Tuesday, 21 August
Not much for today. Shopped, emailed, studied, and
tried to find new investigators. I was able to find out that Elder
Alldredge and I biked over 33 miles yesterday. For a miracle, I haven’t
gotten sick in a long time.
Wednesday, 22 August
I have lots to write about today. We finally met
with I after four weeks of trying to set up. He loves to talk, and it was
interesting to listen because he mostly talked about his six years in
Africa. While he’s read parts of the Book of Mormon in the past, he
believes that the way to Peace is through brotherhood and friendships that
every society needs to form; that Churches aren’t necessary, but exist to
assist in that purpose. We also met with
Z again. Finally! During the past three weeks he has been sure to
pray every day (every evening), and has read out of the Book of Mormon about
every other day. We had to push back his baptismal date, but he wants to
continue investigating and we laid out a plan for the rest of the Missionary Lessons.
The other Elders were in Budapest today, so Elder Alldredge taught the Profi
class and I taught Kezdo. In the evening,
we met with K and his wife. They are both members, and K served a Mission.
We ate dinner with them (fruit soup, rokott krumpli, and apple pie), and shared
the story of Naaman. Neither of K’s parents are members; they aren’t
interested in learning about the Church, but said we’re always welcome to come
and visit. In the end, they’re all pretty awesome and really friendly. Today’s miracle is patience and
persistence. I first contacted I, as well as K’s Mother, back on July 21
and have been trying to meet since. Also, the last time we had met with Z
was July 31. It’s taken a long time to finally meet, but it was worth
it. Finally, a funny story: today Elder Alldredge bought a
container of sour cream and started eating it. Within a spoonful or three
he realized it didn’t quite taste much like yogurt. Doh!
Thursday, 23 August
(9 Months left; start of the Savaria
Carnival!)
Today, like yesterday, will also be a big entry.
This morning we went over to K’s (the woman whose daughter lives in Provo), and
had lunch with her. Like last time, she was super kind and we had a nice
visit. She prays but hasn’t read the Book of Mormon, so we gave her a
challenge to read two parts and told her we’d like to watch the Restoration
Film next time. She sent us home with a bunch of leftovers. In the evening we went to two home teaching
appointments with C. We visited A first, and C shared a lesson on the
Holy Ghost. We then met with B. B was baptized three years ago, but
has become inactive since then. With her, we all talked about
faith. She is in charge of the Relief Society lesson in two weeks.
Hopefully with that, she’ll start coming back to church. In the evening,
we barely made it back in time to watch the Opening Ceremony of the Savaria
Carnival in the Foter. They had a small squad marching in Roman Armor.
A fire magician and fire dancer performed and handed a torch off to the Mayor
dressed as a Roman senator and he lit the beacon. Afterwards, a band and
dance group performed a series of various Jazz and Latin routines. While
there, we met K and R and stood with them throughout the show.
Friday, 24 August
Today started with District Meeting. I gave training
on “Teaching Patterns” and we set a District Goal to challenge any investigator
we meet to Baptism. On the way back, Elder Alldredge’s tire popped.
In the afternoon, we went to some parts of the Savaria Carnival. We tried
going to the Ruin Garden but nothing was set up yet, so we went and looked at
shops in and around the Foter. I made two of my own metal souvenirs and
bought my first whip (it’s white). Our only program cancelled. We
stopped back by the Ruin Garden where they had a talent show and slave
auction. Our day ended with Csaladi Est, playing soccer. My miracle today was a thought on Pride.
It came to me today that whenever anyone is unwilling or hesitant to make a
change for the better, it will be a problem with Pride. While there may
be other excuses given or presented, in the end, the refusal to change or
improve will have Pride as its source.
Saturday, 25
August
One dog and one cancellation today. We got Elder Alldredge’s
bike back this morning. For our language study and lunch break, we went
to the Historical Theme Park. While there, we saw mounted cavalry
archers, medieval artillery, dozens of fight reenactments, and the “Great
Gladiator Games.” We had time to look around more of the stands, find
some bracelets, pouches, and Elder Alldredge bought the nicest whip we could
find. In the evening for Fiatal Est we
all went to the parade. We went over half an hour early to find our
favorite spot and to be right up front. The parade was really fun to
watch and an hour long. We saw K and his Dad in the band. My
favorite part was an impromptu battle between the Crusaders and the Nomads
right in front of us (within a foot at times). Elder Alldredge and I are
both sunburned. My miracle was that I was able to serve and be here
during the three days of the year at the same time of the Savaria
Carnival. If I was anywhere else, I would have missed it completely. The Savaria Carnival really was one of the
neatest and most unique events I've had (and probably will have) on my mission.
Sunday, 26 August
No investigators came to church today. We don’t
have many programs planned for this next week. In the afternoon we left
to Budapest. We are at the mission home right now so we can be here in
the morning for Greenie Training. My miracle is that it rained all of
today and not yesterday or Friday during the Carnival.
Monday, 27 August
Greenie Training was today. Ten of the trainers, me
included, went and played basketball. Right off the bat I jammed my ring
finger. It’s colored and swollen now. Today President Smith shared
our story of finding K. He also made several new announcements about
rules concerning the internet. On the way home we all made it – no one
missed the train this time. When we got back to Szombathely, we found
that all four of our bikes, along with all the other bikes locked outside the train
station overnight, had their tires slashed! We all need to get all our
tires replaced. My miracle for the day is that I’m lucky to have received
and to be training Elder Alldredge.
NOTICE: This
email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain
confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use,
disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended
recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of
the original message.
No comments:
Post a Comment