This week deserves some bullet point highlights. Shall we?

-Had an allergic reaction to a peach this week, so that was exciting news! Everything is fine, just a swollen lip, itchy throat, and some sneezing. Weird that food can do that to you!

-Went to Budapest for exchanges with the Assistants. I got to serve with Elder Hudson for the day! Exactly a year ago we were serving together in Sopron. While on exchanges, we were led to an awesome Islamic guy who wants us to teach his girlfriend. He said, "It's hard for me to relate to her and teach her about God, since she's a Christian, but you guys are Christians, so you can totally relate to her better and teach her about God! Will you please help me?" He was one of the coolest people I've ever talked to and I know that we were led to him! It was one of those interactions that you just walk away from with a huge grin on your face.

A lot of missionary work is talking to inebriated and/or crazy people on public transportation:

-There was another baptism! This time it was an 8 year old boy from Eger. Members from the Eger branch came up to Miskolc where the baptism was performed, since Eger doesn't have a baptismal font. The water was ice cold, so we spent about half an hour running pots of hot water from the kitchen to the font hahaha.

-We had Branch Conference here and President and Sister Hettinger came to Church with us and spoke in Sacrament meeting. It was great to have them here with us and the conference was uplifting and inspiring. 

-We went to Eger and had a finding activity as a District. President Hettinger has asked each of our Districts to go finding together for an hour and a half each transfer. I didn't want to be boring and just go street as 4 because that's not really creative or special, so I thought a lot about what we could do that would be creative. One morning, I had an idea! It gets REALLY hot here and it's important to stay hydrated. I thought we could tape pass along cards to bottles of water and use that as an incentive for people to talk to us. The Church has also made a series of 1 minute videos which answer questions of the soul very simply, so I thought we could give bottles of water to anyone who was willing to watch one of those videos and talk with us. We took a whiteboard out to a town square in Eger and went to work! It was great :) We had some good conversations, but unfortunately we had to rush to catch our train, so we didn't get to be out for as long as we would have liked. We'll have to try it again in the future!

-I finally got to try the dreaded kocsonya! When I came home the first time, people always asked, "What was the weirdest food you ever ate?" And I always disappointed them because honestly, Hungarian food isn't super weird. Well, that is except for kocsonya! Kocsonya is like soup jell-o that's served cold. Imagine you have a meaty soup but instead of broth, it's jell-o. Also, they don't just put meat in it, they throw things like pig tail and ears and nose in it too! Luckily, we had a pretty tame kocsonya which just had boiled eggs, carrots, chicken, and jell-o in it. I took some pictures and even got a video of it jiggling. There's nothing inherently bad about it, it's just... so unnatural. Glad I got the experience, but I wouldn't be disappointed if I never ate it again haha.

Missionary work is simply the best. This next week will be my final full week! It's been a wild, wild ride, but I wouldn't change anything about it. It's been an amazing experience. I'm grateful to have come to know a new nation, a new people, tons of new friends, the Gospel, and my Savior. I've come to know that He is so keenly aware of each and every one of us. Salvation is so personal, and that will always be an important truth to me. I know that God lives, that Jesus is our Savior and that the Holy Spirit bears witness of these truths when we listen and remain worthy of it! Nothing has brought me as much joy and peace as the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Have a great week!

szeretettel,

Elder Burnett

This cat silently judges them each morning.  Made me laugh.

Where do I start with this one? Maybe I'll start by saying how grateful I am to be a missionary. I feel so blessed to be in the position that I am in. All day, every day, the only thing I really have to worry about is helping other people to be happy and to find true, eternal happiness and purpose. That's pretty incredible.

We met with Sebastian, the man from Ecuador whom we met on our way back from Budapest a few weeks back. We gave him a tour of the Church building and taught him about the Restoration of Christ's gospel and he just loved it. He has great faith and we left that meeting with a giant smile on our faces. Thanks to our new smartphones, we were able to show him a little 1 minute video about the Book of Mormon in his native language! Go technology!

We're so blessed here in Miskolc because we have a lot of different people to meet with. It's good to stay busy, and it's very rewarding to crash into bed at the end of the day, exhausted but happy, knowing that there are so many people here who love us and who are learning and growing.

On Wednesday, we got to wake up at 4 am to go to Budapest for Zone Conference; my very last one! I always feel an extra boost of energy and excitement after Zone Conference, and this one was no exception. We had Hawaiian haystacks for lunch and had a little debate about whether or not pretzels should be part of the haystack. I am of the opinion that they are a perfect substitute for the little Chinese noodle thingys. What do you think?

This was my last Zone Conference so I gave my departing testimony. It didn't quite hit me all at once what was going on. The end really is coming! How crazy! I guess the realization came in waves, a little when I was bearing my testimony, a little when people came up to me after the Conference to say goodbye (like wait, what?!), and most interestingly a little when I opened the window in one of the rooms of the Mission home and just stopped to look at the streets of Budapest for a moment. This really has been my home for so long! It'll be hard to leave it behind...

