A Tougher Week

January 28, 2013

Jo reggelt! (Good Morning!)

It is FREEZING COLD here in Pécs! I have never been in this kind of weather for this period of time and I look back at the kind of weather back at home and I am SO grateful to have been raised in the California Valley. So much fun in the cold. There were times when we would go out streeting in the main square, we would be absolutely FREEZING! There are times where we would be talking to someone on the street and we would be talking for a while and Elder D and I would have to move the stuff that we are holding in one hand to the other so that we could put it in our pocket so that it could get feeling in our finger tips and then switch back when the other hand would begin to lose feeling. We would have days where we would street in the snow and, needless to say, not the most effective thing in the world. It was sure fun, but we didn't last very long. We, one day, finished our streeting and were coming back home for dinner and Elder D and I were basically power walking back home to get to our heater and slap our hands on it so that it could heat up our hands to bring back it's feeling. The heater in our apartment is pretty hot, but it took a few minutes for our fingers to warm up for us to finally feel how hot the heater really was.

Soooo this week has probably been the toughest week in my mission thus far. My goodness, we have worked hours and hours and hours, non-stop in trying to find new investigators, because we don't really have any, and we have found no one. We have tracted, streeted, asked for referrals from members, those who we tract AND street and no one wants to meet with us. We've even had people kick us out of apartment complexes, tell us to skedaddle, close the door on our faces before we even get a word out OR not even open the door at all and they just reply with 'Sorry, we don't live here'. Nothing seems to be going our way at times. We prepare for the day by having really productive studies in the morning, especially in our companionship one where we talk about how we are going to approach people, but we come back with almost nothing.

Not going to lie, it's been kind of depressing at times. I knew what I was getting into when I put in my mission papers, especially when I got the call to Hungary, but I don't think I was exactly physically and emotionally prepared for this. This is why I am so grateful for my companion. He is probably one of the most optimistic and hope filled missionaries I have met, and I am so grateful that he and I were put together. I know that I am optimistic and out-going, but being with Elder D has boosted that even more. He and I both help each other out with each other’s weaknesses and make every finding expedition fun and memorable. With all the doors that we have had shut in our faces, we have turned away with a smile still on our face. We've made sure that our hopes and not extinguished and put out. In everything we have been working hard, including the language. This whole week, outside of our apartment, we have only been speaking in Hungarian. That's 7 days of straight Hungarian. It's been hard, for both of us, but we have really seen an improvement in our language abilities and we are looking forward to another 7 days of straight Hungarian.

I am so glad to be here at this exact time. I have definitely seen how the Lord is shaping me through the refiner’s fire. Though the work is hard, it has, and is, helping me to become a better person and stronger son of God. How I know that this Gospel is true. There are times where I wish that I can stand and speak to all on the street about Christ and preach His Gospel as the sound of trump, or there are times where I just want to break out in song and sing of Christ with the voice of an angel and sing the song of redeeming love so that all could hear how beautiful the Gospel sounds. I can feel the Light of Christ within me, beaming with light and it's more powerful than anything that I have felt before. There is no possible way for me to just keep it in, I have to go out and let everyone else feel this same feeling that I have. This isn't something that I want to keep only for myself; I want all to taste of the fruit of the Tree of Life as Lehi did. He even said in recording of his vision that he could not help himself from sharing this with everyone else. He looked out to all he could find and help them come to the Tree of Life. Recognize the blessing that you all have of being a part of Christ's perfect Gospel and find within yourselves, if you have not yet, that Light of Christ which is in all of us and magnify it and you will feel that exact same feeling. Mormon would not have put that part in the Book of Mormon if it was not important for us to know. The Gospel enhances our Light of Christ through the Holy Ghost. Stay close to it! Strive to have the Spirit with you at all times! Do everything you can to allow it be as close to you as possible so that you may feel that burning in your bosom that your Heavenly Father loves you with all of us heart. I cannot wait for that day to come when I stand in front of my Father in Heaven and He says to me 'Well done, my son. How far you have come and how far you shall go.'

I love you all. I love this church, I love this gospel, I love my Savior and I love my Heavenly Father. What a blessing it is to have such knowledge. Treasure it, nurture it, and help others come to know it. May all of you be blessed this week, and I pray that every one of you will come just a little bit closer to the Savior this week.

May God be with all of you

Sincerely,
Magda Elder