#2 Debrecen: Miracles in Missionary Work

This was a really good week, we didn't have a lot of lessons, and mostly spent our time finding people to teach. It was really good week.

We have been having difficulty meeting with the people the last set of elders were teaching. It's been very difficult to contact them. 

I also had a wonderful exchange with the Szolnok elders, Elder Barton and Elder Montoya this week. They came to Debrecen for splits. Elder Barton has been in the country eleven weeks. I remember when I was on my second transfer and it seems like forever ago. Elder Montoya was trained by Elder Udy (My companion in the MTC) about five months ago, so he's my missionary nephew. I was paired with Elder Montoya and we talked and worked on relying on the Spirit in finding and in planning, and the role that prayer has in showing our willingness to the Lord to receive and act on his help. It was a wonderful story. We had did some good finding and got several contacts and a new people to teach. Elder Barton and Elder Surdu found two new people to teach. So it was a productive split.

On splits, Elder Surdu and Barton also met with Andrea. We will be meeting with her a few more times this week, leading up to her baptism on Saturday. I think she is ready, and we are all very much looking forward to the baptism.

We have been focusing a ton on finding and had a little miracle this week. We were tracting and an older woman named Kata let us in. It turns out that her daughter is a member of the church who now lives in Tennessee. Her daughter served a mission in the United States. On top of that, Kata’s daughter had encouraged her last week to reach out to the missionaries, and then a few days later we “happened” to show up. She asked if we had deliberately found her and we said, "No, we just tracted into you." And she said, "It's a miracle! You just happened into me before I even called you!" She was supper excited for us to be there because she believed that Heavenly Father sent us. She set up an appointment with us for next Friday. It was wonderful!!

We also have been working to fellowship and get to know the members of the Branch. The Ockey's (a senior missionary couple) held a wonderful Canadian thanksgiving dinner between sessions of General Conference yesterday, and almost all the active members of the branch came. It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know everyone, and it got them to come and watch General Conference.

The Ockey's are new to our area but not to our mission, this is their second mission here, and they are really cool. We helped them move into the house they are renting when we got back from Nyíregyháza this week and afterward they took us out to eat. They just celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary.

Before the Thanksgiving meal we watched the women's session and the Saturday afternoon session; after the dinner we watched the Sunday morning session live. (We watched the Saturday mourning session live on Saturday evening, so the only session we haven't watched is the Sunday afternoon session.) Conference was wonderful and I felt the spirit. I especially loved what President Nelson said about the name the church. I think it will be a good focus, and will help us as missionaries, it may help keep people from thinking that we are Amish. I know this is the Lord's church and that is why we need to call it in his name, we need to take upon us his name.

I bought some great fresh food to make stir fry and made a great pork stir fry with lots of vegetables and it was really good! It was like the most fresh vegetables I've eaten on my mission in one meal. Hungarians aren't big vegetables eaters. I made a lot, so I will be eating it the rest of the week.

Next week will be crazy becuase we are traveling most of the week with several splits. We will be traveling to Szeged.

It was a really good week. I love you all, thank you for the love, and birthday wishes! Have a fantastic week!

Sok szeretettel, Morgan elder.