#15 Kecskemét: A Visit from President Szabadkai!
Kedves Barátaim,
Jó volt múlt hét. I'm frustrated with this winter. I was expecting more, but is has basically been a Maryland winter, 20s and 30s, occasional snow, that melts in 2 days, its been good for working outside, but it was disappointing, maybe it will get its act together in the next few weeks before march. ***Ted hopes for a much colder and more snowy winter, yes it's strange.***
Any ways, we received some cool zone goals for the next few weeks, this last week was to talk to people who we normal wouldn't. On Tuesday we saw this old man with no legs in a wheel chair and we decided to talk to him and push him for a while. It turned out to be like an hour and we probably walked a good 4 km. I had know idea where we were. At one point we asked him how much farther it was to get to his house, and he said, "Oh, another 5 km that way." We got him over the overpass, and we stopped him in front of a restaurant where there was a guy that new him. So we bid him farewell and made our way back home, it was certainly interesting.
We did lots of finding this week, because a lot of our lessons fell through. We went streeting with the white board and talked to a lot of interesting people and we met this one guy who was super dressed up with a nice fancy brief case, and I said, “I’m going to stop this guy,” and I did and he was super cool. He lives in Budapest. He is new age Hindu. He talked about a business conference he attended in Utah fifteen years ago. He saw all the cool Mormon sight in Salt Lake City. He talked about how cool he thought Mormons were because he had met some in his career and traveling and said all the Mormons he had met were so nice and friendly; and they don’t push their religion on you. He said I really respect them because they respect other people. He talked about his beliefs and the “last days” in relation to the new age Hindu beliefs. It was cool! He was really interested in Family Search, he brought up that he had met an LDS women in Budapest a couple weeks ago who was really interested in Family Search and she invited him to learn to use it. We talked for a good 15 minutes in English. We offered to have the missionaries in Budapest meet with him and he wasn’t sure about that, but then we told him that they could come and help him get started in Family Search and he was really interested in that. So we got his information and we will send it to the Pest Elders. He was a really cool guy. I like streeting, it’s fun! It gives me opportunities to practice teaching in Hungarian and it helps me realize how much progress I’ve made because I’m able to talk to random people in Hungarian. I don’t understand everything they say and sometimes I still need the help of my companion but I can talk and share a lot more than I thought I could.
We went streeting with the Sisters. Sister Jensen and I talked to lots of people. It’s fun to learn from the Sister missionaries. We talked to this one guy and asked him if he wanted to meet with us and he didn’t have a good reason to say no so but wasn’t sure how to respond so there was a real awkward pause, but he decided to give us his contact info.
We went white-boarding, and the idea I had the idea to write the question, “Do you believe in Miracles?” on the whiteboard. Then in the conversations we could tell them we believe in miracles and then talk about the miracle of the Book of Mormon. Unfortunately my whole plan didn’t work as well as I planned, so we ended up defaulting to more generic questions like, “Is family important to you?” or “What matters most in your life?” We talked to one lady for quite a while and then we invited her to have us come and teach her a lesson and she said why don’t we just do it now. We can sit on that bench and you can teach me a lesson. We sat on the bench and taught the restoration in 15 minutes. I was able to do a lot of the lesson. It was great. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. So we are hoping she does and that she will want to meet with us. It was great! It amazed me that I was able to give most of the lesson, and answer her questions. I've seen my language ability improve a lot this last transfer.
We also had a visit from President Szabadkai on Friday. I guess he occasionally visits companionships for weekly planning, and we were chosen this week. I was sitting in my bed reading the Ensign and the phone rang and it was my mission president!! He said, “Hello Elder Morgan, I am coming for your weekly planning meeting and I will be there in hour, goodbye.” Line Dead! Whoa!! That is really weird. That just doesn’t happen, well it happens, but to us… the chances of that happening are really slim, but he chose to come to us!! He came and we did weekly planning with the President. It was just us and the President in our apartment doing planning for three and half hours and it was really cool one on one time with the President. In our apartment we only have two chairs so I was like, “President, you can have my chair.” But he was like, “No it’s fine.” But by our balcony there is like a step up to the door and he just sat on that step for three and half hours, it would be way uncomfortable, and I felt really bad, because he’s not young, but he insisted. He helped us understand what things we were doing good and what things we weren’t. We had all these questions and he was very insightful. At one point he was speaking in Hungarian and asked me a question and I understood his question and was able to communicate pretty well with him in Hungarian, and it was awesome! It was really good! And then he gave us hugs and went on his way. I love my mission president he is awesome!!
During a new member lesson I was teaching about Priesthood and through the spirit I was able to explain how Priesthood keys can be delegated and how that relates to women who serve in leadership in the church and how women serve with Priesthood authority under the principle of delegation. It was a great lesson.
I read all of 1 Nephi chapter 5 in my Hungarian scriptures and for the most part I was able to read the entire chapter and understand it!! It’s a lot of fun to see myself progress. That chapter is 22 verses and I was able to read the whole chapter and understand it in a half hour. It used to take me a half hour to get through five verses because I had to look up the words so much. I’m getting faster!
