else.

I think I forgot to mention this last week, but in our zone conferences the week before, President Szabadkai was in Germany for a Mission President Training and he gave Elder Fitzgerald the presiding authority during the meetings because he was going to be away.  He said that Elder Fitzgerald could also give it to me if he got tired.  So one zone conference on last Thursday, I was able to preside which was pretty cool and an experience I will never forget.

This past week we were able to go on exchanges with the elder in a city called Szeged in the eastern part of the country.  It is really pretty and it was really cool to see the eastern part of Hungary because I have only ever been in the west and center.  It was really very beautiful and I was able to work with Elder McKim who is actually from Australia!  We were able to see many miracles one of which was a man who at first said that he did not have time to hear our message while tracting, however, a few doors later he poked his head out the door and told us that if it would be quick then we could come in and share a message with him!  We were able to swap phone numbers and he wants to meet in the future.  Elder Mckim is a stud and it was cool learning about Australia (the one place that I would have been scared to death to go and serve in, haha, and I told him that).  He confirmed my fears by telling me about all of the deadly spiders and that they have 9 out of the top 10 world’s deadliest snakes, #gottaloveaustralia.  It sounds like a cool place though! 

We were also able to do some good work in our own area this past week! The highlight lesson of the week was our lesson with one of the sister’s old investigators that was given to us.  She has had a bit of a problem with coming to church over the past few years because her work schedule is very difficult to manage. One of the things she does is take care of this old lady on Sunday mornings, which has been one of, if not the, main obstacle in getting her to come to church on Sundays (and ultimately be baptized). She really would love to be baptized and believes that these things are true and can bless her life, however, the thing that is just hard is coming to church. We were able to talk about repentance with her and she even told us that she feels like she needs to repent for not being able to come to church. She then went on to say that it is just a very hard situation because she does not know what she would need to do to avoid going into work and taking care of the néni (old lady in Hungarian) on Sundays. We bore testimony that if we do the things that the Lord commands (like going to church) then he will always provide a way that will allow us to accomplish the things that Heavenly Father needs and wants us to accomplish. Just then, the member that we brought told her that she should tell the néni that she needs to go to church and the reason behind it. He told her that it would all work out and that the néni would totally support the idea. We both felt the prompting that we needed to ask her to be baptized and we were able to give her a date for the 10th of June that she willingly accepted. 10 minutes after the lesson she called us and told us that the néni willingly told her that she could go to church and that she did not need to come in on that time on Sunday Morning. She told us that it went just as the member said it would and it sounded like it was a testimony builder for her (I know it was for me). We just need to keep on making sure she can meet with us on a regular basis and make sure that she can make it to church.

We were also able to meet with another investigator this past week. It also went well and we were able to respond to many of his questions and concerns. He really loves what he is hearing and I know that he is definitely feeling the spirit in our lessons and when we are at church. He has come to church every week for the past 4 weeks and when we are in our teachings with him, he accepts what we teach him and is enthusiastic about learning more. We are really making an effort to make sure that he can have friends in the ward. Another member is really being a great help at making him feel welcome and they seem to get along well which is really cool to see. We are planning on giving him a baptismal date this next week.

We have been talking a lot about having the spirit to be with us at all times in the mission right now and I came across something cool this week. I was reading in 2 Nephi 31 this week and in verse 18 I came to the realization that the Holy Ghost is not just a good feeling that we feel from time to time, however, it is a constant witness that we are on the right path and doing the right things that will bring us success in this life and success in the life to come (eternal life). That is why when we are not doing the things that we should be doing, or when we are not where the Lord wants us to be, we feel un-easy or anxious, because the Holy Ghost is not with us and we lost that constant assurance that we are on the Lord's errand. Elder Fitzgerald and myself always talk about how there is not a better feeling in the world than that of when we know that we are on the Lord's errand. I have come to appreciate the companionship of the Holy Ghost so much on my mission and I am so grateful for the chance that I have to serve. I sure do love this work!! 

I love you all so much and wish an especially Boldog Anyák Napot to my amazing mother!!!  

Gentry Elder