To celebrate the 4th of July, we just had a pretty normal day and had hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner. This is my 3rd Independence day away from America! I miss fireworks, so why don't you save some for me and we can set them off together when I get home? :)

I think that the highlight of this week was yesterday, when we went to Eger to conduct some baptismal interviews. Eger is a beautiful city with a fairly small Branch. Elders have been serving in the Branch Presidency there for as long as I've been here, I think. Last transfer, everyone was shocked to hear that Sisters would be coming to replace the Elders! There were some understandable concerns about how the Branch would function without the Priesthood support of Elders, but with faith, the decision was made. Well, the Lord is certainly aware of Eger and His little Branch there! Soon after the Sisters started working there, two awesome men, Oszkár and Gyula, were found. It was my privilege to interview each of them yesterday and they are both incredibly prepared and excited to be baptized.

I know that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us and is aware of each of us. Sometimes, we may be asked to do things that at first, we don't understand. Sometimes, we may not see the logic, but I know that as we faithfully follow the Spirit and His promptings, we will always be blessed for our faithful obedience. I know that the Lord is hastening His work and I'm so happy to be a part of that great work here in Hungary! I'm excited for the Eger Branch to receive the much needed strength and support that these two good men will provide.

I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and know that He lives and leads us in our day. I could never be grateful enough for this knowledge or for the blessings that come from it.

Szeretettel,

Elder Burnett

You know, I feel like I've pretty much gotten used to the culture and lifestyle here, but every once in a while I get hit by the realization that I live in Europe. The feeling comes at pretty random times and this week, it came hard while I was watching the sunset from a soccer field on top of a hill.

Last Monday, we took some of the young men of the branch out to go play soccer with some strangers and friends of the Church. I got to play goalie, and it turns out, having a wingspan as wide as the goal post makes being goalie pretty fun ;) Anyway, as I was standing at the goal post watching my companion run the soccer ball down the field followed by a line of kids, teenagers, and even a grown man, I just thought, "Man, I'm going to miss this!" We had a great talk with the young men as we walked to and from the soccer field, and I am grateful to have fun experiences like this. 

Their "deacons quorum":

In other news:

-Had exchanges with the Elders from Békéscsaba and I got to spend the day with Elder Montoya. We had a couple of lessons, some good streeting sessions, and a lot of fun.

-Later, the Elders from Nyíregyháza came up and we had an exchange with them as well. We had a good turn out at our YSA night and one of the siblings of a kid we met while playing soccer came!

-The Ockeys (senior couple in Debrecen) had family in town and they dropped their grandson, Cole, off to spend the day with us. It was super fun to bring him with us and work in a trio! We got to take him to several lessons and show him around Miskolc. Cole just turned in his mission papers and is waiting for his call! Maybe it'll be to Hungary? You never know! Everyone we met with loved him and told him he should come back sometime soon and learn Hungarian hahaha.

Things are going great! I'm grateful to be finishing my mission in Miskolc. The work here is awesome and we really have a lot of awesome people to meet with and teach. This is one of those rare opportunities where we get to spend a transfer teaching more often than finding! It's every missionary's dream!

One thing that we've been thinking about lately is the importance of social conversion in the Church. Obviously, spiritual conversion is essential, but the unity and community of the Church has such a huge impact on that as well. Thomas S Monson shared;

“Long years ago, Joseph Lyon of Salt Lake City shared with me the lesson of a lecture which a minister from another faith observed. … [He related] what I’ve called the ‘hot coals’ story. He described a warm fireplace where the pieces of wood had burned brightly, with the embers still glowing and giving off heat. He then observed that by taking in hand brass tongs, he could remove one of the hot embers. That ember would then slowly pale in light and turn black. No longer would it glow. No longer would it warm. He then pointed out that by returning the black, cold ember to the bed of living coals, the dark ember would begin to glow and brighten and warm. He concluded: ‘People are somewhat like the coals of a fire. Should they absent themselves from the warmth and spirit of the active church membership, they will not contribute to the whole, but in their isolation will be changed. As with the embers removed from the heat of the fire, as they distance themselves from the intensity of the spirit generated by the active membership, they will lose that warmth and spirit’”*

When we work together, we can survive in warmth and safety in a world which spiritually, is growing increasingly cold. We have to both look out for and rely on each other. Is it any wonder why the Prophets and Apostles have been working to establish higher, holier ministering efforts? I think it's so comforting to know that we all have an essential role to play in the Church and in life. Let's find those coals which are growing dim and share our warmth with them! Let there be fire, where once there were ashes!**

Who needs your warmth this week?

Szeretettel,

Elder Burnett

Quick reference sources:

*https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1997/10/home-teaching-a-divine-service?lang=eng

**https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1990/08/fire-where-once-were-ashes?lang=eng