#SHUNNED

Posted by Jacquelyn Lois August 28, 2017

#SHUNNED

Hello everybody and Happy Szent István's day!

Yesterday was Saint István's day and there were red, white, and green flags everywhere. It is probably Hungary's holiday that is the closest to 4th of July. Saint István established and united the Hungarian state in about 1080 (?)... dont quote me on that. At Saint István's Basilica downtown there is a display case with his hand still in it that they take a parade all over town. There are also a lot of fireworks (tűzijáték). Fun stuff.

This week was particularly full of teachings. We had a lesson with one of our investigators, Károly, to which we invited Vaseczki Ilona who is a former Jehova's Witness. Károly is a Jehova's Wittness too. They started talking, and Ilona started and got right into the nitty gritty of why he was investigating and what he can hope to find in our church, when somehow it came up that she was former JW and then she got high key #SHUNNED. Literally Karoly says, 'I cannot talk to her anymore or communicate with her because she has left the witnesses' so we concluded on letting her sit in silence while we taught (?) him. I felt super bad for her since it was her first lesson as a member present since baptism but actually I think it strengthened her testimony and we ended up dropping Karoly over the phone because he usually just ends up teaching us about JWism. so yeah. no problem, though, because we have an awesome teaching pool of active investigators who are taking it all really seriously. Donkó Zsolt - we met with him four times this past week, and he is preparing for baptism on the 9th of September. He is working on overcoming an alcohol and tobacoo addiction, and progressing wonderfully. He came to church for the first time yesterday! Gulyás András - One of the nicest investigators I think I've ever had. He's married and has a 6 year old son and a 10 year old daughter. We always invite them to participate, and though they never really end up doing so, András is on fire with the questions. We met with him twice the past week, and each Sunday morning we walk to his house to pick him up and then he drives himself and us to church. We found him when we were tracting with Luca. Szabo Tamás - Finally back from France! He didn't come to church but does his reading, and is sincerely interested in the whole gospel.

We went tabling twice this week, which is when we gather a ton of random paraphenalia and a bunch of book of mormons and a table and then go set up somewhere where there are a lot of people. A few questions that I like asking people to get them to start talking to me are 'If there were one question you could ask God, what would that be?" or "What are the 3 most important things in your life?" or a good ole "Have you ever heard of the Mormons?" to which people have one or two times responded, "Yes! Off South Park!" I have really come to love contacting people on the street, and we're excited as a mission to start coming up with more creative finding ideas.

While Elder Fisher and I were on the bus going somewhere to set up our table, we decided to get off at this stop that was kind of in the middle of nowhere and then walk to a park we had found earlier in the transfer where we saw a few people. The bus stopped, and the doors opened, and Elder Fisher with the table headed out one door that was surrounded by a group of people, and I with the giant bag of Book of mormons and pamphlets headed out the other. I got off the bus, looked around, but I didnt see any Elder Fisher yet, until finially I realized that he hadnt gotten off the bus when the doors closed back up! The bus started driving away, and I saw his face in one of the windows, and then the bus turned the corner and disappeared! Ahhh! I was alone in the wilderness! It was actually quite unsettling, very strange to be all by my lonesome. I started walking in the direction of the next busstop, and then after about 10 minutes we found each other again. I know this might not sound very exciting, but trust me, it was WEIRD not being around someone when youre used to 24'7 companionship lol.

I am SO grateful to be a missionary and to have the opportunity to share the gospel with everyone. When it comes down to it, being a worthy missionary is a feeling that fills my heart with joy and brings me closer to the spirit than Ive ever felt before. I would be lieing if i said that the Spirit is not involved in every aspect of the work. Now if I always listen to Him is a different question, but He's there to guide you if you let Him. Im still working on letting Christ in and allowing his Atonement to transform my life and strip my pride, but I'm learning an awful lot about myself and Him as I do it. Love you all! Stay strong!

Love,

Adam

Aunt Kati, whose favorite word is "na" and thinks that every elder is terrified of her because newsflash they actually kind of are. but she makes great food and comes to lessons! She actually also said during Investigator class at church that as a church member she doesnt believe in the bible... so thats just a little problem lol