Monday, 16 July
Emailing went well today. We also walked around to
seven different Cathedrals, one of which had a full skeleton inside. I
still would like to go to as many of the nearby Castles as possible, but we
need to get permission to switch our P-Day first, as almost all of them are
closed on Mondays. For some reason I felt bad, or kind of guilty
today. I’m not sure why and hope I didn’t forget anything
important. My miracle is that the feeling might just have been necessary
to cause self-reflection and prevent slothfulness.
Tuesday, 17 July
Today Elder Headrick and I went falu-blasting with the
other companionship. We biked out to a small town named Zanat and tracted
half of it. We got three phone numbers and gave out three Books of Mormon.
It ended up being the most success I’ve had in a while. We had one
program today which was with A on Tithing and Fasting. I also gave her
a copy of “True to the Faith”. My miracle today is that on our way back
from Zanat we helped a man who had literally “fainted by the wayside.”
While biking alongside the highway we saw the man completely collapse and fall
partway into one of the lanes unconsciously. We immediately pulled off
the road and went to help. When we first reached him, he was still
blacked out. He regained consciousness, but couldn’t get up without
three of us helping him; he had a giant egg showing his concussion, and was
bleeding from a big gash on the back of his head. An ambulance was called
and Elder Loveday held him the whole time we waited to prevent the staggering
and swaying man from falling over again; although when the ambulance arrived,
and the paramedics were loading him, he almost hit the pavement again.
Anyways, I’m glad we were there and were able to help this man.
Wednesday, 18 July
Today we went flyering and streeting for several hours,
and as we went around, I stopped at multiple places to see if we could hold
Angolora or teach English there. In the evening we had Angolora.
Only one person (not new) came to Elder Loveday’s and my class. Because
it was hot, sunny, and we were outside for several hours, I tried some Rafaello
ice cream, which is now in my top 5 flavors. My miracle is from a couple
days back. I don’t know how, but I’ve forgotten to write that last
Saturday B was baptized back in Bekescsaba. Elder Vandermark said the
service went really well. I’m very thankful and find joy in having
learned of one of my previous investigators being baptized in each area I’ve
served in. I’ve been blessed on my mission.
Thursday, 19 July (400th Day on Mission)
I’ve now been away from home and serving the Lord for 400
days. It doesn’t feel like that. Yet, I know that I still have over
300 days left to continue making a difference here in Hungary. We met with Z this morning. We
started talking about the Plan of Salvation, but that quickly stopped and
switched to learning more about his past encounters with missionaries.
Baptism was briefly discussed and we will talk more about it next week. I
also learned that he has come to church three times. We need to discuss
priesthood authority and baptism with him next time. In the afternoon, Elder
Headrick and I continued streeting and searching-out buildings. Around
3:00pm, Elders Headrick and Loveday left for Budapest to get their Resident
Cards. Elder Bullock and I met with J. He’s hoping to leave in a
couple weeks for the States (hopefully on August 2). It’s raining again
and my miracle is that Elders Wiborny and Molnar are here for splits, so I get
to work, talk, and visit with them again.
Friday, 20 July
Splits continued today. In the early afternoon we
had a short District Meeting. The Zone Leaders gave training on “The
Warrior” and how to best use our finding weapons. Elder Molnar and I then
met with S and his girlfriend for the first time. (S had been
streeted by the missionaries once in the past). Hopefully they will meet
again. They said they would try. After the program, Elder Molnar
and I went through the list of 61 places we had found to potentially hold
Angolor. We called them all up and have it narrowed down to 11, two of
which we are really hoping for. By the time the two of us finished the
list, we were nearly out of time. However we had a little time to go
tracting. We only knocked on one door (or rather, csengo-ed one house),
and we got the second let-in I’ve had on my mission. That was today’s
miracle. We then split back, the Zone Leaders left to Papa, and five
minutes later Elders Headrick and Loveday returned from Buda. I talked to Elder Vandermark again and
learned that the Sisters have been moved to Szolnok. It will be
interesting to see if more Sisters are sent, if Elders are sent later, or if
there only remain two Elders in the city to maintain the branch.
Saturday, 21 July
I don’t have too much to write about today. During
the afternoon I called several dozen numbers out of the Area Book, but only got
one program set up and it’s not until August 20. We had one program today
which was with A. We reviewed the Law of Chastity which went well
until we reached homosexuality, (despite my thoughts that this would almost
always be the easiest part). Unfortunately, this is something that is
often debated in the media and the scientific and political world which often
falsely teaches that some people “are just born that way” and “can’t change the
way they are.” Other than that, she also shared her sorrow and
frustration with the weaknesses of old age, and the older body that accompanies
it. Fiatal Est was in the evening, and
uneventful. My miracle today is that although I’ve had my patriarchal
blessing memorized for almost a year now, I am, and can still, learn from
it. One phrase in particular continuously ran through my mind and
preoccupied my thoughts today: “You have been blessed richly through your
membership in the Church.” This applies to any active member of the
Church and is no secret. However, how often do we think about it, how
grateful are we for it, and do we realize how much of our lives are affected by
it, or how wide its influence extends? I thank the Lord for membership in
His holy house.
Sunday, 22 July
It’s already Sunday again. Today I had the opportunity
to spend some time writing letters to those I’ve never written to before.
Something I forgot to include back during my split with Elder Molnar was a
quote from him that I told him I would add: “If you are going to be stupid,
don’t be stupid about it.” Good advice for us all. Today during church three unique things
happened. First off, the Gudgells and the Carpenters (the new office
couple) came and spoke. One of the members in the branch showed me a
picture he had drawn and labeled as an analogy using the five steps I had
talked about last week in the priesthood lesson. Third and my miracle
today was that D and T, two of my past investigators from Buda came to
Sacrament Meeting. They were both born here, grew up here, and their
families still live here so they came up for a visit. I’m glad they chose
to come to church while they were here. It was fun to get to see and talk
to them again. A couple other things
happened today. In the afternoon and evening I found three rats and then
a porcupine on our street. Also, the quote book I have been working on,
now containing several hundred quotes, is almost full.
Szeretettel,
Shipp Elder.
No comments:
Post a Comment