The clock is ticking! We leave for Budapest next Monday and we're all so excited! We check out of the MTC at 9:50 on Monday. We'll leave the Salt Lake airport at 2:31 p.m. and arrive in Amersterdam at 8:40 the next day.Then we have a 3 hour layover in Amsterdam and we arrive in Budapest at 1:15. It's crazy to think that the next time I send out emails, it will be from somewhere in Hungary. I've grown so much in the past 2 months, it's incredible! The MTC is an amazing place and I love it here, but I'm ready for the real adventure to begin. I can't wait to just go and talk with strangers. This may sound strange, but I'm almost looking forward to my first rejection! I know that my work here at the MTC has already changed lives and helped others, but I can't wait to bring the Gospel to real people! 

Other than the excitement of getting ready to leave, there's not a whole lot else to report on. We had our first Skype TRC (TRC is where we teach volunteers who are already members of the church, usually in person, but this time over Skype) with a real Hungarian! His name was Robi and he was super cool. It was hilarious because we sat down and we were all getting ready and we were super pumped and when Robi answered, he spoke into the mic and all we heard was super loud static every time he talked. We just looked like dear in the headlights and were like "uhhhhh egy perc" (one minute) and we tried to get help, but nobody was around. We just decided to make the most of it and deliver our message. We talked about the scriptures and how it's so important to read them every single day and how doing that will help us understand our purpose in life. Even as converted members of the church, we still need to diligently seek for Spiritual nourishment. As we do this, we will receive increased power against the adversary, increased knowledge, and an increased capacity to experience joy in our lives! I know that this is true because I have seen it first hand in my life and in the lives of others! Anyways, the lesson went really well, despite the fact that it was nearly impossible to understand Robi over the piercing sound of static. I don't know how it sounded on his end, but luckily I've become a professional charades player since entering the MTC!

After Skyping with Robi, my companions and I were joking about the static saying, "I wonder what dialect that was" and joking about how we're going to get off the plane in Hungary and everyone will just speak static. I'm going to miss my companions, my district, and my zone, but there are so many more friends to be made all over!

Thank you all so much for your support and love!

Sok Szeretettel, (I know I spelled it right this time!)

Burnett Elder

Hungarian word of the week is pattogatott kukorica (pronounced potto-gottoat kookor-eats-ah) which means popcorn! The Albanian teacher, Motra (sister) Tanner, has gotten really close with the Hungarians since there aren't any Albanian elders currently. She made us all spicy popcorn and we had a little picnic!