#1 Szeged: Fell into a Black Hole and Came Out in Szeged
I've been in a black whole the last few weeks, so let's see if I can add some details in this blog post. Basically I got my transfer to Szeged a week early and Elder Williamson came up from Szeged to Budapest and Elder Barton and I picked him up at the train station. I started training Elder Williamson how to be secretary #1. We taught him how to do referrals and baptismal records, planning travel, etc. We also did our normal missionary work in our three person companionship for that whole week. Elder Williamson is kind of quiet but he began opening up to us and I got to know how great a person he is. Of the three trios I've been in during office transitions this one was my favorite.
On Friday of that week the Russell's planned a YSA activity around family history. I taught everyone to do indexing and other fun tool in Family Search to play with your family history and make it more fun. Indexing is really cool now because it's all supported for Hungarian now and it's SUPER SUPER AWESOME! I can do that when I get home, since I speak Hungarian I can index for Hungary after I go home and contribute in a meaningful way to the work in Hungary.
On Saturday the Russell's put together a service project at an animal rescue center. We did some work fixing op the animal enclosures. We racked up hey, filled in holes the dogs have been digging in their pens, and we fixed up the foundations of the dog houses.
On Sunday it was stake conference. I think I talked about this last week, but it was SO SO COOL! President Southwick talked about everything they have done to prepare to have the temple be built in Hungary. He talked about how now we have to do even more to prepare because we need more active temple attending members to staff the temple. He gave everybody a piece of paper and asked everyone to write what their feelings were when they heard the temple was announced and then he asked everyone to write what they are going to do to prepare to serve in the temple when the temple is built. Then he had the papers collected and put in a box. The Stake President is going to send it to President Nelson in Salt Lake City. It was pretty cool and historical. I wrote my thoughts in Hungarian and now they are going to be in Salt Lake soon. Pretty Cool!
On P-day last week we went shopping with the Russell's and we went with the Assistants to the Hungarian National Military Museum. Of all of the museums I've been to in Hungary this one was the coolest!! There were a lot of guns and tanks... it was super cool! We also went to a place called Memento Park. When the Soviet Union fell people started destroying soviet statues and monuments and then some people collected them and made a statue garden out of them to preserve history. It was pretty cool too. I bought a souvenir mug, a metal communist mug, it is really interesting. In a lot of ways Hungary has tried really hard to purge the communist parts of their country but the statue garden tells you where all these statues used to be which is really weird to imagine that, because for the most part when you are in Hungarian cities they seem westernized so much that you forget that the whole country was under Russian control for so long.
On Wednesday I packed up my suitcases and I waited for Elder Lord to come, my new companion, I said goodbye to Elder Hess and Elder Raffle. I probably won't see Elder Raffle again since he's going to school somewhere in Russia, but maybe I'll meet up with Elder Hess somewhere in Utah. Then Elder Lord came, he had been staying with Elder Fales and Elder Allen in Szolnok for a week, and we left Budapest and rode the train to Szeged. It was Hungarian Labor Day, which means that to celebrate hard work everyone was not at work, so we couldn't find any food to eat and their wasn't any food in our apartment. So we went shopping the next day and fed ourselves, which was good because we were really hungry. Then after that we got to work.
Well here I am in Szeged. Despite getting ourselves all settled, we had a really good week. We have some people that we can meet with, and as always there is lots of room for growth, and finding.
We found 4 investigators this week, not bad, not bad at all. One of them is an old investigator that were set up with for this coming week, another from angol óra and than we found someone while streeting and the other while tracting. One of our new investigators came to church and brought a friend from angol ora with her.
Szeged is a really pretty town, it didn't get bombed during the Soviet war so it looks really nice. We have a really spacious, super nice apartment, we call the castle. There is a loft where I sleep, kind of like having my own bedroom. (Watch a video tour of my apartment here) It's not too far from the branch house which is in the downtown part of the city. The church built it completely, they tore down a building and built a new building. It's super nice! We've been doing some tracting in neighborhoods on the outskirts of town, very nice areas.
Church was super cool! There are between 30 and 40 active members. They were super friendly! The branch president is super cool and the Relief Society President is Amazing. We had a really awesome fast and testimony meeting. They even have a half dozen primary kids and some youth. It felt like a mini version of Buda, so it is a lot better the Debrecen and Nyiregyhaza. I'm really looking forward to working here. We had a really good mini branch counsel.
Then there is Robi. He is a jester and likes to correct you on your Hungarian, but he does it out of love (mostly), and he's the Elder's quorum president. For the last five days I've seen Robi everyday. He is very active in the work. Robi works at the city water treatment plant, which is kind of funny because Szeged is notorious for having really bad water, so it's fun to give him a hard time about that. He's not married yet and seems to have a lot of time so he makes himself available for missionary work and his calling.
I've noticed that transitioning out the office does take some adjustment, getting back into the swing of missionary work again, but it is good!! Over all, it was just a really good first week.
This weeks thought come out of our Sunday school lesson. We were covering material from John chapters 7-8 and looked for the principle of faith and forgiveness from them. I didn't have my bible with me, but I did have a doctrine and covenants and this part stood out to me from section 64: 9-1 " Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men. And ye ought to say in your hearts—let God judge between me and thee, and reward thee according to thy deeds." I don't feel like I've ever had a particularly hard time forgiving someone for something, but for me it is a lot harder to forgive myself and accept the lords forgiveness. Sometime when we do that, we try to deny the power of god. It is pride, and a temptation, Satan wants us to be miserable and to refuse the forgiveness and healing we get from the lord. But he is merciful, and from that mercy that we get from him, comes our desire to forgive others like Christ teaches in John chapter 7. Anyway, that was my week!
