Splits, Baptism, Duped

Hello dear friends and family members,

Well this past week was full of ups and downs!  Last Monday the District went to play pool and Sister Towne and I won TWICE! (partly because sister Manwaring kept hitting our striped balls into the holes..)  We also went to a homecoming party for a member in our ward, Furkó Tomi, who was coming home from his mission in Scotland and Northern Ireland.  He couldn't really speak Hungarian that well because he had not actually spoken it for more than a few hours in two years!  Prepare thyselves for when I return and I cannot speak English!... but I'm pretty sure that when American missionaries return home from Hungary with an accent, it is something that they've formulated for cosmetic reasons lol.  It does take a toll on your English when there is only one other person in your daily routine with whom you can speak English, but the Hungarian hasn't quite rooted itself deeply enough to replace my lost English with anything so...  yeah.  Usually I'm just at a loss for words.

On Tuesday we headed to Szeged for a daily split with the Zone Leaders!  I went with Elder Graham, an awesomely brave missionary.  We did a lot of streeting and went with the big white board and talked to people about Family History work.  We saw this girl on a bench and went up and talked to her, and it turned out she was just waiting for her bus whice was going to come in an hour so she agreed to listen to the Plan of Salvation and became a new investigator of the zone leaders! There was also this BEAUTIFUL synagogue that is pictured below.  

On Thursday we met with Enikő again, her final teaching before her baptism.  She is awesome. Seriously. One of the most inspiring people I've met on my mission so far. She is always smiling, always positive, and is so humble and willing to learn, too.  

Later that day a man who we set up with to meet in the main square didn't show up, which has started happening to us a lot these days haha.  Later that night we had English Class, and we did a scenario where everyone voted on where they wanted to go on a plane trip, and then we had people go out into the hall and buy boarding passes from Sister Towne, they went through security from Elder Allred, and then they went into the plane (we set up the room's chairs like an airplane) and they flew to Bermuda while the flight attendants went around and took everyone's orders.  When we got to Bermuda, we went to a volcano, and we asked, "what kind of animal might you see at a volcano?".  It was silent for a really long time, when one of our investigators said, "...goooat." haha i don't know why it was so funny but it was. I died.  

On Friday was Enikő's baptism.  Everything went so wonderfully.  We had a surprise musical number planned "I'll go where you want me to go," and four missionaries sang in a quartet and I was able to play the violin!  Sister Dorny came back from Buda (she was the missionary who found Enikő, and we also served together in Nyíregyháza for 4 months) and it was  a really good experience for Enikő.  Her whole family came to support her, and we were able to give them Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlets and they had little reserved signs on their seats.  It was an awesome experience.  

On Saturday, we waited for another potential investigator in the main square but he didn't show up, so we weekly planned then headed by train to a smaller city in our area, Nagykőrös, to visit a less-active.  There we also tracted a little bit and met some really old people who have the Hungarian country accent, which essentially is replacing all of the e's with ö's.  the ö sound is like if you put your lips in a circle and then try to say, "eh".  So instead of saying, "megenni" (to eat), they say "mögönni", and instead of saying "megyünk" (we go) they say "mögyünk" haha.  

We went back to Kecskemét and wrote on the whiteboard this question, "Mit jelent Jézus Krisztus neked?" (What does Jesus Christ mean to you?)  We started  a few really good conversations with a few people, and this one woman even wanted to sit on a bench with us and learn more! So we taught her the restoration and she said that she believes the Book of Mormon is true, accepted one from us, and said she was coming to church, and we set up another appointment with her so she became a new investigator.  But when she showed up to church the next day, it turned out she was actually a MEMBER.  She was just hankering for her days of investigation BLAST!

Anyway, to be a part of Enikő's baptism was super awesome.  I feel so blessed by the Lord to be a part of this great work.  I just couldn't stop smilling at her baptism and the night after.  I think I fell asleep smiling haha.  The Lord is kind and He really does love us all. That's why I'm here sharing this wonderful message with everyone I can!  The Church is true, the Book of Mormon is tree, and Christ lives!

With Love,

Martin elder

Elder Graham and I on splits in Szeged found a woman on a bench and taught her about the Plan of Salvation

The Greek Orthodox church in Kecskemét

Me wearing this dark cloak that an old woman in our ward always wears.  She gave it to me because she thought I was going to freeze

ENIKŐ'S BAPTISM!!! 

People filing in before Enikő's baptism

a Missouri license plate in the mall's food court!

Szeged synagogue

Szeged synagogue

Nagykőrös

We traded a book of Mormon for a chicken leg!

Baptismal pic with Enikő

Szeged is right next to the Serbian boarder so we saw highway signs leading to Belgrade!

On PDay we went to H and M and dressed up Sister town in the Funkiest clothes we could find haha

Elder Graham and I in front of the synagogue