June 13,
2012
Dear Family and Friends,
Consecration week has finally
ended!! It was definitely one of the most difficult things I have done.
Speaking only Hungarian to people can be super frustrating. Basically, we were
playing charades with everyone that wasn't Hungarian. Even with our younger
Hungarians we would have to play charades. Ha ha, it was hilarious the things
we had to come up with to describe what we were saying. But we have definitely
come a long way, my district and I. We have learned so much and or ability to
speak the language from last Wednesday to now has improved tremendously! We
walked out of the temple today and started speaking English, but would be
saying Hungarian words here and there because we had been so used to it. It's
hilarious!
Now, for some details about Saturday…
So what happened was: It was our gym
time and my companion and I gave up basketball (because that's what we play
every gym time) for consecration week. So our only choice was to go out to the
field and play either volleyball or soccer. I wasn't in the mood for volleyball
and wanted to play a good game of soccer. My companion decided otherwise and we
went our separate ways. Before I started playing, I had this thought "You
know what would be really stupid is if I got injured the week before I leave
and have to stay here an extra few weeks because of it." Interesting
thought, right? Because 20 minutes after I thought this, my accident happened.
I was dribbling the ball towards the goal and I was, maybe, 10-12 feet away
from the goal. The goalie of the opposite team is diving for the ball and one
of the defenders was going to try and steal it. So I decided to slide kick the
ball in the goal to avoid being collided by the two opposing players. So I do
it, but instead, the goalie dove in mid-air and with one leg in front of me and
the other leg to the side, and my body being almost horizontal to the ground,
the goalie landed on my head and bent my neck, in a not so good way, as I was
coming down. Now this guy was a HUGE guy (huge as in pretty muscular) and
almost played for the NHL before he came on his mission. As I hit the ground,
the middle of my back just spiked with pain and I could barely get any breaths
of air. I was lying on the ground and two elders cradled my head (one of them
being the elder who landed on me, who actually was a nurse before his mission
also). I feared that I had broken my back, or something along those lines, and
muttered "I need a blessing". They barely heard me, but understood
what I said, so they gave me a blessing. I couldn't hear what the elder said
because I was still trying to gasp for air, but all I heard was that I would be
blessed with strength. Once he ended the blessing, I felt this comforting
feeling come over me that everything was going to be ok. I was still having
trouble breathing when the MTC gym personal came to me, but I didn't fear as
much as I did before. They checked my legs and my arms to see if I had feeling
in them (which I did) and talked to me a little bit while they were trying to
get a hold of the doctor. They got me up and to the medical area by the field
where they had me wait until a shuttle came to pick me up to take me to the
hospital. They then took me and my companion and I had to get X-Rays to see if
my back was ok (at this point I could actually walk and move). After the
results came back, the doctor said that there was nothing wrong and that it was
just a hyper-extension and my muscles were just spasming from the accident. All
of this happened in the matter of 3-4 hours. But throughout all that was going
on, I had little to no doubts about what would happen to me. I knew, after I
received my blessing, that everything would be all right, and any doubts that
came into my mind, the Spirit would remind me of my Patriarchal blessings and
the things that are said in there and those doubts were then kicked away and
never returned. When the doctor told me the results and said that I would be
ok, I had already known that I was ok because the Spirit told me that "all
would be ok." What made this even better was the next day, in choir, we
sang the song "Be Still, My Soul" and as we sang it I applied the
lyrics to my accident. I felt the most powerful feeling, one of the most
powerful feelings I have felt, fill my body. Especially when I read "Leave
to thy God, to order and provide...In every change, he faithful will
remain." I began to weep reading those words and feeling the Holy Ghost
testify that what this song was saying was true-because I did that. I felt,
after my blessing on the field, that I should not worry and leave it up to the
will of the Lord, because he knows what is best for me and I felt no fear.
This song will be close to my
heart forever, because every time I think of the song and what it says, I
feel the Holy Ghost. I feel tingles all over my body. It is the most amazing
feeling in the world! This church is true, and I know it is. The Holy Ghost
prompted Jeanne to put my name in the prayer role because of this particular
reason. The Holy Ghost prompted me to ask the elders to give me a blessing. The
Holy Ghost comforted me through those hours of pain and strife. The Holy Ghost
testified to me when I was singing that song that it was true and that the Lord
loves me and is watching over me every second of every day. Just writing this
brings tears to my eyes, because I know that this work is true. In fact, in the
temple today, I felt the same feeling I felt singing "Be Still, My
Soul" in the Celestial Room while I was praying. I asked if I could feel
that same feeling again after I finished my prayer, and shortly after I had
finished, I began to think of the song again and that feeling came back. I know
that Heavenly Father was telling me, and that was "Whenever you feel down,
or depressed, or if something is going wrong and you want to feel my presence,
just think of this song, and you will know that I am there." I am filled
with joy. I am filled with immense faith, hope and charity. I know that there
is still a lot more that I need to learn in this life, but if life starts to
beat me down, I know that God will always be with me.
Ok, back to you guys. I am so happy
for Alisha!!! That is so kewl that she is going to that EFY thingy at the stake
center with all of her friends!! Jeanne is so awesome!! I'm sorry you got sick
mom. That's nem jo (not good in Hungarian). And thank you for sending me a
package!! I haven’t gotten it yet, but I'm super excited to get it! Especially with
the phone card! I sent you a copy of my travel plans on Saturday, so you should
be getting them really soon (either today or tomorrow). I'm going to be in
Chicago first, then London, then Budapest. All that is 26 hours with the
layovers and time in the air (crazy isn't it!). There's more information in the
letter that's with the travel plans that I sent you. Also, try and see of
Jordan can be there for any of the times I'll be calling home. I'll probably be
calling 3 times at least. All the times of the times scheduled on the travel plans
are in Utah time. I would calculate the math with all the different time zones
(which I did for Salt Lake and Chicago in my letter) but I don't have much time
to continue typing.
Our bishopric counselors changed?!?!
Again?!?! What in the world! Our ward is crazy with counselor changes! I feel
bad for Bishop Stevenson. I hope he's doing alright with it. With the Dear
Elder package, ha ha, I would say surprise me. Anything is fine with me. Beef Jerky
would be really awesome though since I could take it with me on the plane
flight.
Before I end this email, today and
tomorrow are the last days people can send me Dear Elders. Saturdays and
Sundays we don't get Dear Elders, so anything anyone sends me on Friday will be
kicked to Monday and I won't be here on that day. So if anyone wants to send me
a Dear Elder, today and tomorrow are your last chances! ;)
I love you all! May God touch the
lives of all those who read these emails!
From,
Magda Elder
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