Monday, June 18, 2018

t's getting hot, and I know it's only going to get hotter! It has rained SO MUCH since I've been here. Over the past two weeks, it has rained over 10 times. I love the stormy weather! Train rides in the rain are surprisingly peaceful (well, depending on the train... the newer ones are super smoothe and quiet, the older ones are super loud and rattle a bunch. Anyways...).

We got to go on splits in Győr, which was incredible! I was with Elder Van Duyse, who is from Canada. We worked on teaching while we find and finding while we teach. We thought of some ways to bear testimony at the doorstep, and tie our approaches into the Restoration. We had a really good time tracting! As we were coming out of a building, a bácsi stopped us and said, "This is a beautiful work that you're doing. Thank you for doing this! You see, I'm also Catholic and I hope that everyone will one day become Catholic!" Hahahahaha. We clarified that we were actually members of a the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and he just smiled and walked away. Good times...

While we were in Győr, there was a huge storm and also a huge flood! The other elders were out doing service with a member, and they were on their way home when the flood started. The water was so deep that cars were getting stuck, and the elders had a super cool opportunity to help people get unstuck. 


Okay, we HAVE to talk about the Győr apartment really fast.... You walk into a lobby, and they have a little key fob thing that you just flash against this little pad and it unlocks the door to the building. Super cool. When you walk in, the whole place looks like a 5 star hotel (probably an exaggeration). The best part about it all is that their apartment has AIR CONDITIONING. I know, I was freaking out when I heard too! They also have electric blinds, which when they are closed, don't let any light in at all. Even in the middle of the day, with the blinds closed and the lights off, you can't see your hand in front of your face (not an exaggeration). Needless to say, with the AC and the darkness, I slept pretty happily, despite being on a mattress on the hardwood floor.

We had a few opportunities to serve this week as well! We went to an assisted living home, Holnap Háza (Tomorrow's Home), and made lavender bouquets with some of the people who live there! It was super fun and the flowers smelled so nice. After we bunched them together, we tied two bunches together with some twine and hung them up around the patio. It smelled super nice and it was a much needed hour of arts and crafts for us!


We also got to do some service at an elementary school nearby. We went with our branch president to this elementary school and basically, we dug up these bricks that were buried about 8 inches underground. My job was to walk around with a wheelbarrow and collect the bricks and then drop them off in a pile. It was awesome! We broke 3 pickaxes, one of which was broken, fixed, broken again, fixed again, and broken another time.... By the end, the handle was about 2 feet shorter than it was originally!

Finally, we had some great success while whiteboarding this week. We took a big whiteboard into the town square and wrote, "What makes you happy?" on it, and invited people to come and write their answers on the board. A few people wrote things, but most people just walked by and kind of laughed. Toward the end of the night, Elder Gilson and I stopped this pair of guys walking along, eating some ice cream. Our conversation was friendly and happy, and they wanted to meet again so that we could give them a copy of the Book of Mormon!

Immediately after that, I had a great conversation with a drunk anti-christ! During the whole conversation, he was very aggressive, but I literally felt some outside force speak through me and control my mood and everything. I felt like an observer in this conversation, and I said some things that really surprised me. I got a little stern with the guy, but it shut him up and he listened to what we had to say. Afterward, he bought us sodas hahahaha.

It was a powerful experience for me! Especially when I looked into his eyes, which were drunken and frustrated. I felt the love of my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for him, and I wanted SO BADLY for him to understand how much better life is with Them in it. He had such a negative view of Them, because of his past, and I wanted him to understand his relationship with Them better. It would have made his life so much happier. I tried my best, and in the end, he didn't show much change, but he was passified, and hopefully a little happier.

I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and that They love each of us! They care deeply for us and sincerely want what is best for us. As we put our trust in Them, we have NOTHING to fear. Not even drunken, swearing, aggressive, anti-christs! I have witnessed first hand, that with a little bit of listening, love, and patience, we can show others that there really is a loving God in Heaven, and that Jesus Christ really is our Savior! We have such a happy message to share with others, so let us share it and let us share it happily!

Have a wonderful week!

Sok szeretettel,

Burnett Elder

Hungarian of the week: "Levendula" means "lavender". 

"Levendulát kötünk csokorba" means "We tied lavender into bouquets"

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