On sunday I was able to ordain János Attila to be a priest, it was a really cool experience and I for sure felt the spirit. Good stuff.
In other news:
We went to antique book store that was half books and half collectibles and I was looking through a box of old pins and patches and I found a Strategic Air Command pin that looked like it was from the 70’s or 80’s and I bought it. I guess it was a bit of Nebraska nostalgia and Dad nostalgia. It’s that kind of thing where you wonder how did an American Strategic Air Command pin from the cold war era get into this small town behind the Iron Curtain? I don’t know. It’s really weird.
We moved furniture for a member of the church from the 3rd story. It was kind of funny that of the people moving furniture, I was the one with the most experience moving furniture. Thanks Dad!
Something to ponder:
I read a talk by Elder Cook from the May 2017 Conference called, “Foundations of Faith,” He said, “My plea is that we will make the sacrifices and have the humility necessary to strengthen the foundations of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.” He talks about how if we are able to be strong and make it through life and make it back to our Heavenly Father we need to have a strong foundation of faith, because if we don’t, when hard times come we won’t be able to withstand them. The way we build our faith in Jesus Christ is through reading our scriptures, praying, attending the temple, and serving other people. He talks about his own experience, he says:
“An experience I had when I was 15 years old was foundational for me. My faithful mother had valiantly tried to help me establish the foundations of faith in my life. I attended sacrament meeting, Primary, then Young Men and seminary. I had read the Book of Mormon and had always prayed individually. At that time a dramatic event occurred in our family when my beloved older brother was considering a potential mission call. My wonderful father, a less-active Church member, wanted him to continue his education and not serve a mission. This became a point of contention.
In a remarkable discussion with my brother, who was five years older and led the discussion, we concluded that his decision on whether to serve a mission depended on three issues: (1) Was Jesus Christ divine? (2) Was the Book of Mormon true? (3) Was Joseph Smith the prophet of the Restoration?
As I prayed sincerely that night, the Spirit confirmed to me the truth of all three questions. I also came to understand that almost every decision I would make for the rest of my life would be based on the answers to those three questions. I particularly realized that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ was essential. In looking back, I recognize that, primarily because of my mother, the foundations were in place for me to receive the spiritual confirmation that evening. My brother, who already had a testimony, made the decision to serve a mission and ultimately won our father’s support.
It was a great talk! Read it!
Announcements:
I need more conference issues of the ensign to read! Anyone have some? Send them to me:
Elder Theodore Lawrence Morgan
Hajnóczy József ucta 14
1122 Budapest Hungary
Sok szeretettel!
Morgan elder.
Jó volt múlt hét. I'm frustrated with this winter. I was expecting more, but is has basically been a Maryland winter, 20s and 30s, occasional snow, that melts in 2 days, its been good for working outside, but it was disappointing, maybe it will get its act together in the next few weeks before march. ***Ted hopes for a much colder and more snowy winter, yes it's strange.***
Any ways, we received some cool zone goals for the next few weeks, this last week was to talk to people who we normal wouldn't. On Tuesday we saw this old man with no legs in a wheel chair and we decided to talk to him and push him for a while. It turned out to be like an hour and we probably walked a good 4 km. I had know idea where we were. At one point we asked him how much farther it was to get to his house, and he said, "Oh, another 5 km that way." We got him over the overpass, and we stopped him in front of a restaurant where there was a guy that new him. So we bid him farewell and made our way back home, it was certainly interesting.
We did lots of finding this week, because a lot of our lessons fell through. We went streeting with the white board and talked to a lot of interesting people and we met this one guy who was super dressed up with a nice fancy brief case, and I said, “I’m going to stop this guy,” and I did and he was super cool. He lives in Budapest. He is new age Hindu. He talked about a business conference he attended in Utah fifteen years ago. He saw all the cool Mormon sight in Salt Lake City. He talked about how cool he thought Mormons were because he had met some in his career and traveling and said all the Mormons he had met were so nice and friendly; and they don’t push their religion on you. He said I really respect them because they respect other people. He talked about his beliefs and the “last days” in relation to the new age Hindu beliefs. It was cool! He was really interested in Family Search, he brought up that he had met an LDS women in Budapest a couple weeks ago who was really interested in Family Search and she invited him to learn to use it. We talked for a good 15 minutes in English. We offered to have the missionaries in Budapest meet with him and he wasn’t sure about that, but then we told him that they could come and help him get started in Family Search and he was really interested in that. So we got his information and we will send it to the Pest Elders. He was a really cool guy. I like streeting, it’s fun! It gives me opportunities to practice teaching in Hungarian and it helps me realize how much progress I’ve made because I’m able to talk to random people in Hungarian. I don’t understand everything they say and sometimes I still need the help of my companion but I can talk and share a lot more than I thought I could.
We went streeting with the Sisters. Sister Jensen and I talked to lots of people. It’s fun to learn from the Sister missionaries. We talked to this one guy and asked him if he wanted to meet with us and he didn’t have a good reason to say no so but wasn’t sure how to respond so there was a real awkward pause, but he decided to give us his contact info.
