I'm back in Hungary and it's still just as beautiful and fun as ever! Getting here was pretty interesting. I flew from Boise to Salt Lake by myself and then met up with the missionaries coming from the MTC in SLC. There are 4 sisters and 1 elder in their group. We had a lot of fun talking about the culture, the language, and what they were about to experience! We then flew to Amsterdam and from Amsterdam we flew to Budapest. I left my house at 9 a.m. on Monday, May 7th and arrived in Budapest at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8th. I was pretty tired, but I've made that trip 3 times now, so it wasn't so bad.
It's much more humid here than I remember. When I first came into the country, it was April of 2017 and it snowed the first night. This time, we were a month further into the springtime and you can definitely feel it! It's probably around 80 degrees. I don't know about how humid it is, but trust me when I say it's humid!
The first day in the country went exactly as I had expected. We did everything the exact same as we did the first time I came into the country, a little over a year ago. It was like total deja vu! We even had the same dinner!
At transfers, I got to see all of my old mission friends! It was so much fun to see everybody, and there was a lot of hugging and excited high fives hahaha.
I'm serving in Szombathely (pronounced sombot hey) with Elder Gilson. He was still being trained when I went home, and now he is a full transfer ahead of me. I feel like I never left, honestly. It feels like I just woke up one day and suddenly everyone around me blinked forward 6 months. It's hard to describe exactly how I feel, but the important thing is that I'm so happy!
Getting back into missionary life was surprisingly easy. Like I said, it feels like I never left! The language is still there, too!
I got to experience a Hungarian wedding this week and it was one of the most interesting experiences of my entire life. At 3:00 on Friday, I found myself in a beautiful room in the Szombathely city hall. There were maybe 10 other people there with me. I was sitting next to Sister Wise, who is serving in Szombathely, and our companions were standing behind us, acting as escourts to the bride and groom. After a ring ceremony, the bride and groom kissed, they signed some papers, and it was over. At 3:09, we were walking away feeling a little bit confused. I had just witnessed a 9 minute Hungarian wedding for two people I had never met before. It was awesome!
They actually are super cool people. Ana and János have been taking the discussions and have wanted to be baptized for quite a while now, but they weren't married, so they couldn't. This week, they were finally able to be married, and next week they will be baptized! They're all ready to go and it should be great.
There are so many more stories to share, but this email is getting long so I'll wrap it up with a thought.
Our water heater as been broken since I got into Szombathely, which means that we've been taking freezing cold showers every night. At first, it's so freezing and awful, but if you just go for it and get it over with, it's not so bad.
We've been trying so hard to talk with everybody, and sometimes that can be difficult. Especially when neither of us really speak the language. There have been a few times where the thought of the cold shower has popped into my head, and I just went for it. Once you start talking, you warm up to the people, and the conversation becomes friendly and it's not so bad! We have found some really cool potential investigators just by putting ourselves out there and talking with everyone. One girl even took a selfie with us because she was so excited that we stopped to talk to her!
Another big miracle is that my pain has almost completely gone away. I was in pain on the flight over here, but ever since then, I've been totally fine! This is a serious miracle, considering the fact that I've been feeling pain for over a year now. It is a huge burden lifted from my shoulders and I know that it's a blessing from the Lord!
I have felt so happy this last week and I know it's because I'm trying to follow Jesus Christ to the best of my ability. As we keep the commandments, strive to improve each day, and follow Jesus Christ, we will see blessings in our lives! I'm so grateful to be here and so grateful to be feeling good.
Have a wonderful week!
Sok szeretettel,
Burnett Elder
p.s. This week I learned that Hungarians shoot off fireworks whenever their team scores a goal in soccer. Soccer games are every Saturday night, and they shoot off fireworks until past midnight!
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