Hope everything is well with you all. Have a great week.
Elder Morgan
On Friday of that week the Russell's planned a YSA activity around family history. I taught everyone to do indexing and other fun tool in Family Search to play with your family history and make it more fun. Indexing is really cool now because it's all supported for Hungarian now and it's SUPER SUPER AWESOME! I can do that when I get home, since I speak Hungarian I can index for Hungary after I go home and contribute in a meaningful way to the work in Hungary.
On Saturday the Russell's put together a service project at an animal rescue center. We did some work fixing op the animal enclosures. We racked up hey, filled in holes the dogs have been digging in their pens, and we fixed up the foundations of the dog houses.
On Sunday it was stake conference. I think I talked about this last week, but it was SO SO COOL! President Southwick talked about everything they have done to prepare to have the temple be built in Hungary. He talked about how now we have to do even more to prepare because we need more active temple attending members to staff the temple. He gave everybody a piece of paper and asked everyone to write what their feelings were when they heard the temple was announced and then he asked everyone to write what they are going to do to prepare to serve in the temple when the temple is built. Then he had the papers collected and put in a box. The Stake President is going to send it to President Nelson in Salt Lake City. It was pretty cool and historical. I wrote my thoughts in Hungarian and now they are going to be in Salt Lake soon. Pretty Cool!
On P-day last week we went shopping with the Russell's and we went with the Assistants to the Hungarian National Military Museum. Of all of the museums I've been to in Hungary this one was the coolest!! There were a lot of guns and tanks... it was super cool! We also went to a place called Memento Park. When the Soviet Union fell people started destroying soviet statues and monuments and then some people collected them and made a statue garden out of them to preserve history. It was pretty cool too. I bought a souvenir mug, a metal communist mug, it is really interesting. In a lot of ways Hungary has tried really hard to purge the communist parts of their country but the statue garden tells you where all these statues used to be which is really weird to imagine that, because for the most part when you are in Hungarian cities they seem westernized so much that you forget that the whole country was under Russian control for so long.
On Wednesday I packed up my suitcases and I waited for Elder Lord to come, my new companion, I said goodbye to Elder Hess and Elder Raffle. I probably won't see Elder Raffle again since he's going to school somewhere in Russia, but maybe I'll meet up with Elder Hess somewhere in Utah. Then Elder Lord came, he had been staying with Elder Fales and Elder Allen in Szolnok for a week, and we left Budapest and rode the train to Szeged. It was Hungarian Labor Day, which means that to celebrate hard work everyone was not at work, so we couldn't find any food to eat and their wasn't any food in our apartment. So we went shopping the next day and fed ourselves, which was good because we were really hungry. Then after that we got to work.
Well here I am in Szeged. Despite getting ourselves all settled, we had a really good week. We have some people that we can meet with, and as always there is lots of room for growth, and finding.
We found 4 investigators this week, not bad, not bad at all. One of them is an old investigator that were set up with for this coming week, another from angol óra and than we found someone while streeting and the other while tracting. One of our new investigators came to church and brought a friend from angol ora with her.
Szeged is a really pretty town, it didn't get bombed during the Soviet war so it looks really nice. We have a really spacious, super nice apartment, we call the castle. There is a loft where I sleep, kind of like having my own bedroom. (Watch a video tour of my apartment here) It's not too far from the branch house which is in the downtown part of the city. The church built it completely, they tore down a building and built a new building. It's super nice! We've been doing some tracting in neighborhoods on the outskirts of town, very nice areas.
Church was super cool! There are between 30 and 40 active members. They were super friendly! The branch president is super cool and the Relief Society President is Amazing. We had a really awesome fast and testimony meeting. They even have a half dozen primary kids and some youth. It felt like a mini version of Buda, so it is a lot better the Debrecen and Nyiregyhaza. I'm really looking forward to working here. We had a really good mini branch counsel.
Then there is Robi. He is a jester and likes to correct you on your Hungarian, but he does it out of love (mostly), and he's the Elder's quorum president. For the last five days I've seen Robi everyday. He is very active in the work. Robi works at the city water treatment plant, which is kind of funny because Szeged is notorious for having really bad water, so it's fun to give him a hard time about that. He's not married yet and seems to have a lot of time so he makes himself available for missionary work and his calling.
I've noticed that transitioning out the office does take some adjustment, getting back into the swing of missionary work again, but it is good!! Over all, it was just a really good first week.
This weeks thought come out of our Sunday school lesson. We were covering material from John chapters 7-8 and looked for the principle of faith and forgiveness from them. I didn't have my bible with me, but I did have a doctrine and covenants and this part stood out to me from section 64: 9-1 " Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men. And ye ought to say in your hearts—let God judge between me and thee, and reward thee according to thy deeds." I don't feel like I've ever had a particularly hard time forgiving someone for something, but for me it is a lot harder to forgive myself and accept the lords forgiveness. Sometime when we do that, we try to deny the power of god. It is pride, and a temptation, Satan wants us to be miserable and to refuse the forgiveness and healing we get from the lord. But he is merciful, and from that mercy that we get from him, comes our desire to forgive others like Christ teaches in John chapter 7. Anyway, that was my week!
Hope everything is well with you all. Have a great week.
Elder Morgan
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