We went white-boarding, and the idea I had the idea to write the question, “Do you believe in Miracles?” on the whiteboard. Then in the conversations we could tell them we believe in miracles and then talk about the miracle of the Book of Mormon. Unfortunately my whole plan didn’t work as well as I planned, so we ended up defaulting to more generic questions like, “Is family important to you?” or “What matters most in your life?” We talked to one lady for quite a while and then we invited her to have us come and teach her a lesson and she said why don’t we just do it now. We can sit on that bench and you can teach me a lesson. We sat on the bench and taught the restoration in 15 minutes. I was able to do a lot of the lesson. It was great. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. So we are hoping she does and that she will want to meet with us. It was great! It amazed me that I was able to give most of the lesson, and answer her questions. I've seen my language ability improve a lot this last transfer.
We also had a visit from President Szabadkai on Friday. I guess he occasionally visits companionships for weekly planning, and we were chosen this week. I was sitting in my bed reading the Ensign and the phone rang and it was my mission president!! He said, “Hello Elder Morgan, I am coming for your weekly planning meeting and I will be there in hour, goodbye.” Line Dead! Whoa!! That is really weird. That just doesn’t happen, well it happens, but to us… the chances of that happening are really slim, but he chose to come to us!! He came and we did weekly planning with the President. It was just us and the President in our apartment doing planning for three and half hours and it was really cool one on one time with the President. In our apartment we only have two chairs so I was like, “President, you can have my chair.” But he was like, “No it’s fine.” But by our balcony there is like a step up to the door and he just sat on that step for three and half hours, it would be way uncomfortable, and I felt really bad, because he’s not young, but he insisted. He helped us understand what things we were doing good and what things we weren’t. We had all these questions and he was very insightful. At one point he was speaking in Hungarian and asked me a question and I understood his question and was able to communicate pretty well with him in Hungarian, and it was awesome! It was really good! And then he gave us hugs and went on his way. I love my mission president he is awesome!!
During a new member lesson I was teaching about Priesthood and through the spirit I was able to explain how Priesthood keys can be delegated and how that relates to women who serve in leadership in the church and how women serve with Priesthood authority under the principle of delegation. It was a great lesson.
I read all of 1 Nephi chapter 5 in my Hungarian scriptures and for the most part I was able to read the entire chapter and understand it!! It’s a lot of fun to see myself progress. That chapter is 22 verses and I was able to read the whole chapter and understand it in a half hour. It used to take me a half hour to get through five verses because I had to look up the words so much. I’m getting faster!
On sunday I was able to ordain János Attila to be a priest, it was a really cool experience and I for sure felt the spirit. Good stuff.
In other news:
We went to antique book store that was half books and half collectibles and I was looking through a box of old pins and patches and I found a Strategic Air Command pin that looked like it was from the 70’s or 80’s and I bought it. I guess it was a bit of Nebraska nostalgia and Dad nostalgia. It’s that kind of thing where you wonder how did an American Strategic Air Command pin from the cold war era get into this small town behind the Iron Curtain? I don’t know. It’s really weird.
We moved furniture for a member of the church from the 3rd story. It was kind of funny that of the people moving furniture, I was the one with the most experience moving furniture. Thanks Dad!
Something to ponder:
I read a talk by Elder Cook from the May 2017 Conference called, “Foundations of Faith,” He said, “My plea is that we will make the sacrifices and have the humility necessary to strengthen the foundations of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.” He talks about how if we are able to be strong and make it through life and make it back to our Heavenly Father we need to have a strong foundation of faith, because if we don’t, when hard times come we won’t be able to withstand them. The way we build our faith in Jesus Christ is through reading our scriptures, praying, attending the temple, and serving other people. He talks about his own experience, he says:
“An experience I had when I was 15 years old was foundational for me. My faithful mother had valiantly tried to help me establish the foundations of faith in my life. I attended sacrament meeting, Primary, then Young Men and seminary. I had read the Book of Mormon and had always prayed individually. At that time a dramatic event occurred in our family when my beloved older brother was considering a potential mission call. My wonderful father, a less-active Church member, wanted him to continue his education and not serve a mission. This became a point of contention.
In a remarkable discussion with my brother, who was five years older and led the discussion, we concluded that his decision on whether to serve a mission depended on three issues: (1) Was Jesus Christ divine? (2) Was the Book of Mormon true? (3) Was Joseph Smith the prophet of the Restoration?
As I prayed sincerely that night, the Spirit confirmed to me the truth of all three questions. I also came to understand that almost every decision I would make for the rest of my life would be based on the answers to those three questions. I particularly realized that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ was essential. In looking back, I recognize that, primarily because of my mother, the foundations were in place for me to receive the spiritual confirmation that evening. My brother, who already had a testimony, made the decision to serve a mission and ultimately won our father’s support.
It was a great talk! Read it!
Announcements:
I need more conference issues of the ensign to read! Anyone have some? Send them to me:
Elder Theodore Lawrence Morgan
Hajnóczy József ucta 14
1122 Budapest Hungary
Sok szeretettel!
Morgan elder.
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