Wednesday, June 13, 2012

My last email from the MTC!


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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